Best week Yet

Standing at the very edge of Thailand. You can see Laos!

I wasn't looking forward to the trip. At the time, I blamed it on an upset stomach and a nagging fever. In hindsight, I know it was mainly because I was annoyed at my site placement. That I had to add a 12 hour trip to another province I did not care for before visiting the province I did not want to be in in the first place only compounded things (hindsight also shows me how ridiculously absurd my reasoning was and how bratty I was acting. I had never been to Thailand and yet, somehow, I could actually decide what provinces I cared for and which ones I didn't? I should have had someone punch me on the spot)

But I went (with a heavy heart) and now I'm back in Sa Kaeo and all I can really say is:THIS WAS THE BEST WEEK THUS FAR OF MY YOUNG PEACE CORPS CAREER.

I got a glimpse of a day in the life of a Peace Corps volunteer; I had a beer and french fries by the Mekong; I stood between two countries...literally; I was a source of bewilderment for the people of rural Thailand (see my post, "But you are Asian"); I hung out with a mayor who offered to drive me to mass every Sunday; I got in a car with Heineken loving school principals; saw things sold in a market that I hope I will never have to eat; stood beside one of the tallest Buddha statues in the world; had a sundae that took 3 people 3 minutes to make, and I fell in love with the village that I will call home for the next 2 years (see post, "Love at First Site")

And oh yeah, I had a fun night in Bangkok with my friends to kick off the week! We should all be so lucky.

Live baby frogs in the marketDriving laws are not too strict in ThailandWith baby Fifa (his dad is a huge soccer fan)Brian's house. He's a volunteer who has been in Thailand for a year.Brian and I had to leave his village early coz there was only one bus that left. This is at 5 AMI thought I would regret ordering this sundae since no one seemed to know how to make it (I picked it out from a picture in the menu) But voila, 3 minutes later (and alot of frantic talking in the phone) the 3 people working on it met some success.A cheers to Laos!French fries never tasted so good. And they actually had ketchup!I'm standing on the Mekong river ( a dried up part of it anyway) between 2 countries! Surreal.Some college kids taking advantage of the dry season and drinking right on the Mekong.One of the tallest Buddha statues in the world!