Community

When I went to college, one of my favorite things about dorm living with the innate sense of community it inspired. I loved the fact that while I had my own space, if I got bored or lonely, there was always someone around to hang out with. There was always someone to eat with, walk to class with, or veg out with. I was so sad at the end of that year because I knew it was the kind of experience that would never be repeated. Imagine my surprise and happiness when I discovered that that same experience is being repeated here in Thailand, of all places.

I have happened upon the best type of community. The built-in kind, here in my little apartment complex, with the addition of nearby friends, always willing to share a meal or watch a movie, or let me use the piano. :) This trip to the houseboats was an awesome extension of that community. Jaz, the amazing organizer/roommate, had organized a 3-day adventure to the Mae Na dam where people can rent out houseboats for a few days. Some people actually live out there full-time. Jaz knows a British guy named Tom who owns a houseboat that is way, way out in the dam, isolated from the other dams in its own little inlet.

The boat group consisted of: Jaz, Ruth, Sacha, Keith and his girlfriend Tik, Inna, Kate and her visting friends Sarah and Hannah, Anthony from Bible study, and Kelly, who runs a fair trade jewelry business. Oh, and me of course. Ruth, Kelly and I arrived Wednesday morning and Kate, Hannah and Sarah were planning to leave Wednesday afternoon, so we all had a whole day to hang out and play around. 

 Me, Ruth and Kelly

 Keith and Tik, Kelly and Sacha reading and Kate and Sarah in the background.

It was just like summer camp! We lay around, reading books, played some Scrabble, and did a lot of swimming and chatting. 

 Kelly, Tik, Keith, Jaz, Ruth, Inna, Kate, Hannah and Sacha playing Scrabble

Kate, Sacha, Sarah, Hannah and Jaz

In the afternoon, after Kate, Hannah and Sarah left, Ruth and I jumped in the 2 person kayak, while Jaz and Kelly took out the paddle boards and we went out on the lake. Well, after a while, Ruth and I got tired, so we headed back to the houseboat. But we got LOST! Well, not lost exactly, we actually ended up getting all the way back to the inlet where the houseboat was, but we couldn’t see that the inlet kept going around the corner. We were sure we were lost, so we turned around to try to find Jaz and Kelly and finally got back to them. They were like “What are you doing here? We thought you went back!” We explained what happened, and headed back. So, in the end, we ended up doing 2 round trips instead of just one, all because the land blended together in a way that we couldn’t see the break in the hill. But, on the upside, we got a great workout! 

Jaz, Tik, Keith, Anthony, Ruth, Kelly, Sacha

 Me and Sacha

The best part about the boat was the cook! We didn’t have to worry about lunch or dinner, and it was all delicious. After dinner, we made a campfire and had s’mores, played some guitar, and just chatted til well into the night. I’m afraid we kept up the other people who were staying on the boat with our raucous laughter til about 1am. Ruth is just a crack up that late at night, channeling a Chinese grandpa to give us life advice. (She’s Chinese, so it’s not racist!)

Thursday morning we slept in and then Jaz made pancakes! We had a leisurely day with me trying to teach Ruth to dive, all of us doing cannonballs, flips and jumps into the water, and lots and lots of swimming and paddling, plus, some laying out and reading for good measure. I, of course, despite putting on sunscreen, got quite sunburnt. Sigh. I see skin cancer in my future. 

 Jaz, Kelly, Ruth and me on the way back to the mainland

Rock Climbing

Yay! Rock climbing day at Crazy Horse Buttress! I am so excited that Jaz is such an organizer. She gets everything going for everyone. She has been climbing for a long time, so she has all the gear, as do a few of her other friends. Keith from Bible study and Galina, a girl who works at a YWAM school and is staying with us for a few days, were eligible to lead climb (meaning attaching the rope to the anchors in the rock so the rest of us could just top rope and be safer). We had a group of 9 people! Jaz, Keith, Galina, Ruth, Ben, Tim (a Canadian), Robin (from San Fran), Kwan (who works with Galina) and me. We only had the one rope, so we each took a turn climbing. This was about twice the height I had ever climbed at the Rockreation gym in LA, so it was a bit daunting. 

