15. Living in Thailand! :)

Ok. Righto.

The past few weeks have been mass madness. To say the least. A mixture of sheer joy, anger, frustration, curiosity, bliss, peace, sadness and intrigue.

I have been unable to communicate any details, partly because my computer wouldn’t allow me to – with the humidity she gets in a very bad mood – but mostly because I have been stuck in this whirlwind of events. Sometimes floating so high on cloud nine that I cannot see the ground, and others- stuck in a tornado taking me on the ride of my fucking life. Most of the time this tornado has been happy, albeit a chaotic one. But on one or two occasions- not so much.
I think I might find it difficult to some up my Thailand experience thus far, even though it's only been three weeks - maybe because of all that has happened. It's shaped and shifted so rapidly I can hardly keep up.

Let's just say that right now, from here, I am going to discuss as much as I can..time to give it a go..

I arrived in a land so blatantly not my own, met lots of people from all over the world, gashed open my elbow on my first night (thank the lord for my medical aid kit because the smallest of cuts gets infected here.) fell down the stairs and grazed my knee, burned the skin off my shin on a motorbike, French kissed a Thai lesbian -not a lady boy;) gone on a cruise, gotten arrested in Phi Phi Island for sitting on a donkey- I suppose Thai jail was bound to happen at some point. Fell down a hill trying to pee, laughed so much in a Thai woman's car that I spat my beer all over her dry cleaning, played in the sand with the cutest of kids, gotten foreigners to buy us ladies free tequila, had an old Thai man try to kiss me, stroked an Elephanti and played with a monkey in a tutu, frolicked in the sea, rivers', caves', temples' and forests'. Ridden on buses', tuk tuks', and scooters' - sometimes with three people, a dog and no helmet:) Gotten scabies again, yes. Again. Thankfully I had all the cream and pills with me just in case, so got rid of it straight away and from now on refuse, absolutely REFUSE to touch another dog. Ever! Don't care how cute they are, all they do is make me sick and break my heart so I’m done with that. For now. Oh god. :)

Had extreme shits in way to many long drops to fathom, eaten meat that was not chicken, not fish and definitely not beef. Rubbed a zulu bum:) and begged a French colonialist for food. Done lots of marketing- clothes and food alike. Happened to be walking along the street when a gang war broke out, and got punched in the eye..shadowed two of my friends teaching Thai kids- never thought id say it, but corporal punishment is the way forward:) Gone on a cruise though the limestone cliffs and today I went sailing on a long boat through the lush mountains in Krabi, went to a fish market on water where I met Barak Obama ;) Not the president, but that's his name:)

I finished my day off at the market – bought chicken noodles for 20 baht – that's about 5 rand! And they were delicious!! bought a scarf, a hat and a dress – Krabi is so much cheaper than Phuket (clothes wise) and sat with the owner of my lovely hotel, his name is “Mr Man.” discussing how I need to move here after my course finishes in Phuket. He's going to show me a map of all the schools to go visit this week.
I must say, I love Phuket. I do. I was living in Old Phuket Town and it certainly has it's charm, and I found my local food spots that were yummy and light on the tummy – you've got to be careful here. And the bonus there is that you can live in town for cheaper and then do the beaches on the weekends when your not working – as they are only twenty minutes to half an hour away. However you cant live by the beach as it is far to expensive. One forgets that if you're in Phuket for a three week holiday, it's still cheap to hop around the beach towns, but if your living there – it is not the same. Like I said, Phuket is magnificent and certainly has it all. However I found myself (after being in Karon – a beach town in Phuket.) for the day, coming back into town and saying to my friends, “What the fuck are all these tourists doing here? Seriously, Fuck off my Island.” That's when Kyle responded, “You do realize you've only been here for five days right? Technically, you are a tourist.” lol. I suppose because I’ve moved here to move here, I don’t feel like one.

When I was in Phuket, I was staying at the Roongrawee mansion, with all the TEFL students. It can get incredibly chaotic, lot's of alcohol and parties infuse. I (but of coarse) loved this! Although after two weeks, I knew that I needed more, and that I did not travel across the globe to get wasted on Heineken. Thats not to say I didn’t go to temples, beaches, view points, visit monks, go on cruises and eat weird food:) I did all of the above and more, and loved the people I met. But after two weeks, I was itching to see what else Thailand could offer. And was thinking I needed something more rural.

