Learning to Breathe...

Song for the day : Fat Boy Slim "Right Here, Right Now"

I don't even know where to begin with my extremely loooooonnng and overwhelming first day / 2nd night in Thailand.....

The morning was hot, muggy and rainy and we had a hardtime lugging all our stuff to our taxi...We each have a huge backpacker style backpack and a duffle bag. I really think we overpacked! I so wanted to pack to the minimum but it was madness the night before departure and I just threw everything in my bag...I do plan to donate my duffle bag of clothes to needy folks! But anyways, I opened the balcony doors this morning to check the temperature and I got this nasty whiff of something extremely NASTY! I can't even describe the smell because it was just sooooooo bad. To this moment I am not sure if I will ever get used to the smell....

Before I continue I just want to share an extremely nasty story that happend last night. There was a lot of screaming in our room and I am sure our neighbors despised us! I wanted to take a shower before hitting the hay, so I grabbed a towel that was neatly folded at the corner of a table. So I grab the towel and guess what was underneath the towel???? A dead lizard that must have been dead for several days now. It was the nastiest thing ever! Speaking of nasty... I just want to know if you think it is ok/normal to sleep in your underwear next to your best friend? I would really love to hear feedback about that!

So we get to the bus stop totally hungry as Ong Bok did not understand us when we asked if breakfast was being served at the hotel. Our eyes lit up when we saw the 7-Eleven. We took turns watching the duffel bags and backpacks as the store seemed tight inside. So I go first and was totally loving that EVERYTHING there was sooooooo cheap! I bought a bottle of apple green tea, apple Mentos, a little box of Oreo waffer sticks, a box of chocolate almonds, 6 pieces of shrimp dim sum and a big glass of cold ice coffee and guess how much all that costs? 160 Baht which is equivalent to $4!!!! Reena and I got so exited that we figure we will never ever have to cook! So after that I learned :

Lesson number 1....NEVER DRINK ANYTHING COLD THAT IS UNBOTTLED. I don't mean to CHER-A-LOT but that yummy delicious cold coffee gave me the case of explosive and nasty.....You know the expression I HAD TO DROP THE KIDS OFF AT THE POOL??? Well after that cold coffee I HAD TO DROP OFF ALL THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN OF THE GTA OFF AT THE POOL! Yeah....HORRIBLE AND BAD! What's worse is that they did not have TOILET PAPER!

Lesson number 2....the hoses next to the toilets are to clean yourself off as they do not have toilet paper in most bathrooms. So be sure to bring your own toilet paper!!! I was able to hose myself down but I did not have anything to dry myself off! I am sorry to go into detail but I want you to share the nastiness I am going through.....

Being a tourist and all, everything seems amazing and new and as an Asian I was a little too camera crazed. I whipped out my digi cam and snapped photos and whipped out my video camera to video tape the scene and to tape my 2nd video testimonial. That drew attention to a really shady man who kept following us and trying to sit close to us! Once our bus came we had to make a mad dash for the bus so he wouldn't follow us!

Lesson number 3.... Try not to look like you have money as this is a poor country and people will do anything for money or valuables to gain money!

So after our gruelling 2 hour bus ride....although the scenery was beautiful and interesting the roads were mad bumpy. But it wasn't the gravel road type of bumpy it was like little bumpy deep drops as if you are on a roller coaster. I really do not fare too well with roller coasters...I avoid them at all costs! I did however ride a few after being coerced but the end result was really not too pretty! The stench, the heat and the cold coffee did not make for a pleasant ride especially with them bumps!

So we get to Pattaya and met up with Justin the OpenAid founder/cordinator and he took us to the office. Shortly after talking and meeting with one of the Thai workers named Ratahna (She used to be a former teen prositute but turned her life around because of OpenAid and is now working to get other Thai women/children off the streets) we hopped on scooters to take a tour of the city. Reena behind Justin and I behind Ratahna. Pattaya is a lot bigger than I thought and really nice despite the stench. We drove around the city and went to the beach. The beach was amazing but we have to pay to go there! This is now around 2-3pm in the afternoon and we ride down a little street that was lined up and filled with young female sex trade workers and "LADYBOYS". In other words Trannies (Transvestites)....

