Did you get your newspaper today...

This morning the van to pick me up came at 8:15AM.....I had been waiting for it since 7:30 AM ! Yep, late to class again!  

The van driver stopped on his way to the downtown campus. I figured he needed reading material for the day after he dropped me off. Oh. Nope! Just needed some reading material for the van ride down to campus. Sitting in traffic, talking on his phone and flipping through the daily news......just another Friday morning.

Oatmeal, bananas, Cinnamon..OH MY!!

Every morning in Chicago I made myself breakfast to go. I would make plain oatmeal on the stove and throw it  in a Tupperware container.  To jazz it up I would cut up a banana and sprinkle some cinnamon in there.  I enjoyed this hearty meal sitting in traffic or at my desk when I got out to school.

Well, well, well....I made it happen this morning.  I found cinnamon and oats at the supermarket (where one would expect to find them I guess!) and fresh bananas from a restaurant on campus.  Thanks to my water heater I enjoyed a hot bowl of oatmeal while I caught up with CNN world  news this morning.  What a great start to my day!!!!  I bought an extra big tin of oats and a whole jar of cinnamon so I can indulge in this meal every morning!!

Same, Same.....
the difference-no stove, no traffic, CNN world news instead of my WGN morning favorites..

Welcome to Thailand

Yet another friend of ours has made it to us in Thailand. This summer we met Joe. He is super fun, outgoing, and  from Australia! Our worlds met at Lucky Lake Hostel right outside of Amsterdam!  Erin and Joe ended up traveling many other parts of the world last summer...and now he has made it to BKK. We are thrilled to have him here with us and can not wait to show him some of the ways of Thailand!

Joe and I running with a long-neck....what else are you supposed to do in Amsterdam......

Dictation

 I read................

 Please don’t fry my egg, I like my eggs scrambled! Can I have a piece of wheat toast too?

They Write............on the Chalk Board

  Please don’t fine my ass. I like  my ass scramble can I have a piece of weak toll two

Sending you the Sunday Sun

 Sunday Evening on the Balcony

Journaling

Chatting

Laughing

Singlet Sunday

So I guess a really cool thing to do in Australia for hot dudes to do is to wear tank tops.  Well I learned something new today!  Tanks worn by the good looking male population "down under" are not called tank tops but SINGLETS. Yes....so it is Singlet Sunday. 

"Oh but Rachel, how or why do you know this information? And why do you care about people in Australia when you are in Thailand?" You might ask...

I am not going to lie this is a little bit of a loaded question. I will start off by coming clean. I am having a skype affair with my "friend" (brad are we ready to announce our true feeling..cause once I write it in the blog..I mean, it's kind of a big deal...get back to me on that will ya?)  Brad. I have known Brad for about 5 years, I met him in Chicago and now he lives in Australia. Him and I were skyping on this lovely Sunday afternoon in Thailand and beautiful Sunday evening in the land of Kolas and  Kangaroos. I made a comment about the "cute tank top" he was wearing. He informed me that is was called a singlet and they were really in and what people wore.  sure. sure. Brad.

Turned out it was true. When I was being introduced to my future roommates....two other (hot) dudes...(sorry dad) they were wearing SINGLETS TOO!!!  So I got jealous and hinted that I would like one so when I move in, in October, I would feel like part of the house they make a home. A girl singlet of course. 

I love me some visuals......

Depending on the look you are going for. You can add chains, hats, sunglasses like in this picture. I think a singlet wearer would also look all fine carrying a surf board and or eating cookies on a patio. 

"New roomates?? Moving in, in October???" might now be the two questions on your mind.  

I am not going to give to much away here....but I have plan A, plan B and plan C....all which would put me spending some time there...so yes I will need a place to live. The fact it happens to be with 3 gentlemen and another lady in a sweet pad by the beach are just some of the fantastic details. As my plans unfold, fail or hopefully fall into place I will update when necessary! I still have things to do here in Thailand and surrounding countries...but it is always good to start thinking about future especially when I want to keep doing awesome things!!!!

