Post-Heather, Pre-Bangla

Friday February 29 – Monday March 3

It’s crazy that I’m leaving for Bangladesh tomorrow. I found out that I’d gotten the position with WorldTeach last May, and finally I’m about to arrive in the country that’s going to be home for the next year and a half. And while the past two months have been enthralling and exciting and amazing, I’m definitely pumped to be able to get Chittagong in less than 48 and start our WorldTeach orientation (such a nerd, I know).

The past few days, however, have been a bit emotional unto themselves…Friday, Heather and I spent much of the day taking care of last-minute errands, mostly shopping needs, before she flew to India on Saturday. You know, the usual, mailing things home, picking up more toiletries, buying heather’s wedding band (traveling in India alone as a female isn’t necessarily advocated without a few items to protect against continual harassment).

The huge finds of the day, however, were Thai flags for Heather to hang back at home (she’s said, since day one, that she wanted these flags and we’d been unable to figure out WHERE the heck they can be purchased throughout our 4+ weeks in the country – apparently in stationary shops in Krabi Town, ps) AND another King shirt for me. This one, though, is a bit unique…it’s of the bowling shirt variety…and don’t think it’s not embroidered with “Long Live the King” in gold, on the back. The next time we go bowling at a silver bay reunion, for all of you out there who know what I’m talking about, I’ll be rocking the King Bowling Shirt. It’s hot.

Saturday was miserable – as Heather and I had to say goodbye. The past 8 weeks went by so quickly, and I’m really going to miss having her as my travel buddy…and I realized within hours how nice it was to have another person to travel with as all of a sudden everyone was asking me, “are you alone? No one to travel with?” language barriers don’t always allow for extended explanations, so sometimes a simple, “yes, alone” had to suffice.

I’ve done ok for myself, and the hostel I’m at has quickly taken me under their wing. There aren’t many of us staying here at the moment because the International Youth Hostel of Chalong, Phuket is a bit far from the beaches, so anytime I walk through the reception area I have a nice little conversation with one of the two regulars who work here. They endlessly supply me with ideas for things to do, or recommendations for beaches/markets to visit. They’re even letting me store my bags here tomorrow, free of charge, and told me they’ll let me use the shower before I leave tomorrow night – even though I check out in the morning. The group of us traveling had found Thailand to be overly welcoming and warm to travelers, helping us whenever we needed it, looking out for us in many cases, and staying in Chalong has only strengthened that view.

Today I continued to feed my new, minor-obsession with snorkeling and booked a day trip to the two most well-known islands south of Phuket – Raya and Coral Islands.
And oh, it was a TRIP, to say the least.

The dive boat was a fabulous experience because it was so gigantic and had great views. The boat I was on today, courtesy of the Chalong Siam Sea Adventure Tour Company, or a name along those lines, was a larger speedboat that comfortably fit the 25 people I was to spend the majority of my day with. We had a 40 minute ride to get to Raya Bay, our first stop, and it was honestly one of the worst boat rides I’ve ever been on. Think – returning from Black Mountain in the thick of a thunderstorm on my family’s 18-ft SeaRay (those that were with me for that eventful trip – ps, love you dad) – times 10. The driver looked about 17, and certainly didn’t take the waves lightly…the 5 older Italians who’d also braved the front with me and a young Japanese couple, looked like they wanted to either throw up, or hit the driver, anytime we came off a wave and slammed into the water below.

So we were rather happy when we arrived at Raya Bay. It had some of the whitest sand I’ve ever seen, complemented by ridiculously clear, turquoise water in the bay. Perfect for snorkeling, with loads of fish and coral everywhere, and I was fascinated by the 15-20 minutes I was actually able to snorkel – seems I’d been given faulty equipment. Oddly enough, even though it was advertised as a ‘snorkel day’, many of the people on the boat weren’t the slightest bit interested in snorkeling…didn’t even take a mask and snorkel when offered. More so than Railay, Krabi and Ao Nang, Phuket and its beaches are definitely built upon the tourist population that come to vacation here – and the tourists themselves, for the most part, are primarily concerned with getting in full days at the beach under the sun. It’s a different world than I’m used to.

After about 2 hours at Raya, we got back into the boat for another bumpy ride to Coral Bay, for 3 hours of lunch, snorkeling and sunbathing…a cute French family, from Paris, adopted me for lunch. Stephanie and her husband (didn’t catch his name, unfortunately) did an amazing job of understanding my disconnected French, and translating for their two daughters who were very surprised I was going to be an English teacher…they said I looked too young…and then asked if, because I am going to be a teacher, if I had any babies of my own. They were ADORABLE and for the rest of the afternoon they would point fish out to me as I snorkeled around the swimming area.

We arrived back at Chalong Harbor around 3:30 and Joey, our guide, wished us well. Obviously, I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the “Amazon Café”, which happens to be attached to one of the 11 or so 7-11’s I’ve seen in a 2-mile radius, updating the blog…since they offer free wifi. For the price of a cup of tea, I can be online for as long as I want. It’s in these cases where I really see how ‘globalization’ has started to transform Thai society (as I’m sure is the same case for many other countries).

It’s a bittersweet night as I know I need to spend much of it repacking my bags to head to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Thailand’s definitely been good to me, as have Laos and Cambodia, but Chittagong awaits. The next time I write – it’ll be from “BAN-GA-LA-DEEEEEESH”…for those that have spoken to me in the past few months, you’ll recognize the pronunciation…one of my ESL students from the Fall was named Monowara, and she was originally from Bangladesh. Monowara wasn’t a stand-out student, unfortunately she had an incredibly difficult time picking up English. What she was good at, however, was pronunciation – and anything I said, she would repeat…including “Bangladesh”. And she would get so excited every time I referenced Bangladesh in class, she would hold her hands up in front of her and say, “BANG-GA-LAAA-DESHHHHHH”.

I’m really hoping that’s how the locals pronounce it. I’m doubting it, but I’ll let you know.