Almost French

Thanks again to my literary patroness B for the next book on my reading list... Almost French by Sarah Turnbull

Plot
Aussie girl meets Parisian boy, they fall in love, settle down and live happily ever after.... you know, eventually. ;)

Motto
C'est la vie.

Opinion
I've read a fair few travel memoirs since coming to Thailand. I have a common complaint against all of them, and it is admittedly unreasonably. They are all written by ... writers. Not just writers, but worse, *journalists*. I don't know, it gives all the books the same flavor. Yes, they still experience the highs and lows, the adventures of travel. And they, in general, express themselves well. But I get tired of reading about how they go to point A to interview so & so, and they go to point B to interview so & so. It ends up being as much of a behind the scenes look at being a writer as it is about the places they actually go to. I'd really like to read about the adventures of an average Joe/Jane who travels for a change. If you know of such a book - tell me!


That petty complaint out of the way.... let's move on to the real criticisms. Do you know, I think what I enjoy most about reading travel memoirs is picking on the author/adventurer. I'm so bad. Actually, my one complaint is that she spends a fair amount of time in the beginning of the book moaning about how she's stuck in her apartment all day and I just wanted to scream at her "SO GO OUTSIDE!" Yeah, she's far from the center of town, yeah, she doesn't have anyone to go with. I guess I just have no tolerance for people who can't solve a basic problem like "I"m bored because I'm stuck inside all day." Rayong is about as far from Paris as you can get and still... if I walk out my front door, I'm 10 times more likely to have some kind of interaction, some kind of excitement or adventure as I would be if I just stayed in my room all day. OK - seriously... all complaints over now!



While she's nowhere near as funny as Bill Bryson, I did smile as she went through the trials and tribulations of adjusting to a new culture. She mortifies her boyfriend by wearing sweatpants to the bakery "It's not nice for the baker!" he exclaims. While interviewing a top military officer she uses the informal 'tu' form (noting that his own wife probably uses the 'vous' form with him) and bids him a very casual "bye bye". She goes through the typical stages of culture shock, initial fascination, then struggle & resentment, and eventually acceptance. Gradually she begins to understand more about French culture and French people. She adapts in some ways, learning to stand up for herself against rude service people, beginning to dress better, and of course, buying a dog. But in important ways she learns to accept herself as she is, coming to terms with the fact that she will never be fully French nor will she ever again be fully Australian. Overall it's a sweet read with a few interesting insights into life in Paris.



It's hardly a life-changing book, but it's a good light read. And well, I guess it would be mandatory reading for anyone involved in any kind of long-term relationship with a Frenchman (cough cough B cough cough =P ). Recommended for Francophiles!


TAG: Code Watermelon

Not my farang

Remember when all I would ever write about were my adventures in trying to feed myself? Well I seem to have mastered that skill, and have a few extra kilos on my frame to show for it. Apparently my dramatic weight loss was not meant to last. Mai bpen lai!

The Dive - it looks nasty, but the food is delicious.

My most recent favorite dish here has been moo tot kratiem - pork fried with garlic. OMG - yum! There's just a ton of crunchy garlic in each plateful, but it's not excessively strong. I think the frying helps mellow out the flavor. I'm not sure what else they use to cook the pork, but it is mighty tasty. Before I leave here, I'm going to have to work up the courage to ask them how they make it because I cannot go home without being able to make this dish.

No Thai table is complete without a roll of toilet paper and a jar of toothpicks. Classy!

However, after eating moo tot kratiem day after day after day after day, it began to occur to me that I might want to eat a few veggies once in a while. Thus far the only veggie-rich dish I've been able to order has been pad pak loom (stir fried veggies with...pork, chicken, whatever). It's pretty tasty and the kind of thing most food shops can make. But it's often pretty heavy on the tomatoes and baby corn. I'm just not a fan of cooked tomatoes or baby corn. Not eating half the veggies in my 'stir fried veggies' kinda defeated the purpose of me ordering it, so lately I've been ordering fried rice and hoping for a lot of cabbage and carrots.

Recently I talked to a student about my dilemma (I love having pre-intermediate / intermediate students for a change!). She gave me the name of another vegetable to order - pak boon (morning glory in English), but my pronunciation was so bad that she recommended another one - broccoli. Amazingly the word is the same in Thai and English, even more amazingly I really really really like broccoli, next to carrots and snap peas it's one of my favorite veggies. She also passed on some even more useful information. I'd been told to ask for my food "mai pet"/"not spicy" but she explained that in Thailand "mai pet" means only put one or two chilies in, not six or seven (which explained why my food was still too spicy for me), but that if I really wanted it not to be spicy I needed to say "mai sai prik" "don't put chilies in it."





So the next night I went to the market - found a booth with some broccoli out front and ordered chicken and broccoli, without chili peppers. Ordering new dishes is always a bit of a gamble, so I was *delighted* when that is exactly what I got. YUM. Buoyed by my success, the next day I noticed some asparagus in a basket at The Dive and decided to try ordering it. I asked what the word for it was in Thai, "nor mai falang" which sounds a lot like "not my farang (foreigner)" which makes it blessedly easy to remember. I then ordered asparagus with chicken, without chilies. Success! Delicious success!

Remember - eat with your spoon, the fork is just for moving the food onto the spoon.

Last night I went out to dinner and attempted yet another coup. I decided to try Som Tam (papaya salad - practically the national dish of Thailand) using my new & startlingly effective phrase "mai sai prik". It was awesome! Because they use a giant wooden mortar and pestle to make it (and why would they ever wash it out between batches?) there was plenty of spice left over from the previous 7 chili version to give it some kick. It was tangy and refreshing and while my mouth was tingling, it was not burning. You have no idea how relieved I am. Every time I had to tell my students that I didn't like Som Tam it was like I'd insulted their Mom's apple pie. Now I can tell them that I love it and hopefully regain a little face. A very little since, you know... without the 7 chillies, it's not exactly the real thing.

Som Tam mai sai prik

Finally... it's fruit season here! In fact last Sunday was the famous Rayong Fruit Festival... so famous that my students neglected to tell me about it until *after* it was over. Another drawback to not speaking Thai is not being able to understand any of the signs or news stories about exciting events around town. Fortunately I have not completely missed out on fruit season. I've already had two near-durian experiences (this afternoon I was at an open air cafe and some people in the street were snacking... again I smelled it far before I saw it). They call durian the king of fruits, and to every Yin there must be a Yang. Mangosteens are the Queen. I've been given two free bags full of mangosteens, first by the lady at the coffee shop, and then by my laundry lady. And the other day, my driver gave me a lapful of mangosteens as we drove to my off-campus class (and I had fun practicing my Thai "I have mangosteen, 7 pieces." nom nom nom "I have mangosteen, 6 pieces." nom nom nom). They are so yummy. Very sweet and slightly tangy.

The fruit is in sections sort of like an orange. One or two of the sections will have a big seed (and the flesh clings to it like a mango) but most of the sections will have only tiny soft seeds you can eat. The texture of the flesh is somewhat peach-like, but the flavor is almost like a grape... a very sweet, very ripe grape with a touch of citrus or perfume to it. (btw - have you guys ever tried describing the flavor of a fruit to someone who probably hasn't tried it before? It's nearly impossible! I mean, honestly how would you describe 'banana'?)

Finally I got the nerve up to try a custard apple (no idea what the Thai name is). It's ugly but it's really good.

The black seeds are really heavy & hard (and there are a lot of them) but they're easy to separate from the fruit. They make quite a clunk when you spit them out onto the plate. The flesh is, well, custardy, soft, not too stringy not too grainy. And the flavor... this one I can peg exactly! It tastes like honey-suckle nectar. Delicious!

Of course, somewhere in the midst of all this culinary exploration I picked up my latest digestive bug... so you know, I'm back to Ritz crackers, Pepsi & now that I have an appetite again - a double cheeseburger at McDonalds. DON'T JUDGE ME! Industrial food has it's merits you know.

TAG: Code Mango (you know, up until I woke up puking ;) )

I'm siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick

Gah!!!

I had a plan.

I looked at my schedule and the easiest day I had was Tuesday, a class from 3-5pm and another from 5:30-7:30pm. I thought - this will be a good day to spend the morning at the coffee shop and update my blog, do a little more work on my exit strategy, and basically be productive in a non-work kind of way. Well, the best laid plans...

I got up at around 6am (sunrise, roosters crowing, dogs barking -sleeping in rarely happens). And after hanging out on line for a little while I started to feel sick. That's odd I thought - I really feel like I'm going to puke.

You know, it always feels a little unreal. Like - I'm not really going to puke am I? But sure enough... I spent the better part of the day running in and out of the bathroom. For a while I pulled a pillow in with me and just passed out on the floor. I hate hate hate that feeling when you're sick and you don't even know which end to point towards the toilet. Gah!

