Ahhhh,
Okay, I may send the occasional mass e-mail but this is a blog for those of you who really do want to check out the week-to-week goings on here in Thailand, the Land of Smiles.
Currently I sit in my apartment, recovering from god-knows-what. I've had a fever, I've been vomiting...and other things you don't need to know about....but I'm feeling a bit better tonight, so now I write!
I moved to my town of Wisetchaichan (outside of Angthong...outside of Ayutthaya, which IS on the map) and it's a real trip. It's small and everyone stares at this whitey, which is taking some getting used to, but it's going to be a real experience. It's helping me immerse myself in the culture and learn more of the language, ALOY MAK MA! ( that means, it's delicious...it's a work in progress...)
I took a 2.5 hour bus north to Bangkok this past weekend to meet up with a big group of TEFL people from my training course and it was a messy weekend. I'll include some pictures of our Thai hats and various pit stops on Khoa San. It was our friend Amy's birthday so we went out for it the second night. At one point the group headed to a bar with live music while my friend Doug and I decided to get the cheap whiskey for the group at the Seven Eleven down the street (usually bars let you bring in your own alcohol if you buy pepsi at their place). So as we're doing that we get a phone call from our friend Ryan who says, "Alright, get over here ASAP, we've lined up Leah to play." Earlier I had told Amy I wrote her a little birthday song, so it went. So we rushed back to the PACKED bar with a Thai man waiting on stage for me with a guitar and up I got! I sang a happy birthday song that turned into Reggae and then sang a couple Bob Dylan tunes put into a Reggae beat to keep the crowd bumpin.
I really like playing at joints like that because people approach you after to either say hi or buy you a drink or tell you they play such-and-such and instrument. My friend and I have been seriously discussing doing a music tour through Thailand after we're done teaching because we're both finding Thai bars enthusiastic to have westerners play. They don't hesitate to give you a guitar. I'll keep you posted, but we've already got some roadies and groupies lined up...
I visited a massive gold buddha that is about 5 minutes away from my apartment (that I can see from my spectacular rooftop). A woman I work with took me and bought me way too much food (man, thai's can eat!). I ate young lotus flower, which was fun more than delicious. There was a whole big section of this monument dedicated to the punishment of sinners. There were two statues of a sinner man and a woman as tall as a mountain that kindof looked like me and one of my male counterparts...This woman then took me to her home and later to a Chinese Festival taking place in the market beside my place.
I went to this festival alone the following night and wandered around and found a beautiful Chinese Temple where I went the night before to pray (believe it or not). On this night, however, there was a big fancy-looking event taking place. So when I saw that I went to turn around but a few men stopped me and indicated for me to sit down until they found someone who spoke English to speak with me. When they did this woman paid for my ticket (it looked to be quite expensive) and she guided me around to all of the tables where I aparently met ministers, senators and various other people who were more important than I. A woman I had met before spotted me and waved me over to sit with her group, so I did. We had at least a 10 course meal and we were joined by the other English teachers from a school about 30 minutes away from mine. I did my training with them and spent my b-day weekend with them so I know them quite well. There was a magnificent show of music and dancing put on by small children who are the champions of either the province or of Thailand, but it was definitely, DEFINITELY, the most beautiful thing I've seen in Thailand thus far.
I'll try to post the video - it's starts off with me crouched down taping then a woman tells me to get up and leads me right to the front/side stage. At one point I looked over and a man was standing 10 feet away videotaping me. I looked back when the dance was over and he was STILL videotaping me. I'm talking NO tourists here, only whitey that I'm freakish.
In Bangkok a group of us hit up the Fat Festival, a huge showcase of Thai and Japanese music at the convention centre. It was nuts!! Checked out some Thai bands and some great vendors and displays. They had this elevated and enclosed stage that has holes in the floor that you only put your head through. It's nuts, it's like your head went to the party but your body wasn't invited. The freakiest part is looking around and only seeing heads, really bazaar, but really cool.
Bangkok is such a massive city, we were staying relatively close to downtown but it still took us 45min by cab to get to this centre. Good thing the company was fun.
Now that I have this blog I can write as things happen, rather than try to recall them over mass e-mail.
I love you all!!!
LEEE
