I never thought i'd catch this lovebug

I was trying to take pictures of some of the bugs that I saw yesterday. That way when i'm missing Thailand I can look at these pictures and imagine falling asleep to the sounds of them crawling up my walls, and remember dodging them as I walk around my house here. All these little parts of Thailand that i'd sure rather live without, but might miss just a little bit when i'm back at home.

I was aiming to take pictures of all the types I saw in one day.

Well that's impossible. Not only do I see too many, but I just can't chase them down fast enough. Between the slow flash on my camera and the endless things they can hide behind, I pretty much only caught the helpless ones.

And I gave Anna a show as I chased half the bugs around our house. She didn't understand me enough to get what I was doing, so like all the other pictures I take I responded, "they are for my mom."

A live one (the only reason I was fast enough to get this pic is cause he was flipped over...)

A squished one.

My shower buddy

Not a bug, I know. But a big lizard eating a baby lizard. Didn't know lizards were cannibals...

Plus the endless, limitless, millions of ants. I was going to take a picture but I think I can live without seeing them again. They are everywhere! There is no limit to what they can get in. Such as my closed ziplock toothbrush bag, my suitcase, my one last granola bar from home, my towel, my cupboard, my computer bag. You name it, it's covered in ants. Even me. Yep, I am always covered in ants.

No escaping the bugs in good ol Thailand. Just adds some character ya know? And this isn't even half of them!

One thing that's tracked my change here in Thailand is my response to them.

When I arrived I kept leaving my bedroom door open. Oh poor naive little me.

Then Anna told me that they keep the door shut to keep the mosquitoes out. So i'd quickly slip in and out. James Bond style.

Now I just take my fine time knowing the mosquitoes are inevitable. 

Then I found my first lizard in my room which Anna conveniently saved me from. So for a while I'd check around my door before I opened it to make sure a lizard wasn't there to run in.

At this point, I just name the lizards.

For a while i'd walk in my room and look at all the walls to assess where all the bugs were.

Now I don't even look.

At first I was shocked by the trail of ants running up my wall.

Now i'm not phased by the hundreds, literally hundreds, on everything I own.

At first i'd want to smash every bug in a fit of fear.

Now I just walk on by hoping that karma will be in my favor.

The first weeks i'd be amazed by the 20 plus lizards on our ceiling at night time

Now I think they just add some character to the house.

The final question is...how many of these little friends will I be bringing home in my bag...?

I realize i've changed a lot while i've been here. I guess I just wasn't expecting to change so much in this area. Those bugs have got nothin on me!

If No One Will Listen...

...Record yourself so they have no choice? Umm sure.

So here I am in a Thai recording studio



Oh wait ha, my bad. That was me last week.

Today's picture isn't near as good but I guess I better put it up anyway.

I surely didn't think a recording studio would be one of my stops here in Thailand. But I guess I couldn't have predicted any parts of my experience here...

It was fun though, I felt pretty cool not gonna lie. I kept telling Anna though, they probably picked the most annoying English speaking American voice there is. But I guess I was their only option.

I also kept telling Anna that if she misses me while i'm gone she can just play my recording while she falls asleep. Nothin like hearin my screechy voice talking about organic farms to put ya to sleep!

Beats listening to a song about rockin cradles and imagining jumping sheep any day!

There's Never A Right Time To Say Goodbye

I have a lot of thoughts on my mind lately.

I've got two weeks left of my internship before I break off with some of the group to venture to Laos and the beaches of Southern Thailand. That means i'll be home in 27 days? I can't figure out how I feel about that. I'm beyond excited to come home and see my family and friends. I'm honestly pretty excited to be back in a bug free house as well. But who in their right mind would be 100% excited to leave Thailand? No one is easily the answer to that one.

This place is amazing. If I haven't said it enough already...

Now that we are officially in Thailand countdown, we have been fulfilling our Thailand bucket list, revisiting all the places we love for the last time, and making sure we document every moment.

Such as hittin up the favorite treat spots for the last time

yeah that deserves an extra large picture. probably one of the best things i've ever eaten. Ever. 