Ruth had to go to a wedding and had to leave at 1, so she went first up the rock, after Jaz had lead climbed and attached it to the rock. She had never done it before in her life, so she made it about half way, what I would say is the length of an indoor climb in LA, and then came back down.

Next was Keith, then Ben, followed by Tim and Robin, then me, Kwan and Galina. Tim and Robin had gone cave exploring, so I went to find them to tell them they were up next and discovered the amazing cave they were in. It’s so beautiful and huge. I can imagine it fills up with rain pretty well when it’s rainy season here.

When it was my turn, I did pretty well for a while, but got to a tricky part, just below the top anchor and decided that seeing the anchor was good enough for me! I was like, “OK, I’m done.” Tim was belaying me and giving me advice on where to reach and put my feet and Jaz was cheering me on from below too. She was like “No! You are only a meter and a half from the top!” To which I wanted to reply “I don’t know what that MEANS! I’m American!” Well, after a rest, I decided to soldier on, and I did summit. Jaz took a picture and told me to admire the view. This was a mistake. Upon admiring the view, I decided to look down. This was when I realized that I was only attached by a small rope basically hanging in midair on a rock and was higher than I had ever been without my feet being on solid ground. I was like “OK!! Get me down!” The rappelling is the best part, but Tim was pretty generous with his slack, so I came down a lot faster than I was anticipating! Still, it was pretty fun. I’d do it again.

While Galina climbed with Keith; Ben, Jaz and I hiked up the side of the mountain to an amazing viewpoint of the countryside. Too bad it was so smoggy. L Tim, the mountain goat, kept on climbing up to the very tip top of the mountain. By the time he made it up there to take a picture of us, though, we had already headed back down.

Keith was lead climbing a really hard rock and I was a little worried for his safety. There was a point that he had to blindly reach around to clip his carabiner in to the rock and if he had slipped before he clipped the rope into it, he would have fallen a ways and smashed into the rock wall. He’s an expert climber though, so he was fine. By the time he got back, Tim had returned with Jaz and had a go at it. He made it up and we started back to town so Ben could meet Ruth at the wedding.

I chilled out for a bit at the house and Jaz went over for dinner with Sacha, so she hollered at me across the courtyard to come eat. J Jaz left to go meet her aunt and uncle for massages and street market so I stayed with Sacha and played some piano. I am not good at accompaniment, sadly. I really want to be good at it, but I usually end up just playing the melody in the end. I wish I could play the really beautiful flowery piano stuff, but I just need to practice more I guess. I am so much better at classical because if you get lost, you can just make it sound like you are playing that part slower on purpose. If you are playing songs, you kind of need to keep up with the pace of the song. It didn’t help that I was trying to play songs I have never heard before! Sacha loves Brooke Fraser, as do I, but I don’t know any of her solo albums. I really like the music though.

Anyway, we ended up just hanging out and talking about music and watching videos on YouTube for a couple hours. Yay for cool neighbors whom I can be instant friends with and geek out about movies, music and Glee. :) Ruth and Ben came back from the wedding and I heard about the Thai Christian wedding, which sounded interesting. We all had early church Sunday, especially Sacha since she has to sing, so I took off.

Visa, the Saga Continues

The morning started with me calling Ruth at 6:20, as promised, to make sure she was up to go to the hospital. She had turned her phone on silent, so there was a little freak-out, but very minor as she called me five minutes later to say she was up. We headed out at about 6:45 and got to the hospital a little past 7. Here is where Ruth is a total angel sent from God.

