The last few days have been absolutely magical and breathtaking, No words, phrases or photos can capture the mere beauty and aura that surrounds Thailand. To start off with, the 8 other individuals that constitute the group that will be accompanying me in the TESOL course to become certified english teachers, are truly all inspirational to me in their own ways. We all come from different parts of the United States, different colleges, different religions and different backgrounds. However, we all have this amazing ability to connect so personally and deeply with the other person. Its a breath of fresh air; we are all actually acting like young adults who aren’t consumed in drama and only consumed in relishing in each others presence.Today (Tuesday here in Thailand), we went to the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple in Chiang Mai, the tunnel temple and learned traditional muay thai. The Wat Phra Doi Suthep temple was, as my title suggests, indescribable. In order to get there, one must drive up the Doi Suthep mountain in the Chiang Mai province and walk up a flight of 300 stairs adorned with dragons as railings. I honestly do not know how to describe in words the tranquility and beauty of the temple. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. After, we drove to the tunnel temple where we had the opportunity to sit with a monk inside a temple and follow as he lead in a short period of mediation. After, we were blessed by the monk and were free to explore the tunnel temple and the surrounding area. Due to the long 15 hour day I had today or that fact that I really cannot put into words how incredible breathtaking the tunnel temple was, I will once again let the picture speak for themselves. After, we were transported to a muay thai studio (literally in the middle of nowhere) and was taught traditional muay thai. At this point in the day, we were all thoroughly exhausted and couldn’t communicate with the very nice men who were teaching us. However, we pushed through our exhausting and frustration and ended up having a fabulous time.As I reflect on such a magical experience, one of the things that truly stuck out to me was something the monk said to us after mediation: “anger is like junk food for the mind; it is toxic”. I have a lot of things to be angry about in my life right now, (like the fact that my sweet, loving mother has cancer and will always be battling cancer), and have surrendered myself many of times to my anger. However, every time I am angry with my situation I will always remember what the monk told us.
Wat Phra Doi Suthep Temple:
