Nearing The End

And I am so sad. Well, happy too. I will definitely miss some people here, but I am excited to travel for a bit and to eventually come home! I don't think I will adjust very well to the cold weather though. This morning it was probably like 70-something degrees and I was absolutely freezing!

Today was a nice day though. I think it was the first day that I didn't sweat an entire gallon. Needless to say, I enjoyed staying dry. We opened the new bear enclosure yesterday...we worked on it every day, all day for the past week. There is still paint on my foot from 2 days ago. Whatever. I had a day off yesterday and met up with Ryuta (Aya, I gave him your letter!) , a friend from high school, in Cha-am, which is about a half-hour north of the center. His bus got stuck in traffic though, so by the time we met up we only had a couple hours. But we had lunch and some beers and just chatted. It was niiice. I think we will meet up in Bangkok before I leave on the 6th. Ooh-wee, then I can do some shopping (keyword "some"), because according to Edwin, who runs the center, the best shopping in the world is in Bangkok. However, he has never been to the US. ;)

Days seem to be going by so fast now. There are more and more people arriving (and leaving) every day. Food and common room space are getting scarce. I was planning on leaving on the morning of the 31st but decided to stay because there is a temple party starting that night that apparently happens only once a year. How could I say no?? So I will be peacing out on the 1st. It is really nice because I am going to be on Koh Tao the same time as Becky and James, the couple from England, both of whom left already(*tear*). They will be staying there for two weeks to dive starting the 1st I think so...third wheel here I come! Should be a good time...

This weekend has been pretty eventful...Friday night is a realllly good story. So a bunch of us, like 14 or 15, went out to Hua-Hin for dinner and drinks (let me emphasize the word drinks). Hua-Hin is about 50 minutes south of the center. Now please, for future reference, remember that Cha-am is 30 minutes north of the center. We'll return to that later though.

So we all have a nice dinner...where, you might wonder? Oh our favorite Italian place. Yes, pizza. Again. After that we do some shopping. Oh, not me though. I resisted. Kind of. Then we head down to this beach bar which is...well, um...a bar on the beach. It was soooo nice though. They had all these beachy lounge chairs out, with colorful paper lanterns on the tables, and tiki torches in the sand. And the weather was perfect. Anne and I were freaking out. And we freaked out even more when someone told us that those kind of places are all over Koh Tao. Except better. Yay!!!

So most of the group is there, lounging...I was enjoying a deeelish marga-rrrita. There were banana coladas, mojitos, and of course the "traditional" Thai rum, Sang Som. Yum. Later four of the guys joined us. Turned out they had stopped at a bar for a quick drink before coming to the beach. I guess "quick drink" can also be interpreted as "pounding as many shots and different types of alcoholic beverages, such as White Russians and whiskey-redbulls as you can." Depends on the translation of course. So we are all getting drunk and decide to call our taxi and extend our pick-up time to 2am, when it was originally for 12:30 (hmm, mistake number 1?). Anyway, we all had a good time: boys were wrestling, girls were dancing and talking about the stupid things the boys were doing. The usual night out.

So we make it to our taxi at 2. Some stumbled, some were carried, and some got lost. Actually one person got lost. And I am using lost in the most exteme sense of the word. We were all there except for Stephen, who had suddenly disappeared on the way up from the beach. Huh??? Where the hell did he go? you're probably asking yourself. Well we have no idea. Five of us ladies stayed behind and scoured the streets for him for almost 2 effing hours!!! If you are looking for a quick way to sober up, I recommend it. I turned into such a "mom." I was like "ooh, I am going to kill him when I find him!" Mostly we were worried though. But after 2 painstaking hours (and 3 bags of chips, two water bottles, and a cigarette), we were still sans Stephen. And we had to get up in like two hours. So we had to leave...

The next day is, as you can imagine, a nightmare. Half the people slept in and missed their duties, and the rest of us have to cover their asses. I don't think I spoke for the first two hours I was awake. I was like,fuck everything. So around 10:30 in the morning Stephen shows up, casually strolling into the new bear enclosure that we have been slaving away in for the past couple hours. He tells us that he woke up at 5:30 on the beach in Cha-am. Wait, Stephen, you mean Hua-Hin; we were in Hua-Hin last night. No, no, it was definitely Cha-am, I'm completely positive.

What the fuck??!?!?

Now if you will remember the positioning of Cha-am and Hua-Hin respective to the center, you will realize that he ended up an hour and a half away from where we left him that night. Oh, and this is the best part: he wakes up with a $100 bill American money that he was sure he didn't have with him when he left. Wow, maybe I should have gotten lost too... We all really want to know the story 'cause it's probably a good one. Actually I'm sure he wants to know the story too...Whew, what a night!

Actually that story pretty much takes the cake for this weekend. So...it was a good weekend. Tired and nauseous, but good. Yup, we have waaay too much fun here...

Late To Bed...

