Good friends...[Entry #25: July 19, 2011]

[Above: The wonderful house I am currently staying in/watching for a friend]

Entry #25: July 19, 2011

        It has been my continuing goal to add a new picture and post each day, and for the last several days I have done neither. It isn't as though I have been terribly busy lately, but as of late I have have the great fortune of meeting up with several of my friends from school which has made the hours and even days simply dissolve. It's funny, I travel half way around the world and I end up sitting at a table across from someone I barely knew too well in school but all the sudden there is a friendship that forms so naturally. Lately I simply have not been taking my camera around with me or having an incredible desire to snap photos. Instead I have been spoiled with wonderful company and enlightening and hearty conversations that are as intellectually nourishing as they come. I highly recommend, that when you travel if you have the chance to meet up with friends from back home, do so! You get to meet the person in a wholly other light, different circumstances give you a much clearer picture of their personality and nature when put in foreign situations. I am of the few companions the only person to really speak any Thai, which in Thailand is not so uncommon as English gets you through most days/situations. However we have a whole slew of other languages and nationalities represented, and in fact joke about having our 'U.N. meetings' when we get together.

        I must admit today was a beautiful one, the absolute best food I have had thus far in Thailand was on a random street corner that we casually opted to try. It really is amazing the types of food, quality, and quantity for price you can summon. Often times the very best food is not at the super high-end and trendy touristy locations, its where the locals live and work and may not look so nice. You sit down at any table in Thailand you may just be in for a surprise of a lifetime. The pace of the meals everywhere thus far that I have experienced is slow, and casual. For example; you need to ask your waiter for the check, otherwise you can sit indefinitely in most places. I must say, that within Thailand, eating consumes a significant portion of your time, sitting around and ordering drinks and food seems like the core of most of my daily routine. I feel as though my appetite has waned a bit since coming here and adjusting to the heat, I simply don't need to eat as much but I am eating 2 or 3 times a day, and I am drinking a substantial amount of water. I had a thought that perhaps you can tell how long someone has been in Thailand by the amount of fluids they consume within any given meal. I have noticed that people who live/have stayed in Thailand for a extended period of time, tend not to drink (water/soda/whatever) as much as the people who are newer arrivals. Thai's I have noticed also tend to drink very little during the meal and a greater sum at the end. Now this may be a biased set of observation as my sample size is fairly limited, but I have noticed that 'Farang' such as myself undoubtedly order many more drinks. If you really enjoy drinking alcohol; there are inexpensive Thai whiskeys which are somewhere in between a whiskey/rum flavor and beer that can be incredibly cheap but for the most part liquor can be pricey and certainly comparable to prices throughout the United States. I am fortunate that I infrequently drink alcohol, so my travel becomes significantly cheaper. So be prepared, if you want to drink, and do it often that a large portion of your budget will disappear in the bars and restaurants! However good news for the smokers among my readers, here within Thailand you can buy packs of cigarettes cheap in comparison to prices back home, somewhere in the range of 80 baht = $2.75 a pack. The interesting thing about smoking in Thailand, is that any nicotine products are wrapped with images of awful gangrenous or cancerous lesions caused by smoking in an attempt to dissuade persons from buying the product, so it takes the surgeon generals warning a bit further which I think is an interesting way to fight this habit. That is all for now, tomorrow will be a bit more adventuresome as today seemed to be a restful one, thanks again to all my readers and to those of you who have journeyed with me thus far, your companionship has been the greatest inspiration to me!