Happy Singlet Sunday

xo Rachybabe

 

Weekend of Rest

Nothing crazy happening this weekend in my life. No real adventures or crazy stories....I stayed up in Bang Na AKA the burbs AKA the sticks. Friday night Erin and I watched some movies...I was put into a deep sleep until noon Saturday..... 

HOW MUCH FUN DOES THIS LOOK!!!!!!!! Saturday was spent dragging laundry to and from the washers 1 1/2 blocks away on campus.  Then I spent sometime hanging everything up to dry...finding room for everything on my little balcony was a bit difficult. I even had my sheets and towels hanging from my closet doors.....

Lesson learned. Do laundry ONCE A WEEK.

Saturday night I went to the gym then went out do dinner at this scrumptious little place off campus. There were 6 of us for dinner then we went and did what everyone does here..... karaoke. We found a place with a stage that had lights, a backdrop of sunflowers and Thai women trying to rip us off. I was a spectator at this sport last night but enjoyed all the tunes my amigos belted out.

Sunday morning...pancakes!  

Ted and Heather are teachers here at ABAC. They are married and have the best. room. ever.  They turned one of their two rooms into a party room. A deck with outdoor seating and lights, 2 fish tanks, a couch, rugs, big fridge filled with beer, microwave, pots, pans, a portable stove, wine rack, wall decorations, new light fixtures they bought to add character to their living space...PIMPED OUT.

The past two Sundays I have been able to go down to their room for pancake breakfast! Uh it is so good! Heather whips up eggs with veggies and Ted flips the cakes. Last week I donated toast and this week I just threw some BHAT in as well as dried the dishes and cleaned off the tables. Small price to pay and little work done for a great Sunday breakfast/brunch/lunch

 Pancakes and Music...what else does ANYONE need on a Sunday?????

Makin bacon...no not really....getting the veggies HOT and ready for eggs

Nice Spread Eh????  Maybe one of these Sunday's I can try making my dads famous french toast for the gang....I will have to be on the look out for cinnamon.....

Just another Friday morning....

Alright. I am not writing this post to make you all go open up you mini violin cases…..and start playing my whining symphony. This is just part of life here in Thailand. I have two things.

1.      Good news/bad news.  I have been infected with something of the stomach. The good news it is not the trolls or even near the pain the trolls inflicted on my body. I am not going to get to detailed here, but it has lasted over 72 hours. The bad news is since I am not really sure what caused it I am once again turned off by most food at the moment……the night the evils started stirring I had had a few different things to eat.  Something so simple as a little chicken sandwich on wheat bread to some stirfried veggies….it could have been bad chicken or it could have been the oil the veggies were cooked in. So I have been eating crackers, plain toast, cornflakes dry, and small amounts of fresh fruit. Everything else makes me gag.....

2.      So after being up and random hours of the night I remember…oh craaap I am starting class an hour early Friday morning.  I had asked the van to be there at 630 so I would FOR SURE not be late for 8AM class down in the city.  Well, since I don’t have a cell phone*..I don’t have an alarm clock. The front desk has been kind enough to give me morning wake-up calls. I actually answer the phone in Thai when I am half sleeping…I have a whole two word THAI conversation every morning....so they call at 630 and say…..Your van is here…..oh!!!!!!!!!!! I am in my pjs still and looking like a morning mess. 6:37 my teeth were brushed, I had on the same outfit as Thursday except I added I high messy bun and a scarf. I ran down to the van and climbed in. Still a little out of it and the van driver looks at me and says..

 ACC?

Yes, yes, ACC. Thank you.

You know where we go?

Do I know? Like how to get there?

Yes, Ajhan….how do we get there…

Uh……

Uhh…ookokookokok Ajarn.

He shuts the door and starts driving. I know this is not going to be good. He is on the cell for a while. We get into the city. Then begins the sitting in BKK morning traffic, the pulling over to the side of roads into gas stations, into a morning food market, u turns, right turns, on coming traffic turns, try not to hit the morning motor biker moves, merging without looking, pit stops at taxi cab huts….you name it we probably did it or stopped there for directions. Now I have been to this school many times but we hardly ever take the exact same way there or home. I never have paid attention to the actually street names. If I was on a motorbike and driving I could probably get there because I recognize certin landmarks but I could not give directions. So here is very good reason why I really need to get out my comfortable morning Thai convo and start studying some more challenging conversation, instead of good morning, thank you, bye.