...early to rise. That is why I'm always tired. Here are some pictures from an average day at the center. Told you to watch for the animal pics!! The dogs follow us around all day when we feed the monkeys, hoping for an extra bite...and they get a lot. Which is why they are so fat. We can all learn a lesson.

Lemme just say a few words about the pictures (In order of appearance):

-What can I say? I really like elephant butts in black and white.

-Oh, this was the cutest thing ever! When going into the water with the elephants, people leave their flip-flops on the shore and the elephant will pick up the shoes, and then uses her trunk to pass them up. If you look closer at the picture, you can see she already has one shoe in her mouth, and the other in her trunk. I loved it!

-James looking regal on an elephant after a swim in the lake that doubles as an elephant toilet (ewww).

- This is the alligator that lives 20 feet from my bedroom.
-Anne with some of the dogs that live at the center. They are super-interested in the kitty.

-Anne and I have matching shirts now. We are the coolest ever. BFF!!! OMG!!!

-Yes, I am being groomed by a monkey (a langur to be exact). Now I am happy and lice-free! Two seconds after this picture was taken, he started to grab at my shirt and pull it down. I told him it would never work out, and he screamed at me and scurried up the tree. I'm such a heartbreaker.

-Anne and I again looking fabulous.

-The little puppies are the dogs that live down the road at this temple, and they are sooo effing cute. I want to stuff them into my bag and take them home. Although, I'm not too excited about mange all over my clothes.

-Anne sitting with Daisy the dog and Langur #1 (don't know his name).

-Me and Sam the horse.

-Daisy tryin' to get fresh with Langur #1 (or maybe it was #2 or #3...)

-Anne and her pets. Can't you see her as an old lady in her rocking chair surrounded by her horses and dogs?

More to come!!!

Love from Thailand!

Blogging About Blogs

Hey ya'll. Here is a link to my friend Anne's blog. She has a bunch of pictures up and she started writing in English for all the lovely non-Dutch speaking people. Love her!

http://anne-cooper.hyves.net/

<3

Crazy Hot Nights

That's crazy and hot, not that it's crazily hot here or anything. I guess a more appropriate title would be "Hot Crazy Nights." Whatever. In fact this is supposed to be the coolest time of the year. Although I will be lying on my bed not moving a muscle and I turn the page of my book and start sweating. Not good. Whew, and typing is really hard work with no air conditioning.

So today was a normal day. Last night we all went out again (about 9 of us in total). Let's see, there were British, Dutch, Norwiegens, and me the lone American. Represent! It was a late night, so I needed to nap. I love napping. Tomorrow is mine and Anne's day off and we're going to Cha-am to spend it on the beach. A little massage and (window!) shopping couldn't hurt either...yay!

I cannot wait to go down to the islands! Although my end at the center is going to be really bittersweet...everyone has become like my family and we all get along really well. I could do without getting up at the buttcrack of dawn everyday and could probably die happy if I never had to sweep bear shit again, but other than that, I love it here. After I leave I definitely have to keep in touch with people. It's funny because we all have our own blogs that we're writing about each other in. Anne started writing hers in English because mine and Becky's Dutch is a little rusty (...could also be considered non-existant).

I do miss home though. I have met so many people who are traveling for a year or months at a time. It's crazy! Maybe I'll get to do that someday...

On my next entry I will try to capture "A Day In The Life Of...That's Right, Me!" during my time at the center. Expect more animal pics!

Much love from Thailand!

Ooh, It's A Holiday!

Yes. My worst fears have been realized. I have started to call vacations "holidays." And toilets, pants, butts, and pees "loos," "trousers," "bums," and "wees," respectively. It's being around all these damn Euros! I love 'em though. They're so cute with their little accents.

Anne and I had a mini-holiday to Hua-Hin recently and it was sooo nice. Can I just say sushi, facials, pedicures, night markets, beach, and really bad but really amusing Asian karaoke cover band? Yes, I think it was a good weekend.

A bunch of people from the center came out on Sunday night for Bex's birthday and we went out for...you guessed it! Pizza! It was again delicious and we savored every tantilizing Italian spice....We had a Western-style cake and everything! None of that sticky rice and egg Thai "dessert." Seriously, who are they kidding with that stuff? Afterwards we went and played pool and had some cocktails. My aim always improves after a few drinks anyway. We played Britain vesus the rest of the world. It was three Brits to four Rest-Of-The-Worlders. And we won! Nothing new I guess. Ha!

Then it was back to work on Monday morning. Oh, the drill. You really only learn by doing here. Today I cleaned otter shit. Ugh, it is possibly the worst smell EVER. The other day I took my jacket off while I was cleaning a cage and a monkey reached through the bars and stole it! I could see it getting monkey slobber all over it while it tried to chew off the zipper. I had to enlist the help of the Thai workers. And this time I said "thank you" the right way. Now my jacket smells like monkey cage. Gross.

I can't believe I have been here two weeks already! It's really flown by. Miss everyone and hope everything is beautiful in the Bay.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We all had a good time during our drunken debauchery and luckily I had my camera 'cause now I have some blackmail material should one of my fellow volunteers ever get on my bad side.

