I cannot shake the feeling of bugs crawling all over me. It does not seem to matter how many showers I take or what clothes I wear. Just knickers seems to be best but this is obviously not practical. I asked my sister & bf to bring black trash bags and a fresh set of clothes for me when they come to get me at the airport. I really don't think I have bed bugs on me or in my luggage but to settle my mind down I feel it's best to be extra cautions.
I have the a/c cranked and I'm reading in my room. I don't feel well enough to go out and get soaked through again. This morning and afternoon it was okay because it was so hot but now dusk is coming and I really dislike the idea of being wet and cold.
I've taken 1 dose of antibiotics, some probiotics and some ibuprofen. I feel a tiny bit better but the only reason I'm not running a fever is because of the medicine. I haven't practiced in a few days and my body is aching from lack of movement. I know I'm not well enough to do my asana but I keep thinking about being on a plane for over 30 hours and how sore I will be. Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow I will feel well enough for a few poses, A's and B's at the very least.
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I got into an argument with a Thai woman this afternoon. This is the first time I have had any exchange with someone here where they were so openly rude to me and as you can imagine it was awkward.
I went to her shop to print off my airline tickets. The door had the price posted as 15 Baht minimum charge, 60 Baht an hour. I checked my email quickly, printed off my documents and went to the counter to pay. All in all I was there for less than 15 minutes and much of that time was spent sorting out the fact that the printer was out of paper. When I ask my total she says, 50 Baht. I think that's high and ask her what it's for? I say 15 minutes for internet (generous) and printing. She says printing is 20 baht and 15 Baht minimum internet. I say, 35 Baht? She says no. There is some foot shifting on her part and clear discomfort on mine. She is not pleased with me asking why it's 50 Baht not 35 Baht. I don't understand the issue but I'm okay with letting it go. I dig through my wallet to get her the 50 Baht. I go to hand her the 50 note as she is walking out from behind the counter to show me the sign on the door. She points to the sign where it reads "15 Baht minimum" on the door and says, "Why you don't read? Can you see it? Do you understand?" I was perfectly happy to hand her the money and walk away after I realized we weren't going to have mutual understanding of the price but now I'm pissed. What she is asking me is do I understand what minimum means. I'm polite. I tell her yes, I understand what the word means. I'm trying to make it better with her because she has transitioned so quickly from normal to angry and I don't want to leave her unhappy. I say, "So is the charge 15 Baht minimum plus 1 Baht a minute?" I realize this would make the total 50 Baht if she is charging me for 15 minutes of internet so that makes sense.
She says, "No!"
Hrm. Okay.
Now I am trying to give her my money again. I figure that the price she is charging is based on exactly what I have asked her and she doesn't understand the way I've worded it. I say, "I'm sorry for the confusion, here is the money please be happy." This is useless. She has pegged me as an idiot who doesn't understand English. She says to me again that I don't read and I don't understand the words on her sign, "MIN-I-MUM, you don't understand!" Now she is openly, rudely, taking my comprehension of the English language--my mother tongue--into question. What the fuck? She is shaking her head and pointing for me to leave her shop. "Go!" I hand her the 50 Baht and go.
(I think about this exchange later and wonder if she has had this conversation many times--based on her reaction, I would say yes--my guess is that she thinks her sign is clear. Of course, it's not clear.)
During the time I was searching through my email for the airline tickets I needed to print an American had come in. He pulled in next to me and started talking. I was not unfriendly but I was not feeling especially chatty. I told him that I was sorry but I wasn't feeling so well and all I wanted to do was print my paperwork and get back to my room. He took that as a sign to continue a conversation with me. Strange. He was asking me lots of questions, most of which I either ignored or just smiled at him as an answer. When he found out I had strep throat he said, "Oh well you know you can't drink the water here, right?" I stopped what I was doing, looked over at him, smiled and said, yes thank you I do know that. I asked how long he was in Thailand. "1 week, and you" I said I'd been in Asia for 4 months. He stopped giving me advice after that. I feel like I stepped into a strange bubble in another world when I went to that internet shop. Thankfully when I walked outside I was back in normal Thailand.
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Since the festival is still going on (albeit minor festivities on my road, when compared to Chiang Mai) there are many vendors on holiday which means my favorite place to get noodles is closed. I'm actually really bummed. I was so looking forward to gorging on street food before I leave tomorrow. I did find one place that had noodles not too far away and they are really good but the portion is small and they're 40 Baht. My favorite vendor charges 30 Baht and her portion fills you. I think maybe I am just sick and a little whiny. Thankfully I have no one to answer to so it's not like I am pissing all over someone's good time. Generally I think I'm pretty cool to be around but today I wish I had some other body and mind to work with as I'm even annoying myself.
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I'm back now from going out for noodles. It's amazing how contagious happiness is. Loud mostly American dance music is bumping, teens and twenty somethings are lined along the street with water guns, buckets, hoses and baby powder. Their splashing and squirting each other and smashing baby powder in each other's faces. They are dancing, bopping their hips, laughing and just generally having a blast. Everyone is wet, and filthy from the festivities but they don't care. Smiles come easily, hand gestures are of silliness and fun. Songkran is honest fun. Although I avoided getting wet I did pick up the happiness and light hearted attitude.
I'm full now, in a better mood and thinking about packing up my bags. Still feels weird that I'm going home tomorrow. But, I'm starting to look forward to it.
I've really got no photos to post since I'm a big baby about bringing my camera out during the festival. I can't afford a new one and it's survived thus far so why chance it, ya?
