One hour left in Bangkok

And with this last hour I'll post a bit on my last days here in Thailand. A lot of loose ends shall hopefully be incorporated here. I'm snacking on shrimp chips and a cold green tea bought from the ever-present 7-11 here. I realized a moment ago that eating chips while typing intermittently in a net cafe frequented by thousands of people daily, is probably not the most hygienic thing to do, especially since swine flu has been running rampant through Bangkok for the last month or two. Lots of people are wearing masks, and nearly every handful of people has a throaty, phlegm-filled cougher in their midst. Anyway, I've folded up my bag of chips and hope that I don't get sick.

The last couple days have been a lot of fun, and strangely emblematic of a distrubing, very American, fact. Looks like money *can* buy a very decent replica of happiness, at least for two days. Being in Thailand is like being rich, in a way. It's a small experiment of what it would be like to buy and have nearly anything you want, when you want it. I've eaten a LOT. Probably at least 15 meals a day, to be conservative. And I've bought quite a few things, all my regular guilty pleasures here, books, tee-shirts and tank tops (La Coste imitations), and all the rest of the stuff I mentioned. It's glorious, it's fun...it's very strange...

So Wednesday I headed out for the MBK mall, which is a huge multi-level shopping center with lots of small stalls throughout it. It reminded me a bit of the technology mall I went to in Taipei. I picked up a 2 gigabyte memory card for my camera, for less than $9 USD. About the regular going rate anyway, from a reputable Canon store. That gave me about 2,000 photos (much more than the roughly 400 I had throughout the trip)...oh well, quality versus quantity, perhaps.

While at the mall I went about the main orders of business [Can you believe it, the same guys who were here last night talking in high nasal voices just walked in and are right behind me talking again.]...Anyway, my main orders of business were a haircut and some other vanity-esque activities, which are hard to do in Baghdad. I got a 500 baht (extremely expensive by Thai standards) haircut at the Loreal salon. It was by-far my most interesting haircut, trumping the student cut experience I had in Paris by just a smidge. I was taken to a big comfy leather chair station to get my hair washed by an extravagance of shampoo, conditioner, and other very moisture-filled substances. The lady washing my hair had long nails that somewhat painfully scratched up against my scalp. She handed me off to the stylist, who proceeded to cut and layer my hair without any of those clips typically used. He snipped away using this airy artsy fringe style, cutting upwards as opposed to across. I was a bit skeptical. When he was done, these two women came and attacked my head with blowdryers, straightening it with gusto. I grimaced multiple times, considering the option of telling them to stop because I rarely blowdry my hair and was very put off by its frying up close and personal...I wasn't trying to impress anyone. But I decided to allow the Thai experiment to continue. When they had finished, my hair looked like one of those black straight shiny wigs they sell in costume shops. The stylist came back and seemed to use the now-dry hair as a cheat sheet to see how even a job he'd done with his airy brush stroke cuts. He snipped a bit more, and then he was all done. I felt strangely svelte in the haircut, and walked shyly up to the counter, and paid them. About 20 minutes was all the swishing I could withstand, and I gathered up my locks and tied them up in a ponytail. But actually, after a day or so, the cut isn't so bad, and I'm giving my hair some time to heal from the high-heat torture.

After my morning of vanity purchases, I bought that memory card. When I asked the salesman about where to grab a good cheap lunch he described a very complicated location. I stared at him blankly, and so he said he needed to grab food too anyway, and took me over. I got a chicken noodle-esque soup, which what appeared to be a ton of MSG. And for desert had some milky ice cream with dates and some unidentified murky white jelly on top of it, as well as some cruchy yellowish stuff sprinkled on it. It was delicious.

Then it was off to the movie theater for me. I got a ticket for a double feature: "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Bolt Thief" followed by "Avatar," which I have wanted to watch for months, but held off watching the hajji version since they don't include 3D. I had about 30 minutes to kill before the movie and so went to a karaoke booth and sang/listened to Newton Faulkner's "Dream Catch Me" and "Life for Rent" by Dido. Apparently, "Avatar" had just arrived to the theater that very day, so I was in luck. Both films were fun, though I loved "Avatar" and was merely entertained by "PJ&TLBT" (I thought the acting in the latter was a bit sub-par to be honest). Those theaters, though, are FREEZING. You reserve seats in each of the theaters and you are not allowed in until moments before the film's previews start. There are about 20-30 minutes of previews and right before the film the entire audience must rise to listen to a song glorifying and honoring Thailand and their king (I do believe it is the national anthem), while watching a pictorial of the king at different points in his life. He's been the ruler for decades now and is in his 80s, apparently, with failing health, but he is revered and worshipped by the Thais. Prior to every film this ceremony is observed.

A quick run down of some snacks I had prior to, during, and between the films. I had mango ice, sashimi, miso soup, popcorn and a coke. On the way back to my hotel I got a mango sticky rice from a street cart, and then called it a night.

This morning I headed out about mid-day for my first order of business...a massage. After all, it was my last day. The masseuse began to massage me and about 10 minutes in she asked me how old I was.

"25," I said.

"Oh, 25? You sixy," she responded.

"No, I'm 25, how old are you?"

"Sixy, sixy, you."

"You're sixty? 16?"

"I'm 43," she said. "Sexy, you're sexy. Lots of gays. Thailand. I gay. Madam."

I stared at her. Was she hitting on me? She kept massaging innocuously.

"Oh, gay, okay." I said.

And then we were silent. We chatted a bit about where I was from, where she was from...and that was that. She looked a lot younger than 43, but not 16.

After the massage I got some Pad Thai from a food cart in front of the hotel, picked up some cold green tea at 7-11, then hailed a cab to head over to Siam Paragon, Bangkok's glitziest and newest mall.

