First Day in Thailand!

Right out customs there were people with signs and when I looked I couldn't find any with my name on it, so I walked around a bit trying not to freak out; trust me when you get to a completely new country and you don't have a phone that works and you look completely like a tourist, and you can't find the person who is suppose to be there for you and you don't speak the language, you start to freak out a bit! But finally I found my sign and Mr, Vaughan with three little Thai girls. I was so happy to find them! They helped me with my bags and we got to that car.

The moment I stepped out of the airport it was like a sauna!! So hot...and I had just come from Alaska where it had been snowing! Anyways, the first surprise was that all the cars drove on the right! It was so weird to have to get into the passenger seat on the left side. AND, you know how in America there are lanes of traffic and lines on the road so you know that...well in Thailand there are lines but they seem really more like guidelines! People were driving everywhere, cutting across three lanes at once using the whole road using the shoulder as another lane. Half the way there we road straddling the lines! It was a little scary I must admit.

We drove past the main city and arrived at a condominium where Vaughn lives at the Nothaburi Baha'i Center with his wife Sunata. They have several other condo rooms rented out for when volunteers when they come and since I'm the only one at the time, I get the room to myself. The picture here is what the room looks like. That door on the left is the bathroom probably 6x6 and then the door on the right is the balcony where the picture above ^ was taken from. Another surprise I got on the first day was the bathrooms. In Thai bathrooms there is no shower encloser. There is just a room, toilet, sink and a shower head. When you shower, the whole room gets wet, the whole floor the walls the sink the toilet. With the hot climate everything drys of ery quickly so I guess it works...just feels so open! Oh and everyone takes their shoes off before they enter a building or home.

Anyways I get to the room and put my things down and then Vaughan tells me he's going back to work for a bit and that I should go with him to see the city a bit. I was really tired already but I was also in no mood to pass up the opportunity to see the city and sit around alone in the room for the rest of the night! So 15 minutes to change into shorts (still had been wearing pants from Alaska) and we were off! Little did I know how exhausted I'd be by the end of it all.

So we get out of the condo and walk down to the main road past the 7 -Eleven on the corner (plus all the little stands of people selling food). We cross the main road on a rickety overpass and down to the bus stand on the other side. We wait for a bus but end up taking a van instead, which is like a taxi (more like the vans in Israel) but it holds 12 people plus the driver and then once it's full it takes everyone to the destination it's on route to, which in our case was center city Bangkok. Bus ride lasted maybe 10 to 15 minutes and then we get off the bus and walk to the sky train after I buy some much needed bottled water. The sky train is a lot like the subways in New York but there is only one and it goes all around the city. Bangkok is a city, so imagine New York but its much older and dirtier and the sidewalks are even more crowded they're smaller than in New York and there are vendors selling foods and goods as far as the sidewalk is long.

So we get off the sky train and walk about two blocks to Vaughans office. (He works for a company that helps refugees.) We go inside and I meet the people in his office and I'm already really tired from the trip so I ready my guide book on Thailand while he works a bit.

After a while we go to the mall to get me a phone. The mall was about a two minute walk from his office. There we successfully get a phone and return back to his office for a bit. He offers me some dragonfruit and apple but I'm hesitant to eat anything because my stomach is still a bit upset and I was told and read not to eat the fruit. He said it should be fine so I had some apple. The dragonfruit is about the size of a grapefuit. It has a deep pink skin and a white flesh with little black seeds throughout. He ate it with a spoon and scooped it like a melon almost. I didn't want to try it just then. We were at the office until about 5 pm. Until Vaughan decided he had to visit a friend at the hospital. So we took the skytrain to the hospital. The hospital we went to was a government run hospital but it looked to primitive! The emergency room was pretty much on the street and the check in was maybe 150 feet off the busy streets of Bangkok. Patients in beds could be seen from the street! It was very bizarre to see and a bit scary. Also it was a reminder that I should really try not to get sick.

We stayed at the hospital until about 6:15pm and Vaughan realized he had a dentist appointment at 7:00pm back in his town. So we rushed back to the bus station, by now it was dark. The van was packed (rush hour) and the streets were crazy! Vaughan and I joked that this was the kind of ride where you have to put your trust in faith! I couldn't watch as the driver pulled up fast behind someone and then just swerve to to shoulder and crept up the side of the traffic. Well we made it in one piece to the dentists office. I was soooo tired.. and practically falling asleep as I waited for Vaughan.

We finally caught a bus home after the dentist appointment, and I met Vaughans wife Sonata. She had bought us some food, chicken curry with peanuts and potatoes, for dinner. It was really good even though the chicken was on the bone and yes I ate it! I was really tired and couldn't eat that much though so I finally excused myself and went back to my room. I wrote some emails and talked to some people and then took my first shower in the weird bathroom lol. It was interesting.. and I was really paranoid about getting any water in my mouth. Soon after I completely crashed on top of my new quilt!! :) (thanks mom and grandma)