Dropping Anchor

Tuesday was the day, the day I left the jungle to head south.  It was a new experience yet again.  I was down in the valley of the jungle and heard Spanish Tom Hanks yelling (volunteer head at the nonprofit org), Ha-lee! Ha-lee! I was almost packed up and headed up the stone step to the top of the hill with my bag.  He said "ah, yes you must go to bus now, we have found you a ride."  I jumped in a song tow and we headed down the rocky hills. I was so grateful I didn’t have to drag my bags down it.  My bus was to arrive anytime between 10:30-11am.  So I waited on a wooded bench, next to the main road.  I had some time to spare so I left my bags and walked across the street to get cold water and some soy milk. By 10:30, its nearly 85 degrees and climbing.  I sat and waited. 11:30 rolled around, no bus. I stood up thinking there was for sure no bus. Then I saw a large bus coming up the hill. I was about to board.  I quickly communicated to the bus assistant that I was going to Surat Thani (pronounced: Suruh-Tanh-ee). He said, no, no..and the bus was slowly starting to move without him on it. He jumped on, and off the bus went. I stood there in silence with my bags. Hmm. I waited some more and talked with some locals as best as I could, knowing little Thai. They told me 3pm was the next bus, or I could take a minibus.  The minibus you need to register in advance, for about 30-40 baht more. I knew the minibus wasn’t an option, as I had too much luggage for the small sitting space per person. So I waited on the wooden bench for my 3pm bus. I waited watching cars, motos, and trucks full of palm fruit pass by me.  I later discovered there was a palm crushing mill right behind me.  Pickups would drive up, weigh in, and unload the palm.  I also watched a mangy little baboon scale the tree next to me as I waited.  I am certain that he was a trained monkey, for gathering coconuts.

4pm, rolled around and still no bus. I wasn’t sure what was going on. Around 4:15, the bus showed up and boy was I glad to see it.  The unfortunate part was that I was no where near a toilet the entire day, and now I was hoping on a bus for a 3 hr drive. The bus was packed, all but two seats.  I arrived around 8:30 at one of the two Surat Thani bus stations. I called Holly, the manager that hired me and she told a tuk tuk driver how to get to her place – she previously communicated with me that I could stay with her until my house opened up.  I met her on the corner and she walked me down her street. 

Holly and her husband have a 3 story home, typical housing here.  The homes are gated, just before the front door there is an outdoor patio area.  Inside there is a living room bathroom, kitchen and dining room.  The second floor has a bathroom, 1 master bedroom with a small balcony and a side guestroom. The third floor, where I am currently residing has a storage room, bedroom, and separate outdoor patio – good for drying clothes and hanging out.  During the nights I typically sit outside, the air is cooler. 

I am told that it hasn’t rained here in 2 months and that the weather is hotter than usual despite it being the hot/dry season.  Since I have been here in Surat Thani, there has been an average high of 99 and low of 75.  It is quiet here for the most part.  Occasionally the dogs around here will start barking.  Holly has two dogs.  Parallel to her place is the backside of a restaurant.  There are two dogs that are always hanging around, but have no owners.  In Thailand it’s common to see stray dogs within and outside the cities.  Dogs are seen as protectors versus pets.  While they don’t have owners, people do feed and water them as the dogs continue to guard homes.  Most of the dogs are pretty chill, it’s too hot for them to run around. At night I occasionally hear barking fits - this is when I wish I could call on Bob Barker to advocate for controlling pet populations in Thailand. It's not practiced, at all.

Within a few minutes of me arriving at Holly’s, I have already made two friends.  Chanphen (pronounced: Shawn Pen), a retired Thai teacher, greeted me as I walked up the street.  She soon found out my name was Holly too. It was then that she decided Holly would be Holly1 and I would be Holly2.  She speaks English well, but at times has a difficult accent to work around.  Chanphen is a Surat Thani native, no husband or children.

Later that night, my first night in Surat Thani (ST), Holly took me down the street to a noodle place to get some food.  I was rather hungry after not eating much the whole day, with the bus setbacks.  Though I am not a big fan of noodles, I decided I do fancy some of the Thai noodle varieties on occasion.  I ordered Thai eggs noodles, a yellow spaghetti-looking noodle.  The noodle is taken from a glass case and placed in a ladle with bean sprouts and leafy greens, then lowered into a hot pot of broth for 25 seconds or so.  The noodles are then placed in a bowl.  This is where one can specify what he or she wants on the noodles, ie: pork, chicken, fish balls, tofu, or pork dumpling.  Holly told the Thai cook to add the dumpling, some fish balls, and tofu to the dish for me to try.  The bowl was then topped with crushed peanuts and chili flakes (my favorite part) and a little bit of sugar.  I ordered the food “take-away,” so it was packed in a plastic bag, with a separate bag for the broth and chili-vinegar sauce.  I went back to Holly’s and we sat on her patio while I ate.  We visited for a while.  This is when I found out Holly was really into games, board games.  New to me, we played a couple of games of Backgammon.