The ground floor has a canal, water flowing through much of it, and is almost entirely dedicated to food. In honor of Chinese New Year there was even more food, and extra special food stalls. I was sorry I'd already eaten, but ready to make room. To start I got a green tea ice cream, then a green tea with red bean ice slush, then I got a red bean stick rice custard in bamboo (which is apparently a Thai countryside special that rarely comes to the big city). After that I got coconut ice cream with some coconut juice. By then I was feeling quite full. I meandered about the mall wide eyed at all the aisles with "gourmet" foods and relatively expensive items. It was like being in a gigantic Thai Whole Foods at certain points. I saw some amazing Dr. Scholls special footbed sandals that felt like I was walking on a feather, but they were roughly $60 USD! Then I went up to the department store area and saw an amazing chair that I will buy one day because my back felt so very perfect in it. I took pictures of it and took a brochure with me, but it looks like it'll cost me about $600 USD...After strolling about for a while I stopped in a music shop to get a couple Thai CDs to remind me of my time here. I love collecting foreign music while traveling because it gives you back a sense of time and place when you listen to it later. From there I went to the bookstore, which is the largest English bookstore in Bangkok, or perhaps Thailand...I bought three books, because I was nearly done with the third and last of the books I had with me. Then I walked over to a coffee shop nearby and got a cold green tea twist, or something like that (sense a trend?). I read for a while with my drink, then did some more walking around. The mall had "Avatar" on 3-D IMAX, which made me feel like I should have perhaps waited to see it, but it was also more than twice as expensive (the other film cost me less than $5 USD). After walking around a bit more, I went downstairs to grab dinner...I got a duck Tom Yum soup with noodles, a coke, then had another green tea with red bean ice to top it off. Then it was back to the hordes of traffic in a taxi. It was about 8:30 p.m., and since I had some time to spare before having to pick up my stuff at 10 p.m., I stopped over for a foot massage. My feet had been aching with all the walking...and the hour-long massage was spectacular. On my way back to the D&D Inn, which is where I had been staying, I got a cup of sweet corn...mmmm...I picked up some other snacks at 7-11, got my luggage and came up here. I've got nine minutes left on the net...then I've got to head down to the lobby to catch the bus to the airport. My Emirates flight to Dubai leaves at 2:25 a.m., and I get into town there at about 6 a.m. Then I will take public transport into town and hope I can check in early (maybe 8 a.m.). I hope I sleep on tonight's flight and don't get distracted by all the awesome movies/shoes/food on the Emirates flight. They are great to fly with during waking hours...

Okay, gotta run. Sorry for the very quick rundown. When I'm in Dubai hopefully I'll get to go up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. I've already got my ticket for 5 p.m. Friday, but apparently about a week or two ago the building was closed to such visits indefinitely. If I don't get to go up, I'll go get my refund...I'll let you know what happens. After a night in Dubai, I've got to be back at the airport at 5 a.m. Feb. 20 to catch my flight to Baghdad. So much for sleep.

Love,

IJW

Putting the bang back in Bangkok

When I got into town, I had not yet booked a room. But while riding back with my group to the airport, the American couple, Ben and Michelle (U.S. Forest Service firefighters from Washington state), told me they had booked a room in Bangkok for 1,100 baht, or about $36, but had been unable to use it. They gave me the receipt and said they hoped I could. I asked Ben his last name, and then jotted that down on a piece of paper.

The hotel was on Khao San road, a street I had somehow avoided/missed on my arrival into town the first time. The street is apparently like Bourbon street, mobbed, narrow, dirty, covered with signs and shops piled one atop the other. I'm not sure it's ever empty or quiet. The front desk of the hotel was mobbed with guests and their backpacks. It was 11 p.m. I warily (and wearily) eyed their packs wondering about bed bugs. The hotel staff were tired, overworked and incredibly brusque. Apparently my friends had had to leave Bangkok early and had already put the money down for their room. The hotel would not give them back the money, but allowed them to put off their reservation to, conveniently, that night. So though the hotel was full, I walked in and handed them the receipt. The staff said I needed to have two passports, I told them my "boyfriend" Ben had gotten very sick in Koh Tao and that he had to leave early, so it was just me. They said, sorry, it's a double, so we need two passports. I protested, and they asked me what my boyfriend's last name was. Huzzah.

The room was nice and clean. The room included breakfast and access to a rooftop pool, A/C, satellite TV and its own bathroom and hot water shower. But I only had it for one night. This morning I was able to change over to a 750 baht single superior room (so just a smaller bed), and I was all set.

At breakfast this morning I met an Israeli couple. I've neglected to mention, actually, that there are surprising number of Israelis in Bangkok, so much so that Hebrew is the third or fourth language on most tourism signs, after English and Thai (and sometimes Japanese). It's pretty awesome to meet them, and they're very easy to recognize with their accents and demeanours. The Israeli couple asked me a bit about myself, and essentially told me when it was my time to die, I would. So not to worry--I hadn't said I was, but they'd asked me about my parents' thoughts on Baghdad living. Their comments were very Israeli. The guy did qualify his comment, however, with the (I thought evident) statement that I am not Rambo, so I shouldn't go looking for trouble. I told him I was glad he said that, because I had been contemplating heading for Mosul the following week based on his fate theory...

I packed up my stuff and checked out of my room after breakfast, leaving my bag with the staff for the day since I didn't want to wait around for the room to be ready. And with that, I headed out to hail a taxi so that I could get the few things I wanted to get done, including a haircut and other vain-ish errands, and to check out camera memory cards. I'll update on what actually happened, the real "bang" in Bangkok of the post, tomorrow morning. Not only am I exhausted, but two very nasal, annoying guys are sitting right behind me chattering away continuously to each other like insecure teenagers who are scared to be up in their rooms alone without the other. As you can probably tell, this has been going on for a while, and frankly, I'm annoyed. I like to be able to write in silence, and well, anyway, who said a net cafe was as social club...? Well, goodnight for now. It was actually a good day, and I had been looking forward to writing about it. A demain.

The chang in Chiang Mai

Chang in Thai means elephant, and with that singular vocabularly lesson, I'll start this post. A retrospective now on my time with the elephants Tuesday.

The day began at about 8:30 a.m. when I was picked up by a small minivan. I popped my bag in the back because I'd be dropped off at the airport on the way back for my flight to Bangkok, and then I hopped into a seat. The door clanged onto my bag and as we drove on, I opened it unsteadily making a very loud sound, startling the driver, our guide and everyone else. Then I dropped all the snacks I'd brought with me on the floor. A big entrance indeed. But, after a few more stops to pick people up, we were on our way: 10 of us, plus one tour guide. Our 25-year-old Thai guide's name was "Earn, like earn money" she explained. But in Thai the word, probably spelled quite differently, means serendipitous. She spoke decent accented English and was very brusque. I learned her age later on in the day and when I told her my own age was the same, we both shared a moment of wondering what our lives could be like in another body, another culture and another world.

Our group was made up of a young Dutch couple, a young American couple, an older European couple(either German, Swiss or Dutch, and their three kids (two girls and one boy, who were all teens or adolescents). The family was quite strange as two of the kids, and the younger ones at that, likely shared the same Asian mother--who was, evidently, not present. Stranger still, the kids all attended a French-German school in Shanghai. Figure that one out. So that was our group, plus me.

