I realized today I am so smelly. I am stanky. I got home and was dripping in sweat from my first auto rickshaw ride. My hands were sticky with god knows what. My shirt was clinging to my body.
I was so happy.
This all was a product of my first day of work. My wonderful, amazing, insane first day of work.
It started with a walk to the Mother House for the 7am breakfast with all the other volunteers. Walking into the room and seeing the 70 plus other people was great. The room was just buzzing with laughter and chatting and smiling and at least a dozen different languages. I was so ready to jump into it. I ate my chai, banana and slice of bread with my friends from Canada I met at orientation. They are this amazing couple from Toronto here for the Larche International Conference. Matt and Marco are both working at Prem Dan as well and said they would help em find my way there after breakfast. After singing goodbye to the volunteers who were having their last day--a Mother House tradition--the garage door flung open to release out to our respective work sites. It felt very epic. Release the volunteers!
And then to my bus. Gosh, the 202 Kolkata city bus. What an experience. It cost 4 Rupees to ride to my work. It was so rickety and fast and colorful. On the bus I met a girl who was, as I could tell, the only other fluent, English speaking volunteer going to Prem Dan to the women´s ward. She very quickly became my new big sister and mentor for the day. Her name is Bernadette and she is from South Africa. She´s an amazing woman. I really enjoy having her here.
Bernadette walked me to Prem Dan with the other volunteers, mostly Spanish girls and few Japanese and Korean girls as well. Oh, the Seattle girls, they never showed up... MIA. Ehh.
Walking into the Prem Dan facility was surreal. After walking through the dirtiest slums I have ever seen in my life, we went through a gate into the compound. It´s like a whole other world. Quiet and clean and large and well kept. We started the morning with laundry. TONS of laundry, all done by hand. Our hands. My back is sore and my hands are worn nearly raw from all the ringing I did. Carrying pail after pail up two flights of stairs, hauling heavy loads of soaking wet sheets to and from stations. It all was great. It was the perfect way to interact with all the other volunteers. We all could barely 'speak' to one another, but between my broken Spanish and lost of smiling and gesturing towards buckets, we figured it out. Imagine that...using my high school Spanish in India! HA!
Then it was time to go into the sleeping room and help feed breakfast to the women.
The woman are ... hard to put into words. Some of them are so so sweet and just want to hug you. Others cry all day. Others never speak. Most are insanely malnourished and tiny and have various aliments like open bed sores or missing limbs or hunched backs. Gosh, I´m not going to try and describe the women now. I don´t know how.
After little tasks like serving breakfast, we had a chai and biscuit break with the other men volunteers from the other side of the facility. A much needed break and chat session with Matt and Marco.
The later morning I spent my time doing the 'real work' as Bernadette would say. I walked around and sat with women. Just sat with them. Held their hands. Rubbed their backs. Listened to them cry. Laughed with them. Nodded as if I understood their rapid Bengali. Back rubbing, hand holding and smiling. I am a pro at these things. I was made for this work.
Bernadette described Prem Dan to me best. She said that the patients have lived their whole lives on the street. They have always been treated like animals, their whole life. They come to Prem Dan to die being treated like humans. It´s our job to be human with them.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
It's Kolkata
A very clever SU alum once told me that he learned more on his taxi ride from the airport to Sudder street in Kolkata than he did in all his four years at college.
Traveling into India went really really well. Again, I had the extra adrenaline rush of navigating it all solo. Needless to say, when I found Joe and Traci at our hotel, I was exceedingly excited. After a short flight packed full of Indian men--one of whom insisted I have a Pepsi with my breakfast because I was American--I made it through customs and got a taxi. Driving through Kolkata I was initially taken back by the amount of noise. So much noise. Here your horn is your most valuable car part. A honk means move, I'm turning right, I'm turning left, move faster, watch out I'm passing you, hello I have a car, this traffic sucks or have a nice day.
