Farewell Thailand, Korb Koon Mak Ka!

It has been nearly four months now, and it is time for this journey to come to an end. I am very lucky that I was granted the opportunity to drop everything and move to Bangkok. Without all of the various types of support I was given by all of my family members, I would not have been able to do any of this.

I joke a lot that I ran away from the “big-girl world”—with 9-5 jobs and salaries—to take a four month vacation, but it was honestly so much more than a vacation. I learned much more in these past few months here than I probably would have learned in a year of school or a job. I truly believe all of the little lessons and big challenges I have faced have helped me grow tremendously.

I learned so much about a culture I knew so little of beforehand. I learned about the religion, etiquette, food, language and way of life of this magnificent group of people. The best part about it? I learned most of it first-hand from Khun Iad. During Songkran she grabbed my arm and taught me how to perform the Buddhist rituals. She pronounced words repeatedly until I had mimicked them to her satisfaction. She had me taste every sort of food and spice, whether I wanted to or not! I got an amazing insight on a culture that otherwise could have been very conveniently tucked away.

I learned how to be independent and forward. I am very proud of myself and how far I have gotten out of my comfort zone. I tend to be someone who sits in the back seat and lets others take a commanding lead and make the decisions. I started this trip relying on Brit or my Aunt and Uncle to show me everything and take me everywhere. That all had to end pretty quickly. Once Brit left and school started back up again for my Aunt and Uncle, I was on my own and realized that I could do it all by myself. From that point on, I took a special interest in pushing myself a little more everyday. Whether that was by going to the orphanage with someone I barely knew or by having a short conversation with a taxi driver when going downtown. In Cambodia, Vietnam, but especially Thailand I grew up a lot and learned so much about myself and what I am capable of.

One of the biggest things I have learned while in Thailand is the power of communication. While in Bangkok I spent most of the day in an area that doesn’t speak English with a 3-year old and a Thai nanny. It has been both one of the most frustrating and one of the most enriching experiences. Some days I just wanted to talk to someone: have a long conversation about what was going on politically in Thailand or what was going on in my life/head! But instead we talked about going pee pee in the toilet, if the food being cooked tastes/smells good, and which Disney princess we were that day. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the days that I got to spend with my two buddies, but it could get a little tough since we didn't speak the same language.

Learning a little bit of Thai is the best decision I made while here. It made things so much easier and therefore so much more enjoyable for me. I could spend hours with Khun Iad and have more communication than just a blank stare. We would point to something, teach the words to one another and then quickly write it down so we wouldn’t forget. The power that a small shared communication had over our relationship was unbelievable.

Knowing some Thai was very helpful outside the house as well. It felt great to be able to tell someone where I wanted to go, independently. It was also extremely appreciated across the country. I automatically earned more respect—and a smile—when I asked how much something costs at a market, in Thai. I felt like the country was a bit more open to me because I knew even only a list of phrases and nouns.

I’ve also learned how powerful communication has been for me to stay in touch with back home. I have been sending mass emails to a group of friends/family and have gotten some very encouraging feedback. Sometimes all it takes is a silly story from Allison, a video chat with Kaity when we both look horrible, or a verbal pat on the back from Auntie Rhonda to make a hard day a lot easier here.

One of the best parts about the digital world is that I have been able to video-Skype with my mom and dad everyday—honestly it is usually twice a day. I’ve always been really good at communicating with my parents. (Whether it’s the 10 or so phone calls between my mom and I or the 20 or so emails with papa.) So, moving to the other side of the world quickly presented a problem. But with Skype they have let me vent my frustrations with a world so different than mine, beam with pride or just talk about nothing, whenever I needed to. Lauren was also an amazing Skyper. It usually worked out with our schedules best when she was in class, so that always created some giggle-fests. Including once when we video-Skyped as she was in class, with the sound off, her pretending to pay attention, me trying to make her laugh and the girl behind her very confused. I’ll even give Adam some credit for always making sure to say hi to me when I Skype home…although the last few weeks he jokingly said, “I thought you were gone, I see you more now than I did before! I’m not going to say hi to you again until you come home!” He almost held true to that…

In Thailand I was lucky to have some very important communicators in my life as well. My Aunt Teresa and Uncle Steve were an unreal source of love, motivation and home for me. They would come home from work and I could tell them all of the crazy things I went through that day, and they would understand. There are some things that you can’t understand unless you live here! They shuttled me around places, gave me food/shelter/family, kept my mind stimulated and always kept me laughing. I cannot even describe how grateful I am to have them here. Words escape me.