The drive to the "Elephant Nature Park" took about 1.5 hours, up into the hills and multiple commercial tourist locations. As a warning, this post isn't being fact checked. I'm way too tired, and didn't take notes. This is just by memory, so I apologize for any inaccuracies...The park was started by a woman nicknamed Lek, which means "small" in Thai in 1995 with only a handful of elephants, all of them rescued from terrible conditions off the streets of Chiang Mai, Bangkok or the border with Myanmar. A century ago there were 500,000 elephants in Thailand, a decade ago 25,000, and now about 5,000. When Thailand outlawed logging (still legal in Myanmar), thousnads of these elephants found themselves jobless. While a good portion of elephants remain wild and are protected as an endangered species, a large number of elephants are domesticated and fall under livestock provisions and protections that basically provide them little to no protections. Fines for killing livestock, for example, are minimal and rarely enforced.

Mahouts are the traditional elephant keepers/trainers. When the elephants went jobless, these mahouts turned to tourism to try and earn a living. Elephants were forced to work the streets for their owners, bringing in big money and receiving little sustenance or care by their often abusive owners. Abuse is used constantly to assert power, force the elephant to submit and for pure mercenary gain. Mahouts who cannot earn a living with their elephants abandon them so they die in the wild or may sell them via the blackmarket to loggers near the Myanmar border. Lek, whose father was a shaman in her local village learned about elephants when her father was given one as a gift. She grew up with it and took care of the creature who became a part of her family.

[Sorry, very tired as I write this...]

Anyway, on the ride over to the park we learned a bit about the elephants. They are about 1/3 smaller than their African cousins, have one less toe, one point on their trunk instead of two (and so seem to be a bit less dexterous at picking things up), and they are awfully cute. The irony in Thailand is that the chang is a sacred, often worshipped animal in temples, a key part of Thai culture and history. The people often say that the country was built by elephants who physically helped build the country by dragging materials, etc, and by fighting for the country during times of war. The park currently has 34 elephants, two of which are babies (one boy and a girl, I believe seven and 10 months, respectively). Most of the elephants are female. And each has its own terrible tale about life before the sanctuary. Jokiyo is a female elephant who worked for a logger. She was pregnant when she was acquired by her owner and was forced to haul logs up a hill during her pregnancy. Elephants gestate for about 22 months and can only have about four to six babies in their lifetimes. They begin to have them at about age 12 (elephants live to about 60 or so, on average). Anyway, she worked through her pregnancy, going into labor at some point while on the hill hauling. Her baby fell out in its birth bag, rolling down the hill and she could not rescue it. The baby died. The next day Jokiyo, heartbroken, refused to work. Her mahout proded her with sticks, and used a slingshot to throw stones into her eyes, blinding her eye. When she would still not work, he jabbed a sharp stick into her other eye, blinding her. Lek saw her one day working and bought Jokiyo off her owner for $250,000 USD (this was a ways into her work). The stories are endless and tragic. At the park a female elephant was in her 22nd month of pregnancy and walked painfully and heavily not only very pregnant but only able to amble on three of her four legs, her right back leg was permanently cripped when she was walked onto a mine near the Myanmar border while working as a logger. The stories are endless, hair raising and using the word sad is a euphemism most of the time.

Elephants are very loyal, travel and live in herds (at the park they are different adopted families), and will protect their young 24/7, vigilantly. While we were there the baby boy went into the river in bathtime with another two older elephants from a different herd. The mother, with the rest of the family about 100 meters away suddenly noticed this and made a blare of panic, running (and they can go up to 25 mph) to her baby boy. When one elephant in the herd runs to the rescue, ALL of them go. The entire family stampeded out to the baby, surrounding him in a big safety net. They are like that for each and every member of the herd. Babies often stay within trunk's reach of their mothers for years as younglings.

The park was beautiful, and very low key. Lots of space and little infrastructure, which was great. Elephants spend about 13 hours a day chewing because they must eat something like 20% of their body mass, or maybe more--and they are vegetarians. Food and snacks consist of plants, bananas, watermelon, corn, and probably a lot of other different vegetables. The elephants go to bed at about 10 p.m., but only sleep roughly four hours a night. So they are otherwise up and grazing or bathing, or covering themselves in mud and dirt--a natural sunblock.

We got in and got briefed, then went over to feed the elephant family and their babies. While we could give the adults whole bananas, even bunches of them, and entire halves of watermelons (about the size of cantaloupe), we had to peel the bananas and take off the rinds of the melons for the babies. It was very sweet. Their little trunks would come out and grab onto the food, then plop them into their mouths. Sometimes they would play with the food, swinging it back and forth before popping it in. Other times, they would drop the food, unable as of yet to pick it up like their parents. The bigger elephants were great too, but far more skilled at eating, grabbing up the food, and sometimes sneaking directly into their baskets (with their names tagged on it). If the food dropped we were warned not to pick it up because they might think we're trying to steal it from them. They picked the food up themselves.

I got really into feeding them, and my arms were covered with fruit juice and dirt afterward, we washed up (again). Hygiene is a big deal there and we washed constantly so that we wouldn't introduce bacteria to the elephants, especially the babies. After their snack, we got our own lunch buffet. I made my plate so heavy that I had to use both hands to hold it up. Then right after lunch it was bathtime for the elephants. We went into the river with them splashing them with water from our buckets, and scrubbing them with small scrub brushes. It was a lot of fun, and I took photos, trying to make sure the camera didn't drop in. I quickly ran out of memory and had to continuously delete other photos to make more room.

The elephants made their way in and out of the water, pissing or crapping as they liked, at their own pace once they were cleaned off. I tried to stay upstream from all that stuff, and in the moving water. Once they got out of the water, they started to throw dust or mud on themselves, really lathering up. A couple of them rubbed up against wood or stone trying to itch their butts...it was all too cute. Up in the background were the beautiful green hills of Chiang Mai, covered in a bit of humid haze, and the sun was hot. I could understand why there were lathering up the natural sunblock. The family of elephants started over to the river for a bath last, and everyone had to go up to a platform so we wouldn't be in the way if the mother felt her babies threatened (as she did), and thundered over to them with the rest of the herd. After they washed up the babies played with each other in the mud and the dirt, crawling over each other's bodies and heads, falling over themselves and under their family members in the mud, trying to crawl in and out of the slime.

The park has about 30 visitors a day, and sometimes more in high season (it was high season Tuesday). They also take in volunteers who can stay and help a week at a time. It looks like an awesome experience, and while I helped bathe the pregnant/crippled elephant during her afternoon bath under a dying bright sun, I felt like I could live there and do that work, perfectly content. In the afternoon we watched a documentary filmed about the sanctuary, Lek and the Thai domestic elephant. The 45-minute film was heartbreaking as it described and showed us the traditional, centuries-old Thai training for baby elephants being prepared for work with their mahouts. Their spirits are broken in a contraption that encloses them entirely, like some medieval torture, amid bamboo sticks, then they are repeatedly jabbed by multiple people with sharpened bamboo sticks with nails at their ends in as many sensitive parts as necessary like their inner ears, often drawing blood, until whatever is asked of them is done. They are not fed, forced to stay awake and enclosed for days at a time until they are entirely submissive. When they are taken out, the elephants are often covered in blood. I watched the video feeling chilled and feverish at the same time.

