What's normal anyway?

Since when is it normal to...

• go outside on the roof to put laundry in a shorty washing machine


• scrub the black off my feet every night before I go to bed


• wear a doctor's mask around town


• ride to and from work in the back of a little red truck


• put a pad lock on our front door when we leave the house


• not drink the tap water


• use women's public restrooms with men dressed like women


• get eaten up by mosquitoes while watching a movie at the theater


• have geckos (lizards) running around on the walls of our house (we don't kill 'em because they eat mosquitoes!)


• sit around and watch Thai TV every night and swat bugs with an electric tennis racket looking thing that zaps 'em


• be woken up every morning by roosters, geckos, dogs barking, and a man on a bullhorn riding in a truck making some announcement about something political.
  

These are all things that are slowly becoming normal to me. Please don't think I'm complaining about any of these things...they're all things that I have laughed at in the past few days because I never could've guessed life could be so interesting! All these things will forever remind me of this really cool place! Welcome to Chiang Mai!!

**Please note in the image above: the 2 guys chillin' on top of all those boxes in the back of a truck, all the outta control power lines, and of course, a larger than life painting of the king overlooking traffic. What's normal anyway?

Heat, Pollution, and Shots...oh my!

Well ladies and gentlemen, it's officially hotter than deep fried grease here! I didn't realize how thirsty I get walking everywhere! This is me and Court gulping from a huge jug of water!! I'm sure we should be drinking like 10 of these a day or something!

That photo was taken shortly after fighting the elements to be outside. Although it was a sunny day--no rain, no clouds--there was tons of pollution. In fact, I've heard rumor that the king is gonna intervene or something. The farmers are burning their rice (old school slash and burn methods) and it's choking the air quality! The air is so nasty, peeps are getting sick from it! I got coughing some last night when we were walking back from the store, but I'm fine. But, I heard of somebody not making it into the office this morning b/c they were coughing up blood. Mercy! It's bad! So, it's highly recommended that everyone wear face masks (like doctors). In an attempt to fit in around here, I thought I'd strap on my mask too! Do you think I could sneak in on the set of Grey's Anatomy now or what!?!? Hello, McDreamy, Dr. Shelton is scrubbin' in! For more on Chiang Mai's pollution...please see Court's blog for more photos and details. Click here!

This photo was actually taken on our way to get our Japanese Encephalitus shot. I'm sure I totally didn't spell that right. It was an interesting experience. We walked in, did paperwork, went to about 4 different little stations to have a person look at our paper and tell us go to another station. Whatever! Then, we got to see the doctor. She couldn't have been a day over 24! Either that or she's really 60 and has used Oil of Olay all of her life! Anyways, she was cute and reminded me and Court of Kirsten Dunst. So, we both go in to get our shots at the same time. I'm tellin' you...Sandy and Connie get mad immunization props because they're so good at giving shots, you never feel it! Well, they should come over here and give a lesson or two! I felt like it took 5 years for the nurse to stick me and push the medicine in. And man did it hurt! I have a fairly high threshold for pain, and this hurt bad!

Anyways..we survived! I made it back to the internet cafe to prove it! After the shots, we stopped at a scooter shop to drool over the Vespa scooters! Can't you see me cruisin' in the pink scooter or what? Oh, with the face mask, of course!

I've got a computer!!!!

Today is another day to eat som tum!!! Check me out enjoying a pinch-full of papaya and a ball of sticky rice!




I’m still working on my record of eating it every day since I’ve been here. Don’t worry, Momma Sandy, my colon is doing great so far! No blockage! It may just be a matter of time though! Yesterday, I had my first day in the office at work and today was my first full day of work. It was great! It’s nice to be doing something familiar, something that I know how to do. So far here in Chiang Mai, I’ve felt like a baby not knowing how to do much of anything on my own. In fact, with that and other elements as my inspiration, I’m starting language classes this week! I just can’t go any longer not knowing how to communicate here. Yes, I do realize that I’ve not even been here a week, but I’m madly independent and would like to stay that way as much as possible—even in a different country!

Yesterday was quite an adventure---I bought a new computer for work! It’s totally maxed out and awesome! It took all but 3 hours of the day to get it though. Court and I walked up and down the streets going to different shops to compare prices, then, once I found the one I wanted to go with, it wasn’t a done deal yet. The salesman and I were having issues communicating a rather important piece of the package—the RAM! Long story short, I didn’t get what I wanted and then they kept the computer for an extra 4 hours to install something on it. It was only supposed to take a few extra minutes…”Almost done, almost done, please sit down.” The last time I walked back in to get it, there were 3 sales peeps gathered around my new computer. This was a little unsettling! But, things seemed to be OK. This was definitely a major cultural development experience! I left the store with a huge headache and a new computer! In fact, it is making this blog post possible today! It was well worth the effort!