By about 11am I realized I wasn't going to be feeling better any time soon so I called in sick. That's one of the lousy things about my job. If I call in sick, it matters. Either my class gets postponed or another teacher has to cover my class at the last minute. It sucks. But I've done enough covering of other people's classes that I don't feel too guilty. And having tried to teach while sick before I knew I just wouldn't be able to handle it.

So I spent the day moaning and groaning and spending quality time in my bathroom... you know, wishing I'd cleaned more recently and all. In the afternoon things were quieting down, so I just went to sleep. Unfortunately when I woke it was nearly 11pm and after finish the water bottle I'd brought to bed with me, I realized I didn't have any more bottled water in my apt. Gah!

I got up, got dressed, and headed out in search of water. There's a little restaurant and a couple mom & pop shops near my apartment but I was worried they'd be closed and I'd have to walk all the way to 7-11. Fortunately the restaurant nearest my building was still open. I bought 4 bottles of water and I must have looked pretty pathetic because she threw an extra one in for free.

I managed to sleep all night but I'm still feeling pretty crummy this morning. And the worst part is, I honestly don't know what made me sick this time. You know, if I could figure it out, I'd have half a chance at avoiding it in the future. I know I didn't eat any raw seafood this time. But I did try a new fruit (custard apple), I've been eating a lot of fruit actually. But I've been gorging myself on mangosteen for at least a week or two and they hadn't made me sick before. I've been eating more veggies though... so this is added evidence against the Dive and their sketchy cleaning practices. ugh. Ok... no more veggies at the Dive, and we'll see how it goes.


Next time you think "I'd love to live abroad!" just remember - it's only glamorous in retrospect!


TAG: Code Fish Sauce

Notes from one small island to another...

Notes from a Small Island is a book I was meant to read. Days after I'd picked up a copy at a used bookstore in Pattaya, another copy appeared in a care package from a friend (thanks B!). I figured the most appropriate way to start this book was by taking it to my own small island - Ko Samet. Let me tell you, the islands could not be more different!





Plot
For his last hurrah after spending 8 odd years living in Britain, Bryson decides to take one last trip around the island. Relying heavily on public transportation, he visits big cities and obscure towns.



Motto
Ooooh lovely.




Opinion
Bill Bryson is one of the most hilarious writers I've read... he is simultaneously one of the most boring travelers I could possibly imagine. I alternated between arguing with his outlook on travel & life in general, waiting in vain for the book to get 'interesting', and laughing out loud at his observations of mundane British life. "When the program finished.... Mrs. Smegma came in with a tray of tea things and a plate of biscuits... and everyone stirred friskily to life, rubbing their hands keenly and saying 'ooh, lovely.' To this day, I remain impressed by the ability of Britons of all ages and social backgrounds to get genuinely excited by the prospect of a hot beverage."






The main issue I take with Bryson is his travel philosophy. He has a tendency to pick his travel destinations somewhat whimsically and then gets annoyed when there is limited transportation to these out of the way little towns and villages. He rarely spends more than a day or two in a given place; falling into the bus-backpack-beer-bed trap. He doesn't make much of an effort to interact with the locals. He doesn't eat local specialties, opting for Chinese food more often than not.






He also seems to have a very set idea of what and importantly when a city should look like. He's nostalgic for a charming, cobblestone, Dickensian Britain... one that probably never existed in the first place. He decries the encroachment of chain stores like Boots and Marks & Spencer into old market squares...and turns his nose up at 'tourist' attractions. But then he gets irritated when certain towns close up shop in the evening and he's left without a decent place to get dinner. He never seems to grasp that most cities can not be judged by their value as day trip destinations alone. Some cities are just places for normal people to live and work and have families and watch TV and do their everyday not-all that-charming activities. Most workplaces are not built to be shown off on the pages of Architectural Digest.






As far as his explorations go... he's more than a little ambitious. I couldn't keep track of the number of cities he visited, let alone absorb any meaningful details about any of them. I think to enjoy this book you must have lived or at least traveled extensively in Britain. Then it all becomes one long inside joke. But as an outsider looking in, nothing he says really inspires me to visit any of these places. Which is odd because England and Scotland are on the top of my 'must visit' list.






Despite my issues with Bryson, I nevertheless found myself bursting into laughter almost every time I picked up the book... so clearly, he's doing something right. I think it's his whole understated manner, his amusement at the mundane, and well, his writing style that I like so much. So very much, in fact, that when I went to Ban Phe to trade it in at the secondhand bookstore I picked up Down Under - his book about Australia. But first, perhaps, I should read something a little more exciting. ;)


TAG: Code Watermelon

It had to happen sooner or later...

I may have mentioned how much I hate Saturdays. Well, today was something special. I went up to my class and some of the kids in the classroom across the hall were SCREAMING. I mean, there's the usual level of ruckus you'd expect from a hundred kids tromping up and down stairs going in and out of classes, but these girls were putting out hypersonic squeels that nearly made my eardrums bleed. I looked in the door to see if a teacher was there but didn't see anyone, so I poked my head in and shushed them good. Of course then I turned around and noticed that the teacher *was* in there, just sitting at her desk preparing for the class. D'oh! I said a quick 'sorry' and left. But ooooh, not okay to go in and discipline another teacher's kids... but honestly - I couldn't believe she could sit there and even attempt to look at her book with the kids screeching like that.


Have I mentioned that I don't like kids?


Anyway, with that pleasant little encounter, and three hours of class behind me I came downstairs to get ready for round two. There's a computer set up in the hallway near the teacher's room for the kids to play on before & after class. No problem except when the kids all pull up chairs and make it impossible for teachers to actually *get* to the teacher's room.


This particular day I was attempting to maneuver around the kids when the most horrid smell I've ever encountered wafted over to me. At first it smelled like some unholy combination of body odor and garbage. But a second later there was a wave of eau d'industrial cleaner. When I opened the door into the teachers lounge it was almost unbearable.


"Oh you missed your opportunity to try Durian!" said Jim, an older teacher from England.
"Is *that* what that was?!" I replied stifling my gag reflex to the best of my abilities.


Despite the fact that the durian had been consumed and disposed of before I got there I could still smell it - FROM THE HALLWAY! That's some powerful stank! I'd had no particular desire to try durian in the first place... but this just solidified it in my mind. No way, no how. If I never see or smell it again, I'll be just fine!


I left the teacher's room as soon as I could, but still had to make a couple trips back in there for one thing or another. Gah! Horrid. Jim stated, quite placidly that while he liked the fruit he was slightly bothered by the disinfectant they use on it (the second layer I smelled). Good LORD it was nasty! It's like the smell of every bodily function left to simmer in the sun by the side of the road absorbing a day or two's worth of pollution. The idea of someone eating it - it just boggles my mind. I really wonder if it's a genetic thing or not - your ability to tolerate the smell/taste of durian.


But I'm really not willing to investigate the matter.


TAG: Code Durian (Get me the hell out of the teacher's room!)

Chatuchak Market

As I see more and more of Thailand, I'm really coming to appreciate the advantages of living in Rayong. One of the strongest advantages is that there's just nothin' going on here. The people are generally normal work-a-day family types. As an American, I'm enough of a novelty that I get some degree of special treatment, but not so exotic as to be stared at every time I leave the house. Rayong has no tourist appeal whatsoever, so the prices are not inflated. With rent at 3,000 baht/month and food as low as 150 baht/day (although I often splurge on cha yen & trips to Starbucks, in theory...) I could easily save about $300 US a month.


Of course I'm *not* saving up that much, but that's largely because of advantage #2. Location, location, location! Rayong is, as I'm sure I've mentioned, just a 45 minute songthaew ride from the beach - add in another hour for the ferry, and you're on a tropical resort island. Not too shabby. Bangkok is just a two hour minivan ride away. With the rainy season approaching, and glorious sunny days retreating, I've been making more trips to Bangkok and fewer to the beach.


I like approaching Bangkok as a day-trip destination. I can generally do one or two things at a leisurely pace and then be home before bedtime. It's not nearly as stressful as trying to fit in a whole day of sightseeing. Although I generally end up spending an obscene amount of time in the malls, it's nice to know that I *could* come back next week and do something different.


Last Sunday I came with an agenda. I was going to go shopping at Chatuchak market. Back in the day, in my cozy little apartment in Portland, I would watch Globe Trekker and dream of going abroad. One episode had a bit about shopping in Bangkok - both at the big mall and at Chatuchak... I saw the episode a couple of times and I'm not ashamed to say that it did factor into my decision to come to Thailand. So it's very exciting for me to be able to go someplace that I saw on TV. It is quite literally like a dream come true.


