Longest...blog...ever

July 11, home
Well, Singapore was nice-expensive, but nice. Because of flight delays out of Bangkok, we didn’t get to Singapore until after 11 p.m. I made the mistake of watching BBC World before I went to bed, and then stayed wide awake until 6 a.m. or so, trying to figure out why it is that the world’s such a screwed up place. We’d seen plenty of coverage on the London bombings in Chiang Mai, so by this point all the news coverage consisted of people getting together to analyze why it is that everyone hates the United States and why no place is safe anymore…and how this is partly the United States’ fault. So that’s good bedtime fare, and I stayed up all night thinking. Fun stuff, let me tell you.
I eventually did sleep, though, and when I finally woke up the next morning I was starving. I hadn’t eaten dinner the night before, because my choices on the plane were a) creepy seafoody things with faces or b) baby sheep curry. I chose the baby sheep curry and ate my dinner roll. I love curry, but I’m not a fan of eating dead baby animals. I could never give up eating meat, but I have no problem refusing to eat tortured baby cow (veal) or baby sheep.
Anyway, by the time we got to our hotel, its restaurants were closed and it was too late for room service. So, the first thing we did in Singapore was find food. After lunch at a fun Italian place called Spageddy’s, we went and bought tickets to see War of the Worlds. I’d managed to read half of the book before I lost it somewhere (I’ve been in so many hotels the last three weeks, it’s hard to say where it ended up) and I loved what I’d read. The book is set at the turn of the century, and it’s terrifying. I’m going to have to find another copy now.
The movie was quite good-not over the top, which I think is what made it so scary. This is why the book’s terrifying, it’s not entirely unbelievable. Tom Cruise did well, and Dakota Fanning’s performance was, as always is the case with her, fantastic.
We also spent some time at Borders bookstore, where I went full out history nerd and bought some books for my seventh graders for this upcoming year. I found some great books about life in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, which were geared toward that age group.
We got home last night around 7, and our house was very empty without a little black kitty to greet us. Dr. Diah, our vet, delivered him this morning around 8, along with a very angry Thor. Travis whisked Thor off to her house and Beans spent the next few hours giving us the cold shoulder for putting him in a kennel for the last week. Eventually, though, he was unable to keep up his snooty act and great amounts of head-butting, violent snuggling and purring ensued.
We’re both glad to be home, even though we did enjoy our trip a lot. We’re looking forward to the next week, when we have absolutely nothing to do. After this week of relaxing, it’s back to work. We pick up the new expats and spend a week getting them settled before we have a week of meetings at school. Then, it’s August, and here we go again. Eek!

July 7, Chiang Mai
Today was our last full day in Chiang Mai, and after two full days of sightseeing, we decided to reward ourselves with a trip to a local spa to experience one of the things Thailand is famous for-Thai massage.
Our Lonely Planet Chiang Mai book described Thai massage as painfully relaxing, saying it was a cross between relaxing massage and vigorous chiropractic treatment. As is most often the case, Lonely Planet was right. We had a very nice afternoon being pummeled and manipulated by two tiny Thai ladies.
Yesterday Poo talked us into going to see a local cabaret show, staged in a venue just down the block from our hotel. The ticket price wasn’t too high and it did look interesting, so we agreed. Ah, the persuasive powers of Poo.
The show was decent enough. It was a mixture of song and dance numbers from all over the world-thing Up With People, only not kid-friendly. A bit more risqué. Up With People meets Vegas.
The highlight of the evening came during an act that featured a man in drag and a tiny little Thai woman, both dressed up kind of like fly girls from In Living Color. They were doing some sort of weird booty dance, and both were wearing bikini tops that featured big, fake padded boobs. The boobs were obviously fake, as they looked like big square pillows sewn to the shirt.
Both dancers came into the audience and were dancing around with various guys. The one who was actually a woman came prancing up our aisle and stopped when she got to Travis. Before we knew what was happening, Travis got his head shoved between this lady’s square “boobs.” This very much amused the large crowd of Japanese tourists surrounding us. Watching them be amused was almost as funny as the bewildered and slightly disturbed look on Travis’s face after the lady danced off toward the stage.
After the show, we caught the hotel shuttle back to the Night Bazaar for one last trip to pick up a few more gifts. Tomorrow we’re off to Singapore for two days, which I’m looking forward to.

July 6, Chiang Mai
Today, Poo picked us up and took us on another half-day tour. This time, we took a tour of various Thai industries-silk, silver and gemstones, teak furniture, etc. Not an exciting tour, really, but interesting and good for souvenir shopping.
