Sunday, August 7, 2011

What a week...

I'm finally ready to write my first arrival entry. After a 24 hour flight, torturous jet lag, moving apartments upon arrival, meeting new face after new face, Bangkok excursions and difficulties getting the blog to appear in English, I'm ready.

Day1/preparations - Tuesday: Preparing to leave was insane, but the love and support I received during the process was unmatched. Because I was in Belize just prior to leaving for Thailand I was not able to mail my passport to the Thai embassy in LA - this meant a 3 day trip down south for a student Visa before Thailand and after Belize. I saw a couple of my best ladies, and enjoyed a much needed nap on the beach in Santa Monica...it had been awhile since I was in Southern Ca. Drove back to Fresno on Thursday, did errands on Friday, whitewater rafting with friends and family on Saturday and then off to SF for my flight on Sunday. Wow. What a week, eh? The flight was too long, the chairs too stiff, the food too bland but of course the excitement compensated for (as always, unavoidable) travel inadequacies. My flight arrived at 1pm in Bangkok and by 4pm I was moved into apartment #1. The night was short: checked in, unpacked, had my first Thai street food, a beer and a Nat Sherman on my balcony and then to bed I went.

Day 2/Wednesday: Woke up around 8am (or what I thought was 8am, more to come on this subject). I met with a few other exchange students I met on the flight from SFO and we ventured over to campus. The stroll from the apartment to the ferry station was less than 5 minutes and for about a dime we caught a boat over the largest river in Thailand to see Thammasat University. The campus was small, the Thais were gorgeous (especially in their Thammasat uniforms) and the coffee? Surprisingly delicious. From Thammasat we worked our way into an incredibly cheap taxi and ventured over to another apartment complex. Although a bit further from campus, I settled on the second apartment because of a kitchen. Can't blame me, right? Went back to complex #1 to pack what had been unpacked just 20 hours prior and made my way to my new home, again. At the complex I met a lot of other exchange students and experienced my first night out. The Thais know nightlife; I'm not expert, as I went out maybe once a month in Santa Cruz, but...when in Bangkok. 

Day 3/Thursday: Orientations begin. After a long night out, sleepy eyed and maybe still drunk, I woke at 7 for a 7:30 departure towards campus. A hunch set in, however, and moments later I was online checking the current time in Bangkok only to realize my phone and computer were still set to Taiwan time (where we had a lay over). This meant that day 2 was spent believing it was an hour later than it was -  feeling a mix of deceit and relief, I started a pot of hot water and enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee on my balcony. Orientation was long and I began to learn some of the intricacies of Thai culture: how deep to bow when greeting others; when to initiate the bow based on one's own status in relation to another individual; how to properly cup your hands and where to place them during the bow, Thammasat's history as the "Berkeley of Thailand;" proper dress and the risks of drug use here in Thailand. Crucial information. The orientations wrapped up, I accepted another failed attempt at ordering vegetarian street food (which means you end up with a bowl of hot noodle soup on a scorching humid afternoon) and let the night trudge on rather uneventfully.

Day4/Friday: Orientation. Again. Rough night of sleep. Again. Excited. Still. I had my third Thammasat orientation, this time for students affiliated with UC's. The liaison was incredible, and the meal that followed orientation, a night to remember. This satisfaction could be explained perhaps because it was amazing, or perhaps because I didn't have to struggle to explain that I was a vegetarian. Thanet (pronounced Tin-et) took care of all the ordering and at no point during the meal were we left with fewer than a dozen bottles of beer and an abundance of food. While on the topic of beer, however, I'd like to warn my fellow ale drinkers that their travels in Thailand - which must occur, will lack beer. Lager, pilsner, lager, lager, pilsner. That's about it, guys.  Dinner brought not only a full belly, but my first rainstorm in SE Asia. The storm rolled in in a matter of minutes (just as Forest Gump had warned), and drenched the polluted roadways of the Bangkok metropolis. Our open-roof dinner was transformed in a matter of minutes - the restaurant staff rolled out a roof, pinned tarps to the open walls, and we all laughed, took pictures, let our bodies be cleansed, and watched boats full of travels huddle beneath umbrellas while the storm took vengeance. And then it was over. Just like that. If I believed in end times, I'd like to think the fiery of the almighty could compare...but I doubt it. The walk home was plagued by fullness and a thick hot air - dense and sticky like the best of Thai rices.