Lesson number 4 (EXTRA IMPORTANT FOR THE MEN) All extremely beautiful women in Thailand are men. I hate to disappoint you but the Ladyboys go all out and look very nice. So before you try to get with a nice looking girl....make sure there is no package! Most of them have boob jobs as it only costs 12,000 Baht ($300) for a nice set of girls! Removing the package costs way more, so most of them still have it!

It was really disturbing seeing all these old, jelly bellied, white men with young beautiful Thai girls. I don't mean to knock interacial couples, but when you see a 60 year old man with a 14 year old girl...I'm sorry but that is in no way LOVE at all. It's pedophillia and sadly enough it is common and you see it EVERYWHERE! Justin told us that Pornography is a major no no in Thailand but prostitution is ok. I felt sad for the girls....really sad. They shouldn't be sleeping around, they should be enjoying their youth. I used to be ashamed that I used to play chess and hide and go seek in the dark with my sister, LENNY & ALEX up until I was 17 years old but you know what? That is way better and cooler than sexercising with nasty old men. As you can see I am so disturbed and upset by what I saw.

So after our scooter tour, Justin and Ratahna ditched us to explore the "village" ourselves...So we walked around and started apartment hunting as we did not realize there was no Volunteer Housing! We saw a few that were ok but the fact that it was not secured got us nerveous. As a female tourist, you never know! As Justin said, DO NOT TRUST 98% of the Thai people! To cheer myself up we stopped at a 7-Eleven where I bought this amazing chocolate ice cream popsicle for only 12 Baht! That is like 30 cents! Again my spirits lifted up.... As Reena said, It does not take much to make me happy! It soooooo doesn't especially when it comes to ICE CREAM! :)

We finally made our way back to the office where we wanted to take a nap sooooooo bad, but Justin and Ratahna took us our for dinner. We went back to the city to eat...I was a bit hesitant as I do not handle spicy food too well, but our meal was AMAZING! I LOVE THAI FOOD! It tasted so fresh and so good. I had this amazing garlic chicken dish with rice and it was only 30 baht! I was like, did I see that right??? Because 30 baht is only about $1! With rent averaging $100 and meals at $1 you can live like royals for only $200 a month!

After dinner Justin said we should take a walk outside to see the night life. We were warned about going out after dark but we felt we were in good hands and of course we were, except for the fact that Justin took us out to 3 "Go-go" bars and 2 Strip joints! He wanted us to see the reality of what goes on at night. The Go-go bars were nasty because it was a place where foreign men go to meet Thai women for sex. It was gross especially since some thought Reena and I were sex trade workers! We weren't even dressed up at all! I was wearing jean shorts and a pink tshirt with flip flops! As we were there, I saw an old lady selling little toys for pennies. It really broke my heart and I started crying at the bar. It bothered me because I can't imagine letting my grandmother do that! How can anyone let their mother/grandmother go out in the night filled with drunk, sex crazed foreigners trying to earn a few pennies? I was so upset and I still am. It made me even more discouraged and hate being here!

To make things worse, Justin then took us to 2 strip joints! I felt so wierd being there and did not know what to do with myself. It's like you look around and you see nasty men drooling over these young girls, and you look up and you see titties bouncing up and down. I am so shocked at the behavior of these men! Don't they have daughters or grandchildren???? How would they feel if old men are starring at them with the most unpure thoughts? To hear about this is one thing but to actually see it... I'm so overwhelmed and speechless.

So we started talking to a few of these women as they are friends with Justin and Ratahna and a lot of them are only 19 years old. They are really nice and friendly and totally normal...until you look down and see their boobs. So when I talk to the girls I only look from the neck up! Supposedly there is a popular Indonesian pop singer that looks like me. All of the strippers said I do! None of them know her name (Geez what good are they for?! Just kidding!) so it is a mission of mine to find the name of the singer, so I can pretend I am her for some free stuff! And I am totally not kidding about that!

So that was my day in a nutshell.... I feel so speechless and in over my head. So far I am not liking Thailand. I really do not like the morale here. I know I am here to make a difference and I should stay but I don't know anymore. I feel so confused :'(