Blessed by a Monk

     Sorry to have been gone... again. We're all back in America now, most of us are home. Deanna and I are at our college for a bit longer still. I'll do a post about the culture shock for my final post.

     The Winos were up and ready to go by 8:30. It was an optional group field trip but the others decided not to come. Our destination: Ayutthaya, the old capitol of Thailand. We took the subway to the train station and then rode for three hours. It was a step down from the train ride to Chiang Mai. We had butts in our faces, sitting on our arm rests and a lady almost finding a spot on Drexler's lap. It was a joy when we got off. 

     We songthaewed it to the fourth King of Thailand's summer palace. This palace had some interesting buildings. It was odd to be walking through 18th century Europe, for starters. There were Greek statues everywhere, the buildings were straight from the French countryside, and then there was the random Chinese temple used as a dining hall. The tiles inside were hand made so each one was a little bit different. Right by that was an astronomy tower. Across the river, which we crossed by cable car, was a temple. In the design of a Gothic church. Stained glass windows, suits of armor, big chandelier in the ceiling, the works. And there was a monk watching over everyone praying and explaining the history of the place to those who asked. Most interesting place on the trip. 

     Drexler wanted to take a boat to our second destination and it was so peaceful. The best part was that everyone on the shores would wave to us as we passed. We were superstars again. Our next stop was a temple with one of the biggest Buddha statues around. The temple had to be made extra tall just to make sure it would be indoors. The group there was a mix of people taking pictures and those making merit. They did not mesh well. 

     The final stop was at yet another temple, one that was not destroyed when an invading army attacked. I snapped a picture of a nun and when I was praying a monk called me over to him. One more thing crossed off my bucket list: blessed by a monk. We even got a free bracelet out of it. 

Since Drexler wanted to be able to sit down on the way back we sat in the dining car. One last free meal and the last meal in Asia. It was back to the guesthouse after that to pack for the ride back. I will write about that next time, going to keep this blog going as long as I can. 

It's the Final Countdown!!

Here's the post from today. The post that was supposed to go up yesterday has been posted so check it out!!

• Got shopping blocked by a store being closed. It's a bakery that sells cute notebooks and supplies like that. Many of us wanted to get something, but fate said no. 
• Became unblocked by going to the Saturday/Sunday market and shopping till we dropped. It was a time to spend the rest of our money and we made out like bandits. I was buying things for people who I had forgotten about or put off or realized that I should find them something. 
• Last time riding the sky train. Been an enjoyable experience. The view is beautiful but it's mainly because of the air conditioning. 
• We were supposed to go to a restaurant that served bull penis soup tonight. However, they are closed Saturday and Sunday so instead we tried to go to a nearby Italian restaurant. This had been turned into a ritzy hotel. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant by the guest house that specialized in margaritas  They had 75 different margaritas. Three of us, including me, got an Oreo margarita. Finding the recipe for that in a few months when I turn 21. We were a very happy bunch by the end of the night. 
• Karen, Deanna and I walked around again tonight. It was a pleasant stroll through the market near by.  Bit unfortunate that it has to be so close to the sex district. However, we wandered around the market area and ignored any body who wasn't a vendor. 
• Washed some clothes today for the ride back. Put some vinegar in to murder the fungus. Now the bathroom has lots of wet clothes hanging up to dry. 
• I hate vinegar. 

This is the Car Ride That Never Ends, It Just Goes On and On

    Sorry this didn't get up last night, the internet here is tricky like that.
    Before it was time to go, Karen, Deanna and I scurried around for some last minute  sea shell finding. Well, they did. I had a more advanced search going on. Sea glass. Lots and lots of sea glass. The good thing is I now have lots and lots of sea glass and no idea what I am going to do with it.
     Leaving the island was a happy moment. We finally can afford to buy our own food again!! And when we go outside we don't have to wait fifteen minutes for the sunscreen to take full effect!!
     The drive back is supposed to take two hours. Tonight traffic was so bad going in and out it took four and a half hours. So I talked to Drexler for a while about Buddhism and the different types, Thai marriages, how Thai culture views gay people. It took up a long time which helped with the boredom. It took over an hour once we entered Bangkok city limits to actually reach our guest house. (Yes, the traffic here is that terrible. Minnesota, thank you for not doing toll booths.) I believe we all would have just rather walked there rather than keep riding around like we were. Drexler was supposed to go to the air port to deal with Lilith's suitcase (because she refuses to do anything except ask him when he's getting it back for her) tonight but had to post-pone it till tomorrow. Which means we aren't going on that field trip till Sunday. Bit of a nail biter right there since we have to be at the airport by 3 in the morning and if anything goes wrong on Sunday there's no time to do anything about it.
     Wandered around with Karen and Deanna for a while. Needed to walk a bit after that car ride today. Found ourselves in the sex district of Bangkok. Never ever stepping foot near there again. It was so cleverly disguised by the shops but we probably should have noticed the red lighting everywhere. Nothing happened, just some experiences you don't want a repeat of.
     Had a rather stupid idea tonight. My underarm fungus is refusing to die or notice I'm using medication so I bought some vinegar. After some research I found that vinegar is an effective killer of fungus so I was all for trying it. Here's where the dumb part comes in: I didn't dilute it before applying. I thought the stuff was going to leave third degree burns before it started calming down.
Here's just a few shots of the beach we stayed on.

At sunrise. Yeah, I got up that early. By accident. 

The place to find sea glass

The colors of the water

The boat that brought us there and took us away

The part we didn't explore

It looked bigger in the movies 

Sand. It's Everywhere. Get Used to It.

Hello from the beach!! Found out where the internet was last night and decided to give an update. By the way, it's one of those beaches where the water is different shades of beautiful blue depending on how far out you go. The sand is white and soft and not hot at all. There is a lovely breeze keeping the bugs away. Be jealous.

• There are at least two roosters here who continue to inform everyone at this resort the sun is up until three in the afternoon. 
• The clientele is mostly Europeans. Mainly Russians with a few French. There are some Thais here with their kids.
• The food here is obscenely over priced so that the least expensive thing on the menu is plain rice noodles for 50 baat. Anything really worth eating is more in the 150 baat range. Most of us, Drexler included, are eating a huge breakfast and holding off till dinner.  
• I have sunburns on most of my body from my back to my ankles. Currently the most sunburned one here. Ow.  
• Beaches aren't just for swimming anymore. They are for taking pictures of your wife/girlfriend in sexy positions.
• The new style for swimsuits, according to most of the women here, is thongs. Not sure if it's the same in the US, but all we can think about is if they get sunburn on their butts and how bad the flight home is going to be. 
• Watched Victor Victoria last night. And Lilo and Stitch. This beach doesn't really have much to do here. Swimming and hiking are free but anything else is almost ten dollars!! Who has that kind of money??
• Lilith has gotten on everyones last nerve. Including Drexler's. It's a good thing we're coming home in a little bit. 
• Made friends with a hermit crab. Calling him Hermey. Still hoping to see a sand crab. 
• Just confirmed there is a third rooster. Heard it while the other two where strutting by. 

Just a few more days and then we'll be flying back. Still not sure how I'll feel about it because while I'm ready to go home I also don't want to go home yet. Maybe it's because I have wisdom teeth surgery waiting for me upon arrival. Leaving the beach tomorrow and going back to Bangkok. 

