Cold showers and 32 bug bites in an hour... sounds like a Sheri trip!

From L-R Jirasak, me, grandpa, the director of habitat


Jennifer and I drawing out plates... she is pointing to the jellyfish that stung me :)


Jennifer, Sarah and I at dinner


Laura and i laughing at Dam (Mr. beck, beck himself :)


Riding up top (Carol, me, Diana, Sarah, Sallyanne)!

Ok, so the word for the past few days is OVERLOAD! On Thursday night, we went out to dinner… our last dinner in Phang Nga and we went to a beautiful restaurant overlooking the sea. I had a tummy ache and wasn’t feeling so great. Dinner was really yummy though and we put on some karaoke music and danced… cured my tummy ache! J We did the “termination” activity and it was REALLY cool!! Everyone really got into and I was really pleased. When I got mine back, I couldn’t believe some of the comments. They were things like “you bring light into a dark room” and “you bring light and happiness on rainy days.” I was very moved!!! After dinner, a bunch of us stopped off at a tattoo parlor (Jen and Matt both got tattoos) with a bamboo striker instead of a machine… ouch! After that we went back to our German bar to hang out but we were all a bit tired. After a few glasses of wine… I was ready to knock out! We awoke the next morning and I was EXHAUSTED! I think the emotional toll and physical toll of building a house for the past two weeks had finally caught up to me (well that, and also, the fact that I had only been getting less than 6hrs of sleep a night.). We ate breakfast and hopped into the vans that would take us back to Phuket. Coming back into Phuket was really hard. For the past two weeks we were living in Camelot… a deserted town with only locals. Wherever we went, we were the only ones in the restaurant. In Phuket, it was crowded, noisy, dirty and busy. It was a HUGE overload on my senses. We went to a mall and I couldn’t even go in because I was overstimulated. The thought of entering a mall when after all of my experiences in the past two weeks seemed selfish and (for lack of a better word… forgive the food reference) gluttinous. We then went to a Japanese buffet for lunch and again I was overwhelmed by the abundance of food and busy-ness… I couldn’t handle it. On the way to the hotel in Phuket I was feeling really carsick L Once at the hotel, Jennifer, Sarah, Diana and I went down to swim in the moat/pool. We had a few glasses of wine and then Jennifer and I had some quiet time to process some of the happenings in the past few days. It really started to hit me that all these people (the good, the bad and the ugly) had become my family in the past two weeks. I was sad to leave the homeowner, the workers and also my new family.That night we went to the show and again… OVERLOAD!!! It was like… how do I describe it… Disneyland on Acid! It was like a theme park with all of these horrific creatures painted in bright, glow in the dark colors. It was TOOOOOOOOO much!!! And there was some stupid theme song blaring over the speakers in a repetitive way. We ate at a buffet and again, the food was just overwhelming. After dinner we went to the show… it was crazy getting in there. You had to go through metal detectors and check your camera!!! The show was like my worst nightmare. It had elephants performing tricks, cheesy magic tricks, dancing, pyrotechnics and who knows what else. It was hard to watch the animals perform knowing that they probably are not being well taken care of. Leaving the show, I felt like I had been run over by a truck and the massive crowds didn’t help. Back at the hotel, Jennifer, Sarah and I sat down by the bar so that Jen could call and change her plane ticket (now she is coming to Bangkok with Sarah and I … yea!!!) and I got 32 bug bites on my legs alone… FREAKING AOL! The next morning I finished packing because I was on the first cab to the airport. It was really hard to say good-bye to everyone and most people were crying. Ashley and I were on the same flight and we made it to BKK together. I flew up to Chiang Mai and noticed Uncle Allan right away. Aunt Malee was also there to get me. It was POURING rain and we went to a restaurant for dinner after stopping at some place to book a tour for me tomorrow. The tour includes a butterfly farm, an elephant ride through the jungle, a hike through the jungle, lunch, white water rafting, swimming in a waterfall and a visit to the Hill tribes. Anyone want to take a gander at price….. 8 hours for…. Dun dun dun… $30!!! Can you believe it? Chiang Mai is very pretty! We came back to their house which is about an hour out of town and I went straight to bed. I could hardly sleep because of the crickets/noises but finally fell asleep. This morning when I went to take a shower… freezing cold!! I was hyperventilating and barely made it through the shampoo portion (I guess no conditioner or shaving of the legs for the next 3 days!!!). We went to an elephant rehabilitation center where they care for sick and abandoned elephants. We also watched a show where the elephants showed us all the jobs they would do during the logging industry’s era. Wonderful, magnificent animals! After that, I went and had another Thai massage. Then we went shopping for a bit at the night market. After that we went to a Khantoke show which is dinner and traditional Thai dance… AMAZING!!!! During dinner we were talking about our family back home. It feels weird to be talking to someone here in Thailand about my cousins and aunts back in Massachusetts… VERY cool though. Tomorrow I have my tour but I will try to write afterwards. Love ya all!