She’s like “What are you going to say to them? You don’t speak Thai.” To which I replied “Dae said they speak English here.” Ruth looks at me skeptically and says “that means they can say hi, goodbye and how are you feeling. I better come with you.” Over my protestations, we abandoned poor Ben in the car and went inside the outpatient portion of the hospital. She talked to the receptionist about what I needed and we told her about the syphilis test. (They were VERY specific about the importance of this test for the work permit.) We went to sit in the waiting area and almost immediately, they took my blood pressure and weight (Hey! I lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks!) and showed me into a room with a doctor. Ruth spoke in Thai to the doctor and again explained that I needed it for a work permit. He asked me like 5 questions, including what medications I was allergic to, and when I gave him the list, he said “You need to make sure you tell doctors that you are allergic to this medicine, because amoxicillin is very common.” Gee, really? You don’t say. Wow, I’ve had these allergies for half my life, and it never occurred to me to tell doctors not to prescribe me medications that will make me SWELL UP AND POSSIBLY DIE. This guy is clearly new.

Ruth went with me to the blood draw area and waited for my blood to get taken. We found out that it would take an hour to process, so Ruth waited with me. No, I’m just kidding, I didn’t make her do that! She and Ben went to breakfast but she made me promise to call her if I needed any more help when I went to pick it up later. Ruth rocks.

I had to get money out from the ATM to pay the exorbitant admin fee of $500 for the work permit to get started, so I went to the 7-11 across the street. At this point, I was praying that the ATM would work. I have tried to use my debit card at several large stores and to purchase plane tickets and it has not worked! So, I was holding my breath at the ATM. It only allowed me to get out 10,000 baht, but thankfully, I had changed the rest of my cash earlier, so I had the extra 5,000 in my wallet.

Next, I tried to get some more visa pictures taken. Dae thought that I could just use the ones I got in Singapore, but I was short 5 pictures anyway, so I still needed more. I asked at the Holiday Inn if they knew of a place, but the photo shop across the street didn’t open til 8:30, and that was the time my medical form was meant to be done, so I just went to wait at the hospital.

Finally, at 8:45, they told me to pay at the cashier and get my form, so I did. Only $5! That’s one bill that was easy to deal with. J I tried to get pics at the photo shop, but they wouldn’t be done til noon, and I thought that was too late, since I was meeting D at 10:30. Well, by this point, it wasn’t even 9am, so I thought I could get all the stuff done with D and get over to TS to help with initial setup pretty quickly. Of course, when I got to the Kijkandee office, nobody was there. Great. I decided to just take a Song Thaew to TS and get a ride back with Rob who was coming for a meeting at 10:30 also.

When I went back for the meeting, everything seemed in order, and D told me about the timeline for the work permit and visa. It’s kind of weird that I’ll be working this whole time, way before I get the work permit, but I guess it’s just a formality so that I can have the longer visa. I was pretty frustrated because initially, I had asked if I should wait to go get my visa in Singapore and she had said to go right away. Today, she said “Oh, this is why I thought you should go after Song Kran festival to give you more time to get your long term visa.” I was so annoyed because I had specifically asked about this and she TOLD me to go right away!! But, I just smiled and said “yeah, too bad about that.” Sigh. Well, what are you gonna do?

And then! She looks at the medical form and says "Oh, this says VD is clean. You were supposed to get syphilis." I'm screaming internally "Syphilis IS VD!! What is WRONG with you?!" But I calmly told her that I told 4 different people at the hospital that I needed the syphilis test and this is what they gave me. It's just going to have to be good enough." I think in my entire life I have not used this word in conversation as much as I have in the past 2 days.  

Back at TS, I found Judy cleaning up a storm, and since I couldn’t help with the seminar, seeing as I don’t speak Thai, I joined right in. Now the place will be spick and span and organized when we come back from vacation! After we were pretty much done with the classrooms, I went down to ask P’Bua if she needed help in the kitchen. That day, we had ordered food special from a restaurant for the kids, so she was starting to clean out the kitchen. I started by cleaning the fridge and freezer and then turned and noticed the wall behind where the stove is was COVERED in grease spatters. So, using a super powerful Simple Green type spray, I scrubbed that wall til it shone. Those tiles have never BEEN so clean! P’Bua scrubbed the stove and countertops while I did the wall and window above it. We finished about the same time, so she did a quick mop of the floor and we left it shiny and clean!

