From December 25th to March 16th our life revolved around San Francisco. The weather was a huge change from living in warm Thailand. I wrapped myself in layer after layer and felt I looked like the Michelin Man. I'm sure I didn't look quite as bad as that but it's just I wasn't used to wearing much clothes at all, and to put 4 layers on to keep warm made me feel bloated. And the shoes. As I'd lived in flip flops/thongs for at least a year they felt like alien objects to my feet. I found myself tripping myself up on a fairly regular basis. Luckily I didn't trip too badly, mostly I managed to catch myself before either falling or making a complete idiot of myself.
The best part of being back in San Francisco was seeing and being with friends. It's great to be in email communication with everyone and it is absolutely a life saver to be able to reach out that way, but nothing can replace the presence of a warm body. Physical gesticulations, characteristics associated with each individual, I miss that part of interacting. It's just not possible to do it in email, even with emoticons or exclamations/smileys.
Early in January our Shanti sisters group set out for 3 days of getting away from it all in Carmel. It was a very special time. The 4 of us had last been together in Thailand at the beginning of the NATR days. To reunite in San Francisco a year later was something none of us ever thought of, or would have believed possible. Together we walked the beaches, visited the surrounding countryside, had picnic's on high cliffs while drinking Nicole's delicious wines. Stayed by the fire in the evenings cooking Thai food and reading Tarot cards. It was a cocoon time for us all. Shortly afterwards Lucy would head back to Botswana, Bonnie and Nicole would head back to their work and I'd head back to start classes at the Small Business Administration organization in San Francisco.
In February I happily took a day out with Scotia in Rockridge and we headed to the spa for a unique birthday celebration together. Her birthday is the day after mine. We treated ourselves to a massage and a body scrub. It felt so delicious. Afterwards we enjoyed lunch on the verenda looking out towards the city of San Francisco. What a great view.
Most days I was pretty busy attending classes. Learning how to write a Business Plan, how to understand company financials, how to prepare Financial Cash Flow projections, about marketing, sales, running a small business. I never thought I'd understand Schedule C taxes, but now I do! The goal in the end is to be able to run a small business. The classes showed me where my weak points are/were. I still have so much to learn.
I met a lot of people at class, some will stay in my world as they too are interested in what will happen in Costa Rica. My mentor will be watching over my shoulder as we progress through this wild idea. But the eco-resort in Costa Rica is a good while out yet. With building not possible in the wet season we have to wait until at least November. In the mean time I'm hoping to visit the area in May or June to suss out competition, what it will take to get an architect, talk with other people who've built there.
Leaving San Francisco on 16th March was easy and hard. I'll miss my friends once again, yet I come to Bangkok and have many friends here too. How lucky am I?
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