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Published: January 12th 2006
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Foot massage at the market
Sunday night market in Chiang Mai has a little bit of everything..yummy food, crafts, clothing, and of course, massage! Sawatee kaa once again..
Life in Chiang Mai continues on. I have 12 minutes until my massage appointment with So, who is a blind masseur. It is a common thing here for blind people to do massage, and someone told me its because it allowed for people to feel less exposed since they couldn't be seen. Its also of course a wonderful career for a blind person. I got my first hour massage yesterday from a different blind masseuse, and it was wonderful. I felt great afterwards, though nervous through it because she really wailed on me. but I got up and floated away pain free for the first time in ages. She even adjusted me twice, which shocked me because its illegal in the states for an LMP to do that, and I had no warning. Just "give me your arm", and then a yank and pop, and of course a yelp from me. Not used to that!
Massage skill is still really fun and enjoyable, and my class is bonding. We are all going out for dinner tonight and then practicing some more on each other. Tomorrow we actually have a written test! i have decided to
stay for two weeks of classes, then return next year to continue the upper levels. The price makes the trip worth it alone; I took two weekends of Thai massage in the states for 350.00 dollars a pop, and this full week only costs 130 or so, including lunch and transportation. And this is the most expensive school around! My hotel is 3.75 a night, and a typical dinner is 2.00. A different world. The funny thing is that no matter where you are, you adjust to the local prices, and suddenly when you have to pay 200 baht for a shirt ($5.00) it seems outrageously expensive. The bargaining here is rampant, i may have mentioned, and i suck at it, though I'm improving. its like a game everyone plays, so you learn to join in. I've gotten some beautiful clothing and crafts at the markets.
Gotta run to my massage. More later.
Hello, it is the next day now. My massage was beyond intense yesterday; I was groaning in pain, and he just assured me it was necesary and continued. It was clear he knew what he was doing, so I bore with it while he pushed and pulled and cracked all my vertebra. Today I am feeling good but fragile. No massage today; body needs to rest! But it is very clear that Thai massage is not a shy form.
I need to describe these massage places, because that is also a far cry from the American experience. There are store fronts on nearly every block advertising massage, and you just step in, pay your money, and get ushered to a mat in a long row of mats where people are in various stages of a massage. The therapists all chat with each other as they work on you. There is also massage in the streets, mostly foot reflexology, but it is a sight to see rows of easy chairs at a night market with people, both Thai and Farang (us) stretched out in bliss. I found during my first massage (the less brutal one) that as I entered that state of bliss, the chatting all around me started turning into English, and I would hear the weirdest things before I would remember in my altered state that it was Thai. Very odd experience.
The Thai language is fascinating. It is a tonal language with five tones, so if you say the same word in a different tone, it has a completely different meaning. Very scary for someone trying to say something when you can end up saying a very wrong comment! Not that I've been saying more than hello and thank you. But I love listening to Thai people speak, both in English and Thai. Its very nasal, and sounds are drawn out. They struggle a lot with English, which is understandable, considering we struggle with Thai. I heard one American speak Thai, and was awed to hear those sounds come out of her mouth. It seemed an impossible language to master.
Ok, other big thing to discuss is the toilets! They don't use toilet paper, but instead have a little hose with a sprayer piece on the end. I actually love it and think its way more hygenic than TP. A little wet, but hey, we're in Thailand..things dry here! The toilets don't flush, there's a little bucket with a large ladle in it, and you just pour water in and it flushes through gravity. It took me a few days to figure out what that bucket was for and how to flush; I though maybe that was what they were using to clean their bottoms! That would be a mess. Many of the toilets are squatter too, which I like as well. The bathrooms are just all one room; a shower head comiong out of the wall and a drain in the floor, so any of the water that splashes around goes down the drain, and you can turn the shower on and shower right there. It makes sense.
Well, tomorrow is test day at school for week one; we have learned 134 positions and will do a full 2 hour massage on a partner while the teacher watches. Next week is mostly practice and review, which I deeply need. Week three would have been learning herbal applications and healing. I'll have to catch that one next time.
Well, I've uploaded some photos of the crazy street scenes, etc. Hope everyone is surviving the Seattle monsoon I've been hearing about.
Love,
Suzanne
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