Most of the alms round was not too painful now and I was able to keep up with Tan C. but the last part on the dirt road and gravel was still unbearable. Tan S. the American monk helped me with a safety pin on my top to prevent my nipples from being exposed. According to the rules you cannot reveal your knees, belly button and nipples as it’s deemed indecent.

During Ovata I recognised familiar faces. My parents turned up a day earlier because my mum was so worried about the conditions. They brought lots of goodies in a monk sweater top, a blanket and a bigger torch. I wasn’t sure if this was allowed for monks but I guess I was given some leeway since I’m only here temporarily. Their inevitable casual bickering was a stark reminder that I had been in a blissful sanctuary. I suddenly realised that I have yet to witness any arguments or temperamental monks.

That realisation stuck with me constantly during meditation. For the next 4 days there will be a 3 hour meditation session from 1:30pm to 4:30pm. I struggled to sit for so long as my left knee was flaring up again. At Ban Por the walking meditation was done around a field but here it’s done back and forth along dedicated pathways, which took some getting used to. To start off with, I tried to do a sitting/walking/siting rotation (1 hour each) for the meditation but my knee still couldn’t manage. Tomorrow I’m going to try to do 4 sets for 45 minutes each instead to see if that will help.

My parents finally got to see the kuti that I was staying in. This was a special privilege for parents of monks practising at WPN. I wasn’t exactly sure how they felt about it but at least they’ve now seen it with their own eyes. I think my mum felt some relief as she assumed that the floor was next to the ground which would have attracted quite a number of things.

After they left I went back to the kuti to do some cleaning up before taking a quick nap. I think tomorrow I will just shower with the bucket under my kuti since there’s a tap provided there. Somehow the tukkae got inside the kuti and was sitting on the mosquito netting panel. I had to get a broom to push it outside the window and they’re much harder to scare off compared to standard house geckos. I guess I should be surprised that it took 5 days for it to finally get in.