workstation

I don't really have an office here, officially. But I've adopted the Ban Thai veranda as my new workstation. I was staring at a chameleon as I drudged over writing these malaria guidelines.
Check him out, isn't he sweet? Sometimes his head turns red. I caught him on camera during his "blue" period.

mosquito repellent

you guys are probably pretty tired of me talking about malaria this and malaria that. too bad. anyway, this one's a bit more personal. i've started a new mosquito repellent regimen - raw garlic. it was an idea from a friend who labored finding non-smelly garlic capsules in borneo. i say "why bother with the pills"? raw garlic seems the way to go - it's cheap, it tastes great, and i think it's got a bunch of other health benefits that i can't recall. a handful of us here have started the garlic regimen together so we can all neutralize the "healthful odor" we are emitting from our bodies. we all stink together. and why should i even care? the only boy i want to kiss is 13,000 miles away, and i don't think he'd even notice me popping several of these throughout the day like candy. so far so good. i've only been bitten twice in the past 3 days.

Spiderman 3

Let's see....another update....I don't want to bore you with the 38 work-related task items I am currently tackling...I do manage to step away from all the work and take a breather. Like this Sunday. I am going to Chiang Mai for one reason only: to see Spiderman 3 in the theatres. And maybe if this stupid cyclone goes away, I'll do a bit of climbing...and eat some Mexican food. I miss carnitas.

I don't have any new pictures to post or any crazy stories to share. The most exciting thing that happened to me was that I discovered an Indian restaurant here and had some yummy aloo paratha...oh, I took some of the office staff for swimming lessons. They're so funny, the local boss was like "Linda, you will not wear those very tiny small swimming underwears, right?" He was talking about my triangle top bikini. I said of course not, so we all went swimming in shorts and T-shirts. Trying to teach freestyle swimming in heavy clothing is kind of hard.

Update

Update: A pangolin just showed up here at the ban thai. (I thought it was an armadillo at first, but I was corrected). And mangos are now falling from the trees for me to eat.


"help! don't eat me!"

Connect the dots

My trip back to Mae Sot from Vientiane was something like this:

Local tuk tuk to bus station (10min) to another tuk tuk to Thai/Lao border (1 hr) to T/L Friendship bridge border shuttle (15min) to the wrong Lao shuttle, which would have me head back to Lao (10min) to local tuk tuk (10min) to private van to Udon Thani airplane (1 hr) to Bangkok (1 hr) to local airport shuttle (10 min) to the local 551 bus (1hr, heavy traffic) to taxi to haul my ass in traffic to bus terminal (30min), miss bus, wait 2 hrs for next bus to Mae Sot (8hrs) to mototaxi (5min). Home, in 18hrs.
That gave me enough time to digest all the croissants, baguettes, and other mysterious but delicious fried goodies I ate all weekend.


sweet corn dumpling waffles. and rice doughy fried yummy with coconut surprise.

the Vientiane's Arc de Triomphe.

Songkran

This is Songkran. It's how the crazy Thais celebrate new years. Lots of water, lots of drunken accidents (over 400 died last new years). And it lasts for an entire week, and there's no way to run from it. You will get wet.

This is my new bicycle. My first real purchase here in Thailand. It cost me $52.70 and I threw in some extra cash for accessories to pump up its pimpin’ image. Like the bright halogen detachable headlight. The detachability means petty thieves can’t delight in an easy snatch of high tech hardware from oblivious tourist. So I take off the headlight from the handlebar, just like we used to take off the face of CD stereos in our car. I mainly got my bicycle for its matching red front basket. I can put a gang of cargo in there. Just the other day, I stuffed 12 huge bottles of high-dose Vitamin A to a local ethnic health department so that they can distribute these for their reproductive health program, specifically to give to postpartum women. They’re more at risk for Vitamin A deficiency (and likely to get things like nightblindness or bitot’s spot). These bottles should last about 5 months for the entire program. What I do plan to store on a regular basis in my front basket are rocks. I’ll throw them at those mangy dogs who think they have the right to scare the living crap out of me at night when I’m biking along the road, minding my own business. I might even chuck a few at these bandits who have recently been snatching purses and cell phones from foreigners here. That might teach them a lesson. I feel pretty safe at night though, biking home, however, especially since I’ve seen the Mae Sot police patrolling the main road. I wouldn’t if I were B------, however. Last week, someone threw a hand grenade at a B------ gas station. I don’t think anyone got hurt, though. I hear the B------ migrants get harassed, beat up at night so they avoid being out after dark. I was deciding if I should get a mountain bike with several gears or my shiny red “no gear” cruiser. I thought about it for a day, and I concluded that the front basket and backseat really would add to my happiness. The padded backseat is there to encourage people to visit me and be my passenger. Did I mention the bi-directional stainless steel bell for honking at cars that get really close? This generally happens when I’m biking the wrong way on the highway. But I only do that for a short stretch of the highway; otherwise I’ve got to bike almost all the way to the bridge into B---- where I can legally make a u-turn. I love bicycling to work every day, I love that this little beauty gets me to work every day, and since it’s getting hotter and hotter, I’m glad it takes little energy to pedal. Who needs the extra workout? I break out in a sweat just walking into the heat. That’s why I will go swimming at a private pool and pay the 75 cents entrance fee. I notice people glancing at my bicycle when I ride by. I like all the attention, but I’m thinking maybe they find my bicycle funny looking, a bit garish? It is really red with a white plastic wheel guard, with matching red & white pleather seats and it’s made in Thailand. Would this be the equivalent of riding in a bright orange Dodge Neon in the US?