After the film there was another feeding and another quick bathtime for some of the elephants. That was when I washed up the pregnant mother. I was so happy to spend time with these majestic creatures with such a dark and sad past. One of them had been taught (I presume) to give us kisses with the end of her trunk, puckering up to my cheek a few times...I wished I could stay, but at 5 p.m. we had to go. I was dropped off at the Chiang Mai airport at 6:30 p.m. with plenty of time to spare before my 8:15 p.m. flight out to Bangkok, and plenty to think about.

Back in Bangkok

I'm way too exhausted to blog right now so I'll just say that I've had an awesome day. It was my much-anticipated Elephant Nature Park visit day, and it definitely lived up to my expectations, which was nice. It was a bit of an emotional day and there are way too many stories to tell. I'd rather hold off and do a good job.

Going to go stay in my free room now. More on that later too. I've got two days in Bangkok and I fly out to Dubai early Feb. 19 (like 2 a.m.) then I am back in Baghdad on Feb. 20. I guess I'm feeling a bit sad after all the terrible elephant stories today (these elephants have almost all been rescued from very bad circumstances). But I'm also sad that the trip, trying as it has been, is coming to an end. I seem to have nothing to look forward to for another three months. And that's a very long time.

Optimistic

Is how I feel.

After leaving the net cafe yesterday I was suddenly seized by a voracious hunger that made me committ a cardinal sin of travel when in a land of delicious foods...

I went to Mc Donald's.

I ordered a Mc Chicken and fries with a coke. It was delicious. It was the best burger (chicken) that I'd had since I last ate Mc Donald's (yes, I confess, in Dubai)...and since that the best in months...since I was home.

Of course, the last burger I ate left me near death. So I figured I owed myself a better memory. It was delicious, but I felt guilty.

So I went to the night market. So I could eat some Kao Soi (that's the proper spelling), and feel stuffed instead. I had two big cups of coconut ice cream, with real coconuts in them, some sweet corn kernels in a cup, pineapple juice, and then I went shopping.

I guess I had been preparing for my big shopping night since I got here, by not buying much of anything previously until I'd scoped it all out. I love everything I got, and I think I did well price-wise.

I got a green silk scarf with a bit of brown in it, some silk boxers for night-time pants (they're blue with lighter blue elephants on them), three types of perfume, an elephant jade pendant on a silver necklace, a shark's tooth necklace, a blown glass bracelet, some Thai candy, and I guess that's it. At these night markets different people sit in the middle and do their talent shows, singing, puppets, or what have you. It's sort of like Third Street Promenade, except, most of these people need to be told that they have bad voices, etc...It's more of the average person who decides to give it a go, see if they can make a bit of money on the side. You know, if you've ever fantasized about playing an instrument or singing on the Promenade for some pocket money, well students here actually do it.

I have some cool bandaids for my toe. Right now I'm wearing a white one white one with panda cartoons all over it. It makes being cut up not so bad.

Anyway, after the night market I met a group of five Israelis, well saw them again is more like it, on the taxi ride home. They were very typically Israeli. Israelis and Aussies are the travel standby sightings. But on this trip it's been more like Canadians and the French that you meet here. Very odd. But it's nice to be able to just jump in in French if you have a quick question. It also allows for better eavesdropping.

On the way back to my hotel I decided to stop at a British pub that had caught my eye because of its Belgian beers and grab a Duvel. I ordered the drink, took a sip and then wondered why it tasted so strange to me. I examined the label and the former seal, and then realized I'd forgotten to take my antibiotic after dinner. That thought was quickly followed by the realization that I shouldn't be drinking beer while on antibiotics. Dammit.

The beer was a pricey 180 baht, or roughly $6, which is cheap in the States for such a beer, but expensive as hell over here. I decide to give away my drink because I don't want to waste it. And a table of four guys except my offer. Three of them are Welsh, the fourth is a Californian (formerly from Seattle)--but another American nonetheless! They invite me to join them with my water and they order dessert and let me taste a bit. The Welsh guy who accepts my drink is named Andrew and he gives me 100 baht to compensate me for my loss of a drink. I was surprised and happy. He is a firefighter back home and on a five month trip with his two buddies. They've already been traveling for about a month and the three guys met up with Lee (the Californian who is a chef) in Koh Tao. Lee quit his job at a three-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco called La Boheme to go travel until July. The other Welsh guy is Julian, who used to work for SBC global and quit his job to travel; it's his birthday that night and he's turning 23 (the baby of the group). The four Welsh guy is Matthew, he's a plasterer with a heavy brogue. The guys are funny and fun to talk to and after the pub closes down we head over to a Rasta bar nearby to enjoy some music.

The bar is packed, and it's one of the few places with Thais and tourists mingling together. I sit down on a bar stool with some pineapple juice and am immediately drawn to a girl who is dancing with a bald-headed Middle-Eastern looking man who seems a bit too aggressive. She is leaning away, using all the polite body language signs possible to get the man to stop touching her, he leans toward her, gyrating his hips sleezily, and brushes her left breast, grabs the crook of her arm, and grazes her face and hair with his lips. His buddy swerves slimily beside him, letting his hips dance to the music like an overly excited teenage boy. It's disgusting to watch. I mention the sight to Lee and Andrew beside me. Lee's take on the scene is one example why guys fail so often at reading women's body language/signals. He thinks the guy is a last resort hook up for her if she can't find anyone better. I tell him, no way, the girl is disgusted by the guy but feels like she can't push him away for some reason, either because she's indebted to him in some way (he bought her dinner, she feels guilty), she's embarrassed, or feels constrained by politeness, or is hoping he will go away.

A moment or two later, the guy swoops in while holding her right arm by the upper shoulder going for kiss on the lips. She twists and turns in his grasp, leveling herself closer and closer to the floor and pushing her face down. Lee says he's going to go deck the guy and his friend. I tell him to ask her first if she's okay and needs help. After all, women usually have a less violent way of handling such encounters and there's no need for a full out bar battle.

Lee goes and asks if she's okay, and then helps her back toward us, pushing the other guys away. I talk with her when she comes over and tell her I was keeping an eye on her. Turns out she's another American from Rhode Island, here with two other friends. I wonder where her friends have been while she was being molested on the dance floor.