Hehe, just kidding. Everyone knows I don't have a bad side...

Sa Wa Dii Ka

Here I am sitting in the village, in an internet shop that doubles as an autobody. Who knew? I'm waiting for the slooow ass Thai internet to load my pictures...but it's all good. I know I was spoiled rotten with DSL at home. I have been adjusting to life here quite well. I can't believe it's already been a week! Three more to go working at the center and then I'm off to the islands! I cannot wait to get a tan, have a delicious cocktail (oops, did I say "a?"), and just chiiilll...

I have been having so much fun here. Like I said, there are people from all over the world, and we've all become quite close in a week's time. Now I can visit friends in Amsterdam, London, New Zealand, Australia...so nice. Yesterday we all went to Hua Hin, which is a city close by (about 45 minutes driving), and had Italian food and wine...oh..my..god...I have never been so happy to eat pizza in my entire life. I mean, I love Thai food, but twice a day...shiiiit. There was a huge night market there, selling everything you could possibly need. I mean, want, in my case. Here I am trying to live this minimalist lifestyle, fed up with "stuff" after moving my entire apartment back into the city, and we go shopping. Oh no, I'm in trouble. Luckily I was too lazy to open my wallet after gorging on pizza and chilled red wine. Yum.

But I did buy some yummy cheese, which is virtually non-existant at the center. That was exciting. Simple pleasures, simple pleasures.

I have been working straight for a week, every day at 6:30 in the dawn. I do really awesome stuff like sweep bear shit. Actually, I sweep every kind of animal shit. I'm totally desensitized to shit now. This will probably come in handy later in life, like when I have kids or a dog or work at an elderly home. Working is fun though because we all help each other out, so it goes super fast and we have more time to lounge all together. It's like a co-op.

I have this Sunday off with a friend of mine, Anne who is from Holland. She's super cool and we get along really well--we're already planning a trip to Italy next year! Yay! We are going to stay at a hotel for Saturday night in Hua Hin. Ooh, Saturday night on the town!! I'm busting out my niiice flip flops. But I'm seriously excited. Both of us haven't had a day off in forever and have been busting our asses to feed these monkeys (as ungrateful as they are...come to think of it, I was indifferent to monkeys before I came to work here, but now I really can't stand them. Ok I feel kinda bad admitting that...) so we will definitely make the most of our free time. Massages, sushi, pedicures, and the beach are just some of the things on our extensive to-do list. And then we are going out again on Sunday night for a girl Bex's birthday (she's from London and her and her boyfriend James are traveling the world for a year). So I'm looking forward to TWO nights in a row! And then work at 6:30 on Monday morning.

I forgot to take pictures on the most recent trip to the city last night, but I will mos def take some this weekend. Oh, yesss.

So. After a week here I know I know four things in Thai. "Hello," "Thank you," "No," and "Yes." And the other day after a Thai man helped me feed the bears I said "Hello." God, I'm good.

Breezy

So 36 hours later, 17 hours on a plane, and 3 mediocre plane meals later, I'm finally here. I slept like I was in a coma last night. It was good though, because I had to wake my ass up at 6 in the morning. And I am soo not a morning person.

So...life at the center is interesting. I fed a bunch of loud, obnoxious monkeys today. They have just about every jungle animal here...monkeys, bears, a tiger, an alligator, a horse (not really 'jungle' I guess), otters, mongoose (or is it mongeese?), elephants, and a bunch I can't remember. We don't have to work long each day, but when we do, we git to it. I got really dirty today, so good thatI left all my designer clothes at home (umm...yeah.) And it's a good thing it's hot because it makes me appreciate the cold showers even more. Builds character, right? Yeah, my "pouf" looks really out of place in the "shower." What can I say, I might be kind of a princess. Although last night I killed two BIG ass spiders on my own. Yeah, it took me a half hour, but in the end...mind over matter! Blech, I really hate bugs, but by the end of this trip I'm going to be an outdoorsy champion!!

But aside from the bugs, the atmosphere and the food are both amazing (Care, if you thought I was going to lose weight on this trip, you might be really wrong). The people are all super cool, too. It's a very international household we have going on here. Although I'm the only one so far reppin' the US. Ye-yeah!

The pictures are of the sunrise (I told you I was up early), the center, and the super sweet elephant I got to pet.

Miss ya'll.

Bye Bye

Packing. I always bring too much. And somehow never have enough. Phucket, I'll worry about it later.

I'm out!
I will see you all in a month, some of you maybe not for several months...and I will probably be so tan when I come back you won't even recognize me...ohhh yesss. I can't believe I'm going to Thailand! White sand, blue water, and 50 cent pad thai??? I might never come back...
To everyone who I shared a dance, drink, plate of food, and a smile with before I left: Thanks for the love, I'm taking it all the way around the world. And back...

Damn, I think 2007 is gonna be a good year.