I spent yeterday walking around the city with Joe and Traci. We went through a little park and talked with a new friend we made, a young girl from Germany. And then we went out to dinner. With another German girl Traci works with at Shishu Bhavan. The Germans love us. Better yet, all the volunteers here love everyone! That was one of the most exciting things about yesterday. Meeting all the other volunteers here to work. Our entire hotel is alllll volunteers. It's so nice having the same schedule as the rest of the building.
I went to orientation today for work (Joe and Traci already started working a few days ago). After a very eye opening walk to the Mother House--I was nearly side swiped by a leg of some sort of carcass being butchered on the street--I made it. I still hadn't decided on where to work. Once sitting through orientation I felt very drawn to work at Prem Dan, the hospice type care facility for both men and women. I was told that was the site they needed help at most. I was also drawn to it after day dreaming about my bus ride I'll have to take every morning to work and after looking at a picture of a girl doing laundry. Something about the idea of checking out and just doing physical labor for a morning seemed so appealing to me right then. Turns out I made a great choice in terms of other volunteers I'll be working with. I meet 4 other girls who will be starting tomorrow at Prem Dan as well who are from SEATTLE! Ha. And! They had been told to look for the SU kids by their advisor at PLU. We're famous! They all seemed really great. They are nursing and pre-med majors, so I'm excited to have someone to tag along with who is slightly competent in a medical environment. Because I am slightly notatall competent. I start work tomorrow at 8am after our daily morning breakfast of chai and bananas from the Sisters with all the volunteers at 7am. I'm oh so eager. It feels so great to have a schedule in a place so foreigner.
I wish I could articulate more of what I'm seeing and feeling for you, but it's so many things. There are equal parts astoundingly beautiful things and horribly disgusting things. Having only two days under my belt, I feel like I've already seen so much.
In my short time, I feel like I can say that Kolkata is, simply put, all over you. It's on top of you. It commandeers every sense, in every way.
It's the sludge that flips onto the back of your legs, the little girl tugging at your elbow in New Market, the red saree drying on the balcony, the smell of the chai stand (and the burning rubber and the rotting garbage and raw meat and feces), it's the goat you side step to avoid being hit by a rickshaw and it's the boy showering naked on the sidewalk. You can't ignore it.
It's consuming in a way you can't ignore. I feel like just by its intrusiveness it forces you to love it. I suppose you could choose to hate it... but people who choose hate over love don't come to India.
Traveling into India went really really well. Again, I had the extra adrenaline rush of navigating it all solo. Needless to say, when I found Joe and Traci at our hotel, I was exceedingly excited. After a short flight packed full of Indian men--one of whom insisted I have a Pepsi with my breakfast because I was American--I made it through customs and got a taxi. Driving through Kolkata I was initially taken back by the amount of noise. So much noise. Here your horn is your most valuable car part. A honk means move, I'm turning right, I'm turning left, move faster, watch out I'm passing you, hello I have a car, this traffic sucks or have a nice day.
I spent yeterday walking around the city with Joe and Traci. We went through a little park and talked with a new friend we made, a young girl from Germany. And then we went out to dinner. With another German girl Traci works with at Shishu Bhavan. The Germans love us. Better yet, all the volunteers here love everyone! That was one of the most exciting things about yesterday. Meeting all the other volunteers here to work. Our entire hotel is alllll volunteers. It's so nice having the same schedule as the rest of the building.