The Suitcase Who Knew Too Much

    Major accomplishment today. Woke up in time for a real breakfast. Surprisingly, Karen and I were the only ones downstairs. That just heightened the feeling even more.
    At the mall right across the street from our guesthouse there is a chocolate selling area. I would call it a stall but it sprawls a bit too much. Which is perfect because it's all chocolate. They give free samples there so we keep going to try and get more but it's always the same girl handing them out. We even tried going when she would be in school, because she always wears her uniform, but it was closed. The others went back later and there she was.
    We were supposed to go to a temple today but due to Lilith taking someone elses suitcase at the airport and the guy (pay attention to that detail because it becomes important) there was a change of plans. Instead he was accompanied by the Winos to his favorite jewelry store. Everything there was way out of our price range so we wandered around oo-ing and aww-ing at the precious gems. After that Drexler left us to go return the suitcase and we walked back to the guesthouse. We stopped to visit what we thought was the Bangkok art gallery but was instead the galleria. For a country without a violent past and with everyone seeming happy, quite a bit of the artwork was disturbing.
    We returned and I pretty much just slept for two hours. I awoke alone and was rather sad, but too sleepy too care. However Karen came back and we all went to dinner. We got ripped off big time. The server put an extra 40 baat on our bill just because we are foreigners and we couldn't tell him we knew what he was doing so we had to pay it.
    Before that happend, we were told the Tale of Drexler. He had to take the suitcase, which had terrible wheels that didn't turn right, onto the sky train and then had to walk for a few blocks to this guy's hotel. When he arrived at the front desk this big, sleazy, German came up and grabbed the suitcase away. According to Drexler he looked like one of the older men back in Cambodia that were parading around with prostitutes. Then the German started demanding money since he had to buy a lot of clothes due to the loss of his suitcase. What clothes did he have to buy since the only things in the suitcase were fruit and women's underwear!! When Drexler refused to give him any money, the German proceeded to kick him, punch him, then kicked him a couple more times. For a big guy he apparently punched like a baby but Drexler was so stunned by these actions he just stood there thinking "What the hell is going on??" which is a direct quote. Eventually a hotel employee came over and restrained the German, giving Drexler time to escape. As he was leaving the German shouted at him "You're not even Christian!!" which made Drexler's day. I think Drexler should have shouted back "That lady isn't even your wife!!" Drexler is completely fine by the way, just a bruise he isn't sure how he got but we all blame the German. If you are wondering why Lilith didn't go with to return the suitcase she accidentally took, so are we.
    Tomorrow we are going to the beach for a few days. In all of history there have probably been no one else less looking forward to it. We have to leave at 6:30, which is right when breakfast opens. I already went out and bought a doughnut. Not sure if I'll be able to spend much time in the water thanks to my fungus but I will do my best.

The Trials of Solitaire

    For those of you who have traveled, have you ever gone on a flight and been completely wiped out from it?? Cause that's what happened to all of us yesterday. The pathetic part is that the flight was just over an hour but it's the most exciting thing most of us did. We officially bid good bye to our home away from college which is our actual home away from home. The hardest part to leave behind was banana pancakes and iced ovaltine for breakfast. The best moment of the day was when most of us were underweight, even with all of our purchases together. This was accomplished by breaking our backs. A common trick around the group was to stuff our backpacks with everything that wouldn't fit into our suitcase. Thankfully all of us had gone to high school which prepared us for carrying heavy backpacks around all day. Bit of a surprise came when we found out there was no group bag, since there had been discussion of getting one. But everything worked out fine, to my knowledge, nothing broke. The only thing I regret leaving behind is my water gun.
    That was yesterday. This morning I woke up at 9:55. Breakfast here closes at 10. I activated my ninja superpowers by grabbing some pants and making it down in time to grab some potatoes and toast. Not that I wasn't wearing pants before, I just changed quickly into jeans.
    Today we went to another market!! It was the biggest one yet, we barely covered half of it in our 2.5 hours there. The best and worst part was the pet section. Yes, there was a section dedicated to selling pets there. Puppies and bunnies were the only two kinds that we saw on our walk through. Based off that example, this place sold everything. There was a furniture district, an accessories district, multiple clothing districts, you can see why it is so big.
    So, here's something gross for everyone. At first I thought I was allergic to my new deodorant. After not using it yesterday (one of the more bad ideas I've had this trip) I have come to a realization. I have fungus in my underarms. The first time I went to the pharmacy the pharmacist had just gone on break. Unknowingly abandoned by Drexler I waited 15 minutes for his return which never happened. Did not help my abandonment issues at all.
    Dinner tonight was like Thanksgiving but with all Thai food. That means we were stuffed. Niko kept trying to fall asleep at the table. The food wasn't the part that stuffed us, it was the desert. If you have never had mangoes and sticky rice you are missing out. Big time. I'm going to make it at home as often as I can. Because it is nutritious and filling.
    The second trip to the pharmacy was a bit different than in America. They had eight different anti fungal medicines so the pharmacist was called over to help. These were the questions he asked me:

1. Pill or Cream?? 
2. Boy or Girl?? 
3. Which part of the body??

It was a free, awkward, doctor's appointment. Very very awkward. And public. At least no one else there could understand what we were saying. Maybe he thought I was picking it up for someone or I do not know why that second question is in there.
    Our roommates got switched again and I am really enjoying living with Karen. We have really random conversations sometimes and it's very nice. I have made a huge mess in one corner of the room and she doesn't complain about it. Plus, we both love to eat sugar. Tonight she was playing solitaire and complained to me on how she always looses because she can only get through the deck once. I told her to switch over to regular solitaire instead of Vegas. When she did, her life changed. Suddenly, she felt like the world was telling her to go ahead with her life because whenever she reached the end of the deck, she could start it over. She has a new groove, her past scores have been reset. She won one game, but I have touched her life and made it better.
    Okay, I have been watching this video for the last few hours. Because I am so very productive. It's called Guilty Pug. If you like dogs, watch it. If you need some parenting tips, watch it. If you like men with a Southern drawl, watch it.

I Really Need to Lay Off the Shopping

    Finally had some more sticky rice and mango. It was so good, the only problem was this little boy who was related to the owner. I felt bad for him because his older sister was whacking him with a water bottle. Then he started kicking me under the table. Before yall are like "maybe it was by accident" he was doing it with a giant grin on his face while making eye contact with me. Kind of stopped the warm feelings cold in their tracks. Devil child. 

    Started packing today. Keyword started. I really should be ditching more clothes than I am, but I cannot bring myself to. Even some of the clothes I have put in the 'staying here' bag are crying for me to take them with me. I feel like such a terrible person but the needs of the souvenirs/gifts outweigh the needs of the jeans.

    Because I didn't have enough of a challenge already I asked Alessa with me to the night bazaar. It was pretty fun, picked up a couple items I have been meaning to get for a while. Along with a few more gifts for those back home who weren't cool enough to come to Asia. Alessa and I just hung out for a few hours, talked about a lot of things. Maybe not the typical girl subjects since it was video games. But that can be a girly topic. We rode in a songthaew there, and they over charged us, 

    Found out the reason I had not seen Deanna all day was because she was spending a majority of it in the hospital. She's fine now but one of the nurses asked if she was there for mosquito bites. Also, people have been telling me of sightings in the guesthouse before but tonight I saw my first rat within the walls of Karen's sanctuary. I'm ready to come home now where maybe my cats would get off their lazy butts long enough to catch a mouse or two. One of the things I look forward to and dread is everyone around me speaking English and understanding what I'm saying. The bad part of this is now I actually have to watch what I say again. This is a problem most of here are starting to worry about. 

Evil Elephant Knick-Knack

    Decided to wander around by myself and had a bit of a scare. I was walking back to the pottery place to finally purchase a tea set. Tried to go down this alleyway but had a man yelling at me to get out and go away. It was just a regular alleyway but I decided to walk the long way around the moat instead. Made me rethink any future plans to live in Chiang Mai. Also made me want to come home for the first time this trip.