The guys come up to Lee to shake his hand, but he pushes them away, telling them to "F*ck off" repeatedly. He's very belligerent, but he's apparently had lots of experience in fights and knows what he's doing...The guy comes back to the girl on the dance floor again, grabbing at her as if she's some piece of meat. Lee jumps up again in front of her now and pushes the guys away. They leave. And then, when the girl is back near the door of the bar about 10 minutes later, they return. The one guy grabs the girl now from behind, pulling her out the door. I jump out of my bar stool and run over and grab her firmly by the shoulder nearest to the guy and the door, and pull her away, telling the man to stop. Lee is behind me now and shoves the guy away. About 20 minutes later the guys come back in and are kicked out by the restaurant staff who kicks one of the guys in the a$s and tells him to f*ck off.

We hang out there for most of the rest of the night, relaxing a bit more. The girl ends up going back to her hotel (very very drunk) with Julian, the birthday boy. I look over at her a bit worried, Lee says to her friends nearby that Julian's a good boy and that, after all, she's an adult and can make her own excuses. I wonder about her friends, who just let her go. And I wonder about that excuse that people, especially guys, use to allow things to happen. After all, adults make mistakes too.

Andrew walks me back to my place shortly after that and I decide to go to bed. It's nearly 4 a.m. and I want to be up at a reasonable hour the next day (today). I read a bit more of my book and then fall asleep. Today has been a relatively low-key day. I treated myself to a delicious brunch feast for nearly $4 (that's a lot here), and then went back to the blind masseuse for another massage. I wandered around a bit, bought a couple books at a used book store, and read a bit more before heading out to the net cafe. I am about to head out to the night bazaar. Then it's back to the hotel to pack up and be ready to go at 8 a.m. tomorrow. I've got the Elephant Nature Park and then a flight down to Bangkok. I'm not sure where I'll be staying yet there, but I'll figure it out when I get there, or on the (long) ride into town. I'm starved now, so adios til next time.

IJW

Finally, a decent net cafe...

I'm in Chiang Mai now, which is in northern Thailand, and let me say that the city and the mountains seem to agree with me more than the nirvana of an island paradise. Who can take all that relaxation anyway?!

I went from bodily ailments to more city issues. My hotel booking off the net was somehow screwed up and so it took some time to deal with that, including multiple international calls...they're still waiting to hear back from the booking agent Monday. I'm hoping that works out so I'm not overcharged. My bank card was also blocked, which left me in big trouble because cash is key here for nearly everything. Luckily, I was able to figure out how to call collect (not as easy as it sounds), and after literally hours of playing with automated systems and operators, I was able to find a human, not lose my phone connection (for the fifth time), and fix the problem. I got out lots of cash this time.

A couple things about the Thai people. When I came here I was advised to ignore most peoples' directions unless they are very sure immediately. Otherwise, they're just trying to get rid of you...so so true. And maybe I've already blogged about getting lost for hours in circular fashion because of bad directions. Another issue...lots of Thais, in fact most, do not speak English. That makes travel particularly difficult, though of course I've been trying to learn words here and there. I mean, I am the visitor, after all...Last things, Thais love doggies (yay!) and they never lose their cool because it's all about face for them. If they do, they become violent quite quickly. So watch out. That last part was told to me, I have never seen it...and don't intend to.

It's funny, but this "vacation" is flying by quite quickly. Most travelers ask each other where they're from, but not necessarily where they're coming from. When people do ask me where I'm traveling from, what I do for a living, or where I work...they are usually very surprised to hear Baghdad. It does have quite a ring to it. And, well, this place is very much the opposite of Baghdad. While dogs are loved and treated very well here, in Baghdad some government money may actually be going to exterminate dogs out on the road. It seems that Arab culture in general has little love for dogs and thinks they are unclean and dirty...I saw so many Winston's at the night market Saturday (last night) and pet them all...so sweet.

Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city, but is far far more manageable than Bangkok. This is why most Westerners love it...and well, I fall into that cliche too. People are also less likely to scam you here, which is nice. I decided to come up here for the Chinese New Year because there is a lot of Chinese, Myanmar, influence in the north. My trip has actually worked out quite well in terms of timing for various cultural events in locations. Knock wood that it lasts. My first full day here was Saturday and I spent the morning walking the old city, which is surrounded by a moat and formerly walled, but now has the feeble remains of brick corners and brick around the four "gates" in. I was tempted to rent a moped, but decided to try walking around first though my foot hurt quite a bit.

These red taxis called song-teow are basically flat-bed trucks with tops over them. They are everywhere and charge about 20 baht, or 80 cents to take you wherever you need to go. It's such a thrill hailing a taxi, which you do by moving your hand back and forth palm downward.

I checked out the major temple in the old city. While I was there I spoke with a Chinese couple traveling throughout southeast Asia who were seated in front of a sign in the proverb garden there that I took a photo of. It said, "Eat to live, live to eat." Though they suggested it was probably mistranslated and should have said "Eat to live, not live to eat." ...I liked the original (mis?)translation. My personal motto. The couple was on their way eventually to the Maldives...and I told them I was very jealous. Who knows how long that island nation will be around, though I hope it outlasts all estimates.

My highlight of the afternoon was a massage from a blind masseuse. An hour for 120 baht, or roughly less than $4. The lady was amazing. She started with my legs and immediately went up my sciatica, then to my L5-S1 back injury and then to my neck injuries. Her hands had eyes, and she was trying to alleviate the distortions she could sense. She really alleviated the pain.

After that I went and got a mango shake from a stand and walked back toward my hotel. I was interested in visiting the Elephant Nature Park, which is best described by this San Francisco Chronicle article...but they had no openings through Tuesday and I had an afternoon flight (or something like that...my ticket had never been sent to me).

I went back to rest a bit at my hotel. On the way over I got a sticky rice with mango dessert for a snack and read my travel literature, which is a book that has to do with cancer. It's called my "Sister's Keeper"...and I keep wondering why I chose to read such a depressing book on vacation...but it's good. Then I got ready for the Saturday market, which is at night. I decided to do jeans, which is actually quite a morale booster when traveling for a while. When I got there at about 8:30 p.m., throngs of people were moving about through colorful rows of every item you could imagine. The Saturday walking market is smaller than Sunday's, which is apparently massive (I go there tonight). There were tons of food carts and I ate my way through the market trying a delicious northern Thailand specialty called kow soi (spelling?), which is a noodle dish with chicken (or whatever meat you like, they love pork here b/c of the Chinese influence), spicy broth and fresh vegetable garnishes. It was delicious, and less than a $1. I've tried to avoid spicy foods and the like for my stomach, but have not been so successful. I love it, and plan to have it again tonight. Oh yes, for lunch I had a green chicken curry and a coke. Delicious! The servings here are quite small, which allows for a lot of different options and also more time for digestion, and therefore less intake. All in all, good eating. After that I got some fresh sushi and tried a sweet mashed corn ball, three small chicken dumplings, hmmm, and some dark chocolate ice cream, and a few other things that I really can't remember at the moment. I ate a lot.

