Thailand - - My New Favorite Country

A few business items before we begin.

1) I have stopped being lazy and finally posted pictures to facebook. You can all see them at:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=15924600&k=SYLTZXV6R4YM5AGBVD23S3 for Singapore
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=15924600&k=Z6ETY6UR355GUCGCSEYXQVY for Malaysia
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=15924600&k=SWAZ32QRW64M5AGBVD23S3 for Thailand

2) To those of you reading this through facebook, I didn't mean to freak out/confuse anyone with the "Asian Boyfriend" blog. I posted the blog to the website http://asiawithoutrice.blogspot.com/ and there the video showed up.

3) To those of you who did see the video, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I do what I can.

4) I have written some postcards! Now I just need to find a postoffice. I'm told it's in the student center, which means I need to find the student center.


So for those of you who haven't heard, I absolutely loved Thailand. The country was gorgeous. The people were incredibly friendly. Everything was unbelievably cheap. It was once again a trip to a foreign country that cost under $300, including travel, lodging, food, souvenirs and excursions. It helps that when you do the exchange rate, you first remove two zeroes from the price there.

One of my favorite things about Thailand was that it featured both beautiful beaches and mountains. Most of you know that I'm not a huge fan of beaches. However, we went snorkeling, which I haven't done since I was about 7, and I really enjoyed that. That water was really salty, so I could easily float on my stomach with my face in the water and see all of the reefs and fish.

The elephant ride was really fun. My elephant had a mind of it's own and it seemed clear that the guide had little to no control over it, but that just made it more fun. At one point, my elephant decided it was time to drink some water. This turned into him giving himself a bath. That turned into me getting a bath as he sprayed water everywhere. It was fun.

We went during the off-season (it's apparently monsoon season right now), so the hotel was fairly empty. The pool was amazing. I do not have any pictures, but I think some other people do, so I will try to steal them at some point. There were actually three pools, but the big one was big enough that it had a grass covered island in the middle. It also had a swim-up bar where we got mai thais in pineapple (or mahi mahis as I like to call them). They were amazingly good. I want to learn how to make them. One thing that I loved there (and in Singapore), is that there is tons of fresh fruit. I don't know when, if ever, I've had fresh pineapple. It was incredibly good. Actually, all Thai food is incredibly good.

Many of you have heard me say that I have some interest in doing Teach for America when I graduate. After traveling around here and realizing the food is in fact edible, I've started thinking about doing the Peace Corps as well. I obviously don't know for sure, but it's something I'm considering. I would want to go somewhere like Thailand or the Pacific islands.

By the way, some of you should stop stalking and start commenting :-P To those of you who have commented, I enjoy reading them! I miss everyone, though not so much that I'm ready to come home quite yet!