I went to orientation today for work (Joe and Traci already started working a few days ago). After a very eye opening walk to the Mother House--I was nearly side swiped by a leg of some sort of carcass being butchered on the street--I made it. I still hadn't decided on where to work. Once sitting through orientation I felt very drawn to work at Prem Dan, the hospice type care facility for both men and women. I was told that was the site they needed help at most. I was also drawn to it after day dreaming about my bus ride I'll have to take every morning to work and after looking at a picture of a girl doing laundry. Something about the idea of checking out and just doing physical labor for a morning seemed so appealing to me right then. Turns out I made a great choice in terms of other volunteers I'll be working with. I meet 4 other girls who will be starting tomorrow at Prem Dan as well who are from SEATTLE! Ha. And! They had been told to look for the SU kids by their advisor at PLU. We're famous! They all seemed really great. They are nursing and pre-med majors, so I'm excited to have someone to tag along with who is slightly competent in a medical environment. Because I am slightly notatall competent. I start work tomorrow at 8am after our daily morning breakfast of chai and bananas from the Sisters with all the volunteers at 7am. I'm oh so eager. It feels so great to have a schedule in a place so foreigner.
I wish I could articulate more of what I'm seeing and feeling for you, but it's so many things. There are equal parts astoundingly beautiful things and horribly disgusting things. Having only two days under my belt, I feel like I've already seen so much.
In my short time, I feel like I can say that Kolkata is, simply put, all over you. It's on top of you. It commandeers every sense, in every way.
It's the sludge that flips onto the back of your legs, the little girl tugging at your elbow in New Market, the red saree drying on the balcony, the smell of the chai stand (and the burning rubber and the rotting garbage and raw meat and feces), it's the goat you side step to avoid being hit by a rickshaw and it's the boy showering naked on the sidewalk. You can't ignore it.
It's consuming in a way you can't ignore. I feel like just by its intrusiveness it forces you to love it. I suppose you could choose to hate it... but people who choose hate over love don't come to India.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
A little sniffly, a lot of good pictures
I've hit two minor bumps in the road. The first: Having returned from the coast, I realize now that traveling alone means you have no one to put sunscreen on your back. I have a very burnt circle in the middle of my back. My pack rubs it in a bad way.
Secondly: What I thought was just smoker's lung from all the Bangkok smog is apparently a head cold. I'm sniffly and in need of kleenex and some extra extra spicy curry. All the more reason to go to Kolkata tomorrow.
On the bright side, I've uploaded all of my Thailand pictures. Take a look.
On the bright side, I've uploaded all of my Thailand pictures. Take a look.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Hau-Hin Seaside Guesthouse?
Try guesthouse-suspended-over-the-sea.
I am currently residing, with sandy toes, in Hua-Hin. I arrived yesterday via a government bus from Bangkok. Hau-Hin is a popular and close vacation spot for a lot of locals from Bangkok. I would have hoped to travel farther south down the coast, but Joe and Traci already left for India and I don't want to get too far behind them--hence, my mini two day trip to the beach. The ride was a lot of fun. I was the only non-Thai beach goer on the large bus. That made me happy.
After staying in a lack luster hotel last night, I woke up early this morning to go out searching for a better hostel. And better did I find! Tonight I'm staying at the Siriam Guesthouse which is an old fisherman's house that has been renovated into a bare bones guesthouse. The rooms are found at the end of a long deck. They are suspended on old rickety posts, literally hoovering over the tides. I hear the waves splashing under my bed. And! There is a big large communal deck at the end of the rooms were you can find me journaling and reading more often than not. And as if that wasn't enough... the guesthouse's owners have four rolly pug dogs that run around the decks that love to have sex right outside my room. I love Hau-Hin!
The beaches are pretty great--once you can navigate away from the large hotels that line the northern portion of Hau-Hin. Today I laid out all morning. And swam and swam and swam until my fingers got pruny. I haven't done that since I was a little kid. Hau-Hin is know for its big boulder beaches. Dotting the beaches, amongst white sand are huge huge boulders. Everywhere. 7am this morning these boulders proved to be a mecca of tidepooling fun for this Oregonian, Outdoor School kid.
I ate dinner last night at a little seaside hut. I had squid, caught off shore that day and some rice. My toes were in the ocean and the guy serving me had to keep pulling my little knee high table back as the tide came in. It was so perfect.
