Tomorrow Never Knows

Thailand has yet to cease to amaze me. Every day is an adventure! We have finally moved into Hogwarts. Can I get a Booya! It's my 13 year old dream come true. The bad part...I didn't even stand a chance to

Roomies in front of our royal crest

 try to convince my roommates I was somewhat cool, or even normal. The second I heard "modeled after Hogwarts," the nerd part of my brain took over and chill, relaxed, maybe even "cool Marci," died. I am totally fine with that because that has been a 20 year story for me. I do worry about my roommates, though. They are probably tired of me casting spells with my wand or watching failed attempts of disapperation or listening to me say "but we can do it because we live in Hogwarts." Or mayyyyybe they are so impressed by my information on wizardlore that they don't even know what to say to me, in fear that they will disappoint me with their lack of knowledge. Ya, that's it.

On my Nimbus 2000

As you can imagine, this place is very grand. We are very spoiled. I absolutely adore my roommates. Maybe too much...but we don't need to get into that. My only complaint....there are bugs. Everywhere. No escaping it. I had two casualties come from those blasted bugs. My trail mix and my Nutella. It's a cruel cruel world. But you just have to accept it and move on. I try not to think about how many insects have made my hair their home. On the bright side, they will probably suffocate before they eat my brains out.

Another exciting thing about the school: we live with Thai teachers. It's rather fun, I should say! Our chef is awesome. His name in English is spelled Rose, but it's pronounced Lore or something like that...I've never bothered to learn how to say it. I just call him Rose. That's the American way, right?! Now the fun thing about Rose...as mom puts it "Boy? Girl? Somewhere in the middle!" (Meaning he bats for the other team (meaning he swings the other way (meaning he is going to "burst into flames" (meaning he is a homosexual)))). Oh the great times we have! He keeps us entertained, that's for sure.

You never know what a day is going to bring here. The other day we decided to go get some Thai massages. We really didn't know what to expect. We walk in and there are five beds laid out for us. And to our surprise what did we see? Five blind Thai people who were going to give the messages. Yup. Didn't see that one coming. Neither did they...ope I just crossed the line. But it was actually somewhat pleasant. They just felt for your feet and were able to figure out the rest! We all enjoyed it except for Dianna.....poor poor Dianna. Her lady was trying to kill her. Now I don't know if its normal or if it was because all the workers there are blind but as I was just looking around the room, there, right  there, was a woman breast feeding her child, bosom exposed. Some things cannot be unseen.

As I mentioned earlier...I clearly never matured past the age of 5 so I take this Hogwarts business seriously. But I must say thank you to my parents who let my freak flag fly. Never once have they tried to dial down my nerd, weird or creep. I don't know if that is good or bad, but thanks Mom and Dad! Back to the wizarding world. Because we are at Hogwarts, we obviously need to be sorted. Doesn't take a Potions professor to figure that out! So (probably against their will, but I am so wrapped up in my world I fail to notice) my roommates organized the sorting ceremony. It was grand. I never question the Sorting Hat's decision, but I was surprised I didn't get Hufflepuff. You know, because they are the air heads. But I am happy to announce I belong to Raveclaw!

Me in the Sorting Hat. Reaction to Ravenclaw!

Everything has been more than what I ever dreamed of. We went to some temples and ancient ruins and  it just blew my mind. It really is a dream come true. We got Thai fortunes. Mine said "Your hardship is over, from now on your life will be pleasant and happy every night and day. Within three months, the good fortune and spouse you wished for will come true. If you're involved in a lawsuit, you're likely to win the case. The missing cousins and the escaping debtors will be in touch. Wherever you go, whoever you meet will respect you. The older you get, the better you'll be." Pretty nifty, eh? (except for the spouse part). And for my missing cousin...I WILL FIND YOU! I don't know who you are but you best believe that your hiding days are over. I also used a squatter for the first time. Now I won't go into detail, but it wasn't as bad as I thought! Now I won't go into detail but the sound coming from the squatter on the other side of the wall was worse than I thought. It involved a number of squirming, grunting, plopping, sloshing, and splashing sounds. TMI? Ya I thought so. Now you know how I feel. But hey, how many people get to say they used the same squatter as a Monk in Thailand?

Well folks, I hope you still read my blog after you realize I am psychotic. It's all for your enjoyment. Till next time, peace and love :)

A Day in the Life

What an adventure is has been so far. The girls are great. We get along so well. The family is fantastic. Tang is extremely nice. Mom is hilarious and Granny is very kind. It is really really REALLY hot here. The humidity kills me. And lots of bugs as well. But you gotta love it!

Every day we have somewhat of a routine. We ride bikes every day. That's right. You heard me. I, Marci Allen ride a bike. Do I look as ridiculous as you imagined it? Here is a picture to find out...

So the answer is an obvious yes. But we enjoy it. We get a lot of attention. I imagine it's what all the "hot celebs" feel like on the red carpet. People applauding, shouting out "I love yooooouuu!", saying hello and smiling. Except instead of a glamorous carpet, paparazzi, gorgeous hair and make up, we have sweaty faces, "safe" helmets, damp clothing, and streets that smell like...to put it in an "adult" way...yucky yucky poo poo. And I love all of it. I am now getting used to the constant attention. Kind of nice. SO I EXPECT NOTHING LESS WHEN I GET HOME. 

Back to the smell...keep in mind, there are stray dogs EVERYWHERE, squatters instead of actual toilets (I will let you figure out what that is) and....every vegetarian's dream, freshly killed meat for sale. They have a market that hangs the carcass up for all to see. Needless to say, my roommates love to point it out to me.