    The pottery place was gorgeous!! At first I thought they had some nice stuff, a big lawn. Then I started wandering around some more. It was huge and there were so many pieces of pottery. As for other sights there was a pond with a fountain and a little house-like structure that looked like a perfect place to drink tea in. After much debate I ended up with a tea pot, three matching cups, and two mugs. I had to say no to this adorable little elephant piece because he put me just over budget. It was a very sad and touching moment. Then I noticed if you made eye contact with him it was a bit creepy so I don't feel as bad anymore. 

    Went to the mall to enjoy a mango and sticky rice blizzard. Was not disappointed except they didn't put enough rice on it in my opinion. The ice cream had real mango in it which only added to the awesomeness of the treat. 

    Papa Duck was supposed to take us to an Italian restaurant but when we arrived they had shut it down permanently. A vote was taken on whether we would go to the other location the Italian restaurant had or to a Thai restaurant that Elizabeth Taylor had eaten at. The Elizabeth Taylor restaurant won. The funniest part of the meal was desert. A selection of gelato was laid out for our choosing and all of us got three scoops. It was so delicious I had trouble finishing but I did because wasting ice cream is a crime. 

    Tomorrow is our last full day in Chiang Mai and I want to be up bright and early so I can have time to lay around in bed and possibly nap before facing the day. Today was the first day since coming back to Chiang Mai that I did not have a slushie. I am rather sad about both of those points. I was trying to find a Mad Hatter quote about tea time for the title but I found this quote instead:

“The Mad Hatter: "Would you like some wine?" 

Alice: "Yes..." 

The Mad Hatter: "We haven't any and you're too young.” 

Moving Day

    Today was a rather rough day. I had decided to move in with Niko yesterday and fulfilled it today. This lead to an awkward moment when Donna became aware of it. It felt a bit like a break up, with me packing up all my belongings and leaving. So far I am enjoying living with Niko. It's been less than 12 hours, but it's been a nice... 10 hours. He's happy to have a roommate at last since he lucked into a single his freshman year. The bathroom in this room has ants so we have to keep the door closed at night to prevent them from coming into the room. We also had a visit from a bamboo worm this evening. I was very sad because I thought it was a caterpillar. 

    Spent most of the day packing and unpacking. I moved everything in one trip. Freaked out that I may have forgotten something a couple times but they were false alarms. Actually sat and looked at the souvenirs I have bought so far, for both me and others. Some are definitely cool while others I had a "Why in the world did I buy this??" moment. 

    Had a massage tonight. I'm going to recommend that place to next years Asia term. Maybe I have turned into a massage connoisseur but there are different qualities. This place knows what they are doing. And they remember me even though I hadn't been there in over a month. The complementary tea they give after a treatment is very nice as well. 

    Hopefully life here will get interesting soon so the posts will get longer. They will, I am determined to finish my list of things to do by the time we leave. 

One Can Do Too Much Shopping

    I'm going to skip to the afternoon because that's when the fun started. We had our last book meeting today. The topic was the experiences of the soldiers of the Vietnam War. Both sides. The American side was represented by The Things They Carried while the Vietnamese side had The Sorrow of War(Love). There wasn't a winner, both sides had life scarring experiences.

    Went to the Hawkers Market with the Winos. Had the same dinner as last night but it was still good. Not sure if it's the best restaurant in Chiang Mai but it's fast, inexpensive, and tasty. Then we went to the Night Bazaar. I bought some more gifts for those who aren't lucky enough to be in Asia. Very pleased with the purchases of this evening, slightly disappointed I didn't get my feet eaten by fish. I will just have to do it tomorrow. Also proud of us for walking there and then back with all our purchases. Well, mainly me. I had to switch arms because of all the bags. 

Some interesting notes

1. Songkran disappeared. Only one person was out with a gun today and that's because she was donating it. It was so eerie to go out and not get drenched within the first minute. 
2. Asia turns you into a cheapskate. I did not buy this picture for eight dollars because it was eight dollars. Really wondering how I'm going to deal with soda that costs three bucks instead of sixty cents. 
3. We have fifteen days left here, but only four days left in Chiang Mai.
4.  As the days dwindle down, many of us are running around trying to do last minute things. My list is
1. As stated above, feet eaten by fish
2. To ride around in a tuk-tuk 
3. Go swimming in the moat since I didn't do it during Songkran
4. Get a hair cut. Kind of boring, but it needs to be done. 
5. Go accessories shopping at the Pink Pussy. 
6. Do one last day of Tai Chi. This one may be a bit hard to do since the campus is so far away but I really want to say a proper good bye to the people there. 
7. Eat some yellow curry. It's harder to find than you would think. 
5. Figure out how everything is making it back. I blame my shopping habits on my Mother and Godmother. 

The Last Day of Songkran... Technically

    Ate breakfast with my mom over Skype. Well, I ate, she looked on. After not seeing her for three months, it was time to talk. The internet had other ideas but it still worked out fine. 

    Ventured out into the chaos. Today the mission was to visit this pottery shop and eat at this amazing place     Karen and Deanna always rave about. Both of them were closed. So we grabbed some street food instead   (they had french fries. FRENCH FRIES!!) and took a break from everything. Then I found a stand which had shaved ice. With little gummies in the bottom and covered in evaporated milk. Before I could truly enjoy it, these too snot nosed brats dunked me in water. Rule of Songkran: If someone is eating, don't dunk them in water. I had to throw away my barely eaten bowl of sugar. Saddest moment of the day. Well, right after some kid sprayed me in the face so I ran into something so hard I broke part of my toe nail. 

    Wandered around a park after we purchased some bracelets from this tribal woman. It was six cents for a bracelet, how could we pass that kind of deal up?? Then a tribal man tried to sell us some tusks. Pretty sure those were illegal. Tried walking some more around the moat but gave up after a while. Funny thing is, when we decided to head back we were literally on the opposite side of the old district from our guest house. We got hit on the way back, I sprayed a temple with my gun (the design looked like a target!!) and then napped for hours. 

    When I woke up it was eight which meant it was a safe time to go out. There is this stand in the market across the moat that people from Chiang Mai call the best restaurant in Chiang Mai. All they serve?? Chopped up chicken with rice, some weird green veggie, a hard boiled egg and some sauce which I didn't try. There is always a huge line outside the stand. I thought it was delicious but who doesn't love chicken and rice?? 

    After that I Skyped with my mom again. It's funny because I don't just talk to her I talk to all my animals as well. My family is so crazy. While we were talking Karen and Deanna came back from seeing their student. They had volunteered at the Burmese school and their students wanted to see them while they were in town. Thing is, they had left around seven. They returned a bit before midnight. Their student had taken them out to a buffet on her boyfriends money and then dancing. They were in a very silly mood when they returned. One of the questions that had come up during the night was which was more powerful: smiles or rainbows?? A very difficult question to answer. 

    Songkran is over today according to the dates on the calender. People here don't really view the calender as rules, it's more like a guideline. 

    These photos were taken by Karen back at Angkor Wat. She was freaking out the whole time because the monkeys had tails and that made them look like rats. 

"Oh hey Monkey, you look so cute, how are you today?? Would you like a banana??" 

"Oh, you have a friend who likes bananas as well?? But I don't have anymore bananas."

"I WILL GET YOU MORE BANANAS JUST DON'T GIVE ME RABIES!!" 

Lexi: 0 Monkeys: Got bananas 

Conclusion: Don't give monkeys bananas. They are jerks.

