Massage, Kitchens and Kittens

These last few days have been full of firsts. Saturday I got to cook dinner, a real dinner, for the first time since moving here. My friend Anisha's parents are gracious enough to have an open door policy with us, so we crashed their house to make dinner and hang out for the evening. It was so fun to be in the kitchen that I cooked the next two days also: Sunday a dog shaped cake for my Ajaan's birthday, Monday focaccia bread for fun. I will definitely be making a point to getting into the kitchen more.

Today was my first ever massage, and a Thai massage to boot! Anisha describes Thai massage "it's like doing yoga, except they do all of the work." Lots of pushing and pulling, prodding, and cracking bones. I'm a little ticklish while getting a deep tissue massage in the area of my armpits. I'll admit it. I was nervous, first massage, but it turned out to be absolutely the best use of an hour and 100 baht. 

These last two days a small, friendly, adorable tabby kitten with a kinked tail has found us at the nursing dorm. I spent the better part of an hour this evening playing with the kitten and chatting with students and Mae Bons (house mothers) in Thinglish (*tin-glish, Thai-English). The consensus was that we love cats, our boss Ajaan Rujira does not, and I was delegated to ask Ajaan Esther (Vice President in charge of Residential Life) tomorrow what we should do with the kitty. I heard a lot of Thai conversation to the effect of "Ajaan Esther likes dogs. Do you think she likes cats? She'll take it!" Tomorrow I will find someone to adopt him.

I  recommend cooking with friends, getting Thai massages with friends, and finding homes for stray cats. All good hobbies.