There was stand selling a bunch of wooden puzzles, and I worked out a bunch of them. I'd planned to buy one, but well, my bank card gave out. One thing I'd declined to work out was how all these hordes of people would get home. Traveling alone is generally far more expensive, and I was able to talk a taxi to take me back home for 60 baht instead of 20 baht, because he was forgoing the chance to take home groups of other people at the end of the night. I was pooped.

This morning I woke up quite late, at 11:15 a.m. It was my first time sleeping in past 9 a.m. on this trip, and though I'd set my alarm at 9:30 a.m., I guess I'd disregarded it while asleep. I think I needed the extra rest. I went out to the Chinatown area, which is a couple arches and temples in an area called "Wororot." Tons of decorations and people were out. Lots of food, though primarily pork. I ended up getting a couple delicious samosas, some coconut juice (oh, I had that yesterday with my stick rice and mango too!), and a couple red bean buns. Then I went to get a foot massage for about an hour. While sitting there I met a Finnish guy next to me who has been in Thailand for five months and plans to move here and retire. He calls it paradise. He lives in a beautiful honeymoon suite in a hotel here for about $450 a month and gets waited on like a king. He plays golf every morning and gets a massage every afternoon. Apparently he's met lots of Americans who have moved here, specifically from California actually, because the standard of living is so much higher and you get bigger bang for your buck, sometimes quite literally (though I'll save the sordid side of things for another post--this place gives you little respect for middle-aged Western men).

Ah, remind me to tell you about the Hong Kong man I met on the ride over from Koh Tao to Bangkok, who is a big architect for a company and had a funny story about pajamas in the streets of China. Sorry for the aside. Anyway, massage over I decided to head back to the hotel and prepare for the Sunday walking market, the super duper market. On the way over I call up the airline to check my flight details. My flight to Bangkok is Tuesday night at 8:15 p.m., which mean, if I wanted to I could do the elephant nature center visit and get dropped off at the airport on the way back, I think. I call them, and they say they're all full through Thursday. Drats. I ask if they have room for one more person, they say not even half a person. I ask, well, what about a quarter person? They laugh. I tell them I changed my flight for them! And they feel bad enough that they make an exception for me. So I'm getting picked up at 8 a.m. Tuesday from my hotel to go to the park! It's nearly $80, but includes lunch and well, read the article. I'm so so so excited!

Okay, gonna rest up some, grab a snack and something to drink and get ready for tonight's market. Yum.

A pause

A year ago today I wrecked my car on the 405 freeway in Orange County. It was a bad crash, and I'm happy to be alive.

Today I head to Chiang Mai...but it's a long journey. I leave here at 9 a.m. by taxi to get to the pier, where I will take a boat from Koh Tao to Koh Samui. From there I take a bus to the airport. A few hours later I take a plane to Bangkok, then a few hours after that a plane to Chiang Mai.

I didn't get much sleep last night and am basically very very low on cash because I wiped out my ATM withdrawal capabilities (oddly based on U.S. time) with that near $400 (yes, not, $310...my calculation was incorrect) med payment. I hope insurance reimburses me. Last night I slept in the dorm. On the top bunk. Mosquitoes and bugs galore. One roommate snored. Four came in late and turned on all the lights. Though I went to bed at 10:30 p.m., I was awake well after 2:30 a.m., my big toe pulsing with pain and blood. I finally took a Vicodin. But even that was not enough to alleviate the pain. I finally fell asleep for a couple hours from sheer exhaustion...woke up at 7:30 a.m. because it was better to be awake then continue in half-sleep-hell. Well, on my way to pay for my room. I'm going to have to pay via credit card and bear the 5% extra charge because otherwise I'll be cashless while traveling and in Thailand cash is king.

I forgot to add, Chiang Mai is known for a couple things...trekking, climbing, and cooking courses. I had planned on doing at least two of the three. But my stomach's a bit too fragile for the cooking course...and well, my big toe issues ruin the rest. Ah, Thailand.

24 hours of hell

...or making Baghdad seem better than a vacation.

Only I could really do that, it seems.

On Wednesday night, about 29 hours ago, I decided to celebrate my two open water dives with a burger and some beer. I was a bit antsy about the decision, because I had imagined a most amazing burger after the somewhat rubbery, strangely spiced stuff we get in Baghdad. I chose carefully, and ordered. The burger was good. But definitely not worth the price. 100 baht, or roughly $3.

I had to be up at 6 a.m. the next day so I could meet with everyone and go for our two morning dives, the last dives of the course...after which we'd take the final exam in the afternoon and get our temporary PADI certification cards (if we passed).

(FYI, there is a guy in this net cafe talking VERY LOUDLY while I'm here, and I'm having a very hard time concentrating. Of course, this is par for the course, and why I am calling this "24 hours of hell"...)

I went to bed early, bout 9:30 p.m. or so, and almost immediately thereafter I started to get very gassy, burping and (sorry for the extra info) passing gas. Then I began to have to run to the restroom every three minutes. Then I began to feel nauseated and began to dry heave multiple times (nothing would come out). I don't like to vomit, so perhaps I was't allowing it all to come out. I would try to lie down and sleep and then would begin to shiver uncontrollably as terrible cramps and pain seized my entire body. This went on until 6 a.m. when I called my instructor Dennis and asked him what I should do. If I missed the course's last day, everything else would be for naught, and I had a flight out of Koh Tao for Friday. With restrictions on flying after diving, I had few chances of finishing up my certification. He suggested I get out there and give it a try, go on the boat, and if I feel too terrible to not dive.

I was too weak to say otherwise, and really wanted to finish.

I grabbed my stuff and went down, protecting my belly as much as I could from the spasms of walking. I couldn't find immodium anywhere, but I picked up some extra water. On the ride over to the big boat I thought it'd be nice to take a photo, but realized I didn't have the energy to take my camera out of my bag. I got on the boat and tried to think positively. The marine toilet on our boat, Navakid, is basically an open door to the ocean, with a barrel of water next to it. I made many trips to the marine toilet.

Our first dive site was Southwest Pinnacle. It's roughly 45 minutes away, and as luck would have it, the waters were VERY CHOPPY and rough. The boat flopped from one side to the next and I braced myself in agony. By the time we got to the site, I was dying from the pitching of the waters and begging to get in so that things would settle. I made one last trip to the bathroom and geared up. We were traveling with a videographer to film our course, and I gritted my teeth and tried to grin and bear it, but I felt very very weak and dehydrated already.