In the background, the kids were learning some important stuff. Since we are located basically in the red light district, statistically, 99% of the kids at the center have either been propositioned or assaulted already. This only gets worse during Song Kran because people get crazy and way more assaults can take place, so the Thai teachers were teaching the kids how to protect themselves. I was looking at the kids in the morning, thinking how easy it would be for them to get taken advantage of, especially the teenage girls. I was just praying for their safety and that no harm would come to them.

They also taught the kids about bad stuff and bad people on the Internet and to beware of people trying to meet them from the Internet. I think that is really important too, especially in this day and age of Internet predators. They seemed to really learn stuff and get something out of it, so that was good.

We said a final goodbye to Dtom and started to shut things off. As the kids were leaving and we were closing up for the week, Ning was waiting for the painters to come to tell them what to do while we are gone for the week. I decided to wait with her and walk to catch a Song Thaew later. Thank goodness I did! Just as we were leaving, Dae called and said I had to get new visa pictures RIGHT NOW. There is a photo shop just up the block from TS, so we stopped in there to get photos and they said to come back in an hour.

Ning was able to hang out for a while and wait with me, so we walked over to the mall and got some juice drinks. It was nice to get to hang out with Ning, because she’s so sweet and such an amazing person, and I only ever see her at work, so I really want to try to get to know her and Field outside of work too and be actual friends. I told her about my visa woes and what had happened that day, and she said the same thing happens to her, so she has started to only communicate via email so it’s less frustrating. Nice to know it’s not just me!

After I picked up the photos and said goodbye to Ning, D picked me up and drove me about halfway home before her turnoff, which was really nice of her. She didn’t need to do that, so it was a nice break from a long Song Thaew drive. Plus, it made my ride the rest of the way cheaper!

When I got back, there was beautiful piano tuning sounds coming from my neighbors house, so I dropped my bags and rushed across the courtyard to Ruth and Sacha’s house. I was so excited!! The guy was still working on the piano, even though it was 5:30 and he had arrived at 4pm. He was so precise! I left my door open so I could hear when he was done tuning and I could go play. J Ruth called while I was home and invited me out to dinner with her, Ben, and some other friends who were in town. I swear, every night I’m expanding my circle of friends here! I actually have a better social life in Thailand than I ever did in LA, because here everything is so cheap it’s easy to agree to go out for dinner.

Well, I went over to their house to play the piano and Ruth was playing but got off when I arrived. I was like “Dude, it’s your piano. Keep playing.” But she said “Hey, you paid for it!” so I couldn’t argue with that. J I played a few songs and then we headed out for dinner at a Burmese restaurant called D-Lo.

It was delicious! (Is there any other type of food here?) We got a lot of dishes to share. We met some food critic friends of Ruth’s (Robin and Chris) who were in town sampling the local cuisine. Some other people came to eat too: Chris, who works a lot in Burma as a newpaper photographer, Wan who does lots of stuff with lots of organizations and another woman whose name I have completely forgotten, but she works at YWAM with Jaz.

After dinner, it was on to jazz night at North Gate Club right next to, you guessed it, the North Gate of the old city. It’s situated right next to a fusal field. Fusal is soccer (or football) that is played in an arena style area, like the US arena football. I made some comment about how they must be playing shirts and skins since none of the jerseys matched and here is Ruth’s quote of the day: “You know, you have a very verbal ticker tape.” HA. So true. The problem is that I never realize when the ticker tape (aka your internal monologue) is in my head and when I’m really saying it out loud. Ruth assured me it’s not a bad thing, just a funny thing.