Hau-Hin is also know for it's sex vacationers. I was not prepared for this, despite coming from Bangkok. In Bangkok the sex industry is at least a bit more discret--here it's in your face. Everywhere I go there are Nana couples--creepy older, white men with young Thai women. I realize now why there aren't many other young travelers here. It's hard to see so much of this ugliness everywhere. Part of me wants to just ignore them and pretend this beach is perfect. And the other part of me wants to stare and take pictures of them in hopes of possibly sparking a glimmer of guilt in these pigs. Bahh.
Overall, I'm glad I made it to the beach before I leave for India. It feels good to relax all day before the madness of my full days of work start in Kolkata. Also, I think venturing away from Bangkok did me a lot of good in terms of confidence as a solo traveler. I can feel my skin getting thicker. Not in the indifferent sort of way, but in a adventurous, go go GO adventurous sort of way. It feels good.
I am currently residing, with sandy toes, in Hua-Hin. I arrived yesterday via a government bus from Bangkok. Hau-Hin is a popular and close vacation spot for a lot of locals from Bangkok. I would have hoped to travel farther south down the coast, but Joe and Traci already left for India and I don't want to get too far behind them--hence, my mini two day trip to the beach. The ride was a lot of fun. I was the only non-Thai beach goer on the large bus. That made me happy.
After staying in a lack luster hotel last night, I woke up early this morning to go out searching for a better hostel. And better did I find! Tonight I'm staying at the Siriam Guesthouse which is an old fisherman's house that has been renovated into a bare bones guesthouse. The rooms are found at the end of a long deck. They are suspended on old rickety posts, literally hoovering over the tides. I hear the waves splashing under my bed. And! There is a big large communal deck at the end of the rooms were you can find me journaling and reading more often than not. And as if that wasn't enough... the guesthouse's owners have four rolly pug dogs that run around the decks that love to have sex right outside my room. I love Hau-Hin!
The beaches are pretty great--once you can navigate away from the large hotels that line the northern portion of Hau-Hin. Today I laid out all morning. And swam and swam and swam until my fingers got pruny. I haven't done that since I was a little kid. Hau-Hin is know for its big boulder beaches. Dotting the beaches, amongst white sand are huge huge boulders. Everywhere. 7am this morning these boulders proved to be a mecca of tidepooling fun for this Oregonian, Outdoor School kid.
I ate dinner last night at a little seaside hut. I had squid, caught off shore that day and some rice. My toes were in the ocean and the guy serving me had to keep pulling my little knee high table back as the tide came in. It was so perfect.
Hau-Hin is also know for it's sex vacationers. I was not prepared for this, despite coming from Bangkok. In Bangkok the sex industry is at least a bit more discret--here it's in your face. Everywhere I go there are Nana couples--creepy older, white men with young Thai women. I realize now why there aren't many other young travelers here. It's hard to see so much of this ugliness everywhere. Part of me wants to just ignore them and pretend this beach is perfect. And the other part of me wants to stare and take pictures of them in hopes of possibly sparking a glimmer of guilt in these pigs. Bahh.
Overall, I'm glad I made it to the beach before I leave for India. It feels good to relax all day before the madness of my full days of work start in Kolkata. Also, I think venturing away from Bangkok did me a lot of good in terms of confidence as a solo traveler. I can feel my skin getting thicker. Not in the indifferent sort of way, but in a adventurous, go go GO adventurous sort of way. It feels good.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
yesterday i wished i was canadian
So, umm, muay thai boxing? RAD!
Yesterday was an amazing day. We certainly filled it to the brim with mini adventures. First, we finally found the flower market--however, only after a couple hours of wandering the streets of Bangkok and getting distracted by the coolest little tucked away park. The park was gorgeous and filled with lots of Thai students studying. I couldn't help but sit and think about SU starting classes right now and how the exact same scene is probably happening in Cal Anderson Park. Small world. And then the flower market... amazing. It was basically just a couple of blocks of shoulder to shoulder vendors selling the most colorful flowers you've ever seen. I was in heaven. Imagine Pike Place Market but much more condensed and with much more exotic, gorgeous flowers and much much more pee on the ground. Seriously heaven (minus the pee).