We jumped in the waters, doing the dead man's fall backwards. I felt it apt. And then we got ready to do a quick skill test. Because our bodies weren't already inundated with nitrogen from diving, and we were "fresh," we had to do the CESA, emergency drill, which is basically an all hands on deck sort of run for the surface, blowing bubbles outward to avoid lung overexpansion. I wanted to do the drill first, but didn't realize how wacked out I was already. I went down the roughly five meters or so below water, and prepared to do the drill. Not realizing I should keep my regulator in my mouth, I pulled it out, blew out all my oxygen immediately, and when the instructor pulled me down to stop me from continuing that way, thought I was stuck. I panicked. Swallowing tons of water. Dennis grabbed my reg and smacked it into my mouth, purging it, and I tried to calm myself, coughing and breathing through the water, coughing and purging. Then motioned upwards, entirely wigged out. He tried to salvage the situation, calming me. After I calmed down a bit more, I motioned up again, claustraphobic as ever. I guess I could say my stomach didn't ache though, my mind was elsewhere. We got to the surface, and I watched my other classmates do the drill. Then it was (too soon) my turn. I went down slowly, sucked it up, and did it. At the surface we got ready to go for the real dive now. It was too soon, again, for me.

But dive we did. This time at a little over 17 meters, with 18 meters the limit for someone who is open water certified. Previously we'd only been as deep as 10 meters. It felt much better on my stomach underwater, but I was starting to feel a bit chilled and tired out. The fish and plants were beautiful, and I wondered where everyone was rushing off too. Sometimes a whole group of fish would swim by, and I would stop for them. The second dive, I think, it was a school of Barraccuda. Or sometimes a lone fish would just be scurrying right by me, and it was amazing to see us occupying the same space. After 43 minutes, the dive was over, and we went back up to the boat. Climbing out of the water was exhausting, and once I got up, I rushed to the toilet, sick again. After, I grabbed two pieces of watermelon that had been cut up for us. That along with a tentatively eaten banana was all I had eaten in the last 12 hours. Then it was another 30 minute ride of pure torture to the next dive site, and I mostly sat as still as possible on the tossing deck, staring at the goosebumps on my arms and trying not to cry.

Once we got to the next dive site, we went down to suit up. I was nearly prepared and doing the final check with my buddy, when a wave of nauseau came over me and out came the watermelon, banana, and any water I had drank all over the deck. Dennis moved me closer to the side of the boat, and again, and again, I vomited. I told him to get me water, realizing that I was vomiting off the stench of my own vomit. I vomited again. Then quickly rinsed my mouth out with water as the Thai crew ran water off a hose over me, my gear and the boat. I did feel much better, but even weaker afterward.

Dennis had said this dive would be less deep, but longer. Just those words nearly made me cry.

I did a frontward flip into the water. Then we went down to 10.7 meters and swam around, fish-watching. After a bit, we ascended to about five meters and began to "clown around" for the videographer. I did my best to act normal. But it took a lot of energy. Soon though we were ascending more and back up to the boat. Only 26 minutes in the water. I never asked why.

Back on the boat I stretched out on a table on my back. Amazed that I was still alive. I visited the marine toilet again. Then once we arrived on shore met with the rest of the class to clean up my gear. They'd left my bag on the boat--along with the socks I had been wearing b/c my fins didn't fit properly. We all then met to talk logistics for later on. I was on super speed unable to sit still without jostling trying to go somewhere, anywhere, to stop the pain. I told the office to give me AC for my room so I could rest, despite the extra cost. Dennis let me leave early, at about 12:30 p.m. saying we needed to return by 4:45 p.m. for the exam and needed to have finished all the reading/homework. I had four of five chapters left to do, but was planning to take a nap first.

I went back, showered, then fell into bed. But had to continuously visit the toilet, where I ran out of toilet paper quickly. Now I understand the usefulness of those hoses in the bathroom. It got messy, but I had no energy to respond. I got into bed and started shivering uncontrollably, spasms racking my body, and pain running up and down from my stomach through my legs. I was freezing but burning, and felt delirious. I was running out of energy to string coherent words together or make a phone call, or write a text message. At about 1:30 p.m., I grabbed my wallet, phone and key and walked out of my room, stumbling out crying hysterically. I sat down on the floor, unsure of what to do. Then walked out onto the road and saw a green cross, symbol of the pharmacy med clinic. I walked in still crying and they sat me down, with small grins on their faces. When Thais are uneasy, they smile or laugh. I am glad I knew this about them...

They took my blood pressure, which was 138/85 (rough guess), my pulse was 102. Very high for me, considering my resting pulse is usually in the 40s or 50s. They took my temp, which was a slight fever at 100.something degrees. They took me to a room with A/C and hooked me up to an IV for fluids and gave me meds through it too. They closed the door. After a minute I was shivering hard again, and no one came by, but I had no energy to get up. I lay there, feeling isolated and helpless. I yelled. No one heard me. I yelled more. Then I dragged myself up and out the door. Someone came over. I said, *cold*...moving my arms around myself in the diving symbol. They came in and turned off the A/C. I sat on the floor in the corridor. Disoriented. They helped me up. I got up and pointed at the blanket on the other bed. They gave it to me. Then I lay in bed resting. The nurse came in every hour or so to check on me, bring me meds, pills. I gave a stool sample (black water), and blood sample. My fever continued to climb. The doctor came in and told me my infection was very very bad. They gave me more meds. No pain meds though, and the pain was agony. I panicked at one point, wondering if they might not be doing the proper treatment, and wondering if I would die. I had reason to worry. As the Thai doctor gave me my IV a doggie was running about the room and his cell phone rang. He answered it, having a conversation while the needle hung freely between his fingers. No one wore gloves.

At about 2:30 or 3 a.m., my fever broke and waves of sweat washed over me repeatedly. I smelled terrible, but I was relieved. The saline had helped too and after initial chapped lips and continued burning up, I now felt somewhat human again. I contiued to sleep intermittently. They brought me some toast and jam, which I tried to eat, only eating half a piece initially. The second time I ate all of the toast and jam (four halves)...

At about 11:30 a.m. they brought me my first real meal of the last 18 hours or so...fried rice with chicken. It was good, but my stomach was very picky still and I only ate about a third of it. Afterward I continued to sleep, reading my PADI open water course book and trying to do the homeworks. As I had done most of the night I intermittently turned on the TV and watched Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny, and all those others, to take my mind off the pain. I guess we all regress when we're brought so low.

At about 4:30 p.m. I finished my fourth bag of saline solution and meds. I was given a good to go with a more than 11,000 baht bill, or roughly $310. I wiped my bank withdrawl for the day clean.

