Lolita and the other employees/family members of Lolita Bungalow were our first sight on Haad Maenam. It seems all of the flood runoff from the town ran right through her resort trying to find its way to the sea, leaving her with a huge mess to clean up. She came over to talk to us for a little while and refused our help with the clean up, not wanting to ruin our "holiday." We tried to explain but it was no use.
The flaming piles of rubbish and coconuts were quite toxic and where dotted down the length of the beach.
Lolita and her industrious crew hadn't yet reached this area. Apparently this is what her entire property looked like after the storm.
Satang Bar, where we had Mark's birthday bbq and where the bamboo tattoo pictures were taken, was also nearly demolished by the tempestuous typhoon. They were in the process of rebuilding as we passed.The Thai government has estimated the total cost of the flood damage to 100 billion Baht. This combined with the lack of tourism due to the recent political unrest is quite unfortunate for the Thai economy.
We just thought this was funny.Although we weren't able to help with the cleanup efforts, we were able to give back in our own little way, as promised. We spent a couple fun days with ladies at Tropical Massage teaching them English. We have another session with them on Monday.
Our example greeting video that Nun can use to train her staff now and after we leave.
This is Da Da practicing the greeting portion of our lessons.
After getting a glimpse of my hair in the previous video I reckoned it was time for a cut and color after 5 months of neglect. I was edgy during the entire process but quite pleased with the final result, considering my hair was cut and colored by a Thai lady-boy who surely hadn't had much experience with westerners' hair (especially a temperamental frizzy mop like mine).
It's still doesn't live up to my standards at home, but one thing I've learned in Thailand is that I can be happy with much less than I would expect at home. Of course, that's not to say I'm not looking forward to Lisa getting my locks back into shape.On the upcoming agenda:
My mom will be visiting us for about a week and we will be hoping for a dry spell. She gets here on Nick's birthday, November 17th, and is staying until the 22nd. We leave Samui by ferryboat and train on the 25th. We'll spend one night in Bangkok and then head off to Hanoi, Vietnam on the 27th. We're a little nervous because we've settled in to a predictable comfort in Samui, but we're happy to trade predictability for the thrill of novelty, which we're bound to find in Vietnam, Cambodia and Nepal. Let the adventure continue!
Hugs, kisses, and misses!
I like the training video and then watching the Thai woman try the routine out. Interesting...
ReplyDeleteWe've had so much fun teaching those ladies, Jill. They made a ton of progress in just two days and we figured the training video will help them practice the pronunciation when we're not there. Hopefully it will work. Thanks again for reading and commenting!
ReplyDeleteWhen you write "leave" do you mean "leaving for a trip" or " we're out of here"?
ReplyDeleteIt's the day after Thanksgiving and the smell of roasted turkey and gravy is still hanging in the air of my nieces on-campus apartment at Central. She and I spent yesterday day preparing a feast to be shared with a friend of her's and then were so exhausted that we flopped into our beds and were asleep by 9 pm! I thought of you aften yesterday, wondering what your day was like. We were just graced with two snow days that extended our Thanksgiving holiday into a 6 day extravaganza!
In the second training video there was a beautiful carved wooden panel by the door of the massage parlor. I was wondering if you see those being sold very often and what the expense would be to have one--or two-- bought and shipped to the States--if that were even possible. I have a long standing adoration for the gods of other countries and love having them about me.
I am looking into the skype thing, although the idea of my image being a part of communication makes me a bit nauseaous. I might have to put on make-up and comb my hair. Stacey Hall has advised me how to acquire such capabilities, so maybe soon. I mean, how to skype, not how to do hair and make-up--although that would be intersting indeed.
Loving you from miles away,
Kathi
Hey Guff!
ReplyDeleteAs always, thanks for reading and commenting on the blog. You put so much thought and detail into your responses that we feel like we get to have a snip of a conversation with you!
Happy to hear you spent Thanksgiving with your niece. No turkey for us, boo, but at least we were able to celebrate with a fancy dinner with my mom. :)
I haven't seen the panel in any shops and now that we're in Vietnam I have no way of looking, but when we head back to Thailand April 1st I'll look around for you! The shipping shouldn't be too bad as long as you are okay with the slow boat shipping method, which takes a few months.
If you can ever find a way for Stacey to hook you up with hair and make-up AFTER he sets up your skype, let's skype then, because that would be all sorts of interesting.
Loves,
Ty and Nick