We toured a lacquer factory/gift shop, and the good news is that if 1987 ever calls looking for its décor, we can confirm that most of said décor resides in a little shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Shiny black, gold leaf…I tried to be impressed, I really did, but my inner snob kept whispering smartass comments to me.
The only other truly memorable experience we had during this afternoon tour was at an incredible gemstone and silver complex. After a tour to see jade carvings being made, precious stones polished and set into handcrafted rings, pendants, etc., we went to a large showroom, which is apparently one of the largest jewelry showrooms in the world. We (OK, I) drooled over gorgeous creations with diamonds, sapphires, rubies and the like, and then came back to reality in order to pick out two delicate handmade silver elephant pendants-one for me and one for a friend.
As the saleswoman was ringing up my purchase, Travis caught my eye and, almost imperceptibly, whispered “her name.” I glanced at the woman’s nametag and there it was, unmistakably: Ping Pong. I turned my back to the woman, pretending to admire a case of aquamarine cocktail rings, and regained my composure. After handing us our receipt and purchase, she wrote her name on a business card and told us that she, Ping Pong, would be glad to help us with any future purchases. My God, had Travis not warned me ahead of time, I hate to think what I would have done when the poor lady introduced herself.
Now if only Poo’s last name would have been Ping, we would have been in business. Poo was very nice, though, she took us to her house before dropping us back off at the hotel today. She wanted to pick us some longan fruit from a tree in her backyard. While we were picking the fruit, we also got to meet her dog, a friendly, nondescript yellow mutt named Sexy. Poo and Sexy, what a pair.

July 5, Chiang Mai
Today, at around 1:30 p.m. we were met in our hotel lobby by a tiny Thai lady who cheerfully introduced herself as Poo. At first I thought I misheard her. Then she spelled it, “P-O-O.” I’m 25. Quarter of a century old. Some people my age own houses or have children or both. I, however, still think poo is funny.
Anyway, Poo took us on a half-day tour of four temples inside Chiang Mai city. They were Buddhist temples, and while they were all similar, they were each remarkable in their own ways. At one temple, a herd of young Buddhist monks in training were filing into the building, and each had his head shaved and wore an orange robe. Novice monks or no, they were still little boys so a great deal of punching and giggling ensued.
Tonight we went downtown to Chaing Mai’s famous Night Bazaar. This is supposed to be an incredible shopping experience, where one can haggle and bargain for the best prices on all manner of Thai silk items, silver, t-shirts, etc. I think had I not just been to Kuta in Bali, where you do basically the same thing, I would have enjoyed the night market more. I’d like to go back when I’m not so tired of shopping in the heat and so desperately wishing for price tags. We were able to find some fun stuff, though.

July 4, Chiang Mai
In retrospect, our Bangkok hotel really should have been named the Craphole Inn Motel, rather than the Royal Parkview Hotel. But then, names of places don’t always mean much-I’ve driven past trailer parks with names like “Palace Villa Estates,” when in fact most of the palaces, villas and estates consisted of double-wides with rusted out Camaros on the front lawn. Classy.
The hotel’s brochure, which was available upon check-in, boasted four restaurants, two bars, in-room minibars and satellite television. In actuality, there were no restaurants (just an area with tables and chairs where a breakfast “buffet” was served), no bars, mini or otherwise, and satellite television consisted of some Thai channels and a fuzzy BBC World. The TV wasn’t a big deal, since I didn’t really come to Thailand to watch television. The rest, though, was annoying. Apparently there are no laws against false advertising in Thailand.
We arrived at the Bangkok Airport’s domestic terminal in less-than-stellar moods. We missed breakfast and had expected to catch a quick lunch at one of the hotel’s alleged four restaurants. No dice. We checked in, though and wandered toward our gate. There, right next to gate 61, we beheld a beautiful sight: His Royal Highness, the Burger King. Huzzah! We happily devoured cheeseburgers and fries while waiting for our flight to board, then sat through a brief, one hour flight to Chiang Mai.
I was nervous about our Chiang Mai hotel, having convinced myself that I’d booked nothing but craptastic accommodations over the Internet. I was worried because we’d paid for four nights here, which was a lot to endure if things weren’t good. We got off the plane and collected our luggage quickly, then found a taxi to take us to our hotel. After a short ride through what appears to be a very pretty city, we arrived.
We were greeted upon check-in by a uniformed man bearing cool, damp cloths for our faces and wine glasses filled with a mysterious liquid. The drink looked like a margarita on the rocks, sans salted rim. This possibility excited me, as margaritas are always a good thing. What the glasses actually held, though, was a strange juice that tasted exactly like Froot Loops cereal. No kidding. Weird, but good enough in small doses.
