Koh Phangan - A whole new world

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So I am officially done with teaching. I'm so sad and am really going to miss the school. JUST KIDDING....SEE YOU LATER SUCKERS. So with less than a tearful goodbye, I took off to Koh Phangan about a week ago. The first two days I met up with Steve, who my friend Jenny's (who i traveled with to Krabi) ex-boyfriend. We went straight to Haad Rinn, which is the party part of the island. It's pretty much a hedonistic paradise. It's beautiful, but definitely getting very commercially developed. We kicked it on the beach for the day and met up with some people who we met on the ferry. After a few drinks, we headed to mellow mountain, which is this LED lit castle type bungalow on the end of the beach up on a hill. They serve mushroom shakes there, which pretty much led to one the funnier nights i've had in a while. After getting over the initial "your head is turning into a werewolf and i'm pretty sure my shadow is chasing me," we went down to join the beach party which was HUGE. Firedancers everywhere and flaming jumpropes with drunken partyers vying for a go. Overall madness. We stayed out until five in the morning and actually slept until four the next day. Complete degenerates. That night we sacked up and headed out again. This time I was involved in the flaming jump rope for which I have the prize of a giant burn on my left ankle. I'll answer your question....I am that awesome.

So after Steve left, I took off feeling terrible to the complete opposite side of the island for a yoga retreat. I am doing four hours a day (two in the morning and two in the afternoon) of tantric yoga and mediation with an evening lecture. I rented a motorbike, so i spend the hours in between exploring the beaches (with a slight pause for a minor crash yesterday burning and scraping the other leg). There are so many little coves and beaches here and they are spectacular. I'm finally seeing the full white sand, beautiful palm tree'd beaches that I heard about. There are no words to describe them but majestic. I'm staying in a bungalow on the beach and am happy in a way I can't really remember. The lectures and what i'm learning at the retreat are so interesting. There are so many different paths and things to learn about. It's fascinating. I'll be here for three more days before heading for a ten day silent retreat at the monastery. It's really exciting to think about the next few weeks. It's such a strange thing how perception can change. The week before I left my job, I came to terms with the fact that I was lonely. I couldn't really understand why when it was my own choosing of not going out, but spending all my free time alone (as evidenced by reading four harry potters in four days the final week. those things are worse than crack. i happily gave up sleeping.). I realized though that I was in a negative place and it's such a good thing that it's over. While i'm already seeing a lot of good that came out of it and ended up on a good note with my classes and teaching, overall I definitely needed to leave. Now being on my own feels empowering and calming. I want to soak up everything I can about the next few months rather than just getting through them, which is a good place to be.

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