I got to class at 8:30 and felt really guilty….but then again it was not really my fault…why didn’t he say to boss man when he got the call this morning….I don’t know where the hell ACC Campus is…call someone else!

I could tell he felt bad….so when I got into the van this afternoon I saved him some homemade cookies  my students made.  They were good and it was hard to give them up, but he got me to ACC and home in once piece and that’s what was important!

( I forgot to tell you guys it got JACKED during midterms. I left it in a classroom for 30 min, in a corner, plugged in to charge….GONE. So I am old school. I just have my home phone…aka DORM phone and internet. I will grace myself with a new old school nokia next week. Maybe. )

midterms

I sit here....I have a beat up Velvet Revolver  t-shirt on I stole from a boyfriend in college....my sweats...a cup of black tea...my comforter wrapped around me... my AC cranked up... a mixture of music coming out of my computer, my ghat up talking to Jaclyn between tests as she is at work in Chicago... I also talked to my mother on skype.....have been playing on facebook every few minutes.....but really I am sitting here with intention to grade midterms. It is taking me much longer then it should....look at all my distractions!!!  To make matters worse I feel the need to share some of the answers I have gotten thus far...........pushing the last 3 from tonights "get done" pile off just a little longer......

On "finish the story in your own way".......one kid ends his paragraph like this.........

So then I went up to the two guys. I punched them then I whispered in their ears. You are a pussy.

On "how to graduate from the University with a good GPA"....a different student adds into his final paragraph...

You should not go to the party because if you go, you must drink to much so you will hang. 

I think he means you MIGHT drink to much and you will be HUNGover.....I gave him good marks for content but low marks for grammar.

762 curves...

To Pai.......

The ride up there I was busy.  I read and took a nap for the 1st hour and woke up just in time for the scenery. Beautiful! Green trees, mountain sides, valleys......but on turn 432 I needed to put my head in between my legs. I was getting dizzy! We would not even finish a curve before the next one started!!!! It was a 2 lane road up and over the mountain....no passing zone most of the way......does that stop the van driver from passing pickup trucks, motorbikes, or garbage trucks???

Sure doesn't. 

Would the guard rail really hold us on the road???

I am going to say no.

 But hey! It was a clear day, everyone was nice in the van and Brian and I had bets on who puked in the van ahead of us...Danny or Erin.....we both lost...they held in their breakfast.

 ****** I wish I could say when we left Monday night it was clear and beautiful. It was raining, foggy, dark, the van driver was nuts, we almost got into 8 wrecks with oncoming traffic.  She who shall not be named got a little teary eyed for fear of her life ( no, not me this time, just won't sell a girl out)...and I kid you not...there were two people, who we did not know, puking their brains out in the back of the van into plastic bags!!!!!!! ALL 4 of us were holding hands(OK 3 of us Brian was laughing)...or hands over ears, eyes, nose and mouth.... cause if we would have smelled the vomit, seen it, or heard more then we already were hearing..we would have all needed a shower after the van ride and a change of clothes and some minty fresh gum.******

Alright back to the good stuff......I could not end the post with that story........


We were told Happy House was a nice place to stay.....so our goal was to find this guest house. Sure enough....we found a guy with a motorbike with a little bench and cage around it. "HAPPY HOUSE" on the side. It was almost to easy.

Danny, Erin, and Brian all piled into the caged bench and I sat on the back of the guys moter bike.  Off we went down the road, we curved around the street took a right down a smaller dirt road and pulled into HAPPY HOUSE.  What do ya know! The "guest house" was ready to be rented out. A double bed, 2 twin beds, bathroom with shower, and a private deck. 200 THB a person per night...SOLD!!!!!!!

As we were all excited telling them we would love to stay in the guest house....2 guys walked into the common area. A couch, snooker table, bar, some tables, porch swing, and parked motor bikes....would you like a visual???

  Brians take on things. "He walks in the common area. All you girls stop talking and stare. All of you. "  Well....let me tell you ladies, on e of the boys was something to stare at....maybe add visual here as well????