I went home and showered, then I walked over to 7/11 to get water. Thailand, btw, has the most 7/11s of any country. Anyway, I went over to the Big Blue Diving Center to try and get my exam taken care of, grab my ferry ticket to head out of Koh Tao tomorrow, and take care of my bill. Because I hadn't used my A/C or my room the night before, I was hoping they wouldn't charge me for my room. No can do. I also had hoped to continue the discount price since I was still technically taking the course. Nope on that also. I was upset. I decided to take a dorm bunk to save myself some money for the last night. And back I headed to my hotel room, already exhausted again. I packed up and got a moped ride back to the dive center. Found my instructor after much back and forth, and then took the exam. I got 100% on the exam. But then, on my way to the toilet slipped on some oil someone had dropped on the floor somehow...and busted open my right foot's big toe all along the top of it. A big bleedy gash of an open wound. I got it wrapped up, upset as ever. And was told to stay away from the ocean and to keep it dry. Good think I'm leaving here tomorrow, if I'm still alive.

Oh ko, Ko Tao.

It has taken me a while to get to a computer with a decent enough connection, and to find myself with enough time on my hands to write a bit about my journey thus far. As opposed to doing a retrospective here, I'll start with the here and now--Ko Tao, Thailand--since I've only got about 18 minutes before I've got to jet.

After a 1.5-hour plane ride from Bangkok and a four hour wait, a bus ride and a boat ride, I arrived in Ko Tao yesterday afternoon (Sunday). The trip was exhausting, especially since I started it off with a 4 a.m. wakeup in order to catch the early morning flight out. But once I arrived, the truly picturesque visuals made up for a lot of it. The breeze helped mitigate the sweltering humidity of Bangkok. So far I find the place strangely chock full of "Westerners," though I've not met a single American yet on my travels. This was always the case in many other places I traveled...maybe not Europe, but I find it strange here. This is a Thai Hawai'i of sorts. Laid back, island living, very low key and low maintenance. Oh yes, and lots of fruit juice stands for me to get my, all important, mango shakes at. It's hard to describe the stunning views. Imagine Asian/Chinese influenced architecture, small boats scattered across a bay, with beautifully clear, blue waters and a reef (supposedly) teaming with wildlife. I say supposedly because I have yet to really see something as amazing as I saw just snorkeling in Dahab, Egypt, but I've only yet started my PADI SCUBA diving course, so we'll see.

I got into town and was mobbed with touters. So I just chose a place that I'd heard a lot about, and another girl I'd met on the way over was going to, and decided to check it out. Tired, I settled on it. Turns out it was a pretty decent choice. I'll let you know more about that later.

At about 5 p.m., so about 1.5 hours after arrival, I sat in on the orientation (day 1) of my PADI open water diving course. I got a pretty hard sell from the instructor to try and do the SSI course, but though that may be better, I already had a PADI book from Dahab, and wasn't keen on changing my mind minutes before the course. That uncomfortable moment aside, I went into class with Max and Paul, two 19-year old Germans on their "gap year" who are traveling (individually) around Thailand. The course was being taught by Dennis, a German who lived and dived in Australia for a long-ish time, and therefore has a very particular, interesting Aussie-Germ-esque accent. It's basically an Aussie accent with the slightly more stiltled/structured German way of speaking. Anyway, mate, I guess you've got to hear it for yourself. I was a bit nervous bout my ear, which has been bugging me quite a bit, my back, my recent loss of consciousness, my exercise-induced/allergy-induced asthma, and well, my allergies in general. All in all, a big bag of "yes" checkmarks on the medical clearance, which should all so "no." So, for insurance purposes, I was told to go get a doc's clearance. After one clinic turned me away, I went to another...and for a mere $5 USD, a doctor listened to my wheezes, asked me if I panicked (I said, generally, no), and told me not to panic. I'm free to go. Oh, he did say my ear looked inflamed when I asked him bout it, but he said it was clear.

So this morning at 8:30 a.m. I went and joined my (very very young) classmates for theory lessons. Dennis is a no bullshit teacher, which I appreciate. In the afternoon we did some "confined" water diving/drills, basically in the bay area's very shallow waters. A doc told me my lungs are actually quite longer than they are for most people--in normal conditions, quite useless, but I was also told that water increase the working ability of the lungs, and...well, whatever the reason, I felt pretty good (and hope that remains the case). I got chilled a bit of the way through, and so I put on a short wetsuit. All of us had the extra benefit of another instructor, who has just been certified to teach, but wanted to observe the class. So he helped us out, which made the class nearly one on one. Wearing contacts underwater is not that great, especially when the salt stings your eyes as you do the drills, but that's the way it goes. I'd probably get prescription lenses if I did this more often. The fish in the bay were not that interesting and the reef not that healthy, to be honest, though they seem perfectly acclimated to scuba divers popping up everywhere. Literally they were swimming by my fins (which are too big for me) as I was doing some drills. Tomorrow we do more theory lessons and then go out to open water and will do some real dives. The fourth and final day we go out early 6/7 a.m. and return about 11:30/12 p.m...then prepare for the final exam that late afternoon. All in all, it's kind of nice to think a bit, even though this is "vacation." I've never been that good at just sitting around.

A note about the travelers here, many who seems more interested in the other people than the place. That's alright, I suppose, but well, not really my style. I've been eating at this awesome place called "Tuk's." The Thai food is authentic, delicious, cheap-ish (relatively speaking here), and they now know me. I have a mango shake with every meal.

Okay, my time's up. I'll update later bout Dubai and Bangkok. I'll be back in Bangkok soon enough though, so we'll see.

Chow.

IJW.

Pack, back, flack.

It's been a long time since I've felt such excitement for an upcoming trip. Well, actually, it's been a while since I've had an "upcoming trip."

Normally, I detest packing. And today was no exception. I think part of the reason I hate it is because I am so indecisive that I tend to dwell on things. Some people pack early and whittle down. If I pack early, I may whittle down, but then begin to add things to piles as I contemplate every possible situation. Be prepared, right? Well, maybe if you're going into the wilderness, but Thailand is hardly wilderness. I think I can manage. And yes, I over-packed anyway. I find I only really get things right when I am going for a local weekend trip. That seems to allow me the ability to strike a happy medium between what is absolutely necessary and what is superfluous. After all, I'll be back in a couple days.

Anyway, I started early this time. Early being more than 12 hours before departure! And I skipped the gym so I could ruminate over my items one by one and make sure I haven't forgotten anything. But really, it just left me with a lot of extra energy, and an annoying tendency to use more exclamation marks than usual.

Departure is set for tomorrow in the a.m. I was going to include the time, but I think the "highway of death" is deadly enough without me tempting the fates. Looks like some poker buddies just came over, so it looks like I might have a chance to win/lose some extra cash prior to my travels. Can't wait!!!

IJW