(and yes we did go to all those places in about 1 hour. talk about food overload)


Last Sunday at our church (for reasons as a trip to Myanmar and a boat house)

Seeing some of the sites, or re-seeing them in this case. I'm glad I was able to go to Doi Suthep again. I went my first sunday here in Thailand, so it was good to go back. It wasn't as sunny this time too so I could actually open my eyes!

this is the Laos, beaches crew. we are going to have soooo much fun. I can't even wait.

love these guys. Couldn't have asked for a better group. Andrew and Laura we like you too

Stocking up on Aladdin Pants. Ha! Sorry Becca...

Finally enjoying our Swensen's Ice Cream Cake

Hittin up EVERY possible market...

...To buy stuff...

...To make this pile grow even more.

How i'm going to get all of that home is a great question... One of those things i'm not thinking about until I have to. I just can't wait to give all this stuff to everyone! It makes me excited just thinking about it. And I still have 2 more weeks of stuff to buy!!

Another thing to add to that pile...

I've seen it at the market and die for it every time. It's sorta expensive but it can just be my early birthday present right? That's how birthdays work? Mark my words though, that peacock painting WILL be coming home with me.


All I know is that I love it here, and I love it at home. So i'm trying to look at it that way. I'm excited to go home. But right now I can just enjoy being here, while I still can.

I.N.D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.T Do You Know What That Means?

Well I sure do now.

I have just realized that I am being more independent than i've ever been in my entire life.

Not only am I living in a foreign country, but i'm currently living in a house alone!

Anna and Manop have been gone for the last few weeks and get back the beginning of next. What does that mean? Well, I lost my roomie. So that would leave me, the lizards, the mosquitoes, and the bed bugs to fend for ourselves. Yeah you read that right. Bed bugs.

"Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"

I heard that quite a few nights before i'd go to bed when I was little. Unbeknownst to my parents though, I would always turn my light back on and check for those mysterious bed bugs they always spoke of. My child eyes didn't know what they were looking for, and sure didn't know what they'd do if I found them, but I would check anyway. Well, 10 plus years of checking and no finding, I figured they didn't exist and gave up the hunt.

Well my friends, I guess I gave up the hunt early and am now paying the price, they exist. Okay, so I guess I don't know if I officially have bed bugs. I just have these incredibly itchy bumps all over my body which I was originally blaming on the mosquitoes, but now we are just not so sure... the whole thought of it freaks me out though.

We all talked about this as we watched a monkey sleep the other day. How could you ever hate anything that is sleeping? Everyone, animals included look all harmless and innocent. I'm a sucker for seeing people sleep. Drool and all ha. But APPARENTLY bed bugs don't agree. They pray on those peaceful, harmless, innocent victims. Hate em.

Anyway, got a little side tracked there.

I've done the living away from home thing. But never totally and completely alone! No one to be accountable for, not even roommates. No one to ask me if I want to help them with dinner or watch a movie or listen to music or have impromptu dance parties in the kitchen. Honestly, life just sucks when you're alone. I've never done it before and I don't really like it. Don't get me wrong, I like, no I LOVE my alone time. Just not to this extent I guess.

Maybe the fact that I am in this mysterious house in Thailand adds to the whole hating being alone thing.

Such as, the second night I came back to my empty house all my lights were off. I specifically remembered leaving some lights on so let's just say I was wiggin out! The neighbors lights were on so I ruled out a power outage so obviously the only other thing it could be is an Asian murderer waiting for me on the other side of the door. Well luckily I am here to report that it was a power outage, it just hit the other houses later? Don't ask me how that happened cause I sure don't know.

Let's just say it was an experience i'd rather not live again.The rest hasn't been too bad though. I got to go to Bangkok with the crew to break it up and now i'm getting good at the whole Thai food market thing. I just keep remembering food words Anna has said and walk around saying them until someone starts handing me it. It works out nicely, they get a kick out of it, I get my food, so we are all happy!

Being so independent in Thailand is kinda fun I guess, but i'm done. Anna should just come back now, i'd be alright with that. Sadly she's got a few more days. But i'm a big girl. I can fight these Asian murderers, lizards, and bed bugs with my eyes closed!

Brush and Brush and Brush My Hair

Would you like to know a fact?

I have not brushed my hair ONCE since I got to Thailand.

Didn't even bring a brush actually.

That's what fingers are for in the shower right?

I think my hair is going to have bigger reverse culture shock than I am when I get home.