My biggest saving grace through this whole deal though was Brittany. From the moment my plane landed and I was all by myself and ready to cry she was on the phone with my cab driver, and then me, talking me through the whole thing. She taught me how to get around Thailand. She stood up for me. She dragged me around to places I would have been too uncomfortable to go to by myself. She pushed me and challenged me. She made me laugh uncontrollably almost every single day. She shared a room with me, even though there was an extra room, just so we could talk and talk and talk. I am so lucky that I had Brit with me during most of this trip. Most sisters can’t say that they have done something so life changing together. (Laure, you’ll get your turn!)

Thailand has its issues. There is garbage and pollution everywhere you look. People often lie just to save face and appear like they know what they’re talking about. There has been constant political unrest since I’ve been here, escalating into a State of Emergency that after a week has yet to be lifted. This past 7-day holiday resulted in 373 deaths and 4,332 injuries on the road, more often than not involving alcohol, yet the rules of the road remain lax as ever and nothing is being done to change that. Women are expected to be docile and cover their shoulders while men openly pee on the side of the road. If you caught me on a bad day I’m sure I could rattle off a few more troubles as well. Despite all of that, Thailand is a beautifully magnificent country.

It’s a country where everyone smiles all the time…and smiles are truly contagious. Mangos, bananas and coconuts are found any and everywhere for only a few cents. Taxis and buildings alike are bright and beautiful colors, often pink! There is green foliage everywhere you look, all year round, dotted by vibrant orchids in every color, shape and size. It is a country that is proud of its culture, but not afraid to look to the future as well. There are thousands of useless seeming jobs that give Thailand an unemployment rate that is less than ¼ of the US’s. The food is amazing. Southern Thailand is the most beautiful place I have ever been in my whole life; turquoise waters and white sand beaches. A trip to the city or even just to the supermarket is always visually stimulating! It is just a great country and has been a lovely place to live.

I’m now going to leave you all with a very hearty korb koon mak ka (thank you very much) for reading my blog and following along with my adventures. It has been great to have an outlet to share my experiences.

Finally, I’ll end with two lists that Brittany and I wrote on the train to Hoi An, Vietnam in March. I think they fit very well into my final blog!

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Things I'll Miss About Thailand...

-My Bangkok family (Auntie, Uncle and my bubba Gabriella)

-My helpers (Maureen and Sandra, my Thai mother: Khun Iad)

-$3 pedicures

-Talking about someone in the same room without them understanding what we're saying

-Thinking of blogable moments

-Thai language (Passa Thai)

-pink (multicolored) taxis

-Our Bangkok Boulevard guards, including Bucky and Khun Smiles

-Saying my 'v's as 'w's (i.e. Wanilla Latte or Bangkok Bouleward)

-Markets

-Mangosteens--my favorite tropical fruit!

-Bonoffee ice cream

-Conversations with taxi drivers

-The food!

-Gorgeous beaches/waters

-Bargaining prices

-Champagne Mondays with the crew

-Being revered for pale skin

-Being tan, in my eyes at least

-Dance parties with Gabriella, my 3-year old best friend (she said Dora and I are her two best friends)

-Inexpensive shopping

-Trying something new and challenging pretty much every single day

Things I'm Excited to Go Home to...

*My family!!!

*Friends across the States

*Drinking tap water

*Walking on level sidewalks

*A cell phone (sorry if that sounds bad, but I miss it)

*A good cup of coffee

*My own bed

*Fresh and clean air

*Cooking for myself

*A full wardrobe

*Independence

*Comfortable temperatures

*Being able to sit on toilet seats, and always having toilet paper and soap provided!

*Understanding signs, announcements, the radio, TV, people

*Sanitation and pollution control

*Fixed prices

*Minnesota summers with BBQs and lakes

*Burgers, salads, pizza, pasta and non-spicy food

*Baseball

*Driving regulations

*Other blondes (sometimes it's hard getting stared at by perplexed faces all day, people aren't sly here)

*The next chapter in my life, who knows what it will be!