I had visited Chatuchak briefly with Bunny and Bobby, but this time I was going on my own, and I was going with a plan: "Spend hours getting lost among the trinkets, acquire an indecent amount of silk at even more indecent prices, and take a ton of pictures so I have something to blog about other than the trials and tribulations of my bowels." And with that:





Chatuchak (or Jatujak as the locals call it) is HUGE. There are a couple of wide 'main streets' through the market, but mostly it's a maze of hot, dark, crowded, little alleyways. I had (and used) two different maps to keep my bearings, and still ended up getting lost & wandering around in circles. There were stalls of art - paintings, carvings and sculpture, kitchen ware, fake flowers, clothing, clothing, clothing, clothing, jewelry, garden supplies, animals, knives & other weapons, and of course silk. Unfortunately, a lot of the more interesting stalls (live bunnies in froo froo dresses, ethnic folk art eg: blue jeans & American Country Music) had signs prohibiting photography... and when I got to the silk, I got a bit distracted (oooh pretty!!!) and completely forgot to take pictures. Trust me... there's a ton and it's all gorgeous.



The number one rule is - if you see something you like, buy it. Yeah, you think you'll be able look around for a minute then come back to it, but don't count on it. There's just too much to see. Last time I saw a beautiful black lacquer box with abalone inlays and try as I might I couldn't find it anywhere this time. I did find several stalls of used books, and a bling-o-riffic stall of accessories.

bling & books

The number two rule of the market is - stay hydrated! So after shopping for a good long time I stopped and had a sandwich & an iced tea. Now I want you to fully appreciate the irony of that statement. Back in Portland I would regularly go down to the Saturday Market and order a plate of Pad Thai from the woman in the purple food-cart (good stuff btw - you should check her out, it's just a few cockroaches shy of authentic ;) ). And now I've come all this way to Thailand, and further spent two hours in a minivan to come to Bangkok the very heart of Thailand... and what did I do? I ate a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread. Ironic yes. But I am not ashamed!


It didn't take long for me to break the number one rule. I had done a quick survey of various silk stalls (there are several scattered here and there, but one section with a fairly high concentration of them) but didn't buy anything on the first round. So then I had to do some wandering to find them again. In the process I passed a quaint bar / cafe positively hidden in the labyrinth of stalls. I thought briefly about stopping for a bite to eat, but I wasn't hungry and was determined to pick up some silk while I was in the proper area... so I violated the number one rule again (it's really more of a guideline anyway).


After employing an aisle by aisle criss-cross search pattern, I found the shop I'd perused earlier and treated myself to three very nice scarves. They were cheap compared to what you would pay in the states... but I'm not making dollars anymore so it was a calculated splurge. You know, I'm almost afraid I'll wish I'd bought more when I get home!

mmmmmm.... silk!

Then once more into the fray... I sought out some souvenirs for friends back home, restocked my supply of postcards, and admired some jewelry. In one of the main roads through the market there were street musicians. This kid was one of the better ones.

Eventually I found the hidden bar/cafe again, ordered a cha yen and spent a good long time reading, writing postcards and generally soaking up the ambiance.



As much as I may complain about the cockroaches and my schedule and my crappy little apartment, I want you to know that I never for a minute take for granted that I'm living the dream. I know (or at least I hope) that one day I'll be back in Portland spending my nights sitting on the couch watching Globe Trekker again. And when I do, I'll know that I lived as fully as I could while here and took the juiciest bite I could out of the big mango!

TAG: Code Mango

Prawns by a nose!

Well... do prawns even have noses? Yeah, it probably was the raw prawn. My antibiotics helped, sort of. I've still got some digestive issues, but I think those are diet related. Of course what am I doing? Sitting here eating candy, I'm sure that's not helping the situation.

Gah!

I'm teaching a ton, I was at work from 9am to 9pm today, and thought I'd have all tomorrow morning to write long post, but found out that I'll have a 9am class tomorrow... and on Wednesday I'll be working another 9am - 9pm day.

GAH!

TAG: Code Fish Sauce

Again?!? Really?!?

I've managed to pick up yet another intestinal bug. YUMMY! Gah! It's not as bad as the first two, but I'm definitely not happy about the constant tummy ache. I'm not entirely sure how I got it this time either. What do you think:




1. For the past few weeks I'd been seeing all these tables set up outside... literally everywhere. They'd be covered in plastic and have all these brown circles on them - about maybe 5 inches in diameter, a thin layer of who knows what. They were just out there in the sun, out with the flies and the motorbike exhaust etc. Well, my laundry lady has been giving me mangoes from her tree. Apparently they're in season, and it's like zucchinis here. Everyone's giving them away. One day, as she was handing me mangoes she also handed me one a rolled up brown thing - one of the circles I'd seen. Homemade mango fruit leather! It was really yummy. But now that I'm sick... I wonder.

Free mangoes... most assuredly *not* the culprit

2. As part of Bunny & Bobby's farewell bash the teachers and even some of the school staff all went out to dinner together. It was more or less family style, and the Thai gals did a lot of the ordering. Someone handed me a plate of Som Tam (spicy papaya salad) with seafood in it. I took a bit with a prawn in it and had it in my mouth before I realized the prawn was raw. I, foolishly, ate it anyway thinking what the heck - I eat sushi! But my last intestinal battle was brought on by eating Som Tam with raw crab. So... I wonder.

3. I usually eat at the Dive... the dingy nasty fly-infested restaurant near the school. It's a nasty nasty place I promise you. But the food is awesome, seriously tasty! And cheap! It's 35 baht ($1)for a plate of fried rice, or my favorite, the garlic fried pork. These dishes would go for easily $7 - $10 in the states, and probably not taste as good. So it's where we all eat. And usually I'm fine, but lately I've been trying to eat more vegetables. And my eating vegetables has coincided with this recent digestive unpleasantness. Ordinarily I wouldn't blame nice wholesome veggies... but I've recently learned that they wash the veggies in what passes for the 'toilet' (bathroom) here. I've yet to venture into the toilet...it looks something not unlike a porta-potty off on the corner of a building. One hopes that they are merely using the sink to get water and washing the veggies in a nice clean area using soap and all. But now my stomach cramps started right after a nice big plate of stir fried veggies & noodles, so I wonder....

Bunny at the Dive

4. Then of course, there is the Swine Flu, which you know, hasn't actually been transmitted from swine to humans and turns out to be only about as dangerous as the average flu. Which... you know... still kills a lot of people every year. But hardly the apocalyptic pandemic the media would love to be reporting on at the moment. Nevertheless, I have been eating a lot of pork fried with garlic lately, so I wonder....

5. Finally, not that this is a blatant cry of self pity or anything... but perhaps my recent bout of malaise is due to a serious lack of correspondence. One can never be too sure about these things.

What do you think? Cast your vote in the nifty little poll thingy on the side ------>

In any case I started a course of anti-biotics this morning and will hopefully have this bug kicked by the end of the week. Aren't you glad you tuned in today?

TAG: Code Fish Sauce

Kuhn Deeo again

Bunny and Bobby are off to Vietnam for three weeks. After that they'll spin back through Thailand for a few days, then they're off to Russia and across through Europe before flying back to the States. I'm only a little bit jealous. All of that back-packing would be a bit much for me. But they're a couple of crazy kids... so more power to them.


And I'm back to being kuhn deeo (person alone). It started immediately. I stopped in at this new restaurant next to my apartment to grab some bottled water. Literally the moment I stepped into the place, this man sitting there started the "Hello, where you come from?" conversation and asked if I wanted to eat something. I said I'd eaten already, and he made the "oh, kuhn deeo?" comment. This is one of those cultural things I just can't adjust to. Thai people simply don't do things alone. I'm an anomaly.


One of my (intermediate) students mentioned visiting his girlfriend in Chiang Mai over the last holiday and I asked what he did.
Student: "Stayed at home."
Me: "What? Why?"
Student: "No car."
Me: "Um.... they have songthaews there... and tuk tuks... and taxis."
Student: "Maybe with my girlfriend, but she was working - no day off."
Me: "So, you didn't go to Doi Su Thep?"
Student: "No."
Me: "You didn't go to the zoo?"
Student: "No."
Me: "Did you go to the old city?"
Student: "No."
Me: "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Ok... I didn't say it like that. But I did tell him I'd spent a month in Chiang Mai and explored as much as I could within my budget and communication abilities. He just seemed to think it was normal that you would travel 900 miles to a whole different city just to stay at home watching TV for a week if you didn't have anyone to go places with.


The thing is, I understand, I *totally* get it. Going all over the place is not nearly as much fun as going with friends. But I guess I got to a point in my life where there just weren't many other people around who wanted to do the same things I did. I had to decide that I could just sit around moping, or I could get off my ass and do the things I wanted to do anyway. I think it's obvious which choice I made. Honestly, doing things on my own is probably only about 60% as much fun as doing them with someone else. But still... that's 60% more fun than sitting at home just wishing I were out and about.


