Living for the weekends

Well, it has been a while since I've really had the time to sit down and write out my thoughts! It's been a pretty busy (but fun!) week.

Wednesday, I had film class and as everyone started to leave around me, a few polite Thai students filled me in on the fact that our class was switching rooms for a bigger screen to watch the movie (oops, didn't get that memo) and I made some really nice, new friends. A student commented on the book under my arm (my new Stephen King book) and asked me if I liked the author. Surprised he recognized Mr. King, I asked if he'd ever read any of his books. He said his mom was a huge fan and that they'd been to the US several times. He was totally shocked when I told him I'd never been to Disney Land and made me promise to go once I'd returned to the states. (who wants to go?) I still can't get over how nice people are here, and even if it's a small connection, something like Stephen King or Disney, everyone is just so willing to talk to you and make conversation. I feel like it's more effortless here, what might be considered awkward small-talk at home is so incredibly normal here. In class, we watched Rashomon, a Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa and it was excellent. I had seen one Kurosawa film before, but I would venture to say that this one was even better. It was basically a film about one story, told through the eyes of 4 different people. It was an incredible film and I would recommend you see it if you haven't already.

Thursday was a little boring. I don't think I did anything besides endure an incredibly long day of class. I did learn that vegetables in Thailand have Cyanide in them. (WHAAAT?) But with a nonchalant grin, my Thai Cuisine instructor said it was fine to have in moderation. I am still confused by that statement, as vegetables are basically in every Thai dish. I guess Mai pen rai? It doesn't really seem to bother anyone else, so it must be okay.

Friday was an awesome day! I couldn't really coordinate with other people to do anything major, so I just decided to spend the day on my own! I was looking up things to do, and I stumbled upon the snake farm. I've seen it before on websites about Thailand, so I just decided that it was time to check it out! With some help from my friendly Thai neighbors, I got on the 79 bus to Siam Square and headed for the hospital. The Snake Farm is connected to the hospital because it is run by the Thai Red Cross Society. The Thai Red Cross uses the snakes to extract their venom to create anti-venoms for treatment of patients that come in with snake bites. After arriving at Siam square, I knew I was close. Being awful with directions, it took me some time to orient myself. I knew I was close by the map, but then again, the map doesn't really have a scale, so I didn't know how close I was. With a few hits and misses in the directions department, I finally made it! I was ready to see some snakes! I arrived at about 1030, I had read online that they had daily snake handling shows, so I looked at the schedule and it didn't start until 230, so I had plenty of time to look around. Outside they had large cement tanks that you could look down in as well as little cages on blocks (similar to a rabbit hutch) that held the non-poisonous snakes. Most of them were sleeping, curled up into pots and rocks that were provided for them in their tiny homes, so it wasn't really all that interesting. However, I did see the elephant trunk snake eat a live fish, which was pretty gross/awesome. Inside, there was a full, two story museum. On the first floor, there were tons of poisonous snakes. They were safely displayed behind glass because many of them could spit venom and blind their observers. I loved looking at all of the snakes, but it also made me a little more aware of the fact that, yet again, I forget that I am in Thailand. There are 60 species of poisonous snakes in Thailand and 200 that are nonpoisonous. Great. I think the scariest snake however, was one of the smallest. It was this little green snake that looked just like a leaf. It wasn't highly poisonous, but it did carry enough venom to make your arm or leg swell twice its size if bitten. I just get a little freaked out thinking that something so small, something so elusive, could be lurking in the trees every time I stop to admire the plants. The second floor was more of a look at the history behind snakes and their role in society throughout time as well as information on their anatomy. I was baffled by a lot of the information that I read, because I had never really learned much about snakes. The exhibits were really awesome. They had some that showed the organs of snakes and their bone structure. Snakes have really strange hearts, which I found really cool. Before I knew it, it was already 2! So I quickly went down to the arena and snagged a front row seat for the snake show! Awesome! The snake show was insane! None of the snakes were defanged or devenomized, and I won't lie I felt that the brave snake handler before me wasn't enough of a barrier to save me from a snake bite. First, they brought out a King Cobra, one of the most aggressive species in Thailand. And it wasn't really happy to be there, that's for sure. Even though it was a little crazy and unstable, it was graceful and really (as weird as it is to say about a snake), beautiful. The sand colored snake mirrored the movements of the snake handler with a dancer's poise. It was really cool to see the connection between the snake and the handler. It was almost as if they were old friends in conversation, unaware that they were being watched. They showed 5 or 6 snakes, and they were all really different and interesting in their own way. One was a huge black and yellow banded snake and if bitten, the victim could have immediate and permanent paralysis. When the guide of the show said that, my heart felt like it just exploded. The man holding the snake wasn't phased a bit. It was as if he was holding a puppy instead of a creature capable of ending life as he knew it in a matter of seconds. Crazy! The finale was a burmese python. It was a massive snake and if you wanted to, you could hold the snake and get your picture taken with it over your shoulders. Of course I did. I didn't expect it to be as heavy as it was, but it was really strange to have something so massive around you. They were so nonchalant about it too, just plopped it down over my neck like I was trying on a scarf from a department store. The snake farm is definitely one of the best things I've seen in Thailand so far.

