The People in My Neighbourhood

So, time to talk about some of the people I'm staying with in order to fill in some of the gaps.

I am staying in the 'Zorba' dormitory for 300 baht a night. This seems like a lot to stay in a dorm and it is I guess, but I love it. For a few days the people in the dorm don't change too much and it begins to feel like a family. There are 15 beds I think, and at one stage we are all women but for one lovely Dutch man, Ben, a gentle soul who doesn't seem to mind us sprawling over his mattress to talk to his neighbours and doesn't bat an eyelid at our various states of undress. We make jokes about the dorm being a harem, but really, there's never any question of it being anything other than awesome. He is the most unlikely harem dweller anyway!

I am connecting with so many beautiful women - must be something in the air at the moment. My closest friends of the moment are in the same room. I meet Maike first, a blonde blue eyed osteopath from Hamburg who is also one of the happiest people I've met in a long time. She is also an amazing therapist, giving me three sessions of cranio-sacral osteopathy which completely blow me away. Malibu Coke is her drink of choice and I love dancing with her. Then there is Jessie, all Dutch and cool and calm and wise, with beautiful eyes that remind me of a good friend from New Zealand. We plan a dorm reunion at her place in Zeeland for July, as all of the ladies are Eurpoean except me, and I will be there at that time anyway. Bring it on I say!

Mia sleeps next to me and boy does she wake up early! Born in Madagascar, she lived in France for a long time but now resides in London and came over here spontaneously with 500 pounds, which sounds likea lot but doesn't actually go too far here in Haad Tien where things are so much more expensive. I've already given up caring however, as this place is so incredible I would continue to do so for a while longer... Across from Mia is Mai - all these M names! - and she is from Antwerp in Belgium. Mai is fun and always bouncing around with lots of energy and movement and brown bouncy locks that sprawl over her pillow in the morning like tentacles. She speaks Flemish, which goes well in this dorm room as Carolien is the third Dutchie along with Ben and Jessie. She has been fasting for 5 days and just begins to eat again before I leave. She does so with absolute glee! We seem to have similar taste in music also as she plays the same Bon Iver songs I love and introduces me to Bonobo - they are great!

So, those are the coolies in the dorm in which I live... there are others of course but I don't see them so often... Fabienne from Switzerland, Joanna the Engish girl with the incredible smile and Liz from Ireland who has the most amazing Maori tattoo I've seen in a while. In another dorm, the louder one above the Sanctuary restaurant, resides Laaura, another Londonite all long and lithe and beautiful. Seems to be a lot of Dutch and a lot of English at this time, and so many of them blonde! Go the blondes! I'm loving it... Laura gives me her pink shawl to wear in a rainstorm because foolishly, I have absolutely nothing warm to wear - wasn't really counting on thunderstorms, but they are beautiful so I don't mind. Erika is another beautiful blonde who lives in London, although she hails from Sweden originally. She is a life-coach and runs an incredible fre workshop about manifesting what you really want in life. We all sit around while it pours down outside and sip chai while we concoct sacred symbols to bring change into our lives. It is a powerful session actually, and I go out buzzing with good feelings about everything in particular.

Kari (previously referred to as Carrie) is yet another blondie, a yoga teacher from Norway & I meet her on my first evening when she is looking smokin' in a gorgeous red dress. I connect with her straight away and we talk about yoga whilst drinking cocktails. I love this abaility to balance a yogic life with a little bit of the party lifestyle also. It's important to me. Balance, you know? I may have mentioned already, but Kari gives Maike and I two amazing yoga sessions in which she rubs tiger balm into our temples while we lay in savasana and sings prayers to end the sessions. With the waves crashing below us on the yoga platform by the sea, it's truly blissful.

Fleassy hails from Brighton and is travelling around the world without taking planes, something which I admire lots. She's a muso and a truly ruling performance poet and runs body percussion workshops. I jump up on stage with her workshop crew for open mic night and we have something of an impromptu jam. It's fun. She's on her way to New Zealand eventually and I know she will meet many of my friends. Exciting!

Okay, so that's some of the sheilas (ha ha, don't mind the New Zealand-ism) I have met. I do meet some great fellas as well, although it's really the ladies I'm making deep connections with. But Sebastian, an English-German psychologist, and Will from Ireland are the first guys I meet. They are fun and always up for going out, although I refrain from doing so for a whole week due to my self-imposed yoga routines. Once the weekend comes I have a few drinks and it's great. These two nights are spent at 'Spice', an absoltuely beautiful resturant / bar which ticks all of my boxes - amazing smells, decor, food, tunes, staff... Curly haired Stu reminds me so much of my friend from Brighton that I am convinced that they must know each other (they don't). He bartends with Aaron who I have fun singing with and has heaps of New Zealand music on his computer which I get kinda excited about. And then we have Adam, a New York stand up comedian who hosts the open mic nights at the moment - a lovely guy. I first see Vincent on one of these open mic nights (well, my only open mic night to be honest - I wish I could stay for another one...). He plays lovely instrumental guitar and is an ex art-teacher so we have a great conversation in Spice about this as well as trying to sort out the world's problems in a night... good times.

There are so many other amazing people that this is but a few of them... I'm sad to leave this place after only 8 days and feel I could stay a lot longer, but this is how it is... I know I will be back one day though. It would be such a treat to get back up on that open mic stage again, and continue to prop up the bar with Kari and Edle, or to swim in the beautiful ocean with Maike after our morning yoga... sigh... but I move on. Onwards children! There is still more life to come...