Church day

Before we do church this afternoon at 4:30pm, we've stopped in at the internet cafe to holler at all our peeps! It's been craziness trying to keep up without having easy access to the internet. But it's all good. This is me chillin' outside the internet place...

Special note to my friends, The Bones: Please take note that my orange bone ring perfectly matches the decor and even mini-blinds of the internet place...I knew I liked this place for some reason!

Anyways...we're gonna grab lunch...yep, if you've been keepin' up with me, you can probably guess that I'm gonna have som tum and sticky rice again and there's nothing you can do to stop me!!!!!! I think it'd be accurate to say that I'm addicted to it! I'm ok with that though. Really I am. Then, we're gonna get a few things done before taking the song tau to church where we'll meet up with Pam. Church is kinda outside or something and will be super hot...Pam advised us to dress cool and bring a water bottle. So, are we going to church or are we working out? I'll let you know how it is. I'll even try to snap some photos. Just want y'all to be abe to see what I'm seeing! I'm loving every minute so far and can't wait for another day here!!!

We gotta washer!!

After a LONG adventure to Lotus (Thailand Wal-Mart type store) last night with Pam, we woke up bright and early this morning to hit a yard sale!!! Y'all know I was beside myself to find out that not only can I wear tee shirts, capris and flops all the time, but I can go to yard sales too!! This is too good to be true!! Anyways...we bought a washer! We realized that we have clothes that are slowly but surely going to need washing and we had no way to do that. So...we se the washer, we like it, we pay for it....now how do we get it all the way across town to our place?! We wave down a songtau (little red truck) and Pam spoke to him and explained what we needed. He agreed to do it and so off we went to pick it up. Our driver was very nice! We got to the sale and he decided that he'd like to come in and look around too. We loaded the washer in the back of the truck with me (court sat up front) and we thought we were on our way back to our place. Instead, we took a little pit stop. The driver took us to his house to pick up his wife and daughter. We waited on them for a few minutes while his dog barked at us. So, they got in the truck with me and the washer and we headed across town. We finally made it to our place and his wife helped me get the washer out of the truck. Then, he helped me get it under our carport. They told us goodbye and were so sweet and went on their way. Court and I then hauled it inside. So, now we have a washer! I had to laugh at myself as I sat in the back of a little red truck with the driver's wife and daughter who had an ear ache and I hung onto the washer with both hands so that it wouldn't shift around too much! Go ahead and laugh, I couldn't have made this up myself!

Well, we finally got photos of our apartment up and ready to roll on shutterfly! Click here for a visual description of our new life in Chiang Mai!

Another day without easy internet access...

Since when did I become so hooked on the internet!??! Yikes! Well, we were told yesterday that we'd have internet in the next 2 to 3 days...but we're told not to expect it before a week. So...until then, we're mooching free internet time from peeps here as well as paying 20 baht (less than a dollar) an hour for time online at an internet cafe about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. Speaking of our apartment...We'll post photos soon! I got completely unpacked today--believe it or not! I typically would slowly unpack over time, but I'm turning over a new leaf here! I know some of you are glad to hear that!! :) Anyways...I'm stuffing myself on Som Tum (papaya salad) and sticky rice like I'm not gonna get to eat it everyday! It's just that in Richmond it was so expensive and a special treat...now, it's about 25 baht (less than a US dollar!) and I'm eating it every day! Needless to say, when it comes to the food here--I'm in heaven!!! Today, we're going to meet with the peeps we'll be working with and dicussing work details. I'm anxious to hear about all of this --I feel like there are many unkowns at this point...just as there are with any new job! I already miss my old job and all my peeps there! There will be no replacement! K...check back soon for photos of our new crib!!! Lovin' y'all!!!

We Made it!!!!

K...so, after some LONG flights, too many airplane meals, and many many hours....we finally made it to Chiang Mai!!! I can't believe it! The day before and the day that we actually left feel like they didn't even happen! Standing at the ticket counter really seem to put this physical journey into motion. Here we are at the counter in Richmond getting our tickets after the very nice ticket gal hooked us up with a break on our excess luggage charges.




Thanks to all of you for your help and support through getting us to where we are today--in Chiang Mai, Thailand!! I can't believe we're here! We have been to our new apartment, gotten lunch and are now catching up on emails and all that kind of stuff. We will begin unpacking tonight and will snap some photos of our place so that you can see our new crib. I'm super jazzed to be here! And I'm looking forward to all the awesome things that are to come!