Wednesday, I spent much of the day wondering around ST - "the city of good people", trying not to lose my way.  I had some objectives on my list as far as what I wanted to see, thanks to Nick.  He was Google mapping my location and filled me in on some sites. I strolled down the street and walked to the big bridge, where I spotted the big temple.  This temple is so cool! I will talk about it later.  On I went to the island.  The island was more beautiful than I had anticipated.  There is a great walking area, volleyball sand pit, paved soccer field, palm trees, coconut trees, areas for picnics, park and entertainment area, kayaks, and exercise equipment looking out to the Tipi River that surrounds it.  There were few people there, it was peaceful, and I have already visited a couple times since I have been here.

 Brief Island Tour

  Standing on the big bridge looking west, to the island.

Looking east, from the island to the big bridge.

  Love the gold flowering trees

 Love these trees, stopped me in my tracks. Vines growing into trees.  The vines eventually suffocate the trees.  The vines grow towards the ground.

Exercise equipment along the Tipi.

In the evening Holly and I strolled out.  We stopped for some food at a popular Thai eatery.  I had a green curry with what she called, “Chinese noodles.”  The Chinese noodles are made from rice.  They were long, white, sticky, thin noodles that clung together.  I was surprise how good they were, paired with the spicy chicken green curry.  There are several premade curries to choose from at this particular place, nobody spoke English from my observation.  I have been told that particular restaurant is known for its green curry.  On the table was the typical garnishments, pickled vegetables, pickled cucumbers, Thai basil (so good), and a few other green vegetables.  The meal was 40 baht, I will likely be revisiting this place in the future. Oh, and they serve ice water – nice touch.  Following the dining experience, Holly walked me under the bridge to where an annual 12 day market fair is being held.  In some ways it resembles a mini version of a small town fair in the US.  There was music, food, clothing, some vehicles sponsors, Thai foods, some games, etc.  The atmosphere was fun, but it was about 9pm, so the place was starting to get quite busy and crowded.  One of my favorite bits of the fair was watching two gentlemen make Thai ice tea. The tea is mixed from pitcher to cup by keeping both arms parallel to ones sides, one arm up and the other down.  The liquid is then poured back and forth from behind the back, with hands about 4 feet apart (that’s especially a lot if you a 4’9” Thai lad).  It truly was fascinating to watch.

Thursday, I headed out to explore more of the city.  I found the Language, which is the school where I will train at.  I walked down several streets.  Have you heard of the “shiny object effect?”  This is when you see something shiny and dart in that direction, forgetting previous objectives, for the time being.  That happened several times.  My mind and feet were all over the place.  I saw some of the coolest wats (temples).  So many beautiful colors, even Chinese inspired temples.  I watched long-tail boats rap across the Tipi River.  I weaved here and there, then came upon a coffee/smoothie vendor.  I decided that I would finally purchase a Thai iced coffee.  I pointed to the one I wanted and the lady smiled and told another lady what to make.  I watched as my drink was being made.  First, the lady added about ¼ cup of milk and ice to a tall plastic cup. Second, she grabbed a contraption and squeezed a 3” layer of whipped cream in the glass and drizzled it with chocolate syrup. Next she added a few mini chunks of a Thai brownie. Then she repeated the whipped cream-chocolate syrup, and brownie.  I think she handed me a cup of a whipped cream and chocolate.  I was so confused, where was the coffee?  Obviously I need to work on my ordering skill, ha, I don’t even like whipped cream.  Next time! In the early evening I walked around some more and explored the river area.  This was a nice time to go, the air was a little cooler and there were less people at the market fair.  In the evening Holly broke out Yahtzee, wahoo, board games

Friday, was a hot one and I didn’t sleep well.  So, I stayed in a little later that morning and did some NickTime.  I caught up with Elliott and Daevani just before bedtime. The conversation segued into Daevani taking me upstairs saying, “Holly, I’m taking you with me to brush my teeth. And you’re going to be my toothbrush!”  The two kids brushed their teeth and put on a show for me. It was nothing short of entertaining.  I even managed to get my teeth brushed. The conversation ended with a giant tickle fight, kids versus Nick, which I may have instigated!

