The Mighty Farang

Well two weeks has suddenly slipped away, so this episode's gonna be a lump sum sort of deal. Kapish? (I don't know how that's spelled, but I feel like a professional badass saying it).

There's no way to really even describe what Thailand has been like these couple of weeks...everything I dreamed, plus the added and nutritious benefits of sweat and spice. If I were to write a song about it, it would definitely be titled Sweat and Spice. :) Anyway, ever since the end of the 30 hours of travel time it took to get here, life has become a surreal adventure. I've wrestled with and lost alot of preconceptions I held about this place- ones I didn't even know I had.

When Amy and I arrived in Bangkok it was 2 am, and all we wanted was to collapse into a bed for days and days. But as the taxi drove toward our hostel and we heard the pulsating sound of music, all I could see were old white men chasing, grabbing, and dancing with young Thai women. I've heard about the sex trade and trafficking and the rampant problem it has proved to be here...but my idea was that when I got to Thailand, the Thai people would seem like the foreign ones, not the sweathy and clumsy fellow Americans I saw.

What I have found since arriving is that I feel more at home here than in most other places, regardless of the language barrier. My face constantly hurts from smiling at these beautiful people, who love me in spite of, and maybe even because, I'm a farang, a foreigner. They yell it from the rooftops and out of passing cars. Heads turn and stare at the newcomers. But usually, it's accompanied by a smile, and giggling children, and krusty but friendly dogs.

....................

Amy and I got out of Bangkok at our first possible chance, and headed toward the exotic south. A rambling night bus, then another bus, then a ferry led us to a small island called Ko Tao (turtle island), where we could finally sleep off our jet lag and do some scuba diving. The water, as everyone says, was just like bathwater, and the puffer fish of of Te Anote and I now share a special bond. Otherwise, however it was almost a relief to leave the island getaway and start the true adventure (Yeah, I'll admit that I was a little paranoid of getting eaten alive by ants after sticking my hand in a huge, velvety pile of them).

After Ko Tao, a ferry ride took us back to Chumphon, a small town that also happened to have my friend Liz, a Peace Corps Volunteer, waiting for us at the bus station. It felt good to be in the company of someone who could translate for us, and navigate to the outskirts of towns, places we wouldn't otherwise have known about. Liz managed to direct us to a bus, a songhtao (truck taxi), and a random kind stranger's car, out to her fellow PCV's house. Lang Suan and Pak Num happened to be host to long-tailed boat races that day, so as our introduction to the 'real' Thailand we fell into the midst of thousands of staring eyes. The boat races were amazing- about 30 people rowing a 3 foot-wide boat as fast as they could, and the announcer screaming faster than I even thought possible. It wasn't too long, though, before a thunderstorm rolled in, and every one of the thousands of people were running for cover from the pounding rain and thunder.

The rain just proved to be the gateway to another adventure, though, as we had the opportunity to walk through the tented food market and try such delightful (hint: I'm hitting the sarcasm button full on right now) treats as horseshoe crab eggs and pink milk. The next few days were a beautiful blur, as we went night swimming in the Indian Ocean, hitchhiked in the back of crab and water trucks and small boats out to a tiny nearly-deserted (25 ish people) island, and frolicked on a beach the few other farangs have ever layed eyes on. We witnessed the poor slave monkeys, chained and sent up in the trees with little hard hats to pick the coconuts that we devour so greedily. And of course, we went to 7-11, which is the life line of every PCV here. I wish I could write out how the wind felt as we rode in the back of the truck with barely-living crabs feebly flailing and occasionally pinching at our toes. Or what the sand felt like on the abandoned beach, or the sound of our message-in-a-bottle as it soared into its watery (but hopefully temporary) home. This place is wild and free.

Pheew! Well, Peace Corps' time off was soon coming to an end, so we left our friend Josh's home, and traveled with Liz, Megan and Lele (two other amazing companions) back north, splitting off in Bangkok. This time around, Bangkok was much less terrifying. We stayed away from the crazy farang street of the first night, and instead soared through air and sea by sky tram and river boat. Chinatown was another world in itself, full to the brim of people shopping, searching, and eating. Yet again we escaped by jumping on a night bus, this time landing squarely in front of Liz's front door.

It's safe to say we passed out, and only awoke the next morning to shower and then crawl right back into pajamas and laze the day away with short walks, talks and a box. [Not really a box, but I was on a roll.]Good food, though. Fruit out the wazoo, and pad thai till we burst. The next day, Monday, we went with Liz to her school and turned all the children into shy wee ones. They were so scared of having three farangs in one place! But they are adorable. And very respectful- they must bow their heads low when passing a teacher, so they don't stand higher than them.

That pretty much brings us to now. A terrifying ten hour bus ride over the curviest rode I've ever been on has whisked Amy and I away from the safety of Lizs translation and into a small town called Mae Hong Son, on the border of Burma. Who knows what will happen next?

Random tidbits:

--my new Thai name is Phon Dao (phone-dow), meaning 'shooting star.' Lizs precious tiny co-teacher gave Amy and I Thai nicknames! Amy is Mau-ku (muh-kaw), meaning 'grapefruit.' She may be a little obsessed...

--we saw lightining over the ocean! One more thing to cross off my list of things to see in my life

--this place is like Pandora! When we were scuba diving, we saw something called Christmas tree worms, which are like little colorful trees that shoot back into their holes when you get too near

--met some biker dude who had ridden his bike all the way from england, and was heading for singapore. New life goal? Yes please!

--centipedes are super poisonous. Don't let them crawl over your feet :\

The End.