Oh where, oh where have the past few weeks gone? Time has been flying by for the past month! Since my last real entry I have turned 23, been to Kanchanaburi, been to Bangkok several times, started tutoring a woman, and begun preparing for finals.
Yee-Sip-Sahm aka 23 - Feb 4
My birthday was on Thursday, but that didn't stop us from going out in Bangphli. The six other American teachers took me out for dinner at Sutanee Bai Mai (Leaf Station). This place has the best Thai food around and as always, it is cheap! We had several dishes including chicken soup in coconut milk, pineapple fried rice (flied lice according to Thais), a super spicy venison stir fry, and fried frog. Not fried frog legs, but fried frog. We were feeling daring so gave it a shot. I wouldn't highly recommend it to anyone. Maybe fried frog legs but no one should eat the head, ribs, etc. because you will find some unsuspecting bones. After we finished eating another teacher requested Happy Birthday from the band. The English happy birthday song here is fast-paced and includes clapping. I have to say it is far more catchy than our version. We then moved onto to a nearby bar named Mellow. We had recently been there and being among the only non-Thai people in the area we were instantly recognized. Of course this meant we were slightly scolded because they knew we had to teach in the morning. Mai pen rai.
Feb. 6 and 7
We set out before sunrise on Saturday morning for a province a few hours north of Bangkok named Kanchanaburi. The area is known for its tiger temple and 7-tier waterfall.
The tiger temple made for some amazing pictures, but is by far the most touristy thing we have done in Thailand. It was overwhelming to visit a place where everyone around you is white and you can understand the conversations of the people behind you in line. We had to wait in line for a Thai worker to hold our hand and walk us around to several tigers while another worker took pictures. Supposedly the tigers are not sedated, but simply tired after exercising and eating lunch. I'm not so sure I believe that, but regardless I now have pictures with tigers.
After visiting with the tigers we went to see a temple built in a cave. We got to the caves and were greeted by two boys around 4 or 5 years old who we were told, in broken English, would show us around. The caves were neat, similar to any other caves, bats, darkness, and humidity, but the little boys stole the show. I started to talk to them using my basic Thai saying hello, asking how they are, and asking their names. After this they were no longer shy and were running around playing with us the entire time. My white shirt and khaki shorts are still dirty from these boys even after washing them!
That evening we had dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant and headed to the local night market. We were all exhausted from the day and couldn't wait to get to sleep, little did we know there was going to be no sleeping due to cockroaches and beds seemingly made from cement. Ihad been lucky and had yet to see the cockroaches in Thailand. Well I have seen them now and pray I don't have to encounter them again.
After a night of no sleep we left early the next morning for Erawan Waterfall. This is a 7 tier waterfall outside of Kanchanaburi that acts as a huge weekend playground for local Thai people. We decided to hike all the way to the top to begin with and then play on the way down. You can imagine we were pretty sweaty by the time we got to the top and couldn't wait to jump in the falls. When we were about to jump in the water I noticed a guy slightly older than me look at me and say something to his friends, clearly about me. I didn't think much of it because that is kind of second nature at this point. A little while later we were swimming and the guy was walking backwards and almost ran into me. Thinking he didn't know I was there I quickly scooted away. Finally, he looks at me and points up to his friend with a camera. Turns out he and his friends wanted a picture with me. I always think it is funny when random Thai people want pictures with foreigners.
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