Back from the deep south (of Thailand, that is...)

I got back from Phattalung, Kiat's hometown, yesterday evening! It was a pretty good trip..except for the bus ride (especially the one going to Phattalung). About 2 hours into the ride I threw up-3 times-all over myself and the seat. Yeah...it was great. I didn't even have time to warn Kiat and he ended up cleaning up my mess with his clothes (which his mom washed for him when we got to Phattalung). I felt really bad, but he insisted it wasn't a problem...
Anyway...despite that we arrived in Phattalung safely and when we got there, Kiat's uncle had this Christmas Eve kareoke session going on, so there was a lot of people there. I was pretty tired though and went to be pretty early.
I didn't do that much there really..but it's sabai sabai (relaxing) and I ate A LOT of food. Neighbors and extended family kept on coming over and giving me food, fruit, etc. One day we went to a waterfall with his sister, Jiap, and her husband. We ate at the waterfall and went swimming. None of the ATMs in Phattalung worked for me...or at least in the vicinity of the area we were staying in...so we had to drive maybe 30 minutes to get to an ATM that actually worked. I ate a lot of interesting things as well...pig intestine, more pig innards, etc. There is also this fruit or something called Maat (sp?) which looks like an orange on the outside and has this brown seed on the inside which apparently makes you stoned like marijuana. I did not try it...but everyone else seemed to like it...haha....
It is very slow paced there...very different. But it was nice and it's a really beautiful place. Everyone there seems to work mostly in the morning and night time (on the rubber farms) and then in the daytime lay around and eat ALL the time. Oh-and kiat's family's house is across from a wat (temple) and so every morning at 5 am I woke up to them chanting and then they had someone on a loudspeaker tell everyone the news going on in Phattalung for about one hour. You can tell people there get up by 5 am usually...
The ride back on the bus to Phuket was much better and I did not throw up...but it's an at least 6 hour bus ride there...but it's very cheap-only 520 baht for 2 people (about $13 I think??) Tonight is New Years Eve...and I will probably go and watch the fireworks or something (they have a great fireworks show on New Years Eve). It should be fun. And then I leave on January 2nd (2 days) to go to KL to start my internship. It'll be an interesting change...
Anyway, I promise I will put up some pictures once I am in KL. Happy New Year's everyone!

In Phuket!

So I am finally in Phuket! Sorry for not updating this often...I don't get internet access where I live, so I have to go into town and use it. Kiat picked me up at the airport and it's been great spending time with him! I will post pictures later, since I do not know how to do that on this computer. Things I have done so far...
Well, I went to see a movie with Kiat, which was Avatar-great movie by the way. In patong there is a festival going on right now (then again, when is there NOT a festival...) but we went to a concert last night on the beach and it was a lot of fun. I've gone swimming and jet skiing as well. I might be going to southern Thailand for awhile (NOT in the provinces where there's bad stuff going on though-no worries mom and dad). I think we might take a bus or rent a car...not sure yet. But we will probably just go for 2-3 days. Kiat has family in Trang and he wants to see them...so we might head down there tomorrow (or the day after)? So I might not be in Phuket for Christmas...but maybe I will. My plans are a little bit up in the air at the moment. I have been eating a lot of good Thai food...definetly getting fed well here. Anyway, I gotta run! But I will try to update this again and post pictures later. Much love!

Ray, nancy and I in the top left picture

Nancy, Hongsuda, Nick, and I in the top right pic!

Me and Robbie!

I thought I would write something again, just because I don't know how much internet access I will have in Phuket. Yesteray was a really good day. I went into Bangkok with Nancy and Nick and we met Nick's wife, Hongsuda in the city. We took the skytrain to the emporium (I think thats the name...of one of the big malls). We ate lunch at this nice restaurant and I got somtam (papaya salad) with sticky rice and a watermelon shake (sorry if I talk about food too much...I'm a little obsessive about it...haha!)

We looked at laptobs for Hongsuda and Nick got a mandolin, which he is going to try and learn to play. I didn't get anything since I figured I don't need anything right now, especially since I have a lot of stuff anyway. We took the skytrain back to Big C and went back home. Later, Hongsuda's mom made Tom Yam Goong and Geang Keaw Wan, which was really good. I gave Robbie and Ray (Nick and Hongsuda's kids) the book, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and they seemed to enjoy it. I also gave them some salt water taffy from home.

As much as the "high-end" restaurants were really nice, I just want to eat on the street. I feel like that's where a lot of the good food is. Same with shopping...no way am even stepping into the designer stores that were in the malls...for one thing, way too expensive plus I can find decent stuff elsewhere. I want to go to Jakukak (sp?) market in Bangkok..but I won't have time to go there before I leave for Phuket this time around.

Anyway, I will try and keep this updated when I am in Phuket!

Bangkok

So I finally arrived in Bangkok late last night! My flights all actually went pretty smoothly. On the Portland to Narita, Japan flight I actually got a whole middle row (3 seats) to myself. I didn't even choose my seat! So I was pretty happy about that...but it was still a REALLY long flight..mybe 11 hours? Anyway..I got to Narita and then I had to wait in line for about an hour to go through another security bag check thing...which is ridiculous since they already checked out bags back in Portland. And then I took an about 7 hour flight from Narita to Bangkok...which was a bit more difficult because I had a middle seat and was really tired by then (I don't sleep on airplanes very well). I sat next to 2 Japanese boys and a guy who was a professor of geography from Minnesota who was going to visit his family in Nepal.
Finally, my flight arrived in Bangkok at 11:30ish and I got through immigration pretty quickly. I met my good family friend, Nick, at the airport and he took me back home to his place in Pathum Thani (a suburb of Bangkok). I was awake then because it was the daytime back home. My time clock is so off right now. I woke up at 7 am (though I didn't sleep much) and I'm pretty sure I will be going to sleep in a couple of hours.
It is really nice today...it's actually not that humid, or at least not as much as I thought it would be. I forget how much I really love this place. The sights, sounds, smells, people...everything. Right now the birds are singing, the orchids are in bloom, the sun is out, the people are chatting...It's good here. I have to admit...I don't miss home...yet. But that'll come later I'm guessing. Today I think I am mostly just staying here with Nancy (Nick's mom) and spending time with her and then tomorrow I think Nick is taking the day off and we're going out to lunch and probably going downtown. And then on Thursday (the 17th here) I am going to Phuket!! I a really happy to finally be here and I hope everyone is doing well back home. More later!

Expandable Suitcases are Essential...

Well, tomorrow I am heading out! It's hard to believe that I'm leaving...but emotionally I feel pretty prepared for it. Although, packing has been extremely tedious...and I might have to get a bigger suitcase. It's ridiculous how much I am bringing and I know I need to cut back. It's a bit stressful also trying to tie up all the loose ends of things. But I know I'll figure it all out in the end!
For those of you who do not know (though I think many of you know by now,) I am going to do an internship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the a local non-profit there called the Women's Aid Organization starting in January. For most of December I will be in Thailand, staying with friends in Bangkok and Phuket. I also might do a second internship later, maybe in April or May...but I am not sure where or what I would be doing yet.
Anyway, I have to admit that I'm pretty happy about getting out of this icy cold weather and into some sun (ok... lots of sun with 80% humidity or something like that...but we can't have everything perfect, right?) I will try to keep this blog updated as much as possible and I would love to hear from everyone back home! I have skype as well, so feel free to add me! I would send out mass emails to everyone...but honestly, this is way easier to do.
I wish everyone a very happy holidays! Stay in touch and I will try my best to do the same.

Cheers,
Karin