There were supposed to be two or three new teachers to replace the ones that are leaving in May... but so far each one has cut & run at the last minute. This not only will I be friendless for a bit while they try to hire new teachers (fingers crossed for some cool 30 something Aussies), I'll also be insanely busy this month, covering all the extra classes. I guess that's okay though. Keeping busy will distract me from my lack of social life, and my (hopefully temporary) lack of a social life will let me save up some money.


So that's my thrilling & exotic life for the moment... eating fried rice alone and teaching, teaching, teaching.



TAG: Code Watermelon

Feats of Strength...

Ok, it's not Festivus...it's something better: Michael5000 Decathlon 2009 . I probably should have sent you all over there in time for Event 1... but there's still actually time to get in on some of the fun. This week's event is "Physical Prowess" to which I submit my entry...

Living in Thailand

No, technically it's not "athletic" but I believe I have encountered and overcome a number of physical challenges in a manner that approaches 'prowess'. Including, but not limited to:

- outrunning rabid dogs
- crossing 8 lanes of crazy Thai traffic, on foot
- riding side-saddle on the back of a speeding motorbike while carrying a load of groceries.
- attempting to scuba-dive
- successfully snorkeling
- doing unbloggable things to a local boy, using only a couple dozen words of shared vocabulary.
- eating street food without a clue what it was
- eating food so spicy it's made me cry
- consuming my body weight in fried rice
- consuming my body weight in alcohol
- battling two intestinal viruses
- riding in ferries of questionable sea-worthiness
- vanquishing cockroaches from my apartment
- losing and sustaining the loss of about 10 kg.
- kayaking in the Anadaman Sea
- despite my still rather substantial & flabby gut, frolicking on the beach and even smiling while allowing people to take my picture (a tremendous act of body confidence that no Thai girl, and few American girls I've met can match!)
- being hit by a car and keeping my feet
- playing badminton for the first time

I feel that this list of activities I have done, and am continuing to do are spectacular given my previous hobbies of knitting and quilting, which in all but the most extreme forms (ie: Hat Wars) are generally performed in the butt-on-couch position. But I fear that most will be rejected on the basis of that pesky "between now and the deadline" requirement. So therefore I will submit my most recent attempt at physical prowess.

Last night I went skinny dipping in the moonlight, with a co-ed group of friends & fellow teachers. And while this transpired on a tropical island... it was by no means deserted! This was the first time I've ever swum nekkid in the ocean (oh and there was a substantial amount of actual swimming!), and I have to say - I highly recommend it, although probably not anywhere north of 20 degrees latitude. =P I hope this brave departure from my usual level of self consciousness and inhibition alone will push me to the top of the rankings in physical prowess. If not.... well, I'll try to wrestle an elephant on the way home. ;)


TAG: Code Mango

Worlds Apart

I just finished reading two books that probably couldn't be more different if they'd tried.

First I'm finally getting around to reading all the Jane Austen books that I've seen as movies, most recently Pride and Prejudice. Set in a country neighborhood in regency England, it focuses on the romantic lives of the five Bennet daughters. Major crises involve a scandalous elopement, rejected proposals and misjudgements of characters. Everyone lives happily ever after.

Naturally I followed that up with Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. Set, largely, in outerspace in some unstated time in the future, it focuses on the highly traumatic childhood of one Ender Wiggen, potential savior of mankind. Major crises involve a sadistic older brother bent on ruling the world, interpersonal combat between Ender and other children, and interstellar battles - the outcome of which will determine the future of humanity. A good bit of death & destruction in the final couple chapters.

I have to say... I love both of these books. It's nice to get lost in Jane Austen's world of manners and small town dramas. While I'm glad I didn't actually have to live through that particular time period... it's a fun and romantic place to visit. And as for Ender... the psychological thrill ride is engaging even though this is my third or fourth time reading it.


On my own psychological thrill ride through Thailand, I'm feeling about as far from my life back in the States as I could possibly feel. I miss it, and I feel homesick. But I know that I don't really have a home there anymore. Wherever I go, whatever I do when I'm done here in Thailand... I'll have to start over from scratch. Yeah, I know people in Portland, and obviously I know the city and the language. But I'll need to find a job, a place to live and spend some time and energy rebuilding friendships. I've changed a lot. I'm not going to fit back into the same slot I was in when I left. It's unsettling. I know I shouldn't worry about things like that... cross that bridge when I come to it and all. I can't help it though... worrying about the future is one of those traits that doesn't seem to be changing much. ;)

So I have a question for those of you who have lived abroad... how did you know when it was time to come 'home'... and what were the biggest adjustments you had to make?


TAG: Code Sticky Rice

Nothing exciting happened today.

I tried to go to Ko Samet today to give snorkling another go. However the weather was not cooperating. It was suspiciously cloudy when Bunny and I left the apartment. We made it out to Ban Phe before the rain started... and it was quite a storm. So we hid out in Christie's Pub lingering over breakfast, writing postcards and reading. Not exactly what I'd planned, but altogether not a bad way to spend the morning.


The rain did stop, but the sun never fully emerged from the clouds. So we're hanging out in a little cafe...unfortunately for my weightloss hopes, we're starting to find all the cute little coffee shops and cafes hidden around town. It's actually Bunny & Bobby's last week. Their six month contract is up at the end of the month, then they'll be heading out on a three month backpacking tour through Asia & Europe. I'm a bit jealous....but mostly I'm going to miss them.


TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Songkran Holiday: Koh Phi Phi

On our last morning in Phuket I discovered that in my adventuring the previous night I'd managed to break my glasses. It was just the arm, but it was snapped clean off. Fortunately there was a glasses shop not far from our hotel. I wandered in and, looking pathetic, asked if there was any way they could fix my glasses. Alas no. For those of you who are counting, that's two pairs down, and my last back up pair was sitting in my apartment in Rayong. Fortunately the shop was able to recreate my prescription from the lenses I had, and an hour or so later I had a brand new, sturdier, pair of glasses. Can I just say though... one should never be forced to pick out new glasses while hung over, or in my case, possibly still drunk. Ugh.

Me and my new glasses cruising around Phi Phi Ley

Eyewear crisis averted, we hopped on a ferry to Ko Phi Phi. I was still in a bit of a funk, but the ferry ride was the perfect antidote. There were plenty of seats inside the cabin, but I went out on deck sat down with my feet over the side and just enjoyed looking out over the water and feeling the sun & wind on my face. Every once in a while we'd hit a wave cross ways so I'd get a nice splash. Seeing the Phi Phi island growing closer was also really cool. I can't do justice to it with words... so here are some pictures.

Phi Phi Don

Long Beach - Phi Phi Don

Possibly Phi Phi Ley

We'd planned to go snorkeling while on Phi Phi, as it's supposed to have the best diving in Thailand. And once on the island you couldn't toss a speedo without hitting a dive shop or an advertisement for a snorkeling excursion. Back in HS I'd nearly gotten my Scuba certificate, but wasn't allowed to do the open water exercise due to my asthma. But the temptation to try again was overwhelming. And... as this is Thailand, little things like health restrictions don't really matter. So I signed up, and the next morning I was on the boat headed out for a discovery dive.

Sitting waiting for my discovery dive to begin.

The other first-time divers and I got a quick lesson on Scuba safety on the way out to the first dive sight. I was the only native English speaker in the group, so the instructor had quite a time making sure everyone understood all the important things. He had the patience of a saint and the calm demeanor you would want from someone you're about to trust with your life. As we got suited up and ready to go, he told me. "I think you're going to be my star student." Feeling nervous, all I could say was "We'll see."


You guys know how much I love the ocean. I spend as much time as I can at the beach, I'm a solid if not a particularly fast or graceful swimmer, and thanks to a couple years of taking water-aerobics I feel like I can tread water indefinitely. I am NOT afraid of the water. But once I had all the gear on me, and my glasses off (couldn't wear them under the mask) I felt, ironically, like a fish out of water. Nevertheless, I did the 'big step' off the end of the boat, put my regulator in my mouth and gave the all clear signal - textbook. The instructor told us all to swim out to a buoy not far from the boat... and honestly, by the time I got there I thought I was going to die.




Between the wetsuit, inflated vest, and tank I could barely move my arms. I could see less than squat through my now fogged up mask, and trying to breathe through the regulator felt like sucking air through a tiny straw. And once we all got to the buoy, the other new divers and I kept knocking into each other. I thought I was going to die. I tried desperately to calm down, but nice big deep breaths were impossible. The wetsuit and vest were like a vice grip around my not particularly strong lungs. I panicked. I remembered vaguely from my brief experience in high school that after the initial shock, breathing underwater felt really cool. But I could not catch my breath, thoughts of an underwater asthma attack terrified me, and knew there was no way I was going to get through this dive. The instructor joined us a moment later, and I immediately swam up to him and told him I was freaking out.