We headed into the bar and met Wan’s twin brother and his girlfriend, Beth. We all got drinks (so cheap!!) and listened to some cool Latin-infused jazz with 2 sax players, a bassist, electric guitarist, drummer and bongo player! We were there for about 2 hours, and Jaz joined us at some point. She started talking about our plan for rock climbing tomorrow (woo hoo!) and finally, we decided to leave at about 11pm so we could get some sleep and prepare for rock climbing.

I drove home on the back of Jaz’s motorcycle and noticed that the city is really beautiful at night.

Back at Taw Saeng

My first day back at Taw Saeng and I was ready to get back to teaching. Today was a special day because one of the Thai teachers, Dtom, was leaving. She has been here for 2 years, but her mother is ill and is having a hard time getting around, so she is moving back to the village to help her family. The kids were very sad, as were the staff. I don’t know how we will replace her; she’s so good at her job. She teaches art and computers (neither of which I am qualified to do) as well as songs, games with the kids and is just amazing.

Judy brought art supplies and special paper for the kids to make goodbye cards. My class ended up being a quick review of what they had learned on Tuesday (school supplies, which I also know now, thanks to Lucy) and then they went to work on their cards. Have I mentioned how amazing these kids are at art? They can draw really good likenesses of family members, animals, anything you can think of, pretty much. I can barely manage stick figures on a good day.

After the kids were done, they went downstairs for dinner and as they went in to the building in their class lines, they each gave Dtom their card. I don’t know how she wasn’t a crying mess; I certainly would have been!

I said goodbye but then realized that I would see Dtom tomorrow. The reason the kids will not see her is because we are having a special day for the kids over 9 years tomorrow. It’s part of the prevention side of TS. I’ll explain more about it in tomorrow’s post.

As I headed home, I had the Song Thaew drop me at the piano shop near my house. The day before, when we were hanging out with Ruth and Sacha, we discussed the woefully out of tune piano Sacha has. She explained that she has tried several times to get someone to come tune it, with no success. Basically, they always say they will call her to arrange a time and then never do, and she is too busy to follow up on it. Well, I just cannot stand playing an out of tune piano, and I don’t think the neighbors should be forced to listen to one either, so I said I’d stop off at the piano shop the next day and would split the cost if I could get someone to come out to tune it.

So. The piano shop. I walked in, and just the owner was there. I said the requisite “Sah wat dee ka” (hello) and asked if they tuned pianos. He said yes, and asked where I lived. I whipped out my handy dandy Big Map Of Chiang Mai and pointed to my street. He said “That’s close!” and I said “Yeah. Can you do it?” He asked me for more specific directions, and if I spoke Thai. I said “No, but my neighbor does.” So I called up Ruth, and she answered and I told her to give directions to the piano tuner so we could finally have a working piano! She set it all up, found out the price and we were good to go. Tomorrow at 4pm we will have an in tune piano!

When I got home, I decided to relax a bit and watch some season one Big Bang Theory. You guys, that show is funny. I mean, I already know that it’s funny because I have been watching the current season, but the first season is REALLY funny for a first year show. Well, in the midst of my laugh fest, I get a text from the visa coordinator at Kijkandee Foundation, which is the parent NGO of Taw Saeng and are the ones getting my work permit and year long visa. She says I have to come in tomorrow at 10:30am to turn in all the paperwork for the work permit. I am so not prepared for this!

I have to turn in: transcripts (fine, I brought them with me, I have no idea why, but here they are), 12 visa pictures (these are not the same size as passport pictures, they are 2x2 inches, and I have not had a chance to do them yet), a medical report with a syphilis check (why? I have NO IDEA) and my passport.

Well, first of all, I had agreed to help with the special event at TS that was beginning at 9am, and I was supposed to meet them there at 8:30am, so this means I have to bail on that commitment. Not to mention, where do I go to get the medical thing done, how long does it take to process, what does it cost, etc. Then I have to worry about getting visa pictures taken and how long they take to develop. All before 10:30! I was obviously freaking out.

