netcafe in bangkok, wearing my tiger ears, all bags in tow

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so when your flight says 11pm on the 4th of July and you know that it is a long flight, assume you arrive at your destination the day AFTER. that is, on the 5th of July. so basically I have a day less in Thailand than I had anticipated. This is only a problem because it is now after 1pm in the afternoon and I really wanted the first day to relax and sleep (I've had a full 12 hours) and then a day to explore at least some nearby attractions. this wont be possible but i'm not too concerned because i will be back in thailand for a week at the very end of my journey before i return home in october. However, it does mean that I've checked out and have all my bags with me and am in limbo for a few hours.
ive found details for a yoga classes but they are all around 40 mins away which is fine although i need to eat first and there are no classes until after 5pm and my friend Bel is flying in from Cambodia at around 6.30pm to come and spend the night with me so I would like to have as much time with her as possible.
My yoga practice has fallen through the cracks completely though, so I guess it would be pretty important to pick it back up again pronto.
So, unfortunately, given that my time here is so limited I haven't yet had the opportunity to form any real impressions of this place. I checked out the Bet Chabad, there was not all that much going on there. A kosher restaurant downstairs, internet portals upstairs, and a room that i peered into in which some men were learning. It's amazing that this exists in so many places around the world.
What has made me really sad is the beautiful, smiling, elderly ladies who are forced to walk around being street merchants trying to sell their wares (woven bracelets, silver jewellery, carved objects, hand rolled cigarettes, brightly coloured cone shaped hats) to foreigners to try to make a living. I don't really want to buy any more stuff and so I didnt purchase anything. I feel guilty that I haven't contributed toward their livelihood so I have just donated small sums of money here and there. Again, I'm still worried about how I will feel entering a market place in India with thousands of children who are starving who will ask me for money. This world is really unjust and I am yet to to develop the maturity to find peace with these facts.
The busyness and the mayhem of this city has left me a little shaken , like I don't quite know what to do with myself or how I would fit in here. Being around tourists and travellers all the time is somewhat unnerving because they have all left behind their mundane lives in search of buried treasure. I want to find some locals to spend time with because I want to find my feet again, get grounded. Sounds like a yoga class is urgent.
By the way, buy your own toilet paper there isn't any here. Also the bottled water tastes faintly of urine and mostly of metho. I'm not complaining, I apologise for the whiny tone but I guess I am jetlagged. Everything I look at leaves a faint imprint on my retina that seems to follow me for a second.
I just bought a cup of hot water to drink -with my own teabag, I have a vast selection with me- and first my sunglasses fog up, then i remove them and a cockroach lands in my drink.
Everything is great though. I hope you're all well. I'm missing so many people and thinking of you. Write me updates. Ask me questions. Or just enjoy the passing of time.
Love and light
xxxxxxxxx

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