Songkran! (Part 3 of 3 part series)

Khun Iad came in to wake me up at 5 AM when it was time for me to take a shower. I peeled myself out of bed, adjusted my eyes and went to the shower. No water heater. I forgot that hot water in the shower is a Westerner thing--not Thai. That's why in homes of Westerners living in Thailand there is a big box in every shower that houses a water heater. I had a great 5AM cold Thai shower. I got out as fast as I could and got dressed. Enter Khun Oy and Khun Iad. "Alexie you wear flower shirt?" K. Oy was in a very cute and appropriately flowered shirt and wanted me to put on my bright orange Hawaiian/Songkran shirt. I told them that I had another yellow/flowery shirt that I would rather wear. They let it happen thank God. Khun Oy then presented me with a Songkran present, which they assured me was 'large.' It was a long polka dot dress, similar to the one Brit wore to her conformation ceremony in 1995. It could actually be really cute, just on a different body type. Next they proudly presented me a hair dryer and straightener so I could fix my hair. I guess K. Iad noticed that I use them at the Bangkok home. After I dried my hair K. Iad said she wanted to straighten it. So she sat me down and straightened it, all the while her and K. Oy were giggling and calling me Barbie. They really tried to make me feel as comfortable and at home though and I am so grateful for that!

We gathered our things and left. I managed to sleep for about 15 minutes of our hour-long drive. We arrived at the temple first, took off our shoes outside and shuffled in. It was packed and there was a stage full of food. I met a lot of family members and went with a few to do a short prayer with incense at the Buddha statue. When we sat back down a row of 25-30 monks walked on the stage and sat behind the food. It turns out that each family brought 7 or so dishes to feed all the monks and set them all up on the stage.

We sat on our knees, making sure our feet were not pointed at the monks and did a series of prayers with hands in wai formation the whole time. I believe we were blessing the food together, but I kind of just made that up. Then we all got up and each family formed their own human chain by holding onto each others' arms or waist. The head of the family was holding the family's rice bowl and lead us all to a line where he put a scoop of rice in each monk's bowl.

After that we went back inside, knelt, hands in a wai and more praying. Then the monks started eating. Yes, we prayed the entire time that they ate. It was awkward for me to revere these monks who look like regular men (and kids, the youngest was probably 5-years old). They had food stuck on their lips, talked amongst themselves with their mouths full, spilled the food, etc. After the meal (plus dessert!) some people got up and cleaned up all of the dishes and food. There was a final prayer and the monks left. All of us "common folk" then took the leftovers, which is apparently good luck. It was weird going to an hour long Buddhist temple service while my family and friends were celebrating Easter on the other side of the globe. It made me miss everyone but was an awesome experience.

(l) My two favorite children monks at the end of the line (r) Families adding their food to the stage

From the temple we drove to K. Iad's house. It's a stilted one-level house with random wood slabs joined together and pictures of the King and family members everywhere you look. It's also surrounded by 20+ mango trees. We picked a few mangos and ate them right off the tree--alloy mak! I was not a fan of mangos when I first came to Thailand, but now that we have them so often i've started to really enjoy them.

Under the stilted house is a dirt-floored area that has 4 hammocks attached to the floor above them. It's the hang out spot...at least during the dry season! When I first walked into the house I hit my head on the ceiling rafters, twice. No joke. That is how tall I am here. I looked around and only a few of the men were taller than me. My two-time disaster was the family's favorite joke for the rest of the day.

There are 6 rooms, that I saw, in the house and squat toilets. The kitchen was a random assortment of old dishware and buckets. It is all very different than the house where I live in Bangkok. I was definitely getting the real Thai experience.

They have a very large family so everyone ran around and played while some others hung around with me a bit too. No one speaks much English and my Thai is extremely minimal, so we just laughed a lot as usual. It is actually exhausting getting laughed at so much during one day. By the end of the day I was very frustrated with it. We did have fun though and some of the younger girls showed me some very cute traditional Thai dances.

