Brother Jake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU..........HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.........................

That's how they sing it in Thailand.

=)

Shirts with Sleeves

I've been in Bangkok for 1 1/2 months. I find myself asking what am I doing here how can I make this a meaningful experience? Socializing isn't it, just not the key variable I'm searching for.

Last Sunday I took off for my first solo outing,a day trip to Nonthaburi. As I traveled North on the Choa Phraya river I saw brightly coloured red and yellow tug boats pulling huge shallow black barges full with stripped trees, sand and I guess rice. Looking around I began to realize that all of the other farongs had gotten off and I was the only Westerner on the boat. I alos noticed the clothing of everyone and reached into my bag to pull out the sleeved shirt I was thankful to have along despite the heavy heat and humidity.

As I jumped of the boat and asked the deck boy "Ko Kred Kha" he was not interested in talking to this farong and a young Thai woman grabbed my arm "I go Ko Kred" smiling she pulled me to her mother who smiled back at her daughter with the tall farong. She shuttled me into a mini van that held 15 people. It was after 3 miles that I that I thought damn where am I going all I know is this woman's name is Cha, she knows my name that I'm a teacher. I franticly ducked my head, as I was too tall to see out the window, and started memorizing the streets that blurred past..Is this what my mother warned my about?

Mai Pen Rai Kha (no worries) at her instruction I jumped out of the van and we crammed ourselves into a rickshaw who took us to another ferry and there we were Ko Kred. We waied (bowed) Saw Wad Dee Kha. I was off dripping sweat kneeling at the Buddhist temple looking for water buffalo statues to bring home to my dad.

Beautiful people, banana trees, mango trees, cocoanut trees and snakes in a bucket.

All For now...

Miss You

Bangkoks piss'n rain... I haven't seen my boy in 15 thousand miles.