verbingnouns

Travel Log Part 14

Wednesday, March 14, 5:45 pm

Before we left Khampaeng Phet this morning, we went to a school for physically/mentally disabled children. The school is run by the gov't and has a budget of one million baht a year for 719 children (about $40.00 per child per year).
After that, we visited the Chinese Foundation which is a non-profit organization that does charity work & rescue work (i.e. ambulance service: there is no ambulance service like there is in America). Because of the abundance of motorcyclist (helmets are almost unheard of) and the crazy driving (few enforced traffic laws), there are many traffic accidents and many fatalities.
We are now in Phitsanulok, where M & I got to see a doctor because of our stomach pain. I don't think we needed a doctor, but better safe than sorry. At least we were at the private hospital, which is like a resort compared to the public hospitals, which are more like prisons.
Tonight, all five of us are split up for the first time. I'm staying with a lady named Peyamas. She's 60-ish and speaks some English. Her house is a storefront w/ no store. It's spacious and clean w/ marble tile floors and a marble staircase. It's sparsely furnished, but comfortable enough.

From Thailand Marc...

Peyamas' house

Unlike many people we've stayed with, Peyamas has a washing machine (most of the others send their laundry out). She washed my clothes, then left a basket of wet laundry in my room, so I scrounged up some hangers and now I have laundry hanging all over my room.
We had the afternoon off (after a crazy buffet at a fancy hotel), so I took a nap then went down the street and used the internet at some random place. I don't think they usually offer internet service, but I was asking just to see if they could tell me where an internet cafe was and they offered (this was at a copy shop), so I gave 10 baht and used the net for a bit.
After that, I stopped next door to the house I'm at, where there's a salon, so of course I got my hair washed. The people that worked there were very friendly. They were listing all the English words they knew: man, woman, boy, girl, etc. Everyone in the salon stared at me the whole time I was there, like I was an alien. Then they tried to get me to go hang out with them tonight, but I declined because that might be a bit questionable (and of course, I have other plans). I told the girl I would come back tomorrow if I have time.
Tonight, we have to give our presentation again in front of many people. I'm sure it will be an interesting evening. It always is.

From Thailand Marc...

"Squidy Burger" from 7-Eleven Posted by christin at May 2, 2007 10:07 PM | TrackBack