"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I can't breathe." I gasped.
"Yes, you can, you're on the surface." he replied.
"Honey... I'm freaking out."
"Ok... do you want to get back on the boat?" he asked. My brain locked up. I didn't really want to get back on the boat, I wanted to scuba dive. But I wasn't sure if I could calm down properly. I thought maybe if he gave us a few minutes to chill out on the surface first I might relax.... but I also knew that I'd lied about my asthma when I signed the release form, and had smoked a cigarette or two over the past few days. It wasn't a good combination. In all I only paused for about 10 seconds but it was enough.
"I'm putting you back on the boat." He stated firmly then turned and called the boat back. Honestly, I was glad he made the decision for me.




As we waited for the boat to come back, he asked if I wanted to try again one-on-one at lunch time. I gave a vague assent, then got back on the boat feeling like a total wash-out. Some star student! I hung out on the boat with the girlfriend of one of the divers. She was scared to even go swimming in the ocean, so she made me feel a least a little better.




It was less than an hour before the other divers started getting picked up and as I started talking to them, they were all very encouraging. They confirmed that yes, breathing at the surface was really difficult, but once at depth, it felt as normal as breathing on dry land. One gal in particular said that on her first dive, she freaked out a bit, but she was one-on-one with the instructor and he did a good job of calming her down. So I began to look forward to giving it another go. It was just uncomfortable on the surface I reasoned... I'd be fine once we got underwater.





At lunch time my instructor came up to me and asked if I wanted to give it another go. I told him I did. Unfortunately, however, he would be doing some life-saving drills and handed me off to a different instructor. Instructor #2 was more of a no-nonsense kind of guy. And while I'd been hoping for one-on-one attention (hand-holding), there were two other divers who'd been unable to complete their dive who were also giving it a second chance. I got suited up again, he fairly shoved me into the water and there I was... in the exact same panic scenario from before. Only this time I knew that Instructor #2 would not be interested in calming my fears or giving me a few minutes to relax. Less than a minute in the water and I knew it just wasn't going to happen. Back on the boat for me.



Yes, I felt like a complete failure. Working and hanging out with a bunch of cute 23 year olds has been fun, but it also makes me feel old and lame. Up till now I've been able to shake the feeling with a few drinks... but this was undeniable confirmation. I am old, out of shape and I have bad lungs, some things are not just an issue of mind over matter.




I spent the afternoon (while everyone else on the boat was on their second dive) snorkeling around the bay. I'd never actually been snorkeling before and it was amazing. It occurred to me that it might have been a good idea to try snorkeling before, literally, jumping off the deep end. Breathing through a snorkel was weird and at times I freaked out a bit. But I could just lift my head up and take a second to sort myself out before putting my face back in the water again. After a while I was able to breathe through the snorkel for what felt like 10 or 20 minutes at a stretch. It was amazing.




There were a ton of other boats in the area - at least three other snorkeling groups.





There were an incredible number of fish, and while I might not have been seeing them in all their glory (with my glasses back on the boat), I was impressed with what I did see. There were huge schools of yellow and blue striped fish - they'd swim right up to me, look at me and just kind of hang out there. I saw trumpet fish, eels, and all manner of tiny schools of fish. There were also bigger fish, black with neon green 'eyeliner', blue with pink cheeks, leopard spotted yellow fish, and I swear I saw one that looked plaid! In addition to the fish there were giant patches of coral, purple and green and brown. I saw huge purple & green anemones, and what can only be described as a giant purple coral vase. It was really amazing, and actually really relaxing. I could have stayed in the water looking at everything for hours. And as wonderful as snorkeling was, it only confirmed my desire to try scuba diving again.






Back on the boat I talked to a couple of the other divers a bit more and had my ideas confirmed. One said she'd gone snorkeling the day before, and admitted that there's no way she could have gone scuba diving if she hadn't done that first. And another said he'd had two days of pool instruction before diving in the ocean. So while I still felt like a grade-A wimp... I also felt like maybe I'd been a bit overly ambitious and underprepared.




Compared with this adventure the rest of the trip was a bit anti-climactic. Bunny, Bobby and I went on an afternoon cruise around the island. It was *very* touristy... but, well, we were tourists. We got to do a tiny bit of sea kayaking, and a bit more snorkeling. We also got to see the beach where they filmed "The Beach" - it was beautiful, but again, absolutely covered in tourists such as ourselves. The water was warm, nearly hot, and very shallow. All you could do really was lounge around in it, so that's what I did. Koh Phi Phi was every bit as beautiful as the pictures suggest... and fun in it's own way. That night we went out for a couple drinks and ended up talking with some Swedish boys. No proposals or mind-bending conversations... just silly fun.





Our last morning, Friday, was spent between the beach and the bookstore, soaking up the last bits of relaxation before our ferry/taxi/flight/taxi back to the daily-grind: 8 hours of classes starting at 9am on Saturday. And here it is one week later... 9am Saturday looming at the other end of this night's sleep. A week and three very long-winded posts and I'm still only beginning to sort out this whole experience. But here's what I think I know.




1. The protests/riots, and the potential for more in the future are a big black mark against my moving to Bangkok.


2. After splurging for a week and being surrounded by obnoxious tourists, I have a whole new appreciation for sleepy little Rayong, its 35 baht fried rice my blue collar students.


3. It was really good to see the Brit again, and that just reinforces how much I need good friends around me.


4. As much as I've changed, there are still some things in my core character that are just not going anywhere. I hate being kept waiting, and I just can't deal with ridiculous people who cannot take care of themselves.


5. I really wish I could be as friendly, outgoing and uninhibited sober as I am while drunk... because sometimes 'drunk and fun' dissolves into 'sloppy drunk' and that's not fun for anyone.


6. I really want to try scuba diving again, so I'm going to get serious about taking care of my lungs & looking into a serious course where I get a little more preparation before being dropped in the middle of the ocean.



7. I am so fucking glad I'm here.





TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Songkran Holiday - It's pronounced Pooo-ket

The second leg of our Songkran holiday was a trip to Phuket. Bunny, Bobby and I stayed in quite a nice hotel near Patong beach. Big soft beds, dark curtains, clean bathroom - not a cockroach or gecko to be seen. It was a a bit of an upgrade from our apartments, and not especially expensive. Marie and LeBlond had lucked into a sweet flight/resort deal, and their hotel was on the other side of the island. This proved to be a bit of a logistical nightmare, and I wasted a fair amount of time and money with tuk-tuk and taxi rides back and forth across the island.

While parts of it were undeniably beautiful, there wasn't a lot that Phuket had to offer that I couldn't find on Koh Samet for a lot less money and a lot less hassle. Phuket is much bigger of course, so there's just more... more bars, more restaurants, more beaches, more hotels, more markets, more drunken farang all over the place. Yours truly included, naturally. I haven't been to Koh Samui or Koh Chang yet... but I'm guessing they're both a good middle ground.

Bunny, Bobby and Marie enjoying the exculsive resort beach.

Rebel - tropical paradise edition

On our second night there, after a wild goose chase of trying to find a cool bar somewhere between our respective hotels, I decided to ditch everyone and go back to Patong Beach. I walked along the beach, watched people set off khom fai (lanterns) and just took in the sights. I walked up the main bar street and got myself a drink*. Between the markets and the bars and the people from all over the world walking around - there was a lot to see. Eventually though I just wanted to sit down and chat with someone. The bars are all pretty open, so there's not much of a distinction between the street and the bar. I saw a couple of English guys playing connect four so I went over and made a comment.


We started chatting and one of the guys asked how long I'd been in Thailand. Between the booze and the earlier transportation frustration and just an acute case of 'living in Thailand' something snapped**. I nearly burst into tears when I said "I've been in Thailand for eight months." The one guy replied, in a very calm and charming British way "Don't worry darling." and soon enough I was having another drink and playing connect four with them. No deep connection or insightful conversations... we just played and I felt a bit better. And when they left an older Swedish guy came by and I played with him for a while. It was nice.




Eventually I decided to call it a night and began wandering in the general direction of my hotel. Now, those of you who know me can testify - I have no sense of direction whatsoever. I knew we were on a side street off a minimally paved road***. But as I wandered down it, I just wasn't sure - I turned and walked a block in the other direction, but nothing looked very familiar there either. There were a bunch of Thai security guards outside a half-finished building and they asked where I was going. I told them the name of my hotel and they waved in the general direction I'd come from. I went to turn around, but they pulled up a chair and invited me to sit down for a minute. "Slowly slowly" they said, which I think is the direct translation for the Thai expression "wait". They were drinking beers and I figured - why the heck not.






We started chatting, 90% in Thai and it was really fun. It was amazing, really, how much we could communicate with a minimal amount of shared vocabulary. We talked about the situation in Bangkok. I told them what I saw: Color red (point to shirt), S-Soldier - muay Thai (Thai kickboxing). We talked about religion. He asked "You Christian?", I replied "Yes, you like Buddha?" We talked about family and relationships, I told him I didn't have a boyfriend or a lover, he told me he'd been alone for 10 years, but that he had two kids, a daughter and a son.







