I'm in Sriracha- on a break from Neil's wwoofing in Bang Phra. Sriracha is about 15 minutes away on "songtow" - a truck-like mini bus - costs about 12 bat. 30 bat is equal to about 1 US dollar. My guesthouse was 160 bat in Sriracha and provided a double bed, fan overhead and a Thai style toilet that drops directly into the sea beneath me. Sriracha is a popular Japanese tourist destination and as such is full of Japanese restaurants and karaoke bars. Other western tourists are far and few between. The whole "Farang to Farang" dynamic still cracks me up. Anytime you pass another obvious westerner you make eye contact but then quickly look away. For a moment your excited to see another "you" but then ego kicks in and you quickly retreat.
After walking through the night market last night with a couple of fellow woofers from Estonia (I call them the "cutey-pah-tootie Estonians" you'll see pictures on fb) I escaped into a posh hotel to use the bathroom. I love using expensive hotel lobbies as a quick retreat while traveling. I remember I used to do the same when I was in the 8th grade, living in Milton just outside Boston-- I'd skip school with the cute skateboarder boys and take the red line into the city. We would loiter in fancy hotel lobbies, lounging on silky couches, pretending to be something we were not. The $100 a night Cape Racha Hotel was a nice, quick pick-me-up last night! Airconditioning, all smiles in the lobby, toilet paper, A FULL LENGTH MIRROR (haven't seen myself like that in about 3 weeks) - one could loiter in such a nice place in Thailand all night! I have it planned out- if they ask me if I'm staying there I'll just say I'm waiting for a friend and pretend not to speak English very well. Alas, I did not quit my job and travel to Thailand to kick-it in a western amenity style hotel lobby all night! Just a taste is nice though.
The ocean shore leading to my guesthouse is PACKED full of garbage and excrement- plastic bags, styrofoam- bits of this and that times 10. All drains dump straight into the ocean. Mid squat there's about an 8 ft drop between your bottom and the water- separated by a wood floor with cracks on cement posts.
I met an amazing 79 year old Irishman upon checking into my room. Name's Ceril. He's worked for Lifesavers, Sears Roebuck and Schick Razor in his lifetime. His father was a Whisky distiller. He spoke slowly and often needed reminding of what he was talking about. He married a beauty at 27 (my age) but lost her 40 years later to his top shelf habit. He bestowed a simple line of wisdom- "you grow old too soon and smarten up too late." It's a classic, tragic human condition really. I think as 20 somethings the best things we can do sometimes is just shut the *$!% up and listen! Ceril has been coming to Thailand every year for 6 years. I asked "why Sriracha" of all places. "My first time- it was in Pitaya- sex sex sex!Now I don't have anything against sex but it's a little $&*#@^# much in Pitaya!" So after that first trip he hopped on a tuk tuk and found the guest house we were staying at via a Lonely Planet guide. He asked me if I've read "the Lonely Planet", as if it were a single book that you read front front to back. "oh of course" I said- which sort of felt like part lie since I've only read the bits about places I'm traveling to. Ceril once took a taxi from Chiang Mai to Sriracha when he couldn't get into Bangkok during the strikes about 2 years ago. He and his taxi driver stopped & enjoyed meals and coffee together along the 12 hour ride in smiley silence, lost in incompatible languages. I love having beer, conversation and a smoke with old men. Why does it always seem that men had all the adventure?! Ive shared conversations about the adventures of life with far more old men than women. I guess it's still a sign of the times- remnants of suppression. Maybe future me's will have me to talk to in my old age, 50 years from now.
I had another foot massage last night. Pure bliss. I think I may enjoy the softness of the Thai Massagers hands just as much as I do the kneading and rubbing and clever stretching techniques. A Thai massagers palms are a silky, rubbery muscle mass- sort of like dense, soft lip skin.
Work on the farm can be a little hard and tedious so I have to devise timing tricks and routines. Watering the pineapple completely lost in thought just seems unfair... what if one pineapple gets more water than the other due to me spacing out?! So I apply a steady one-one-thousand to ten-one-thousand 's worth of watering, per pineapple. This seem more fair and it's a nice meditation for me. Also some work is very strenuous so I apply a 15 minutes on, 5 minutes off ritual. I think I accomplish more in these short 15 minute bursts of digging than I would if I attempted to dig with less enthusiasm for a break that's 2, long hours away.
A positive outlook and "benefit of the doubt" for others is EVERYTHING to me lately. Discontentment and lulls and empathy and judgement follow you like a hungry beady-eyed puppy no matter where you are in the world! This is a great opportunity to learn how to switch your emotions on command. I didn't come to Thailand to wander around in a sulky daze! Whenever I feel any sort of lull creep up I say to myself, "This is it babe!What are you going to do today to make a difference in your heart and others'?!" At the same point in time I am a firm believer in humanoids letting themselves feel their emotions. It seems that all too often we suppress what we are feeling, labeling it as "negative" or "bad" or "unhealthy". There's a balance in everything though, aye? How about we just give ourselves a little more slack to experience sadness as simple sadness, in the moment, without labeling it.
I head back to Neil's farm tonight and will work one more day tomorrow, Thursday. Then it's off to Bangkok and back up to the Chiang Mai/Rai area! Looking forward to work on another farm- new faces- new tools- new dirt.
Over and out.
Here's a map of the area.
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| My guesthouse in Sriracha |
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| Sriracha Bay |
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| Goldfish. For sale. |
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