You know it's time to go home when...

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• Entry from Bangkok

Trip Start Jun 11, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Aug 07, 2008

  Bangkok, Thailand
Wednesday, August 6, 2008

(Katrina, remember when were in my kitchen and I said I didn't know how often I was going to actually blog... maybe once, twice a week... I've done it excessively.  I needed to go to computers frequently anyway to get memory space on my camera, but also, this has helped me remember everything so well, and I've liked writing much more than I thought I would.  Welcome to my goodbye entry).

I've been in Thailand 8 weeks.  I'm ready to go.  I know people travel the world for 6 months, a year, several years, and bless them, but I'm ready to go back home.  I know that it's time, for several interesting reasons:
 
-When I was in Chiang Mai and still had my mobile, a traveling friend texted me and asked me where I was.  In composing the response, I only got as far as "Hey! I'm in..." and had to pause for a long time.  Which city am I in right now?  I forgot; there have been so many (I just counted: 15 cities/towns/islands).
-I've started considering my 7-11 runs "grocery shopping."  These are not groceries.
-12 Indian men ask me every day if I need a tailor, as I walk past the tailor shops.  Each time, my thought has been no.  Lately, I've actually been wondering if I DO need a tailor.  A nice dress, perhaps?  ...no.  That is not necessary, I've been peer pressured by too many tailors, but I don't even really want one.
-It's been 8 weeks since I used a hair dryer.  Or a straightener.  Or knit, or did anything crafty (except for mending some falling-apart clothes).  Or worn jeans.  Or worn heels.  Or made any money, or salsa danced, or cooked, really.  Or had Ethiopian food or Mexican food.  I do all of these things on a fairly regular basis in my real life, and I miss them.  Time to do those activities again.
 
There are a lot of things that I won't miss about Thailand.  I won't miss: Thai basil; everyone smoking; being a size Large-Large in underwear (tiny Thai women!); non-flush toilets, squat toilets, toilet paper-less toilets; bear poop; the absence of seatbelts; the smell, crowd and pollution of Bangkok; scorpions, huge spiders, rats, cockroaches; living out of a bag; and having to lug my bag up three or four flights of stairs at each guest house (I'm always on the 3rd or 4th floor).
 
But here's what I will miss: geckos climbing the walls everywhere, especially 1 inch long baby geckos; the smell of incense in the wats; traveling in general: moving around, exploring, planning a little so that I get excited and feel somewhat competent, but leaving other things to chance and spontaneity; low season: no wait or line, ever, for restaurants, bars, boats, buses, trains; the exchange rate and how everything, everything is inexpensive; bargaining and buying everything off the street; eating outside at night markets where they make your noodles right in front of you; the easy attitude of meeting other travelers; having Lonely Planet to consult and give me answers; kind chit chat from Thai coffee shop owners who just want to know something about me; saying a cheerful sawatdeekha; being called 'Sir' instead of 'Miss;' Nee and Dum Dum, two gibbons from the center, and lots of the international volunteers I made friends with; the smell of kaffir lime leaves; guest houses and free book exchanges.
 
It surprised me that when I come back, summer will almost be over.  Where did the summer go?  I didn't have a summer.  I didn't do any of my normal summer things.  No Ravinia, Taste of Chicago, outdoor movies in the park, music in the park, beer gardens, fireworks... well, I did beer gardens, but I was drinking Singha and Chang, not Blue Moon.  

I had a summer, it was just in Thailand.  I got to be up close and personal with abused animals: their moods, their meals, their poop.  I got to go on a night safari and see wild elephants.  I got to see temples, temples, and more temples.  Hot springs, emerald pools, white water river rafting, beaching it up.  Spas, massages, BBQs, Full Moon Party, lots of dancing.  Night ferry, night buses, night trains.  Lots of Thai and international food, beautiful sunsets, kayaking.  Bazaars, markets, inexpensive shopping and bargaining.  A prison massage.  A muay thai boxing match.  National parks and the highest mountain peak in the whole country.  Three silent days of Buddhist meditation.  The Grand Palace and a ladyboy cabaret show.  Staying up all night, vegetarian cooking class all day, and drinks on the tallest rooftop bar in Bangkok.  Yes, it has been good.
 
In honor of my earlier entry, a few more concluding tallies:
Thai word/phrases learned and committed to memory: 42
Postcards sent: 24, to anyone who had asked for one, including my hair dresser, my travel vaccine nurse, and my favorite DA at the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office
Places visited: I said this earlier, but 15.  Thayang, Cha-Am, Hua Hin, Phetchaburi, Krabi, Phang-nga, Phi Phi, Railey, Ao Nang, Surat Thani, Koh Pha-ngan, Koh Tao, Chumphon, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok
New facebook friends: 42
Sicknesses: Still 0, really.  Well, I've had sunburn, blisters, bug bites, a few cuts, and heat rashes.  Only 2 small bouts of motion sickness.  But no stomach problems, and that was what I anticipated.  Amazing, really, especially since as time went on I got more and more lax with the tap water for brushing teeth, salads, street food, and ice...
Books read: 7.  Love it.
Starbucks beverages: Only 1, though I've had plenty of opportunity.
Pens gone through and used up: 4.  I'm on my 4th.
Massages: 6.  Oh, those were nice.
Journals written: 3.  But they're smallish.
Sunrises: 5.  My first morning, Full Moon Party, night out in Bangkok, and then 2 on the retreat.  I suppose each WFFT morning with the 6 am wake-up call, but I couldn't enjoy the sunrise-there were monkeys to feed.
 
Plenty of my friends haven't wanted to leave.  I'm ok with it.  I'm soooo satisfied with my journey, but also, guess what I have to go home to?  A week with friends in San Jose, seeing my family in Chicago, my cousin's wedding, and then moving to one of the best cities in the world to do a Master's in something I'm passionate about, at one of the most respected institutions in the country.  Oh man, I'm excited.  Only bad part: it's a 24 hour journey from Bangkok to LA, with all my stops.  Good news: that's four hours shorter than my intense boat-bus-train journey from Koh Tao to Chiang Mai.  I can do it.  Thanks for reading!

PS- a few mentions... thank you to RAHUL who was the very special sole contributor to my volunteering fund by way of the PayPal account I set up and linked to from my blog.   And love to my MOM, who, in all her internet savviness, checked my blog daily and wrote me the most comments.  Love love love.

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