Coma Patient

    Just a warning in advance, this day was very blah. Spent most of it sleeping, even after a good night's sleep last night. Needed to recharge the batteries. Part of it was also hiding from all the water fights outside.
    After dark was when life spiced up. Went to our last Sunday market in Chiang Mai and went crazy. Bought some more gifts for those back home, picked up some more things for me (I am such a terrible person), and pet a cat. There was a very chill cat there who you tipped after you pet. I also made merit by pouring water over a Buddha statue. Because that's what you do at Songkran: pour water over everything in sight. I seriously think the motto of Songkran is "You can always be more wet."
    After we got back Karen and I watched more Lara Croft. Deanna fell asleep during the movie. She curls up under the blanket, which is tan, so I call it her burrito mode.
    Wish I had some pictures to put here, but I have been too scared to take my camera out during the day. I plan to venture out tomorrow and head to the mall. The blizzard of the month is mango and sweet sticky rice. Mango ice cream with sticky rice on top. DQs in America just officially became lame. Especially since the blizzards here can still be turned upside down without everything falling out of the cup.
    I have been trying to Skype with my mom the last few days, hopefully it works tomorrow. Hope you're reading this Mom.

Wet to the Bone

Sorry about yesterday. Here is an overview of the madness that is Songkran.

• Friday (Day One)
• The morning was the time to go out for supplies, since most of the population was still at work/school. By supplies I mean Oreos. 


• Headed out into the mayhem around noon. The Winos wandered around the moat for a while. Found a concert taking place underneath some misting machines. Our goal was to make it all the way around the moat in one day. We gave up after 1/4. There were many interesting characters along the way. A group in a truck stopped and got out to do the Harlem shake. One guy was simply fabulous. Some other people were handing out free samples of pills and when they found out we were from America, gave us two packs instead of one. They are anti flatulence pills. 
• On the way back to the guest house we were attacked by some guys with a hose and a water gun. So we decided to eat at their restaurant. 
• Later on we were wandering around a different area of the moat when these two foreigners started shooting water at us. Songkran no-no: the water throwing ends at sunset. A very angry Indian man decided to yell at them for this. The conversation went like this
• "This is night time!! You no throw water!! That is for daytime!!"
• *Foreigners shoot more water at him*
• *I shoot around his shoes*
• It was entertaining
• If you go outside it is almost impossible not to be completely drenched by the time you get back to where you are staying. Even if you just step outside for a minute, they will get you. 
• Saturday (Day Two) 
• Tried to be more low key today. Didn't work. 
• We didn't start out till one and then we went the opposite direction towards all the action. Mistake #1. 
• On the way there this band of drunk guys picked us up and walked with us for a while. The guy who grabbed me gave me his hat and grabbed my hand. It would have been really funny if I wasn't freaking out the whole time. Deanna's guy tried to walk off with her new water gun but she traded some powder for it back. Mistake #2. 
• People were handing out free powder today. Old women are supposed to rub it on your face before they dunk of bucket of water on you. This tradition is now open to the public. Sometimes, instead of mixing it with water to turn it into a paste, I would just dunk some powder on people as they walked by. 
• Some people just wiped it on my face randomly. At one point I was stuck and I had six people come up from behind and wipe my cheeks with it. 
• We wandered around for a while longer to the main festivities area where we all got separated in a bubble pit. Mistake #3. Skipping over some stuff, Donna and I are on bad terms again due to the way we both handled a situation. Walked back pretty much by myself and fell asleep outside on my laptop. 
• It rained today. Apparently Buddha/God had a bucket he wanted to throw on everyone too. 
• Ate dinner with Alessa and Drexler. He's going to teach me an important life skill: poker!! 

Lizard Count: They are invading our room one at a time. We have two permanent jing-jocks in the bathroom, one outside the door, and a tok-geh in the window.  

Sometimes Ice Cold Water is a Bad Thing

    Today was exhilarating, exhausting, and very very wet. We ventured out a couple times today. Once to do laundry, once to eat, once to experience songkran and again to keep experiencing songkran. It was not a disappointing experience. Most of us spent the day completely drenched. The attackers varied from little kids running up to us unsure of whether or not to empty their buckets on us to people who chased us around with a bucket/super soaker full of ice cold water. I will go into more detail tomorrow but I wanted to let you all know that America needs a holiday like this. But not really because, looking at the other foreigners here, people would not keep their clothes on.
Also, I cannot wait for tomorrow
One more thing, as I post this my view count is at 1990. So by the time you read this it will be at 2000 views. Thank you all so much again.

The Preparations

    Songkran starts tomorrow but that's not stopping the Thais from splashing up a little as we walk by. This is the Thai new year but they celebrate it by splashing water on each other and drenching foreigners during it. This goes on for a few days but even though it has not officially started yet some of us got attacked today. Sadly, that is not how the day began, but it helps explain some activities later on.

    The day started off meeting with Drexler about a paper. Then french toast. It's so good here. Hung out around the room till the cleaning lady came so Donna and I went for mango and sticky rice. This dish is consistently good wherever you go. Then more hanging around and passing out for a few hours. Had a crazy dream about spiders and told Niko about it when he came to the door.

    Our farewell dinner from Chiang Mai University was tonight. Comparing this gathering with the Vietnamese one, the Vietnamese know how to party. We didn't know a single person who showed up (One of our teachers was going to come but had to go take of his grandma), they thought we took too long to order and ordered for us then hogged the food. 

    On the way there a little girl tried to throw a bucket of water at us but fell short. Heading back an old man came up and put this goop on all our faces. It's meant to bring good luck. Drexler got his whole back covered with it as we were walking away (I still have it on my face). To protect ourselves/join in the festivities all of us (minus those who are party poopers) bought water guns tonight. I was seriously considering getting a big, Ben 10 themed one (since that show is popular here) but settled on a littler one. It's debatable if any of us will actually go out during the next few days but at least we have something to defend ourselves with.
Here are some pictures from Angkor!!

Monkey... They are such jerks. 

The first ruins we visited. 

These faces are supposed to be of Buddha but more resemble the ruler who commissioned Angkor to be built. 

One of the carvings

Another view of the first temple we visited

Our first look at Angkor Wat from the back

Our last look at Angkor

Some of the temples are not being renovated so there are entire passages blocked off. 

What does the creature in the top circle look like?? 

The tree from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

A very famous bas relief showing the struggle between two monkey brothers. It's a Buddhist myth that's part of a much longer story. 

Lizard Count: 4

Thailand Beware, We Are Back!

    To start off this post, OH MY GOD I HAVE MISSED CHIANG MAI SO MUCH!! Now for the rest of the day.
    Which started at 6:00 am. Technically at 6:35 because that's when I removed myself from bed. Our flight left at 10:05 and traffic is supposedly bad in the mornings so we had to leave by 7:15. We arrived at the airport at 7:40. Chilled around the airport till our flight boarded and I was stuck next to Lilith for the next few flights. All the time in between was spent doing routine air port stuff such as figuring out our gate, Niko and I discussing our hair, and Drexler talking to us about his life.
    The best part if the day was arriving in Chiang Mai. Even though most of us barely remember any Thai it's still great to be back somewhere where we can pretend to know the language. I got put in charge of a taxi with Deanna and Lilith in it. The trunk wouldn't close on our suitcases so the driver strapped it down. It was a rather scary sight.
    Then we were home again. All of us are in our old rooms (except for Drexler) and it's fantastic. The day became even better with the first slushie. Notice I said first. But the best past was walking into the bathroom and finding a jing-jock in there.
    No one was out for the book meeting so we the Winos had green curry for dinner. There they told me I have been eating blood that I thought was dark colored tofu. Lovely. They think it's made out of pig's blood.
    I'm sick again and I have to work on some stuff tonight so there was today. Karen is reconquering her fear of rats while she is here and all of us have a shopping list. Only nine days left.
Lizard Count: 3        

