How you say...

One of my much-anticipated events of being in the tropics for a semester is finally happening (a thunderstorm!) It is actually the first time it has rained since being here… go figure. I’m hoping the storm will continue into the night because we are on the top floor of our hostel, and I would love to fall asleep to it. Ahhh.

Last week work was relatively uneventful. Sarah gave our presentation on tourism and agriculture in Michigan and the people in our office couldn’t get over the fact that the Great Lakes aren’t salty. Blew their minds. Pretty sure that’s the only thing they took away from it, but that’s ok.

Sarah and I decided to stay in the hostel for the weekend instead of heading back to AIT. Our plans to hit an island for a Full Moon Party fell through, but we did some fun stuff instead. We got to sleep in a bit on Friday and we met the gang on Kohkred- an island in the middle of the Chao Praya (the river that runs through BKK.) Was very cool- a jammed packed market with lots of goodies and then we walked around the island. It was a neat walk but super exhausting and hot. We were pretty dead by the end of it.

Highlights include:

Walking through people’s backyards

Lots of dogs at the temples

Almost being demolished by speeding motorbikes (on several occasions)

Sitting on a random dock as the sun set over the river

Fearing a random anaconda attack

On Saturday Sarah and I mustered up the bravery to hit the Chatuchak market (and the buses- sketch)… have you noticed that we go to a lot of markets? It was huge and massive and I got a fake Jimmy Choo bag (Sarah got a coach) and we spent a couple hours oohing and awing over the puppies and kittens and bunnies and squirrels (yes, Sloan, squirrels with berets and everything). I went to take a picture of the squirrels and the lady freaked out at me- and then I saw about 100 signs saying "NO PICTURES!!" Felt like a dummy, but she shouldn't be doing things that you can't take pictures of!  Never found the reptile aisle, guess that’s a good thing. I could have done some serious damage at the market, but it was SOOoo passé :) Been there, done that.

Saturday night was bomber- we went on a “club crawl” organized by our favorite Mexican restaurant… nothing better than being able to get back with the group (minus Ben, sorry!) and dance the night away while collecting some pretty memorable stories. It was hat-themed and so we all looked like goobers as we made our way through Patpong. Favorite part of the night was Chad dancing- I’ll just have to take a video of it because it is seriously indescribable.

Here are some other things I should tell you about.

We have a serious MOVIE ADDICTION. So far I’ve seen  (in order of liking) The Fighter, The Rite, Sanctum, and I Am Number 4. I Am Number 4 was garbage, sadly. Had high hopes. Anyways, the movie theater at Siam Paragon is incredibly comfortable, bathrooms are phenom, and the theaters are beautiful. Oh yeah, and its cheap. Like 6 bucks. But don’t get a hotdog there (I guess no one should ever get a movie hotdog, that’s embarrassing) but they come with cheese on them. Thai cheese is not up to par.

We also got PEDIS. That was nice.

Our HOSTEL is becoming so fun. It is like our little home. Rooms are clean (except for the occasional centipede in the sink) and the staff usually knows where we are/where we are going. It is run by an American ex-pat John (a.k.a. Big Lebowski) and everyone who works there is very nice and knows our names. John has been extremely helpful- he has helped us figure out the bus system and where to eat and pretty much everything. Plus we have been meeting people from all over the world (mostly Europe), and its cool to have breakfast with the French guys, plan a trip to the market with a German couple, and then meet a teacher from Boston. Plus there is a grumpy cat named Pete who sits at the receptionist’s desk and seems to appreciate it when I scratch his ears. Makes me miss Eli and Tess and Little Lena Li-Li.

You can now consider me a MOTORBIKER CHICK. We rode motorbikes to and from work a couple times and it is awesome. Took a video while riding one today, just to make me look extra farangy. It is such a thrill… they duck into the lane of oncoming traffic until the last possible second and then pull back into the left lane, they squeeze between cars and trucks, and they get us to work pretty darn fast.

SKYPING with my MSU family last week was amazing. I couldn’t believe how fun it was to see their faces, plus Sara was cracking me up as usual and I was trying to keep composure while in the office. (Nod once if …) It made me miss them and my home so much!! Love you guys.

Along the same lines, I have been filling out WORK CREW letters of rec for Emily, Hannah, and Katie and I just love being able to tell people about how great they are and how well they will do on work crew. I’m so lucky that I have girls that I can write stellar things about and be honest at the same time :) Makes me miss all of those Mason girls…

Sorry I do not have pictures with this post. Once I find my camera cord (I think I left it at AIT) I’ll upload pics. Also, I have been in the slow process of uploading pics to my picasa, and I am putting all of my pictures on there (I only put a selection on facebook). So far I only have the first week’s worth of pictures up, but I’m workin at it. So check that out here if you wish.

Love to America,

Rosie