A Much Needed Update!

Man, do I have a lot of catching up to do!  Olivia has been doing all of the postings lately, because I always fall asleep too early.  So I better get started!  This past week has been pretty jammed packed with activities.  In fact, I'd say one of the busiest since we've been here! Olivia's friend, Natasha, came to visit for the weekend.  Man! Does that girl have some energy! She reminds me of a Jack Russell Terrier.  Not the fat lazy ones like Riley, but the scrappy, crazy ones that run around nonstop all day.  But, before I get into our jam-packed weekend, I think I should first describe the progress I'm making in my future career as an explorer!  That's right! To all of you that don't think I'd make a good explorer...get this.  I got to teach a survivor course! Shane (our boss) runs these team building activities for big businesses.  So Olivia and I drove out into the jungle, where we got a crash course on how to build a fire, make a stretcher, a lean-to, bamboo pots (to boil water), chopsticks, and other such essentials.  This was all explained via demonstration by some Thai guys wearing military uniforms.  I don't know how they all didn't collapse from a heat stroke.  I was drenched in sweat, even though I was wearing a tank-top and running shorts (gasp! the horrors of my immodesty).  But I didn't even see a glimmer of sweat on these guys!  Constantly being the grossest person around (except for Olivia...I think she might even trump me) is really quite frustrating.  Hahaha!!  After our crash course, we met up with a bunch of people from Gore-Tex (you know, the waterproof stuff everyone in Seattle wears).  Sixty-two people, actually.  They were from all over the world.  We had Americans, Chinese, German.  You name it.  Anyway, we split 'em up, in roughly six groups of 10.  Each team had to complete the survival skills assigned in the most efficient and accurate manner.  Our job: instruct them in proper survival skills! It was great!  You would be AMAZED at the ignorance of some of these people! Especially the Chinese ones!  It was unbelievable! I don"t claim to be an expert or anything...but these people were just sad.  They must live under a rock or something.  For example, they were trying to start a fire, but instead of starting with tinder, they just tried to light a log on fire! Sigh.  Well, either way, I had a blast and think all of the people enrolled in the course did too.  Sadly, we didn't get any pics of us in action, so you'll just have to picture us making bamboo utensils and banana leaf rooftops.

The next day Natasha came for a visit.  She is interning in Singapore for the summer, so a quick trip to Thailand was manageable.  We took a cab driven by the respectable Mr. O, a very charming young man, who unfortunately I couldn't communicate well with because he didn't speak much English...and I speak virtually no Thai.  Natasha's flight arrived at 11:20 pm on Friday night, so that didn't leave much time for exploring. But we made up for it on Saturday.  I got up early, and went to Muay Thai, while Olivia and Natasha had some oh-so-delicious Smile Coffee drinks.  After that we headed into town.  Natasha insisted we try this thing called a fish spa.  It was SOOOOO fun!  It's a small room filled with couches and comfy chairs.  Underneath the couches are these fish tanks.  You put your feet in them (but only after someone washed your feet.  I super didn't like that part!  But, when I tried to wash them myself the little Thai lady looked very offended).  Anyway, as soon as you put your feet in the tank a bajillion fish latch onto them and start sucking away! It tickles like crazy! Olivia and I were rolling around in fits of hysterical laughter for the first 2 minutes.  But after that we settled down a bit.  Well, the result?!  Super soft, shiny feet! Sounds weird, I know...but definitely worth it. 

Tons of little fish nibbling away at my feet!

A very happy Fish Spa customer.

Natasha had a great idea!

Mango cheesecake from Love at First Bite.

Hooray for cake and pie!

Next we wanted to show Natasha some of the wats.  Naturally, Olivia and I got lost, and we ended up walking around in circles (actually circles) for the next hour. I think Natasha was getting frustrated by our incompetence, so she finally asked someone (a very good idea) for directions.  Hahaha! Turns out that we had walked right by it! Gahh!  Oh well.  Then we went to the night market.  Nothing new happened here, so I won't go into the deets.  Sunday was super duper fun too.  We went zip-lining through the jungle! 

Wheeeee!

Charlotte, ready for zip-lining action.

Charlotte and Natasha with Cash, one of our crazy guides, in the background.

Good advice.

Up in the treetops!

The view from midway up our waterfall hike.

Bottoms up!

Since we don't know the name of our apartment, we just told the company pick us up at Chay Yai Gym (that's where we train).  Well, I'm sad to say the people that were in our group were really lame.  It was this family from Holland.  Not a single one laughed, or screamed, or smiled the whole trip.  Despite the valiant efforts of our guide, Cash.  He was SOOOO funny, and had even more energy than Natasha!  Every now and then, he'd push against the ziplining wire to bounce us as we zipped through the treetops. We had so much fun, zooming along from platform to platform. And as we were zipping through the jungle on the world's largest zip-line we managed to see a family of gibbons with a mom, dad, and baby gibbon! 

Cute baby gibbon with it's mama!

That made the trip worth while.  Lunch was provided too! And it was quite tasty.  There was this delicious curry.  Olivia and I were the only people that asked for seconds...and when we asked for thirds the little Thai lady laughed, and brought out an entire new bowl of rice and curry for just the two of us! Naturally we felt obliged to eat it all..so we did.  That night we caught a Song Tao (the little bus/taxi combs) to the Sunday market where we met up with Khun Tin and Michelle (our friends from the office).  As usual I ate too much and went to bed feeling like a bloated toad.  Well, I realize this is getting to be a lot of info...but I'm not quite done yet, so I'll carry on. 

Monday night was the much anticipated fight between our friend Sean (the New Zealand guy) and some ridiculously jacked Thai dude.  So fights should be arranged by size.  Well, we hitched a ride to the stadium in the back of the guys' from the gym's pick-up truck.  We get to the stadium, and the guy that Sean has to fight is short all right (just like Sean) but he must outweigh him by 30 pounds!  Sean is definitely in good shape, but he's small...and not super ripped.  This Thai guy he's facing is like Gimli.  Short, stocky, and had bicepts about as big around as a coconut! Not a fair fight!!! I was so worried for Sean.  But he kept his cool.  The first round went okay, but you could tell every single punch or kick that Thai-Gimli landed hurt like hell.  At the very beginning of the second round Thai-Gimli kicked Sean super hard on the side of the knee.  Sean went down hard.  He looked like he was in so much pain.  He kept trying to get up so he could finish the round...but he couldn't.  It was really hard to watch, because I know that the fight meant a lot to him...cause he trains so hard.  I guess it'd be like getting to conference, and getting DQed, with a broken knee on top of it all.  I felt really bad for Sean.  He cried the whole ride back to the gym. Not from pain (I don't think), but cause he was so disappointed.  Poor Sean.  On the upside, Olivia and I are getting much better at sparring! The guys at the gym want us to fight....but after the several knock-outs, the dislocated shoulder, and now Sean....I'm pretty sure I won't be doing any actual fights any time soon!