On Sunday night we were invited to another one of Father Joe’s famous dinner parties. Although, Jodie and I weren’t really in the mood to go and mingle, we knew there would be a feast there for us to enjoy so of course we accepted. Outside it was pouring rain so we trekked through river and streams and finally made it to Father Joe’s looking a bit like wet dogs. Just like we have come to expect, there was a grand feast for us to enjoy. Lobster, fish, green beans, and other yummy Thai dishes were in full supply. After filling our tummy’s we did the usual mingling. We had an interesting conversation with a friend of Father Joe’s named Lee. He works for development organization in Laos and his focus is the development of technology in rural and poverty-stricken areas. We discussed the issue of technology vs. basic necessities. For example the lap-top per child program and the idea that every child should have access to a computer. This whole campaign is problematic because it doesn’t address the real issues related to poverty. Does it really seem that useful to hand over a piece of technology to a child who doesn’t even have access to clean water or food? It’s a valid argument to be considered that’s for sure.
This afternoon we arrived home and were locked out of soi 40. We spent about 15 minutes sitting on the step snacking on our food while contemplating our options of getting inside. Our main concern was the milk and the yogurt. We called Si Jie, she got in touch with the house parents and they informed her that there were boys in the house. We continued to ring the bell but after still no answer. Jodie walked around the back of the building and found the boys hanging out on the back deck where we do our laundry.
A few minutes later we joined Spicy and Bird and snacked on Doritos that we just bought at Carrefore. In exchange they helped us with our laundry.
While we were finishing up a load of laundry, Bird strutted by completely naked. Jodie and I a bit shocked left the deck and waited inside as a result of the awkward position we were suddenly in. A few minutes later Spicy strutted out wearing a tan pair of underwear. We were in the last stages of washing the laundry where we had to manually spin dry the clothing. The boys seemed not a bit concerned that these two girls were in very close proximity to them while they bathed. At one point, Spicy went behind a curtain and peed into the drain off the side of the deck. Bird is around 12 or 13 years old and chose to bathe himself sitting on a little stool. He lathered himself with soap, and sang like no was around. The funniest part was how they went about all of this, showing no concern that we were around.
Another classic moment here at soi 40 involved Galang ironing his kindergarten uniform. He was sitting cross leg on the floor hovering over the iron board which stands only a few inches of the ground. I watched him for a few minutes as he ironed with such precision. He worked slowly and seemed in no rush as though he had nothing better to be doing.
Soi 40 is bustling with excitement and energy as they return to school. The place is completely empty during the day and in the evening the boys are full of energy as they play and discuss the events of the day. While we are getting ready in the morning, their loud voices can be heard reciting their morning prayers. It reminds me of our first month here when we would be woken up daily by the voices of boys running around. Back to school means new haircuts, so all the boys are sporting new closely shaved crew cuts.
This next story may disgust some of you, specifically my mother. Today I saw lice in one of the girl’s hair. I was only one that noticed but I couldn’t take my eyes off her head as Si Jie and Jodie talked to her. I was thinking “I hope that lice doesn’t try to job over here” Later when I told Jodie about the lice spotting, her first reaction was shock and then she informed me that she came fully prepared with Lice shampoo.
When we first arrived we would often see a mother and child picking out each other’s lice with tweezers. It has became quite normal for us to see this here in the slums of Klong Toey but nevertheless today I was shocked and am now a bit paranoid.
I would like to take the time to thank Tiffany and Angela for sending me those lovely pictures of via email. My eyes welled up and I probably would have cried except that I was surrounded by crazy gamers. The atmosphere at our local internet café is similar to a busy arcade. While we attempt to catch up on emails and surf the web, sounds of gamers fill the air. Whether it is the sound of someone being kicked in the face, a machine gun or the annoying hip hop soundtrack that accompanies the game, the sounds at times are unbearable. Imagine a room filled with 25+ computers and 23 of them are playing video games with their volume cranked up to the loudest possible level. It is dirt cheap to surf the internet there so a will keep my complaints to a minimum.
Anyways, those are the stories I can think to tell you right now.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Do you know the price of rice?