Cambodia: The Finale

    Spent most of the day in the van riding back. Really was not in a people mood so everybody thought I was sick or something was wrong. We arrived back in Panom Penh just fine, everyone got new rooms. We are now on third floor or higher so using the sketchy elevator is mandatory (the stairs here try to kill you if you are on them for too long).
    Haven't taken pictures of temples in Cambodia so I scampered off to the closest one. Thankfully there were other tourists taking pictures so I didn't feel like such a freak. Eventually an older novice monk called me over to talk with him and I ended up staying for a half an hour. We discussed every subject possible. He told me about his mom, I told him I was Buddhist, the usual subjects. Possibly one of my odder Asia Term experiences. You see, there were workers running around setting up for something and they would sometimes come to the table the N.M. and I were sitting at for a cigarette. Then a monk came out and started smoking one as well as the N.M. Monks in Thailand don't smoke since the King told the Thai people it was bad for their health.
    After that I made another mistake: do not wander around Cambodia at night alone in a dress. I had people checking my face to see if I was white or a prostitute. I think some of them were disappointed. Tuk-tuk drivers also called out that they loved me as I walked by. Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all.
    Talked with Niko for about an hour then Deanna and Karen walked in from their  nightly walk. We noticed a deformed cricket wandering around the floor in a circle. At first we thought there was a colony of them switching sides of the room but then we started watching it and realized it was circling around. A jink-jock noticed this phenomenon at the same time but failed to catch it. The deformed cricket wandered out the door and we haven't seen him since. This hotel is really disgusting with all the bugs crawling around the lobby.
    Heading back to Thailand tomorrow, our trip is coming to a close. Well, for the rest of the people it is. I have chosen to settle down in Thailand. A cricket just landed on my hip, it flew right for it. I am definitely coming home pronto.

Angkor Special Final

    We visited mostly ruins today. There were a lot of Chinese and Japanese tourists at the first one. Then we became more interested in these ants than the ruins. They were just so interesting!! The ruins were crumbling away and flooded due to the heavy rain last night. The carvings on the buildings were gorgeous. Explored the market after that visit. The sellers attacked you and there was some heavy bargaining done along with some yelling. A very intense experience.
    Lunch was terrifying. After we ordered Alessa started moaning and then passed out. We were debating about letting her head rest on the table or moving her to the floor when she started convulsing. Thankfully there was a Japanese nurse at the next table. Even better is that Drexler speaks Japanese fluently. She recovered and was relocated back to the hotel. The rest of us visited some more ruins and we tried to spend a while there since Drexler had wanted us to go. Surprise, those weren't the awesome part. The next temple was my second favorite because we weren't expecting it. It was rather freaky to drive up and see little kids coming away from the temple with a slingshot in one hand and a handful of dead bats in the other. I wish we had gotten more time there since there were more mini temples surrounding the main one (I think they built it to worship the stair god) but we had told the others ten minutes so we had to go back.
    Did not do much for the rest of the day but that was fine. Heading back to Panom Penh tomorrow and then Thailand the day after that.

The Angkor Wat Special

Really sorry for not posting last night but I was very tired and more than a bit sick. It was a rough night. The last two days have been fun but exhausting. Boiling is a great way to describe how hot it was. I think we were all cooked sunny side up on those stones.

• Saturday - Day One
• Donna and I were relocated to the other hotel in the morning. This one has a pool and the room does not resemble a prison cell. Plus, we have a balcony. That overlooks piles of dirt. 
• Got attacked by some monkeys. One jumped up on my shoulder only to be punched off by Drexler. Apparently monkeys are jerks. That one got banana goop on my back. No more monkeys.
• Our first site was... a temple!! It had two stories but only Karen and I made it up to the the second one. We were accosted by some Thai tourists who just grabbed us and took pictures with us.
• That was all we had in us for the morning. One quick lunch break and a quick conversion to worship the air conditioning machine later we went to the elephant terrace. Aptly named because of all the elephant statues. We walked along it and then came back. Well, 6/7 of us. Niko went off by himself on an adventure and left us waiting for him. In the heat. For thirty plus minutes. Most of us wanted to strangle him when he said he was looking for a place to nap. 
• Last stop for the day was one of Papa Duck's favorite spots. Unfortunately the whole area is under construction and was fenced off to us. With an actual fence. The nice thing was that it was cooler. The bad part was all the sellers, especially this little girl that followed Donna for a half a mile and waited for her to come back. All she said was "two bracelets, one dollar; five bracelets, two dollars. You buy now??" It's was like an overplayed song, at first you like it and then it gets old. 
• Karen and I scared Drexler by climbing out on this log that was over the lake and posing for pictures. Alessa thought it was a 'bad idea' (her catchphrase) so we had to do it. 
• Upon arrival back at the hotel Karen, Deanna and I jumped in the pool. It was glorious. 
• I lost the rest of the group and wandered around Pub Street by myself cursing them to hell and back. They noticed me randomly and started yelling my name and running like crazy. I had been in the ATM booth when they went into the mini-mart but didn't know where they were so I began walking and looking for them. After grabbing some food I went back to the hotel for some alone time. 
• I passed out early and woke up at some point in the middle of the night in tremendous pain. Having left all my pills back in Panom Penh I woke up Donna to ask for some. She didn't have any so I asked her to go up to Karen, Deanna, and Alessa's room to ask for some. I was in the bathroom when I heard her come back. She went right back to bed and didn't bring any pills with her. 
• Sunday
• Found out the next morning that Donna was asleep the whole time and doesn't remember a thing. Except she had a dream about stairs and bed. We have no idea where she went last night. 
• Headed out to Angkor proper this morning. It wasn't as impressive as I was hoping it would be. We couldn't go up to the top because we weren't dressed moderately enough (a new thing according to Drexler) and there were so many stairs everywhere it was a rather short visit. Of two hours. So many stairs. And tourists, so many tourists.
• The first temple after lunch was the best one yet. Niko and I climbed and explored most of that temple. It's not kept up so there is rubble everywhere and places to explore. We spent at least two hours there just running around. I left first and had to walk about half a mile where I was constantly harassed by sellers who actually followed me for a bit trying to sell. This was nothing compared to Karen and Donna who had kids following them for half a mile before Drexler told them to leave. 
• Our final Angkor Wat temple was the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider temple. I gave a short oral presentation on it and then we saw the stegosaurus. This was the most crowded place yet so we didn't stay long. It was also the smallest but held a population of 12,000 during it's golden years. 
• We had dinner and a show tonight. Papa Duck took us to a buffet where dancers performed traditional dances during the meal. It was very well done. The costumes were amazing and the girls were very pretty. 
• Drexler met Donna and I at the mini-mart and took us out for ice cream afterwords. It was a good ending. 

Picture Count: 55

We Are Melting in This Heat

    Earned a gold medal today for being ready to go to breakfast at 7:30. The other reason I had to be up so late was laundry. Yesterday they said it would be back later that day. Later that day they said nine o'clock at night. Nine o'clock at night they said today at seven. Seven this morning they said it would be there before we left. Very stressful. 

    As a child my family went on plenty of road trips so it's easy to say I'm used to car rides of any length. For some reason today, that was proved false. Even though we have gone up and down on twisty mountain roads the straight road today had me holding onto a baggie just in case. 

    Our van needed more gas so we pulled over at this gas station. Immediately we had people swarming around the van trying to sell us various fruits. They tapped on the windows and waved at us. I now know what it's like to be a fish in an aquarium.

    Arrived at our hotel later than planned and then plans changed. Again. The hotel screwed up our reservations (first time ever according to Drexler) so Karen, Deanna and Alessa are spending the night in a triple. Feeling really sorry for them. Donna and I were freaking out on the walk to the other hotel that we would be forced into a triple with Lilith. Thankfully Drexler put Niko and Lilith together. 

Not a very interesting day, so here, have some pictures!! 

Craziest thing carried on a motorcycle in Vietnam: a mattress. 

Lilith's Grandmother (so sweet!!) about to be eaten. Just kidding, it's the entrance to a temple. It's just big enough for ants to get through. 