Day 5/Saturday: I slept for about 12 hours and woke finally feeling recovered from the longest week of my life. What a feeling. I even left the air conditioning on all night - waking up not drenched in sweat has quickly become foreign. I kind of like it.

We ventured to the mall, shopped for 15 dollar cell phones, and dollar lunches and gawked (mostly in fear) at the monstrosity of a mall dubbed BMK (Big Mother K____, not sure on the K yet). A twenty minute taxi ride home emptied our pockets of about 100 baht, or rather 3 bucks and after all that sleep and my new digits, I was ready to go out again. The exchange students and I met for street side slushies chalked full of liquor (5 shots in a slushie bucket for $4) and a night out - this time with Thai buddies. A couple destinations, a couple beers, a couple stops to quench the thirst stemming from wafts of street food, a couple laughs, a couple offers for sex shows, and a couple minutes in a Tuk-Tuk taxi landed me in bed.

Day 6/Sunday: I can finally write about today. What a great feeling. After writing this entry, noting its poor prose, balking at my lack of literary flow, forgetting words, and drawing on distant - or seemingly distant episodes of the past, I've decided I'll try and write more often. Recalling the longest week of your life is no easy feat. Today was a good day though. Another late morning was nothing to complain about, especially because we visited the largest market in Thailand. Chatuchak market has pets, plants, food, clothes, jewelry, kitchen ware, buddhas galore, and well, everything. It's a huge outdoor market that one can't help but get lost in. The prices are unbeatable - it is a wonderful place to test one's own ability to resist gluttony, and frivolity. And I think I succeeded. Just two lunches, a pair of $3 sandals, and a set of sheets - sheets I'm quite excited about sleeping in tonight; maybe tomorrow I'll write a blog about how they felt ;) After the market 7 of us walked over to a river front Thai buffet; however, not quite the buffet you'd get at home: row after row of raw meat (much of it unidentifiable and all signs in Thai) were arranged for the taking. Plates were piled high with raw meat, and individual burners were placed in the center of at least 100 outdoor tables. Families, couples, friends and one group of Westerners (ourselves, that is) gathered to eat and listen to music...only I could hardly eat. A lot of cabbage, a lot of fruit, and about 3 bowls of coconut ice-cream did me in. Although most of it appeared to be...well, vile in the eyes of a vegetarian, the ice-cream and the experience was well worth 109 baht (or about $3.25). At that price, the place is likely to be a celebratory destination for the Thais - street vendors will fill you up for 30 baht.

Other thoughts: Thanks for everyone's interest in my travels. I know this entry was dry, and they will get better, but I needed to just catch up. Thailand is a wholly new place. The streets in Bangkok are filthy, and for once, I think it's kind of gorgeous. The smells are like none other, the smiles go unmatched, and the taxi fare is criminal - averaging just about $2-3 to go across town. I can't believe I've been here just 5 days, it seems like home. I love my apartment and the view from the seventh floor is like none other. I've never lived in a city, and although I cannot imagine really calling one home forever, this is home right now. Sweat beads, streets filled with dogs, persistent traffic, minimal English, toilets without paper (all replaced with a small nozzle attached to a hose on the side of the toilet), and stores without tampons (at all, ladies) makes Bangkok just where I want to be.

I love and miss you all, but rest assured, I am acclimating; I am happy; I am excited; and I will continue to travel - physically, mentally & spiritually. Peace and love, patience and persistence, an open heart and and an open mind, Jessie.

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