After a few hours six of us (K. Iad, K. Oy, K. Chin, K. Oy's sister, a family friend and I) got into a car and drove to the more urban part of Suphan Buri. Songkran is the Thai New Years which means a sort of "spring cleaning" for temples if you want to make it simple. It is a time to cleanse all of the Buddha statues and visit the temples. The first one we went to was the Temple of the Elephants. Here we performed the now familiar incense, praying, candle, gold leaf rituals. But, instead of putting the gold leaf on Buddha statues, we put it on a giant 3-headed elephant statue.

Praying with candles and incense, the 3-headed elephant, the fortune telling "pick up sticks", and the elephant where people put the gold leaf (plus a close up on his hind-left-thigh)

After all of that we added on a new ritual. We each knelt down next to a heavy gold elephant statue. After performing the wai we each had to pick it up using only our ring finger...twice. To accomplish it means more good luck. I managed to do it even though a few of my Thai buddies couldn't. Thailand must be bizzaro world--I'm tall enough to hit ceiling rafters and have more arm strength than other people.

Lifting the heavy statue, feet pointed back of course!

We left the elephant temple and went to another one that was more carnival-like. It had so many things going on and so many people. We did all the usual stuff, plus cleansed a Buddha statue and played a coin toss game. We each took a Baht coin and had to throw it into the belly button of a fat Buddha. Which I read isn't technically the Buddha, but another iconic Buddhist character. Bizzaro world was reversed back to normal and I was the only one who couldn't get it in the belly button hole--no good luck for me on this round. Oh well!

At the end we went to the dock and fed the fish. With nets they "cage" the fish in certain areas to make sure that there are always fish there to feed. It was sad though because there were so many fish that they were all flopping on top of one another. Also, they had their mouths open coming to the surface almost the whole time because they knew they were going to get fed. But I think feeding them somehow gave me good luck--which makes up for my bad luck when I couldn't get the Buddha coin toss and adds to a few other good luck things I had done in the morning...

A portion of the hungry and overcrowded fish!

We left that temple and headed back towards K. Iad's house. On the way we passed the start of the huge nation-wide Songkran water fight! There were pick up trucks everywhere with their truck beds full of people and a giant barrel of water. The people would fill buckets and squirt guns from the barrel and soak anyone else in a truck, on a motorbike or on the sidewalk passing by. It is also common practice to mix flower and water and rub it on people's faces or on cars. Our car got hit a lot by water and the water/flour mixture, but we were safely inside with all of the doors and windows shut! I tried to get some photos from inside the car because I knew I wasn't going to be able to take them with my non-waterproof camera once I was a part of the fight!

We made a pit-stop on the way home at the family friend's house. His parents have now moved in with him because they can no longer take care of themselves. Here we performed another Songkran ritual of washing the feet and hands of the elders of the household. We all lined up one by one performed a wai and cleansed their hands and feet with water. They, in turn, put their hands on each of us and said prayers of good luck. When it was over the 90 year old woman grabbed my arm and rubbed my skin. She kept saying, in Thai, that she wanted foreigner skin. It was pretty hilarious with a little dash of awkward. We said our goodbyes in Thai and then the two 90-year olds started waving their hands and saying "good-bye" which is hilarious because i've never seen a Thai person wave before!!! They just put their hands together and bow. Everyone kept telling me they were quite taken by me. Looks like pale skin and blonde hair really make a girl seem appealing here.

We stopped for a lunch/dinner and then drove back to K. Iad's house. After running around and getting a few things in order we loaded up the back of our truck and were on our way! Two men were driving while the back held five girls under the age of 8, K. Oy, K. Oy's sister, K. Iad and I. K. Iad wouldn't let me sit on the side of the truck because she said men were going to grab me...turns out she was right!

While we participated in the water fight any Thai person that would see me would shout "farang!" ("foreigner!") and throw as much water as they could on me. Also I was constantly being grabbed at and people would try and rub the flour mixture all over my face. Suphan Buri is a small city that I'm sure not many (if any) white people ever come to. I was a very rare sight there! After a while we found that it was fun to have me duck down and hide in the truck and we'd drive up to another group where I would pop up and spray them all with water guns. This 'farang-sneak-attack' caused lots of excitement every time! K. Iad was very protective of me though because I had a lot of boys grabbing my arms and sometimes hair. I also had the teenage boys running after us saying "I love you! I love America! Welcome to Thailand!" It was all so much fun and so hilarious! If there weren't so many dangerous aspects of it I wish the U.S. would consider doing a nation-wide water fight.