And then we made it to the Muay Thai boxing match. Holy CRAP. It was really intense. And really worth the price of tickets. We were three of the only foreigners in the upper, second class seats. There were others, but they all had fancy ring side seats. Highlight: before we entered the stadium we found out that there was a young Canadian guy fighting a local. And we met him! His name was Sean--though the program accidentally listed him as "John." He was really nice and so glad to have us there. He's from Vancouver, so us Seattle kids seemed like a bit of home. His girlfriend was also there. We chatted with her for a while. She seemed pretty collected for a girl about to watch her boyfriend get bloody bloody in a ring with a super crazy Thai boxer. When Sean's match finally came around, we were cheering our heads off...which amused the locals to no end. They thought we were so funny. Sean ended up kicking major butt. His match was by far the bloodiest of the night. He didn't win though, which we displayed our dislike for loudly.
Today I'm off to the coast. I'm ready for some beach time after the craziness of Bangkok. I bought my ticket this morning for Kolkata. I leave Sunday.
Yesterday was an amazing day. We certainly filled it to the brim with mini adventures. First, we finally found the flower market--however, only after a couple hours of wandering the streets of Bangkok and getting distracted by the coolest little tucked away park. The park was gorgeous and filled with lots of Thai students studying. I couldn't help but sit and think about SU starting classes right now and how the exact same scene is probably happening in Cal Anderson Park. Small world. And then the flower market... amazing. It was basically just a couple of blocks of shoulder to shoulder vendors selling the most colorful flowers you've ever seen. I was in heaven. Imagine Pike Place Market but much more condensed and with much more exotic, gorgeous flowers and much much more pee on the ground. Seriously heaven (minus the pee).
And then we made it to the Muay Thai boxing match. Holy CRAP. It was really intense. And really worth the price of tickets. We were three of the only foreigners in the upper, second class seats. There were others, but they all had fancy ring side seats. Highlight: before we entered the stadium we found out that there was a young Canadian guy fighting a local. And we met him! His name was Sean--though the program accidentally listed him as "John." He was really nice and so glad to have us there. He's from Vancouver, so us Seattle kids seemed like a bit of home. His girlfriend was also there. We chatted with her for a while. She seemed pretty collected for a girl about to watch her boyfriend get bloody bloody in a ring with a super crazy Thai boxer. When Sean's match finally came around, we were cheering our heads off...which amused the locals to no end. They thought we were so funny. Sean ended up kicking major butt. His match was by far the bloodiest of the night. He didn't win though, which we displayed our dislike for loudly.
Today I'm off to the coast. I'm ready for some beach time after the craziness of Bangkok. I bought my ticket this morning for Kolkata. I leave Sunday.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Puffy Pants and Pad Thai
I've discovered the most amazing thing in the world (the world of pants). Thai fisherman pants.
I went out to the market on Khao San road yesterday and bought a pair of the
se amazingly baggy, puffy, slouchy-crouch, one size fits all pants. They are my new favorite piece of clothing. I don't have pictures now of me wearing them. Soon. Until then, here's a generic picture. Use your imagination for how awesomely silly and comfortable I look in them. * Note, mine are not neon pink.
Yesterday I (finally!) found Joe and Traci, my SU traveling buddies. After a long string of notes left at each others hostels and each of us waiting outside the other's hostel at the same time, we randomly ran into each other in a random ally at a random time. Imagine our excitement. We just stood and stared at each other and laughed. It all was very indicative of our lives together thus far, don't you think?
We spent the rest of the day hanging out around Khao San and eating tasty Pad Thai and drinking beer while discussing traveling to come and traveling thus far.