Sparkley eyes

 Sure enough we start talking to the guys and they invite us to go motorbiking up the mountain to find hot springs and cannons. No more then 20 minutes later all four of us had motorbikes and were taking laps around the old markets of Pai getting a feeling for the bikes.

6 of us have now formed a motorbike gang. We ride up...along the way we see some elephants( for elephant rides), locals, and some beautiful look out points. HOT SPRINGS.....well I was picturing something a little different then what we found.....later we found out we went to the wrong ones but we still found some sort of spring. It was a giant swimming pool with hot water. Who knows if it really came from springs......but when cute boy was getting into the spring you better believe danny, erin and I were right behind him.  At one point Erin said..."his eyes, like sparkle." THEY DID!! So he is now known as Sparkley Eyes.

"Ha this is not a hot spring....this is where they wash the elephants"--Brian claims he made this joke 1st....who do YOU think got the giggles out of us??????

BRYBaby WE LOVE YOU THANKS FOR BEING ONE OF THE GIRLS THIS WEEK!!!!

So you get the point. That night...we had the party pad. we had about 15 people up on the private deck from different corners of the world....uh ok, Australians and Canadians.....and a girl I like to call Lady Ga Ga. She kinda looked like her. With long dark hair....I am telling you about Lady G. because I know you were all wondering who was going to win the heart of Sparkley Eyes....she already had it. So this is where the love story ends. My best to the happy couple!!

Back on track.....................

Danny and I go meet up with a friend of a friend who owns a bar in Pai.  I can and will tell you 2 things from this night. Actually 3 things.
1. Danny went right behind the bar and was bartending (aka just testing all the vodka..to see "which one she liked the most"
2. I was the DJ....
3. We have a full photo shoot and I will be sharing it with you in the days to come

Danny and I were founds tucked into the guest house with all the lights on. I thought it was nice thing to do....we left the lights on till everyone came home....just like mother does.

GOOOOOD MORNING BEAUTIFUL PAI....lovely little Sunday we were about to have ourselves.. Brian and I enjoying the view...notice our lovely quilts. A great little pad we had, just like a little cabin!!

We were on the search for a place to get some grub....this place called our names. Stole our hearts. Will be a place that I will rant and rave and talk about until the day I die. I hope my Childrens, Children go on pilgrimage just to see this fantastical place that Grandma Rachel would not shut up about...... 

Magic Potions, Salads that made us cry, desserts that made us melt....shelves of spells and can't put down novels and travel books.  Two lovely men that ran the joint and took the time to tell us their story (not like they had much choice we were there a great deal of our trip.) Eating, reading, talking, journaling,  laughing, meeting new friends, and taking pictures of just about anything that took place in this roadside cafe. 

IN LOVE WITH THE WITCHING WELL

Picture Tour

Which road would you choose.........

Take your shoes off before entering a lot of places here...flip flops and flats...good idea.  I wore tennies one day...thank goodness I was wearing matching socks....

They served their Chai tea witha side of honey to die for...

So long as the earth moves round the sun I will  never forget you...
Mellow Yellow




motor bike ride up to waterfall

boy and leech. He was a crowd pleaser....he was running around splashing everyone...putting leeches all over himself. kids will be kids.

Rock Grazing

This was my favorite part about  Pai. BOOKs EVERYWHERE. We spent a lot of time reading and looking through book stores.....a backpackers library...cafes, used bookstores...books are left behind and picked up everyday from all different people from all different places. Every single place we went to had a bookshelf.....

books to read rent trade buy sell

 Rachel time. Afternoon tea and reading.

Is this just not the cutest place ever.......more Pai to come....

Chiang Mai..round 1

BKK to Chiang Mai


Erin and I got on a 8:00 PM bus.  We got what we call a VIP bus...so we got pillows, blankets, air condition, meal, water, and snack.  Let me break it down even further for you. We needed as many blankets we could get our hands on the bus was SO COLD. I mean it was ice box.  Thanks to this little magic purple pill Erin and I fell asleep...by falling asleep I mean knocked out for this 12 hour bus ride...so we did not really realize we needed hand warmers and face masks until the last 1hour and half.  For dinner they served....rice and mystery meat. Erin gobbled it up....I sipped my water and hoped the purple pill kicked in. I was ready to sleep.