First, I called Rob and he gave me some advice and said it was ok for me to miss the 8:30 meetup. Then, I called the visa coordinator and she told me what hospital to go to. I found it on the map and circled it so I could show it to a Song Thaew driver. I still owed Ruth money for the plane ticket she bought me on her credit card as well as for the piano tuning the following day so when she got back from massages with her brother, she came by. I filled her in on all the distressing stuff, and like the amazing person she is, she was just like “Oh, I’ll drive you. What time do you need to be there?” I was like “No way! It is too too early. I have to be there at 7am!” Apparently, she wanted to go to that neighborhood for breakfast anyway, so she insisted on driving me. That alleviated some stress so I was able to sleep! 

Oh, but we got good news today. My sponsor child (I’m gonna call her Cassie) has spent the past week with her family and they came by today to go look at Ning’s house to see if they want to let her live there with Ning and Faa. They liked it and Cassie loved it so she is going to live with Ning from after Song Kran festival on! Great news! I’ll still get to see her and she can still come by the center. I’m very excited by these developments.

 

Unexpected Vacation

So, I got up early this morning because I was supposed to give my first piano lesson with Ning at 10. I got to TS early so I could change some money. I figured there is no reason to hold back American cash, I may as well just have it all in Thai money.  I also needed to put some money on my cell phone.

However, just as I was getting to TS, Ning called to tell me we were having the day off because of a national holiday. Great, info that would have been nice to know before I spent 20 baht to get there. Oh, well. Day off, right? So, after a Song Thaew back home, I was able to finally post some blogs with pictures (yay!) and catch up on some email.

Jaz called me and asked me to take our little portable internet usb thing to Inna’s house so she could upload some videos for YWAM (where Jaz works).  Well, without a vehicle, I had to walk. It didn’t look that far, but Jaz suggested I cut through Chiang Mai University because it was a safer walk.

Well, Jaz, Ruth and I had gone running the other day at CM University, so I thought I could find my way. Well, I didn’t so much get lost, as I just didn’t really know where I was because the streets end up curving and stuff. Plus, since it was a holiday, there were no students on campus to ask directions of, and Inna doesn’t really know the campus well enough to give me directions. Oh, did I mention it was broiling hot that day? Well, it was. About 90 degrees out. So of course, as soon as I got good and lost, it started to thunder. And lightening. Jaz gave me further directions as to how to get thru campus, and I thought I could make it before the rain began. Just as I turned the final corner and saw the track we had gone running at, the sky opened up and a tram just happened to pull up. He drove me to the main road and I ran for shelter through the downpour. Inna came to get me because I didn’t have an umbrella. I mean, it was 90 degrees! Who would have thought it would suddenly start thunderstorming? Poor Inna. She has been sick all week and had to come meet me to get the internet stick.

Jaz came to pick me up and we stopped for dinner at the market. She was supposed to head up to Mae Sai to take a truckload of disaster supplies to the victims of the Burma earthquake, but with the rain, she decided to put off the trip til tomorrow. At the market, she told me the names of all the things we were ordering and had me order stuff. The people at the market would tell me the price in English, but she told them to only speak to me in Thai or I’ll never learn. Of course, she said this in Thai, but some things you can just infer. Hahaha However, she’s right. I do need to learn so I don’t have to rely on other people to translate all the time. It gets frustrating. But, the problem is that I only know a few things so far: numbers, colors, school supplies and a few choice phrases like “I only know a little Thai.” It’s a slow process, but I hope I’m learning fast. I can never learn fast enough though. I want to know everything RIGHT NOW.

Jaz has season two of Lie to Me on dvd, so we watched a couple eps and then she went to pick up Ruth and her brother Ben at the airport. They just flew in from Bangkok and Ben is staying for a week to visit. He works for World Vision in Toronto. We all hung out at Ruth and Sasha’s (she’s a Kiwi who works for another NGO, Partners) place next door for a while, then I headed home.

