Well folks I had written a long, witty, insightful posting but somehow managed to erase it. Sorry I just don’t have the strength to rewrite it.

The big news of the past few days is that I have broken my finger. We rented motorcycles to ride up to the top of a mountaintop monastery and on the way back down we stopped at waterfall to swim. In a careless moment I was walking down a slippery rock and my feet went out from under me. Naturally my hand shot out to catch me. I hit the ground hard and when I looked over my right pinky was pointing the wrong direction. My Dad kind of popped it back into place and I didn’t go to the hospital directly because I wasn’t sure if it was broken or just dislocated. The next morning, it was hurting so I went to the emergency room (an experience in itself since nothing is in English) and sure enough it was broken. Now, my hand is tightly wrapped and splinted and I am learning to do everything with my left hand. It’ll be 4 weeks before I am able to take off the splint so that pretty much hobbles me for the rest of my trip.

Photo 1: Note the surly exression. I have not had any coffee since leaving the states and it is early.

The past few days I’ve been riding a high of new experiences that even my injury couldn’t touch. Thailand is amazing. Great, cheap food at every corner; friendly people; beautiful scenery. Today was the first day that I woke up a little low. There is a local Buddhist festival today and as I write this every few seconds kids are setting off firecrackers. We’ve caught a bus to a little town in the far north next to a beautiful river. Less than a mile upriver is the border with Burma, home to what is probably the most brutal, oppressive, vile dictatorship on the planet. But here it is very peaceful and friendly. Last night we went and had dinner with an American expatriate who had moved and built a house here. It’s easy to see the allure of moving here. He had an amazing house made out of woven palm fronds and bamboo poles with no windows and a living room that opened directly onto a large deck with an amazing view of the valley below.

Photo 2: The amazing Wat (like a monastery) across from where we are staying. Too bad the photo doesn't capture how beautiful it is here.

Anyway, one of my many loyal readers had requested that I put her’s and Zoe’s name in print. So here goes: First of all there is Zoe, light of my life, continually amazing and surprising, passionate and wise. If you know her you what I’m talking about. Btw: I went in to a 7-Eleven in Chang Mai to buy a phone card so I could call sometime but no nachos with cheese. Sorry. Then there is Holly, who I’ve come to know and love through Zoe. This is for you: After the other bus passengers got done having a good laugh about my freckles, this guy wanted to try on my shades. So I took a picture:

Then there is August who, I understand is pretty handy with the Yu-Gi-Oh deck. You probably think you’re pretty good at Yu-Gi-Oh, but he will fuck your shit up. Seriously.

Take care everyone. Lots of love… E.






Photo 4: This is an elephant.