We got back to K. Iad's drenched to the core, which felt nice on a 90+ degree day! I showered with my very first bucket shower (you just pour buckets of water over you while standing by a drainage system). We hung around a little longer while the men drank a little more and teased me a lot more. Finally at about 7 K. Oy and I left to go back to Bangkok...but not until we washed the hands and feet of her parents, gramma and gramma's sister.

It was an amazing two days and I'm so lucky I got to experience an important Thai holiday as authentically as possible. Yes there were language barrier difficulties as usual, but there was something so universal about the fun we had during the water fight. I just loved it!

Songkran! (Part 2, of 3 part series)

I thought we were staying in for the evening, but it turned out that we were meeting K. Oy's boyfriend K. Thep for dinner out on the town. I had just received a call from my Aunt telling me that Bangkok officials had declared a State of Emergency because of the violent protests going on all around the city. K. Iad and K. Noy kept saying to me "mai di, mai di" which means "no good, no good" while we watched videos of violent protesting on the TV...in Thai of course. The whole hour long car ride the radio was announcing the news and what was going on in the city. It was kind of scary because the car was silent except this booming Thai voice over the radio with the pictures coming back into my mind. I didn't understand what was going on and if my BKK home was near any of it. Eventually the ladies turned the radio off and had a long and intense conversation. After a very long car ride we got to the restaurant: Holland Beer.

Inside, the restaurant was huge. There were 100+ tables and a few different sub-section rooms, only a few of which were occupied at that point. There was also a huge stage decorated with colorful flowers and lights in honor of the Songkran festivities that officially started at midnight that night. We sat down in the center of the restaurant and let K. Thep order food for us all.

First came the beer. I got the "head of the table" glass and then they brought out a tube filled with 3 L of beer. I was really not looking forward to drinking a lot of beer and hoped that K. Thep was thirsty (I definitely couldn't count on the bird sitting across from me or the non-drinking K. Iad--who did drink a beer though to my surprise!) It was a slightly banana flavored beer and was actually delicious. When the food came out they explained what everything was to me...everything was spicy, which always creates laughs for the Thai people to watch me eat. The only non-spicy thing was the plate of "sausages" (hot dogs), which I have no doubt were ordered for me to feel more at home.

The banana beer and three of the six servers that tended to our table

During dinner there were a few different performers on the stage and a few bad renditions of English songs (My Girl was pretty painful). The tables slowly started to fill up with a couple hundred people. About 30 minutes later a guy, dressed as a woman, came on stage singing songs as both a soprano and a bass. In Thailand they call these women "ladyboys." I think she was a comedian as well because she would talk between songs and the crowd always roared with laughter. I never understood a single joke, they were all in Thai of course! Then the spotlight started scanning the audience and I heard the word farang (foreigner). One spotlight was on me, but the other one, and the camera, were on the one other foreigner in the room--the standard white guy with Thai girl. Whew. Did I forget to mention that there were two large jumbo-screens on either side of the stage? The comedian made lots of jokes at the man's expense...I'm assuming because none were in English. Then my fellow three dinner companions did the unthinkable, they requested a song for me without my knowing. The spotlight shot at me and the cameras were on. I think I mentally blacked it all out on purpose. My big white face/hair was blaring on the big screens and there was a lot of laughter accompanying the ladyboy's Thai chatter. I was mortified but sucked it up and laughed along with them. She sang the song 'I Will Survive' and then they took my face off the screen.

The white girl in her white shirt with her white hair: a Thai comedian's dream. They gave me, and only me, that flower necklace when I walked in the door.

The entire restaurant watched me the rest of the evening. I was a very rare specimen. They kept showing my face on the big screen throughout the night, often with a heart icon around it. K. Oy assured me that they were saying I was beautiful, but with all the laughter I had my doubts.

The ladyboy left the stage and we had 2 more hours of pure crazy Songkran singing and dancing entertainment. Some dances were traditional Thai and some were very modern. The dancers/singers also came through the audience and danced with some people (including me) along the way. The waitresses even grabbed me and K. Iad forced me to dance with them a little bit so she could take a picture. Look at how blaringly white I am next to them all! I swear I'm even tan (for me) right now.

