the other passenger

Hello there faithful reader,

I am not sure who you are since you've been chinchy on the posts, but whatever I guess you are out there.

This week in order to continue the celebration of my 22nd year of vida and to feel clean again I took the plunge and joined a gym. True Fitness to be exact and it's glorious. Hot, clean showers, free soap, toilet paper, shampoo, water....man it's heaven. Seriously I have not felt as clean as I did when I left Waco until now. Thus far I've been 3 times, the one I actually joined is currently under construction and I have guest passes to the other branch. So yea, it just gets better. There is just something so wonderful about being in a room lit by neon lights, jammin' to funky techno remixes, with 20 other people pedaling as hard as you can on a stationary bike, while following the instructor who might be into the music a little to much as he saddle slaps his legs (I think its a universal sign for "faster"). Simply superb.

In other news, earlier today, prior to the joys of the gymnasium I (along with Christina) took our daily taxi ride from our school to the BTS (above ground metro). Fridays in Bangkok are similar to any other major cities, in that traffic is insane, especially after a hard rain like today. So we are sitting in our cab venting to each other about the recent rebuke received from our principal that we are using the copying machine too much (another story), when Christina starts laughing uncontrollably. Between her giggles she manages to tell me that the driver is doing something shady (way to common for comfort), and then proceeds to tell me in Spanish (our code talk) that there is an animal in the taxi with us. I try to get a peek between the driver set (which i am sitting behind) and the set beside him, I can only see the console and his hands, with EXTREMELY long and thick nails on them stroking something. My first thought was "oh it must be a ferret." Clearly a sensible pet to have in a cab. But no, I get a better look and I see...it's a pigeon. Yes, a dirty bird that should remain in parks was sharing the 45 minute cab ride with us. Again, as it happens hmmm maybe 50 times a day, I am faced with a choice: get grossed out or laugh, get mad or laugh, get freaked out or laugh, get frustrated of laugh, get (you name the emotion) or LAUGH. My tickle box floweth over. I've laughed in so many non-funny situations in the past two months that its clearly makes a strong argument for my life being a comedy. I mean really, a live pigeon sitting on the console. It gets better though, as the moments pass it starts flapping its winds and moves to the dashboard. At which time Christina pulls out her workout t-shirt to shield herself in case it decides to fly to the back seat. I make the hasty choice to use my hands to cover my eyeballs first, since they would be most damaged by bird pecking. The pigeon flaps, the driver chills, we laugh. The pigeon poops (3 times), the driver opens his glove compartment pulls out some tp and cleans it up. We decide we for sure have avian flu and call it a day, or better yet a week. And what a week it has been, so many more stories, but that will have to suffice for tonight. Tata.

another 2 painful hours.

Yes, it's Tuesday and I just survived another painful tutoring session with the 13 year old. Some of you might be thinking.."oh it can't be that bad." Um, you try it after eight glorious hours of children calling for you, never ending drilling/hammering and the strong smell of paint. Have I mentioned that my school it under construction? By the way its pouring outside.

On a much brighter note, this past Friday was my 22nd birthday. Thank you to all of you who sent me wishes, cards, e-cards, presents, posts, love and the late e-mails. I had a GREAT birthday. Christina woke me up with a dance outside me door and brought breakfast to me, great way to start the day. My friends Dan and Blake (from Baylor) happened to be coming through Bangkok after a six-week trip through China and SE Asia. They were a breath of fresh air to me and Christina and such a blessing to have them here to celebrate. They actually came to my school (which is quite out of the way), had lunch with us, hung out and helped me teach my last class. My boss, Apple, was randomly there on Friday and ordered a special lunch for us, aka fried rice (believe me it beats white rice and cabbage). Then we left school an hour early, I did my laundry and got packages from home! A few of us met up for dinner, a huge burrito, which was the biggest meal i've had here yet. Later we met up with the rest of the teachers at a restaurant/bar near my stop. It was packed, so we got the VIP room. Yea, you better believe it! Not that VIP means anything more than a fan in a closed room. I tutored again on Saturday and had a mini-party there with some randoms. I can't even begin to explain how great it was to share my small life here with real-live friends from home. Just to show them things and laugh about my new life was great. So thanks Dan and Blake for making my b-day great and listening to my chatter.

I think I'm going to attempt to run in the rain, be that strange foreigner that I am here. Love to all.