In a strange way I feel like the goodbyes have already begun and that my time in Thailand is already winding down. It is strange because I have only just passed the halfway mark. On Friday I said goodbye to a student and good friend of mine. She has left for the US. She is taking a course in Washington and will be staying there until August. It is a wonderful opportunity for her and I am so proud of her. I will miss her very much though. Si Jie has decided to leave at the beginning at June and I have this feeling that it will come quickly. In a little over a month, my mom and sister will be arriving and the time after they leave will be spent travelling. I have this sense that it is time to take full advantage of every experience and look for opportunities to have meaningful experience with the children and staff at Mercy.
A few of the highlights of the last couple of days include cooking Saheo Cake with our friends in the Hospice, treating ourselves to Pizza, Beer, ice cream and a movie and experiencing the anticipated visit of American Ambassador and his wife.
The pizza, beer and ice cream was the best thing to happen to us this week. We left Mercy exhausted from a long week. On the way home, we decided to pick up some pizza. After being wooed by the very attractive Thai pizza man, we left the pizza store with a two large pizza, a pint of ice cream and a 6 month membership to the Pizza Company. We have plans to return next Friday. It could be dangerous if pizza man is there.
The American Ambassador’s visit lasted a whole hour but the anticipation started a day early. I’m still not sure why such a big deal was made but all of Mercy was transformed for his visit. All of the security guards were in attendance wearing all black. The black BMW displaying an American flag arrived accompanied by 2 Thai police officers in the in front of the car and behind and the show began. For the next 60 minutes Eric and his wife were shown around Mercy accompanied by a big following of Mercy PR and embassy staff. I’m sure you are all wondering “what does the ambassador do?” I asked myself the same question and found out that he works at the American Embassy and is in contact with Washington. His focus is Thailand and US relations. He visit to Mercy doesn’t really mean that much except for the press that his visit brings. When I left I was thinking…..that was a lot of hype for nothing. Anyways, it was interesting experience. The best part of it was seeing all the staff dressed up.
Today while we were doing our laundry, Si Jie saw two of the boys in an interesting exchange. Si Jie was sitting and talking to one of the boys in the sleeping room. Two of the boys entered the room, walked over to their bed. One of them reached under his pillow and grabbed his favourite toy. The other boy reached into his pocket, pulled out 50 baht and they exchanged the money and toy. Funny to think that at this age they already know about the importance of trade and the value of money and goods. Questions like, where did the one little boy get the money or what will the other boy do with the money, probably will never be answered but it is funny to contemplate.
Other story that made me laugh when I heard it was a story about some kindergartens and their discussion of rice. Everyone here in Asian is aware and is concerned about the increasing price of rice and that does exclude young children. Si Jie overheard two children discussing the increasing price of rice the other day at the kindergarten.
“Do you know that the price has gone up?”
“Yeah I head it was 80 baht per kilo”
“No, its 90 baht per kilo”
Then one of them said to Si Jie, “Your plate is not clean, you have to eat all of it because the price has gone up”
Imagine it, a few 4 and 5 years old discussing inflation and the increase of goods. Why wouldn’t they? It affects them everyday. Rice is a critical element to the Thai and Asian diet. The increasing price of rice and oil is an ongoing problem for this developing country. During our time, we have seen numerous price increases such as our daily transportation and local street vendor food prices. We have seen and experienced the effects of the global market on the poor of Thailand.
On Saturday evening we went to the World Music Festival to see some of the Mercy girls perform a Thai dance. Five of the eight girls were students of ours. Lek, Boong, Dew, Cherie and Rose performed a traditional Thai dance for the festival. They looked beautiful and I was so proud of them. During their performance it began raining and they kept smiling though it all. Although, it was only a bit of rain, their smiling faces reminded me of how resilient these girls are. I know that each one of those girls has a story where they have faced unimaginable challenges and yet they have pressed on. Their strength and beauty filled that smile. They are so young and so full of life. They have dreams for the future and although I don’t know the exact details of their past I can say without a doubt that these girls are strong and resilient and that can achieve great things if they put their mind to it.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
A few of the highlights of the last couple of days include cooking Saheo Cake with our friends in the Hospice, treating ourselves to Pizza, Beer, ice cream and a movie and experiencing the anticipated visit of American Ambassador and his wife.
