A hectic week in Chiang Mai

Beloved --
On the suggestion of one of my fellow travelers in northern Thailand, I hurriedly booked another travel adventure through REI for two weeks in Laos and Cambodia.
That we were able to get the forms filled out and .pdf-ed back in a timely fashion is due to some very sharp Thai teenagers in a little internet cafe in Chiang Mai. They rallied behind my "cause" and stuck with it until everything--nine pages of signed documents--was "receipt acknowledged" at headquarters.
I did have time to explore more of Chiang Mai while waiting for the Lao/Cambodia trip to start. I moved to a Thai guest house to save a few bucks and spent time with some Theravada Buddhist monks who have daily "monk chats" to work on their (mostly) English language skills and explain Buddhism and Thai culture to anyone who spends time with them. Lots of people seem to be afraid to engage them, but I found them quite pleasant and informative. And the chat wasn't all "Where do you live?" Why did you become a monk?" "Why don't monks eat dinner?"
I asked them a lot about their practice of meditation--right meditation being part of the Eightfold Path. Their was much agreement that it was hard to eliminate "monkey mind" and come to a place off quietude and inner resources. The monks practice twice a day for an hour and a half each time. Their suggestion to us "farang" was not to imitate any uncomfortable physical position like the cross-legged posture--"You Europeans (sic) didn't grow up doing that." Rather find a place that is comfortable, so that the monkey mind doesn't grab onto fighting pain--"There is enough else to do," the monk assured me.
I'll get the Lao/Cambodia experience caught up soon. Both of those countries were beautiful, hot, and with troubled recent histories. But both are people by some charming characters.
I love you and miss you,
Jim