I love this statue

Eating while doing yoga

This guy was normal looking in real life

A torture device at the school/torture center we visited. 

The school we taught at for a morning. 

Here is the killing tree I talked about in my last post. Sorry to end this post on such a down note but sometimes that happens. 

Just kidding, here's me being eaten.

Just so yall know, the temperature here averages 100 degrees a day with a 90% humidity. And where we are going tomorrow, it's only going to get worse. 

Zombie Blog

    Number one thing about our hotel: It is a hot spot for sleazy old white men and their lady of the night. The first night here I sat in the lobby with some of the other ducklings and watched these couples parade in and out. Cambodia is the hot spot in Asia for AIDS and we have often overheard men in the lobby of our hotel discuss where the prostitutes are cheap and clean. Second thing, the beggars here are everywhere and they speak English. Actually, as I was writing that I had one on each side. They can come into the restaurants here and they target foreigners. Some of them sell bracelets, others books, many sell cigarettes. It's very difficult to ignore them, especially the disfigured ones but I have seen at least three people with the same baby. As Papa Duck explained to us this is a business, just as much as the prostitutes. In fact, from where I am sitting I can count six brothels disguised as bars. It has been an interesting time in Cambodia. 

• Monday
• Went to a national museum. It's only open two hours a day but it was filled with statues and other pieces of art and some more statues and some wood carvings and pictures of statues. They like statues here. 
• Tuesday
• Papa Duck took us to a school that had been closed down and converted into a torture center during the Khmer Rouge. Some of the devices they used were still there, most of them  involving water and stimulating drowning. When the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia there were only seven people left alive, one of whom was an artist and painted many of the horrors he had seen within the center. People were brought there if someone accused them of being Western. Wearing glasses was the minimum offense. They prisoners were tortured until they confessed and then were killed. 
• Wednesday
• Visited a killing field. They would bring the people from the torture prison and kill them immediately upon arrival. Most of us went took the audio tour around and learned about the horrors there. The worst things were the trees. The second worst were the beggars reaching through the fence trying to get money from tourists visiting Cambodian Auschwitz. It ruined the image that was formed. Except for the open graves a few feet away it was a very nice place to sit. This only added to the eeriness of the area. 
• Taken to a music school after that. The students seemed really nice and they gave us presentations on the instruments they played. The only problem was most of them didn't speak English and my translator kept getting a little too close for appropriate. They gave us plenty of water and fruits and were incredibly friendly. 
• Thursday
• Had to be ready to leave at 7:45 to spend time with kids. They were so sweet.and adorable and we taught them "O my darling Clementine" (then Drexler came in and retaught them it which was a tad bit annoying). Engaged them in a game of volleyball and lost because they should be entered in the Olympics. Then I taught them Gangnam style because Drexler thinks it's hilarious I know the dance. He also called me a famous singer and dancer from Minnesota. Really sad we can't spend more time with them. In previous years Asia Term has been there for a week but because Lindsay wanted to meet her relatives our time in Cambodia has been cut down.

The hotel we are staying at is crawling with jing jocks. And ants.  It's a very odd place to stay. I will try to update more in the next few days but the internet situation is unknown. This blog will be resurrected back to a post a day soon though!! 

Happy April Fool's Day!!

     Hey everyone!! I can't connect on my computer so I'm doing a quick message on the computer in the lobby. Have to put my typing skills to use here since it's easier to type while not looking at the keyboard then trying to figure out the Japanese characters on the keys. They swear that everything will be better tomorrow. Since most places promise that and then never follow through, I am looking at internet cafes with a connected bar for tomorrow night. Until then, hope you had a great April Fool's Day. My joke today was to convince the group I was staying in room 666. Drexler even wrote it down and we're right next door to Deanna and Karen again (united at last). Deanna was very mad at me.
    This is not my joke, I seriously cannot connect to the internet. Neither can Deanna but everyone else who tried it can. About to chuck my computer out the window. Not really. But it deserves it.

Walking in a Buddha Wonderland

    It was unbelievable how much we liked Lilith's grandmother. Actually, we got off to a bad start. We were told last night to be ready by ten this morning. Try more like seven, which is when her grandma showed up. We received seafood pizza for breakfast along with chicken and sticky rice, a favorite among our group. We were then whisked away from the main house to a branch of the families house so they could take pictures with Lilith. She decided to wear her hooker shirt today to meet her dad's family for the first time. Hope she doesn't regret that later on.
    The first real stop today was at a temple. Part of a temple. Just the jeeti. Needed to pay to get into any other part but you already had to pay to get into the jeeti part. Plus it was hot. Not just hot but genetically mutated hot. Maybe it's because we are fresh out of Northern Vietnam where it was as a reasonable temperature but today was stifling. Another strange thing today was how many tourists there were. Vietnam doesn't have that many tourists, especially white ones. I kept commenting on how weird it was to see so many of them but Niko told me they were all German. Also stopped at the Asia Arc de Triumph. Got plenty of stares there. Thought that would go away once we left Vietnam.
    Next stop was a long drive away. Thankfully we had a Chronicles of Narnia marathon going on today to help with the long drives everywhere. We were brought to a Buddha park. It was a statue garden but all of the statues were Buddhist themed. Some stories I recognized but some were either stories I did know or were some of the weirdest statues I have seen. One was a man throwing a hatchet at a woman while a bunch of onlookers did their audience role. Very strange. A man was playing a flute with his nose (not the oddest thing we have heard about since coming here) but he climbed up into a tree before I could see him. If you listened too long he threw leaves down at you.
    Our final stop of the day was at Lilith's family BBQ. Everyone ate goat. (unknowingly at first) and then they served us beer. Now, they told us it was rude if we didn't finish our glasses. The problem: they kept filling them up even if it was empty or if we had only taken a sip. We were then forced to sing and dance. The van stopped at a grocery randomly on the way home and bought us all coffee. Not sure why but hey, coffee. Who doesn't need more of that?? Too bad most of our time here was taken up with this. It would have been nice to travel around and see some more of Laos.
    Really missing my host family today. It was so weird not to ride around on a motorbike. Plus, their food was much better.

Picture Count: 50
Lizard Count: 32                      They are everywhere in Laos...

My Sandwich!!

    Another day filled with traveling. Well, part of it. First thing to do this morning was finish packing. Then a book meeting. We're currently reading "The Quiet American" (I keep calling it the unquiet American). There is a movie adaptation with Michael Caine and Brendon Fraiser. The characters are not very likable which never helps but thinking of Caine and Fraiser in their comedy roles then playing these guys is helping quite a bit.
    Had a sandwich off the street for brunch. Since it had been raining earlier many of the sandwich places where closed but found one open. There was another lady there who I assumed was the vendor's friend or helper from the way they were talking to each other and to me. The lady asked me what I wanted and started making what I thought was my sandwich. When she was done the 'helper' grabbed the sandwich and took off running like the police were after her. The sandwich lady waited for me to recover before asking what I wanted again like nothing had happened. At least the sandwich was good.
    Donna and I are missing the next book. In America it's called "The Sorrows of War" but in Vietnam the title of it is "The Sorrows of Love". Apparently Americans are more interested in reading about war than love. However, all the bookstores around our hotel were completely in Vietnamese. The workers, the books, the signs were all in Vietnamese. So instead I spent some of my remaining dong on shoes.
    After we got through security at the airport all of us went shopping. Dong isn't used anywhere else so we either had to spend it or turn it into another currency. The airport was small but had plenty of shopping places. They were all the same shop, but there was a lot of them.
    Had to sit by Lilith. Again. I'm starting to believe that I am put in charge of her, that Drexler thinks I can handle this responsibility. It's actually because our last names are at the end of the alphabet.Thankfully the flights are less than an hour or they have movies to choose from so it's easy to ignore her.
    We are the first Asia Term to come here. It's all thanks to Lilith who's half Laotian and her dad wanting her to meet his side of the family. That's happening tomorrow. Perhaps getting sick suddenly would be the ideal way to deal with meeting a family of Nazis. This is her first time meeting her dad's family so we are expecting her to hate them immensely and the day to be awkward or they will make her their new leader. Who knows, maybe they'll be completely normal and fun and we'll have a good time. Following the catch phrase of this Asia Term, things change.
    Happy Nothing Happened to Jesus Saturday!! When we realized it was Easter it was a major shock. There aren't bunnies and eggs everywhere like usual.

