Ban Phe

This weekend we decided to go to the beach with our new friends that we made at English Camp. We decided to leave Saturday morning so we still had time to kill here on Friday afternoon and evening. The evening started with the typical trip to the Friday market. The Friday market is the biggest Friday of the week. It is literally a huge flee market but with a big amount of food street vendors more than anything. Obviously, typical Asia you can find all sorts of electronics, cheap clothing, earrings, fake sunglasses, purses, watches, etc. etc. etc. They say that you finally have adapted to Thailand when you realize everything you own is fake… This market has become my favorite because it has the lady with the bbq pork with cilantro, onions, rice dust, etc. It is absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making it when I get back to the states. That, and sticky rice.

After the market we came back home and had a dance party in the kitchen. It was a pretty fun afternoon. I have found myself a lot more content in solitude than I have ever been, not to say that I don’t lack that human contact but sorting out my thoughts and being ok with who I am and the decisions I am making has helped me deal with my own demons. That and the fact that on any given day I have 2 or 3 people from home whom make an effort to communicate with me. That has seriously helped me immensely. Regardless of how much I get used to this lifestyle, nights where I can hang with other people are always fun… It is a nice break from the routine.

The next morning I woke up and made French toast and homemade syrup. They were pretty delicious. We got ready and started walking to the bus station but on the way there got stopped by another teacher. She told us to wait and then forced three students to drive us there in their motorcycles. It was pretty comical. It was an internal struggle to decide should I hold on to him, or should I just try to keep myself… wow, what the American teaching system has done to me.

We took a bus to Klaeng where we met Barry. He put Dani and Jess on a Songtao and I drove down the coast with him on his street bike. It was an hour and a half of sheer pleasure. Looking at the beautiful ocean surrounded by lush landscape, not commercialized, smelling the salty water, all while feeling the wind on my face. A year from today I would have never thought that I would be driving on a motorcycle in the countryside of Thailand to go the beach. What a beauty.

When we went there we met with Bryan. One of his friends owns a hostel so we went and hung out there. We then met a guy named Miguel from Barcelona who took us to his Mexican restaurant. We sat around drank beer, drank a typical Thai drink called liquid crack, and hearing stories from all the men and their ex thai wives. It was pretty comical.

We then decided to ride down to a further beach. It was Barry, Jess, and I on the moto… Which is not weird here in Thailand at all; after two or three days you get used to seeing families of 4 on one moto… T.I.T. (This is Thailand, a very common fraise used by the farrang). First we got pulled over cause Barry was not wearing a helmet, he paid them something like 7 dollars and we got to go. Then Barry slowed down and turned very awkwardly and we crashed the moto. I could not stop laughing. Nobody got hurt, thank God.

We finally made it to the beach. Barry and Jessica went and played in the water and I laid and tanned. (I am on a mission to get dark, Thai people LOVE touching white people so EVERYWHERE I go I have random people petting me.)

After a fun time at the beach we got ready and went to the bars. It was a lot of fun. We then ended up at a Thai strip club. There was nobody else there so we thought it would be fun to just get up on the stage and dance. OH the four of us sure made fools of ourselves but had a blast.

The next day was a beach day. We bummed around and got to play some soccer on the beach. We also got to watch a group of guys play soccer on their dirt bikes on the beach. It looked like a blast. I was soooo jealous. We then finally headed back, we took a different way and stopped in Rayong (the big city, but not really) on the way home. Went to an actual store! HOOOOORRRAAYYYYY! And bought a couple things we needed. 

English Camp, Upgrade, and Mermaids...

Last week I had English Camp on Monday and Tuesday. We were driven to a school that is 23 kilometers away in a town called Klang and had to be part of an all day English camp for a few different schools. The first day we got to do an activity with the kids, they were divided into groups and we did the same activity over and over again with the different groups. It got old, but it was nice to get away for a while. While at camp we met two other English teachers Bryan and Barry. They have been here for 7 and 9 years, dont particularly like it but wont leave. It is very common to find "farrangs" (foreigners) who say they dont like it but stay.

On day 2 we went on a tour of the city. It wasnt much of a tour.... We went to the dump, yes the dump, drove around a temple, went to some construction sight, and finally a playground. That was fun. I got to go on the monkey bars and act like I was a kid again... soooo much fun. We ended the tour by going to a rice mill. That was kind of cool.

The rest of the week was very typical except that on Thursday I got to move into the Western house!!! Woohoo!!! I got an upgrade! I dont live in a box anymore!!! I have a room with windows, a full cute kitchen, and a nice bathroom!!! and two new roommies (Danielle and Jessica) the other two English teachers.

Fridays I get off work at 11:30... which is amazing. This Friday it was the day of a famous poet from this area so the kids put on a show for the whole school. There was a band that played, some break dancing, and a mermaid competition. I guess this author wrote about a fat ugly mermaid or something... I dont know, obviously I cant understand Thai... and the teachers english is not good enough to explain what is going on. I had no idea what it was about and went to get some ice cream and run into boys and girls dressed as mermaids... it was strange to say the least!