I tried to upload a few random shots but after 45 minutes 3 error message and only 2 shots successfully uploaded, (two of the most boring ones I picked) I gave up. But, the effort was there. I had 45 photos selected, obviously I was not using my brain when I did that.
When I get back to the states and have better internet speed I'll post pictures.
I have the a/c cranked and I'm reading in my room. I don't feel well enough to go out and get soaked through again. This morning and afternoon it was okay because it was so hot but now dusk is coming and I really dislike the idea of being wet and cold.
I've taken 1 dose of antibiotics, some probiotics and some ibuprofen. I feel a tiny bit better but the only reason I'm not running a fever is because of the medicine. I haven't practiced in a few days and my body is aching from lack of movement. I know I'm not well enough to do my asana but I keep thinking about being on a plane for over 30 hours and how sore I will be. Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow I will feel well enough for a few poses, A's and B's at the very least.
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I got into an argument with a Thai woman this afternoon. This is the first time I have had any exchange with someone here where they were so openly rude to me and as you can imagine it was awkward.
I went to her shop to print off my airline tickets. The door had the price posted as 15 Baht minimum charge, 60 Baht an hour. I checked my email quickly, printed off my documents and went to the counter to pay. All in all I was there for less than 15 minutes and much of that time was spent sorting out the fact that the printer was out of paper. When I ask my total she says, 50 Baht. I think that's high and ask her what it's for? I say 15 minutes for internet (generous) and printing. She says printing is 20 baht and 15 Baht minimum internet. I say, 35 Baht? She says no. There is some foot shifting on her part and clear discomfort on mine. She is not pleased with me asking why it's 50 Baht not 35 Baht. I don't understand the issue but I'm okay with letting it go. I dig through my wallet to get her the 50 Baht. I go to hand her the 50 note as she is walking out from behind the counter to show me the sign on the door. She points to the sign where it reads "15 Baht minimum" on the door and says, "Why you don't read? Can you see it? Do you understand?" I was perfectly happy to hand her the money and walk away after I realized we weren't going to have mutual understanding of the price but now I'm pissed. What she is asking me is do I understand what minimum means. I'm polite. I tell her yes, I understand what the word means. I'm trying to make it better with her because she has transitioned so quickly from normal to angry and I don't want to leave her unhappy. I say, "So is the charge 15 Baht minimum plus 1 Baht a minute?" I realize this would make the total 50 Baht if she is charging me for 15 minutes of internet so that makes sense.
She says, "No!"
Hrm. Okay.
Now I am trying to give her my money again. I figure that the price she is charging is based on exactly what I have asked her and she doesn't understand the way I've worded it. I say, "I'm sorry for the confusion, here is the money please be happy." This is useless. She has pegged me as an idiot who doesn't understand English. She says to me again that I don't read and I don't understand the words on her sign, "MIN-I-MUM, you don't understand!" Now she is openly, rudely, taking my comprehension of the English language--my mother tongue--into question. What the fuck? She is shaking her head and pointing for me to leave her shop. "Go!" I hand her the 50 Baht and go.
(I think about this exchange later and wonder if she has had this conversation many times--based on her reaction, I would say yes--my guess is that she thinks her sign is clear. Of course, it's not clear.)
During the time I was searching through my email for the airline tickets I needed to print an American had come in. He pulled in next to me and started talking. I was not unfriendly but I was not feeling especially chatty. I told him that I was sorry but I wasn't feeling so well and all I wanted to do was print my paperwork and get back to my room. He took that as a sign to continue a conversation with me. Strange. He was asking me lots of questions, most of which I either ignored or just smiled at him as an answer. When he found out I had strep throat he said, "Oh well you know you can't drink the water here, right?" I stopped what I was doing, looked over at him, smiled and said, yes thank you I do know that. I asked how long he was in Thailand. "1 week, and you" I said I'd been in Asia for 4 months. He stopped giving me advice after that. I feel like I stepped into a strange bubble in another world when I went to that internet shop. Thankfully when I walked outside I was back in normal Thailand.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Since the festival is still going on (albeit minor festivities on my road, when compared to Chiang Mai) there are many vendors on holiday which means my favorite place to get noodles is closed. I'm actually really bummed. I was so looking forward to gorging on street food before I leave tomorrow. I did find one place that had noodles not too far away and they are really good but the portion is small and they're 40 Baht. My favorite vendor charges 30 Baht and her portion fills you. I think maybe I am just sick and a little whiny. Thankfully I have no one to answer to so it's not like I am pissing all over someone's good time. Generally I think I'm pretty cool to be around but today I wish I had some other body and mind to work with as I'm even annoying myself.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
I'm back now from going out for noodles. It's amazing how contagious happiness is. Loud mostly American dance music is bumping, teens and twenty somethings are lined along the street with water guns, buckets, hoses and baby powder. Their splashing and squirting each other and smashing baby powder in each other's faces. They are dancing, bopping their hips, laughing and just generally having a blast. Everyone is wet, and filthy from the festivities but they don't care. Smiles come easily, hand gestures are of silliness and fun. Songkran is honest fun. Although I avoided getting wet I did pick up the happiness and light hearted attitude.
I'm full now, in a better mood and thinking about packing up my bags. Still feels weird that I'm going home tomorrow. But, I'm starting to look forward to it.
I've really got no photos to post since I'm a big baby about bringing my camera out during the festival. I can't afford a new one and it's survived thus far so why chance it, ya?
I tried to upload a few random shots but after 45 minutes 3 error message and only 2 shots successfully uploaded, (two of the most boring ones I picked) I gave up. But, the effort was there. I had 45 photos selected, obviously I was not using my brain when I did that.
When I get back to the states and have better internet speed I'll post pictures.
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