Adventure time!

When I reflect over today I realize that it has only been one day even though it feels like two. So much happened today! I started off the day by waking up at 7:30 am. Looks like I am bound to be an early bird even with jet lag. Then I had breakfast which consisted of pineapple, a roll with tiny brown squares that tasted sort of like pineapple but weren't, two hard boiled eggs and some juice that I have dubbed salty pineapple juice. Then we went to explore the city. Somehow,on our first journey we ended up at Thailand's version of Walmart, Big C. The cool thing about that store is that the bottom floor is a market and the top is the food and the Walmart. We managed to find some American products and see some cool things like Lays nori seaweed chips, lobster fiesta chips and my personal fav, squid, plus peanut butter and chocolate oreos and ice cream oreos. Having the names of certain things in Thai can be a little challenging but I like the way Amanda put it: if you see a picture of someone with voluptuous hair it is shampoo and if you see a half naked person it is body wash.
After that excursion we trekked to the Central, which was a four story mall. There we saw traditional clothes being sold next to Playboy and sit down sushi restaurants. We even spent some time in a large toy stare that had stuff animals of Marie from the Aristocats. Then we hit up the major clothes store. Their XL in ladies is a size 8 and a small is something below a 2. The clothes are really super cute. The patterns and fabric are amazing and appropriate for the heat here. This whole time people are openly staring at us and taking pictures. We ate at a food park, which turns out, means you have to buy a food park card and then swipe that at the food places. I am proud to have figured that out somehow when they didn't speak any English. I also leaned that if you ask for tea here (they spell it tee), you will get Thai tea, which is a pink drink with a little mint and coconut.
After our fun at the mall, we split into smaller groups and three of us went to get a Thai massage. It is $7 US for an hour and it was delightful. They stretch out you body in the craziest of ways but afterwards you forget how sore and tired you were. All of us plan on going back to those lovely ladies and we all decided to make friends with them because the ladies told us they work hard all day long and then close up the shop and sing all night long on a karaoke machine. They even tried to give us tiny newborn kittens! Also, I got to check off something from my bucket list which was get a massage at the same time as one of my friends.
After that, (I know! There is still more!) we visited the market. I am conditioning myself not to make faces at all of the different Thai smells. They have so many different an yet cute things along with every food under the sun. I was particularly looking for a fan because it is hot! I wasn't even out of the hotel lobby before I put all of my hair on the top of my head. If anyone thinks they can wear the same clothes twice here they are crazy. By noon you realize that every ounce of you body is covered in sweat and you even sweat in the air conditioning. Also, I realized when I came home at the end of the day, I am going to be absolutely smothered in freckles when I come home. Oh, and you end up drinking sooo much water.
For dinner we went to a place called the Riverside. One of my fellow teachers ate beehive, with bee larva in it. I hear it takes similar to cardboard. I was not so brave. I had a spicy soup with glass noodles and pork. Everything else in that soup was unidentifiable, but as a whole, delicious. I even got medium spicy and could handle it. I am applauding myself for eating spicy foods for the month before I came to prepare myself. Oh and I had Raspberry Splash Smirnoff served in a glass flute!
But yes, that was my crazy first day in Thailand. Today marks the first day of training and I get to buy a phone!