Feb. 23 2009

Yesterday we got up and went to this big market. Alot of people selling alot of stuff. Then there was a second hand section. All kind of stuff like polos, shoes, and even jerseys on sale. I found 2 Titans Jerseys, Lendale and Griffin. I was really surprised. Wherever you go there are alot of street performers. At this market we found a bluegrass group, dressed in western clothes and everything, but they weren't very popular. I tried to get people to line dance and hoe down with me but no one would. They had another street performer that was a little kid playing soccer. He was probably 11 years old. He was just juggling; I didn't see the ball bounce once. He was doing all kinds of things. Balancing it on his head, then on his neck and do pushups. Then he balance on his head on top of a water bottle. It was all pretty amazing. Everyone is doing whatever they can to make man. We went back and went to play basketball with some of the locals. We went to this "park". It was under the train tracks and had a couple of basketball courts, a footsal court, and Takrow courts. Takrow is an awesome game to watch. It's volleyball with your feet and takes incredible skill. The basketball goals were a few inches short so it was easy to dunk. The thais thought it was cool cause none of them can do it. The people were all very friendly and offered me water even though they didn't have alot of money to buy it for themselves. Even without being able to speak, it is fun to communicate with them.....
Today we went to another interview. This one is for enlgish camps. It is like a normal camp in the states except here you will teach enlgish an hour each day. They are three day long camps throughout thailand. You go with the kids to a hotel or national park and run a camp. It sounds like fun. We only make 900 bot (around $25) a day but all food and housing is paid for. We start in a week. We will work alot of these in March and then take a trip to the islands on the south and on to Malaysia and Singapore.....
There are no trashcans here. It's crazy cause there's not a big trash problem but there are no trashcans. We walk around forever and there is only one before you go into the trainstation. If I eat or drink something I have to carry around the wrapper or bottle for a long time. Also the city has smells that change from block to block. Every few steps I take I will smell something incredible, like fruit or fried chicken, or terrible like the smells in the airport. I have also hit my head on so many things. I have to duck everywhere I go. I see people stare at me all the time. I walked around by myself some and people stare more when I am alone. It's cool to expierence what a minority expierences. Some people love and are intrigued by you and others are scared of you. And I know some people were wondering about ladyboys. I have seen many. Some are very obvious and some look somewhat pretty until you get close enough or hear them talk. I try to stay from them though. I'm starting to get to the town and be comfortable with walking around furthur and furthur from my apartment.