It started getting late, I knew we had to get up the next morning at 5 AM and I didn't want anymore banana beer. But, I didn't want to be the party pooper on this great holiday, so I stuck it out and kept smiling and giggling. Finally, at midnight we got into our car and drove back to K. Oy's. The ride home was much shorter, which makes me think that she took an extra long route the way there to avoid the Bangkok "disaster spots" that they were listing on the radio. We got home and went right to sleep...only to be woken up 4.5 hours later for the final part of my 3 part blog!

Songkran! (Part 1 of 3 part series)

The build up of what I was going to do on Songkran--the Thai New Year--was fairly confusing. My Aunt, Uncle and Gabriella decided to take their week-long vacation down to the beach in Phuket. After a month of non-stop traveling and with only 10 days left until my airplane back to the U.S. I decided to stay in Bangkok...run some last minute errands (mani, pedi, sushi, souvenirs...you get it right?) My decision to stay here created a buzz with the Thai women in my life. Who would get to take the big white girl on one of the most fun Thai holidays?! Khun Noy got me a very festive bright orange Hawaiian shirt for Songkran (turns out they are "Songkran shirts" here not "Hawaiian shirts") but Khun Iad won the battle. After a half Thai half English and fully confusing conversation this is what I understood was to happen: Sunday at 7 AM Khun Oy (niece) was to pick me up. We would go to a wat (temple) to celebrate the religious aspects of the holiday. We would participate in the big nation-wide water fight in Khun Iad's city of Suphan Buri. I would sleep over at Khun Oy's house and be back to my Bangkok home by 6 PM...no tank top straps allowed.

I tried to pack accordingly for wat and water fight plans. Sunday I woke up and was ready, bag in hand, by 6:50. I waited, and waited, by 7:20 I started to worry. Songkran wasn't actually going to start until Monday so she probably meant 7 PM. I Skyped home and chatted with the family + other Belisle cousins/Auntie/Uncle. Then I just hung around wondering what I was going to do for the rest of the day when Khun Iad and Khun Oy appeared at the door at 8:10. So the time was in the morning not the evening! We all piled in the car and had 45 minutes of forced 2-year-old level conversation in half English half Thai. I found out that we were going to the floating markets (Talatnam Lampya) along with K. Chin (K. Iad's hubby), K. Bob (K. Oy's 16 year old nephew) and K. Iad's brother whose name I forgot.

An hour into the drive the Belisle-genetic-Thai-driving-induced motion sickness set in. My mind was consumed with the thought of throwing up (which I did twice when motion sick in Sapa!) I explained to the ladies: wani ca-fey mak, puad thong, mai pen rai, sabai. That translates to today I had a lot of coffee I have a tummy ache, it's okay now, i'm fine. That was the only way I could explain my motion sickness with my little Thai: blame the coffee. I told them partly in hopes that they wouldn't make me eat a lot of crazy food. It kind of worked.

Immediately when we got to Talatnam Lampya K. Iad grabbed my camera from me. She wanted pictures of me next to any and everything. I don't love being in pictures so I wasn't a huge fan of it. Eventually I got the camera back, but then she would point to things and make me take a picture of it. She would ask to see it after every picture, so I could never pretend to take one. Needless to say I ran out of new batteries after one day and needed to buy more because I didn't bring my charger. At the end of the blog I will post some of the pointless pictures I was forced to take (some of the ones that I didn't end up deleting that night).

At the floating markets there was food everywhere. It was a Thai--not tourist--style market. No souvenir stands, no Westerners, just a lot of food that I couldn't identify if you paid me. We walked up and down a center wooden aisle and boats were pulled up next to it selling things, mostly food. I have now been to three floating markets in Southeast Asia and all three were drastically different. Anyways, we walked around for at least 30 minutes while K. Iad and K. Oy picked up bags and bags of food. They even offered to get me french fries--I declined.

