a Life of Highs and Lows

Since arriving in Thailand just over two weeks ago I have had an extreme range of experiences, from the amazing to the terrifying, but it has all seemed still surreal. Last weekend we headed out by the night ferry to Koh Tao, at about 5:30am I awoke drenched in sweat and 2 inches from bodies on either side. The heat and the smell made me instantly nauseous so I headed out to the non-existent deck – basically there was about 2 feet of wood planks around the outside of the boat and from the lower level you could climb out and hold on to the side! As we approached land we spotted a large shark not too far from our boat and after the 7 hour ride we finally caught sight of land... more specifically an island paradise, forests of palm trees & mountains jutting out of the sea. 

At the docks we caught a truck taxi, literally two benches in the back of a pick-up truck and had an amazing ride through the forest and up a ways towards the main strip of beach where we would be able to rent out bungalows for the night!

Bungalows!!

After settling in and changing clothes we headed straight across the sidewalk to the beach. Now knowing me, I'm sure none of you will be surprised to learn that within 30 min of getting to the coast and into the water I sustained my first injury in Thailand. We were all jumping and playing about in the sea when I suddenly stepped on a sharp bit of coral reef and sliced my toe right open! In the crystal clear water I had no excuse to not see where I was stepping, but it caught me good and I was instantly bleeding profusely! Luckily one of the couples with us, Phil & Julia, have an adorable 3 year-old, Isabelle, with them so mommy Julia was quickly on the scene helping me hobble out of the water and getting me all bandaged up! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get back in the water the rest of the day and I've still got a bit of a limp even a week later!!

That evening we took the opportunity to scope out the night life on the island where all of the bars are literally right on the beach! The first spot we stopped into had small beach mats with tables set around the sand and the bar was made under a large palm tree, and they had awesome guys fire-dancing!

Finally, we ended up stumbling onto the “Half Moon Party” – this island is famous for their “Full Moon Parties” that are supposed to be full of wild revelry, excessive drinking, and all around chaos – but it looks like they are really willing to make any excuse to party! We had a great time that night and were out celebrating Sophie's birthday – but the next day our group was recovering from a variety of hardships – from sunburns, hang-overs, and me with my toe we were a bit of a rough bunch and by Sunday night we were all eager to get back home! At about 9pm we hopped back onto another large boat, crammed with upwards of 100 people in a small closed in hold and rode off into the night. On our way home we hit a pretty large thunderstorm and were woken up by lightening, thunder, and rain pouring into the open windows! Several of us had some good laughs about the lack of safety standards on the boat, which in some respects felt a lot more like a slave ship!! Just another part of the journey!

After only one week in Suratthani, where we are basically the only farang, or foreigners, we were already a little put off by all the tourists and white people!! The people working on the island looked at us funny when we greeted them with a wai and “Sawatdeekaa”. I think in general we all agreed that the vibe of the Koh Tao was a bit much, from high prices, to lots of obnoxious tourists, and an emphasis on partying – especially in comparison to our weekend of absolute zen in Khanom the week prior!! But the views were definitely worth it, and I think in the future if I went back it would be to do some more hiking and exploring in the island mountains!

Today I had a chance to go with the two Holly's over to the local library and spend a few hours reading stories and singing songs with kids. This was the first of this kind of outreach event where we are trying to promote The Language and get a chance to interact with some of the kids in town who haven't had a chance to study with our company. It was a really fun way to get to spend some more time with the kids and I enjoyed again seeing how much capacity the little ones have for the language skills and picking up vocabulary!!! We read them the Lion and the Mouse, The Brave Hedgehog, and Giraffes Can't Dance and had a blast acting them out with our homemade puppets! I'm always down for any excuse to go into a library, and its great to see that kids still go to libraries and have fun!!!!

Suratthani Library - next to the pier

So far the only thing I have been really struggling with has been the cockroaches!!!!! For some reason the roaches keep showing up in my room, and more specifically in my BED!!! Luckily I have 2 guy housemates that have no problem catching them if they can, but one of the times the stupid thing then ran under my bed and I had no way to get to it! Luckily with the help of YouTube I was able to find a way to make a homemade trap with an empty Snapple bottle filled half way with honey, water and some margarine around the opening!! So far I've caught 3 this way in my bedroom and I don't know if that should make me feel better or worse – but I'm trying to stick with better! For now! 

not okay....

Otherwise there are lots of little things that we are all quickly adapting too, such as ants and flies everywhere. Literally I constantly have bugs on me and the feeling of bugs crawling on me! In restaurants and bathrooms there are just thousands of them alll the time! The toilets here are about as far from glamorous as you could get and the "BumGun" grows on you, but the squatting element is a whole different story!! It surely makes me appreciate the little things in life.... like toilet paper.. and hand soap, both rare commodities in this country!

Eating here is an adventure all in itself, but I think I'll have to wait and dedicate a whole post just to food!! Until then I shall try to be more adamant about photographing my meals as well as the things I'm not brave enough to try!!!