Thailand

Thailand was so much fun! Bangkok especially is very Westernized. It almost felt like going back to America. The traffic was motorized, the streets were clean, the electricity never went out, women wore pants (or shorts and tank tops). There are 7 elevens EVERYWHERE. From the street Om lives off of, you can stand in one place and see three 7 elevens.
Om lives in a dorm room-style apartment with her friend Keau, who also did an exchange year in the US. Their apartment looks exactly like a stereotypical American dorm room, except its a little larger. I spent lots of time just chillin' with Om and her friends. We went to Khao San road, the big backpacker and tourist area. Most of them had never been before. It was neat. Lots of really cute things for sale. We went swimming in a public pool up the street from Om's apartment. I swam in a bikini. Just like in America, no one cared. We went shopping in a few Bangkok's abundant malls. Thailand is a shopper's heaven. There's so much cute stuff (clothes especially) for so cheap. Luckily I only had a very small duffel with me, or I would have bought the whole country.
Thai people are very friendly. The culture is much calmer than Indian culture, but I think that's true everywhere. Most people in Bangkok spoke really good English, but its actually easier to get by with English in India where people don't speak it as well because the Thais are very unconfident in their speaking. They're shy.
Having lived in India for five months, I have adopted the mannerisms here. I bobble my head when I'm excited and I nod to the side as a greeting, to say yes, and to say thankyou. Thai people do not. I felt so handicapped in my ability to communicate. I would not thankyou or hello and would recieve no response. By the end of the week, I was beginning to do it the right way for Thailand, but I really had to think about it. Thai people give a very forceful nod forwards in greeting and especially when saying thankyou.
On a day Om had class, I went on a group tour to Ayutthaya, North of Bangkok, to see temples, some in ruins. I met a really nice Turkish woman on the trip, and we got drinks (coconuts) together when we got back to Bangkok. The temples were really beautiful. The first one we visited had the largest bronze Buddha, and old temple ruins. The next one we went to had a reclining Buddha and a very beautiful temple. The third and final place we visited was a whole complex built by the Chinese. The temple was so intricate. It had hand-painted tiles and really detailed furniture and things. It was beautiful. We went back to Bangkok not on a coach, but on a river cruise boat. As in India, teeny dwellings huddled in the shadows of huge shiny buildings. But the contrast wasn't as great as in India.
On another day when Om had classes, I went on a group tour to Pattaya, a beach south of Bangkok. It was really beautiful. White sand, bright blue water. I went parasailing. It was kind of a rip-off. 500 Baht (maybe $15) for only a few minutes in the air. But I had really wanted to do it when I was younger, so I thought I'd sieze my opportunity. It was fun, especially the take-off. We were at the beach for 4 or 5 hours. I put on sunscreen when we first arrived, and reapplied once. Mistake. I have never been this sunburnt in my life. The beach was hot, but there was a nice, cooling breeze and I spent a good hour in the water. I did not even notice I was burning.
One day Om and I went to the Grand Palace and some of the major wats (temples) in Bangkok. They were probably the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen in my life. So intricate. I'll upload some photos this week. At one smaller temple, off the beaten tourist track, we stopped to make a donation. Buddhists will regularly go to temples and buy supplies for a monk (robes, a bucket, and food). We did this, and the monk gave us a blessing and sprinkled holy water on us. Of course I have no idea what he said because it was all in Thai. All the monks there were really amused to see me there. I don't think they get very many foreigners there. At another temple, I did my horoscope. The way it works is you take a cup with all of these sticks with numbers on them in it. You shake the cup until one of the sticks falls out. Then you take these wooden blocks which are rounded on one side and flat on the other. You pray, then throw them in the air. You have three chances for them to land such that one is flat-side up and one is round side up. If they don't land like this in your three throws, then you don't take your horiscope that day. If on one of the tries they do land like this, then you go to a cabinet with numbered drawers and you take a piece of paper from the drawer with the number of your stick on it. On the paper is your horiscope. Alas, my blocks did not land the right way, so I didn't get a horiscope.
Another day Om and I went to a floating market. We got on a boat and floated through canals, pulling up to shops on land. It was totally tourist-oriented with only food and souveniers for sale, but it was fun nonetheless.
On Friday I went to Om's university with her. Because she is in a tourism track, all of her classes are in English. Her first class was about enviornmental sustainability. The lecture that day was about the Millenium Development Goals of the UN. I find them to be really interesting, but the students were totally uninterested. The professor wasn't very exciting to listen to, so I guess I can understand.
Om's second class was on cultural diversity, but it was cancelled that day because the professor had something else she had to do. So Om, three of her friends (Mey, Fern, and Peh) and I took a three hour bus ride to Om's home town, which is actually one of the largest cities in Thailand. I forget the name of it. We met her parents and little sister for dinner, and spent the night at her parent's house. The next day we drove to the town where Om's mother grew up and we visited some beautiful palace ruins and a park with a great banyan tree. In the middle of the Banyan forest was a temple. I did my horiscope again and this time the blocks fell the right way. However, my horoscope was very inauspicious, so, in keeping with the Buddhist tradition, I left it at the temple to leave my bad luck there as well.
Thai food is very delicious. There is fresh fruit for sale everywhere. Two of my favorite things I tried were unripe mango slices which you dip in chilli sugar, and ripe mango served with sticky rice and coconut milk (can you tell I like mango?) Thai food is very heavy on pork and fish, so there wasn't a whole lot I could eat as a vegetarian. I had lots of pad thai, and lots of fried rice. I also had spicy green papaya salad with sticky rice a few times. It was all delicious. Indians cook their food for a very long time. Thai food is not nearly so done. I loved all the fresh vegetables (I even had a few green salads, which I don't eat in India for fear of parasites).
It was a fabulous trip; I had so much fun. I could have enjoyed staying a bit longer, but I am happy to be back. I of course missed my students. They were pretty happy to see me today, and I was happy to see them too.
Great vacation!!
~m