feliz cumpleaños

We've started using Spanish in the office to speak about things we find unpleasant. Maybe it's rude, but they're talking about us constantly in Thai. It's only fair that we have a secret language.

It sparked a lot of questions from the Thai teachers about how we know Spanish, and while waiting out in the sun at the palace today, Alyssa taught Nummon some Spanish phrases.

We glimpsed the Queen as she drove up to the building where she'd give her speech. She was in a car with tinted windows, so we didn't have a great view. Nevertheless, I was about seven yards away from her.

We got to school around 1:00 and went to the palace at 2:30. We sat on tarps outside, chatted with the Thai teachers, fanned ourselves, and ate donuts when boys came by carrying trays full of them.

We waited around in the sun, in navy skirts, long sleeved shirts, and thick, navy suit jackets until 5:00, when she arrived. Very rude of her, really, to keep her guests waiting like that.

She and a whole slew of royalty drove up in a small parade of cream-colored cars. As the first car passed, we all had to bend forward very low and wai. Then, we could look up to sneak a peek.

They went inside and we stood up and faced the building for the national anthem. At the end, the men bowed and the women curtsyed. We sat back down and she delivered her speech. It was streamed to TVs outside, and there were speakers around so everyone could hear.

The funny thing is, almost all the Thais sat around talking to each other and paying no attention to the speech for the next hour. I was glad it turned out to be casual. It was nice to be able to mill around, hunt for donuts, get some cold water, and sit in a chair under the tented area.

When her speech was winding down, everyone returned to the tarps and tucked their feet behind them, awaiting her exit. The royal family loaded into some golf carts, drove around to wave to people, and then took their cars back to the palace villa.

It was mostly an uneventful day, although it was kind of funny to see the Thai teachers in Prathom freaking out in the morning about clothes. Sukjai scrambled around looking for spare navy suit jackets and Sutima made us go the the school convenience store to buy pantyhose. As it turned out, most of the other school teachers didn't wear pantyhose at all.