Am I Becoming Spoiled?

The answer is: possibly. I think I really have a massage addiction. It's getting to the point where Hilary and I have to limit our massages to once a week. I sincerely think that your body gets used to them and actually starts to crave them. We've found some alternatives to massages...other ways to pamper ourselves. We started getting facials about once a week and sometimes we get our hair washed which is really a scalp and face massage. This past weekend Hilary took me to the mecca of relaxation, the Thai Herbal Conservation Center which is just outside of Lampang. This place is amazing! It's a beautiful garden grounds and they make all of these herbal remedies, teas and tinctures on the premises. First, we decided to take an herbal bath. You would think that they would run bath water and just throw some herbs in the tub but actually the water comes out of the faucet with herbs already in it! It was clearly not what I was expecting. The water was frothy and a dark brown color and smelled like the Chinese medicine that I used to choke down when I was in Shenzhen. Hilary said she felt like she was taking a bath in Coke. One would think that an herbal bath would be relaxing but it's truly quite a grueling experience. I think there's something about sweating out all those toxins that makes you light-headed and really hot. The water wasn't too hot at all but Hilary and I had to keep getting out of our tubs to cool off. It was kinda like a sauna but overall it was a nice experience. They gave us tea to drink while in the tub!

Then we decided to get body scrubs. It was a little bit awkward at first cause you obviously have to be naked and the women doing the scrubs insisted on telling us how beautiful we were. They always say things along the lines of, "Wow! Beautiful! Very white" which I really don't know how to respond to. "Uh, thanks. Yup I'm pale alright." Or they will put their arm next to mine and say, "I'm black. You're white." I just feel sad they most of the people here don't think they're beautiful because their skin's not white.

So the scrub was a very yellow color. I think it was tumeric or something and there was also tamarind and sand in it. It was some serious exfoliation. After the scrub we were covered with yogurt which was interesting. The beds you lie on are covered in plastic so you're sliding all over the place. After it was finished we took showers and then drank some more tea. Our skin was shiny and new. We popped into the shop and spent way too much money on herbal teas and herbal soap, shampoo, medicine. It was a great and much needed afternoon.

Dinner Sunday night was at the new Japanese restaurant in town. It's a gorgeous building and the food is delish but not too expensive. You know I love Age Dashi Dofu so much. The last time I was there, we got into a wasabi-eating contest. Never again. Yoga on Monday was a full house. New people just keep coming and it's so nice that everyone enjoys it and is appreciative. Hilary and I keep trying to take a class when we're in Chiang Mai but we can't figure out the hours.

And now for my big adventure last night. I was over at my friend Karen's house for a girl's night dinner and Desparate Housewives. My mom called so I went outside to talk and decided to sit down on the patio. The moment I sat down, I felt a stinging on my butt. I didn't really think anything of it, but after I went back inside later, I started to feel really hot and a bit woozy. I thought I should maybe take a look at where the sting was. It was definitely a bite of some sort. I started to panic...was it a scorpion, a snake, some crazy insect I've never even heard of? Luckily our friend Sarah was there and she's lived in Thailand for over 20 years. She took a look at it and pronounced that it was only a spider bite. We put some vinegar on it and it seems fine this morning. Of course, we all know I have bad luck with animals in Thailand biting me. Don't worry mom!

This is my last week at school. Next week will be awesome and relaxing. I promise to post more pictures soon. I've really been slacking but honestly not too much has been going on. Soon I will be having more adventures and taking copious pictures. Soon.