Nong/ Short-Round

This is where he sleeps sometimes.
And this is a drawing he made for me at school.

Yesterday No and I took the chopper out for a couple hours and just rode down the highway into Nong Khai. I was so stoked because it was the first time I had been able to really soak up the landscape and just take everything in on my own. Driving here is obviously very different from driving in the states. You have to dodge Water Buffalo. After that, Thong got back from Bangkok and Pattaya and we went out to dinner in Si Chiang Mai, which was great. I like it a lot more when he is around, he makes it a priority to take me with him when he does things and he is so proud of Thabo and the Nong Khai province that he loves showing it off. I guess he and I are going on another trip soon, but I forgot where to. 3 days, though. I burnt him 2 cds (The Band: The Band, Billy Brag & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue) based off of what he was playing in the car. After about 50 times, you get so damn sick of hearing "Like a Rhinestone Cowboy," I never thought I'd know all the words.

Rambling.

This whole country is much more sustainable than I was expecting it to be. I guess I was expecting it be a little more like northern Mexico, with the littering, and nobody checking or caring about the emissions of their automobiles. But really, every single person recycles, people walk the streets and pick up trash, everybody carpools (more out of necessity than anything else, but still). Last week there was a huge, 3-day conference in Pattaya that delegates from 16 countries attended about making Southeast Asia a more environmentally friendly environment, that Thong attended. One thing that I thought was particularly cool was that all of the outdoor trash cans are made out of recycles car tires. Like this...Another thing that being here has really made me notice is that in Orange County, as soon as something gets old it is replaced by something new and shiny and smooth. But here things are fixed and tied and painted and glued until they fall apart. The buildings and the streets and all the things around you have so much character because of that. You can look at something and read the repair jobs and almost tell it's history. Orange County has character, sure, but not anywhere close to this.

Bangkok?

Tonight Thong and some of his boys are going into bangkok and pattaya for 3 days, but they will just be in meetings the whole time and I am not sure if I am going to go with them or stay here and try to keep busy. Teacher said he would take me into his friend's classroom because he wanted me to converse with some of the students in English. That could be fun. Anyways, a few of the photos on the last post got cut off, including one of my favorites of one of the temples under construction, but if you click on them you can see them much larger. It is almost 11 in the morning here, and I have no clue what the day holds. Last night No helped with my Thai pronunciation for about an hour which was pretty sweet. We basically sat in my room and he made me repeat things until i said them right. Then repeat them a million more times until I knew em. I have never learned so much from an 11 year old.

From now on, I will update.

So I found a coffee shop about 5 minutes walking from my house in Tha Bo that has free wifi and good coffee, i am so stoked. bummed that it took me 2 weeks to find, but stoked none the less. I am going to start updating this regularly, but over the last 2 weeks I have been spending time traveling around Thailand, seeing Bangkok, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Nong Khai, and Pattaya. I have toured about 12 Buddhist temples and been able to see some really great things.

I think it is the funniest thing ever that the XXL store is called Fat Story.












They're really big on phalic symbols here.

Party Guys.

She is SO pissed i took that photo.












3 of those are boys. Can you guess which? (the ones with hats)

Oldest woman in the world, at 96.

No, the sweet little kid who follows me EVERYWHERE.





My host, Thong Sodavongse, hard at work in our hotel in Pattaya.


They handmake those things out of palm branches and flowers, so gnarly. And this lady makes me look super gangly.

Teacher's daughter who he wants me to marry. He told me 3 times.

In The Airport

I just paid $9.64 for a stale piece of sourdough with a few slices of turkey and one slice of Havarti. I am going on my fifth hour here, waiting for my flight to Tokyo, after which I will be heading into Bangkok. Unfortunately it will take me about 12 hours to get to Tokyo, but my Mom loaded my full of Ambien, so I should make it. People in Airports talk about weird stuff, some girl next to me is talking about how insane some kid is who hitchhikes, and saying if it were her son she would lock him in a room for 4 months. She is young, too, she is wearing a class of '05 shirt. Some people don't like adventure, I don't get it, she is pissing me off now. I don't have any paper to draw on either, so I am spending short periods reading before I am too distracted with people-watching. I am just sending e-mails to my family and waiting. I cant sleep, even though I only slept for 2 hours last night, and if I take an Ambien, I'll miss my flight. I should make it, though. Be in Tokyo in 13 hours.