In the early afternoon I headed to The Language school, where I had the opportunity to see how the school was set up.  As a part of the summer camp, the kids were learning how to make Thai desserts.  The dessert making was a combination of banana leaf origami and cooking, all in one.  The kids were cute and each with their own motive. "Ice", a thick little Thai boy, covered in melted chocolate told me I was crazy, dangerous, ugly..and that he loved me. He ran around the play area saying ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’ If you exchange that story with cheese vs the chocolate, it's similar to how Nick and I met.

I'll be doing my summer camp April 17-May 2 and training during the month of May at The Language school.  The Language school website is http://www.tls.ac.th/. The school branched from it where I will be teaching is, Joy School. It’s a large pink school building, I haven't been in it yet. On Saturday, Holly had some errands to run, invited me to join.  I was able see more of the city, she took me to the viewpoint. I was then able to check out ST at a new elevation.  The view was great, but the distance view was disrupted by a hazy sky, likely due to the heat and water.  She told me that one can usually see the water from the veiwing area.  

 In the afternoon, I went for a stroll and ran into Chanphen, the retired school teacher (Holly’s neighbor).  I started talking with her and she was telling me little tidbits about ST.  We ended up on a walk together.  She picked up on my interest in food and began to point out all of the great places to eat.  She too has a love of cooking and would not only tell me about the food, but also the ingredients.  We walked to the night market, near Holly’s, about a 6 minute walk.  This was fun.  The market is a roofed and cemented area with several aisles and counters with food and beverages.  Items available include mostly fresh produce, fresh fish and meats, teas/coffee/drinks, and a few traditional Thai sweets.  It’s nice knowing that it is so close to me, open every night, and filled with friendly faces.  Chanphen insisted that I get a smoothie.  She kept telling me to pick my fruit out.  I chose cantaloupe, pineapple, and apple.  It was good but quite sweet, I sipped as we walked on. The smoothie was on her. She is so sweet. - Pictured (above): Dragonfruit

On the way back Chanphen invited me to join her for some som tum.  She directed me towards a restaurant in the alley.  However, she ordered a few more items than just the salad.  We had som tum, (green papaya salad), sticky rice, and fried chicken.  Som tum is a famous Thai salad.  It has grated green papaya, cherry tomatoes, chilies, garlic, green beans, lime juice, palm sugar, plain peanuts, fish sauce, and mini fresh or dried shrimp.  I don’t care for the shrimp but it’s easy to work around.  The sticky rice is served in a plastic-lined weaved basket with a lid.  The rice is purple in color due to the combination of red and white rice, what makes it sticky. The fried chicken comes from the smallest of chickens (bite size meat) and is served with a sweet/sour chili sauce.  Chanphen spoke to the meal, indicating that it was a tradition meal served in Northeastern Thailand. I have had som tum several times prior, but not served in this manner.  She informed me that the sticky rice was to be eaten with the papaya salad.  She said that she likes dipping the rice in the salad sauce.  It was really delicious, the combination.  The chicken was like any fried chicken.  Sticky rice is one dinner item that is acceptably eaten with the hands, in Thailand.  In addition, in Thailand, if someone invites you to dinner, it’s assumed that they pay unless you are of a higher or wealthier status.  Chanphen made it clear that she was ‘treating’ me to a meal. The meal was perfect and the company was even better.

As we walked on, Chanphen asked if I had seen Walking Street.  I said, no.  Walking Street takes place every Saturday night in ST, like many locations throughout the country.  I loved that the market was low key and at a smaller scaled than previous Walking Street markets I have seen.  The people were again friendly and they all seemed to know Chanphen.  She seemed so happy to be bringing me around.  I don’t know much Thai, but I know that she was telling them that I was going to be a new teacher living in ST.  She pointed out some of the specific crafts and trades to me.  When we reached a vendor midway through, we stopped and she pointed out bracelets.  She was telling me about the artist.  She then told me, “Chose what you like, I want to give you a gift.”  Together we picked out a bracelet.  The artist told me that the stone was rose quartz.  You find this as interesting as I do right? Because we all know that rose quartz is the state mineral of SD. I just knew I had the right bracelet.  I enjoyed Chanphen’s company and all of her friends she introduced me too.  Holly met up with us later. Chanphen was tired and took a tuk tuk home – I have to say I admire her energy and spunk.  She walked all over with me.  Holly and I proceeded to see some side markets.  My mission was to find some sticky rice with mango, which we found.  I believe we paid too much for it.  I rode back on the back of Holly’s bicycle – not the most comfortable, but we received lots of smiles along the way. 

I will continue living with Holly until my house opens up.  So far I am enjoying my location and the company.  I look to more self-exploration of ST and some potential cooking dates with Chanphen.