I met a monk

Saturday was a very special day for me because I actually got to chat with a monk. This is quite rare as monks are not suppose to converse with people of the opposite sex. Indeed, a woman should keep as much social distance between herself and a monk as she possibly can. Touching a monk or his robes by a woman is absolutely taboo.
I met the monk whilst visiting a temple in Bangkok. The monk invited me into the temple. He spoke good English as he is doing a thesis and the teaching is in English. He was very happy to answer my questions on meditation. He told me the importance of first concentrating on the inward-outward path of breathing. This is quite hard to do for more than a few minutes. I tried it, but was soon distracted by the sounds around me. I will need to master this before moving on to do further meditations.
The monk showed me some books about meditation and the Buddhist religion. As it is taboo for a monk to pass anything directly to a woman, he set down the books on the floor in front of me. I learnt that Buddhism 'is a way of life based on common sense, fine reasoning and the conviction that all life is sacred' Regardless of how big or small the creature is, no living thing should be killed. The also learnt that the purpose of meditation, an intrinsic part of Buddhism, is to calm ones mind. 'Only a peaceful mind can attain wisdom'.
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I visited a local 'salam' (slum)

The poor people of Thailand live in make shift houses made of corrugated sheets and wood. Their homes are very close together, with less than a foot between most of the houses. Surrounding the community are rivers of sewage. The raw waste from the houses flows into these rivers.
The homes are over crowed and basic with few items of furniture. Some houses are in better condition than others. The children I saw, wore western style clothes whilst their younger siblings ran around bare.
I can see the slums from my bedroom window and will often observe the children playing with 'muddy' water. I have not seen these children swimming in the rivers here but, in other places in Thailand, I have witness children enjoying playing in the black shallow rivers.

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I watch Cable TV

The family, whom I'm staying with, has cable television. This means that I have the chance to watch movies and programmes in English. I watch Star Trek on Tuesdays and X-files on Wednesdays. I also watch many other programmes too.

Thailand has six different tv channels, but all of these are in Thai.

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I explored the canals of Bangkok

I thought it would be lovely to catch a boat and explore the canals. Bangkok has numerous canals and so is often nicknamed "Venice of the East." But unlike romantic Venice canals, Bangkok's canals are polluted. People dump their rubbish and raw sewage flows into the canals. In some places it is so bad that the water is black. The stench is awful! The boats race up and down the canals creating much wash. The sides of the boats have sheets to protect you from the spray of passing boats. It is not a very pleasant journey but is one which is made often by many of Bangkok's commuters. The canals are the quickest way to get around the city. I don't think I would like to repeat the experience!

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I shop at Tesco's

I am sure this will surprise many of you. In Thailand there are many super stores called Tesco Lotus. They sell not only food but also electrical goods and clothing too. We do our weekly shopping in Tescos.