At some point I took out my camera and made him look at nearly every picture on my memory card, pointing out any and everything I knew the Thai word for. Showing him a picture of an elephant "Chang", a cat "Mao" and repeatedly "Puen chan" (my friend). After a couple hours my new friend told me I was a good woman with a good heart, mimed putting a ring on my finger and more or less proposed to me. It was sweet. It's all a bit silly in retrospect, and a very alcohol inspired interaction... but at the same time, it's exactly the kind of thing I want out of this trip. Just to sit and chat with people, to try to make some kind of connection, make some memories.







When I decided to make another attempt at going home, he offered to drive me. I got on the back of his motorbike and we drove all around town, far from where I knew my hotel was, and to a different hotel of the same name. I had him stop and ask for directions to my actual hotel, which he did. When we got there, it ended up being no more than a two blocks from where we'd been sitting and chatting. He asked for my phone number... but, no. Impossible. Some things are better left as crazy hazy memories.




* and by 'a drink' I mean a pint of vodka and a bottle of Pepsi.


** In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy there's a line about how, in a moment of crisis, every sentient being gives off a signal of exactly how far away they are from where they were born.... it kind of felt like that.


*** Much of Patong beach was damaged by the tsunami of 2004, I think it's 90% rebuilt... but there's still a lot of rebuilding going on.

Songkran Holiday - One Night In Bangkok

When Bunny, Bobby and I planned this trip back in January and February we didn't know the exact dates that our school would be closed (yes we asked... I don't want to talk about it), so we made our best guess and bought tickets to Phuket for Monday the 13th and home again on Friday the 17th. Then two weeks ago we learned that classes would be canceled for the weekend before as well. We decided to spend the extra days in Bangkok... and that proved to be a very interesting way start to the week.




They left on Friday, but I had class until 7pm so I came on Saturday. I took a van from Rayong and on the way in I noticed one spot on the opposite side of the freeway where a bunch of Red Shirts had stopped traffic. I think the police or the army were also there and it was unclear what exactly was happening as we drove by. The last time I was in Bangkok I'd also seen some protesters riding by in a pick-up truck waving flags and playing music. Thus far the protests had been non-violent and easily avoided... this did strike me as a bit more serious... but we kept on going. Eventually the mini-van dropped me off at Victory Monument and I hopped on the BTS sky train to meet up with my friends at Siam Square - the big mall complex with MBK & Paragon and just tons of shopping.




All thoughts of the protesters were driven away as we ate a little lunch then had the extreme pleasure of watching Slumdog Millionaire in English in a plush theater nearby. It was amazing. Not only is the movie incredible (I'm in love with lead actor), but the theater was old school elegance, a big crystal chandelier, carpeted floors, ushers etc. Quite a nice treat, for only about $6 US. Oh, and did I mention the movie was in ENGLISH!? Speaking English and having people understand us was so nice.




After the movie, we met up with LeBlond (who now works in Bangkok) and went to dinner. We had amazing (and expensive) Indian/Middle Eastern food, between the four of us we ate two plates of hummus and four orders of naan... it was wonderful. Then we wandered over to Soi Cowboy for drinks. Soi Cowboy is very much a tourist-oriented street... lots of strip clubs and bars, lots of noise and some weird street food. It was fun and interesting in it's own way... kinda like Las Vegas - you have to judge it on it's own merits in order to enjoy it. We were lured into one bar by a fun little band playing outside, but immediately created a log-jam in the doorway as we came face to face with full frontal bouncing nudity.

After that we made the decision to only go to bars that were open air - so we could see inside them. We found one on the end with pool tables and settled in there for a while. A few games later and we headed over to Soi 11 - another touristy area where Charlie Brown's (completely awesome) Mexican Restaurant is. I'm glad we did because we'd intended to go there the next day but then found out it would be closed =( we all grieved for a moment then went to the British pub next door - The Pickled Liver - and chilled out a bit watching football before going home.




On Sunday we spent the morning at the Jim Thompson House. Jim Thompson was an American architect and import/exporter who came to Thailand and reinvigorated the silk industry. I'm still a bit unclear on what his deal was... but one thing he did was to take several traditional homes from different parts of Thailand and join them together to make one very big very nice house. He used traditional building methods to put it together and furnished it with a blend of European, Thai and other Asian furniture and artifacts. The effect is that of the "authentic" Thai house that every foreigner would love to have.




At some point he donated his house to his foundation so people could come take tours of his home and antiques... but then he went to Malaysia and disappeared. It's all very mysterious. In any case, visiting his home is a nice way to spend the morning looking at beautiful things. Oh... and the silks in the gift shop were gorgeous. Expensive, but gorgeous. But I decided not to buy anything there because we were going to spend the afternoon at Chatuchak Market.




Chatuchak was huge, hot and crowded. Portlanders can imagine the Saturday Market on steroids. Lots of arts and crafts, but also tons of t-shirts, jeans, touristy stuff, food, CDs and even pets. Lots and lots of pets... rabbits, dogs, birds, turtles, fish, and squirrels. Yes, squirrels. This was such a satisfying experience. Chatuchak is someplace I'd seen on Globe Treker when I was back at home still just dreaming of traveling. They did a think on shopping in Bangkok and they highlighted Paragon Mall and Chatuchak market... and now I've been to both places!





We wandered around for a good long while, got some decent pizza, stopped for drinks at a cool cafe and I bought a couple of silk scarves to tide me over. I swear I can't leave Bangkok without at least one scarf in hand. I've been a bit capricious about my purchases thus far, but I really think I need to start envisioning a plan for my future home and what kinds of things I'll actually want in it so I'll have a little more of a plan in mind when shopping.




For dinner we went in search of Mexican food. And here is where I express how much I love the internet. I LOVE THE INTERNET! We were disappointed about not being able to go to Charlie Browns and LeBlond failed dramatically in finding us an alternate. So I thought to myself... if only I knew someone in Bangkok who loved food and spoke English I could ask them. But I do! I phoned Cate from Cate's World Kitchen (an awesome mouth-watering blog btw) and she was able to give us directions to not one but two different Mexican restaurants near BTS stations. Yay! My first Ceasar Salad in months was so authentically American I wanted to cry. It was a beautiful thing. Thanks Cate! =)



Technically the big Songkran celebration didn't start until Sunday... but people were already in the streets splashing us with water. The first time it's kind of fun, but after a while it becomes a bit hard to maintain a good attitude about it. I quickly determined that the main problem was that I was defenseless... so I had to just smile and take it as I got splashed or sprayed.

In addition to splashing, people put clay on each other's faces to protect against evil spirits.

Fortunately, this is Thailand, so there were about a dozen stalls per block selling water guns and bottles of water. Once properly armed, I fully joined in the fun. Even though I got SOAKED I felt good because at least I could squirt people back a little.

We went to yet another seedy/touristy street and found an open bar to hang out in for a while. This was fun, it was near yet another street market so there was a lot to see. I'm finding that I need a lot of visual and mental stimulation these days. I think it's because I'm a bit starved for it in Rayong. There are just not a lot of interesting places to go here... and it's a small town so the chances of running into new people are pretty slim as well. Like right now I'm back at the coffee shop, and I'm looking over at the market where I eat ... watching the lady who said I looked like a fat Filipino set up her restaurant. Every once in a while people from the petroleum plant ride by wearing their uniforms. I may not know them personally... but it's all the same, very normal... no farang, no tourists, no chance of running into a random gardener from Sweden or anything like that. No excitement beyond what we can generate on our own after a great deal of whiskey consumption. The other teachers and I are literally the most exciting & exotic thing going on in this town. That is a very new and interesting sensation for me.





Now allow me to express again, how much I love the internet. I LOVE THE INTERNET! I've been keeping up with some of my friends from the CELTA course via Facebook. Usually it's just a one liner back and forth, but occasionally we'll exchange an email about what's going on. Having moved at a few critical times in my life, and having no concrete links back to the places where I grew up, I feel very sad when I get to know people but then they just slip away. I have no friends who've seen me from childhood onwards. So I LOVE that via the miracle of Facebook I can maintain at least some level of contact with people I've known different stages of my life. I like it a LOT. Anyway... some of you may remember the Brit, with whom I shared many beers and philosophical chats while on the course. Well, he's still living in Chiang Mai with his girlfriend and he posted that he would be in Bangkok the same time that I was. I was so excited you can't even imagine. We agreed to meet up on Monday before our respective flights home.