The pizza, beer and ice cream was the best thing to happen to us this week. We left Mercy exhausted from a long week. On the way home, we decided to pick up some pizza. After being wooed by the very attractive Thai pizza man, we left the pizza store with a two large pizza, a pint of ice cream and a 6 month membership to the Pizza Company. We have plans to return next Friday. It could be dangerous if pizza man is there.
The American Ambassador’s visit lasted a whole hour but the anticipation started a day early. I’m still not sure why such a big deal was made but all of Mercy was transformed for his visit. All of the security guards were in attendance wearing all black. The black BMW displaying an American flag arrived accompanied by 2 Thai police officers in the in front of the car and behind and the show began. For the next 60 minutes Eric and his wife were shown around Mercy accompanied by a big following of Mercy PR and embassy staff. I’m sure you are all wondering “what does the ambassador do?” I asked myself the same question and found out that he works at the American Embassy and is in contact with Washington. His focus is Thailand and US relations. He visit to Mercy doesn’t really mean that much except for the press that his visit brings. When I left I was thinking…..that was a lot of hype for nothing. Anyways, it was interesting experience. The best part of it was seeing all the staff dressed up.
Today while we were doing our laundry, Si Jie saw two of the boys in an interesting exchange. Si Jie was sitting and talking to one of the boys in the sleeping room. Two of the boys entered the room, walked over to their bed. One of them reached under his pillow and grabbed his favourite toy. The other boy reached into his pocket, pulled out 50 baht and they exchanged the money and toy. Funny to think that at this age they already know about the importance of trade and the value of money and goods. Questions like, where did the one little boy get the money or what will the other boy do with the money, probably will never be answered but it is funny to contemplate.
Other story that made me laugh when I heard it was a story about some kindergartens and their discussion of rice. Everyone here in Asian is aware and is concerned about the increasing price of rice and that does exclude young children. Si Jie overheard two children discussing the increasing price of rice the other day at the kindergarten.
“Do you know that the price has gone up?”
“Yeah I head it was 80 baht per kilo”
“No, its 90 baht per kilo”
Then one of them said to Si Jie, “Your plate is not clean, you have to eat all of it because the price has gone up”
Imagine it, a few 4 and 5 years old discussing inflation and the increase of goods. Why wouldn’t they? It affects them everyday. Rice is a critical element to the Thai and Asian diet. The increasing price of rice and oil is an ongoing problem for this developing country. During our time, we have seen numerous price increases such as our daily transportation and local street vendor food prices. We have seen and experienced the effects of the global market on the poor of Thailand.
On Saturday evening we went to the World Music Festival to see some of the Mercy girls perform a Thai dance. Five of the eight girls were students of ours. Lek, Boong, Dew, Cherie and Rose performed a traditional Thai dance for the festival. They looked beautiful and I was so proud of them. During their performance it began raining and they kept smiling though it all. Although, it was only a bit of rain, their smiling faces reminded me of how resilient these girls are. I know that each one of those girls has a story where they have faced unimaginable challenges and yet they have pressed on. Their strength and beauty filled that smile. They are so young and so full of life. They have dreams for the future and although I don’t know the exact details of their past I can say without a doubt that these girls are strong and resilient and that can achieve great things if they put their mind to it.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
I have a couple of days to catch you all up on. On Monday we took three of the boys from Soi 40 with us on the river-cruise. We had accompanied half of the Mercy 6 kids last Tuesday and Vanessa invited us to chaperone the other half on Monday. Instead of going to the memorable snake farm like last time, we instead took them to Temple of Dawn. Jodie and I had been there already but surprisingly the children choose the Temple over the snake farm when given the choice. The day was great fun and the best expressions were found in the faces of our three boys from Soi 40. They were full of smiles and they genuinely enjoyed every minute of it. One little boy named Folk who is Jodie’s favorite was definitely loving every minute. At one point he went to the front of the boat and was starting talking to the driver. Mind you, he is only 6 and when ever we hit a bump his face would light up. Bird’s expressions throughout the day were classic. During the picnic lunch, the hotel had prepared a variety of sandwiches. Bird REALLY liked them and he carried leftovers with him for the rest of the day. Every time I looked at him, he was stuffing his face with a sandwich. The funniest was when I looked over at him during our paddle boat ride in the park and he was stuffing his face while paddling.
