Boppin' around Bangkok

I made my first trek to Bangkok January 21-24. I went with my field director Jes, Heather, and Phee Nok. We left Friday evening on the 6:00 overnight bus. The bus was my first double decker bus ride. We were on the top of the bus which was a little scary I’m not gonna lie. Felt pretty tipsy not to mention the constant sway of the bus over every little bump. Fortunately I was able to sleep pretty well which made me ignore the movement of the bus. We got to Bangkok about 4:30 in the morning. Hung out in the gigantic bus station that is really more like an airport before heading to our hotel at Chulalongkorn University. It may have been my scariest experience in a car, minus my accident in high school, because the driver was going around 130 to 140 KPH. I held onto Jes and said many prayers in my head. Since Phee Nok is a government worker she gets a deal at one of the dormitory complexes on the campus. We couldn’t check in until lunch time so we slept in the lobby for a few hours. We met a mix of people while hanging out there. A group of people from about 15 countries around the world were there on a grant and they did work with post conflict countries. Brought me back to my South Africa experience and thinking about my Justice in Post Conflict Societies class.

My highlight of the trip wasn’t all the shopping we did but rather the variety of people we saw at all the places we went. I realized that I am really living pretty removed from the world because I was ogling at every non-Asian person I saw thinking they were a new creature I had never seen before. It was really refreshing to see so many whites but also a handful of blacks and a lot of Middle Eastern people.  Middle Eastern people may be one of Gods prettiest people, their gorgeous blue eyes and dark hair on all men and women. . . candy to my eyes.

We made our way to the MBK mall and looked around. It is nothing like malls back home its more like an indoor market with little shops crammed into small areas of space on about 4 floors. I felt extremely uncomfortable claustrophobic in the area.

A taste of home! (Does it look like a hospital behind me?!)

We ate lunch in the university dining area- brought me back to my college years. After, we made our way to Samitivej hospital where Jes is going to have her baby. It is a gorgeous hospital and feels more like a 5 star hotel than a hospital. Never once did I get a creepy hospital feeling or smell. We met with Jes’ doctor, the number one doctor for natural births in Thailand. He is one bright fellow and had more honorary awards and degrees from Universities in California than I have ever seen any doctor have on their wall. Jes let Heather and I go into her ultrasound with her. The baby is growing and healthy  and right where it should be for where she is at in her pregnancy. We then got to see the birthing room which looks wonderful. Colorful and beautiful. . . if I ever have a baby I want my room to look like it. Following we ate an early dinner at one of the cafés in the hospital, just for you dad since you like hospital food so much. Actually this was amazing! I got to eat a chicken, mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich. My first real American food since being here and unlike my Pizza experience my first night with my PA and his family this was actually really enjoyable and yummy.

Traffic at its best

That night we tried to go to the sky bar. A restaurant/bar at the top of the tallest building in Bangkok where you can have an amazing view of the city. Unfortunately it was too full and we could only get to the lobby half way up the building, which still led to a beautiful view of the city. After a little shopping in one of the markets- although it was closing down around 7:30 we got ice cream for dessert.

The next day we ate a hodgepodge of a breakfast at the dining hall before our adventures for the day. Phee Nok’s friend, Phee Louai,  spent the night last night with us and toured with us the entire weekend. Our first stop was Wat Pho. It was by far the largest Wat I have been too and the most crowded. Heather and I were wondering how a place can be so spiritual but have so many people coming and going all the time not using it as a sacred place of worship and prayer. We got to see a teaching Buddha that is the Thursday Buddha. Neat to see since we are teachers. We also saw one of the largest lying down Buddha’s. It was truly gigantic as you can see from the picture and is made of gold and bronze. At one point Jes and I found a little bit of space where we could be out of the way of the sea of people and take a minute to enjoy the beauty of the Wat, the little details in the paintings on the wall and ceiling and the Buddha as it stretched before us.

Above: Lying down Buddha. Right: Teaching Buddha

After the Wat we made our way to the Jatujak Market, one of the world’s largest fresh markets. We all came away with a little souvenir to remember our trip. Not to mention how wonderful the people watching was. The market is so large that there are higher end shops and the traditional market setting that I have seen at home around my village leaving a range of higher class foreigners and lower class locals to be seen while walking around. Not to mention the most beautiful Middle Eastern family with 3 adorable children. The mother was struck when we told her how beautiful her family was but was truly thrilled that we mentioned something.

First drink from a bag! It only took 4 months.

That night Jes’ uncle and his wife took us out to dinner. It was my first time to eat at a restaurant in an atmosphere I would eat in at home. It was really nice to sit around and talk and enjoy dinner the way I do back home. I really miss meal times like that. After our amazing Thai dinner we headed to Siam Paragon where we went to a gourmet market that sells American food. Seeing products from back home was really a treat although the price of a jug of juice that would typically be around $4 was nearly $10 so I had to just enjoy looking at it on its shelf. I did buy a big jar of peanut butter (cheaper than buying in NKP), a huge box of corn flakes (the cheapest cereal to buy here) and finally Munster and Cheddar cheese. Tasting cheese, a food I eat in copious amounts back home, after not eating it for 4 months was a “party in my mouth” (quote stolen from Nick Botto).

The weekend truly was a treat but it left me feeling torn between emotions. I loved seeing tastes of home between the people and food. Yet it made me miss home. I loved enjoying the pleasures of home in another country and it made me feel like I didn’t want to go home but not go back to my village either. I also felt very appreciative of my life as a whole and where I come from and what I have been given all throughout my life. I really am blessed.

Phee Louai, Me, Phee Nok, Jes, Heather

After our full day out we made our way back to our room where we shared many giggles of the day and tried on all and/or showed off our new purchases. The next morning we slept in pretty late and Phee Nok brought breakfast to the room for us. She is such a giving and sweet woman, I hope she can come visit me in Colorado some day. Monday was spent shopping through the MBK mall again, I went back to buy some flip flops I had seen. A little on the expensive side for Thailand but $10 for back home and they are really sturdy so I thought I could splurge my baht.  We ended the day by taking one last hot shower before heading to the bus. It was during our taxi ride in swarms of traffic in and out of nice neighborhoods and ratty ones along the river where I really appreciated what I have in life. I have never been in so much traffic at all times of the day as Bangkok has making me appreciate our bus, taxi and train systems. Seeing the “shacks” along the river really made me  thankful for where I am living here in Thailand as well as where I was brought up. Although Chok Amnuay is poor and rural I would live here any day over the run down river communities in Bangkok. Sad to think about their lives and what they must go through just to survive- although the satellite dishes on their roves left me a little confused. We also saw a joyous family on a moped driving next to us.  It was dad and three kids, dad had a big smile as he drove the kids home from school I assume by the kids uniforms and the kids were at ease riding with him as they munched on an after school snack. Seeing them made me see that people in Thailand are happy and that many of them are successful.

This country isn’t a leading country in our world but going to Bangkok reassured me that there are people that care about their education and are successful individuals. It encouraged me that although many of my students seem uninterested in what I am teaching or my feelings that teaching English isn’t really going to help them in life made me see a different side that maybe one day at least a few of them will make it to Bangkok or another city and value their education and help their country improve on a greater scale. Those thoughts made it easier to return home sleep for an hour and begin teaching my kiddos with the idea that as long as I open my students’ eyes to more possibilities my job here is complete. 



Me by the Buddha