Greetings from the mind of Dan
As I write this, we've been banished from the main room to the secondary room while the ant spray slowly kills every last one of those terrible creatures. I'm convinced that I can hear their screams of agony as the poison overwhelms them and it is music to my ears. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for living in harmony with all of God's creations but when you enter my home and walk on all my stuff, we're going to have a problem. This sentiment goes for ants, dogs, people, or anything that drags dirt and disease into or around my food and sleeping quarters. Hopefully, the ants will learn their lesson and we won't have to make the apartment a mass grave for invasive species anymore. It hurts me as much as it hurts them. (Well, maybe not exactly)
On another, more positive note, among all the tuk-tuk drivers, cabbies, and store owners constantly trying to rip us off, there exists a shining soul who goes by the name of Dang. Dang is one of our local tuk-tuk drivers who has risen above the greed all around us and become a valuable friend and service provider. He can be found working nights, usually hanging out at the end of our alley and always with a smile on his face, which brings me to our story. Today, we went for a walk to explore the nearby piers known respectively by distance as Tha Nam Bangpo and Tha Nam Kiak Kai. As we were walking it began to rain, slowly at first but then to a point that was no longer pleasant. At that time we were fairly close to the Kiak Kai pier and a small open-air bar that was showing a world cup game. As we sat down and ordered beers the rain picked up to a full downpour but by then we were safe and dry. After a short time, the game, the rain, and our beers had all finished and so we started our walk home. Hot and tired, the walk was not going to be very enjoyable so we inquired about the fare home from the first driver we saw. The man quoted us "Hah-sip Baht" (50 baht) but what he really meant was, "You're white foreigners so I'm going to try to rip you off because, being white, you're rich and probably don't know how much this should cost." No deal was our response and we were about to walk home when our buddy Dang saw us and waved us over and, of course, he had a big smile on his face. He asked us what we were doing so far from home and we told him that we were trying to get back but couldn't get a reasonable deal. A short discussion yielded "For you, 30 Baht" and we were on our way. I don't think he stopped grinning the whole ride home. Among other things he's done for us: taking us to a closer metro stop so it would be cheaper for us, helping us get a cab and give the driver proper directions, and shaking hands with any friend we bring around. What a guy.
After that adventure we were hungry so we stopped into our Erin's favorite place for "Bamee Moo" which is pronounced like "bomb-ee moo-oo" with the second pair of "oo"s in a short, higher tone. Erin's favorite part of this meal is the pork wontons inside the soup. Bamee is a yellow noodle that looks like Ramen noodles and moo means pork. The dish consists of those noodles, some greenery, sliced pork and the aforementioned wontons in a light yellow broth. Garnish with crushed red pepper, pickled sweet peppers and sugar for a delicious meal. We go there so often that when we walked in today, the woman in charge said "same same?" and we realized that we had become regulars. For the information of the viewing audience, we are now known regulars of the corner bar nearest us which features a garden patio and ducks, rabbits, and dogs running around; the Bamee Moo place; and two forms of transport: the moped taxis and Dang the tuk-tuk driver.
A final note, this past Thursday was "Wai Kru" day which means teacher day. On this day the kids make fancy flower creations and compete to see which class can make the nicest one. Teachers are given gifts of flowers and there is a big ceremony in the morning. I've posted two pictures here: the first is my homeroom class. Though they are loud and not all that bright, I still really like them. The second is me with some of my other students who found me and gave me a flower creation they had made for me. More to come on teacher day in later posts.
Post Script- I dropped a 1000 baht on a bottle of Bombay Sapphire to help me with those long days at work. A thousand baht is a lot of baht, but every sip makes me remember why I got it.
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