It was so wonderful to see him again. We met up for coffee, went to lunch, and just wandered around chatting. I just love him so much. We ended up talking a lot about the current political situation in Bangkok. We'd planned to meet up at Siam Paragon mall, but it was closed... and he showed me a picture from the newspaper - a bunch of Red Shirts climbing on an Army tank right outside Paragon. The day before while I was at Jim Thompson's house and Chatuchak Market the army had clashed with the red shirts right around the corner. He gave me a little insight about why this is all happening, but I don't feel comfortable going into it here. (Americans reading this - go hug the Bill of Rights for me, I miss it dearly.)




I still have enough money for an emergency ticket home, and he basically advised me - when XYZ happens, that's when the shit will hit the fan, and that'll be my cue to go home. I mean, Thailand has gone through a number of revolutions and coups in recent history and it's been surprisingly non-violent. So I still don't feel like it's unsafe for me to be here. But it was good to get the opinion of a Farang who's lived here for several years and actually pays attention to the news. We talked about a bunch of other things too. He told me I seemed a lot more confident than I had been even just a few months ago - which I know - but hearing it from someone else made me feel really good. It was soooo good to see him again.



All too soon it was time for us to head for our respective flights home. I met up with the girls at the hotel and we got a cab to the airport. Let me tell you, I have had some pretty ... special... taxi rides since coming to Thailand. As we drove around we realized that we hadn't really seen any cars on the streets all day - only taxis and tuk-tuks. Then it occurred to us that this wasn't necessarily because of Songkran... but that the police or the army had restricted access to the city.




As we drove down one street we could see smoke in the distance. That was unnerving to say the least. Further down the street we saw a whole crowd of people (normal citizens) standing around looking towards the smoke in the increasingly closer distance. They saw us and started waving at us to turn around and go back. So we did. And then we went down another street... and saw another crowd of people, this time a guy on a motorbike was driving up and down the street telling cars to turn around... he spoke with the taxi driver for a second... and of course we didn't have a clue what they were saying. I just held hands with Bobby in the back seat and tried not to freak out too much.




The next street the driver tried was fine and we were eventually on the freeway headed to the airport. I saw a LOT of police officers at the on ramps supporting the theory that they were limiting access to the city. We made it to the airport safe and sound (after having to call one of the girls at the office to have her explain to the driver *which* airport we wanted to go to). I called both my mom and sister and told them everything was fine, we were all fine, in another part of the city etc. etc. etc. But the fact was I was far closer to the action than I would have liked.




That night in the hotel in Phuket I got to watch a little BBC and saw footage of the Red Shirts and the Army having a stand off at Victory Monument. I had been right there the day before... there were pictures of the Red Shirts wandering all over the BTS station I'd been at etc. And the smoke we saw was more than likely from the bus the Red-Shirts had set on fire. I mean, honestly, I was never in any danger - but man I never want to be that close to another country's revolution again!




Two and a half days in Bangkok = enough excitement for a year. Next up Phuket! It's not pronounced how you think it is... but it probably should be. ;)


TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce... (extra spicy)

Untangling everything

I'm finally back from our rather eventful Songkran holiday, and I'm just starting to sort everything out. I don't even know where to begin. Well, that's a lie. I'm a pretty sequential kinda gal, so I'll begin at the beginning. But man... the past week has been intense in so many different ways, I'm still mentally processing a lot of it. Hopefully by unloading it here I'll come to some kind of clarity. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm home, I'm safe and I'll be posting a LOT of pictures and stories very soon. =)

Phuket

TAG: Code Fish Sauce

Songkran

Next week is the Songkran festival... I think it's the Thai New Year. From what I understand the tradition is to pour water over your elders/superiors as a sign of respect and in return they will bless you with good luck.

Naturally, this deeply religious holiday has evolved into the mother of all water fights, and you can't go anywhere without being doused head to toe with buckets of water. Most importantly though, I will be getting all of next week off of work! Bunny, Bobby, LeBlonde, Marie, and I will all be going to Phuket for a few days. Unfortunately, the school didn't actually give us the holiday schedule until a couple of weeks ago, so we'd only planned to go for the 5 days we knew we would have off... but actually have a full 7 days off. Which I guess I can view as a little bonus... except that we'll be spending those two extra days in Bangkok - which we can (and do) visit any time we feel like it, instead of in Phuket or Ko Pi Pi... some of the most beautiful places in Thailand. ANYWAY! All this means that I will be on vacation for the next week.

You know me, and you know I'll be popping into internet cafes at every opportunity... but if I don't, I'm probably okay.

But before I go... I require some assistance.... flip-flop assistance! I never would have thought that I'd have a whole flip-flop wardrobe, none-the-less a flip-flop wardrobe crisis. Which ones should I bring to Phuket?

Bling-less but practical

Mini-bling, but not so much waterproof
Bling-o-riffic... possibly waterproof, but also ... you know, gaudy as hell.

I'm packing light, so I only want to bring one. What do you think?

Oh, and in case you've seen anything on the news, the yellow shirted protesters of a few months ago have been replaced with red shirted protesters who are trying to oust the PM who the yellow shirts like. I really don't give a geckos behind who's in power... but this is getting to be a bit annoying. I'm safe and these protesters have vowed not to close the airport. But then, they'd also vowed not to interfere with the ASEAN conference... and today they broke through the police barricade. So.... well, so far so good... I don't feel like I'm in any danger and I'll be avoiding the Bloods & Crypts as well as I can while in Bangkok. Wish me luck!

TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Coffee Shop and Fon Tok

The other day I had the morning free and lugged my computer over to the coffee shop. I had a nice time sitting, writing up my post about the weekend, and drinking entirely too much cha yen (Thai iced tea). Then, it started, the winds picked up, there was an unholy crack of thunder and BOOM the rain started.








I realize it's not all that spectacular if you live in real thunderstorm territory... but I still find it impressive that so much rain can come down so quickly.


Oh, and the area across the street from the coffee shop is the big food court area where I eat dinner most of the time... just a bunch of food stalls, although I generally alternate between two. Then as I pan right, you'll see the mini-vans that go to Bangkok. And a blue songthaew (modified pick up truck) goes by too. So it's just a little taste of Thailand in the rain.

Amazing Thailand

This weekend was one of the reasons I keep this blog. So I can have a place to record some of the amazing things that happen here. I'm so afraid I'm going to forget everything, that two weeks after returning to the States it'll all just be a big blur.

Monday, was a Thai holiday, and Sunday is my normal day off work. So I had an actual 2 day weekend, and more than that all the other teachers and I had the *same* day off. And believe you me, we all made the most of it.


Friday:

On Friday Bunny, Bobby and Jeb all went to Bangkok for various errands. Even though I'd been to Bangkok earlier in the week, I was jealous because - being the only one with Sunday off - I'd spent the better part of the trip alone. In any case, on Friday I taught a morning kids' class but then learned that my normal evening class was canceled. I called Bobby to see if I could meet up with them in Bangkok for dinner, and it turned out they hadn't left yet. They were at the mini-van station set to leave in about 10 minutes. I got there just in time and had the pleasure of having people to talk to on the 2+ hour drive. Once we got there, we split up for a bit - I went shopping and found some cute shorts that actually fit - yay! Then we all met up to do some more shopping at MBK. I found a scandalous shirt to wear on our trip to Phuket... then we all went out for Mexican food for dinner.

It was AMAZING. Yes... that was just the beginning of the amazingness of the weekend. Our enchiladas took on nearly mythic proportions of deliciousness once combined with two pitchers of fresh icy limey margaritas. Heaven. The ride home was slow... but having friends around makes all the difference.


Saturday:

Saturday was the one less than amazing interruption of an otherwise amazing weekend. We all had to teach. But it was Jeb's birthday so afterwards, we all went out again. The margaritas were swapped out for whiskey sodas...and enchiladas swapped out for garlic shrimp and cashew chicken. No complaints. Then, as we were sitting there I got an unexpected call from the boy from last Sunday's post. As dinner was ending and our party was disbanding, Bunny, Marie and I decided to meet up with Mr. Maptaput and his friends at the club down the street.

We had fun... it was interesting to hang out with new Thai people our own age. Usually the only Thai people I hang out with are Jeb's girlfriend or the office staff (and then only at work). There was a fair amount of awkwardness... I'm not good at meeting new people in the best of circumstances - let alone with a language barrier thrown in. But their English was good enough, and Bunny's Thai was adventurous enough to keep the evening entertaining if nothing else.


Sunday:

But the real fun came on Sunday. One of the teachers, Rex, lives with a family near the ocean, and he'd invited us all over for a party in honor of the holiday and Jeb's birthday. Also this was meant to be an informal, but highly authentic Thai cooking class for Bobby and I. Since everyone had the day off... it was going to be quite the do. Even LeBlond came in from Bangkok to celebrate.

