A New Yoga Teacher- Me

I took the second yoga class at TVC today- amazing. I did Bikram’s on my balcony yesterday and it felt wonderful, but there’s something different about enjoying the experience with others that made today exciting and replenishing. Trish, a girl from Seattle, taught tonight for the first time and she did a great job. It was very different from Jen’s class on Tuesday, wonderful in its own way. My desire to try teaching yoga has grown significantly since Tuesday. I shared this desire with Trish and she invited me to teach next week, so I’ll be thinking about what flow of postures I can put together for a sensational yoga class. What an incredible opportunity!

Shout out to my parents for sending me a care package full of organic, whole grain oatmeal (the fact that I’m writing about oatmeal says something about the lack of several healthy foods I’ve grown accustomed to in the US) and coloring books, games, etc. for the kids. Looking through all of the cards and stickers got me excited about teaching again. Thank you! Perfect timing since we start teaching again on Monday. Unfortunately, this means that tomorrow is my last day at Thaikea. Steve, the project manager who has been here for 5 months, will be leaving this week as well. He is a great example to me of a great person and an excellent manager (values everyone’s opinion, encourages group decisions, includes us in everything that is going on with Thaikea, and has a heart that is truly vested in what he is doing to help rebuild community and normality here). He showed us a video with pictures of Thaikea from a few months ago to remind us what it’s all about, especially during this “sticky time” where finances and the future of Thaikea are uncertain and plans are changing on a daily basis. Then, he began crying because he the realization that he is leaving very soon had just hit him. If you want to learn more about Thaikea and how it has evolved over the past 5 months, or if you’re interested in coming over and participating in such a rebuilding effort, visit Steve’s blog (http://www.ontheline.org.nz/diary/). I think there is currently more information there about the Thaikea than is on TVC’s website (http://www.tsunamivolunteer.net).

Other great news- the playground project that we have been building furniture for celebrated its completion today. We were asked to create a basketball hoop for the court 2 hours before the party, and of course Thaikea delivered! As some of the guys were installing the hoop, a little Thai boy waited anxiously with a basketball in hand to take the first shot. It was such a positive experience to see local Thai’s and TVC volunteers celebrating the completion of this community project that is sure to bring life and good energy back into the village.

Team Thaikea with local villagers