eyelashes and other things

This is Bright, imitating my eyelashes. He likes them because they're different.

Most Thais' eyelashes are dark, short, and straight. Bright told me some of the girls he knows like to wear fake eyelashes, so they can have long, curly, luscious lashes like stars on TV.

At Nummon's wedding, I saw more than a few women who pulled out all the stops for the occasion, fancifying the windows of their souls with their exaggerated fakes. From the side, you could see the two sets -- the false fringe swooping out and up over a row of short, straight natural lashes. It was silly.

In other news: this morning, I saw my first-ever semi-confrontational moment between Thai people.

It was exciting, because Thais hate confrontation. They avoid it at all costs, because it involves a loss of face. Losing your cool is just not, well, cool.

On the way to school, one of the crazy, dangerous green minibuses came so close to our school van that it actually folded the side mirror in. Our driver got out to flip it out again when traffic stopped. He got back in. We pulled forward a few feet. Traffic stopped, and the crazy green bus was in front of us.

The driver got out and shut the door. We all held our breath and craned our necks to see the drama unfold. He marched up to the driver's window and told him off. But he didn't get nearly as worked up as a Westerner would have, and I don't think he really yelled. Still, it was exciting and weird to see. I guess you just had to be there.

100-meter dash

Some people here jog in nicely landscaped parks - little oases of green in a world made of concrete.

I, for one, prefer to take my exercise while tearing down a sidewalk in flip flops and a pencil skirt.

Today, I had in mind that I'd take a bus from work to the Suan Lum night bazaar before meeting Alyssa and Mariela to walk to our Wednesday night Bible study. The bus driver had other plans.

I found a seat and the fare collecting lady came to ask where I was going. When I told her, she started talking to me in Thai. I stared up at her with my clueless do-I-look-like-a-Thai-speaker-to-you? look. She kept talking. I gave her a helpless-sounding, "Mai ru kah" ("I don't understand"). She sighed, took my change, and handed me a ticket.

Thirty minutes into the ride, she signaled for me to get off. We were nowhere near the night bazaar and I was confused. "Go to Suan Lum??" I asked. She shook her head. What choice did I have? I couldn't ask what was happening, so I got off.

Annoyed, but needing the restroom, I walked across a granite plaza, up some steps, and through the glass doors of a shopping mall.

I took three steps inside and stopped. I felt I was forgetting something.

Cursing, I wheeled around and ran out the door, pausing on the steps to survey the traffic. I had to find that bus; it was driving away with a bag containing my brand new work shoes! I had only worn them twice.

I spotted the bus 40 yards ahead. Traffic was moving slowly. I wasn't about to let go of those shoes - not when they were within sight.

I ran as fast as my skirt would allow. My flip flops slapped the pavement. Motorcyle drivers and bystanders stared.

I swerved around pedestrians, sprinting like a mad woman, praying the traffic wouldn't pick up speed, and wondering how long I should commit to chasing a pair of shoes that only cost me $4.50.

Traffic stopped and I caught up. I dodged taxis, cars, and motorbikes and ran to the doors, knocking and gesturing wildly. The ticket lady looked at me as if to say, "You again?!"

She and the driver shook their heads. I kept waving until they opened the door. I pointed to my feet - "Shoes!!" - and pointed back to where I had been sitting. The lady walked back with me and laughed when she realized what I was on about. I retrieved my cheap footgear and panted all the way back to the mall.

hippies smell

Pai is a tiny mountain town 762 curves away from Chiang Mai. That's what all the t-shirts said, anyway.

The drive there is absolutely beautiful. We went by public, 4-hour, non-air-con bus from Chiang Mai. It was actually chilly at 7 am as the morning breeze whipped in the window of the seat in front of me. We froze, until Mariela so wisely crammed the backpack into the opening to block the wind.

By minibus, the ride takes 3 hours. It's air-conditioned, and it's quicker, but I preferred the public bus. There were much better views of the mountains and valleys from the big, open windows. And the ride is only shorter because the driver whips around the mountain curves that much faster.

Pai is full, chock full, of hippies. It was the most relaxed place I've ever been. They've got hammocks, great coffee, and some of the most delicious baked goods I've ever had -- certainly the best I've had in five months.

There are two Muslim-owned bakeries in town. I could have eaten at them for every meal. Mariela and I split a massive piece of cake our last day there. It wasn't just any cake, though. It was banana chocolate cream cheese cake. There was a layer of rich, dense banana cake, cream cheese filling, more banana cake, and about half an inch on homemade fudge frosting. Heavenly!

We also had cinnamon pumpkin pie topped with walnuts, apple pie, pineapple pie, and "real" meals scattered in here and there.

bus day

Today was an impromptu bus day. Bus day is pretty self-explanatory; you spend all day riding buses around a city. Michael and I did this once when we studied in Edinburgh. There, you could buy an all-day bus pass for £2 or so.

Here in Bangkok, there are three known species of buses.

Exhibit A: The 12 baht bus. These look like charter buses, and they have air conditioning.

Exhibit B: The seven baht bus. No A/C, so the windows are always down. Why anyone takes these buses, I'm not sure.

Exhibit C: The free bus.

The only distinguishing characteristic between the free bus and the seven baht bus is a wide blue decal with white lettering that stretches across the top of the front windshield. Free buses are more or less crammed with passengers, depending, of course, on the time of day and where the bus is in its route. There's no A/C, so the best seats are the ones next to windows, where you'll feel a nice breeze while the bus is moving.

Mariela and I took a free bus on part of our trek to church this morning. Last week, we walked the entire way and it took us about an hour. Using the bus meant that we got there in half the time, though we still had to walk for the last 20 minutes of the way. We thought going home the way we came would be easy; we'd just walk to the opposite side of the street and catch a free bus back. How naive we were!

We waited at the bus stop for 20 minutes before sighting a free bus. It didn't stop, though, because it wasn't in the right lane. The next one came about five minutes later. We jumped on, because we were hot and ready to be moving. There are several buses that drive down our apartment's street, but we soon learned that this bus wasn't one of them. It turned left right after we boarded, but we were too tired to get off and wait for another bus. We decided to ride the entire route and see a new part of the city.

It was a long ride, but lots of fun. I think we saw the Grand Palace. It looked fancy, anyway. We'll go back another day to take pictures.


Bubble gum pink taxis - another mode of transportation. You have to make sure the cab drive turns the meter on, though, or he'll try to rip you off by overcharging you. This almost happened to us once, but we jumped out of the cab before he could pull onto the road.


If you're feeling especially adventurous, you can travel
by tuk-tuk. We did this on our second night in Bangkok after that cab driver refused to use the meter. I think we still got ripped off, but we got ripped off a little less than if we had used the cab. And we had a new (if terrifying) experience!