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I hate typos…

Friday, May 9th, 2008

…and now that I’ve actually read my blog, I realized that I’ve included quite a few. I’ll try to rush a little less with these entries!

Today it rained and rained and rained and then rained a bit – no, a LOT – more. It’s pretty incredible, really. The most incredible thing is that 90% of the population drives scooters, and they continue to do so in torrential rain while continuing to carry entire families, ladders, umbrellas (ANYTHING) along with them. I shy away from my scooter in even a drizzle, rain can be painful when you’re moving over 20mph!

Along with the rain comes muddy, river-esque  roads, extremely lush flora, hoardes of mosquitoes and a quiet Friday night shut indoors. Being shut indoors, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that you are shielded from the great outdoors!

The showers in our place consist of a shower head on the wall with a small drain in the corner of the bathroom. Basically, the entire bathroom floor functions as the ‘bathtub’ and once you are done, you squeegee (?) as much water as you can down the drain. The rest of the water simply has to evaporate, which is sped up due to the windows that don’t close. Each window consists of two sheets of glass with about a four inch gap in between them. This lets in a great variety of creatures and teaches you to leave any open boxes of food IN THE FRIDGE.

Anyways, about an hour ago we discovered a black and white lizard the size of a cat sneaking it’s way in between the panels of glass, looking for refuge from the storm. My housemate Raina’s scream was enough to help him change his mind before he’d gotten too far in, and we’re hoping that it was enough to scare him off for good! With that said, there is a gecko living in my bedroom that I’m perfectly fine with, as he takes care of any mosquitoes or other insects that find their way inside.

Tomorrow’s package deal won’t happen since too many people backed out due to rain, but a few of us are going to walk down to the harbor and find someone to take us out to Ko Phi Phi for the day, bypassing all of that unnecessary buffet lunch and whatnot. It should be far less expensive and much better (in my book, at least) than being shuttled around all day. I’m not worried about the rain, we’re getting wet either way!

Hopefully I’ll have some good photos (again, weather-permitting… the camera may not come along) tomorrow, but for now I have a $3 bottle of Thai brandy to get to…

No bed?

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Let’s hope not!Post-school relaxationMassage, anyone?We finally got our official school/housing assignments yesterday and I am in fact in an area of Bangkok (outskirts though, luckily) and will be teaching at a vocational college (ages 18-20). That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll know english…Thai people know surprisingly few english words at all, they just make sure to have their signs and menus translated in tourist areas. There really isn’t a good grasp on our language at all here, which makes sense once you try to saw a few words in theirs!

Anyways, my housing was described as an “apartment” (we’ll see what that entails) with free internet, but no bed or hot water. Luckily the bed thing was a typo, but unfortunately the hot water thing was no! In any case, free internet will be nice, and three of my classmates will be living in the same place.

I’ve masted hello, thankyou, and sign language quite well by now, along with the art of removing your shoes before going inside a shop, the wai (bowing for greetings), the sign for “check please,” and am well aware that I should always use ‘rock paper scissors’ and not a coin toss to determine things in class (money has the king’s image on it, which is revered as the image of Jesus is…they view him as both a leader and the father of all fathers, you should never ever let a coin touch the ground!).

I’ve finally left my safe little running sidewalk and gone out exploring a bit more in the mornings, and have been well rewarded with new beaches, new food stands, more runners and a million more stray dogs.

This weekend (weather permitting…it rains every few hours) a group of us are going to head out to Phi Phi Island (where “the beach” was filmed), monkey beach (hundreds of monkeys running around) and a few other remote islands. Package tours aren’t usually my thing, but we’re getting a 12 hour day, food/drinks, several otherwise inaccessible islands and snorkeling gear for a great deal! Note to anyone who might come to Phuket for vacation…do NOT book things like this in advance or through a hotel! Go straight to the guy with the boat! This package sells online for 3500Baht ($120) and we are getting to go for 1300Baht (about $40)…it didn’t even take any bargaining!

I’ve got homework to get to, thanks to everyone for the comments!

Back to school I go…

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Spicy!But it's actually a good time! We met our instructor, a Dutch guy named Kors, on Sunday night at the bar next door. After many, many beers with him, we were expecting a pretty laid ... [Continue reading this entry]

Steamy!

Sunday, May 4th, 2008
Nai Harn BeachThe poolKitchen and patioSo I'm here in Phuket and things are pretty much wonderful! I landed yesterday around ... [Continue reading this entry]

The homestretch!

Friday, May 2nd, 2008
Strangely enough, China seems to be the only place along my journey to offer free wifi in the airport! The bulk of my flight(s) is done, I'm here in Hong Kong waiting for the final 3 hour leg to Phuket. I ... [Continue reading this entry]

Nervous, nervous, nervous

Thursday, May 1st, 2008
But this is where I will be spending the month of May (rent free, mind you)... http://www.naiharnvilla.com/ ...and that makes the nervousness turn into excitement! 2 hours til I head out, it'll probably be a few days before I get back ... [Continue reading this entry]

That small backpack is REALLY small!

Thursday, May 1st, 2008
It's my last night in the states and I finally started to seriously pack...I thought it would be a breeze, but my light packing isn't quite light enough! Or maybe my small backpack is just too small? Half of what ... [Continue reading this entry]

Counting down the hours…

Monday, April 28th, 2008
dscn9957.JPG I'm here at my parents' house in Denton, trying to figure out exactly what is coming with me in that very-small backpack that's sitting in the corner. I had a wonderful last few days in ... [Continue reading this entry]