That night I made (or strongly encouraged) both Joe and Traci to purchase fisherman pants as well. I even haggled the price with the vendor for them. That is how much I love these pants. So now, now we are an awesome trio / fisherman panted gang. It's really great. And really puffy.
Today we are going on a rad rad adventure. First we are walking to the flower market I mentioned yesterday. And then we are off to a Thai boxing match!! AHHH! So rad. The match is tonight at 6. It is a traditional Muay Thai style match. I'm so so excited. I'll take lots of pictures.
And of course, I'm wearing my pants to the match.
I went out to the market on Khao San road yesterday and bought a pair of the
se amazingly baggy, puffy, slouchy-crouch, one size fits all pants. They are my new favorite piece of clothing. I don't have pictures now of me wearing them. Soon. Until then, here's a generic picture. Use your imagination for how awesomely silly and comfortable I look in them. * Note, mine are not neon pink.Yesterday I (finally!) found Joe and Traci, my SU traveling buddies. After a long string of notes left at each others hostels and each of us waiting outside the other's hostel at the same time, we randomly ran into each other in a random ally at a random time. Imagine our excitement. We just stood and stared at each other and laughed. It all was very indicative of our lives together thus far, don't you think?
We spent the rest of the day hanging out around Khao San and eating tasty Pad Thai and drinking beer while discussing traveling to come and traveling thus far.
That night I made (or strongly encouraged) both Joe and Traci to purchase fisherman pants as well. I even haggled the price with the vendor for them. That is how much I love these pants. So now, now we are an awesome trio / fisherman panted gang. It's really great. And really puffy.
Today we are going on a rad rad adventure. First we are walking to the flower market I mentioned yesterday. And then we are off to a Thai boxing match!! AHHH! So rad. The match is tonight at 6. It is a traditional Muay Thai style match. I'm so so excited. I'll take lots of pictures.
And of course, I'm wearing my pants to the match.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Oh, Bangkok
I did it. I arrived. In one piece. And I loved every single step of it.
I flew out early Sunday morning after a long night of Portland awesomeness. My best friends Annie and Hollis surprised me by driving down from Seattle. After scaring the shit out of me (and making me cry a little bit) we went out with Ben, my parents and Berg. I've never felt so overwhelmed by love like I did that night. It was a good overwhelmed... just hard not to cry when you have to say goodbye to so much good stuff. Traveling is an immensely selfish act that I'm not sure my heart was completely ready for. But I did. I left.
Overall, the epic flights across the globe went well. I did get delayed in San Francisco trying to get to my flight to South Korea. I had 20 minutes to get across SFO, check in and board. I didn't freak out. I just sweated a lot. And got really stoked. My trip felt very very physically real at that moment and I loved it.
On my 13 hour flight to S. Korea I sat next to the most adorable little Korean woman. She didn't speak English, but we had the best of time together the whole way. Highlight: when she started doing Tai Chi in the aisle and smiled at her and did some sun salutation deep breathing in the sit next to her (thank you Sullivan Retreat!). She giggled and patted me on the back. And later, when I was horribly confused by my elaborate in flight Korean meal, she laughed at me when I didn't eat the Bi-Bim-Bab salad correctly.
Then came the first "holy crap" moment. Once my flight from S. Korea took off in route to Bangkok, I royally freaked out. I don't know why this sentiment was so delayed...but that's when it hit me I was DOING IT. I allowed myself one hour of freak out time on the flight. Slept the rest of the time. And then I was BANGKOK!!! Whoa whoa whoa. When I made it through custom, I swear I looked like a kid on Christmas morning. I was so so insanely excited. I can't describe it to you. It was like I was completely in love with every little tiny thing in the world. Including the hilarious "Etiquette Bell" in the bathroom for when you need to make other noises.
At this point I had the raddest traveling experience to date. I got in line for a taxi to take me to my hostel (mind you I am alone and it is 2 am in Bangkok). I got a taxi and taxi driver who tried to scam me. I should have known when he jumped ahead of a younger driver to nab me, what probably looked like an easy quick buck. I wasn't having it.
