Yesterday was odd for me. I was honestly emotional about leaving Cambodia, and maybe it's because I have no clear idea on when I'm coming back, but I was seriously on the verge of tears for a moment there.
The flight to Thailand was short though, and I sat beside two funny American fellows. One was older, maybe between his 40s and 50s, and the other seemingly closer to my age. At the end of the trip the younger lad looked to the older and just goes, completely straight face, " so tell me, if you could swim in any type of food, what would it be?"
Man 2,"what? Why would I want to swim in f-"
Man 1," pudding, isn't it? You look like a pudding sort of guy."
" no, not pudding, not anything -"
"Spaghetti then? Kinda weird but I guess if that's your thing--"
"That'd be gross, no. I don't know, I wouldn't want to swim in any kind of food."
"You had zero imagination as a kid didn't you?" He asked dryly.
Man number 1 tried to be as reasonable about this conversation as possible.
" But you'd have to consider carefully," he prompted," because them you'd get a stomach ache-"
"Stomach ache?" Interrupted the younger man," Why would you get a stomach ache?"
"Because you'd probably eat some-"
"What? Ew, no, you don't eat it. Gross, you're gross. See, this is why I can't have conversations with you--."
My first impression of Bangkok was that I couldn't tell if what I was seeing was smog or low lying clouds... I'm thinking smog. I could barely see the city as we landed, though I'm told we were right in it.
Going through customs was effortless, collecting my baggage was a test of patience. I didn't reallllly need all my belongings, did I? I also ended up exchanging a wad of cash for Thai baht, something I would save for figuring out later, if at all.
After a few confusing moments, met CCS staff Jack outside gate 3, as arranged. Jack is a friendly and extremely helpful guy, and we started the process of creating small talk again. His English is very good, a lot better than my Thai, and after having spent the last few days exploring outside my comfort zone with conversing with people, I think it went a little better than to be expected. As the trip progressed, I'd learn that Jack was a man of many colors, with all sorts of new and interesting sides to him that i'd never have expected, and yet a joy to discover.
We still had at least an hour to wait at the airport before we could leave, as another volunteer would be arriving on a later flight. We talked about different things, what there is to do in Bangkok, places we would like to go, what I was doing in Siem Reap. We covered a wide range.
After a while he got up to go wait for Sara, our next volunteer. She arrived a little while later, and was a lot more energetic than I had been after the initial long flight. Sarah is actually a staff member for the CCS office in New York, so she knows a lot about each program. This is her first time in Thailand however and she seems excited. She is really easy to talk to and we chat off and on in the taxi ride to the home base.
Once here, we meet with Pimsuda, the head staff member for the Bangkok branch. She's sweet and welcomes us all, telling us to get settled in and that lunch would be waiting for us. I was happy to hear this, as up to this point, the last thing I'd eaten had been the noodle bowl with Sothik and Mr. Driver the morning before. ( I have a habit of getting busy with something and actually forgetting to eat. It's not healthy but it's also not on purpose. I love me some good food.)
Sara and I are in different rooms, though both upstairs. I'm in what's called "the big room", and my bed has a cute little welcome packet set up for me when I arrive, along with two water bottles.
We have a bathroom and shower in our room, as well as a sizeable walk in closet with plenty of room for storage.
Lunch was a noodle bowl dish, and thanks to Sothik, I knew what I was doing. At least...more so than I had before. Jack ate with us briefly, before having to head back to the airport to wait on the next arrival.
The home base is in the Bangsue district of Bangkok, about a 40-45 minute drive from the down town. It hasn't felt that far to me, but maybe 23 hours on planes and travel by Tuk Tuk has altered my perception of what would be considered a lengthy trip.
Sara and I chatted some as we ate, then she left to take a shower and I went to my room to unpack. For the first time since any trip ever, I actually pulled my clothes out of the suitcase and hung them up. I could just see the shining tears of joy mom would have at such a moment. Then I promptly realized I could only find one sock of a certain pair and could promptly hear her cackling as well. Oh well.
Jack showed up later with another volunteer named Jill, and it took everything in me to not ask after the pail of water. I'm still working on those first impressions.
Jill is 60, and just coming in from, surprise, Siem Reap, where she just spent the last several days doing a bike tour of the temples. We laughed about all that and commented on how we're probably photo bombing each others pictures somewhere, or how I probably blew past her in my Tuk Tuk on the way to one of the temples. Small world!
They served dinner shortly after her arrival, and then the three of us (me, Sara and Jill) sat around talking. It was still early and we had no obligations, so we decided to head to the mall to see a movie since the weekend market was already closed. Jack helped us to get a taxi and give them directions, and soon we were off. We ended up seeing Rise of the Guardians in 3D for like $7. I was once again in shock. I was also really happy they enjoyed it cause I recommended it hard core, and didn't want them to hate it xD
Getting a taxi home was fun. Jack wrote us a little note to hand to the drivers, and it reminded me of the kind of thing you pin to small children or lost articles. "If found, please return to..."
He warned us some people would turn us down, either from not wanting to deal with foreigners or not wanting to drive out here, and sure enough it took us five taxis before someone agreed to take us.
Over all though, tonight was a good first night.
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| Me, Sara, and Jill. |
Location:กรุงเทพ-นนทบุรี 46,Bang Sue,Thailand
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