A Chiang Mai Christmas
Co-Living is helping me
12/30 14:00 - Chiang Mai
12/29 02:00 - Orlando
I’m living in two time zones. It’s easy though, since it is exactly a 12 hour difference. If it were otherwise I’d be constantly checking the Clock app to tell me where in the day my mom (hi, mami) was.
We have reached the clearing through holiday festivities.
Christmas Eve was spent (hold on while I open my photos app to see what exactly I did; it’s a blur) grabbing a chai latte at THE coziest cafe, yoga on the rooftop of our hotel, Muay Thai (brutal), Secret Santa with the residents, and enjoying a Thai Christmas Eve dinner with a group of 12.
Christmas Day, Peyton and I went to another breakfast spot where I had my first chai latte of the day, getting back in time for me to join 2 friends from the hotel to yoga in the park. There wasn’t too much time after that before having to get ready and pick up food for the community potluck at the other co-living location. I had exactly 10 minutes before the bus arrived to pick the group up to grab our contribution.
The host pointed me to a restaurant two buildings down I could get a Chicken Red Curry + Rice dish (for only 50 baht?! aka $1.46 USD!). Unbelievable.
We are getting spoiled out here with the prices. I’m sorry in advance for the murmurs of complaints about price if you’re around us when we get back.
Naturally, we ate the day’s worth of food and waddled to the taxi to take us back to the hotel. And naturally, Peyton decided to embark on a grueling hike while another friend and I signed up for a 5pm Muay Thai class. If the day wasn’t already eventful, pretty much all our friends planned to go to a salsa/bachata bar that night. Many residents will be leaving for New Year’s, so we mustered the energy to get out there and get our hips moving. Another bedtime pushed.
We take a rod daeng to the bar after walking a bit since the taxis kept cancelling on us. To be expected because of how busy it was that night. These trucks are a lot of fun, but when there’s bumper to bumper traffic, the fumes start building in the street and filling the sitting area. We were a 4 minute walk from the destination by the time we figured it’d be faster (and better for our lungs) to hop out in traffic and walk. One of us collected the split fees and gave it to the driver through the window, then we were off.
On the second floor of a massive shopping plaza, we shifted our way through a crowded salsa dance club. Diet Cokes for us because breaking 10pm bedtime was the only transgression we were willing to make on our sleep quality that night. Bachata was loud and the floor was full. I turn to my group and all I saw were lost faces. I offer to help one of my friends get the footwork down in the very empty space away from the dance floor.
Learning the basic steps for bachata is extremely fun and easy, so I felt comfortable with my coaching. Midway through the first song, the rest of our group finds us and joins in. Heads of uncertain bystanders begin turning our way, wondering if this dance lesson could be where they can integrate into the fun. Away from the dance floor of bachata masters, we form a large group of beginners mirroring my 2-steps to the right, 2-steps to the left. No one is sitting anymore and the tripping over feet evolves into swaying hips and big smiles.
“Lindsay would be proud,” I say to Peyton as I think of our own dance teacher back home.
Hi! 🫶🏻