Picture Count: 48

Good Evening, Vietnam!!

It has been an exhausting couple days. We had our Vietnamese final, left our host families, and had our closing ceremony. I was more sad then I expected to leave my host family. It was even more of a shock to be shoeless in the shower after a week.

• Thursday
• Woke up to the house completely deserted. Except for the dog it was very quiet. Well, and me walking all over the house practicing Vietnamese. 
• Had lunch with Hostess. She paid for the food, I paid for the desert. Then we sat and watched the others wait for me. It was funnier than it should have been. 
• Took our Vietnamese spoken and written final. Even though I did horrendously bad on the spoken part I had the best pronunciation in the class (minus Drexler) and an average score. I think she was being generous. 
• After the test I was supposed to go with my host student. Instead, I was cornered by this girl who asked strange questions and then this really creepy guy showed up out of the blue (it honestly felt planned). He started off asking me about how I do group projects. This should have been my cue to get a hold of Hostess and get out of there but I was too nice and stayed there for another twenty minutes of answering reasonable but ultimately weird questions. Eventually I texted Hostess my location and she came to get me. They talked in Vietnamese and then Hostess became my knight in shining armor. She told me that when she walked up they didn't believe she was my host sister (the girl didn't understand the word 'host' and thought I was talking about my sister, so she asked if Hostess was actually Vietnamese) so Hostess very politely asked if she could take me away. She told me they were talking about me as if I was there God. Apparently, the guy is a second year student who is famous for being creepy so the Vietnamese students will know who I am attempting to describe.
• The day got much much much better after that encounter. We went to a cat cafe where you drink coffee and pet cats. We went in the girl cat's room first. This was a mistake since everyone knows boy cats are so much better. You had to buy the girl cat's attention with milk or a toy and the cat who eventually settled with us would not let me take pictures for free (I started calling them cat prostitutes). Plus, there was a bunch of loud and obnoxious high schoolers who treated the cats in a way that would have gotten you removed from my house in the blink of an eye if you attempted it. The boys room was much better. Less people and more welcoming cats. The kitten in the room curled up on my lap and Hostess made friends with a fluffy black and white cat with green eyes. Too bad we had to leave so she could go to evening classes again.
• Fast forward to after she came back and ate dinner. We went to pick up my ao dai via taxi since she was feeling sick. I said I could have driven us there. Her response was "I have thought about how I want to die. That is not the way I want to go." My ao dai is gorgeous. It barely needed any adjustments and I could take it home right away. So I put it on for my host mother. Two things always go with ao dai's: high heels and push up bras. She said I needed both, but otherwise I looked 15 years old (which is her way of saying I looked young and sweet).
• Said good bye to my host mother. She didn't really get what I was saying at first but then expressed her wish that we would meet again one day. I told her I was never coming back to Vietnam because the boys here are so creepy. I also taught her the word flip flops. 
• Friday
• Again woke up to the empty house. Spent some time saying good bye to the house. And the cat. And the dog. It was really sad and too soon I had to leave. I read O'Henry while I waited for everyone else to arrive. Thankfully I found a secluded spot so my followers couldn't find me. 
• Chipette and Hostess did not arrive till half way through the closing ceremony. Scared me a bit but everything went better than expected. I wore my ao dai for my performance and for the rest of the day. Chipette and I performed "Good Time" by Owl City ft. Carly Rae Jepson. Everyone said I looked amazing. Hostess started crying when she was asked about her feelings on the trip and I would have joined in as well if it weren't for Deanna. Instead I told the volunteers that I'm sorry that I'm shy and didn't get to know you all better because you all seem very fun and welcoming so thank you for sharing Vietnam with us. 
• Unlike other years it was only the American students who went to the farewell dinner (which makes no sense!!) We went to a tourist trap buffet (a very high class buffet) which served every kind of Asian food imaginable. The highlights were tiny crabs, snails, and bird soup (some pieces still had the head). I had all three. And some other tasty things like burned your calf salad. Seriously, that's what it was called. I was bursting out of my ao dai by the end of it.
• I really miss my host family already. There will be no more extra servings of vegetables, no more motorbike rides, no more at home Vietnamese lessons. Actually, the last one isn't that sad. Vietnam has been an up and down ride but a memorable one. 

A statue of Ho Chi Minh at the museum dedicated to him

Ninh Binh bay, if you get tired you can row with your feet

Rubbing the monk's statue's feet, hands and bellie's for good luck

Pray to this Buddha for good luck in money. I had my picture taken in front of him 

The artist making a Vietnamese soldier out of colored rice paste

Me with the boy kitten. 

My pig made out of rice paste. Left it with my host family as I don't think it's meant for traveling

My bed with the mosquito net on it

Cat and John/Thu. Those are there names. 

Me in my ao dai with Hostess. One of the few not photo bombed pictures.

Picture count: 48

"Please, Eat the Telephone"

    Hostess had an early class this morning so we were supposed to be at school by seven. It was very cold out but that didn't stop me from trying to sleep in the French quarter of the school. Right as I was dozing off, "Excuse me!!" had me jumping up to see a student standing over me. I thought he was going to tell me to move when he asked "Are you sleepy??" Well, let's see. I was lying down with my head on my purse as a pillow with my eyes closed in a secluded area. Yes was the answer. "Are you from America??" "Yes." "Do you study here??" No, I flew all the way to Vietnam just to pretend I was a hobo. "Yes." Then he just walked away. Probably the strangest encounter I've had this trip where there was talking involved. Then, since my host mother is worried I don't eat enough, I bought something else for breakfast. It was cold and vanilla flavored. Karen laughed at me when she saw what I was eating. 

    Instead of having a day off like we were supposed to (grumble grumble) we had to come in to make rice paste sculptures. The guy did not speak any English but what he created was some of the most amazing art work I have ever seen. First there was a dragon, then a phoenix and then a Vietnamese soldier. It's called 'to he' for anyone that wants to look it up. There are probably some pronunciation marks. He taught us how to make something resembling a rose and then a pig. The pig is much easier on the eyes than the rose is, except for the caterpillar I tried to put on the stem turned into an alien worm. The Vietnamese think it is an eel. Maybe it's time to give up on art, especially after the bunny mask. I got to take the dragon home, Alessa took the phoenix and Lilith took the soldier. Turns out we're going to Laos then Cambodia so we get to meet Lilith's family Saturday. Hooray. I am filled with so much joyful anticipation. Sally was around our group today because her and Niko had plans but he was very late. So much awkwardness. 

    I was treated to a facial today by Hostess. She knows the woman who does them very well so they chatted away in Vietnamese about her baby. Because of the early morning and the soft bed, I spent most of the time there sleeping. After we were done we had to wear face masks all the way home to protect our delicate skin. Hostess laughed at me because I wore it long after I could take it off. 