After our boat cruise with Mercy 6, we got one of the drivers to drop us off at Lumphini Park. We decided to take full advantage of this time with the boys. We took them to the park, played with them on the playground and took them for a paddle boat ride in the big swan boats. After the park we took them to McDonald and treated them to ice cream. It was a grand day, one of the bests here in Thailand. The boys were so well behaved and so gracious.
Highlights of Tuesday and Wednesday include sharing lunch with our friends in the AIDS ward. On Wednesday we actually spent the afternoon painting nails with them. Momma painted Jodie, Si Jie’s and my nails. She took the task very seriously. She filed and painted each nail with three coats. They looked spectacular. I jokingly painted some of the male patient’s nails. A few of the patients painted Uma’s nails. Each nail a different color and a different pattern. He was pretty thrilled about it. I glanced over at him a few times and each time I saw him starting at his nails.
Today’s meal topped my list of favorite meals at Mercy. We had rice, friend chicken, papaya salad and oranges for desert. It was delicious, AROY in Thai. Speaking of meals, tonight we ate at street vendor with Boong and Dew. I ordered noodles which were really delicious. I’ve also come to the conclusion that Thai people over use the world delicious and beautiful in their language. I would estimate that we say those words around 30-40 times a day. Tomorrow I will keep a tally to find out for sure. On Tuesday night we ate supper with the boys. Eating with them is always fun. After their food was served they had to meditate for a few minutes before they could return to the table. All the boys were sitting crossed legged on the floor facing us and the house mom told us that we could start eating. So jokingly Jodie and I started to eat, flashing them funny looks while the boys attempted to meditate. A few minutes they returned the teasing by making fun of us in Thai and using their best English and saying “Misty, no beautiful, me, beautiful.”
On that note I will end this post.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
After our boat cruise with Mercy 6, we got one of the drivers to drop us off at Lumphini Park. We decided to take full advantage of this time with the boys. We took them to the park, played with them on the playground and took them for a paddle boat ride in the big swan boats. After the park we took them to McDonald and treated them to ice cream. It was a grand day, one of the bests here in Thailand. The boys were so well behaved and so gracious.
Highlights of Tuesday and Wednesday include sharing lunch with our friends in the AIDS ward. On Wednesday we actually spent the afternoon painting nails with them. Momma painted Jodie, Si Jie’s and my nails. She took the task very seriously. She filed and painted each nail with three coats. They looked spectacular. I jokingly painted some of the male patient’s nails. A few of the patients painted Uma’s nails. Each nail a different color and a different pattern. He was pretty thrilled about it. I glanced over at him a few times and each time I saw him starting at his nails.
Today’s meal topped my list of favorite meals at Mercy. We had rice, friend chicken, papaya salad and oranges for desert. It was delicious, AROY in Thai. Speaking of meals, tonight we ate at street vendor with Boong and Dew. I ordered noodles which were really delicious. I’ve also come to the conclusion that Thai people over use the world delicious and beautiful in their language. I would estimate that we say those words around 30-40 times a day. Tomorrow I will keep a tally to find out for sure. On Tuesday night we ate supper with the boys. Eating with them is always fun. After their food was served they had to meditate for a few minutes before they could return to the table. All the boys were sitting crossed legged on the floor facing us and the house mom told us that we could start eating. So jokingly Jodie and I started to eat, flashing them funny looks while the boys attempted to meditate. A few minutes they returned the teasing by making fun of us in Thai and using their best English and saying “Misty, no beautiful, me, beautiful.”
