tuktuks, veggies, and buildings with 32 floors.

I'm at the house in Bangkok right now...Kunmei and I are going to a vegetarian "share" party tonight in NP (ps: I have no idea what they mean by "share party"....'tis a Thai thing) and on the way over here we passed some police officers. Sumorn(the girl Kunmei hired to help with housework) and I both made little hissing noises as we passed the police officers; she because she's from Burma and they give her hell about her work permit, and me because of the passport incident. So we have something in common- neither of us like the police here.

I was at the Pra Pathom Chedi today...took some pictures, did "tamboon"(merit), and got pooped on by a temple bird. So, Afton, we've both had good luck passed on to us while at temples! Only there wasn't anyone around to congratulate me on my new good luck. Just me and a little black temple kitten. Which kept following me around. Then as I was going to make tamboon, a group of tourists came onto the temple grounds. To tell the truth, I was embarrassed at the way they were behaving. Short shorts, little strappy tops, just butting in and taking pictures without consideration for the people who were there to actually make merit. I mean, come on. I'm no saint either, but I have the decency to make sure my shoulders and legs are covered. You're in Thailand! At one of the most revered monuments in the history of Buddhism! Have a little respect?

I've taken a bunch of pictures, now I just need to put them up. Sadly, my camera cord is in NP, so that'll have to wait a bit. I took a whole bunch of good pictures, though. My stomach feels warm...I had guaytiew nam with chilli vinegar today, and I think I accidentally ate some prik kee noo along with the noodles. Oopthie. Man, I never realized just how different the international-school kids are from the local-school kids. I went into the washroom at Big C today to fix up my hair and such (having just gotten off a motorcycle taxi) and there was a group of girls wearing uniforms from some prestigious private school. They stare at me a bit when I come in, I smile a bit, one of them gives a sniff. Nothing is said, just a sniff. Not a "my nose is stuffed" sniff, the kind of sniff that says "YOU've been to a PUBLIC school". Oh, sorry, do I smell like a local-school kid? Then they stare at me the entire time I'm fixing my hair and putting on some powder. Gee, awkward much?

So, May 26th. My 19th birthday. :) Here, in Thailand!!! I'm gonig to turn 19 over here, even though technically I'm already legal here. Everybody wants to know where I'm going! It's so strange. Again. And people are staring at me everywhere I go. Again. People on the bus, on tuktuks, samlors, songthaews, motorcycles, in taxis, everywhere.

Yesterday I was in Bangkok rush hour traffic (hah, what am I talking about? It's ALWAYS rush hour in Bangkok.) and there was a tuktuk driver with a foreign guy sitting in the back of the tuktuk. We were both stuck in traffic, and I managed to catch the attention of the driver. The poor guy looked exhausted- probably couldn't wait to get home but he was stuck in nasty traffic. Have to say, I felt sorry for him. So I waved, smiled. He smiles back, clearly tired. I tilt my head towards the unending traffic and roll my eyes as though saying "can you BELIEVE this traffic?!?!? I could grow old here!" His smile gets bigger and he nods, and then he doesn't notice that the light has changed and it's his turn to go. He's still looking my way, so I point towards the moving cars and he nods his thanks, a big grin now on his face. The foreign guy is looking questionably at the car I'm in, so I flash him a peace sign as Kunmei goes down the street. Ahh, Kunmei....the only lady I know to fight for road space with one of the many big-ass double-bed grain delivery trucks, when she's in a little car and the rule of the raods here is "size matters". If your car's bigger, you have the right of way.

Eeek.