Katie and Nicole . . .Thailand 2007/2008

I LOVE snorkeling! I should probably write "Hello, how are you all?" or something first, but I just can't. I am too overly excited about snorkeling! I am tempted to write a lengthy essay about the joys of my snorkeling experience today, but I will try to share more about our recent travel days than just that...BUT I LOVE snorkeling so I will start with that. The iridescent fish, the sea cucumbers far below me, all of the crazy living things that look like giant warpy brains of all colors, the silence of the underwater world, the meditative state I was in with all the deep breathing, the mystery and beauty that was unlocked for me just by putting on plastic goggles in the right spot on an ocean...WOW! I think I snorkeled once long ago, but obviously didn't appreciate what I was seeing if I hardly remember! Today, we decided to join a boat trip that was headed out for a 9-5ish day of snorkeling, swimming, boating and eating. We visited 4 islands (most appeared to be all and only rainforest) that were within an hour and a half range of the "big" island, Ko Chang. The trip was centered around snorkeling so every island stop we made (1 hour each) was in a fishy and corally spot. Katie was a bit reluctant when I first suggested the idea (she has snorkeled many times in Hawaii and maybe it seems like old hat to her , but I really wanted to find some other activity to do besides bake in the sun all day and add to Katie's lobster skin.

The weather has been wacky (a little rainy, cloudy on and off, and even a monsoon one night) so we were very lucky today we woke up early to check the status of the boat trip and it was YES, we're going! The weather was beautiful! I decided that I love to snorkel almost as much as singing, and a little more than floating on an air mattress in the ocean all day...which are the things we did yesterday!

If I would have written this yesterday, I would have started the blog with the sentence I LOVE AIR MATTRESSING! But ah, things change so quickly... We have been laying around in the sun for about 5 days now and were getting burnt and tired of eating farang food. The decision to rent the lime green floaties yesterday was a damn good one. Instead of laying on the beach, we laid in the water, lazily moving with the waves and blissing out... lovely and relaxing. At night we stumbled upon an open jam session type thing at a bar, and it took me awhile, but I got up the courage to ask about it and join in (I'm actually more shy than you think!). Apparently it was a good thing, 'cos the drunk Thai guy running it kept blathering into the mic about a beautiful luk-kreung farang (half Thai/foreigner) named Sangsuree who will be UP NEXT! He also proceeded to sing along with me as I sang the one Thai song I know. It was a grand 'ol time. It also added to the day that I got an oceanside Thai massage. They never seem to do it hard enough for me, but still it was amazing of course. I had a wonderful time chatting with the Thai masseuses and trying to practice a bit more Thai. Even though I LOVE spending every second together with Katie, (how can we not on a trip like this!) it is really nice for me to sometimes connect with Thai folks on my own, even if they're strangers and only for a moment. Awww, special.

We have had an interesting time here at Ko Chang. Of course it is stunningly beautiful and we feel privileged beyond belief to be here, but we're really quite disconnected from Thai culture. It is easy to get trapped in the culture bubble created here, which consists of eating cheeseburgers, getting bamboo tattoos, listening to reggae day and night, getting wasted frequently and laying topless on the beach (an extremely UN-Thai thing to do). From what I can see on the small island, the whole economy is built on serving foreigners... which is a bit grody and weird. Thais aren't the ones necessarily enjoying the beaches and owning all the new resorts. Ohhh globalization...where will you take us next? It is so funny (is that the word?) to often be the only person of color in the room at home (Oregon) and then travel to Thailand and have it be the same scenario! Ha! On the beach I stick out like a sore thumb 'cos I am so much browner than all the other (mostly) European farang. It is okay, but I'd like to get back into an environment with a few more Thai folks...and to be doing something where I feel a bit more productive!

What else?

We saw four adorable monkies while walking down the road here (no cars around). It started out that there was one monkey flinging itself around on a telephone pole, then another bopped into the street, then two more joined and they ran off after awhile. I loved it.

Every night weird things happen outside (or inside?) our hut. I don't know what. We have heard the funkiest animal noises (frogs or big lizards we think). One night I was sure "it" was inside so we got up and fumbled to find our flashlight. We couldn't find the source of the noise so I figure it must have been outside. Another night there was a loud, creepy buzzing noise, and I was sure a gecko was being sizzled by our porch light. When I opened the door, there was no gecko corpse to speak of, so again... it remains a mystery. Also, we had crazy, heavy rain one night (after sunbathing all day?). It was intense and exciting to hear it beating down on our thin roof...too bad the nearby 2 AM rasta music was competing with it!

Amazing butterflies...they look like a hybrid butterfly/hummingbird.

Discovering Oregon-ish things here: The Simpons playing every night at a local bar (dvd after dvd!) / We bought a Pink Martini CD here, which was one of a small selection of discs to buy, including J-LO and Frank Sinatra / The fact that they sell a variety of Kettle Chips at the local store (made in Salem, OR) Odd odd odd!

The farang food pit that we've fallen into. When we first arrived in Thailand, we were disgusted by the idea of farang food. We craved fried rice and phad se ewe noodles... Now here, surrounded by all the options of tourist food for all the tourists, we have managed to eat: french fries, multiple tuna sandwiches, crossaints, chicken/hamburgers etc. And they aren't even good!!! We better watch it.

So, tomorrow we are heading back to Bangkok and the next day we'll be picked up by my auntish person, Pe Dtoong-Dting. We're looking forward to spending time with another one of my family members. Although we haven't been homesick yet, we realize that the amount of time we have chosen to spend here is perfect. We have less than month left and soon will be back home in P-town! Although it is sometimes difficult to not stress about "home" (job situation, living situation (we found out we have to be out of our place by June 1 so keep your eyes/ears open for us) we are trying to live in the moment and remember that every second is precious and deserves our complete attention. Especially when snorkeling...

I could have missed the big grey fish with freaky bulbous eyes and gynormous teeth!
Or the black spidery things with long spikes coming out of their center, where a single white/red/black eyeball rests.

Love you all and miss you oodles,
Nicole

P.S. I wish I were writing more often, but I've been in a strange state this trip- a state where it feels much easier to observe and experience and take in rather than create, share and push out. The last time I was here I was a writing machine so maybe I expected the same? But I was traveling alone.... Hmmm what does it all mean? It is good to not get too obsessed with writing and picture taking of course, but I haven't spent a day journaling or writing songs. Oh well. 'Tis my life for the moment...