Fast Forward 12 hours....

We arrive in Chaing Mai. We are both very happy with how the VIP bus ride went.  I had prepared for a bus with no windows or bathrooms....we had both. I even had stopped drinking water like 3 hours before we got on the bus....because I was nervous my bladder was not going to be able to make it.

As we are getting off the bus we realized we probably should have thought this one out a little. We had no clue where we were going to stay....so we got into a tuk tuk and he brought us to one guest house.....it was full. So he then brought us to another guest house...."same same" he tells us...yea but you know there is a "different" which was an extra 100 BHAT. We should have seen that one coming!  Erin and I got dropped off at a nice, clean, not full guest house at 5:45 AM. We got a room and sleept till about 10AM then we woke up, put on our walking shoes and started exploring Chiang Mai.

There are lots of things to see and do!! We saw some temples, art gallery's, 2nd hand shops, cute coffee and tea houses.....some highlights from this lovely Friday.

TASTE FROM HEAVEN
If you know anyone headed that way pass it along....here is their website. As you will see they have lots to offer..not just food! http://www.taste4heaven.com/

My actual plate. Oh boy, I have not seen bread and a pretty egg like that for months.

Vegan and Vegetarian restaurant. I am neither. However, the food here was some of the best I ever had. The simple stuff....good hearty wheat bread, fried eggs, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and coffee... uhh I will dream about it. We came here 2x for the breakfast....

John Gallery

He is an artist. Pictures. Gray, white, and/or any color you can think of.  He takes saying, quotes...and puts art with them.  He is an older man and his shop is like walking into a secret cave in a jungle that the kids from That 70's Show would have discovered........  I fell in love with his work. Anything from small postcards to big huge painted tapestries were available for purchase.  I have a piggy bank with his name on it so when I go back in April I can splurge on artwork for myself, family and friends.  

One of my favorites

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about dancing in the rain.

Temples

We went to 3 different temples or Wats. We would take our shoes off and go see statues of buddha and the offerings that the locals or travelers have made. The third wat we walked into, Erin and I decided to get involved. There were little metal bowls lined up in front of a statue. Erin and I each paid 10 THB to get a little dish of small coins. (The money goes towards the monks)

Sooo this is how it worked....before we started putting the coins into the dish you talk to Buddha and ask for health and happiness for yourself, your family and friends. Then you go down put a coin in each bowl.… so if you felt positive vibes coming your way it was because I wished you health and happiness as I went down the line. It was a very reflective experience. 

After walking around all day we took nice long hot showers got cleaned up and went to a little night market.  We ended up at a little bar where we drank cold red wine, played connect 4, listened to some hot beats from the 90's and the bartenders taught us how to count to 10 in Thai. We slept like babies...counting sheep in our with our new numbers.............

Look what I found at a second hand shop in Thailand!!!!I meant to go back and buy it but I forgot.....cross your fingers it will be there in a few months. 

Saturday morning Danny and Brian met us in our hotel room. They had just gotten into town on the same 12 hour night bus and we were now headed to Pai.  We got some breakfast smoothies and hopped in a people snatcher........which looks like.....

 that brought us to an office where we got on air conditioned vans. Danny and Erin got shotgun in van 1 and Brian and I got middle seats on van 2.

Please fast forward again. I need all the picture and writing space I can get for Pai. SOOOO we are in Pai....Saturday, Sunday, get on 4PM bus back to Chiang Mai Monday............

still with me??????????

Danny, Erin, Brian and I stumble back into Chiang Mai Monday about 730PM. I felt like Mary, Joesph, the donkey and unborn Jesus. Every inn or guest house we went to was FULL and we kept getting turned away. I bet we checked 8-10 before we found a place. The good news is we did not have to sleep in a stable. We had a nice big room. The three girls slept in the queen size bed and Bribaby got his own twin bed. We were on the 2nd floor where no shoes were allowed. But you had to remember to put your shoes on the shelf next to the stairs or the dogs would chew on them.  We had a shared shower with the rest of the place and were allowed to use the shower/bathroom on the 1st floor.  I, for some, reason did not feel strange walking downstairs to reception in a towel and using the bathroom to "shower".  It was a toilet, a sink, a shower head..... Oh, oh, and doggie shampoo. I did not really feel all that clean after.... and the holes/vents in the walls, doors and ceiling to the outside makes me feel like there was a peeping Tom....hmmmm

After showering we went and had a few glasses of wine and the boys had some brewskies.  We went to a few different bars, played some jenga in trani ally, met some cute locals.....you know the usual things.

