Where in the world is Rachel?

I crammed in as much as I could my last week here in Thailand...escaped from the the city on a wonderful retreat with Newsong Church, took a boat ride up the Chao Praya river, visited Bangkok's Grand Palace and Wat Po (which houses a monstrous reclining Buddha), and indulged in some wonderful meals with my friends here for the final time. I'm not good with goodbyes.

Or as one of my English students wrote on her test today..."my favorite dessert is sweet glutinous rice." Not sure which dictionary edition she used, but nevertheless, this Thai dessert is completely deserving of an entry to call its own. It's THAT delicious!

I should have devoted at least one of these entries to the "smells of Bangkok," but there just aren't enough adjectives in the English language.

I've been a bit of a blogging slacker lately...I apologize to my anxious fans out there.

If I had a theme song right now, it would be "Hot Child in the City." The temperature & humidity level in Bangkok have been dramatically rising these last 2 weeks, with no signs of letting up. So my afternoons quite honestly center around sitting in the direct path of the fan, and moving as little as possible. But I do have some random stories for you as well.

-I went to my first floating market outside of Bangkok, where the little town on the river is overflowing with vendors on the sidewalks and in the canals. The women and I then hired a boat at night to take us out where there are thousands of fireflies in the trees along the water...a very magical sight to see, I must say.
-I had my first "lady boy" (transvestite) student in English class the other day.
-We've started going out regularly to the bars & clubs in the Nana Red Light District to do ministry, and met a bunch of new girls who will hopefully start coming to our English classes.
-I'm an idiot and scalded my leg on the exhaust pipe of a motorcycle taxi, so now I have a very sexy battle wound.
-I had a life-altering 2-hour massage by a blind woman!

That about covers the highlights. It's so bizarre to realize I'm only here for 10 more days. This is the bitterweet part of the nomad's life. I've so much enjoyed getting to know the couple I'm staying with, Roy & Bonita, and all the adorable women who've come to the center...not going to be easy to just pick up and leave.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/thetravelingdancer/album/576460762388932914#page2

I never thought the idea of staying in one place would excite me so much...

For the next month I'll be living in the city and teaching English at a women's house called Beginnings, aimed at women who are currently or have been previously involved in prostitution. The house was started by an American couple named Roy & Bonita, and is being helped run by a Thai woman named Ann (and her adorable 7 year-old daughter Bebe), who speaks very good English and is a delight to have as our housemom. There are English classes every morning for any women in the community who want to learn, but they also have the opportunity to live here as permanent residents and start a new way of life if they choose. Right now there are 3 residents, but also about 10 additional women of all ages who attend class. And it's only been a week, but I'm already getting such a kick out of them. Remember when I talked about the constant giggling I always encountered on the streets? Well, it's in my classroom as well. Apparently I am funny everywhere here.

Last weekend the women of the house (I'm going to call them the WOTH) and I traveled south to visit an orphanage in Pattaya, a city widely known for its sex industry. We took about 40 kids to a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, taught them how to make Tiger balm, had an art project, and cooked up a huge BBQ with chicken skewers and prawns for them. The food was amazing for them, but I gotta admit, the kids were a bit more ecstatic to have a strange token blonde to play with and hang all over. The 3 women and I also went for a dip in the ocean (which I think they rarely get to do), and were obsessed with the game I started of standing up on an inner tube. Ah yes, the range of my talents.

Oh, and Valentine's Day in the Red Light District? Eye-opener.

On my own again, I rented a bike for the equivalent of about 57 cents and rode all over this small town, traversing the ancient wat ruins from the original capital of the first Thai kingdom (that's really the extent of my historical knowledge). Extremely impressive though! Could I take any more photos?

Oh yes, and there are more...
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/thetravelingdancer/albums

Fact: We're funny in Thailand.

Without fail, we have at least a handful of humorous encounters per day...whether it's a stranger giggling at us on the streets or 3 Thai women sitting on our backs attempting to massage us amidst the uncontrollable laughter on both sides. We find ourselves asking, "Are they laughing for the same reason we're laughing?" Maybe the Thai people simply have a great sense of humor and we're fuel for the fire, who knows? Oh Thailand.

