Catching up-- my last 2 weekends

Well today the school is having testing, which means I have a lot of free time on my hands. Out of my 5 classes I usually have on a normal Tuesday, I only have my 3:05 class. This does not mean, however that I have the day off; I still had to be here by 7:45. Why? Who knows? Just be happy that I’m finally able to get caught up on my blog, there is no way you can work on lesson plans for 7 hours. Tomorrow I only have 2 classes… this is going to be a long week.

Going back to the weekend of November 6^th-7^th, I took a little trip to Bang Saen, Pattaya, and Koh Larn with Lizzie and her friend Sarah. We got to Bang Saen Friday evening and met up with two Thai girls for dinner that Lizzie knew from her old school (she transferred to the school where I’m working this semester, but came with the same OEG program in May). We ate a wonderful dinner of raw oysters, tom yum soup with squid, som tom (spicy papaya salad), crab fried rice and some Chang beer. 

We were then met by Sarah and some other girls from the program and went out to a Thai club. There was a DJ and we were all dancing our little booties off when a Thai rock/pop band started playing. We did our best to go along with the others and act excited but after about an hour of it I was praying the DJ would save us. He finally did and even played some songs we requested. Lizzie, Sarah and I stayed the night in a hostel and started our trip to Pattaya the next morning.

Let me tell you a little bit about Pattaya. As some of you may know, it has a rep in Thailand for being the “sex capitol” and a place where spotting old white men with attractive Thai women or groups of Russians is very common. Knowing this I was hesitant to go there, but it is also a very beautiful place with many tourist attractions, good food, and of course the beach is not something to complain about. The old ex pats really do creep me out though.

After checking into our hostel and taking a little rest, we went and bought a ferry ticket to Kho Larn, a little island about half an hour away from the main land. We had to wait for the next boat so we went and got some ice cream in an air-conditioned McDonalds. The ferry was packed with so many people that some (like us) had to find places to sit on the floor or the deck and by the time we got to the island by butt was asleep. I woke it up, walked over to a chair by the water and took a little nap after ordering a coconut and taking a dip in the clear, warm water. We spent the day relaxing until the last boat came to pick us up at 5:30 to take us back to Pattaya.

We opted for Indian food for dinner, a bit pricey for Thailand, but well worth it. Since it was only about 8 when we got back to the hostel, we showered and then decided to take a little nap (yes we were still tired form the night before). The nap turned into a very good, long nights sleep that we were all kind of embarrassed about the next morning. Who goes to Pattaya and doesn’t go out? Guilty. But we all felt good in the morning, and after a breakfast of a tomato and cheese omelet we hit the beach. I started feeling a little sick after eating some pineapple (my go-to snack in Thailand, it’s amazing and usually costs about 35 cents) and the trip back was not the most pleasant thing ever. We took a van to Bangkok and after walking around Victory Monument for a while, another van to Nakom Pathom. By the time we made it back it was almost 7 and I was up and down with nausea all day. I hadn’t eaten anything since the morning. At my apartment I didn’t have to “go to the bathroom” like I thought I might, so I took a shower. Right away it hit me again and I threw up. Great this is that my shower literally goes right into the toilet so it was very convenient at a time like this. My breakfast and the pineapple had definitely not been digested. I felt a little bit better, but started to get a temperature and actually felt cold in my warm room. Knowing that I might not make it to work I slipped my coordinator a note letting her know. My fever broke during the night, but the thought of standing in front of screaming kids trying to be upbeat and interesting made me dizzier and weak than I already was. I decided instead to stay in and rest that Monday and by the middle of the day I finally got my appetite back.

 Tuesday-Friday it was back to my now normal routine, school till 4 then hop on a bus and go to the gym that is about 30-40 minutes away. It is a great gym and perfect after-work activity. They have classes every hour from Body Jam to Yoga Flow. There are trainers that always want you to stay longer and take more classes. Sometimes they don’t understand we need to go home and eat, they’re pretty intense.

Last weekend both Lizzie and I decided we would skip the gym Friday and instead go explore a big mall that is just past it. We get so excited about little things, food in particular. We walked all around, checking out the stores and restaurants. We also found the movie theater and bowling ally, checking which movie they had playing in English. We ate dinner at Sizzler’s, doing our very best to take advantage of the all-you-can-eat amazing salad bar. I was all smiles. After being pleasantly stuffed, we decided it was safe to go back down and check out the market (because we wouldn’t buy as many unnecessary items). Then we headed back up to the theater and went to see Due Date, a comedy with Robert Downy Jr. and Zack Galifianakis. At movies in Thailand they play the King’s song before the showing and everyone must stand in respect to the king.

On Saturday I actually got to sleep in! I woke up at about 8:30 and it felt like bliss. This was the day I planned to buy a refrigerator and cooker. I took a sorng taa ou (literally a covered pickup truck with benches) to the Tesco Lotus grocery store. Another American teacher had just gone through the process and had given me her delivery form so that I could point and say “same” if they didn’t understand what I wanted. It still took some time, I think they thought something had gone wrong with a delivery at first, but I finally got my message across. It was to be delivered at 15:00. So Lizzie and I went to the gym. This doesn’t happen much since we rarely stick around on the weekends. On the way back I got a call from someone who had to be the delivery man. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying, but I was on the bus back and it was only 14:30. I kept saying ok, 10 minutes, yes. He called back about 10 times (umm my Thai is not getting any better sir, please just wait). Well, it was a success and I have my little fridge and cooker, a most necessary purchase if you’re living somewhere for a year!

At 5:30 I met Lizzie and Eric (another American teacher) and we took a bus and van into Bangkok. We met up with Sarah and some other girls in Siam Paragon (remember the place I got that amazing bagel?) for Mexican food! The girls were going to go out to RCA after dinner, a big club in Bangkok, but I knew some friends who were going out on Khaosan road so I went to meet up with them when we had finished dinner. We went to a few different bars, ending up at a club called Lava, where we all danced and had a grand time. It was good to see people from the program that I hadn’t seen for awhile and meet other foreign travelers. One this that is expensive (relatively) in Thailand is beer and alcohol, especially in bars and clubs. Good thing I don’t get the chance to go out much with my busy work schedule.

Sunday was a day of rest and an outing to our local night market for smoothies and food to take home and reheat. You can’t be shy or afraid to try new things here, it is the best and only way to find things you like. Sometimes you might be able to tell what something is, but other times you may have no idea. I’ve found that I like most things I try. Shocking haha, but this is really not the place if you’re a picky eater, or if you don’t like spicy food for that matter (be ready Leo!!!). And don’t worry, I will write a blog dedicated solely to food soon, I haven’t forgotten. Maybe it will be just pictures!