Which is officially less then a month away.

Yikes!

I'm now to the point that when a picture falls off my wall I don't take the time to tape it back up.

It's true, time flies when you're in Thailand. Oh I mean, having fun

Woke Me Up With A BANG BANG

BANGKOK BABY!

Life lesson learned in Bangkok, don't forget your camera charger. Especially when you're feeding a tiger with a bottle... At least we got a few days worth before it died.

Now the dilemma...where to start.

I just realized that i've got to keep SOME stories to tell at home. I mean, no one is going to be excited to see me cause i'll have no cool stories to tell. So maybe Bangkok will be some of those. But let's do a quick Bangkok recap via pictures shall we?


TRANSPORTATION

15 hour train ride= ehh I don't know what it equals. It really wasn't too bad though. Whenever I got sick of the ride I thought to myself, Harry does this every year on the Hogwarts Express, and then I didn't feel sick of it anymore. All these green curtains were pulled during sleeping time, otherwise it was little seats facing each other. Glad to be done with the whole train thing though...

This would be my favorite mode of transportation. Klong Monster? I think that's the name...Andrew kept saying it but I couldn't ever figure out what he was saying. It was this boat that went pretty fast and you kinda just had to jump on while it was moving. Super fun.

Only pic I have of Bangkok traffic. That is why we mostly avoided Taxis.

By the end of day one in Bangkok we had almost taken every form of transportation possible, and by the end of the trip i'm sure we managed to take them all. Taxi, tuk tuk, train, bus, motorcycle, klong monster, boat, walking, subway, sky train, did I forget any? Probably.

LOCATION


This was our ultra modern hotel. Let's just say I was pretty pampered this trip. This was the first time I have literally touched hot water since I got here almost three months ago. I didn't know I missed warm showers so much. Other then that, the ant free atmosphere was probably my favorite part.

This was the location of the boys suit tailor. Colorful right? I completely loved it.

I'm sad I don't have pictures of the city aspect of Thailand. Picture NYC plus Chiang Mai combined, I think that is what Bangkok ended up being to me. It was definitely city, but still Thailand. A good mix if ya ask me.


FOOD


I love food in Thailand. Too much maybe. But I believe I had the best meal i've had yet. And that is saying A LOT! There is a restaurant, totally hole in the wall, think nothin of it restaurant, but ohhh baby! I guess a former 5 star chef was sick of the fact that no one could afford his food. So he decided to start a restaurant with the same food but cheap prices. He does this by having culinary students make his food for free while getting training, genius! Awesome sea food and normal Thai food, right on the side of the river. Yum my mouth is watering just thinking about it. If, no WHEN I get back to Thailand, I WILL go there again.

Plus Andrew's former mission mom made us the greatest homemade Thai food. Then we found all new krispie kream flavors. Food is always a highlight here in Thailand, let's be honest. 

SITES 


Floating market. Highly impractical, but a must see nonetheless.

Thik Palace. BEAUTIFUL! I got ideas of how I want my house to be one day. Also impractical but definitely a must do. Including a blue, octagon shaped room with dicut wood walls and a spiral staircase. Love it.

Some Museum. Lots of shiny gold things and wood carvings

Wat Arun

It was so intricate with the trippiest-ly steep stairs to the top!

And to match my impractical room, I want to throw a roof like these in the mix.

Reclining Buddha. This thing was HUGE!! And so incredibly beautiful

The Palace 

Also amazingly intricate. The details amaze me every time. Everything is so shiny you can hardly open your eyes!

The Emerald Buddha 

You can't take pictures of it in the Wat, so this is from outside. I was totally surprised how small it was, but I guess it's one of the biggest pieces of jade there is. This is one of the holiest things in Buddhism. It used to be located in Chiang Mai but they moved it to Bangkok. Once again, totally beautiful!

Oh yeah, and the biggest mall in Asia, that was neat. Nothin like a $400 dollar sweater and the biggest Forever 21 known to man!


STORIES (because of course, I always have stories)


I've gotta keep SOME things for later. Just ask me about getting pinned to a wall by Thai men, holding a baby tiger, postin up with a crocodile, oh ya know, just the usual questions one would think to ask ha!

Well that quick explanation was not so quick...I tried.