Yummy Yum

Things like this you would never see on a menu in the states and they bring joy to my heart, especially number 2. Sorry it is a little blurry.

I wasn't exxagerating about the toad

In follow up to my story a few days ago about the toad in my house, here is a picture of a toad on my front step a few minutes ago. It is huge, I wasn't exaggerating about the size!

Pooped

I am exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. And it is only Monday...

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh my!

So I am chatting with Tamara online and I tell her that I need to warn her about the gigantic mice living in my walls. You see, they are really loud sometimes and they sound like somebody is rummaging through the next room. I felt the need to warn Tamara because she is going to be staying with me in three weeks and I don't want her to think that there is an intruder in the house. I already warned her about the mosquito infestation in the bathroom and she knows about the geckos, lizards and enormous spiders in the house. I just want her to be prepared when she gets here. She hasn't exactly been happy about these things but they haven't freaked her out either.

So I say, "Oh, did I tell you about the toad in the kitchen?" Tamara's response was, "WHAT? I do not do toads!!" I couldn't help but laugh at her. Of all things, it is toads that she can't handle?

Recently I came home late at night and there were no lights on so it was pitch black in my house. For some reason I passed through the living room without turning on any lights and walked towards the kitchen. As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, something slimy landed on my foot. I am proud to say that I didn't freak out, I calmly reached over and turned on the kitchen light without moving my foot. I looked down and saw a toad as big as the palm of my hand sitting on my foot. I kicked it off, caught it and put it outside.

Just one more adventure here in Thailand.

Who Am I?

Random facts about me:

1) My favorite smell in the world is paper. I like the smell of any paper but my favorite is a brand new leather journal. Fresh paper with no ink mixed with a slight leather smell, but only if the leather does not overwhelm the smell of the paper. An old book is wonderful too, but really I like the smell of any paper. I have a habit of picking up books, journals and other paper products and slyly smelling them so that no one sees. Someone at The Centre found out that I like to smell paper and spread the news. Now all my students offer to let me smell their books and I love it!

2) One of my favorite things about Chiang Mai is that you can hear the rain coming. I can be sitting in my house or standing outside and I can hear the rain coming about ten seconds before it gets here. It is a beautiful sound and it makes me smile every time.

3) I am completely comfortable around people younger than me that I don't know. Whether I am with five year olds, fifteen year olds, twenty-five year olds or anything in between, I can communicate and make them comfortable. I am completely uncomfortable around older people that I don't know. Put me in a room with them and I have no idea what to say. I worry so much about what they think of me that I end up hiding in a corner by myself.

4) I am not cool. When people tell me that I am not cool, I pretend to be offended but really I love it. Nothing makes me happier than sitting down with a book and reading for hours or watching the commentaries on the Lord of The Rings movies or waiting in line for four hours to see the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie. There are so many other uncool things about me and I am proud of all of them.

5) I often wonder if something is socially wrong with me. I feel more at home and better about myself here in Thailand than I do back in the states. I feel like this is where I am supposed to be. I worry that something is wrong with me because I don't feel so comfortable in my own country. And I worry that I am going to become one of those missionaries who visits their home country and seems completely out of place. I am afraid of not belonging there.

6) I have no idea who I am although I am on a constant quest to figure it out.

7) I hate to be called girly but I totally am. I am on a continual emotional rollercoaster. Some days I wake up feeling completely confident about myself and some days I wake up and want to hide in a closet all day so that no one can see how dumb I am. I love to feel included. I don't always want to participate in activities but I always want to be invited. I worry about what people think of me when they don't invite me. I over-analyze everything. I am a girl.

My Sunday Project

My first attempt at gardening. Now we will see how long I can keep them alive.

Moments of bravery and moments of freaking out

A few minutes ago I went outside to walk Gracie (my dog) and as I was headed back across my yard I saw something scurry across the wall. Filled with dread, I decided that I needed to check it out because otherwise I would lay in bed awake for a long time wondering what was outside my window. As I got closer I realized that it was a giant spider. Some of you have heard me talk about the giant spiders before because they are terrifying. They are the size of my hand and incredibly fast. A year ago I could not get within five feet of one without feeling like I was going to pass out from fear. Here is a picture of the spider, sorry that it is not clear but I was not going to get closer for a better picture.



I grabbed a shoe, mustered up as much courage as possible and ran at the spider and killed it. It was the fastest that I have ever killed one, they usually take at least an hour. I was so proud of myself and I had a big smile on my face as I walked through my front door. Unfortunately just as I crossed the threshold, a gecko fell off the doorframe and into my shirt. I ran into my house, screaming and tore off my shirt as fast as I could, throwing the gecko across the room. Here is a picture of the gecko for you.



It is funny how often my moments of bravery are quickly followed by moments of freaking out. Apparently pride does not suit me...

I'm Back

Back in May my computer died and it took a couple months before it started working again. Unfortunately even after my computer started working, I could not get the internet to work on it. I had someone look at it and install the needed drivers and it still would not work. I had to buy a wireless router because apparently it will only work with wireless now. As soon as I bought the router, my dsl modem stopped working and I had to get a new one of those. As soon as I got that, the network card inside my laptop stopped working and I had to buy a new external, wireless network card. All of this to say that I am now sitting in my house and using the internet on my laptop for the first time in months! Wahoooo! I am really excited! And for all of you who have emailed me wondering why I seemed to drop off the face of earth three months ago: I'M BACK!