Our room is nice-it’s no five-star Shangri-La, but it’s about on par with a Holiday Inn or nicer Super 8. There’s a free shuttle to the famous Night Bazaar, where we will probably spend lots of time and money over the next three nights. There are (ACTUAL) restaurants, including one called Citrus, where we went for dinner. They had a big international buffet, which was really good. I was a little disappointed that the Fruit Flambee dessert bar didn’t actually involve setting the food on fire, but it still tasted good. (Anyone who is a culinary expert, like myself, knows that food set on fire is almost as cool as food on a stick.)
Anyway, we’ve booked a half-day city and temple tour for tomorrow afternoon, and then who knows? We’re here for three more nights, then we’re off to Singapore for two nights.
It’s a little weird being away from home on July 4. It’s like today is any other day here (though to annoy our Aussie friends we always ask them why they don’t celebrate the Fourth) but watching CNN for a few minutes this evening made me remember what I’m missing. OK, true, if I were working at the Seward Independent, I’d be spending the day getting sunburned and listening to Clark Kolterman say “Apple pie on the Fourth of July! What could be more appropriate or fitting?” about eight kazillion times. Still…I am missing that.
Missing Thanksgiving wasn’t too bad. We did have a big celebration together as expats complete with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and all that stuff. We taught the non-American expats the time-honored tradition of eating, eating, eating, resting, then eating some more. Plus, on the actual day, all of the high school teachers were at a beachside resort with our students for Character Building Camp. Instead of Nebraska football, sweatshirts and turkey sandwich leftovers, I was watching the sun set over the Sunda Strait while cargo ships steamed by, and our students ran around just being kids. It didn’t feel like Thanksgiving-I had sand between my toes!
I do miss the Fourth. I miss hearing the pop of fireworks once it gets dark, and seeing red, white and blue everywhere. I miss taking a walk with my dog in the evening and watching him bark at the brightly colored showers of sparks exploding overhead.
My mom made a good point while I was talking to her the other night, though-Nebraska will be there when I get back. The Fourth of July will be there when I get back. I am feeling a little homesick, but when it comes right down to it, I don’t really have that much time left here. Even if we extend our stay to a third year, that’s only two more years! If we decide not to stay a third year (we’ve agreed to make the official decision in January, after we’ve been home again) then we’re already half done. Crazy.
Right now, I need to take a deep breath and remember how incredible it is that some future Fourth, when I’m sitting around waiting for a fireworks show to start or munching on potato salad at someone’s barbecue, I can say I remember that Fourth of July I spent visiting ancient Buddhist temples in Thailand.

July 3, Bangkok, Thailand
“I can take to the skies. I can soar like a bird. With his heart full of song. Won’t you color my eyes. I’ve been waiting so long.”
This is the lovely verse we found printed on our complimentary shower cap. Logically. Screams shower cap, if you ask me.
As I write this, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand, on what is most likely the world’s ugliest bedspread ever. Lesson #1: Never trust internet photos of hotels. We arrived in Thailand this afternoon after a hectic morning.
The veterinarian was coming to pick up Beans at 7, so she could take him to the kennel for the week. We also had Kale and Katie’s cat, Thor, at our house. They’re gone for the summer, and their house was being sprayed for bugs the last few days. Ours is next, hence why the kitties were being evacuated. Getting Thor in her carrying case before the vet came was imperative. Thor is not a fan of most things, but she particularly hates the vet. Beans loves everyone (he’s kind of dog-like in that way), including the vet. She always brings a big bag with her, and he likes bags. This time, though, she brought a green plastic carrying case with her. The only other experience Beans had leaving our house in this carrying case resulted in him coming back a little less of a man. He was none too pleased to be put back in the box, but eventually both kitties were sent off.
Our driver thought it best we leave for the airport at 8 if we wanted to be there by 10:30, so we could check in two hours prior to our international flight. We thought this sounded reasonable, since the drive through Jakarta traffic to the airport can take anywhere from just under an hour to just over three. Just a few days ago, when we took our friends to the airport to see them off, it took nearly three to get there and over three to get home. This morning, it took roughly 55 minutes. There is no rhyme or reason to Jakarta traffic, nor is there any usual rush hour. Weird.
Anyway, so we got to the airport at 9, and killed time until our Thai Airways flight boarded. The flight was three hours long, and it wasn’t too bad. We made it through customs and immigration smoothly, claimed our luggage, snickered at a sign that advertised “SELF HANDLING” and caught a cab to our hotel.
The cab ride was a bit odd. The cab itself was very new and clean, but it smelled like the previous passengers had been dueling with cans of putrid air freshener. Our cabbie was weird, and kept repeating the name of our hotel and giggling. We made it to the hotel unscathed (well, mostly, I did have a wicked headache from the “fresh” scented cab interior) and checked in. The hotel has definitely seen its better days. I can’t complain, we’re paying far less than $30 for the room and it’s only for one night and I’ve definitely stayed in crappier hotels. It hasn’t stooped to “motel” status, at least. Plus, the shower cap is poetic!