I puttered around in the morning, and actually picked up a cute Thai-style dress (modern & cute ... not traditional silk or anything) to wear with my new shorts. I was excited to start blending in a bit more fashion-wise, I even have blinged-out flip flops & a Micky-mouse purse. Then in the afternoon we met up with Rex and his girlfriend Tiny (it's her family that he lives with) at the market. They'd already picked up veggies and meat but I decided I wanted to make my own specialty dish for the party and started gathering up ingredients for salsa. Tiny tried to dissuade me from getting more tomatoes (we have some already) and peppers (we have many at home), but I was not to be deterred. I take my salsa seriously. Thailand is mysteriously devoid of lemons, but they had limes aplenty so we finished up our shopping and headed to the house.


My camera, naturally, is broken again so forgive the extra thousand words as I describe the place. I say they live near the ocean, but I guess it's more precise to say that they live *on* the ocean. The family owns a series of three or four houses in a row (I think they rent two or three of them out)- from one at street level to one clear out over the ocean (currently empty). It's on stilts, low tide = sand underneath, high-tide = ocean below. The houses are Thai style... not western. They're pretty bare - and look a bit more like a rustic cabin or tree-house than anything that would pass building codes in the US. But there was running water and electricity, plenty of fans and even a CD player. There were two clean bathrooms - but both unfortunately had squat toilets.


In the main house there's a big open area downstairs for living, gorgeous wooden couches, a TV, some cabinets that sort of thing. Then there's another big open area for cooking. In the kitchen there's a counter with a sink and prep-space and one gas range with a big wok on top. Then there are a whole bunch of small ... I don't know what to call them... like a good sized terra-cotta flower pot, but you put charcoal in it and use it like a BBQ to grill food or stick another wok on.

Bunny and I were put to work washing vegetables while Tiny started showing Bobby and Marie how to make fish cakes. Too many cooks spoil the soup and all... so I decided to stick to my salsa rather than crowd around the wok. It was really nice. I feel so incompetent so much of the time here... but salsa... this is something I know I'm good at. And I was really excited to share it with the Thai family. Most Thai people have never tried Mexican food, and while I'm hardly an authentic representative... I felt like I could give them a taste, literally, of something new.



Tiny's mom was really friendly, directing us to do this or that and chatting with us in a mix of English and Thai (Tiny speaks English really well actually). And I had a fairly hilarious exchange with her as I made her taste the salsa. I started telling her what it was in English but she said "Poot passah Thai!" (Speak Thai!) aaah! She asked "What do you eat it with?" (or something) and I explained "Put on 'chips', don't have 'chips', put on rice... eat with rice - can!". "Is it delicious?" she asked very slowly and clearly "Yes." I replied "You like to make it?" again, slowly and clearly "Yes." Then smiling happily"Qeld adsflkp oidsfu adl foi e aoiuw alklu t alkwe utahn ldfa doit jalkdfout." "Uh.... uh....don't understand!" And we had a good laugh.

With Jeb's girlfriend's help (I can't remember if I gave her a nickname already... let's go with Gum.) I roasted some peanuts and cashews using the fire-pots. At one point Tiny's mom came by and gave us some mango slices. You know from the mangoes that grow in their garden. Amazing! Bunny, Bobby and I ate the mango with my salsa... it was really good. I really really enjoyed the camaraderie of being in the kitchen with all the women, you know... one of the universals again - sharing food, working together, laughing, it was beautiful. Of course the boys were all upstairs drinking already... it didn't so much bother me that we were doing the girls work - boys have fun thing until they came down and were reluctant to help us carry stuff back to the beach house. "In a minute..." Gah! What are you, like 12??? When a bunch of women have just spent hours preparing an awesome feast for you the least you can do is offer to help set it up. It's a little too easy for guys to develop a sense of entitlement here.



With all the cooking done we headed over to the beach house, eventually bullying the boys into helping us. There wasn't much in the way of furniture in the beach house, just several mats and a table for the drinks & CD player. But honestly, the fact that we were literally *on the ocean* watching the tide come in and feeling the sea air blowing on us more than made up for anything we lacked. We put all the food in the center of the mats and sat down to eat. Oh man... it was amazing. You know, if you've ever cooked a holiday feast how awesome it feels to sit down and enjoy the fruits of your collective labor. And I told our Thai hosts, repeatedly, that "Wan nee mee quam suk... mak mak." (Today I am very very happy.) Everything was delicious. The farangs devoured my salsa, and even Tiny's aunt ate some with her rice (which I feel allows me to now refer to my salsa as 'world renowned') ;). Rex and Bunny invented a new drink - essentially a Mojito but made with Thai brandy instead of rum... we called them Mosquitos of course, and they were the perfect compliment to dinner.

After dinner we played "two truths and a lie" a game I suck at, but still thoroughly enjoyed. We even managed to get some of Thai family to play along. There were two little kids there, running around and climbing on everyone...adding to the overall silliness of everything. Just being there was amazing, and it was amazing to be with such incredible people. I just couldn't stop acknowledging how amazing everything was. And moreover couldn't stop saying "We're in fucking Thailand. We are in fucking Thailand!"

We talked and listened to music well into the night, then the Thai family went back to their house while 6 of us farang teachers all piled into one bedroom. There were a lot of blankets and mats just laid out on the floor so we all just lay down and had a giant sleepover. You know, in a cabin over the ocean!!!!! There was silly chatting and giggling and playing 20 questions well into the night, and if you've ever been to a sleep over with me, you know you can hear me finally breaking down and begging "PLEASE... go to sleep! I need to go to sleep now!!!" which, of course was ignored... so I played along for a while and finally we all went to sleep, or tried. I couldn't sleep, just lay awake listening to the sounds of the people around me. For someone used to living alone, it's difficult for me to actually fall asleep with other people around, but I do still like it. I like being in a big group of people like that.


Monday:

Roosters started crowing at around 7am, as the sun came up over the water. The sun got up to window level around 7:30 and I could no longer pretend to be asleep. I got up and got dressed. Bobby was already up taking pictures of the ocean. Eventually Bunny and Marie got up and joined us. The boys, naturally stayed in bed (after their hard night of not cooking). Before long Tiny's aunt came by and asked "Gin coffee mai?" Bobby's Thai is probably the weakest of all of us, but even she could understand "Do you want to drink coffee?" and we all followed her back to the main house. She'd set up some coffee on the table in front of the house... I told her I didn't drink coffee and she brought me some milk. So we sat there, enjoying the amazing hospitality of our host. The houses across the street all had little shops out front - selling seashell 'curtains' you know, you can hang them up over a doorway, or maybe as a shade block on your patio. The ambiance was incredible. So warm, so Thai.


Shortly after our coffee, Rex and Tiny came out and invited us to go look at the family's garden. When I'd heard they had a garden, I imagined a small plot on the side yard or something. No... what they actually have is an orchard. We piled in the back of Tiny's pick up truck and headed out there. They have a nice sized field, a grove of mangoes, bananas, and jackfruit. There were passion-fruit plants and even a thai-pumpkin vine trailing around the ground. Again, I'm just wandering around an orchard thinking... this is Thailand, this is amazing. Then hop back in the back of the pickup truck (an amazing way to travel when it's hot out... getting all of the breeze, seeing everything) and off to a beach I hadn't been to before. I think it might be my new favorite beach. There's a longer stretch of sand between the restaurants and the ocean.... which makes it significantly cleaner... and the water was so clear it was unbelievable. I hadn't put on my swimsuit, so I just walked along the waters edge, soaking my feet in the calm warm water. Amazing! A-mazing people. Amazing!

After our trip through the orchard and stroll along the beach we learned that Tiny's aunt had finally gone in and woken up the boys to go eat breakfast. We headed back towards Ban Phe and met the boys at Christie's Pub... the place I love to go to on Sunday for my weekly western food fix. Again, it felt like I was back in college, with all my friends heading to the cafeteria for breakfast. It was so good and we lingered forever, some of the guys having two breakfasts - you know having worked up an appetite *not* hiking through the garden and not swimming. =P Regardless, a good time was had by all and we decided to call it a day... an amazing day... and go back home.


But it wasn't even over yet. We still all had the day off, so after showering and changing and attempting to nap, I met up with Bunny, LeBlond, Donny & Marie at a coffee shop, followed by an early dinner at the German restaurant. It was so nice. Soooo nice to all have a full weekend together. And getting to eat dinner when it was still light out was such a treat(we usually get dinner at like 8:30 or 9pm when we finish classes). Bunny and I enjoyed a leisurely walk home in the twilight and I was in bed by the time night fell. I was asleep before 8pm I think, and slept hard! Exhaustion from amazement is a good feeling.


Today:
It's Tuesday now, and my first class is at 6pm, so I've been lounging around at a coffee shop, listening to the rain and catching up with old friends on Facebook. I feel so good right now. I know it won't be long before the day to day rigours of Thailand catch up with me again... but for now... I feel amazing and am so full of happiness I'm overflowing and am so glad to remember why I came here.


TAG: Code Mango. Life is good baby, too good to be true!