the most eventful thing that happened was the taxi ride from the phuket airport to the villa where we are staying. since i arrived after the two pick up times for the group, i had no choice but to take a taxi to the other end of the island, which i was told would cost about 750 baht. ($1 is equivalent to about 33 baht.) i was bombarded once i got my luggage but all of the drivers were telling me that it would be 1200, so i kept turning them down until someone directed me to a booth where i paid the 750 before seeing a car.
once i got to the car, dodging between cars trucks and mopeds, ending up in the middle of traffic lanes inches apart from a tractor trailer-esq type of vehicle. i was sure i was going to end up as part of a sex trade.
it took a while to get to the resort. i was checked in quickly and escorted to my house. each house is suppose to house 6 people, but mine is only for 3. we have the bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and a common area, kitchen and another bathroom downstairs in addition to a balcony. beth is the only person here at the moment, and she recently graduated from a university in wales.
the bedroom is rather simple but there is a nice big double bed and air conditioning, which is essential because even now, at almost midnight, its still close to 80 degrees F, and the humidity is unbelievable.
apparently we do not have our classes here, as i thought, but must meet up at 845 to take a bus to the other hotel where we will be training. it seems slightly unorganized in one sense, but beth and i talked and it seems like they know whats going on, they just arent doing a very good job of communicating that to us.
day two
beth and i went out at around 815 this morning to find some breakfast before meeting the group at the pool at 845 to leave for the class at 9. as it is still the rainy season, we ended up walking in the rain for a half hour and finding that nothing within walking distance that serves or has anything for breakfast was open before 9. so we went back to the hotel to find our "ride" awaiting us.
yeah. thats our bus.
luckily the trip is just a few minutes down the road. unluckily it is also literally on the beach. and as we were sitting in the classroom from 9 until 5 with an hour break for lunch, we were forced to stare at the gorgeous waters and waves crashing on the lucky tourists on the other side of the windows. despite the major jet lag, today was not so bad. getting through the lessons were pretty painful, even though today was just about thai culture.
following class, a group of us went back to the beach for a quick swim before sunset. the water was warming than what we had available to use for showers in the morning, and the sun was setting just behind a mountain and over the water. it was absolutely beautiful and i had to take a moment to realize that i am actually here in thailand.
we decided to to an impromptu group dinner and walked a bit down the road the other direction for a delicious meal. i forgot just how much i adore thai food, and the food back home cannot even compare to what they have here. i had a basil chicken with onions and chiles and rice for 80 baht, which is just under $2. the best thing is, weve been told that the prices here are actually EXPENSIVE because it is a touristy spot. in the city (bangkok), we can get all three meals for about that price. and though weve all been warned to stay away from street vendors food, weve also been told that it is the best food you can get. im pretty sure i will be taking my chances on that when the time comes.
the sporatic rains today lessened the humidity immensely and in the evening it was actually really pleasant. im starting to think it may be possible for me to keep up with my goal of starting to run again.
we actually got another roommate today. her name is emily and shes from milwaukee and seems nice enough. as i could have imagined, everyone on the trip is, if nothing else, extremely interesting to talk to, and i can only imagine what kinds of things they will open my eyes to as i go through this experience with them.
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