| hi,we found internet again! wow!the bad news first. ed is not feeling too hot again, a bit 'gurgly' as heputs it. nothing serious, just some stomach upset, so we might taketomorrow off from biking. we are now in simoa, a really big city. we got here yesterday after ridingin rain the whole day. my tooth started to act up (the same one i had anemergency with the week before we left), and i was in considerable painwhile riding. when we got to the town, we were greeted by images thatreminded me (without fondness) of romania: concrete buildings, all greyand identical looking, no character, no soul, lined up on both sides of alarge road. people rushing to get out of the rain, everyone looking down.trucks and buses going by on the street, splashing us with water, whichdidn't really matter since we were already drenched. everything looked sogrim...we started to look for a hotel, and after a few failed attempts, wefound a really nice one with a non-smelly bathroom. bathrooms are theworst in china. you can smell them from a distance, as you ride down theroad. it's all because they don't put that little U shaped bend in theplumbing. sometimes it gets me so upset that such a stupid little thingcould make such a big difference to my state of being. but it's allmental, i tell myself, the smell is not really that bad, it's my revulsionto it that causes all the problems.on to the nice stuff now.the other day, we were riding by a national park, when we came upon a fewelephants by the side of the road. they were so cute! i never sawelephants up close like this before, especially not in the wild. they werejust hanging out, throwing damp earth on theis backs to keep cool. theypicked the earth with their trunks, then swang the trunks back and forth afew times, and finally, after gathering enough momentum, they would swingthe trunk all the way over and dump the earth on their rear. they seemedvery relaxed doing this, and i just wanted to stay there with them. theylooked so benevolent!the tea in china is amazing. i am going crazy trying all kinds, and i evenbought my own cup for this purpose. when biking gets hard, i think ofdrinking hot tea from my nice cup and feel much better. two days ago we met another canadian guy, on a biking trip very similar toours. he was by himself, as his girlfriend decided that she had hadenough, so she's now travelling by bus instead. they meet up once in awhile, in certain pre-determined locations. we spoke to him for a while,and it was really fun to share our experiences with someone who knowsexactly what you're talking about. it was also good (for me) to hear thatit's not just me who's discouraged sometimes, that other people doing thisare sometimes finding it rough too. actually, more and more this biking trip is showing me something that i'veheard many times, yet i never discovered myself. until now. thateverything is really in your mind and in how you perceive it. it'sunbeleivable how much difference my state of mind could make on a physicallevel. if only it were easy to control the mind...oh well, what to doother than keep playing? good news! even though our trip is cut short as i said in my previousemal, it looks like i will still get to go to the south of thailand and tomalaysia! my sister and andy will be meeting me in august and we'll dothis portion of the trip together. unfortunately, ed won't be able tocome, as he decided to return to school for the fall semester, so he'll beflying back home at the end of august.but i'm looking forward to the beaches, diving, snorkeling, kayaking,jungle trecks, etc of malaysia and southern thailand. and the food!i am eating like an absolute pig (pigs are actually really cute). if ikeep this up when i come home i will be 300lbs in 2 weeks. but the foodhere is so good, and i am good at using chopsticks now, and we alwaysorder too much by mistake, and i can always eat more.... time to go now, but not before saying that i am happier now that i havewritten to you than i was before. be good,raluca ps: mel, s'il te plait, passe cet email a dave meisels aussi. merci |
|