    I was left home with the mother and brother since Hostess had extra classes tonight. The mother told me I could use the laptop as much as I wanted since she doesn't speak very good English. Instead, I had her help me learn how to say the time in Vietnamese. I also tried to help with the cooking but she declined. Probably a smart idea looking at my skills in the kitchen. We talked a bit about our families and my picky eating habits (she thought I loved fish and mushrooms) but then it was dinner time and Hostess came home earlier than was expected so host family dinner night!! Eating with everyone is fun since the mom keeps trying to convince her kids to trick me into eating more food or count how many ladles of soup I put in my bowl. After dinner the water was turned off. Again. They are hoping it will be back by morning and I hope so too since washing dishes becomes such a chore. Plus, they are willing to wash my clothes here. Free laundry!! 

At dinner the mom keeps asking me to wish her a good meal in Vietnamese. This is usually left to the youngest person so I don't know why she wants me to do it, especially since she has to reteach it to me every time. Today  I started making up sounds which sounded like telephone in Vietnamese. So I asked my host mom to please eat the telephone. 

    Hostess tried to help me study for my Vietnamese test tomorrow. We looked over the worksheets that the teacher gave me. We did not learn 90% of what is on them. And it turns out that the teacher has been teaching us some weird pronunciations and old fashioned ways of saying things. Even not knowing what we had learned when Hostess looked over the sheets she knew there was no way we could answer the questions on our own. So not even studying will help me now. 

Picture Count: 45

Hey, Who Turned Out The Lights??

    Woke up very early today because it was so hot in my room. The fan was plugged in but not on so it must be broke. Then my hair straightener wouldn't turn on either so it must be the outlet that is broken. When the bathroom light wouldn't turn on it dawned on me the electricity may be turned off. It's pretty obvious which conclusion was correct. The house was noticeably darker without the lights even though we don't use them in the mornings.
    The Museum of Music is a hands on museum. Which means everyone got to play with the drums and some other random instruments lying around. I was able to show off my percussion skills which actually amazed people for once. That usually doesn't happen. It was a nice change. The museum wasn't English speaking people friendly and there was no room in the budget for the volunteers to come with so our Vietnamese teacher came and translated for us. During the trip I noticed that the guide would give this long speech in Vietnamese and we would only get a sentence or two. One instrument sounded very beautiful but would suddenly sound like it needed a doctor and that's what one tribe uses to court people. Another looked like a boat and was hit with a stick on the inside and the rim to make noise. I was good at that one, to everyone's surprise.
    In Vietnam they drink sugar cane juice. They put the stick of sugar cane into a juicer multiple times and out comes the juice. The vendor then puts it in a bag with a litle straw and a rubber band around it so it doesn't spill easily. When we leave on Saturday I will miss this concoction greatly.
    The review session today was horrible. I think most of us have accepted we don't konw much Vietnamese and have little chance of learning it by Thursday. The teacher is a bit scared of me because I ask many questions and get her off topic. It would have been really nice if we had a crash course on Vietnamese culture like we did with Thai culture. One on food would have been helpful as well.
    After school I had a mini practice session with Chipette, the student I am performing a duet with for the gala. The problem is that she has a low voice and I have a high voice while the male singer is right in the middle of our ranges so neither of us can hit the notes just right. I also realized I have nothing to wear since my ao dai may not be ready in time. If it isn't there is no way I will be able to pick it up before we leave. Thankfully the electricity came back on during the rehearsal and the water has been restored as well. It was so nice to take a normal shower this evening.
    Had a mishap at dinner over the fish sauce. No one told me it was fish sauce. This wasn't Thailand fish sauce either because Thai fish sauce is made from fish but it doesn't taste like fish. What I put in my mouth was straight up fishy. The other thing was that you dip plain bean sprouts into it or eat them without the sauce. Sometimes Vietnamese cooking is so weird!! I have to remember not to put random things in my mouth but it will not be easy.

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A Moped Built for Two

    My Hostess is worried about me not seeing enough temples for my independent project so this morning we left early to visit a local temple. Which was closed. So instead I arrived at school early and got to listen to Deanna's story of woe. She rarely complains about anything so if she is upset by something, there is definite good reason for it. Last week her host student copped out the night before we were supposed to stay with our families. She ended up staying at Sally's house for the first two nights and slept over with Alessa last night. With good reason. Sally has five cats and no litter boxes so they go to the bathroom everywhere and everyone sleeps on the floor and the house is very small so they sleep close together. Except the little sister who kept trying to sleep on Deanna. Everyone at the house was rude to her and she was too upset to go back to Sally's house on Sunday so she went home with her original host sister and hopefully I will not see Sally anytime soon or else I will be very cross with her.
    Some of the students from the college gave us a presentation on Agent Orange. In a nut shell, this was the US trying to destroy the forests of Vietnam using dioxin which causes cancer and birth defects. There are a few places around Vietnam that are set up to deal with the children born to parents who have been infected with dioxin but the government doesn't provide enough funding and the US refuses to acknowledge they are responsible for this so they don't have to pay. One of the things I am noticing in most of the classes we visit is that only one or two of the students respond when we ask questions but the rest of the class is talking to each other.
    In the elevator today Lilith, Deanna, Donna and I were about to ride up to the room. Then mischievousness struck.When you get out of an elevator it is a common prank to push all the other buttons. Instead, I pushed all the buttons on the way up to our floor. Deanna and Donna took it as a joke but you could feel the loathing rolling off Lilith in waves so much it scared the others. I am not sad to say it made me happy to make her angry. I am a terrible person, but she is worse. One story the host students keep talking about often is how when Lilith showed up at her host's house she asked for potato chips. When none were given she asked to be taken to the bar. Now that she has gone back to the hotel today the girl said her parents are much happier and she is telling everyone she survived. I wish I could meet that host and shake her hand for how well she handled Lilith.
    During class our teacher taught us some songs (instead of teaching us Vietnamese). Drexler is firm that we all perform together.Problem is I'm already in two acts and possibly a third. He won't listen to me so I feel some spontaneous interpretive dancing while be done during the song.
    After school my host student gave ma a lesson on riding her moped around (I was wearing a helmet the whole time)!! It was so difficult and nerve wracking. Then she climbed on the back so I had to balance with two people driving around in a not deserted area while trying not to kill her engine. I lasted about ten minutes. She says that I am good but not a genius at it. As a reward she bought me strawberry jam and bread. We're giving it another shot in a few days. We also visiting a temple where there was a statue of a woman everywhere. Hostess couldn't explain it so she looked it up for me when we returned to her house. The temple is devoted to one of the most famous woman followers of Buddhism who was made into a god after her last life. Vietnamese people would know who I am talking about. You could tell that even though it was a small temple it was rich because of the ponds and the plants everywhere. The nuns there wanted to be helpful as well.
    On the way back home we passed an old woman sitting by the road and because Hostess is so sweet she turned around and bought all the fruit the woman was selling. You should be wearing jeans to eat this because you rub it against jeans very lightly to get rid of the bumps on the outside. It's very sour so Vietnamese people put salt on it to make it sweeter. Strange thing is it actually works.
    The water is still turned off so cooking and washing dishes has become harder than before. Plus, the brother showed his real colors today and they are not pretty. I'm thankful my Hostess is so nice. We ate duck for dinner and the mom gave me my own separate bowl of vegetables. It's strange to be mothered again. Really sure I don't like it. Don't get me wrong, she is very nice, even tried to help me with some Vietnamese homework (She doesn't speak much English but she made it make more sense than the teacher does). The dog is used to me as well so I can be out in the yard when he is out. He is such a sweet heart .I had to run downstairs a little bit ago for some water and when I closed the refridgerator I noticed the largest spider I have ever seen outside a zoo, about as big as my hand. Had to stop myself from running up the stairs and into my room it freaked me out so much.
    I have been recieving a lot of spam from Anonymous comments lately so I've been forced to remove that option but thank you for 100+ pageviews today!!
Picture Count: 45
Lizard Count: 24                    Saw one on the wall of a temple. First sighting in Vietnam.