Eric: Today was the most boring of the trip, as we killed time while waiting to go down to Bangkok. But given how amazingly inexpensive it is to stay in Lopburi, and given how hectic Bangkok is, a boring day in a cheap town wasn't so bad. After sleeping in quite a bit, we spent the day wandering the town in search of clothes and gifts. I bought a few shirts and ties, both of which I'll need in large quantities once I begin my job next fall. Each one of those I can get here is a chunk of money we'll save as the school year begins and my wardrobe shows its lack of depth.
Carrie: Eric's pretty lucky because guy's shirts and ties seem to fit universally. Everythings a good price, but that doesn't matter if none of it will fit you. I got a real blow yesterday when I saw the cutest dress. Normally I don't even like dresses, but this one had a scene painted on it, like it was from a storybook.
I motioned for the shopgirl to get it down for me to look at. We clearly didn't understand what the other was saying, but she wouldn't take it down. I was pretty confused by that, but motioned again that I'd like to see it. That's when the second shop person said. "No fit." Right, of course. I was thinking like an American. Here they have only one of each shirt, unless they're printed Ts. What an ego adjustment. While Lopburi has lots of big people, (fast food is makng its mark) the average female is still teeny teeny compared to me.
Lopburi is a somewhat less visited area for tourists, so Eric and I are getting more stares. (Or maybe that isn't it at all because Chiang Dao certainly doesn't see many visitors and I wasn't having the same issue with blank stare when we were there.) As we were shopping every once in a while you would hear the word "farang" and know that the shop people were talking about you. Or a few times I saw kids' eyes get bigger when I walked past and they, and their parents too, would stretch their necks to get a better glimpse. Frequently when I turn my head people will quickly look away having been "caught."
Another thing is that the shop keepers have a different idea of service than we do in the US. They hover. If you happen to look at a shirt for longer than ten seconds they will demonstrate that they have the same shirt in yellow, in blue, in pink. They'll start taking the variously colored ones out of their packaging. They'll take other sizes out from under the counter, when really, you're just looking. This combined with the farang novelty might bring two or more shop people over to observe your every move if you step into the store. After awhile I learned to use my periferal vision.
I was getting annoyed by all the unwanted attention and the next person who stared at me, I just stared right back. He was 16ish, and when I didn't look away, he beamed a huge smile at me. I felt much better after that. He wasn't being rude, well, yeah, perhaps he was, but more importantly he was only curious.
Eric: We also realized that we don't leave on Friday, as previously assumed, but on Saturday. We knew that we arrived in the US on Sat. the 5th and reasoned that we must leave on Friday, but we forgot that we'll gain a day when crossing the date line. We think we'll try to see a few more of the Bangkok sights in the extra day.
