High points and fond memories, appreciations and realizations from the last few weeks...
Un otro San Miguel, Kaa: There's nothing like getting drunk with new friends and busting out the classic techno ball moves for upwards of 25 minutes to make a bar on Khao San Rd. feel like you're... not home, but where you belong in the moment. I'm so, so thankful for the wonderful people I've gotten to know and explore this country with the last 2 months.
Best Guesthouse experience thus far: Saibaidee House in Sukhothai for 1) allowing us to check in at 4:30 am with a sleepy smile, 2) providing the most helpful information possible for checking out the city and beyond (including bus schedules!), and 3) homemade muesli delicious enough to write home about, literally... Worthy of bitcheswhobrunch.com ;)
Great Success in the classroom: our friend Connor gave us the idea to do a Pronunciation Bee in class (like a spelling bee, but with pronunciation). Lee and I made a lesson plan to teach pronunciation of words with "R" and "L" which included saying pairs like right and light, rip and lip, rice and lice. As I'm sure you know already from Asian stereotypes, this was pretty difficult for most of them. But the look on their faces when they pronounced a word correctly... priceless. The lesson also included singing "Low, low, low your boat".
Toast Appreciation Day: We have a toaster in our kitchen, but we didn't use it b/c who knows what's been in it. But finally we couldn't stand the thought of warm toast with butter and jam or peanut butter teasing us anymore so I googled "How to clean a toaster" and Lee cleaned it... only to find out after plugging it in that it was broken. I'm eating plain untoasted bread right now.
Worth the tourist stampede, I concede - you could see the hordes of farangs and Thais alike at Erawan National Park in Kanchanburi from a klick away. I like my tourist attractions the same way I like my mall - untouched and uncrowded on a Tuesday morning at 10a.m. However, the waterfall really did live up to the hype. Absolutely gorgeous, unreal water, with 7 steps of very satisfactory hiking. The fishies in the water nibble away at the dead skin on your feet as soon as you step in the water to swim, so they got a feast while I got a free pedicure. Win-win.
Dog Bite Count: 2. No blood, no worries. There's a mean-spirited dog that has taken to hiding in the bushes right outside of our school, and one day I was on the phone and forgot to cross the street to avoid it and it jumped out and sneak attacked me as I passed its hiding spot. It's getting quite difficult to go for runs on longer creative routes around the town because I keep running into dogs that really want to sample my flesh, and my flesh only. Do I not just look like everyone else?
Favorite Place So Far?: Koh Mak. Sigh... Gorgeous. Untouristy. Perfection. A small boutique on Tuesday at 10 a.m.... and it's high season. 24 hours of kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, climbing palm trees and attempting to break open coconuts, and reading in a hammock. We stayed in a legit little bamboo bungalow (thank you Jamie!), and the restaurant served up the most delicious seafood - no, meal - that I've eaten here. This is Thailand. :)
Sample of my current Thailand playlist:
"Intro" - The XX
"Lost in the World" - Kanye West
"Map of the Problematique" - Muse
"Desert Rose" - Sting
"Zombie" - Cranberries
"In For the Kill" - La Roux
"Colourless Colour" - La Roux
"Home" - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
"Bamboo Banger" - M.I.A.
For the bus rides:
"Stars" - The XX
"Infinity" - The XX
"Cosmic Love" - Florence + The Machine
"In Every Sunflower" - Bell X1
"Don't Forget Me" - Way Out West
"To Be Alone With You" - Sufjan Stevens
"Into Dust" - Ashtar Command
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