holy shit its hot here!

Hey all,

This is my first blog from thailand, and yes, its hot here!

Flying across the pacific was very cool. I flew out of San Fran to Hong Kong. Apparently you can't just fly straight across (because of winds) so we flew up towards Alaska, across the pacific, then down the coast of Asia. What was really cool was flying over all of the Islands at night and seeing all of the lights. Japan was briiiiight. Flying into Hong Kong was really cool cause you approach through all these green hillsides that shoot up from the water. The airport is a little confusing cause there is one level for arrivals and another for departures (and if you are on the wrong level it is empty). Flying into Bangkok is really cool too cause the countryside is so green and there is a ton of water everywhere.

I got off the plane at 11 am thai time (9pm the previous night in CA). After getting my stuff I breezed through customs (they are very trusting here) and met up with my group. The second we left the airport I started choking on the heat. I was literally coughing cause the air is soo thick. I Have not stopped sweating since I have been here. The program I am on took us to Rayong, which is a little tiny town on the beach near a small city named Ban Phe. After checking into our awesome hotel we all went immediately to the beach. Because we are on the eastern side of the country, there are no waves at all. However, the water is bath tub warm. Im not even kidding, it is almost too warm. The water is very clear and the beach very gently slopes out. The only small trouble with the beach is that there are little water beetles that very occasionally come up and give you a pinch. I got bit on the rear. There are lots of locals on the beach (everyone just kinda lives across the street from the beach). Once the sun goes down, everyone plays music from their car and sets up a campfire at the beach. After swimming we walked along the beach for a mile or so and stopped in a restaurant. The restaurants are all open and generally have one person cooking. There are a few fish tanks in front that show off what they caught right in front of the restaurant (and what will soon be eaten). You can easily get a lot of REALLY good food for the equivalent of 1 american dollar. Sweet. Last night I ordered a side of sea snail that I saw in one of the tanks. This snail was bigger than my hand. I got to keep the shell (but was not able to eat much of the snail itself). Today we are doing teacher training in a Buddhist monastery and tomorrow I start my observed teaching (I will be teaching young monks).

I will say that the one surprising thing for me has been the level of poverty. Everyone who I talked to about Thailand told me how much better off it was than the rest of the area. And as a country it does have good infrastructure (roads, police....) but most of the homes I have seen have had dirt floors and have generally lacked walls. Frequently the roof is corrugated metal covered with thatch. I don't know if this is just a preference (because of the heat) but I suspect that people here don't have much money. I learned today that as an American teacher here I will make over three times what a teacher with a masters will make. Not cool. Also, I have never seen so many people riding in the backs of trucks. Everyone here rides a moto but there are not very many people with helmets! Frequently, you will see a full family of four all piled on to one tiny moto. Also, a lot of people build out their moto so it is a full food cart. They just drive around honking their horns and offering their food!

Sorry I do not have pictures today because I am using a friends computer (and sweating all over it!) ok! That is it for today, if you have any questions, email me and I will try to include then in my next post. Be well.

--jon