Ayutthaya

Sunday, usually a day of rest, but since it's really my only day off (yes, I tutor babies Saturday a.m.) I must use it well. Christina and I decided to venture out of the city for a day trip to Ayutthaya, one of Thailand, then Siam's capitol. It dates back to 1375 when it was then founded by the then king....(all this according to Lonely Planet of course). We started our day bright and early and found the usual miscommunication with our taxi driver who instead of taking us to the bus terminal took us to the train station. Minor error. He might have been doing us a favor, since the train only cost 20 baht (less than a dollar), for 3rd class, standing-room-only tickets. Once we got to the city we followed some middle aged American travelers from the train station to the ferry, they looked liked they knew what was up. From there we walked a while thinking we would outsmart the harassing tuk-tuk drivers and find our own way to the temples. The heat and long distance made us fold and we met a kind tuk-tuk driver that took us to six sites in three hours for a decent price. As we sealed the deal my mind was replaying the Gilligan Island theme song "a three-hour tour." We saw all the ruins, beautiful in a ruin-esk type way. We also saw some large Buddha's, a man in purple underpants, a Thai tour guide speaking Spanish, etc. By mid-afternoon we were on our way back to BKK, by bus this time. Coincidentally the people we had followed were on the same bus and when we arrived at the bus station they were following us to get back to the metro. We met them, all CDC workers and soon realized how much we don't miss being around highly educated a-holes. Not to be harsh, but honestly if I ever do acquire more education, travel the world further or invent something smart, I hope I never use that to make people feel inferior five minutes after meeting them. Needless to say we did not have dinner together.

On the train there it dawned on me that
a-) I will be turning 22 on Friday
b-) I haven't the slightest clue where I will turn 23
that made me really happy.

going to bed content

2 hours of awkward tutoring,
resolved with online scrabble.
We lost,
but vocab was practiced.

3 mosquitoes died today.
Don't worry,
they got me first.
Over 10 times.

4th of July,
Margaritas at Coyote,
a Mexican restaurant.
almost patriotic?

5 letters arrived today.
you know who you are.
thanks.
You made my day.

6th graders are nuts at 2pm.
A skinny one named Golf
wouldn't stop talking.
With a name like that
how could I punish him?

I eat dinner from a plastic bag.
Life is beautiful.

tsstss

I never know how to begin these memoirs. A week ago I was leaving the island of Koh Chang (aka paradise), its about a five hour bus ride away to the town where you take the ferry over. Not the most memorable bus ride, which included roaches, faulty toilets, leeky roofs and loud Thai music videos. But the time on the island was amazing, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Since it's off season, the five of us almost had the beach to ourselves...paradise. We rented motor scooter to see the island. I had a moment of utter bliss and contentment while riding my motor bike in the pouring rain right after hiking to swim beneath a gorgeous waterfall. One of those moments where nothing can taint and no one can touch.

Yesterday, some of us went to the 4th of July celebrations at the American Consulate. It was fun, random and at times a bit strange seeing that most of the Americans consisted of old men with Thai women. Nonetheless I got flowers, funny pictures and a sweet airbrush tattoo of a unicorn.

The past few weeks at school have been fun, it's beginning to feel more routine and comfortable. The students are cute most of the time, until they can't stop yelling "teeecha finish" as soon as they complete their worksheets (which are intended to keep them quiet). The funniest was in my Friday afternoon 5th grade class. My school doesn't have an automatic bell system, so they are never on time since the secretary is in charge of ringing in and half the time Christina and me are the ones to signal the time. So it was the end of a REALLY long class of "teecha finish," heat and loud hammering right outside our window (did I mention the school is partially under reconstruction so ridiculously loud noises haunt my everyday). I was trying to buy time by letting them play a game called killers, similar to heads up 7 up. After two rounds of them immediately knowing who was "it" because they all were cheating, I ended the game, telling them that it wasn't fun if they cheated. Then in my "I'm sick of this crap" mood, I wrote in large letters on the board CHEATERS and explained further how its just not ok or fun. Then I put a hangman on the board. First word: _ _ _ _ t _ r s. They began to guess "computers, students, teachers"....nope, you guesses it CHEATERS! I laughed and my sanity was finally saved by the bell (15 minutes late).

They can be cute sometimes, like the other day when I showed up with my new haircut. A little boy, Boss, with strategically places sweat drops on his nose, in the same class goes "teecha beautiful." Then he goes "teecha, what animal? tssstsss." I asked him to repeat and he did so with a straight, serious face. I respond with " a snake? I don't know?" He goes "good job, teecha."