First off, I just want to thank you all for the wonderful comments on my blog! It means a lot to me that you're all keeping an eye out and reading about my adventures: the good, the bad, and the ugly. If there's anything else you folks would like to see or learn about, give me some ideas! One of my goals here (as is with many of the places I visit in life) is to learn as much as possible. Throw me some challenges here in Thailand, and I'll see what I can do!
Birthdays in Thailand
After a crazy, stressful week at the school (as you all saw last week) we decided to head to the beach to celebrate Katrina's 26th birthday! We had last Friday off since our students were off to Scout Camp. Thursday night, we caught a bus down to Bangkok and met up with Jemma, one of our fellow OEG teachers, and found a Mexican restaurant to start off birthday celebrations! Steak quesadillas... who knew I would've missed them so much?!
Early the next morning, we caught a minibus that literally screamed down the highway and immediately wanted to get to the beach.
Birthdays in Thailand
After a crazy, stressful week at the school (as you all saw last week) we decided to head to the beach to celebrate Katrina's 26th birthday! We had last Friday off since our students were off to Scout Camp. Thursday night, we caught a bus down to Bangkok and met up with Jemma, one of our fellow OEG teachers, and found a Mexican restaurant to start off birthday celebrations! Steak quesadillas... who knew I would've missed them so much?!
Early the next morning, we caught a minibus that literally screamed down the highway and immediately wanted to get to the beach.
Hua Hin was a much needed beach weekend away from students, Sa-nguan Ying, and life in general. Our guesthouse (Mod Guesthouse) was right over the water and in the center of all the lively activities. The town along the water reminded me of Kennebunk, Maine or Cape Cod. The streets were lined with local stores, beautiful art, fun characters, retired tourists, and the smell of delicious foods wafted through the street. The entire weekend, I had "Toes" by the Zac Brown Band playing on repeat in my head. There's something about the song that definitely captures how I felt about this weekend. Life was definitely good in Hua Hin. | |
The weekend consisted of fun nights on our guesthouse's patio overlooking the water, bargaining with vendors along the beach, meeting and playing with local children, a wonderful Thai policeman named Bill who brought Katrina a birthday cake, a spunky 4-year-old French girl who played host with the birthday cake, Germans, Frenchmen, and dancing galore. On Friday night, we went to this bar called the London Bar where I was able to sing a bit with the band. The singer of the band had this amazing raspiness in her voice, and it was such a joy being able to take the microphone and just go all out. The town of Hua Hin treated us well, and we will definitely be returning in the new year to explore more of the markets and possibly check out the vineyard.
Throughout our Hua Hin adventure, we discovered two amazing places that really made the weekend complete. We discovered the Family Tree shop, a fair trade business that offers beautiful handmade crafts from all over Thailand. I probably could've spent all my money in that store, and I did, in fact, spend quite a bit of Baht there. Everything is beautifully handcrafted from small villages. The owner, Prem, was the kindest person. She introduced us to so many stories and crafts and did it all with a smile. We also found a beautiful art gallery practically right beside the Family Tree Shop. Everywhere you turned, there was something remarkable and captivating. The artist's sister, an adorable girl named Ply , allowed us to walk around and admire the artwork. With such bright colors, amazing techniques, and stunning use of gold leaf, we couldn't help but be amazed at her brilliance. We wanted to take everything home with us.
Hua Hin offered us some of the simplicity in life that Thais believe in. We were able to relax on the beach, laugh with some wonderful new friends, and be exposed to some amazing artwork and crafts. I can't wait to go back and sit with my toes in the water and to let life just pass by. ไม่เป็นไร