I love sweating, sweating's my favorite.

I have decided that my hardest job the next year may be staying hydrated.  It is so hot here I literally start sweating the moment I enter my hallway, I've been drinking tons of water, but this heat is hard to beat. (Did I mention this is their cool season?) The humidity is also something special, Nell and I made it about 5 full days before we both broke down to buy hair straighteners...I thought I could go without, but it was an out of control frizz fest.

I'm really liking my new digs - I've spent some time the past 2 days walking around, exploring the sights, and being a spectacle in town as one of few foreigners or "farangs".  Literally every time I walk down the street, into a store, or into a restaurant, everyone looks up and stares and giggles.  Occasionally I will hear a "Hello" or even a few "Yo"s, but for the most part it's a lot of smiles and "wais"  (a wai is a slight bow and the Traditional Thai greeting, I'm def. bringing this back whenever I return to the US).  There are very, very few people in our town that speak English.  Even the fellow teachers in the English Program that we met today (the English nicknames they chose are Bird and Star) were hard to converse with - I will be practicing my Thai daily!

My apartment is really nice, I have a massive King Size bed, Air Conditioning (!!), a TV (only 1 or 2 English channels, but hey, it will help out my Thai), a balcony, and a "wet bathroom".  The bathroom is...different.  The shower has no walls or shower curtain, I was scared the first time I took a shower that it would flood everything, but I actually managed to do OK, there's a slight step from my bathroom to my apt. so that water can't escape.  It's definitely something new.  There's also no hot water, which I thought would be awful, but it really is so hot here that it doesn't matter that much.

That's about all for my home tour - plenty of space for visitors though...start researching your tickets!  Our town is cute, lots of action in the markets, so many street vendors, and I've already identified several good places to buy a Thai iced coffee (gah-faa yen), so aroi! (delicious)  Today Nell and I checked out the Giant Dragon in town which is a Chinese temple and the Dragon Descendants Museum.  It was pretty sweet, we got a great view of Suphan Buri from the top and we made friends with two Thai women who laughed at every attempt we made to speak with them...at least we're trying! 

Also, you may have heard about the flooding in Thailand - no one here seems to be too concerned when we ask them about it, but I'm also not sure they understand the question, good thing my apt. is on the 4th floor!  We have noticed a lot of stores building cement walls around their entrances, which we're guessing is their way to protect it from the flood, I'll keep you updated if I'm taking a boat around town in the next few days...

New pics on Facebook.

If you would like to contact me, there are a few ways:

• Cell Phone: 084 542 0589 ( Country code is +66)
• Skype: sarah.e.rall

Thailand Tidbits:

• Not only am I living in the future because I'm 11-14 hours ahead of the US in terms of time zone, it's also the year 2553, because their calendar is the Buddhist Calendar.  
• There are more than 28 different varieties of bananas in Thailand!