Thursday, February 4, 2010

Wednesday, February 3


I taught a few classes in the morning and the time went by clowly. I tutored Nit over lunch for about an hour working on her tenses. She was a good student. Nit said we were going to her office around 2. I still had a little free time. I went for a long run through the rice fields again knowing I shoudl be dying with how little I run at home but high altitude living proved to have its advantages. I coudl run forever here and not even be breathing hard. I waved to the farmers in the rice fields as I passed them, they were all starting to know me by name now rather than "America". They waved back.

Instead of going to Nit's office, we picked up her husband, and went to somethign like a county fair. Nit and I walked around for a few minutes while her husband negotiated the prices of a new cabinet for their kitchen. There were loads of people throwing darts at balloons to win giant stuffed animals. In between the baloons booths were people selling pigs heads, rice, and fried unidentifiables. Between those were small shops selling knock offs of everything you can imagine. It was hot under the tents and smelled like sweat. Nit kept asking me if I wanted to buy anything. I didn't. We met back up with her husband who had purchased th ecabinet. We would pick it up tomorrow. They took me to run a few more errands while I got more and more confused by our final destination. I didn't bother to try to figure it out. I was along for the ride at this point. We stopped at a cardealership to investigate a car their family was thinking about purchasing. Though they talked witht the representative for a long time and meticulously examined a half a dozen cars, they just left with a brochure. Just when I was beginning to wish I had stayed home and spent the afternoon reading or anything other than what we were doing, we stopped a small museum. My prize for being dragged around. Our tour guide spoke very good english and told us about every king's ceremonial costume fromt he last thousand years as she pointed them out in glass cases. We were the only ones there. The museum was surrounded by beautiful fowers and when the tour was finished, out guide made us tea to drink in the garden. My favorite part. The tea was bitter like green tea but had a sweet after taste. When I asked her what it was called she told me emperor tea.

Nit and her husband plyed tour guides again and took me to an arts and cultural center. It belonged to the quens mother before she died and now it was like a big park with loveley landscaping for people to visit. Instead of walking, we drove around the park. I am constantly forgetting how Thai people hate to sweat or exert themselves at all. Nah A (Nit's husband) insisted I leave my camera in the car, indicated that he woudl take pictures on his and give them to me later. He took about 8 zillion pictures in only the most unattracticve places with the worst lighting. Before we left we stopped at a pavillion set up like a msall museum that had displays about teak wood and a few art pieces. The oman there din't speak much english but followed us around anyway, reading the title signs (which were written in english) with a bad accent. I desperatly wanted to point out to her that I coudl read them on my own but restrained myself.

We finally made it to Nit's office where I hung out for a while while she tutored kids in piano. Her daughter, Nin came over when she was done with school and Nah A came back with their son Music a little while later. Nin and I played games in the waiting room for a while. Her english was very good and she loved speaking it. Then we all went to pick up take out for dinner. Gam and Denoi were sleeping over (the kid's cousins) so it would be a full house.

After dinner, Everyone hung out in the living room together and I discovered their faily collection of photo albums thinkign it might be a good start for some attemped english conversation. They obviously hadn't looked through them in a long time and poured over the books, laughing and pointing, and telling me who was who and who old they had been in that picture.

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