my aura is purple and green

Hello dears,
Day 4 of the yoga retreat. We are learning about 20 postures very deeply, and also learning quite a bit about the origins of yoga and its philosophical underpinnings. Some of it is a little moer hokey than I really believe in, but other stuff is quite cool. Shakras, for example, are really cool. Eric is more in touch with his than I am with mine, but I'm working on it. Really. (You in the back, clam up).

I'm also getting better at sitting with my legs crossed. Can do it without totaly slumping over. An accomplishment in itself. Eating fresh tropcial fruit each morning is a blesing. Then yummy curry for dinner. Too hot to eat lunch, and since we dont move much during the day we don't need as much fuel. But if we get hungry, a mango shake does the trick. The two of us aer living for under $25 a day, including food and shelter. The guest house is a tropical garden on a bluff above the meekong river. If you haven't heard of the Meekong, go get a map. It originates in the Tibetan plain of China and ends in the Southeast China Sea, three thousand miles away. And the whole way it goes trong- much much bigger than the charles river at its widest. This is a mississippi- or even bigger, and the freeways of old. We look across the river at Laos. Beautiful, but HOT.

We'll stay about one more week down here- including 4 days in Laos. Then we're heading back up to China, partly because we'll be out of malerone (anti-malarial drugs) and partly because we can't take the heat much longer. Oh and we're also really excited about going to Yunan province. Its the foothills to Tibet, and there are many Tibetan people living there as well.

Eric's mom suggested that I keep track of not just what I'm seeing but also what I'm feeling. And my mom asked me to share the annual birthday thoguhts- the where have I been this past year, and where am I going. So I'll try to share some of that here. It has been kind of surprising to see how long it has been taking me to unwind from the few months preceeding my departure. I was pretty wound up! Even five days doign nothing but swimming and sleeping ni the sun didn't do the trick. I think finally today I feel more calm and balanced. Yoga twice a day and daily meditation have probably helped. And all the amazing fruit. Its funny how when I travel outside of Norht America, the world seems smaller. The traveling people we meet seem to create another little parallel world, where we swap sotries about where we've been, and make these incredible cross-cultural comparisons, astounded at differences but always seeking out similarities. They make us feel more secure. I feel more like a member of the WORLD when I'm outside of my home country. I feel more aware of the world. I feel a little more at ease.And I am reminded of how much I loev this planet and the people who live here.

Well thats it for now. Thank you to those of you who are reading this- it is really helpful to be in touch. That helps me be at ease- to know that the people who are *my* people are still out there too.

Much love from Northern Thailand,
Betsy