The Young Man Odyssey

Battling an ear infection all day, I blame a botched surgery at birth, I bought a weeks worth of antibiotics for about $5.

I re-read an alll-white student outfit for my time there. As I read on, there it was, “white underwear is a must.”

So off I went, in search of this odd commodity; just as night had fallen. I wandered the length of the east moat, and then back on the other side of the water. And finally it graced my eyes, a pair of tailored thai silk boxers. I paid $2.25.

Still wandering, I heard the sound I had been longing for all trip, the vocals and guitar of my good friend Bob Dylan. The first time I had heard it since America, I sat down and had a drink with the Irishman and his Thai girlfriend. Unlike most western-thai couples, these two actually seemed to be in love, and I relished in the atmosphere of the bar.

Unlike you older persons, I have not had the chance to experience the smokey nights of a drinking bar. Outfitted with a televison playing Spiderman II and a pooltable, I sat back on my stool and enjoyed a few Beer Changs, until the Thai bartender challenged me to a game of pool, and it was on!

When she broke the triangle, a solid went in, and I knew I was in trouble. I convinced myself I was better than I was, and tried to play like I’ve seen on ESPN. And you know what, false mentality can work sometimes. I made shots from across the table, corner to corner, suprising both myself and my competitor. When things panned out, I had only the eight ball and she had 2 solids to go.

We played 3 games, and I lost on two technicalities that I’m quite bitter about: I called the eight ball in the wrong pocket (a spectacular shot), and I scratched the cue ball with the 8, giving her the victory both times. She was a fantastic shot and it was her home table, and I was convinced there was a higher force at work to help me. I found out later that it was nothing more than a smaller table. I had played well, in a childs game.

I had a fantastic time, and it almost made me reconsider my long meditation commitment for the day following. But as the night wore on, the bartender went on a 10 minute rant that I could not understand, despite her passion for whatever subject she was talking about. When she was finished, I paid the bill and 10 baht extra, and went on my way.

Tomorrow I wake early, at 7:30, for my 8 o’clock appointment and my temporary new life as a student monk. White silk underwear in hand I feel confident, I apologize the blogs shall be paused for a bit. The election in America has filled me with good spirits, the AP reported the dems won the senate as well! I leave you all for 10 days to attain spiritual enlightenment, before I travel to Laos and Vietnam. Have a wonderful time everyone, I shall try as well.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 9th, 2006 at 10:32 am and is filed under Thailand, Laos, Vietnam 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.