Bunker down people

I havent written in what seems like a long time, so this is going to be a long one!

Complete sensory overload is the only way to describe thailand. everything is loud, everything is hot, everyone speaks at once. It always smells like SOMETHING and the sheer masses of things everywhere is overwhelming.

driving is the biggest thing i have to tell you about... At first i thought that it wasnt so bad, it wasnt that people were bad drivers, just not as organized as North American drivers. Wrong. i have seen so many accidents the last couple days. everyone gets into them. because nobody obeys the rules of the road! yesterday we started drving down the wrong side of the road, with cars coming towards us, and for like 10 fulls seconds (which feels like a long time in this situation) nobody even made an attempt to get back on the right side! parking doesnt even require a space, people just park in the middle of a lane. so then you find yourself on the wrong side again, trying to get around whoever decided it didnt matter how much of the road they were blocking.

lanes fully do not exist. theyre "there", by which i mean there are lanes painted on the street, but if you dont want to use them thats okay. you can just drive down the middle. if people want to get around you they'll find a way.

there are around 5 to 10 motorcycles around you at all times. your surrounded by them. nobody wear a helmut unless they see police, and its not uncommon to have a baby sitting in front of you while you drive, your toddler behind you and your teenager behind the toddler. absolutely absurd. apparently one of the leading causes of death in thailand is motorcycle accidents. people in cars dont treat you with as much "respect" as other cars either... your pretty much waiting to get hit if you ride one of those things.

Nothing happens fast in thailand. i had to go with a couple other exchangers and khun mem (rotary club president) to get my uniform. something that you would think you would be able to get all the peices of in one place, quickly. because how many people have time to run around to different shops getting uniforms for their kids, when its entirely possible every kid wears a different uniform? Well, we went to one place for the shirt/skirt. one place for the shoes. one place for the belt. another for the gym shorts, and another for the gym shirt and shoes. it took nearly four hours! i was exhausted! ive never shopped so long for one outfit in my life haha. ands shopping doesnt exhaust me easily =)

on the subject of school, everyone should know that i start wedneday (tuesday night for all of you). tomorrow im going to khun mems place and hanging out with the other exchangers, and tueday the school is closed because of mothers day. im not entirely sure what classes i want to take yet, but i think i deffinitely want to try thai cooking. i guess semester change is in october, so i might not be able to do it for long, but id still like to get the basics down.

this weekend we went to Roy-et which is a city/province in thailand. as far as i can tell citys and provinces mean the same thing. We went to visit khun pa's father and a bunch of his other relatives too. his dad is like 95 or something, and is still mobile haha. very nice man. Everyone is super nice. But they all try to talk to me in thai, which is awesome except for the part where then they expect me to REPLY in thai, and i have no idea what they said or what i should say! so they all just stare at me expectantly, and of course i have nothing to say so i smile and smile, and wait for someone to translate or something. Most of the time i feel like an idiot, especially when they start talking about me when im right there and i dont know what theyre saying. Randomly i will hear "anjalee" or "falang" and i know theyre talking about me. they'll point and talk and sometimes someone will laugh. i know its not a MEAN laugh, but still, youd like to know what people are saying about you.

The Aunts all try and fix me up with their sons. All the time they ask "sow eye falang, mai?" (lit: beautiful white girl, no?"). over and over again, then theyll say something i dont understand, and after that it just gets awkward because theres nothing for me to do except smile. Then everyone laughs and i get embarassed. And its obvious the sons are embarassed too. good times, good times. haha.

We went to a park in roy-et with these two enormous ponds that are absolutely packed with cat fish. You can buy bags of food, and if you stand on the edge and throw hanfuls into the water they all pile on top of one another, wriggling and trying to get the food. it actually looks disgusting haha. i took a video but i'll have to post it later.

In the park they also have what i guess is like an outdoor temple.. you have to get a bouquet of flowers, three inscents (sp?) and one candle thats about as big as a birthday candle and a peice of gold foil first. you can buy these from any of the local vendors waiting around the temple. then you take your shoes off, light the candle, light the inscents and hold all of them. then you sit down in front of.. well to be quite honest i have no idea what it is, its completely covered in streamers. Anyways, you kneel in front of it, say your prayer, put the candle in the holder, the inscents in the tub of sand and the flowers in the pot, try and make the peice of gold foil stick to whatever it is you kneel in front of, bow down and then leave. very odd, and since ive never really known what exactly it is you say in a prayer, i felt very out of place. next if you want there is a place that has all of these life fortunes.. you go say another prayer (im assuming thats what we were supposed to be doing) then take this tube with numbered sticks and shake it until just one of them falls out. You grab whichever numbered fortune is yours and then go.

it was actually a really nice experience and the thai's take it very seriously. even though it was a bit strange for me, im guessing there will be many more experiences like that. my life's fortune was really nice too. it told me that i will only become happier in my life, as well as wealthier and happier. also, apparently i'll find happiness in a widow. kind of odd but also surprisingly reassuring haha. pleng (my host sister) did not have a good one haha. if you dont like your fortune she said you were either supposed to stick is somewhere but she couldnt remember where, or else throw it away, into the wind or something to make it 'leave you'.

i really enjoyed the whole thing.

i think thats all thats new. oh, except my official thai name is "anjalee phumipan" and my nickname is anne. this is because i told khun ma that i wanted to learn everything about thai culture, and anjalee means to "wai" (what you do when say hello, meet someone, say goodbye, say thank you) its like the most thai thing you could ever do. when you put your hands into prayer position and then slightly bow. i really like it, and she obviously put some though into it which really means something.

anywho i really have to go, this post is getting way to long.
love you and miss you all.