It's like I'm in a scene from "The King and I"

Here are a few pictures from the Old Town festival I went to a while back. After some confusion (I thought we were meeting up with one of the pastors at an old house), some other girls and I walked up and down the beautifully lit streets. The wonderful smell of food was everywhere. I’m not talking fair food; I’m talking whole grilled chicken and fresh fried crab meat. The smells of the sate fair cannot compare to the smells of spices and flames. Traditionally dressed Thai women shuffled past us, and at one point a small parade of drums, mask men, and a dragon went by. It was a wonderful night, and one of my favorites thus far.

A humble abode

I am living in a foundation home set up by the church, and funded by some charitable individuals. For the most part it is girls in their late teens and early twenties living here. But there are a few boys and a couple of younger kids. We all share the kitchen and main living area on the first floor. We also share the laundry room and computer area on the second floor. The bedrooms are on the second and third floors. On both floors are two bathrooms, a larger and a smaller. The larger has two showers and two toilets, and the smaller has one of each. My room is on the third floor, and sometimes water just can’t make it all the way up here. When that happens I usually have to wait for the lull between the when the early risers have left and when the late risers are still in bed. I jump into one of the showers on the second floor, and take a quick cold shower. There is no water heater here, so all you get are cold showers. I’m not yet used to this kind of cold hitting my body in the earlier hours of the day, so I try to make my showers as quick as possible. That, and my shower mates are usually spiders, the big kind, and I don’t like spending too much time with them.
But anyway, here is the house:

I’ll unleash all of my wilderness exploring on you

These are from the park near by.

I’ll been sitting over here, chillen like a villain

My favorite place to be is the balcony off my room. I pull the plastic chair from my desk and prop my feet up on one of the horizontal bars. If I plan to be out here long I bring a folded towel from my room so the seat is not as hard. I come out with the intent to read, write, or listen to music. But in the end I find myself preoccupied with everything that is going on below me. I’m usually here in the late afternoon. At about 4 it’s just me, the old lady sitting in front of her house, and the birds. The birds keep themselves busy, flying from roof top to roof top and arguing over their different spots. In a short someone from the house across the will slide a plate of food under the gate for the birds. They’ll all swoop down and crowd around the dish, fighting for a place. But inevitably the plate will get upset and the food will be spread out over the ground. Then the busy body birds will move around, bobbing their heads and picking up as much food as they can. This is why they don’t go far; they know they will be fed at some point if they just stay near by. They fly from place to place, from the ground to the trees to over my head. Sometimes, when I am really still and lost in thought, a bird will come and land on the balcony wall. I’ll realize I have company and end up frightening the bird away.
If I am out here till 5 I’ll hear the neighbor practicing their violin. The classical music mixes with the birds’ songs and the Thai conversations. Each takes turns dominating the noise. A bird will land close by or someone will laugh louder than the people around them. Occasionally a car or bike horn will honk, announcing that they are there to pick someone up. The horn is an unwelcome interruption to the rest of the noise around me. It is load and intrusive. Cars and bikes move freely on this street. They are not as fast or assertive here as they are on the main streets. The bikes do not whip around cars and trucks do not push into lanes where there is no room. They move around each with more ease.
It is the weekend now, and the two sisters from across the street have taken out their badminton rackets. They are standing in the road and hitting a birdie back and forth. The littler girls who live on this street have taken out their bikes and are peddling around in front of the adults. Sometimes one will get in the way of a passing car, only to move away quickly at the sound of their name being yelled. A parent will shake their head disapprovingly, and then go back to their conversation. Even the kids from my house have ventured out past the gate, playing with the other kids and walking round the construction sight near the end of the road. One of them sees me; they all stop and start waving their arms yelling “face, face.” My waving back seems to encourage them to get louder. Finally they get bored and go back to playing.
The streets lights are on now, and my stomach is getting louder. I’ve been out here for hours. I have fried noodles and soup waiting for me in the kitchen down stairs, and I’m considering opening the apple juice I bought yesterday. It’s time to close up shop and go in.
Catch you on the flip side.

A house is not a home... until you put your jewelry in it.

My wonderful room. It is so much space, and it is all mine.








Catch you on the flip side.

I think...therefore, I'm single.

I have been bugged by friends and family alike for more pictures, so here some are. I think the reason I have not taken a whole lot of pictures is that at first my goal was to get used to things, and now that I am used to a lot of things I don't think to take pictures of them. But I have started to carry my camera around, and more pictures are being taken.
These are from the other day. And it goes to show that if you me in an office alone for about an hour with craft supplies for Valentines day, this is what you will get.
Now I'm not a big Valentines day fan. It focus on dating aspect of love, and people already have anniversaries for that. Why do you need to go through the whole thing twice in one year? Furthermore, it is so planned out and cliche (I know I am not the first to notice this, but whatever), if you love someone you should take them to dinner and buy them gifts throughout the year. However, there are good things about Valentines day. One being the day after Valentines day because of all the left over candy. Another is it gives me a reason to wear something really red.
But for those of you in relationships, do what you do. And for those of you not in a relationship, but some chocolates and wear red anyways.
Catch you on the flip side.

I could fall in love with you for the sole reason you speak English.

All I wanted was a drink of water. But I couldn’t get it ‘cause there was a dog lying near the end of the steps. A HUGE dog just chillin’ there. Now dogs do not normally scare me, and this one wouldn’t either if it were say, a house dog. But it was not a house dog; it was a stray dog blocking my way to the kitchen. They kids tried telling me it was no big deal, and that I should just “walk around it.” “Around it?” I could barely see past it. I finally decided to go back up the stairs, and walk all the way around the second floor and come down on the other side. By the time I got to the bottom I was really thirsty, and more than a little angry at the beast of a thing on the other side of the room.
Why was there a stray dog in the house? Because it is Chinese New Years of course.
Everywhere throughout the city, people are setting off firecrackers throughout the day, and it’s scaring the stray dogs. One of them I guess was sick of being disturbed and came into our house. It doesn’t help that they leave the “door,” which is basically a garage door, open all day long. Anyways, it is believed that the “bangs” ward off the evil spirits, but I think it gives people an excuse to make unnecessary noise on a day most of them have off from work. But they are not even limiting themselves to one day, or even to setting them off during an expectable hour. At about 3 am last night I was awaken by what first sounded like gunshots. The first thing that came to mind was “so much for the land of smiles,” but after a few seconds I realized it was just some idiot being an idiot on a week night. If it were a weekend I could have given a bit more slack, but as it wasn’t, and I was not exactly “loving” all of God’s creatures because of it. However, last night when I was getting ready for bed there was a REAL fireworks display. I could see the whole thing from the balcony off my room. I stood out there giving all the appropriate “ooo”s and “ahhh”s, and it totally made up for the firecrackers of the previous few days.
Today was my laundry day. Thankfully, because of all of my vintage clothing at home, I know how to wash clothing by hand. There are washing machines here, but I don’t trust them with most of my clothing. I don’t have a whole lot of clothes here, and what I do have I would like it to stay in one piece, and not be completely faded for a little while longer.
I also did some adventuring by myself today. Now last time I did this I got a bit lost and was almost run over by a motor bike. This time out I chose a different direction, and I found the park everyone here has been talking about. I was quite nice, little ponds and lots of paths and trees. But I got turned around while I was in it, and in the end I walk through the WHOLE park (which turned out to be larger than it looked) to find my way out. It was important to go out the way I went in, otherwise I would be lost in a unfamiliar part of town, and that is exactly what I was trying to avoid. I finally got out and home. Success!
Catch you on the flip side.