Notice the strategically placed fish head

Like I have mentioned, the food is scrumtulescent here. I eat eggs and rice every day without fail. Tang and Mom like to tease me because I like the eggs so much. But I haven't had anything yet that I absolutely hate. (One perk to being vegetarian, they don't feed you the "questionable" meat dishes) As you can see in the picture on the right, that fish was...gross. And of course right in front of me. Alas, my misery brings the rest of the gang joy, which makes it okay. Because everyone knows my ego will do anything for a laugh. Anything.

Our favorite drink place :)

I think this just speaks for itself

We have a lot of fun here. And we are very spoiled. Mom and Dad are pretty well off so we get pampered quite a bit. This is their swimming pool. Super nice, right? I can definitely get used to living here. They are constantly doing things for us, cooking for us, taking care of us. What more could we ask for?

Last night, I "came out". Before you get any ideas, let me explain. I don't know if it was something we ate, something we drank, the humidity, fumes, strange sleeping hours, or just plane ol crazy kids but my roommates had this grand idea for me to tell our head teacher that I was gay, "not there's anything wrong with that." It was one of those things that happen when you are in a group and someone makes a little joke about the way you dress and suddenly one thing leads to another and you cut her skin off and wear it around town. (This didn't happen by the way if any of you sickos were thinking it did) Anywho...where was I. Oh, ya. Being gay. So I rehearsed it a hundred times so that I could make it convincing. This would be the acting opportunity of a lifetime.  It was time. I went in their, said my lines, sounded convincing, and she bought it! I couldn't keep it up for long so I quickly said the record straight. Ha get it. Straight. No pun intended. We all had a good laugh, mostly because the build up was way more fun than the actual joke. It's funny. Now I am the butt of every joke. Jokes like "Kaitlen, are you sure you can share a room with Marci?" or after stating my love for trail mix "But, Marci, I thought you didn't like nuts." (sorry if that one was too much for some of you). Of course these jokes are hilarious and I come up with the most out of everyone, but now we will go the rest of semester questioning my sexual orientation. Good prank guys. Good prank. 

We have finally begun teaching. The kids are the cutest. I am already in love. We get up at 6:30 AM, leave by 7:30, arrive to the school at 8, start teaching at 8:30, end teaching at 11:30 but we never make it home till dinner. Aren't they adorable? The one in the pink on the very left is my favorite. Her name is pronounced "Pear." She reminds me of my niece Meghan. The kid on the very left is also awesome. You can't tell but he has a mullet.

Hogwarts! Here is the school. Rad, right?

Another thing to add to my list why this is the coolest place on the planet. The school (and our home in a week) is modeled after Hogwarts. It's my dream come true! And yet, another thing that brings my roommates happiness. Making fun of me for geekin out about Harry Potter. I was put on this earth so people could laugh at my expense.

Tonight one of the parents invited us over to eat. It was delicious :) And....they had french fries and honey mustard! I am still in shock. You know, I am really starting to notice a common trend. People love to laugh at me! The mom and her cousin kept laughing at me. I think it's because the other girls don't talk as much as I do. And anyone who knows me knows that after talking for five minutes, you know I am an idiot. But it was fun. I like to make people laugh. And if that means making fun of me for the way I look while I am riding a bike then so be it!

I am having the time of my life and can't wait to tell you all of the magical experiences I have over here!
                                       

  

Sawadee!

Land ho! I have finally made it in Thailand, after a long 33 hours of travel. I was beginning to think I would never make it! It was quite the adventure. Our first flight to LA was pretty uneventful, other than the lady next to me eating a giant pickle. After we landed, however, no one told us we would have to practically walk the path of Mordor to get to our next gate. We had a three hour layover and we barely got there in time. Time for the 13 hour flight. My seat was by the emergency exit. Pro: more leg room! Con: I couldn't leave my carry on by me. I was able to grab my ipod and Kindle but all my other goodies left with my bag. Wa wa. Con number 2: So no seat in front of me, which was good, but instead 4 feet in front of me was the stewardess's chair. Which faced me. I didn't know where to look! My choices were to stare at her, or look out the window and look at the black sky. I chose the window.

I had some great surround sound on the flight. They guy behind me was going to town on whatever he was eating, making the most horrific lip smacking noises. To give you an idea how loud it was, I could hear him WHILE we were taking off. Thanks Dad for the sensitive ears.

I will say though, I have never been so hydrated in my life! They were constantly bringing beverages by. While dinner was being served we started to experience some turbulence. Guess who came back to their seat? That's right, Korean stewardess. So this time she got to stare at me while I ate. That wasn't awkward at all. Lip Smacker finally fell asleep. Lip smacking. Gone. Loud Snoring. Oh ya, should've seen that comin.

This is us after our flights!

All in all, the flight wasn't terrible. We arrived in Korea. By this point, I was completely disoriented with time. That time travel stuff is confusing! Our next and last flight was to Bangkok. Other than the six hours seeming like 20, it went pretty smoothly. Alas we arrive in Thailand!  And what awaits us? A four hour drive to Phichit. Sooo much traveling! So close yet so far. At least the van had air conditioning. And the drivers choice of music: 90s pop. I am not sure if that was his personal preference, or if he assumes that's what American girls listen to. Either way, we enjoyed it! Touche, driver. Touche. At long last we arrived to where we are staying. The family is very nice. Mom is a hoot! She doesn't speak very good English, but we usually get what she is trying to say. Tang, who runs the school, speaks very good English. We arrived at around 7 PM so we just did a few matters of business then hit the hay.

View from my bedroom

Today Tang took us around town. They drive on the left side of the road which is really hard to get used to. But the town is adorable. Shops every where. The food is AMAZING! Its finally starting to sink in that I am on the other side of the world. And with that....I will keep you posted on my adventures!