But we had a great time in Chiang Mai...visiting an orchid & butterfly farm, laughing at a surprisingly fantastic elephant show (they could kick soccer balls, dunk a basketball, play instruments, paint, and even dance!), riding elephants through the jungle, meandering down the river on a bamboo raft, visiting a Karen hill village, wandering the endless night bazaars, and watching Brett & Emily frantically buy their last-chance Asian souvenirs. It was a sad day when the 3 of us had to say our goodbyes and part ways. We had just begun to get used to the strange looks we got when checking into hotels as a threesome.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/thetravelingdancer/albums

Oh wow! Just when we thought our sketchy transportation adventures were over...

Brett, Emily, and I took what we thought would be a carefree ferry ride from the island to the mainland. What we didn't know is that our boat would be pencil-thin, a storm was brewing in the Gulf of Thailand, and that it would be a 3-hour ride of terror. The trip began with all of us passengers lounging in the sun on the top deck with our legs dangling over the edge, and ended with our life jackets secured as tight as possible and clinging to one another in a drenched and salty mess. At one point, the 3 of us had an intricate evacuation plan for when the boat was sure to be broadsided by a tidal wave. Land has never felt sweeter! And then, we had to race to the railway station to catch our overnight train to Bangkok, which was a whole other story.

The good news is we made it to the city in one piece, and met up with some wonderful Thai people here (friends of friends back home) who took care of us for the night and made us feel like we now have family in Thailand. Tomorrow we're on the road again, this time in a plane, and hopefully there are no hurricanes.

A popular phrase used by the Thai here has already become ingrained into our vocabulary: "Same same" with our addition of "...but different." This has become the simplest way to explain the small cultural differences we encounter along the way, from ways of making desserts to modes of transportation. For example, an ice cream sundae in the States would have your basic banana, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. Oh but here in Krabi...it's chocolate & coconut ice cream, bread crumbs, lychee (chunks of this clear fruit that tastes like gelatin), and CORN. Same same...but different. But that was only the beginning. We decided to be brave and take an overnight ferry to Ko Tao Island, where our sleeping quarters consisted of 50 mattresses side-by-side along the floor and we slept on our bags to prevent any pickpocketing. Oh, and did I mention the cages of wild pigs on the same deck as us? Same same...but different.

Yet all was forgiven as we cruised up to the tranquil island of Ko Tao at sunrise and discovered our hotel room was a spectacular hillside bungalow overlooking the ocean! It was a rough 2 days...jumping off huge boulders into the crystal-clear water and getting a Thai oil massage on the beach.

I longtailed it out of Krabi to see the island where James Bond's "Man With the Golden Gun" was filmed and got even more than I bargained for as we cruised through this magnificent bay scattered with limestone formations. Another really fun bonus was eating lunch on a floating village in the middle of the river.

Ummm, can we say paradise? It was only my second day in Thailand and I was already blown away. And not to mention everything is dirt cheap and you can still live like a king. Brett, Emily, and I spent our few days here exploring the town & beaches, watching a fire poi show & Thai boxing match, getting hour-long Thai massages for $5, boating around the islands, running away from monkeys on the beach, kayaking through bays, snorkeling with very aggressive fish, swimming in the majestic Maya Bay (where they filmed the secluded lagoon scene in "The Beach"), and watching our first sunset on the Andaman Sea. I think I may just retire here.

It's also bizarre to think that this island was ravaged by the tsunami just 2 years ago. I would never have known that disaster had struck the lives of the locals here because of their amazingly resilient attitudes. We laugh every day with the people we're meeting and no matter how little English they speak, they are never short on smiles or sarcasm. And I now have added to my Thai vocabulary: hello, thank you, sexy girl, and mango-lime fruit shake. I heart Thailand.

I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to visit this country...it's unreal that I'm actually here! My arrival called for a celebration beverage and I opted for the Thai coffee shop over the Starbucks right next door (sorry Mom!). I'm already loving the exchange rate...I now have thousands burning a whole in my wallet, Thai Baht that is, and just waiting to be spent on some real Thai food. I'll be meeting up with my college friends Brett and Emily to travel with them for the next 2 weeks and I couldn't be happier right now.