Well…I’m about to have my last ‘start of the week’ and last ‘Monday’ in Nanungthumwithaya… It’s sad actually because it’s the kids that make up 90% of the ‘Nanungthum’ experience…and one can’t help but look at them in a lovable light…(maybe not 100% of the time…but enough…)
But before I get to any kind of parting thoughts (and I will have ALL week to write about this…), I want to write about my weekend…
It was absolutely AMAZING. BEST weekend in Thailand, thus far…different in many ways from my other weekends which were also amazing…but all things pegged to their appropriate scales…it ranks the highest…
Thursday, during the English competition (that I previously wrote about)…I was introduced to another volunteer named Tobi from Sweden. He arrived two weeks ago and will be teaching until March (patience of steel!)… Very sweet man…21…university student… I invited him to our Khao Yai Park weekend…thus making our final count of six nature-lovin’ souls…
Tobi and I left on Friday morning…bus to bus…and arrived at our destination around 5 PM. Bus trips are just full of fun stories…we passed a VERY poorly translated sign that translated SOME kind of road violation warning as:
“Satan may pass-out if you drive out of discipline…”
FANTASTIC! I racked my brain for an hour trying to figure out what this sign could be referencing!
I also discovered, that Thai busses just don’t do the whole ‘working speedometer’ thing…none of their gages are operational! Can’t get a ticket if you’re not consciously ‘speeding’…right?
Mary Lou was already at the resort when we arrived…WHICH, by the way…was a darling place! I had been worried for a week about finding the perfect place…NOT an easy tasks given the non-communicative ways of the Thais…as well as poor information, in general…keeping people’s fiscal preferences and entertainment preferences added to the challenge…
Anyway…I was so happy to see her! I absolutely LOVE that woman and know that she will be someone I stay in touch with for a very long time…I am SO happy she lives in Chicago! The three of us waited on the remainder of the crew (three boys)…who arrived in waves…the last being circa midnight… Since we had been waiting since 5…and at a consistent one beer/hour… I was going on beer #7! Oh my!
We had a FANTASTIC night catching up on teaching stories...and life in a rural village in general. Probably the best night I’ve had in Thailand… We drank much too much…laughed even more…there may or may not have been a VERY late night trip to a local 711…and some negotiations… J
We had to get up early on Saturday to go on our 9 hour hiking tour of the park…TOUGH on such little sleep…but we were troupers and I pumped enough vitamins into my system to flush out ANY trace of alcohol from the past year… It was an UNBELIEVABLE trek…we talked to monkeys (well…okay…I talked to monkeys…), saw beautiful waterfalls, and in general…every step I took, I was enchanted by the beauty we are blessed with in this world…and the ability to APPRECIATE IT! I was in absolute love with nature… Each picture I would frame with my tiny BlackBerry camera made me smile… I thought about all of my amazing friends and family that could have been there…
We got back to the resort around 6…a shower…some dinner…and a night of playing JENGA! Goodness…I haven’t played that game in a decade! Bed around midnight and slept like a baby! Got up this morning…had a great breakfast/lunch with the gang…and was on my way back…to my village…to start my last week of Thai memories…
It will be an emotional week, I think…but ultimately driven by joy… I miss the amazing people in my life…the ones that make me value LOVE so much… I miss speaking English. I miss the gym (wow…can’t believe I wrote that!)…
I can’t wait to land on that run way…call Annie…call Dan…call Marci… Get a coffee…get on the train and smile at the familiar sights that I see…
Booked a ticket to go see my parents for Christmas (Dec. 21st-25th)…I’m VERY excited to see them! Birthday week before that…!
You know what I want? I want cards this year…or letters… Just some words from the heart…and maybe a glass of wine shared over those common threads that make up our relationship…
Just 10 more days…
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