Hodgepodge

So this post will be a little bit of a lot of things but they are tied together by the fact that everything happened/was thought about in the last 24 hours. Otay.
First off, last night was a lot of fun. We had sushi at a restaurant to start things off. Teacher May ordered everything since the entire menu was in Thai. She ordered me some lo mein. Here lo mein is a soup with spaghetti like noodles. And mine had tiny octopi and squids in it. Sadly, I could not bring myself to eat them, so I let Teacher Zaar eat them. I might have been eating all sorts of new things here but eating tiny octopi like popcorn is something that I am not willing to do....right now. I actually have little doubt that by the end of the next year I will have eatten it and things far more different than what I am accustomed to. I also had some sushi. The restaurant had a pool with fish and bound crocodiles so I know everything was fresh.
Then, we went to an open air bar. There were three baby elephants there! And they danced to the music. It was adorable! There was a live band who started playing American songs when I walked it. When I turned around to see where the English was coming from the band grinned at me and sang more songs for me. Everyone in the bar stared at me because I knew all the words but I did not care because it was English!
As a table, we went through a number of liters of a beer called Chang (elephant) which tastes similar to Blue Moon. We also had snacks with our drinks. Again,I was not brave enough to have chicken feet soup but I did try the chicken......well that is about as much as I can say about it. It was chicken and the white sauce it was in was not mayonnaise. Of course, then I had to try and explain what mayonnaise was to my fellow teachers. Both of the teachers I went with brought their boyfriends because it was after dark and women here have to be protected, me especially because I am farang. The boyfriends are also teachers and they can understand me if I speak very slowly but they cannot speak practically any English. They did say I was suay maa or very beautiful.
Okay, so while we were at the bar, the teachers told me that every female teacher at my school is either married or has a boyfriend. And they asked me if I like Thai guys lol. THEN they asked me if I thought their boyfriends were beautiful. I know this culture is mai pen rai but I know better than to answer that question! The teachers said everyone in the bar thought I was lovely but were too shy, didn't know much English or both so no one but my fellow teachers talked to me, which was fine.
I had a mostly lazy day today. I left the apartment for foo. I have gotten into the habit of getting food for multiple meals so that I only have to brave the heat once. I think they think I eat like an elephant lol. I also had to get some more bread. Yes, I said bread. They do have some here. It is sold in half loaves but this morning I awoke with ants INSIDE my bread bag. Sooo not cool. The ants won that battle but I swear I am going to win the war. I had kept ants out of my bathroom for about three days but had to do another raid today. I am done taking showers with bugs. Jeffery, the gecko, fine. But bugs, no. And the spiders up by the ceiling can stay to catch the ants and beetles. Which reminds me, I was bitten by something I have dubbed Scorpio Ant. It was a huge red ant that at first glance looks like a scorpion and its bite stings worse than a shot and leaves a little welt.
So I spent about an hour with Teacher May today just sitting at a table outside, talking. This campus is honestly gorgeous. I saw a little bit more today of both the campus and the town, because I did some more exploring. I saw the most beautiful flowers. I will have to go back there and take pictures. She told me about elephants and how the elephants decide whether they would like to stay in the cities or the conservation. I didn't ask how but I think that is a cool concept. She also told me all about the waterfall tomorrow. Yep, I get to cross another thing off my bucket list tomorrow. When I asked if I should bring my bathing suit, she told me they swim in their clothes. It took some convincing to tell here I bought and brought a very conservative bathing suit with me. It even has a skort for the bottom. So yeah, that is happening. We are going at three because "Thai people hate sun" lol. At the top of the waterfall is a temple. I asked if we could go to the temple and Teacher May is going to send her boyfriend with me. Apparently it is a tough climb. So I am super excited for tomorrow. I am just crossing my arms, fingers and toes that it does not rain tomorrow. Oh, and I get to pack a picnic.
Okay, so back to food. Here, I am starting to love the things I disliked back home. I loved my watermelon yesterday and can even tolerate mango and guava pretty well. The bonus here is that if I know what the food is, I am going to like it significantly more. I can only take so many ambiguous foods each day. And I have developed a near addiction for Dory (not Finding Nemo Dory). Dragonfruit is pretty good, though it tastes like a watered down kiwi. Come to think of it, I like most fruits that I have tried. Some of them just aren't worth the work because of the seeds. A student gave me spiced dried fish the other day and would not leave until I ate it. There is nothing like have three seven year olds look at you eagerly. If you ever want to get someone to do something for you, send tiny little Thai children to ask for you. It is nearly impossible to say no. And turns out the fish was pretty good.
I know, still more. They are having a competition for which family is going to be my friendship family. I am in no way involved but was super curious when the English office became flooded with children yesterday. So hopefully I will have a friendship family next week. Oh, and the Thai children here do not eat super spicy things. So, it is something they grow into. I think I am doing pretty good. My fellow teachers have been impressed by how well I can hold my own. The spicy here is more like a flavorful aftertaste, if that makes sense. 
Okay, final thing. I know, I am apparently writing a book today. Teacher May told me that my fellow teachers are concerned for me and want me to be happy. She said she saw my face the first day I came and said I looked sad. They all ask me multiple times a day if I am lonely, which does not help much but it does show how much they care. I talked to another TTC teacher today on the phone and it was heaven. And I have done what I swore I wouldn't. I slowed down my speech even to another American. The three people in this town that can speak English are pretty good but i have to speak slowly still. They said when they heard me talking to my friends in Lampang, it was like motorcycles lol. Sorry this post was so long, but I apparently had a lot I wanted to say.