Can’t believe it’s already been 10 days. I also had the best sleep so far last night as I only woke up once. Unfortunately I had to go some way down the path to use the toilet, so I’ll keep an empty bottle for that purpose.

This morning since Tan C. went with the abbot on his trip it was just Tan S., myself and another novice on the alms round. Somehow I managed to keep up with him. I’m not sure if he slowed down on purpose for me but we definitely got back at around the same time as the monks on the other routes, if not slightly earlier.

When I got back I got called to a small sitting area by Ajahn K. who’s an Australian monk. I thought I might have been in trouble. In fact he was doing some translation of a traditional cure for snake bites and wanted me to help him read some Thai out loud so he could record my voice along with his voice in English. Apparently this was an effective way for him to learn the language. It was rather fun and had some things to do with obscure plant roots and lime and all sorts.

I also found out from Nen P. that some other monks also only wear their outer robe on the alms round so it wasn’t just me. I felt a little better now as I think I finally learnt the trick to keeping the robes nice and high so it doesn’t drag along the road. Essentially you need to roll up the robes as tightly as possible and it needs to be secured for the entire walk. Once I got used to it, I could even roll it as I walked to keep it nice and tight.

I tried to take a nap but it was too warm in the kuti so I went and did some sweeping instead. The chores took a while as I decided to mop both the store room and the toilet block. Before that I went and did some reading in the library. I think I will make that part of my schedule. After the meal I should go read in the library, go back to clean the kuti then take a nap. It does seem to be getting warmer now though so I might have to nap earlier if at all. The metal alloy roof certainly doesn’t help. There’s always the sitting area underneath the kuti itself.

Evening chanting was the same as usual. I went back afterwards and chanted the 2 prayers Tan M. taught me. The 2 tukkaes were still there and one was near the door. I shone my torch on it and it scurried under the roof. I can only hope that they stay there for the foreseeable future.