On that note I will end this post.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Comic Strip written for The Coast
My friend Nicole read about my monkey story and she passed it along to her friend Mike Holmes who writes for The Coast. The Coast is a free paper that is circulated around the city of Halifax. Its focus is the local arts and entertainment scene.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Pics
Mangrove Forest. A really unique ecosystem only found near coastlines. They are often destroyed by people's desire to own coastline property. 
Wicked spider pic taken by Jodie
A wonderful moment. Just a glimpse into what it truly means to live off the land
Local fisherman. What you can't see is that is raining really hard and he is still out on the water.
Little Eden. Our accomodations in Ko Chang the first night. Only 200 baht a night which is like 7 dollars canadian
A game of chess. Completley staged!
Monkey from the wild that appeared at near the Bungalows looking for his daily banana.
Funny Typo! Suppose to be 2 baht (thai money) per minute. Its up there with French Fried on menus.
Little Eden
Here are just a few of my favourite pics from the last couple of days. Enjoy. I will hopefully post more later. You can check more out on facebook
Amazing Race: Ko Chang Leg
We had been anticipating Heather’s arrival for quite some time now and she finally arrived on Thursday evening. We took her for a late night tour of the Mercy Centre so she could see where we spent all of our time. It was late in the evening so all the kids were dressed in their PJ’s watching movies. We were able to give her a tour and she was able to meet some of our special friends and a few of our students. Later in the evening, we went to our favorite restaurant at the night bazaar. It ended talking into the wee hours which wasn’t the best idea since we had to get up at 5:00
Heather flew and Jodie and caught the 7:30 bus and headed to Ko Chang. We caught the ferry and arrived in Ko Chang around 2:00. We spent the next hour and half looking for our hotel. We were on a bit of wild goose chase because Heather had written down the wrong address and so we travelled to the wrong end of the island trying to find it. We eventually found it and then began our search to find Heather on the beach. After a long hot frustrating search with no luck we went back to our guest house. There we found Heather who had been waiting for the last couple of hours. After venting our frustration we decided the only way to brighten our mood would be to eat. We ended up eating at the guest house and the food was seriously some of the best Thai food I’ve eaten on my travels through Thailand.
Our accommodations however were an experience in themselves. The best way to describe the bungalows and our experience would be like sleeping in a tree house. The bungalow was very cute from the outside and only 200 baht per night which is only 7 dollars Canadian. Inside there was one large bed which was covered with a mosquito net that hung from the ceiling. The bathroom however did not have the one thing we desired most, a shower. There was a hose but it only delivered cold, cold water. We spent the first evening there, all three of us in the same bed protected by the mosquito net. The tree house was also infested by ants. Later we discovered a large nest of ants that lived in a nearby tree. In the middle of the night I awoke to thunder and lightening showers and throughout the night water sprinkled on my face. It was not enough to keep me awake but at one point I woke up and grabbed the blankets and covered my face. Praying that I wouldn’t wake up soaked.
On Friday morning we decided to move onto another accommodation, the cold shower in itself was a reason to move on. We began on our search to find another hotel in the pouring rain. After about an hour and a lot of rain, we finally found a place. This hotel had a hot shower, a pool and two double beds. We took it and decided to make something of our day. In the afternoon, the sun came out for a short period and we took full advantage. We hung out by the pool and soaked up the sun for an hour or so. It wasn’t quite enough to help the tan but we enjoyed it anyways. In the evening Heather and I got massages on the beach and then the three of us followed it up with romantic dinner on the beach.
On Saturday, we refused to let the rain get us down. We weren’t going to spend our weekend sulking and staying in the hotel room. Our original plan was to rent motorcycles and drive around the island but because of the rain we decided to rent a car. Jodie and Heather drove but when it came time for me to drive I was not prepared. I began driving in the middle of the busiest street on the island and my perception of the road and the car was way off. Remember, the car is on the opposite side of the road and the driver is driving on the passenger side. Anyways, I was quite nervous and after a minute of driving in which I almost hit a car and a person, I decided to pull over and let Jodie drive again. I was quite disappointed in myself and I felt like a failure but I knew that if I had a chance to practice and get my bearings then I would have been fine. Lesson learned I guess. Don’t start Misty off driving in a foreign country in the middle of a busy street.