After I finished up with the snake park, a girl that I met at the snake show and I set off to find the mall and grab some lunch. After some walking and getting lost, we found the mall, and it was overwhelming. I have never seen so many stores in my life. Sensory overload. The entire ground level is nothing but food places. Perfect. We settled on a Mexican restaurant called Sunrise Tacos. We both were getting a little tired of the constant Thai cuisine, so we gladly accepted the huge change in taste. Earlier in the week, I scoured Tesco (the grocery store here) for salsa, and left empty-handed and extremely disappointed, so I was so excited to have chips and salsa. I got the "hot" kind, because I assumed that it wouldn't really be hot because it wasn't really indigenous to Thailand. I HAVE TO STOP DOING THAT. You'd think that after continuously ordering hot food, to find out that, yes, it really is hot, that I would learn my lesson. The salsa burned my entire mouth to eat, but seeing as it's Thailand and I won't see it often, I just sucked it up and ate the insanely hot, but delicious salsa. The food was a little expensive for what I'm used to here (about 200 baht for dinner instead of 50) but really, it was only 6 dollars vs 1. And considering you can't even get fast food for 6 dollars at home, I was willing to let it go. The quesadilla I got was really good and it had cheese in it! And sour cream! Maybe that's so trivial to you, but here, those ingredients are hard to come by. There isn't cheese in anything, and sour cream? Forget it! Overall, I was glad I chose to do something a little different, it was well worth the efforts of making it through the crowded mall to get there.

Friday night, we decided to venture out and get... wait for it... FISH PEDICURES! No, you read that correctly, I stuck my feet into a large aquarium and had hundreds of little fish literally eat the dead skin off my feet! It was so interesting! When I first stuck them into the water, it was really creepy! I didn't know if I could keep them in for the full 30 minutes, but after the initial shock of seeing the little fish nibble at your feet, it was really relaxing. It kind of felt like your feet were asleep, but it was a different sensation than the normal, painful throbbing that my poor feet have grown accustomed to. After the pedicure was over my feet felt really smooth. It was a really nice experience and I'd say I wouldn't mind to do it again before leaving Bangkok!

