Random

It has been a relatively good week! Mel and I joke that whenever we say, ok we are starting to get this whole thing down, the Universe, or Thailand, comes along and slaps us in the face. We have stopped saying that. And we have stopped trying to expect what is going to happen around here! It is too chaotic but weirdly organized...I don't know. 

On Tuesday, we arrived back at our apartment from the night market to find a birthday party for the owner of the apartment complex! There was Thai karaoke, lots of food and a ton of older people.  It's things like that, everyday!

On Monday, Teacher Eric (who is married to a Thai teacher at our school and so is the only one who gets any information around here!) let us know that Thursday would be Wai Khru day.  This is like a teacher appreciation day.  He told us that the whole morning would be reserved for it and we wouldn't have any classes, sweet! Then on Wednesday, he told us actually, 1, 2, and 3 would be in the morning and 4, 5, and 6 would be in the afternoon. Ok, that's fine too! Then today, Thursday, he tells us, now it is whatever period you have first because 1, 3, and 6 are going first and then 2, 4, and 5! Ok...no Thai teacher has told us anything yet by the way, this is all through Teacher Eric..so crazy.  They just don't think we need to know until it is happening, which I guess is ok, it can sometimes be a little stressful though.  

Sometimes, I think the Thai teachers think we are just stupid.  Nongnoot said the other day to Mel and I, "It is the start of the rainy season, that means it rains a lot and you will need an umbrella."  Yes, thank you, I didn't know how to protect myself from the water falling from the sky...

They also think we are the same person.  After the motorbike accident, they wanted to get us bikes so we wouldn't ride motorbikes anymore, 555.  Nonglak presents us with our "new" bikes one day, a couple weeks ago.  One of them is beautiful and red and brand spankin new! The other is like a child's bike that is 10 years old.  Mel is about a foot taller than me so of course she gets the new, bike and I get the older one.  We are riding them around the city, testing them out and I discover (in traffic) that the breaks on mine no longer work! Great. We are not mad, we just discuss that it is a good thing that Mel and I like each other or else we would have been fighting over the new bike and would have refused the older bike or something dramatic.  Since we do get along, we were switching off for awhile, until we were like, why are we just accepting this crap bike and one new one?? We aren't the same! So I let Nonglak know that I was thinking of buying myself a new bike because the breaks on the old one don't work and it is so small that my knees reach the handlebars.  She looked confused/worried and said, Ohhhhhhhh (typical Thai response) and let me know that it was the director's old bike and he was going to buy himself a new one, oh that's nice.  She said she would talk to the Director about buying me a new one and to bring the old one back, which I promptly did.  I had a new one in three days and now Mel and I have matching, red, new bikes! YES! 

What else, what else? 

I never really knew what an ex-pat was until coming here and meeting them in real life.  The other foreigners in Phrae are definitely ex-pats.  Mel and I are so excited, planning weekend trips, exploring Phrae, etc. They don't really do anything. They go to the same bar every day and drink and smoke for hours and don't go anywhere! You are in freakin Thailand! When the weekend is coming, we ask what they are going to be doing, nothing. hmmm, odd.

Mel and I went swimming at the Maeyom Palace Hotel this weekend, OMG I GOT SO SUNBURNED. I had sunscreen on, I didn't stay in the sun too long, and I was super careful! Burnt to a crisp. It is because of my stupid malaria pills, the side effect is sun sensitivity, as if I don't suffer enough from that already! Luckily, aloe grows around here naturally so Thai people see me all red and just hand me branches. 555 

I also don't know how we are going to go back to America and not be a big deal.  In Phrae, everyone cares about us, they want to know where we come from, where we live, where we work, how long we will stay in Thailand, have we eaten yet, do we like Thai food, when will we come back to Thailand, etc. (That is my favorite, I have been here a month and have at least 9 more to go and they want to know when I am coming back) 

Well that is enough randomness for now! We are going to Lampang this weekend.  It is about 2 hours by bus away from us, between here and Chiang Mai.  It should be relaxing :-) Miss you all!