We drove to the opposite side of the island and went on a boat ride in rain. We originally wanted to go kayaking but chose the alternative boat ride because we had the option of sitting under an umbrella and staying relatively dry. The boat toured around the mangrove forest. This boat trip along with our drive around the island was one of the most breath taking experiences of my life. We took a lot of pictures but they really didn’t do the sites justice.
The mangrove forest was fascinating and Heather shared with us that this type of forest is usually destroyed because of coastline property. It is similar to a rain forest because of its unique ecosystem and its importance to local organisms and animals. Usually when the forests are destroyed it damages the local ecosystems and it often is impossible to replace. During the boat ride we passed a small fishing village and for a moment got insight to the lifestyle of a Thai fisherman, when we saw an older man fishing in his boat.
On our way back to the other side of the island we stopped for Indian food. On the other side of the island we shopped at a local market and Heather bought some local art and a few souvenirs. Later in the evening we all went for Thai massages. Heather and Jodie preferred the Thai but I felt like I was being beat up the whole time.
It is hard to describe the roads to you and I can only compare it to the Cabot Trail. The roads were so steep and so narrow. Some of roads were on the verge of being washed away and there were times where it felt like we were climbing Mount Everest. It was unbelievable adventure that I will treasure for a long time.
On Sunday we had one of the worst bus experiences of my life. Unknowingly we bought a ticket from a private bus company. We ended sitting on a bus that smelled like an outhouse for 5 hours. About an hour into the trip I realized I need to pee but refused to use the bathroom which smelled horrific. The bus was also leaking and it leaked on the Jodie the whole way home. She used the curtain and created a contraption that solved the problem momentarily. Everyone on the bus looked and smelled like they hadn’t showered for days. I imagined that they all stayed in the 200 baht guesthouse with no showers. The fact that it rained all weekend didn’t help the cause or the smell of wet dogs and sewer that filled the bus. We didn’t make any kind of stop until the 4th hour of the bus ride on the way home, and to say that my bladder was on the verge of exploding would be understatement. We made an unusual stop and everyone was forced to buy something because we were all starving. The Thai food was disgusting and expensive which made me the whole bus experience worse. We eventually arrived at home around 6.
We made plans to meet Carole, another fellow ed student on Sunday night. We met her at the hostel she was staying at. The hostel was really fancy and had a really great vibe to it. We had a great evening sharing stories with her and by the end of the night we realized it was time to go on a SERIOUS SERIOUS budget. Anyways, I am writing this post in an internet café and I don’t have time to fill you in on the events of today. We had a great day with the boys from soi 40 and I will end this post now and save the details for my next post.
Sending love from Thailand.
Misty
Heather flew and Jodie and caught the 7:30 bus and headed to Ko Chang. We caught the ferry and arrived in Ko Chang around 2:00. We spent the next hour and half looking for our hotel. We were on a bit of wild goose chase because Heather had written down the wrong address and so we travelled to the wrong end of the island trying to find it. We eventually found it and then began our search to find Heather on the beach. After a long hot frustrating search with no luck we went back to our guest house. There we found Heather who had been waiting for the last couple of hours. After venting our frustration we decided the only way to brighten our mood would be to eat. We ended up eating at the guest house and the food was seriously some of the best Thai food I’ve eaten on my travels through Thailand.
Our accommodations however were an experience in themselves. The best way to describe the bungalows and our experience would be like sleeping in a tree house. The bungalow was very cute from the outside and only 200 baht per night which is only 7 dollars Canadian. Inside there was one large bed which was covered with a mosquito net that hung from the ceiling. The bathroom however did not have the one thing we desired most, a shower. There was a hose but it only delivered cold, cold water. We spent the first evening there, all three of us in the same bed protected by the mosquito net. The tree house was also infested by ants. Later we discovered a large nest of ants that lived in a nearby tree. In the middle of the night I awoke to thunder and lightening showers and throughout the night water sprinkled on my face. It was not enough to keep me awake but at one point I woke up and grabbed the blankets and covered my face. Praying that I wouldn’t wake up soaked.