Once in the taxi, driving to Khao San Road:
"You pay 1,000 Baht." (Nearly triple what this ride should be.)
"Nope, this is a metered taxi. Can you turn on your meter?"
"No. You pay 500 Baht. Flat."
"Turn on your meter."
"You cheap."
"You're wasting your time on the meter."
*Flips on meter
"You look like pretty Italian girl."
Trying to get a good tip now that he realizes he can't scam me.
Boo yah!
I found my hostel late last night. It's amazing. Super clean. Super tucked away (took a while to find). There is a coy pond out front and copious amounts of ferrel cat fights beyond the gate. Bangkok is wonderful.
Today Joe and Traci are suppose to find me here at the hostel. I might go find the flower market I keep on hearing about.
I flew out early Sunday morning after a long night of Portland awesomeness. My best friends Annie and Hollis surprised me by driving down from Seattle. After scaring the shit out of me (and making me cry a little bit) we went out with Ben, my parents and Berg. I've never felt so overwhelmed by love like I did that night. It was a good overwhelmed... just hard not to cry when you have to say goodbye to so much good stuff. Traveling is an immensely selfish act that I'm not sure my heart was completely ready for. But I did. I left.
Overall, the epic flights across the globe went well. I did get delayed in San Francisco trying to get to my flight to South Korea. I had 20 minutes to get across SFO, check in and board. I didn't freak out. I just sweated a lot. And got really stoked. My trip felt very very physically real at that moment and I loved it.
On my 13 hour flight to S. Korea I sat next to the most adorable little Korean woman. She didn't speak English, but we had the best of time together the whole way. Highlight: when she started doing Tai Chi in the aisle and smiled at her and did some sun salutation deep breathing in the sit next to her (thank you Sullivan Retreat!). She giggled and patted me on the back. And later, when I was horribly confused by my elaborate in flight Korean meal, she laughed at me when I didn't eat the Bi-Bim-Bab salad correctly.
Then came the first "holy crap" moment. Once my flight from S. Korea took off in route to Bangkok, I royally freaked out. I don't know why this sentiment was so delayed...but that's when it hit me I was DOING IT. I allowed myself one hour of freak out time on the flight. Slept the rest of the time. And then I was BANGKOK!!! Whoa whoa whoa. When I made it through custom, I swear I looked like a kid on Christmas morning. I was so so insanely excited. I can't describe it to you. It was like I was completely in love with every little tiny thing in the world. Including the hilarious "Etiquette Bell" in the bathroom for when you need to make other noises.
At this point I had the raddest traveling experience to date. I got in line for a taxi to take me to my hostel (mind you I am alone and it is 2 am in Bangkok). I got a taxi and taxi driver who tried to scam me. I should have known when he jumped ahead of a younger driver to nab me, what probably looked like an easy quick buck. I wasn't having it.
Once in the taxi, driving to Khao San Road:
"You pay 1,000 Baht." (Nearly triple what this ride should be.)
"Nope, this is a metered taxi. Can you turn on your meter?"
"No. You pay 500 Baht. Flat."
"Turn on your meter."
"You cheap."
"You're wasting your time on the meter."
*Flips on meter
"You look like pretty Italian girl."
Trying to get a good tip now that he realizes he can't scam me.
Boo yah!
I found my hostel late last night. It's amazing. Super clean. Super tucked away (took a while to find). There is a coy pond out front and copious amounts of ferrel cat fights beyond the gate. Bangkok is wonderful.
Today Joe and Traci are suppose to find me here at the hostel. I might go find the flower market I keep on hearing about.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
I've been SABOTAGED!!!
I woke up yesterday in a sweat. And a bit of a panic.
