A Day at the Temples

First, the week in review: Monday was a longish day because I was still tired from the weekend and I had to run errands after school and then skype the parents. Apologies to the parents for having been even more unpleasant than usual because I felt ill. I later spent from about 11:30pm to 2:30am intermittently vomiting in my bathroom. Good times had by no one. So Tuesday was miserable because I was really, really exhausted at this point, I still felt a little off, and I had four courses, some grading and period 8 that day. My 3rd graders were also miserably behaved on Tuesday. So, I came back after school and slept until about 7. I woke up, got food which I ate with some friends, and then went back to sleep. Wednesday began the week's improvement. I only have two classes--though I did have some grading--and no period 8. Thursday my period 8 kids were much better behaved (I would not go so far as to say "well behaved") and my activities for them were pretty successful. Thursday was one day closer to Friday and it had the best lunch of all time in the Canteen! Most days eating in the Canteen I consider it a win if I get the food and think "I can eat this." Thursday was spicy pork with some little vegetable on rice with a cabbage and carrot soup that was (for lack of a better term) "clean." It was literally delicious and something I might have ordered out. Friday was Friday. After work we relaxed for awhile and then later went out nearby.

Yesterday, I spent the day traveling throughout Bangkok to visit temples. We started by taking the Klong (mass transit river boat) to the Grand Palace. I'd been before, but the temples are definitely worth seeing twice especially when they are so convenient. We got a tour guide, "Geoffrey," (his real name was something like Kirishna, but "Geoffrey was the Americanized version of his Thai nickname) who was great! It cost us about 3 bucks each, but that was totally worth it for all the information and for the number of photos he took for us. Also, because we have our teacher ID cards now, we get to go through the Thai national line and visit places for FREE! Win! The temple and palace were beautiful. Pictures are on Facebook.

We then took ferries, the Klong and walked to see some other temples (pictures also on Facebook). We kept being stopped to try to get scammed into going to some Jewel/tailor shops, but we were intent on walking and doing our own thing. We saw a demonstration against some candidate (elections are July 3rd). There were posters, a march, and people chanting things and shouting into a megaphone. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but felt pretty accomplished.

Today, I did almost nothing. Just odd jobs I needed to get done in the morning and then had a long leisurely lunch. I'll probably spend the rest of the day cleaning, etc. as it looks like rain.

Cheers!