Saturday, Cody and I decided to go to the weekend market. We took the 509 bus to the end of the line and walked into this giant, beautiful park. We weren't quite sure where we were, but we knew it was close. (or rather he did, as I can't seem to ever figure out where I am) As the gorgeous park was just luring us in, we caved and walked through in hopes of spotting the butterfly gardens. I was in a state of shock at first. I hadn't seen this much green since I left West Virginia. I was sure that I was dreaming. Could there be such a place amidst the dirty, polluted city that is now my new home? I really enjoyed walking around taking pictures of all the plant life that the city had to offer. I didn't know how it was possible to walk from one extreme to the next in the matter of feet, but I certainly wasn't complaining. We finally rounded the corner of a really neat swampy picnic area and found the butterfly garden! I was really excited to see it and even better--- it was free! The garden was really pretty, but I was a little disappointed at how many butterflies there were. When I went to one in DC, they were everywhere, they would even land on your shoulder, but I only saw about 10 in this garden. Perhaps we were there at a bad time, or maybe they moved some of them, but it was still really beautiful nonetheless. I was really happy to see some more plant life and flowers! I just get so excited when I see something that isn't covered in the grime from the city! After we escaped the park (if it weren't hotter than the depths of hell outside I could have probably stayed all day!) we headed to the market. Wow. There was just so much! Street stalls everywhere! Art, pottery, dishes, clothing, sunglasses, shoes, anything you would ever want to buy, you could buy at JJ Market. We got lunch inside, and I was less than impressed. I got a fruit salad, and after being in the extreme heat, I was so excited to have a light, refreshing lunch. I was starving! When I got it, however, it was a tiny little bowl with chopped fruit with a white sauce over the top. I naively assumed (never assume in Bangkok) that it was like a fruit dip, some kind of cream cheese dressing. But, alas, fool me again, it was mayonnaise. How disgusting! For one, if you know anything about me, you'll know that I utterly LOATHE mayonnaise. But, to be fair, even if I liked mayonnaise, I don't think I would ever want to dip my fruit in it. What a let down. The indoor part was kind of the same thing I'm used to seeing around Bangkok. Some places were overpriced, and others were reasonable, but you could still bargain and get a better price. But outside, outside was where the insanity started. There was an entire area designated to pets! And pets was an understatement for sure. Squirrels, toucans, macaws, owls, geese, kittens, puppies, turtles, snakes, scorpions, rabbits, and basically a ton of other random animals were crammed down the streets of the markets. PETA would have a field day with this place. I couldn't stay long, because it really is a sad environment. The puppies look exhausted from being in the sun all day. Owls were crammed into tiny cages that were far too small for their bodies to stand upright, and animals were forced to be in cages with so many inside that they had to climb on top of each other to move around. It made me kind of sick to wonder how long they'd have to live like that until they were lucky enough to be rescued and given a home. I had to fight the extreme urge to run wild down the isles, opening all the cages, and setting all the animals free. Pretty sure there is either a law against that, or I would make some definite enemies. Maybe before I leave? ha.

Sunday, we went to Chinatown with some other Thammasat Students that live in our apartment building. I didn't know what to expect, but I definitely didn't expect what we experienced. The streets were covered in decorations and thousands of people lined the busy roads with flags and paper dragons, waiting for what we thought was going to be a huge parade. It wasn't exactly a parade, but they were waiting to see the queen of Thailand. We stood on the busy street as she passed by with an ear to ear grin and waved to the people. She was a very beautiful, humble, sincere looking person, and it was a really cool experience to see everyones reaction to seeing the queen of their country. As we walked in search of food after seeing the queen pass, we ran into this massive crowd of people. It was hard to even breathe let alone walk as hundreds of people were shoving against you and pushing their way through the herd of gatherers. I was so over Chinatown by that time, so we all decided maybe it was best to come back when it wasn't such a circus.

Today was a pretty relaxing day. I had class at one, and grabbed some dinner afterwards. I got Spicy Chicken Cashew Stir-fry again, and it's probably one of my favorites here. After everyone settled in from dinner, we joined some of our classmates on the roof for a drink and played some cards.

This weekend, I plan to visit some waterfalls and hold some tigers in Kanchanaburi. I can't wait to explore more of Thailand, and as the weeks go by, I still can't believe all I've seen and done! I feel incredibly blessed to be on this journey and can't wait for what is to come!