A day in the life

It's great to see people are following us. We both are excited to get to the computer and see how many comments are on the page. Thank you so much for all your wonderful messages, beautiful thoughts, and consistent prayers. Keep them coming as we will soon be venturing in to new unfamiliar territory after our 3 week stint in Koh Phi Phi. I'm not sure that we've really shared with you the depth of what we're seeing, hearing and doing so let me paint the picture. Every morning we wake up at 3:45 a.m. to take a half mile walk to the masjid to enjoy breakfast before starting our days fast. The path is poorly lit, with low grade rolling hills and ample amounts of frogs, giant snails, roosters, chickens and drunk international tourists stumbling back to their bungalows. In pursuit of a hearty meal we b-line for the resort patio giving out the traditional "sawat di ka (Good Morning)" as we pass unsuspecting morning goers who curiously mistake us for thais. When we return to our bungalow (5:30 a.m.), which sits about 3o meters up a mountain we get back in the bed for a few more hours of sleep. Stepping out onto the balcony around 9:45 a.m. we are met with the beauty of the ocean, green mountains in the distance, the sound of hammers smashing nails into wooden structures and a sing songy, "Good moning Amer i ka" from Mun one of the Thai hosts at our guesthouse. What a glorious day every day, until the bladder calls. We share a common bathroom with about 15 other backpackers and people take roughing it literally. The bathroom is a short descent off the veranda and once the flip flops come off at the door an abundance of bacteria goes on. I usually try to hold it as long as possible so I only have to repeat the ritual a couple of times a day. The toilets are flushed using a bucket of water to your right and you clean yourself with a hose on your left. At some point people must forget the steps. Between the insects, stale urine, black footprints on the floor, and mothball air fresheners to mask it all the state of these solitary cells is abysmal. Pretty much, they suck! It's taken a bit to get used to since it's a coed facility and the entrance/exit is in direct eyeshot from the restaurant. It wouldn't be a bad thing except it feels weird to exit the shower in front of dining guests. I struggle to keep my sarong around me with my towel underneath, head wrap draped from head to shoulders, t-shirt over it all and my shower bag on my arm while I drag myself to the room trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Meanwhile, girls prance down the steps in bikini panties passing out "good mornings" and "cheers". So we leave The Rock (the name of our guesthouse) close to 10:00 a.m. and spend the rest of the day at the Memorial Garden. On the way there we walk past lost businesses wiped out by the tsunami and putrid smells of sewage and excrement upon which people are rebuilding bungalows daily. Arriving at the garden is a breath of fresh air. The people, the view and the purpose all make it worthwhile. Believe me there are no complaints. It's an adventure worth having. When we finish our jobs between 5 and 5:30 we make it back to The Rock to wash off the days dirt in cold salt water, put on our night clothes and head out for dinner and cards for the evening. We're in bed somewhere between 10pm and 12am to get ready to do it all over again the next day. So good morning to you but good night to us since it's 11:40 p.m. and we must get ready for our last day on the island.

Joronda

boodu dim mak, subyon

salaam

confused by the title? let me explain...but first i must set the stage... eh em...so as the wife mentioned in the previous post the thais consume their daily bread "family style". wait...i'm getting ahead of myself. so the first day that we arrived on the island we went to one of the two masjids around iftar, with a measly package of dates that we'd bought in bangkok and a hell of an appetite. immediately we were summoned to a straw mat laden with food and hungry thais eager to break fast. spicy chicken, curried delights, vegetables and rice all sat steaming in the middle of this circle of family, friendship, and goodwill. family style? not quite. excited, we too sat down cross-legged to partake in the feast before us. i sat next to this half dressed, middle aged brother whos longi (southeast asian man skirt) was tucked under his ample belly, weighed down by his man breasts, and warmed by his hospitable demeanor and smile. ah, this must be family style because it can't get anymore family than this...well almost. so as the adhan sounds, plates of rice are disseminated to the hungry lot (silverware free of course) and the feeding begins. hands dig into the center serving bowls grabbing roasted fish, chicken curries, and seasoned vegetables. rice dotted fingers pass fisted balls of food across smoke stained teeth, and then return to drip curry and saliva into previously non-curried or salivaed dishes. now THIS is family style!!! when my plate started to look a little sparse, my happy buddah emulating companion retracted four, well-licked fingers from his mouth, shoved them into a bag of bean sprouts and refilled my almost empty plate with a smile and little belly jiggle that did nothing to dislodge the rice granules wedged between his stomach and left man-breast. now that's a hell of a welcome!! day 1...repulsed, day 16...lickin' and drippin' with the best of them. oh, i forgot to mention...when this brother finished eating, he washed himself off, put his clothes back on, then went into the masjid to lead prayer. they sure don't make imams like that back home :)

plane ticket to thailand...$400
bus and boat ticket to phi phi...$20
saliva flavored fermented fish sauce...priceless

so after 22 days of thailand, i'm loving it and i wouldn't change it for the world. and when we come back to the states it'll be family style eating and i'll be hollering "boodu dim mak, subyon!" (fermented fish sauce is good, number one) to the death of me.

hope you enjoyed...

salaam
mateo

Working finally!

