"Vacation"

The concept of a "vacation" has changed for me somewhat since I arrived in Thailand 14 months ago. Now, for something to be a vacation, it can or should include the following: 1) air conditioning, 2) English language being spoken, 3) the ability to sit on a chair/couch/floor etc. in a position other than the standard acceptable Thai female position, and 4) easy access to cheese, Diet Coke, or beer (the first two not being available in our town, and the third off-limits to me as a respectable female school employee).

So despite our exessive amount of travel over the past seven weeks, it was with some delight that I accepted yet another official request from the Peace Corps to visit the new group of trainees’ and share my (very limited) wisdom. Perhaps even more delightful was the accompanying ‘request’ that those of us visiting training this week also spend two days at the Peace Corps Thailand Volunteer Lounge in Bangkok, setting up the new library. While setting up a library may seem like a bit of a chore, doing it in a highly air-conditioned building with a group of English-speaking volunteers while eating cheese pizza and drinking Diet Coke pretty much sounds like a vacation to me!

And if that wasn’t already vacation enough, due to the political excitement currently occurring in Bangkok (elections are next week), we volunteers are not allowed to stay in our usual cheap guesthouse neighborhood. Robert and I were forced to upgrade to a hotel with a swimming pool.

I now offer up my first ever restaurant review for all those Bangkok travelers in search of good Mexican food. We visted Charley’s on Sukkumwit Soi 11 (watch for the sign on the left after passing the first 7-11). The food was expensive, and the Spanish rice wasn’t worth mentioning, but the bean burrito was excellent and the chips & salsa can’t be beat. The decor and chilly air temp also make for a pleasant dining experience.

All in all, a fine weekend. We returned this morning (after the overnight train) to a hot day. Most schools are now closed for the summer, but I did grade a few tests at my second school. Our world map isn’t quite finished... but it will be eventually!