Tuesday, November 19, 2013

First Impressions....by Juli






Hi all! I know you have been on he edge of your seats waiting to hear about our trip so far. So here goes! We have finally arrived to Pattaya, our new home for the next 3 months. We are all very excited to be here, especially because now we have wifi. Literally it's what we most look forward too...."is there free wifi here?" "Can I have your password please!?" I know it's really sad. But as much  as you might {or maybe not} miss us! We miss you too! Especially our canine friends, you know who you are. 

Well here is a good breakdown of our lives so far:

Day 1 - We arrived in Bangkok on a rainy and humid afternoon {please don't try to imagine us....it wasn't pretty...really sweaty dirty Americans sticking out like a sore thumb} We were swept away by our driver from the hotel we were staying at {Bangkok Loft Inn - best decision we ever made}. We mustered up enough energy to freshen up and hop on the sky train {5 minute walk from hotel...more sweat} which took us to the nearest pier on the Chao Phraya River. We took a free river ferry to Asiatique, a very modern shopping center that has a giant ferris wheel and more shopping than any husband would ever dare to imagine. My first impression of Bangkok was that it was really really hot and the smells coming out of the sewer can hit you like a ton of bricks like nobodies business, but the oh so glorious food and shopping are well worth it!

Day 2 - we toured the grand palace where "The King and I" in real life happened for realsies. Although the king doesn't reside there you can feel the royalty of this palace with every building dripping in gold and the strict rules on modesty and decorum {the boys were improper with their shorts!} The reclining Buddha at Wat Po {just down the street from the palace} was really impressive {150 feet long, 49 feet high}. Wat Po was a little less strict and crowded and we really had fun goofing off in there! We ate at the local market and then went to Khao San Road that is a night market that caters to backpackers and tourists. It rained that night and that is when this creepy rash started in my legs that still haven't gone away. I like to call it "heat rash" but in my hypochondriac mind I am pretty sure it's a flesh eating disease. 

Day 3 - Dusit Zoo - I had never been to a zoo in a third world country and I am not so sure how I felt about it. It was awesome that the standards of safety are so low that you can literally see how an animal can escape and attack you, but at the same time the animals had really small and dirty enclosures and they looked under fed. Very eye opening. At the zoo my already rashy legs were attacked by rogue Mosquitos that were thirsty for some halvie blood. I had flashes of people asking me about malaria and I had a little mini freak out moment, it may or may not have included the following: tears, prayers, frantic arm whaling, shortness of breath and heavy sweating. The best part of the day was when a zoo keeper took a young chimp on a walk around the zoo and let us watch him good off, literally right next to us. So cute. After leaving zoo, little did we know that a blockade had been setup with cement barriers! guards dressed to nines and barbed wire. Oops the demonstrations are today and we need to walk through the blockade? Awkward. We hit an amazing mall called Siam Paragon were they have 4d movies, every store you can imagine and you could even buy any of the displayed cars {Rolls Royce, Maserati...you get the picture} we couldn't even afford to window shop! 

That was just a snippet of our first few days and I will share more soon, i promise :) At the end of the day we are all pretty pooped just from sensory overload/having the time of our lives. All of us are having a blast and most of the time we just laugh a lot! The friends here in Pattaya have taken us under their wings and been so so so so helpful to this motley crew. We got out motorbikes last night so I am sure we will have a lot more stories to tell! 

Here's some food pics for all you foodies :) 


Love you all!

Juli

 

5 comments:

  1. Great post :) Send me a picture of your rash.

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    1. Jessica I can't believe you want to see her rash! no and you googled my finger infection? You are too funny! :)

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  2. Hey Gang! So glad to see you all so happy and healthy! Really enjoying all your posts & pictures:) Yes we miss you too~arf arf
    My Jehovah keep you all safe and happy! Love, jo

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  3. Exciting!!!! Keep it coming and hope your rash goes away soon!

    Becks

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  4. Sounds like you are off to a good start. I know that the smells can really make an impression. But you get used to it after a while. :)

    A Missionary's Life
    ilynca.blogspot.com

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