I made it fall 3 out of 4 games. I was the one trying the hardest too!!!! Please notice the curled rat tail on my neck.

 Bribaby and I were really enjoying the night life of Chiang Mai.  I got home after the last bar to see Bribaby had been drunk dialing America. I convinced him.....lets go get one more. Why this was a bad idea...we got lost because we were taking directions from tranies, we bought a full meal from 7/11, and we did not get back home till 5AM. Oh and we woke the whole place up cause the damn dogs would not stop barking at us when we got home.  I almost peed my pants we were laughing so hard...sleep when your dead....thats what I say......

Tuesday. I booked a one way back to BKK. It was about 200THB cheaper...because it was not a VIP.  I was getting picked up about 6PM.  We had breakfast at Taste of Heaven, walked around a bit then I decided it was time to read. I was templed out and since I decided to save $$ and save cooking classes and a trek for April I was going to find a secret spot and read.

Found a cute little Irish bar with a lovely outside garden. I ordered a pot of green tea...I sat there and read and journaled all afternoon.  Brian joined me later for some coffee and Guinness with Moby Dick, his cigs.  We had a great afternoon lunch then it was time to get all packed up and ready to rock and roll...

It may not have been a VIP bus but this was like the party bus!!!! It was all backpackers. I went alone so I did not take any magic sleeping pill.  I talked with some other travelers and was in and out of sleep.  We stopped once at about 12 30AM were I got some noodle soup and crackers.  Got into BKK about 530AM took a taxi to the downtown Campus.  I was right on time to catch the 1st bus up to Bang Na. I had my backpack, my hair thrown up like a crazy person....so I did not look like a teacher....I was not dressed properly to be a student.  I was one of the 1st people on the bus so the "check id" guy was not there. Sure enough the guy comes in and says to me..."ID" I showed him my gold teacher card...him and all the Thai teachers around me were surprised when I had the golden ajahn card....whoops....sorry I was not all dressed up for the morning bus ride to campus!!!

Don't get me wrong I love where I am at...but man do I wish ABAC had a campus up in Chiang Mai....it was such a chill place....felt more homey!!!!  Oh well  I will be back there in no time!!  Now let me tell you about this little town called Pai.

I joined a motor bike gang in the mountains of Pai...sooooo looks like I won't be coming home anytime soon. We got kids from Chicago, Holland and even some dude from Canada.

teacher you have pen in your hair

Walking home in between midterms I saw "my boys" AKA my Thursday afternoon class...the funny guys, I have told you about them before...

"Teacher....you skin is so pink"
"well yeah...thats the color of my skin! Jeeez"
"sooooo sexxxxyy"
"knock it off!"  (they think sexy mean cute....or pretty...I think.)
"teacher...ah hahahaha....(they are all laughing!) You have pen in your hair"
I reach up and sure enough I had stuck a pen in my bun on top of my head...I always do this..I find pen/pens up there all the time....I guess when I need my hands free thats where I figure I don't loose them.
"sure is!"

Then I hear clicking......they had their phone out taking pictures of just my hair and the pen in my hair...they thought it was crazy...strange...what good is a picture of my hair and a blue pen???

Midterm Break...but with 2 classes in the middle...only in Thailand I guess....

Proctor

Workout

Pack

Proctor

Bus to city

Pit stop for a snick-a-t -snack

Taxi to different bus station

12 hour night bus ride to Chiang Mai

Chill for 24 hours

4 hour bus ride uphill, curvy, swervy to Pai.

relax, explore, find something extraordinary

Back to Chiang Mai for a trek, maybe a cooking course and some markets 

Bus ride back to BKK home for class Friday and even Saturday

Sunday...movies, books and I am sure I will have something to write about

penciled in...

The wolfpack sat down the other night with maps, calenders, pencils, emails from friends, black tea ( it would have been wine but that costs an arm and leg out here...) and computers.  This is what our "summer vacation" looks like....outlined, some details, but more details to fall into place as the next couple months go by...

March 10th-16 LAOS
March 16th- April 1st VIETNAM
April 1st -8th CAMBODIA
April 8th-15th CHIANG MAI and other northern cities and villages of Thailand
April 15th-20th- HOMEBASE.....shower, eat, laundry, bloggity-blog, repack.......
April 20th-26th- PHUKET and other islands
April 27th-May 5th- BALI baby.
After Bali we are up in the air but we are working out details to make it to India and hangout there for a few weeks~

Holy Buckets. Did I ever think I would have a list of these countries, cities, islands on my TO DO list....to be honest. No. I always knew I wanted to travel and see the world but I thought it would be like on my honeymoon.....or on a10 day vacation with friends....(thats not a bad thing BTW)

I would not be experiencing any of this if it were not for my parents. Their love, support and confidence in me to move 1/2 way around the world is why I am here.....

When I told Amy, "Hey I got a job in Thailand.. Do I go...should I do it?!??! It is sooo far..." (I will not confirm or deny tears during this conversation.) "Rachel. Why wouldn't you!?".....My little sister pretty much told me to pull my big girl panties out of storage and put them on....and put them on fast cause you only got two weeks.....so I have to say a thank you famous...

Rach. I would go into her classroom, her apt, I would see all the things she has collected, the amazing photos she has taken on her world travels.  All I could say....is when and how am I ever going to be able to do this. She always said....your time will come...you will travel....and sure enough....it has come...its happening. Rach inspires me to take a step out of my comfort zone....do something that scares you(or in this case me) everyday....LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST...even if that sometimes means Monday Morning panic attacks over Starbucks!! or wearing long red wigggsss and running around town ah hahhaaha...I can not wait for next years Christmas photo shoot!!!
.........................................and thanks to her ladies and gentlemen....starting a blog......................................

Many other wonderful people helped me get to where I am at this moment....Jen, my emergency contact in Chicago approved. If she thought this was a good idea...and told me to scram in the most loving way possible....I knew I was not doing anything I could not tackle. She had just the most amazing home cooked comfort food dinner a girl could ask for.  She had red wine and all my fav SRS girls over. I miss you guys...but thanks for nudging me out the door.....

Sugy pants. Not only did she re-rent my APT but she helped me pack up, drink up and was there when I needed her.  The best part is I can harasses her daily on facebook and gchat...so even though I am sooo far I can still spill my guts and have the sugy time I need. It might not be a Sunday Funday.....but we have plenty of those to come...next ones in Thailand right.......right...!?!??!?! get your booty out here girrrrl

Thanks, thanks, love you all I just needed to give a loving shout out because yes, I get to travel and see this part of the world, but its because of who I have standing behind me.

xo Rach

I got one of the Frenchies!!

Happy midterm! This week I work 2 hours a day(the students gets 2 hours to complete midterm)....except 1 day I work 4 hours....I number the tests, check uniforms, id's, and keep my eyes peeled for the following,

1. Students using phones or even having phone on them
2. Students hiding notes in pencil cases, calculators, on legs under skirts, in pockets
3. Students looking at other kids tests

Pretty much any kind of cheating. They also all have to be there with the 1st 10 min of the test. If not they can't take the midterm, although if I am nice I let them take it but I have to submit it for review. You see students running though the court yard from 3-3:10 to make it to wherever their test room is....today I proctored a Microeconomic test. Everyone was on time and I did not have any cheaters or at least catch anyone.....

Proctor Rachel mean biz-naS.

*frenchies.....what we call the "not to shabby to look at" French students.

Smart Cookie

Happy 2011
 how I brought in the New Year

Thursday night at my favorite place in Thailand.............

THE SIZZLER

All you can eat salad bar baby. Fresh Veggies, Fresh Fruit, Soup, Crackers, Jello, I mean we eat, and we eat. There were 6 of us. You would have thought none of us liked each other or knew each other. No one talked. We shoveled food. 

The Siz is located at the mall which has just about everything so we thought lets go to a movie after! Well look what we found first..............

La- Z-Boys.......so we skipped the movie. I went back to the APT I was borrowing for the weekend and watched some episodes of the mini series Pillars of the Earth. I recommend the book over the mini series...

Friday morning I went for a run around the Downtown ABAC campus track then got myself a banana and an iced coffee. Now when I order coffee here, I have to say no sugar. No milk. If I was smart I would stay in my room and prefect this in Thai but I keep forgetting to do this. So I say with a big smile on my face.... 

"sa-wat dee ka! No Sugar. No Milk. Black coffee. Iced.

 No sugar. No Milk. BLACK. khorb koon ka!"

They then shake their head at me because I don't want sugar. THEY LOVE SUGAR HERE!! I order fruit it it's served with a side of dipping sugar. I order veggies...yep, a side of sugar. 

After getting my iced coffee and fruit I headed to a little secret spot. Not so secret.....but we do have to sneak in.......

POOLSIDE! This is at a wonderful hotel down the road and it is where I get my tan on when I can't make it to an island.  So some of the ladies and I laid poolside to bronze of for the New Year.

Now at this time I really had no plans for what I was going to do this particular evening. Some people were paying big bucks to go to a club. Eh. Was not really feeling that...I went all out for Christmas brunch so I had to pump the breaks a little for NYE.

My friend Anna and I went to my 2nd favorite place in Thailand for dinner. The Fish Place. It is an outside restaurant, surrounded by street vendors.  We ordered a bottle of Sang Som, Som Tum (Spicy Papaya Salad) and a small White Fish. It is boiled and steamed in all these spices and is served on a heated dish shaped like the fish. It falls off the bone and melts in your mouth. Whoever makes it out to visit...we will be going there I promise. We also each get a side of sticky rice to cool off our mouth because the whole meal is pretty spicy....but soooo flippin good. 

I rang in the New Year with old friends and new friends at Brunswick. I seem to be spending many of the American Holidays at this Bar...Halloween...Thanksgiving....New Years....hmmmm its just a place where everybody knows your name!!!!!!!!  Which is nice to have a place like that out here :)

Saturday I woke up....feeling pretty good!  Called mom, dad, Amy, and Lukey to say HAPPY NEW YEAR FAMILY! It was nice to hear all of their voices. It sounded like they were so close...but oh, they are so far! Ha! Then I talked to some of my friends though my email and their phones. Now that was a tease.  Let me tell you. It was noon-thirty my time and 10:30 PM theirs. I really wanted ring in the new year again! Selfish, maybe....but it was so weird to think that they had not even had their count down yet.

The rest of the day I hung out, napped and watched some more Pillars of the Earth. (I will confess this weekend I watched the every episode.) I was such a good girl I saved my money and my liver all at once!!!  We had a BBQ late night. A burger on the grill...oh baby. Happy New Year to me!

(NOTICE THE GRILL. YES. We are sitting around it, and yes we are in an ally. So sanitary. Please stay away trolls.....) 

Sunday headed back to the pool to catch some rays, borrowed a new book (Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger author of Time Travelers Wife...which is one of my fave. books EVER.), cleaned up the borrowed APT/dormroom and headed back to the burbs. We watched Black Swan...holy crazy ballerina. 

Monday I did one of my mothers favorite activities. POWER WALKING. Danny and I power walked between 6-7 KM...sooo like 3/4 mile ish. We got nice and sweaty then hopped in a cab went to Tesco (pretty much a Walmart) I stocked up on a water heater, coffee, tea, almonds, popcorn, corn flakes, oatmeal and a coffee mug. 

So I titled this entry as smart cookie because....I saved some money this weekend, I got lots of rest and I am ready for a week of proctoring(making sure our sweet students don't cheat on their midterms) and grading. All in preparation for a vacation up north at the end of the week to Chiang Mai and Pai....whoa baby we got an adventure coming up HOT!!!!! whooop whooop. 

So therefore, I am a smart cookie. I am thinking homemade chocolate chip.