I had arrived in Calcutta and made it to the guest house safely...but I was so tired and so sweaty and my bag was so heavy. Once in my room, I dropped my pack and began to pull out my belongings. To my complete and utter surprise there were two large cinder blocks at the bottom of my pack.
I quickly deduced they had been placed there by none other than the devious little rat scoundrel himself, Ben Sellon. I was furious at this discovery of sabotage. Clearly Ben was trying to make my travels extra difficult so that I'd be discouraged and want to come home early. Like I said, rat scoundrel.
Of course, this was all a dream. A very unsettling and yet oddly adorable dream.
I leave this Sunday for my big, crazy, grand adventure to Thailand/India/Nepal. I feel basically ready. My bag is packed (minus cinder blocks) and I've begun to say goodbye to people. I'm living in Portland spending my days at coffee shops and biking around to find the best prices on medical gloves and masks to take with me. In case you were wondering, the 50 packs at Fred Meyer are the best deal. Last Sunday I had a mini going away party at my parent's house in Hillsboro were I got to see lots of family and friends from home before I leave. The week before that I had an amazing amazing seven days on the Oregon coast on a retreat for school. It was absolutely the perfect way to prepare for a trip abroad. I'm really thankful for that down time and all the wonderful conversations I had with my close friends while sitting around looking at the ocean.
My travel compadres are now officially in Thailand. Joe and Traci arrived yesterday. It's so weird to think they are probably in some awesome Bangkok market right now while I'm typing away in a Portland coffee shop. Our worlds will merge soon enough. Check out Joe's blog for extra info while we're traveling.
If I haven't said good bye to you yet, good bye. And if I have said good bye to you, I already miss you. And if you're going to miss me, please just tell me...don't pack my bag full of concrete so that I get tired and worn down and want to come home early (eehh hhmm, Ben!). I promise I'll come back in due time. With loads of stories and loads of sketches in my journal and a million things to share with you.
I'll blog as soon as I can once I've arrived in Bangkok. Until then...
I had arrived in Calcutta and made it to the guest house safely...but I was so tired and so sweaty and my bag was so heavy. Once in my room, I dropped my pack and began to pull out my belongings. To my complete and utter surprise there were two large cinder blocks at the bottom of my pack.
I quickly deduced they had been placed there by none other than the devious little rat scoundrel himself, Ben Sellon. I was furious at this discovery of sabotage. Clearly Ben was trying to make my travels extra difficult so that I'd be discouraged and want to come home early. Like I said, rat scoundrel.Of course, this was all a dream. A very unsettling and yet oddly adorable dream.
I leave this Sunday for my big, crazy, grand adventure to Thailand/India/Nepal. I feel basically ready. My bag is packed (minus cinder blocks) and I've begun to say goodbye to people. I'm living in Portland spending my days at coffee shops and biking around to find the best prices on medical gloves and masks to take with me. In case you were wondering, the 50 packs at Fred Meyer are the best deal. Last Sunday I had a mini going away party at my parent's house in Hillsboro were I got to see lots of family and friends from home before I leave. The week before that I had an amazing amazing seven days on the Oregon coast on a retreat for school. It was absolutely the perfect way to prepare for a trip abroad. I'm really thankful for that down time and all the wonderful conversations I had with my close friends while sitting around looking at the ocean.
My travel compadres are now officially in Thailand. Joe and Traci arrived yesterday. It's so weird to think they are probably in some awesome Bangkok market right now while I'm typing away in a Portland coffee shop. Our worlds will merge soon enough. Check out Joe's blog for extra info while we're traveling.
If I haven't said good bye to you yet, good bye. And if I have said good bye to you, I already miss you. And if you're going to miss me, please just tell me...don't pack my bag full of concrete so that I get tired and worn down and want to come home early (eehh hhmm, Ben!). I promise I'll come back in due time. With loads of stories and loads of sketches in my journal and a million things to share with you.
I'll blog as soon as I can once I've arrived in Bangkok. Until then...
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