Happy Birthday Week US of A!

Each week I am here things get better. I don’t know if its me adapting to the situation or if it is just things become better and better. Either way I am going to take it and run with it. To make the most of every situation.

I got in to sort of an argument with one of my roommate. There was not much of an exchange of words, but to put things in my perspective, because I’m sure her idea of what happened was different, I saw in her a lot of things about me that I used to dislike; and though I tried to brush it off and let it be at a certain point I just broke and she said things that shouldn’t have been said (not to me or about me, but about someone else), and I got in the middle and said things in an inappropriate manner at an inappropriate place.

The whole situation made things a bit shaky for the first half of the week, but we talked things out and everything got better. Being alone those few days made me change the way I was doing things a little bit. I am now spending more time alone, and more time with my students after school (playing basketball, helping with homework, etc) which I truly enjoy.

By Wednesday I needed to get out of the house, not only that but it was 4^th of July and I was very homesick. I called my friend Barry and we decided we would go to the beach and celebrate afterschool. I asked my coordinator which bus I should take to his town which is about 20 km away and she told me she would find me a ride with one of the teachers who lives there after school. Just my luck and the fact that it is monsoon season in Thailand it poured that day. There was thunder, rain, and lightning. Definitely not a beach day. But hey this is Thailand and I was determined on having some fun. I still went up to Klaeng.

When I got Klaeng I met up with Barry. We decided it was probably best to not got the beach. We opted to going and getting KFC instead. Let me tell you I am not a fan of junk food but having KFC in Thailand on 4^th of July is the biggest treat ever! I was ecstatic! After KFC we went to a bar to get a couple beers. Oh 4^th of July! We talked and hung out and it was wonderful. Much to my surprise I got a phone call from one of room mates saying that the school coordinator had bought us fireworks and that I should come home to blow them up.

Barry and I headed to my place, not before being distracted by a karaoke bar. I don’t know if you know much about Thailand but most Karaoke bars, and most establishments for that matter double for whore houses. I was not aware of all of this but I guess you live and you learn. We got there and got swarmed by girls who came and sat with us and all literally asked Barry to marry them. Barry and I had a couple beers sang a couple songs and kept going.

When we got back to my school we went to my house and met up with Dani. She had the fireworks. We headed to the soccer field and decided to blow them up. Everyone was scared and of course adventurous 

little me decided I would go first. I know I know I know what you are thinking mom and dad, that’s so dangerous! Well nothing happened and it was a blast. Short lived but it was a blast.

The weekend I headed to Bangkok. Friday I met up with Ford and three of his friends from home. It was so refreshing to hang out with highly educated males. They are all engineers, well traveled, amazing guys.  We hung out at the mall and then headed to one of the hostels where we had pizza and beer. They played the guitar and sang for us while we waited for two of my girlfriends. It was awesome!

When the girls got there we headed to the W hotel. It was soooo nice. One of the guys had a room there so we hung out there. They got ready and we headed out to RCA. RCA was amazing! It was like a whole bunch of really nice indoor/outdoor clubs in the middle of the street. We got a couple of bottles and danced the night away. It was so much fun. Being white we always get a ton of attention when we go out here, but this time it was even more extreme because we were with the only 4 black guys in Thailand… oh 3^rd world countries.

Jess and I headed to her dorm room at the university she teaches at around 4 am. We still managed to get up early in the morning and go out and explore the city. We went to a bagel place and then headed up to China town and India town. It was an adventure to say the least. It was busy and full of crap everywhere. We had fun and laughed the whole way. We took a tuk tuk (a motorbike that pulls you in a little cart) which was pretty cool. On our way back we took a cab, which kept pulling over and telling us one minute every few blocks. We had no idea what was going on but we thought it was hilarious. Oh Thailand! My life has become a blur of confusion…

That night my friend Nick, who is friends with one of my friends back home, invited us to a 4^th of July BBQ. We headed over there and over ate! It was amazing. We were the only Americans, the rest of the people were British, Australian, South African, and I don’t know…. But it was amazing. We got to hang out with some pretty cool people.

After the BBQ we went to a Thai night club. It was amazing. Again we got a couple bottles and danced the night away. This time it was hilarious, we were like celebrities, we had people bringing us drinks and dancing with us and kissing our hands.

We ended the weekend by getting some Mexican food and then I headed on my 3 hour bus ride home which for some reason only took 2 and a half. What a great ending to a great weekend.