We got on a boat at 10:00 for a ride down the Thajean River. We had a table at the front of the boat and spread out all of our food. Time to eat! With my tummy ache comment I still was offered all the food, but was given the mai pet (not spicy) versions. What did I eat? :

"pig balls" (pork meat balls);

"fried fish" (sure didn't taste like your average fried fish);

"banana" (opaque goo wrapped in a banana leaf);

"pig satay" (pork satay);

"ice" (red flavored popsicle);

"bird egg" (a small hard boiled egg cut in half, not a chicken's egg);

"sticky rice" (rice in a bag that everyone grabbed with their fingers straight from the bag and popped it into their mouths);

...and something that they couldn't explain and I still can't. It tasted like rice mixed with some sort of salty meat and spices formed into a small ball and cut in half. I only tried that once, no seconds for me!

The many bags of food and all of their contents! Plus our napkins=roll of toilet paper (that's what napkins are at most restaurants here!); The "banana" goo. That was rough to force down, but I had to!

After I took a bite of each thing all five of them would look at me until I said the obligatory alloy mak (delicious). There was no way of hiding my dislike for the "fried fish" though. Finally K. Iad's silent brother said, in very well-spoken English "You eat everything!" I don't think he talked again for the rest of the trip. That prompted the K. Iad's-cooking-is-delicious-and-she's-making-me-fat conversation where I may have accidentally called them all fat instead. Oh the fun of being a foreigner!

The ride along the river was great and refreshing--a nice breeze on a 90 degree morning! We passed by all sorts of houses, some were very nice ones while others were shacks. The conversation was always confusing and ended up being a lot of laughter. That's always the easiest thing to do when everyone is confused.

After about 30 minutes the boat stopped at a different dock in front of a wat. I followed the group out and we went to a table filled with flowers, candles and incense sticks. We paid our 20 Baht (60 cent) "donation" and grabbed the flowers, candles, incense and pieces of paper. I just followed suit and let K. Oy and K. Iad lead me around everywhere. They were very eager to show and teach me everything!

K. Oy and I; K. Bob ad I with flowers and incense outside the wat

Step 1: Light the incense from a communal pot of incense.

Step 2: Perform a wai (hands together with a small bow) and pray.

Step 3: Put the flowers in a big vase, put incense in communal pot, light candle and add it to pot as well.

Step 4: Perform wai and bow, nose to the floor, three times.

Step 5: Take papers to a line of 5 Buddhas. Inside each paper is a little 1cm x 1cm square of gold leaf. Stick one square of gold leaf to each Buddha, wherever you want, and perform a wai after each one. (No picture, you'll see the same thing in the part 3 blog).

Step 6: Grab a tube of sticks and shake them until one falls out. That stick has a number on it. Go get a sheet of paper that corresponds with that number. The sheet has a fortune written on it for you...in Thai. K. Bob tried to translate mine for me, but he got very awkward/embarrassed and could only tell me I "have a happy good day." (Look in the background of the other pictures to see the red tube of sticks)

It was a very cool experience and I'm very lucky that K. Oy took some pictures at the beginning and K. Iad showed me how to do everything. They're great! We left the incense-filled temple and went back to the dock to feed some fish and got back on the boat.

When we went back to the car I assumed we were headed back to K. Oy's, but instead we made a stop at the Air Orchid Flower Market. I was forced to take a lot of pictures here! Mostly of me with orchids. It was a beautiful place though. They have orchids in every color/color combo imaginable. At about minute 40 it started to feel like every summer with my mom stuck at Linders in intense heat...but it was still really fun and I'm glad they took me there! As we left, there was a Buddha statue that we took turns cleansing with water in honor of the Songkran holiday.

We went back to K. Oy's house after that and I got the full tour. The tour included pictures of me in K. Oy's room, in her front yard, in her back yard, fake sleeping on a lawn chair, 4 pictures of me walking into and then sitting down in a backyard furniture structure. Then the boys all drove back to Suphan Buri and the girls just hung around, watched Look Who's Talking 2 with Thai subtitles and took a little catnap. At one point K. Oy showed me 30 photo albums. It was all pictures of her doing various non-interesting things. Like standing in an airport, standing at the luggage belt at the airport, sitting for a taxi outside the airport. And I understood that they just LOVE to take pictures of every single step of any vacation, including the non-interesting things. When we woke up from our nap it was time to get ready for dinner...and on to part 2 of 3 in my blog series!

Pointless pictures I was forced to take Day 1: