First Couple Days in Thailand

No pictures for you yet. I know, BOOO! I just don't have the giddy-up to do that right now. But I still wanted to share some of our experience here for those of you that actually read posts and not just skim the pictures (I am so guilty of that when I've been too busy to check my Reader and have 65 posts on it. I know Michelle Jolley is totally guilty of that too because I'll blog about something then talk to her about it later and she'll have no clue what I'm talking about. I can say that here because I'm sure she won't read it! HA HA)
Anyway, Thailand is a far cry from my week in London and my week back at home. It's not too different from most other tropical countries I've been to. All the floors are tile, lizards run up the walls, the trash man is unreliable, people say nice things to you in hopes that you will buy something from them, it's humid, but no one seems bothered by it, I want to take all the children home, they eat lots of rice (can I at least get it in brown?), driving is a little crazy and laws obeyed loosely, and it's just completely gorgeous.
We rented a scooter for $9 a day. The first day we were pointed in the general direction of the beach and just rode. It was fun to see the city that way. We rode all over the place before we stopped at the beach and walked along. The beach isn't great and the water wasn't inviting, so we just walked.
Apparently, Pattaya is the sex capital of Asia- Nice! Every corner has a massage place and everything in between is a bar. It's very common to see old white men with young Thai women. It's foul and disgusting and an unfortunate way of life for people here. We accidentally rode our scooter down a side street and got stuck behind a slow moving truck, so I got a good look the "bars" on the street, most with names I won't bother to share on my G- rated (ok, sometimes PG) blog. Lucky for us though, these massage places offer very good deals during the day. After walking the beach we paid $6 each for an hour long foot massage (we figured that was safe enough). It was great!
We headed back to the hotel so we could be at the "meet and greet" for the seminar where John will be speaking. After an hour, I slipped away and went back to our room to check my email and find out how my kiddos were doing with my mom (awesome, by the way).
That night we went to dinner with the whole seminar. I'm not loving the food here. I just can't figure out why everything has to be hot. The weather is so hot and every meal is served deep fried with steamed rice! How about a little fresh fruit and green salad! The man running the seminar is showing us the special treatment. After dinner, we went back to his home because he wanted to talk to John a little bit (might I mention that he is a white man- Australian- with a Thai wife! She did his laundry, that's how they met!) He has two cute little girls that I played with while they talked. I dreamed of my little girls. His 11 year old pulled out a long string, tied it, so it was a big loop and strung it though her fingers, so it made a big X when she held her hands apart. Do you know what I'm talking about? Then I was supposed to grab the X and loop it through another part of the string and pull it with my fingers. Then it made another design. I'm doing a horrid job at describing this, but I used to play the same thing when I was her age, so I knew how to play. I felt so connected to her. She asked me where I "came from." I told her the United States. She just smiled because she didn't know any follow up questions like "Where in the US?" She just doesn't know much about the US, which is totally fine. I don't know much about Thailand. It's just funny to me that my whole life, my friends and family and home and everything I live for, is in a place that she's never heard of. And I've never heard of hers until recently. But I know now that she like to dance and paint and doesn't like boys yet...
Now I'm just blabbing...
By 9pm we were wiped out. Jet lag hasn't been much of a problem for me. Besides feeling like I'm in a complete time warp over the past few weeks, I've functioned fine day to day. John was up at 3:30 this morning and not tired anymore. I guess he got lots of work down while I slept on, but he's been fully functional today. I'm sure by the time the sun goes down, he'll be ready for bed.
Today was my kind of day. After breakfast (which consisted of deep fried fish and rice- Yuck!) We jumped on the scooter and headed off to do a little shopping. Most prices were disappointing. I did find some good deals and got some fun stuff. And yes, I even found a mother and baby statue! At lunch, the popular (toss toss- we just saw "Wicked" remember?) John Jonas was occupied with adoring fans, so I snuck away to the pool. The pool here is gorgeous (you'll get a picture, don't worry) and I was the only one there! I read every page of the latest People magazine, ordered a pool side ham sandwich and ice cream, and got deeper into my book "The Other Boelyn Girl" (which is fabulous, by the way). John came after an hour or so and shared my ice cream. Towards the end a couple of Middle Eastern men came in Speed-Os and gave me some good "people watching" time. After 4 hours, John was ready to go and had to drag me away (not from the Speed-O men, but from baking in the sun on my lounge chair). Now he is back hob-knobbing and I'm watching the sunset through palm trees, still in my bathing suit.
Half my heart is still at home. I am in a constant prayer "Bless them, bless them bless them" I keep saying to my Heavenly Father. Lots going on at home that I am missing, but all my family knows that they are number 1 to me above cheap foot massages and ice cream by a secluded pool! All my love to you!
K