Knowing Phuket would still be there when I returned, I left. Perhaps the last straw was Phi Phi Island where I was arrested and then released hours later, only to walk straight into a gang war. I left for Ban Nisan, which is 40 km's from Suratani, north of Phuket. Four hours mini bus ride away.

Nicol, my best friend and her adoring man Ty ty, live in a cottage called “Long Gone.” So cute. They live with their lil rescue pup Blossom, and live a very sweet family life in rural Thailand. They we're the only two white people I saw in my six days in Ban Nisan, and they agree they've never seen a tourist there before. A completely different world from Phuket, but I loved it all the same. We had such fun together and filled our days with river swimming, fruit picking, stroking Elephanti's, cave exploring and munching as many prawns as we could manage. I felt well rested this morning, even though we did drink a fair amount of whiskey on my first two nights! Egg and box reunion – waddya expect;) But it was lovely to be with people who are a piece of my home. People who didn’t ask about my parents and where I grew up, what I studied, and why I am here, where I have been and where I am going. Not that I mind all that, but after two straight weeks of doing that with dozens of people, it was a nice change. People who I could also be the quite and introspective Meg with, just be..because after all..we have been friends for something like thirteen years. God I love her. I'm a lucky girl to have such a dear friend. A beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, funny – silly silly monkey person, who I can honestly say I will love forever, no matter what – I will always carry her in my heart.

None of this is to say I didn’t enjoy getting to know the TEFL group, I loved it. We had a blast! And some of them will be people I know I will keep in contact with, and I look forward to doing so. Others.. not so much. When you get thrown together for 24 hour days, you learn a lot about people, that's for sure :)

Right now, I’m in Krabi, South Thailand.. and I’m in love. It seems so far..to have the best of Ban Nisan – being the friendly faces (The Thai's there are a lot more friendly than they are in Phuket.) And it is cheaper too – huge bonus:) I can actually feel my exchange rate now:) However, Ban Nisan doesn’t have a single foreigner – and when your travelling around like me, wanting to meet people, you want them, just not as many as in Phuket, but you do. Here there are just the right amount:) Enough to make you feel like your not in some tourist destination, but enough to allow room for English chitter chatter and possible friendships.

Also, I like the fact that so far I can communicate with the Thai's here, they are super duper friendly and can understand me – which is so freeing! And I have a western toilet! Fuck yeah! Phuket has them, but there are none in Ban Nisan, and I'm sorry if I seem like a snob, but I need me a hygienic proper western toilet – especially with all this Thai food opening up the flood gates! Also Ban Nisan doesn't have the beach, Krabi does - and a town, right here..and I like that. I like da beach:) It has rivers, a sea, and markets – the night market is right next to my hotel!

So far, on the home/work scouting front..Krabi is winning:)

I'm here for a week..so I suppose ill wait and see what will be:)

I LOVE the transport!! Love riding on scooters, wizzing around! Tuk tuks, open buses and cruises – who doesn’t love a cruise right!? Love the children here – I’m gonna take me one home! I love the fact that you leave your shoes outside, and the greetings – your hands clasped together with a little bow “Sawateeka” Love the views, obviously! Love the markets and the people – so friendly! Love the food – not the after effects (though they don’t always happen.) Love getting massages and eating out! I love staying in a hotel – I’m a hippy rock star I am!:) Love meeting people, and funnily enough, love being on my own. Mostly, I fucking LOVE how cheap it is:)

But I miss my family, and I miss my friends. I miss proper communication – not having to use sign language and a huge amount of patience to explain what you want to eat or where you want to go. I miss the music (A lot of the Thai music here sounds Afrikaans strangely enough.) I REALLY miss reggae! I miss not sweating 24 hours a day. I miss the hygiene at home – especially western toilets! I miss not having the shits:) And I really miss .. my mum. Yes, I said family, but I really miss her so she deserves a second mention. But all of this is piddles, because I’m happy, happier than I have ever been in my entire life. I'm in heaven. Who knew it was on Earth.