I made an appointment with my future employer (Language Services) to discuss my position as a staff member for their English camp. Their office is 4km down the road and the meeting was set for some time between 1 and 2 pm. "Great", I think, "I'll have to sleep in, have breakfast, rent a bicycle and mosey my way down the road."
The sleeping in worked out great until about 6:00am when the local roosters decided to have a contest to see who could crow the loudest. "No, problem. I didn''t really need sleep anyway" The breakfast was great too. Again, scrambled eggs. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe scrambled eggs is a local Thai favorite. I decided that, being in Thailand, I should branch out from my usual cup o' joe and order some exotic Thai tea. I was a little let down when the hostess brought Lipton Yellow Label. All complaints aside, the food was delicious and filling.
I felt pretty good about getting to use my Siamese. I asked the lady in the kitchen, "Kor nam noy?" (Could I have some water please)
She looked at me for a moment laughed and replied in English, "Water free! We have everywhere."
Ok, maybe a silly question, but I still felt pretty good about being understood.
Next door to the guesthouse is a bicycle rental shop where you can rent the jankiest bikes in Ayaduia for 40 baht. Its only 4 km to the office so I didn't expect this to be a problem. What the Google map doesn't make apparent is that the street also serves as a freeway also serves as a market also serves as a racetrack. In Thailand the only "rules" of the road are:
- If it has wheels and can move it's good.
- Right of way is given to the biggest and fastest thing on the road
- Traffic stays on the left side of the road, unless you're in a real big hurry, or you're feeling lucky or you're a punk kid on a brand new scooter and feel like showing off.
Keeping with my current theme of, "Let's go twice as far as we need to and spend a good amount of time running in circles" I ended up biking about 8km and passed the office twice before I had to call the man I was suppose to meet and put him on the phone with a local security guard. To chagrin (and relief) my future boss hops on his scooter comes to meet me and then leads me back to the office. We have a chat and vuala I have a job that pays me to travel and play with kids a couple time a week and a free apartment to kick it in the meantime. I will have to feed myself on the days I'm not travel-working, but groceries are so cheap here. I think I'm going to conduct an experiment. I'd like to see what the bare minimum amount of money is for living in Thailand. I'm going to shoot for $5 dollars a day (that's 150 baht).
It was with a light heart that I made my way back to the guesthouse. Seriously doubting the integrity of my bike, I decided to shell out for the ferry rather than attempt another crossing of the bridge. I only had a rough idea of where the ferry was, but I was pretty pleased that I only passed it up once and overshot the mark by about 200 meters.
Back in my room I discovered that I had gotten more sun than is probably good for me. I chug some water. crash out and hope I'm feeling up to going to the New Year's Day festival later that night (oh yeah, there's a festival)
I'm woken by the sound of music, fireworks and general revelry. I'm still feeling a little groggy, but decide to brave the party, if for no other reason than to buy some fruit and a foot massage.
Quick flashback:
During one of my less busy quarters at Santa Barbara I decided to take a massage class. I figure, "Getting massages from girls in bikinis and the massaging girls in bikinis, what could be better?" In reality, all of the girls in bikini's paired up with each other and because I came alone I was partnered with the only other dude in the class. Less than ideal, but I still learned how to give a pretty good massage.
Anyway, the point is I walk up to the massage tent and am paired up with the only dude giving massages. I think I must be cursed. But the massage was super legit. When they say "foot massage" they really mean foot massage, leg massage, arm massage, neck massage, shoulder massage and back massage. Actually, looking back, maybe I'm lucky my masseuse was a dude. A Thai leg massage come dangerously close to being a Thai groin massage. If my masseuse had been a hot young Thai girl in a bikini I think I might have embarrassed myself.
Fruit in hand and feet in heaven I start on back to finish the nap I started that afternoon. While passing the restaurant I ate at the night before I am hailed by a group of people at a table. One woman, the manager of the bar, remembers me as "Mr. Pad-Thai" and pulls up a chair for me. I don't have better plans so I order a drink and get acquainted. The group of merry makers includes "Mama" the manager. She decides to do my hair and take a picture. Taiyo is a local teenager, he speaks perfect English with a totally baffling accent. He was super friendly and recommended that I check out a full moon party when I get the chance. Exactly the kind of friend I need, so we exchanged numbers and I told him I'd contact him later.
Another woman, Sayli (seaweed) was very friendly (not pictured). She lives in Bangkok, and invited me back to the bar for her birthday (Feb 24). I think her exact phrase was, "Nick, you no forget Sayli. You come back." I'm not sure what the Siamese word for "cougar" is, but I was definitely picking up some weird vibes. But, any friends are better than no friends. Stay tuned for more news on Sayli.
Later, I broke out my ukulele and entertained my new group of friends with a few of my favorites. I stumbled through the second verse of Jason Mraz"s "I'm Yours" But the pretty Thai girl sitting next to me knew the words and helped me out. A local musician came by with a guitar and we managed a duet of a few Thai songs. I didn't speak Siamese and he didn't speak English but we were able to communicate through the language of music. Granted, I was playing the same two chords over and over again so I still felt like I was repeating myself, but still, I think the moment was pretty special.
End of Day 3
Things I've learned:
- Sunscreen is not a magical talisman that wards away harsh sunlight. You must apply it to your body to see results.
- The same thing goes for bug spray
Brilliant and comical writing my friend. The last picture says it all. Wish I could be there to hear your yukawateverits called ;-)
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