Changs and Khoa Chamao

 June 17, 2012

This weekend we stayed in town yet it was filled with adventure and excitement. Friday after school I came home, read, and entertained myself for a couple hours. I get off early on Friday and am allowed to go home or do as I please, gives me flexibility to travel which is pretty nice. At 4 pm I met with the other two English teachers, Jessica and Danielle, and we decided to go to the market. By the market I mean the outdoor market. It is basically a giant flea market that happens three days a week. Tuesday and Thursday the small one goes on, Friday the really big one happens.

The market is walking distance from the school (everything in town is pretty much walking distance), but one of the teachers wanted to take us. We got in the car with her and drove to the market. When we got there we were walking and Jessica yelled “elephant!”, I was slightly confused and asked what? Huh? And was completely caught off guard when I almost run straight into a momma elephant and a baby elephant! I was so excited! I haven’t seen elephants since I got here and was incredibly excited  to finally see some.

Being the typical tourist I decided to pay 20 Baht to feed them. These animals are greedy!!! They kept using their trunks to try to steal my food, and to fight each other for it. I have no idea what I was feeding them but they seemed to love it.

Im not a very big fan of the market, I am not trying to shop until I leave and I don’t particularly like the market food… But that day I was in luck! The first stall we saw was my favorite dish, Lab Moo… and I have to say it was my favorite so far. The pork was freshly BBQed. It then was chopped and mixed with onions, cilantro, spicy stuff, lime juice, ground sesame, and some sort of other magical stuff. It was delicious. I ended the night by coming home working out and relaxing.

Saturday was a pretty awesome day as well. I got up very early to meet the girls and Keng at 7 am. We met and got a ride to Koa Chamao, a national park that is located about 20 km from our town. Keng gave us a ride and dropped us off. From then on it was a 5 hour or so hike up the last virgin evergreen forest in the world! Super cool! It consists of an 8 stage or however you call it waterfall. Each higher level gets prettier and prettier… but also more dangerous and crazier of a hike. It was beautiful.

The first couple of levels were relatively easy. From then on it got progressively harder. When we got to level 4 or something like that there was a big pond or body of water where we could swim. It was full of fish (big crazy looking fish), which made me kind of nervous… but I was not going to get that far and not jump in. Danielle sat out but Jessica decided to go in. Crazy little monkey me climbed up some rocks and decided to jump in. Danielle was in charge of taking the picture… but I was a little hesitant and jumped without warning. The water was cool and refreshing.

One of the park guards saw us jumping and decided to talk to us. He decided to show us the rest of the way up. The rest of the trek was complicated. There were places with crazy cliffs to the side, and places where there were ropes so that we could make it through. It was incredible. I didn’t think I was going to make it. I was exhausted… but I kept going and made it to end. Level 8 was the most beautiful level. To our surprise our guide took his uniform off and decided to go swimming. Having seen that I had jumped he made me climb with him and slide down the moss covered rocks from the waterfall… like a natural slip and slide! It was awesome!!! The best part was trying to get up there, slipping falling and the hilarious pictures that ensued… ENJOY! (Cause you probably will never see me in these awkward positions again hahaha)!

Tutoring, Food, and Wai Khru

First things first... I got my computer back!!!! Yay!!!!

Now back to Thai things...

I tutored the IT teacher for an hour and a half after school. He is very nice but tutoring one on one is hard. I dont know how to ask him to pay me and he insisted on dinner afterward. I'm not complaining the dinner was delicious, but it felt like a very forced awkward date. Whatever, I made the best out of it, ate had a couple of beers and went home.

We went to this restaurant where you cook all the food in front of you on your table (totally the type of dining I like). They put hot coals in the middle of the table in some weird contraption, and then put the rest of the contraption together on top of it. On top of that they put a piece of animal fat which drips in the rest of the cooking area. It is in that cooking area that you cook your meat. I know sounds complicated... well it kind of is. 

He asked me what I liked and I said pork; he wanted me to eat all the insides and I refused. On the sides of the contraption there is an area where you make soup with galss noodles, morning glory, mushrooms and other things. It was pretty delicious.

The next day (yesterday), I had an amazing day. I got up to a phone call from John, and got ready for school. Yesterday was Wai Khru, which is basically the best teachers appreciation day EVER! We got to school and sat around the school assembly; the students then came to us got on their knees and praised us. We were supposed to give them advice and luck. They brought us flowers and other offerings for being their teachers. It was wonderful.

After this was the assembly, Jessica and I had skirts that were a little bit above our knees so they gave us scarfs to cover up. We sat on stage and the kids came and did something like a prayer while bringing these beautiful arrangements to us. It was a beautiful ceremony. After the kids were done, some of the teachers went and did the same thing to their former teachers who again hugged them touched their heads and offered advise. The assembly ended by a praise to a group of monks who took our place on the stage.

What a wonderful day!