We’re off to Chiang Mai tomorrow, and the hotel we’re booked with there is considerably nicer-this I know for a fact. Until then, though, I’m going to enjoy my circa-1986 bedspread and lyrical shower cap.
July 1
Well, it’s July already. We’ve lived here for nearly a year, which is kind of hard to believe. A lot has happened in the past year-even in the past few weeks! Kristin and Mark and Kim were here visiting from the U.S. They flew home last night, which was pretty sad for me. I think we all had a great time while they were here, though.
We decided to welcome them to Indonesia in the grandest way possible-picking them up at the airport and surprising them with a stay at the Shangri-La in Jakarta, which is a five star hotel to the highest degree. They knew we were having a fancy-schmancy champagne brunch there on Sunday morning, but they didn’t know that we’d arranged for all of us to stay there Saturday night. Welcome to Indonesia! We had a great time over the next two weeks, showing them around Bogor and Jakarta and then jetting off to a six-day trip in Jogjakarta and Bali.
We didn’t see much of Jogja other than Borobudur, a 1,200-year-old Buddhist temple. We stayed in a hotel on the temple grounds and even took an elephant ride the afternoon we arrived. Touristy, yeah, but still! The best part of that was when the little Indonesian village kids were running around to take pictures of Mark, the incredibly tall white guy, who was apparently as much of a tourist attraction to them as the temple was to us.
The next morning, at the frighteningly early hour of 4, we got a wakeup call. We trekked up the temple steps in the dark with the help of our souvenir flashlights and watched a gorgeous sunrise. It was surreal, sitting on an ancient temple surrounded by Buddha statues, saying a silent prayer of thanksgiving for such an amazing experience.
Later that day we flew out to Bali. We spent two days in the insanely busy Kuta beach area, where our friends could bargain and shop ‘til they dropped. We enjoyed plenty of quality time in the hotel pool, too, of course. Also, I was accosted by a street performer and his monkey. Well, the monkey accosted me, the street performer wanted money for allowing me the privilege of being accosted by his pet monkey. Weirdness.
We then took a three-hour drive up to Amed on the northeast coast of Bali, where we spent two days in one of my favorite places in the world-Coral View Villas. It’s so peaceful there, and the people all remember Travis and I. We took our friends snorkeling, which was great until the boat ride back to the resort, during which all of us except Kristin got quite seasick. She felt sick, too, but from inhaling scary diesel fumes from the boat engine.
It was a good two days, though, and Kristin and Kim and I had the fun experience of dancing to a live band with a bunch of random Balinese guys at a bar/restaurant up the hill from our resort. We returned to Kuta to spend one night at the Hard Rock Hotel (nice hotel, FABULOUS pool) and then flew home on my birthday.
The day after my birthday, we drove into Jakarta for some last-minute souvenir shopping and then went out for a birthday dinner at Anatolia, an amazing Turkish restaurant in Jakarta. We sat in the back room of the restaurant, where we reclined on couches and pillows around low tables. This was my first birthday away from home, and it was my 25th, so we decided to celebrate by doing something really different. No cake for us, we all smoked strawberry tobacco in a big, fancy hookah pipe! Good times. It was a bit weird, since I don’t smoke, but definitely a fun experience. There was a good deal of giggling involved also.
For a girl who doesn’t smoke, I’ve had a couple fun experiences with that habit in the past few weeks. On the 17th, the night before our friends arrived and the last night most of us had together before some people left for good, we went out to a fancy tavern in Jakarta. The place is famous for its hot stone steaks, where you order a lovely steak and get to cook it yourself on a hot volcanic stone-very tasty. Two of our friends who are staying for another year, just went through a grueling adoption process, and just this last week finally got their little baby boy. Well, of course the new daddy (or daddy-to-be, as he was at that point) has to celebrate by passing out cigars to his friends, so that’s what happened. These cigars were particularly exciting to we Americans, though, because they were Cubans-illegal in the U.S. but not in Indonesia! Honestly, I thought the cigar tasted like dirty feet (or what I imagine dirty feet would taste like, I suppose), but the experience was fun.
Anyway, we now have two days to regroup before we fly out to Thailand for a week. We’re spending five nights in Thailand and two in Singapore before coming home. Then it’s one more week to relax before we have to start getting things ready for the new expatriates. We pick them up and get them settled over the course of a week, then it’s back to school for a week of (probably excruciating) meetings before school starts again at the very beginning of August. Eek. So much for summer vacation!