It's all about who you know and we know P' Tit!

         We survived night one like champs and woke up, at noon, ready to brace the new city and our ice cold showers. Let me tell you all that it may be terribly hot here ( not may be, it is), but an ice cold shower is still an ice cold shower. The best way to explain my showers is to have you imagine doing the hokey pokey while standing in a bath tub. Put your right arm in the water, take your right arm out of the water, put your left leg in the water, take your left leg out of the water, then put some soap on your whole body while shivering, then put your whole body in, then take your whole body out, do the cold shower dance, and that's what it's all about! The showers have started to grow on me, but it still is quite a funny scenario when I shower/ flood the bathroom because there is no lip to divide the shower floor from the bathroom floor. Ohhhh Thailand! =)

       After our ice cold showers we had a knock on the door and it was none other than Mr. Bom. He was just dropping by because all the teachers were meeting at school to catch the bus to China and he wanted us to come meet some people. Luckily, our dear friend P'Tit came to bid everyone farewell, meet us, and take us under her wing. P'Tit chose not to go to China and we couldn't have been luckier that she decided to stay. This is P'Tit and I love her dearly already. She is caring like a mother, funny like a best friend, kind like a grandma, and single like...Me. 555 (Ha Ha Ha) She has asked me to find her an American boyfriend, so if there are any takers out there please comment below.

      I am quite sure that if this kind woman hadn't come into our lives we would have been lost, hungry, and completely unable to tell anyone near us that we were lost and hungry. That first day we shyly walked into the teacher's lounge and quickly said hello to all of the teachers before they left. It was a bit awkward at first with so many people staring at us and saying how beautiful we were. After saying I was from California one teacher asked me to explain to him the "real" meaning of the Hotel California and the room quickly filled with laughter. I discussed a little Eagles discography with him and I plan to make him a cd very soon. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture of him, but stay tuned and I will get on it. 

        Following our quick introduction P'Tit offered to take us to lunch and we couldn't have been more delighted. She took us to a place that we think is too far to bike to from school, but a quick drive down the road. She ordered an amazing dish for us for lunch.  I have quickly learned that it is common in Thailand for people to order for you when they take you to lunch and I usually have no clue what I will be eating until it is in front of me. The dish she ordered for me was rice, with ginger grilled chicken, basil, and omelet egg( yup scrambled egg haha). You may think this doesn't sound that amazing, but just trust me it was the best meal I had had up until this point in Thailand. 

In addition to this yummy lunch, P' Tit ordered us iced green teas. Here is a picture of how green tea and even icd coffee is served in Thailand.

The green tea is sweeter here and with the ice it was more like a frappucino or something, but it was very refreshing. Can you imagine driving through Starbucks and them giving you your drink in a plastic bag? Only in Thailand.

After finishing our meal P'Tit taught us the proper way to indicate that you have finished your meal. Here is my plate after I cleared my amazing chicken, egg, rice dish that I still don't know the Thai name for.

To show that you are done you scoot all the food from the middle and place your spoon and fork together away from the food. In Thailand you always eat with a spoon and a fork. The fork is used to push food on to the spoon and the spoon is used to actually eat your food. 

        The remainder of this day wasn't all that eventful, but P'Tit took us to Tesco Lotus (a grocery store/small scale wal-mart) to get a few groceries. Our means for cooking consist of a mini fridge and a little water boiler, but we bought some crackers, instant oats, and lots of cups of noodles. P' Tit's biggest concern is our eating, so before we left the Tesco Lotus she took us to the food court to eat some noodles and chicken and rice. 

           The following day P'Tit invited us to take part in the religious festivities for Awk Phansa (Awk Pinsaw). Awk Phansa is a holiday in Thailand and is the day when the monks break their fast and finally emerge from the temple after being inside for the 3 rainy months of the year. During this festival all the monks emerge from the temples all over Thailand. The Thai people line the streets leading up to the temples to greet the monks and offer them food and drinks. P' Tit picked Jill and I up bright and early and we joined her and her family for the monk celebration and parade.

This is P' Tit, her sister, her 2 nieces, and I waiting for the parade to start. How cute is that pumpkin in the front?

In the picture we are holding the flower holders for monetary donations to the temple. I was really amazed with how beautiful and detailed the decorations are for the celebration. The parade was incredible to witness and I am so glad I was able to attend. I felt overwhelmed with happiness to be surrounded shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of Thai people who were all eager to greet the monks with offerings of food, money, and flowers. Here is a picture of some of the snacks P' Tit brought for us to give to the monks.

We gave the monks lots of juices, crackers, and rice packets.

After we got all of the snacks ready we joined the crowds and waited for the parade to begin.

                                

First came these cute dancers                                                            Followed by the golden Buddha

Next came the lead monk of the temple                                   then the money truck for the flower donations

   

                                          

And Finally... The Monks!

                                             

From the eldest monks to the youngest monks....

                               

And even P' Tit's nephews who we cheered quite loud for and embarrassed a bit! =) 

                                   

                               

Here is a video of everyone tossing the food donations into the monks' bowls.

      After the monks finished and the parade was over P' Tit took us to try some chicken and noodles. Now this isn't anything like the good ole' Campbell's chicken noodle soup, but it was good (notice I didn't say amazing). 

And a yummy coconut jelly/icee dessert.

     After lunch P'Tit took us on a little adventure to the beach and we stopped at the monument for the famous Thai poet Sunthorn Phu. The monument is a little park with a lake and statues of the characters from Sunthorn's poems. Here are some pictures of Jill and I at the monument.

We even found some very authentic Thai souvenirs, and yes Dave this one's for you!

Minion back packs!!!!

The next stop was the beach and we couldn't have been more excited to finally see the ocean. The beach is only about a 20 minute drive from where we live and look how pretty it is.

            P' Tit found us some shade and ordered us some yummy yummy ;) papaya seafood salad and squid. I don't think I had ever tried squid before this and for those of you who also haven't tried it, it is very rubbery and hard to chew. The papaya salad is also nothing like fruit salad and is very spicy. It may bot have been my favorite, but hey I am trying everything.

The squid and the papaya salad

 P' Tit and I in our lounge chairs                    

      Before heading home we made one pit stop to get Jill and I new pillows. I am a person who can sleep anywhere, so when I say these pillows were like bricks I am not joking. Even the pillows at the store are all extra firm, but extra firm here is extra extra firm. While walking around the store looking for pillows the electricity went out and the rains came crashing down. Here is a little video of what rain in our town is like.

 Crazy right?

              Due to the intense rain coming down outside and P'Tit's desire to feed us every 30 minutes, we ended up getting Dairy Queen while we waited for the rain to subside. Some of you may be worried about my lactose intolerance, but don't fear the ice creams here are miniature. Here is a picture of the small and medium sized blizzards next to Jill's iphone 4.

Really puts the American obesity problem in to perspective huh?

I would like to add that my stomach didn't hurt from my three bites of oreo blizzard and I love these little guys!

Well that's all for now folks, but I hope you are all enjoying the blog. Thailand continues to amaze me every day and although I miss all of you back home I don't think I will ever be ready to leave this place, or my new friend P'Tit. 

Adios from the Gulf of Thailand =)