In the streets a man had a monkey wearing a leash made of fraying rope. The poor human-like creature went up to collect bills from dumbfounded people and put them in his owners pocket. He had no idea what the significance was of the paper he was handling. I'm am that monkey. I worked endlessly this summer for currency. Now that it's readily available and contextually plentiful, it's just paper. Monopoly money. I make efforts to never show it to those who have to work all day to make what i did in one hour.I always wrap my smaller bills around the larger ones.
I wish I kept a photo compilation of all the things that people have misspelt on their signs. I sit and wonder why no foreigner has helped to correct them...and then I walk away to leave somebody else wondering the same thing.
"I can wake up at 7 and go to some job that doesn't inspire me in the least, or I can wake up at 12 and learn to play the siddthar." - A Scanner Darkly. Id like to think that every day I am learning to playthe siddthar. And I even try to wake up at 7, too.
Obama got re-elected. The king of Thailand is in the hospital about to pass away. Both figures are now of equal importance. If you don't train yourself to think that way, then you're never truely here.
Me and Augustus reminisced about our long lost love cycles. I thought about a lot on those bikes. But what I also did was learn not to think, to just enjoy the ride. I re-enrolled in my university. The confirmation screen was an official sign that my way of life is going to change drastically. Again. It's going to be hard to sleep in the same bed every night. To have to be somewhere. To use a clock. To learn lessons that are assigned. To have people who linguistically understand you. To have no more chili sauce with sticky rice. Damn you got to try it all...the food that is.
My biggest fear is that I will return and it will feel as though I never left.
I feel I was subtly prepared to be out here. There are numerous cultures and races in America. We have all been in line and heard people in front of us speaking a different language, not knowing what they are saying. We've all heard an ethnic song. We've all seen a product with foreign writing on it. So in essence we've all traveled on a micro level. Some just don't know what it's like to be in that situation every damn hour. It then becomes a novelty to hear the people behind you in line speaking English.
We spoke of an interesting theory: does the language we speak have any effect on the development of our vocal chords? I wonder all the time what people's voices would sound like had they been born and raised in America.
Phuket: the tourist capital of Thailand. It was here me and Gus split apart- him going south and me heading north. On our last night we decided to get massages again. At $6 per hour why not [side note: don't worry we tip well]. In between the women cracking our backs and thumbing our shoulders he says, "just another day in Thailand." I know, it is pretty difficult. " I know!" he says jokingly. "we had to walk all the wy over here to find this place." that sums up Phuket. That explains why I made myself leave 12 hours later. I skyped my father and he told me I was crazy for leaving the beach. To which I responded that I'm not here to have fun. I'm here to experience.
My greatest skill acquired has probably been to make a 16 hour bus ride seem to take 30 minutes. I don't know how I do it, I just zone out and by the time i come to I'm in Bangkok again.
Hostels are great because they're cheap. Hostels aren't great because they're a hostel. Some people were born to be poor roommates, which is why I've been through about 30 pairs of earplugs. That first night in BKK I woke up at 5am not because of too much noise, but a lack of it. I got one of those things stuck inside my earcanal.
Groggy from only getting 3 hours of sleep, I tried to dig it out-- only to push it further down my sound tube. I proceeded to spend the entire day locating a hospital and walking 7 kilometers to it. My bank messed up a transaction and thus I only had enough monry for the appointment; no cab. It was a nice stroll, though disorienting to be in a foreign city with just one working ear.
In the hospital I couldn't help but laugh at my situation. I wasted my entire day on this. The procedure took all of 30 seconds and cost $70. I left the complex and walked back trough a park where a blind music festival was taking place. Irony at its finest.
I sat for a good 20 minutes with my eyes closed listening to beautiful sounds come from those without sight. I stood up and walked away, slowly opening my lids to a world I was now seeing (and i suppose hearing) for the second time. Thank Buddha for my senses.