On Friday morning we decided to move onto another accommodation, the cold shower in itself was a reason to move on. We began on our search to find another hotel in the pouring rain. After about an hour and a lot of rain, we finally found a place. This hotel had a hot shower, a pool and two double beds. We took it and decided to make something of our day. In the afternoon, the sun came out for a short period and we took full advantage. We hung out by the pool and soaked up the sun for an hour or so. It wasn’t quite enough to help the tan but we enjoyed it anyways. In the evening Heather and I got massages on the beach and then the three of us followed it up with romantic dinner on the beach.
On Saturday, we refused to let the rain get us down. We weren’t going to spend our weekend sulking and staying in the hotel room. Our original plan was to rent motorcycles and drive around the island but because of the rain we decided to rent a car. Jodie and Heather drove but when it came time for me to drive I was not prepared. I began driving in the middle of the busiest street on the island and my perception of the road and the car was way off. Remember, the car is on the opposite side of the road and the driver is driving on the passenger side. Anyways, I was quite nervous and after a minute of driving in which I almost hit a car and a person, I decided to pull over and let Jodie drive again. I was quite disappointed in myself and I felt like a failure but I knew that if I had a chance to practice and get my bearings then I would have been fine. Lesson learned I guess. Don’t start Misty off driving in a foreign country in the middle of a busy street.
We drove to the opposite side of the island and went on a boat ride in rain. We originally wanted to go kayaking but chose the alternative boat ride because we had the option of sitting under an umbrella and staying relatively dry. The boat toured around the mangrove forest. This boat trip along with our drive around the island was one of the most breath taking experiences of my life. We took a lot of pictures but they really didn’t do the sites justice.
The mangrove forest was fascinating and Heather shared with us that this type of forest is usually destroyed because of coastline property. It is similar to a rain forest because of its unique ecosystem and its importance to local organisms and animals. Usually when the forests are destroyed it damages the local ecosystems and it often is impossible to replace. During the boat ride we passed a small fishing village and for a moment got insight to the lifestyle of a Thai fisherman, when we saw an older man fishing in his boat.
On our way back to the other side of the island we stopped for Indian food. On the other side of the island we shopped at a local market and Heather bought some local art and a few souvenirs. Later in the evening we all went for Thai massages. Heather and Jodie preferred the Thai but I felt like I was being beat up the whole time.
It is hard to describe the roads to you and I can only compare it to the Cabot Trail. The roads were so steep and so narrow. Some of roads were on the verge of being washed away and there were times where it felt like we were climbing Mount Everest. It was unbelievable adventure that I will treasure for a long time.
On Sunday we had one of the worst bus experiences of my life. Unknowingly we bought a ticket from a private bus company. We ended sitting on a bus that smelled like an outhouse for 5 hours. About an hour into the trip I realized I need to pee but refused to use the bathroom which smelled horrific. The bus was also leaking and it leaked on the Jodie the whole way home. She used the curtain and created a contraption that solved the problem momentarily. Everyone on the bus looked and smelled like they hadn’t showered for days. I imagined that they all stayed in the 200 baht guesthouse with no showers. The fact that it rained all weekend didn’t help the cause or the smell of wet dogs and sewer that filled the bus. We didn’t make any kind of stop until the 4th hour of the bus ride on the way home, and to say that my bladder was on the verge of exploding would be understatement. We made an unusual stop and everyone was forced to buy something because we were all starving. The Thai food was disgusting and expensive which made me the whole bus experience worse. We eventually arrived at home around 6.
We made plans to meet Carole, another fellow ed student on Sunday night. We met her at the hostel she was staying at. The hostel was really fancy and had a really great vibe to it. We had a great evening sharing stories with her and by the end of the night we realized it was time to go on a SERIOUS SERIOUS budget. Anyways, I am writing this post in an internet café and I don’t have time to fill you in on the events of today. We had a great day with the boys from soi 40 and I will end this post now and save the details for my next post.
Sending love from Thailand.
Misty
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