Red. Light. District. (Pattaya)

Thursday July 12, 2012

On Thursday we had regular classes like we usually do, but during one of my breaks we had to go to the local hospital to get checked for syphilis. For some reason, to be able to get a work permit in this country you need a medical exam and a syphilis test. I hate doctors and I hate hospitals, and being in a hospital in Thailand was kind of terrifying but I survived and I am healthy and syphilis free… Now I only have to wait for the very long paperwork process so that I can go on to the next step of my work permit.

When we got back there was a guy here that used to teach 3 years ago. His name is Glyn and he is from Virginia. Danielle my roommate talked to him for a while and he invited us to have dinner at a local restaurant. Danielle had a friend over from Canada that she met at a different province so he came with us. 

We went to this really nice little restaurant by the school. The owner is named “Big Ass” and he took care of us all night. (I don’t know if I already mentioned this but parents give their children American nicknames when they are young, so I have many porns, banks, a muffin, a morphine, and I believe a Garfield…) We sat with all of them and tried to communicate regardless of the language barriers. They kept bringing us drinks and food, and it was a great time. Any time we get to interact with the locals it is a great time. If we can sort of communicate and there is food and drink involved it is entertaining and enlightening… what I came here for. Oh I forgot to mention, I saw a guy eat it on his motorbike. He slipped on the wet ground and ate shit. He was so drunk he did not realize it and it took him a few minutes to react towards us trying to speak to him and make sure he was ok.

Friday I got done teaching early like I always do. I sat around and relaxed until the market was open. We all decided to go to the market together. When we got there I decided that for the first time, I was going to venture the market on my own, at my own pace, looking at everything by myself and attempting to communicate on my own. It was wonderful.

After the market we made some drinks and hung out at the house. My friend Jessica was coming from Bangkok so I waited for her. At about 10 pm my roommate Jessica and I walked to the main street to meet Jessica. When we were walking there we got offered a ride on a random persons motorbike. We took it and waited for Jess. She got here and we headed to big asses again. We drank and ate and had some cake that was for his mothers birthday. It was another great night. I have actually been trying different foods and got to eat fried flowers that night. Like I mentioned everyone has nicknames here, besides Mimi, my other nickname is Anchan, which is purple or violet flower. A beautiful flower… how flattering… except for the fact that we ate deep fried me for me dinner…

Saturday

Jess and I stayed at my place. We woke up early and headed bus was an hour long. I remembered that we had met two Turkish guys in Koh Samed that lived and worked in Pattaya. I called them and they said told me they would pick us up and we could crash at their condo.  We headed there and hung out at the pool while they worked.

Being in a pool was so nice. The weather was amazing and it was very relaxing.

We went to eat some Thai food and headed to the beach. While at the beach we were having a beer and relaxing when this guy from Iran got sand in my beer. I got a little upset so he bought as a round and took me out on a jet sky. Not a bad bargain at all.

When our friends got off work we got ready and headed out to a night out in town. I don’t know if you have ever heard of Pattaya but it is Thailands main red light district. There are hookers everywhere and it is pretty scummy. A lot of men from abroad come here to take advantage of the women who will do anything for about 100 dollars.

We headed back to the main party street and ate some kebabs. I am proud to say I ate lamb for my first time and I actually really enjoyed it. The streets were crazy… Full of bars, karaokes, strip joints, tourists, lady boys, etc. The music was blaring from every corner and there was intense energy everywhere. We got approached by multiple men offering us menus for ping pong shows which range from anything like watching live sex, women shoot ping pongs out of their vaginas, or ever rats… yes rats… coming out of females….

The menus and energy  surrounding all of it was disturbing.

We kept walking and went to the end of the street to the big clubs. Our friends work in the tourism industry so we went in to the VIP area and got a couple bottles of Jack Daniels while we danced to some of the best DJs spin some amazing music… and we danced the night away…

Sunday

Sunday morning Jess and I woke up and made breakfast before heading home. Jess took a bus but I had to flag a bus down myself.

This was horrible! I stood in the sun for about anhour trying to figure out which bus I was supposed to flag down. Eventually I got a mini bus and made it back. I ended my weekend by making homemade salsa which unfortunately I had to eat with potato chips…