Two Weeks - Dengue Free

Sawadee Ka!
I left off last Tuesday so let me catch you up on what's being going on since then. It's been a really great past few days that are just racing by. I'm over two weeks into my stay here; a quarter of the way finished my stay in Thailand. I know six weeks is still a long time but it feels like not enough. One of the things that's been on my mind a lot the past few days is that this trip feels too planned out and pre-booked. I'm wishing partly that I could extend my travels for a bit longer. I don't necessarily want to stay in Koh Lanta for much longer than two months but I don't know that I particularly want to go home. Though two months is still a good amount of time so I'm sure I'll feel different towards the end and just be ready to go home and see my friends and family, but at this moment I don't want to stop.

Anyways, back to what I've actually been doing, Tuesday was Jon, the volunteer coordinator/shelter manager's birthday and we threw him a surprise party at the center. All the volunteers came and we put up balloons and his girlfriend and fellow volunteer, Julia, ordered cake (which is a true rarity here) and it was just a really nice time. We spent a few hours there and then went to Pangea, the same bar where the full moon party was last week. I'm coming to look forward to Tuesday's very much because of Pangea dance party nights. Not to mention that I had Wednesday off work so I stayed out until 5am with a few other volunteers. All in all it was a good night and I think Jon was happily surprised.

The mission of Wednesday was to locate new shoes since mine broke the day before. Anywhere close by only sells cheap, plastic ones that I really don't like so I drove to Saladan, the town at the north of the island and most touristy place. That's one of the most interesting things about this island; it's not very big and yet it has a huge range of cultures and languages and financial backgrounds. It's not a main tourist spot so it's not crowded or dirty, but it's touristy enough that most store owners speak a little english and you can get what you need generally. I'm staying about 15ish minutes south of Saladan on a road off the main one. If I drive to the main road there are restaurants and minimarts and if I drive north there are an increasing amount of stores and tourist attractions. However, if I walk 10 minutes down my road away from the main street there are small woven houses and children bathing in the river. Back on the topic of Saladan, I was finally able to locate some cool, locally made shoes for about $3. I did a bit of shopping for food and other things as well and felt like I was spending a lot of money, but then I did the math and realized I'd spent less than $15. It's easy to forget that $1 is about 40 baht so you're really not spending much money ever.

Thursday was my first day working with one of the new couples, Sam and Mitch. They're from London and I really like them so it's nice that they're staying for a month or so. We worked in the morning and spent the rest of the day at the beach - such a difficult life it is here. It's completely beautiful and insanely different than anywhere I've ever been but I still don't think I could spend an indefinite amount of time here. I love it but I think I would go a bit crazy on an island if I was there for too long. Friday was the last day for Rebecka before her return to Sweden. I made shakshuka for the first time for a few of us and it remarkably turned out edible. It's interesting shopping for groceries here, and probably this is part of the reason we eat out so much, but you can't just go to a supermarket with a produce section. You have to go to fruit or vegetable stands or the market which is in a different location everyday (on Thursday's it's right by the shelter). I also kind of like this, though. I really want to cook more, as in at all, when I get back home.

At night we went to Chill Out House which is a bar/restaurant/tree house sort of establishment. The owner built it himself and it is the coolest building I've ever been in. There aren't really walls, there are branches that create an enclosure with seats built in and around the branches and hammocks hanging from the "ceiling," if I can call it that. They're starting an organic farm there and sadly my roommate was asked to leave today because they don't think she's putting enough work in so she's gone to stay there and work at the farm. I have a room to myself again but I liked staying with her and we were leaving on the same day but now she might leave earlier. It's a bit of a shame. Suddenly it feels like everyone is leaving. She and Rebecka are gone, and two volunteers are leaving next week, and then four or five are leaving at the end of the month. I know I kept saying that I didn't really feel like part of the group but now I do, just in time for that group to disperse. I'm hoping there'll be more volunteers coming but it's also getting towards the end of the high season so there may not be so many.

I wrote about a few dogs I didn't like last time so I thought I'd write about my two favorites today. They are Michael and Denver. Michael has an expression and built a bit like my dog, Gulliver, but he has golden eyes and a tail as curly as a pig's. He's a bit shy but really sweet. Then there's Denver who is between 6months and a year, I'm not sure, and his paws and ears are way too big for the rest of him. He's a bit of a floppy puppy but very cute and you can just carry him around and he sits on your lap like a cat. I had a scare this morning when I walked into his kennel to feed him and found him lying on his side whimpering in pain. The vets checked him out (hooray for attached clinic) and think he has a blood parasite which makes him very tired and sore. It takes about a month of treatment for him to get better, but he might not be so easy to carry around or willing to sit quietly on my lap once he feels better. There's also 15-20 cats who wander the premises, free to come and go. No one is going to stop you from letting one (or six) sleep in your room at night which I love. There's one cat, Batman, who sleeps with me and he's so good at night but as soon as my alarm goes off he's up and begins attacking my feet. I guess it's good in that it makes me get up, but I can only reason that out later in the day.

I'm just about out of time. The volunteers are going to Time For Lime tonight, the restaurant owned by the woman who started the shelter and we're supposed to leave in less than 15 minutes. Tonight is my night sleeping in the shelter with the dogs which ought to be fun (does sarcasm come through in writing?). Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!