Picking Up All the Ladies :S

Song of the Day : Sean Kingston "Beautiful Girls"

I just want to say, if I hear that damn song above one more time I will SCREEEAAAAMMMMMMM! That song follows us EVERYWHERE....it's unbelievable how much they kill that damn song here!!! We were in the movie theatre and when we walked in they played the song....then another song came on after.....then the "DJ" kept skipping all the good songs so that he can go back to the Sean Kingston song!!!! The other day we were walking to our soup lady for lunch with the OPENaid staff....and they had this truck that drives around advertising over a loud speaker....and that song came on and it followed us as we walked! Sheesh!

Anyways, yesterday was just too damn wierd. We did bar work with Ratanna at SOI JET aka SOI 7. We walked up and down the street till we saw a "baby" working at the bar. We go to the bar and approached the young girl (Oh the bars here are crazy! It is like a big room filled with many different bars with no walls seperating them, so it can be quite annoying as all the bars seem to play their own music full blast!) She looked wierded out by women approaching the bar, so as soon as we order our drinks from her, she quickly ran off and got 2 "boys" to talk to Reena and I. So they started talking to us and quickly found out we are not Thai and we do not speak Thai. They don't speak English. So at the bars here in Pattaya, if both host and customer can not communicate they play board games or go to a hotel room and do the unthinkable. We kept telling Ratanna to go and talk to the little girl while Reena and I distract the boys. The young girl is 18 years old but looks like she was 14. She came from a small town in Northern Thailand to make money for her family. She was sent here by her parents to make money for the family. She has a 5 month old baby who is being looked after by her parents. It is her 10th day in Pattaya and she is really unhappy and it shows.

Ratanna told us that our "boys" are girls but we did not believe her. They look like young boys! So I asked them their name and my guy is 19 and his name is Goom, and Reena's guy is 24 and his name is Mike. So Reena and I felt at ease knowing Ratanna does not know what she is talking about. Reena was kind of sad because she wanted to pick up girls. I did too but thought it is a perfect time to try to brush up on picking up men, since all I've been doing is picking up women....STRICTLY FOR WORK NOT PLEASURE!!!!! So anyways, I started chatting it up and trying to get to know these young boys. After Ratanna finished her talk with the young girl she was just listening and watching us and kept whispering in Reena's ear that we are chatting it up with girls. We told her their names and Ratanna said most girls don't use their real names at bars! I still feel wierd thinking about last night because I swear to god they were boys! Now I feel disturbed knowing I was practicing my 'pick up' skills with young girls. Reena said they probably think I am a lesbian because I was asking them all sorts of questions like "If they have girlfriends, how old are they, what do they like to do when they don't work, etc."
That night was the priciest night and the least productive as we did not pick up any ladies. The other night Reena and I were on a high because we picked up 8 ladies. I think we work better together because Ratanna just makes us lose our flow.

Yesterday we went to visit 2 orphanages : The Pattaya Orphanage and a smaller orphanage in Northern Pattaya. The Pattaya Orphanage was so beautiful that it looked like a little resort. It was beautiful and well kept. We met with the director and I had told her that I spoke to the volunteer coordinator regarding volunteer positions. She was so rude to us and kept telling us to come back in an hour or 2 so that we can speak with the volunteer coordinator. It's as if she wanted to get rid of us. Justin said that the orphanage is more like a business and that she would have been nice to us if we said we were a part of World Vision or UNICEF. He said she probably never held a baby in her life. She was so decked out and dressed like Jackie Onasis. I didn't like the way she treated us and how cold she was. It made me feel glad to be volunteering for OPENaid. The other orphanage we visited has close ties with OPENaid. It was a more humbler orphange away from the beach resort environment. I felt like I was in a whole new world. No palm trees, just dirt roads. As soon as I stepped out of the truck, I was greeted by a little girl who was about 18 months. She had a short bob cut, with cute little bangs. She was dirty and was wearing an oversize t-shirt for adults. It looked like she was wearing a dress. The neck line was so big that half her chest was exposed. She ran up to me clasped her hands together as if praying and bowed her head. She then grabbed my leg. She barely reached my thigh. She was so cute, and I felt sad looking at her. It's like my heart sank and I felt like crying. We found out that her father was never in the picture and that her mother left her with her grandfather and he had dropped her off just last week. I wanted to bring her home with me :'(

Next week Justin will meet with the director for lunch to discuss funding as OPENaid provides funding to that orphange among other things. Reena and I will hang out at the orphange and play with the kids. I can't wait! These past few days have been tiring. It seems like the projects I have to do are pilling up faster and faster everyday! I work on designs all day and do bar work at night. It's tiring but I am having a lot of fun at the same time. OPENaid is a fairly new organization so there is a lot of work to do in terms of getting it up and running. I feel honored to be a part of the growing process and feel exited to get up every morning. I am so not a morning person so it goes to show how passionate I am about this. I feel great each day and I feel empowered! Life is beautiful and I feel blessed everday that I am here.