Today is Election Day in Thailand. Where we are, it is proceeding without violence. And very little actual voting, it seems. More on that and the political situation in the next post. For now, here's why we've been MIA.
In November, we
had just finished with our October bpit term (school break) vacations, which
took us from SCUBA diving in the south near Koh Tao, which certifies the
second-most divers in the world per year (behind Cairns, Australia) to rafting
and admiring caves in Thailand’s wildest province, Mae Hong Son, with old and
new friends. From there, we brought our trek-weary selves into Chiang Mai to
meet with Josh’s aunt and uncle, and let them treat us to three days of
unimaginable luxury, while we did our best to steer them toward the tastiest
food and the best shopping.
Then we
recovered at site for a few weeks while we anticipated:
Family Visit #1:
Josh’s cousin and her boyfriend dropped in on us for a few days during their
two-week tour of Thailand’s mountains and beaches. They (and the cheese and
chocolate they brought) made it to Sukhothai in time for the Loy Krathong
(lantern) festival, and met quite a few of our fellow volunteers at the same
time. We also saw them again in Bangkok, where we dragged them to our favorite
hole in the wall blues bar, and they got to see some legit Thai protest music
issuing from a sinewy, white haired, sun-browned man who played his guitar as
if it were an extra appendage. As he played, streams of protesters – the first
waves of the now three month long anti-government protests – poured down the
street, some of them spilling into the bar and crowding us even more tightly
into our corner between the band and the barkeep. Blowing whistles and dancing
through the otherwise mostly empty streets, they were apparently the harbingers
of the current “shut down” that Bangkok has been experiencing since. That, our
last night with the cousins, came on the heels of this minor interruption:
Continuation /
Close of Service Conference: After a Thanksgiving Dinner at her house, we were
all bused down from the Ambassador’s estate in Bangkok to Cha-am, a city just a
couple hours south of Bangkok, on the beach, for three days that combined nuts
and bolts logistics of finishing service with the more fuzzy mushy aspects of
preparing to leave this crazy roller coaster and the friends we’ve made on it
in just a few months.
And shortly
after we bid Cali and Nicole goodbye, saw our friends off back to their sites,
and also found out that I had a massive sinus infection and was prescribed a
giant nose-syringe, saline solution, nasal spray, a ten day regimen of
antibiotics, and hard-to-come-by pseudoephedrine, we gathered our strength and
repacked our heavy bags to embark on these two things:
Family Visit #
2 and the Half Marathon:
We picked up
Josh’s mom, aunt, and nephew from Suvarnabum airport near midnight on a Friday,
and proceeded to spend nearly three hours driving around in a cab whose driver
had clearly been greeng-jai-ing us (or kidding himself) when he said
that he knew where to find our hotel. To his credit, it is not easy to find.
Not to his credit, he was really bad at asking for directions. This does not
need to be rehashed. The next morning, our guests’ jetlag had them up far
earlier than our exhausted bodies would allow, so we spent the first 20 minutes
after we got up thinking that we had a) lost them or b) they all took really
powerful sleeping pills and weren’t responding to the pounding on the door.
Finally all gathered together, we hopped in two cabs to the (other) airport,
and boarded a plane to Cambodia, where they let us through customs without
incident and did nothing with the passport photo I had spent hours (and
dollars) procuring in Bangkok the week before. Those without photos were fined
just one dollar.
The hospitality
in Siam Reap was incredible. Our hosts were gracious, expeditious in
accommodating requests, and overall delightful. We toured bits Angkor Wat at
sunset on the first day, then ate, and readied ourselves for the race. Despite
my massive sinus infection (and having left all of the sinus rinse at a
friend’s apartment in Bangkok), I ran the race in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Josh,
who may or may not have had bowel trouble, and whom I spotted exiting the woods
around kilometer 14, finished in 2:07. Not a single decent race photo was
taken. That afternoon, we toured more of Angkor Wat, the sheer size of which I
was pretty sure was starting to make me feel sick to my stomach. It is a
glorious, incomprehensible place. The stones are massive. The scope is massive.
The trees are breathtaking. The vendors are young, adorable, and can count to
ten and tell you the price of their wares in at least four languages. They also
have ingenious sales pitches, and I should have purchase far more souvenirs
from them than I was willing to at the time. I absolutely regret not handing
over more dollars for trinkets and baubles, scarves, and paintings and am
ashamed that my general reaction to someone trying to sell me something is to
think that I’m being swindled. In the evening, I discovered that I had no
energy, no appetite, and a general sense that up was down and left was right.
My antibiotic
did not agree with me. I ate boiled rice and French bread compliments of the
hotel where we stayed, and saw the inside of the bathroom more times than I
care to remember. Josh went to Angkor Wat again, and he took good pictures, so
I can pretend in later years when my memory is failing, that I was also there.
Then crossed
over land back into Thailand, and traipsed around the southern portions for a
while. Khao Sok National Park was a balm for body, mind and soul. Situated
around a giant lake, which was created about 15 years ago when the _____ river
was damned, Khao Sok is essentially a flooded mountain range, the guest houses
of which are actually constructed on floating rafts spaced out of view from one
another throughout the enormous flooded valley. It is perhaps the only place
I’ve ever thought to describe as “serene.”
From there to
Krabi and Railay Beach, which Josh loved, and which I thought was…. annoyingly
full of people. The most annoying people were the ones attracting troupes of
monkeys to themselves and handing them packaged food, water bottles, etc., and
then bursting into tears when other monkeys swooped down and stole their other,
unguarded packages and whisked them away. No need to further comment, I hope.
Josh also pointed out that it was probably the first place in Thailand where
the men were generally more attractive than the women – so that was a treat. ;)
Aside from
that, though, we did some snorkeling, beaching walking, buried someone in the
sand, jumped off a few cliffs, and got a few good runs, hikes, and meals in
before making the long trek back to site. Three nights at site was enough to
give a bit of an impression of our life, and to get Josh’s mom to meet our mee,
to have a few conversations on the front porch of our host family’s house, and
to stuff our American family full of delicious Thai treats and hospitality. For
20 dollars, we also took eight people to a gut-expanding hot-pot dinner.
Then back down
to Bangkok to send off the family, pick up all the crap we’d left there during
the preceding two weeks, and chill-out before settling back in at site, where
we promptly did laundry, cleaned up, and then opened our doors to our good
friends for the holiday season. Over the five day weekend that we got for New
Year’s, we had no fewer than seven folks (including us) cooking, eating,
drinking, playing cards, dancing, running, riding bikes, sleeping and generally
filling our house with good cheer and holiday spirit. One friend even brought
us a string of Christmas lights, which still adorn our front door and which I
plug in every once in a while to bring back a bit of the glow with which those
friends – now truly family – infused our house. Then they left, and we had
quiet for a few boring days until another friend dropped in. More eating,
drinking, philosophizing and music exchanging ensued.
And until it
warmed up this past Monday, we’d been lonely, cold, and bored since he left.
So, that’s
that. That takes us to about two weeks ago, and 1500 words. So, signing off,
more soon.
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