Home to Chaing Mai

This morning, I got to truly sleep in for the first time since coming to Southeast Asia! Ahh, luxurious Singapore life. Pak Kheng had a meeting in Chinatown at 11, and decided to bring me along so I could see true Chinatown. I didn’t have to pick up my visa til 2pm, so I had time to kill. So, have I mentioned how amazing Pak Kheng and Philip are? Yes? Well, I have undersold them. They are truly angels sent from God to make my trip survivable. Yes, I probably could have managed without them, but I would have paid a lot more for housing and food and would have just stayed in the cheapest hostel imaginable and seen nothing of the city but the Thai embassy.

They have been so much more than generous; they have practically adopted me into their family. They’ve stuffed me with delicious food, paid for my transport everywhere, showed me how to get to the embassy and more! I am speechless with thankfulness.  All I did in return was help with the grocery shopping. And even there Pak Kheng kept trying to buy me things to take back to Thailand! Luckily, I only had my one small backpack which was already pretty full; otherwise, I would have ended up with a suitcase full of British food (not that I’d be complaining about that, let me tell you!).

Anyway, Philip drove us to Chinatown and we walked around some and got some drinks before Pak Kheng went to her meeting. I wandered the streets looking at things and ended up spending $2 on some cute chopsticks. They are just for decoration, which would be the case no matter what, since I cannot envision a meal I would ever endeavor to prepare that would require chopsticks. Spaghetti?  There was a bunch of really cool stuff they had for sale, so it was also a good thing that I had no money to spend on trinkets. Where would I put it in Thailand anyway? I have no piano on which to display things. 

The meeting lasted about 45 minutes and then we jumped on the train to Orchard Street near the Thai embassy. We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant and I tried hot pot for the first time. For those who don’t know (like me) this is where they bring you a little pot on a gas burner and fill it with raw meat and veggies and broth and you cook it all up together. It’s actually pretty yummy.

After lunch, we started to head outside, only to discover a torrential downpour! And this was the one day I left my umbrella at the house. Of course!  Well, since this whole area is basically one big underground mall, we just went a level below and tried to get closer to the embassy. By the time we popped back aboveground like little groundhogs, the rain had ceased. I went to wait in line, and saw a few familiar faces from yesterday. Luckily the guy who had to prove his monetary worth was in line to pick up his visa, so success for him. Yay! The line moved quite quickly for how many people were in it. There was only one window, but I got to the front in next to no time.

All along the street in front of the embassy are huge posters advertising a shipwreck exhibit at the art/science museum that Pak Kheng had been wanting to see for a while. We decided last night that we’d spend the afternoon there after I got my passport back. We took a bus this time, so I could see more of the city on the way. The place where the museum is located is called Marina Bay Sands. This is a super exclusive mall that has whole floors and even stores that are invitation only shopping. Fan-cy! Architecturally, this place is beautiful and amazing. The museum itself is shaped like a lotus opening up. It sits on what used to be a bay into the sea, but has now been closed off into a reservoir. They also installed a fountain into the water just off the boardwalk. Across the bay is the Durian Building, so called because it looks like the smelly fruit that people eat here. I still have to try that. 

The exhibits showing at the Art/Science Museum were Ghengis Khan and Shipwreck. A few years ago, an underwater explorer came upon what turned out to be the oldest shipwreck ever discovered. It tells archaeologists a lot about the history of that region and dates from over 1000 years ago! There were some really amazing designs in the teacups that were discovered and some cool gold sculpted dishes and goblets. It kind of reminded me of the Titanic exhibit in Las Vegas because it was so well preserved, but this stuff was centuries older. 

