Drumming Song: Louder than sirens, louder than bells, sweeter than heaven and hotter than hell. (Florence and the Machine)

I have officially embraced Jay-Z and Alicia Key’s term “concrete jungle”. While I have spent time living in cities like Washington DC and Prague, there is no concrete “jungle” like Bangkok. I have been ending my days with a long run from where I live to Benjasiri Park. I have no idea exactly how far it is, but if I run the entire way it takes at least 40 minutes and the girls always seem to be shocked/ impressed by this feat. To be honest, I am too, but the beauty of running is that it’s just like everything else, it gets easier the more you do it.

With Florence & the Machine blaring through my earbuds, I feel as if I am gracefully gliding through Bangkok’s concrete jungle. I imagine dodging uneven pavement like I would the wild tree’s roots, the hanging telephone wires like the unruly vines of Tarzan and the sounds of screeching tires like the call of the wild Macaw hiding in the brush. Dusk turns the city a hazy blue/gray, somehow masking and transforming the bustling metropolis.

These runs give me clarity; my brain has time to relax and take a step back from the English lessons, Thai pronunciation and statistics on HIV/AIDS. Florence pushes me further and I think about where I was mentally when I got here and where I am now.

I never know what to expect when I leave on these adventures. But life comes to meet me, the world opens up, what may have just been a friendly hello anywhere else becomes a confidant and life long friend. Nothing ever truly becomes “familiar” and I wish this heightened sense of total awareness would stay with me forever.

Appreciate the details and the silence in the world’s loudest city.

What do you see? I see sunglasses, a regal staff, an old birds head and a skeleton key.

Take a step backwards and you will see the "canal" I run by every day.

My password card for the internet... I like.

Jam sesh.

Keep on keepin' on.

ABA