Well we've finally got what we came for. After a frustrating start in Phi Phi we're now in to some consistent work. Considering we have no real skills to offer and have quickly learned to lay brick we should now be on our way to improving our resumes. It's been 5 days on the island and the weather is humid and rainy (off and on) and the work is hard and exciting. We began in the tool shed where we think some Thai locals gave us pity work but after bending too many of their nails trying to hammer in post they occupied us with a craft project putting up siding for what seemed to be the wall of a room. We were proud of ourselves but slipped off quitely after the break so not to be more of a hinderance to their well working project. We now find ourselves daily at the memorial garden shoveling sand, toting coconuts and bricks, mixing cement, constructing walls, designing mosaics and doing whatever is necessary to get the park up and running. It will be a long project that we won't be here to see finished but the work were putting in is well worth it. The organizers of the project lost their 3 year old daugther in the tsunami. They are cool to be around and Toi the husband works hard alongside everyone while splitting time trying to rebuild his house. Eveyday we drag ourselves back to the bungalow for a shower with just enough time to sit before breaking our fast for the day.

Ramadan began right before we arrived in Phi Phi and the island is mostly Muslim. We'll have to go back and share with you our journey to the island but since we've been here the Thai have been nothing but hospitable. We've broken fast family style daily with traditional thai food. If you know anything about the cuisine then you know we've encountered some spice. Overall a great experience. Recently we discovered a second masjid and more friends. Not knowing the language is a challenge but they know how to say "eat" and we know how to say "yes" so things have been working out just fine.
Joronda

10 baht, 20 baht...800 baht

Day two and what an adventure so far. We tried to sleep around what would be 12pm Arizona time and amid the banging, loud voices and thunder I can't say it was peaceful. I think some how we ended up in a Thai prostitution guest house, or at least that's what my mind lead me to believe. We headed to the room quite early so the party had yet to begin. About 3am it was on. Mateo didn't hear much but scary me I sat up several times guarding our room. Even though I installed the alarm system (a dream catcher wind chime looped around the security latch at the top of the door) I still didn't want some one with a key inviting themselves in. Eventually I did get some sleep and thank goodness because we needed to be alert for this mornings tests. So as we emerged from the Euro Inn ready to eat, take pictures and tour a bit we were lucky enough to be approached by one of the many tuk tuk drivers parked on the street. He offered to give us a grand tour of the city for 10 baht ($.25). Why not, and off we went. After seeing big buddah and lucky buddah the driver was ready for us to tour his favorite friends shops. Not what we were looking for, but this guy was trying to get free gas for our purchases. We're not complaining about his hustle but unfortunately he picked up the wrong two backpackers. We don't have 8000 baht to spend on a suit and since Mateo's trying to get rid of underwear we certainly don't have the space to carry that much weight. Well to briefly fill you in on the close of this story we returned to Khao San Road where we started, paid the driver, acosted him for our change and ate Pad Thai Noodles for breakfast...15 baht. What a morning for a total of $.75

Joronda

underwear...just added weight i'm ready to do without

salaam

well we've made it to bangkok safe, sound, and in one piece...alhamdulillah. so after camping out in the airport for a good 40 minutes to an hour trying to get our combined 90 pounds of "life's necessities" repacked...we finally ventured out into the humid, open air of bangkok. first impression...it's a lot more modern than i had anticipated. second impression...traffic lights and turn signals to be damned out here, it's GFS (go for self) all the way baby. third impression...after trekking a short distance from the bus drop off point to this internet cafe on Khao San Road, with 50 pounds of "comfort" slung across my back like a pack mule, i find myself wondering "are underwear and socks really that necessary?" i mean how many pairs do we really need to survive anyway? 7? 3? none? could we get by with some duct tape and a washcloth? i'll let you decide...well it's started to rain and at the moment we don't have any secure lodging...so rather than pitching our tent in a back alley somewhere, i'd better get off this computer and find some shelter. until the next time...

salaam
mateo

LAX to Taipei to Bangkok

salaam

we've just completed a thirteen hour flight to taipei, taiwan where we have a two hour layover before we reach bangkok, thailand. we left LAX at 0120 (1:20 am) on sunday, october 2nd, and we arrived in taipei at 0600 (6:00 am) on monday, october 3rd. our flight on EVA AIR was a pleasure. we were greeted with warm towels, pillows, quilted blankets, and slippers...so far so good. stepping into the taipei airport is almost like being on the set of irobot...i mean they have projection screens talking to you as you walk from one gate to the next, digital flower gardens with blooming orchids and curious butterflys, free internet service and cell phone recharging stations. i 've never seen anything like this and am excited to see more and share more...until then--mateo

We'll be sure to fly with EVA again. So now we're just about ready to be on our own. When we land in Bangkok we will make our way to an HI hostel and stayover before heading to Koh Phi Phi. That's the plan at least. Things have been smooth so far and the scenary is exciting. Talk to you later, from BKK--joronda

salaam