More on Life

I've gotten the hang of things here and my life in Thailand has now become my day to day routine. At times I forget that I am actually in Thailand. Ever day doesn't seem so exciting and I am liking the life I lead. I feel like I have a home here and we are just doing our day to day thing. It's a strange feeling. I have almost been here for three weeks and it feels like so much longer. In just a week and a half I will move on to Laos. I'm having a hard time believing it.

It was very strange being here for the election. I voted right before I left and then forgot about it for a few weeks. I did my part and didn't feel like I could do a whole lot more being half way across the world. I woke up excited on Wednesday (your Tuesday night) of the election to check the results. At the time it was too early to call it... but Obama was ahead. It wasn't till 1ish my time that I got a phone call letting me know the results. People here are happy that Obama won but I don't feel the excitement or joy that must be running through the states right now. When I come back at the end of March I will be coming back to a very different country (or at least I hope) but it will be very strange not watching the changes happen... more just hearing about them from friends and family.

People have been asking me questions so I will try and answer a few of them. First of all, look at my map! I've added even more places that I have written about and you can see how far away the school I was at is... where the pool is... I will try and add a little more. As for your questions: Nong Khai is very flat. There are a few gradual inclines that you can get a little speed going down but nothing that you have to work too hard at. Which is good because I have a one speed bike. I'm slowly learning the language. I have had three hours of Thai language lessons and have a few words that I can do, mostly I use hello, thank you, not too spicy, chicken, and a little bit. I have more words written down in a little note book that I carry around. It hard to say what the most common foods are. There is lots of pad Thai, stir fried veggies and meat with rice, fruit shakes, papaya salad, pad see u, fried rice, lots of noodle soup with beef. You can buy fish and lots of seafood type grilled things... I don't think they look appealing at all though. My favorite thing for dessert right now is a piece of dough that is fried with egg and bananas inside it, then condensed milk and sugar on top. It is so good and slightly disgusting to watch how much fat is put into it. I eat lots of fried rice, any kind of noodle dishes, not enough veggies and I have just fallen in love with the fruit shakes - banana, pineapple, ice, and something else... but i don't know what it is... sugar water maybe. It seems like everything here is fried which I am not use to so my stomach isn't always great... the fun of eating other kinds of food :(. Today I'm in a strange mood and all I wanted for lunch was a sandwich - which I was able to get at Mut Mee.

I can't even try to explain how things are different here (well I can, but I won't do it justice)... I'm starting to get use to not hearing English spoken... not seeing other Americans. I'm not in a touristy spot so seeing farang (foreigners/ to me white people) is a little strange. Seeing old men (especially the ones with pot bellies) with small Thai woman grosses me out... but I guess it is very common for whites to come to this area of Thailand to find a wife. Traffic is crazy. I always have to remember to stay to the left (which doesn't always happne)... there really aren't any rules, you just have to fend for yourself and pedestrians nor bicycles have any kind of right aways. I don't think there is a health code here and that grosses me out. Terry (my dad) taught me too well and seeing flies on my food makes me just about want to puke. Eating at a stall at night is normal. I am now thinking in terms of baht and spending 75 baht on a meal seems expensive... that is like 2.50 dollars for a meal... and a good meal too. Squatting to use the toilet is normal but I still don't like it too much. Riding a bike with bad breaks, no helmet, and no lights at night is normal now. I walk down dark streets at night that I wouldn't walk down in Seattle. I'm use to people saying hello to me and being called a farang rather than a volunteer. This list of things goes on and on.

I'm just feeling like I got the hang of things and I'm leaving... and slightly freaking out about starting all over again. I'm reading up on Laos in my Lonely Planet and even though I'm freaking out I'm really excited. So far this has been a great experience and I'm so glad that I have come. Yes, I'm excited to be home and sleep in my own bed... not worrying about whether or not I have bed bugs. To eat food that isn't only Asia and to get hugs from everyone I know! The girls here are great and I'm glad I went through a company. There are god and bad things about T2T that I won't get into my blog - but I guess I knew there would be the good and bad with any program. I have learned that I don't like traveling on my own... and because of that I don't think I get to see as much as I may want to... Bangkok being my first experience of this. Trying to keep myself safe but meeting new people is harder than I though. In a way I guess I'm not very trusting of the random stranger who wants to befriend me.

I know that there is more I want to write but when thinking about it it is all very overwhelming. When we went to Tesco today the girls went to Starbucks and it was great to be inside one... Even being so many miles away from home there are some things just seem the same. It was strange seeing the holiday cups out when they don't have the same holidays that we have at home. I'm having a hard time with the date, what day of the week it is, that it is actually November...

Oh, I think part of the reason that i am frustrated/sad/i don't know what... is that I really, really, really want to see the new James Bond movie and there is a theater here but it is in Thai! No subtitles in English or anything. That bursted my bubble today. Other than that I'm doing okay.

Last night Nina, Susi, Valerie, and I went on a MaeKong River boat ride at sunset. It was pretty but nothing extra special. These are pictures of me on the boat, the sunset, and looking back at part of a temple from the boat.