Upstairs was the Ghengis Khan exhibit about the Mongolian leader. Did you know that a lot of things that are in our constitution stemmed from Khan’s laws of his kingdom? Like religious freedom: Ghengis Khan believed that everyone should be able to practice their beliefs without restriction. He also believed people should be promoted based on merit and not on who they knew or were related to. And this was in the 13^th century!  All I remember from Ghengis Khan is that he was a brutal warlord. I didn’t realize he contributed so much to modern society.

The museum is built in a circular manner, so in the center is a fountain built from the 4^th floor that drips water down to the bottom floor. When we came out of the shipwreck exhibit, I was like “Oh my gosh, its pouring!” Of course, then I realized that it was just a fountain. But, when we were ready to leave, it really WAS pouring outside! We had to make a run for it through the rain to the mall. Thankfully, by the time we got to the bus stop, it had pretty much let up. After a quick shower and some dinner, again delicious of course, as prepared by Ophelia, we headed out to the airport. 

BUT. First of all, I forgot to check the terminal so we went to the budget terminal first. Then, we got a call from grandma that I had forgotten my bathroom stuff! What?! I double and triple checked that I hadn’t forgotten anything but I forgot to check the bathroom? Argh. Well, I got checked in, Philip when back to retrieve the stuff (they live really close to the airport) and Pak Kheng stayed with me so he could call her when he came back and I could RUN to the gate to catch my flight. Of course, all the stress and rush turned out to be pointless because, even though the board at the front of the airport said that Boarding had started, when I got to the gate, all out of breath, the plane hadn’t even deplaned yet!

On the plane, I read a funny article about cereal. Apparently, three cereals you should stay away from are Froot Lops, Cocoa Puffs and Frosted Flakes. Why? Because, get this, they have more sugar than health benefits. Really? Do they really think people are under the delusion that these yummy, sugary cereals are coated with healthy fibery goodness? Come ON! You eat them precisely BECAUSE they are not good for you! Silly airline magazines.

Visa Day

This morning I was off to the train by 8am and in line at the embassy by 8:45, the first one. I was joined within minutes by another person, and by 9am, the line stretched halfway down the block. I was very glad I was early because it lessened the stress a lot knowing that I would be first to talk to them. I got to the window and handed over my paperwork. The lady asked me if I was getting paid in Thailand and I said no, then she asked how long I’d be there and I said for a year. She replied “Without getting paid?!” I was like “Yep.” She took my paperwork in the back, returned, told me to sit in some waiting chairs and that someone would come talk to me. I sat there for about 45 minutes, and she called me back to the window to tell me it was approved and asked for money. I can come pick up the visa tomorrow.

While I was waiting, I was chatting with a guy from England and he was there with his buddy who lives in Thailand and is a Muy Thai instructor. His wife and son are in Thailand right now but he had to come get a visa for some reason. He has been married to a Thai woman for 7 years, so I would think by now he’d have citizenship, but I guess not. Anyway, he was stressed cause he had all his paperwork in order and then he got to the front of the line and they said he had to show that he had $2000 in Singapore money in an accessible bank account. I hope he got his stuff all sorted because he has been away for a couple months I think and is anxious to get back to his family.

After the visa thing was sorted, I jumped on a bus to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which are beautiful! I wandered the gardens for a few hours and saw all kinds of plants and sculptures and even some swans. It’s a huge plot of land—155 acres! There’s a 6 acre rainforest right in the middle too, as well as several ponds and food areas. 

I started to get overwhelmed by the humidity and headed back to the train station for some lunch. I jumped on the train back to the house and plan to relax for the rest of the day. I was going to hike down to the beach for a swim, but I think I’ll save that for tomorrow.

Instead I ended up napping, watching TV, reading and generally just being a layabout for a couple of hours! I ended up helping Pak Kheng go grocery shopping after supper, for which she was very happy. I thought it was the absolute least I could do to repay her kindness and generosity. Post shopping, I was overjoyed to discover that they get Castle in Singapore!!! I love that show, in all its cheesy glory!