6.9.12

So THAT’S what it’s like to get a full night’s sleep… I had quite forgotten.

The days are starting to run together now. I think it’s Sunday. Yesterday, I had finally had enough and moved out of the unfurnished guesthouse into the Greenview Mansion. Fairly close to where I had been staying. Still in Songkhla. Same place Patricia is staying. I couldn’t spend another weekend not being able to de-stress and decompress. As Patricia told the owner of the hotel “She is at the end of her tether.” I have held it together fairly well. Finally teaching really helps and being able to stay in touch with friends and family during the week at school is a bonus also.

But, I hadn’t had a good sleep in more than a week. I know it is a “first world problem”, but the brand new pillows in the guesthouse were too thick. My head was too low sleeping flat on the mattress and too angled if I used the pillow. I was waking up at least 20 times a night.

Patricia, on Friday night, sat down with the owners and talked to them about the possibility of a monthly for me (which is what she is staying in). They told her that there are a couple of people staying in the mansion whom they are not happy with and may be getting kicked out fairly soon. As bad as that sounds, I am holding out hope for that. This place is nice. The courtyard is secluded, so it is quiet. And clean. And furnished. And only 500 a night. I paid for two nights up front, so, about $31. I will be paying for another two this morning when we leave to go to the zoo.

I was supposed to ring Patricia on Saturday morning after I got up. Which I did. To no avail. I was already packed and ready to go when Pi Ying showed up with an air con tech to install it in the house. I let her know that I was leaving that day. She called Khun Tip who told me to just leave the keys with Ying. Done.

Now it was a matter of getting to the Greenview. I had my carry-on, large suitcase, camera bag and purse. I went to the end of our soi and hailed a tuk-tuk. I told him the name of the mansion and he said that he understood. I used to have a card with the name and directions in Thai, but somehow it got taken back the night before by Patricia. There is typically a lot of confusion at the end of our days.

He had two little girls in the back already and asked if it was ok for him to drop them off first. No problem. Mind you, I knew the general location of the mansion and it was SW of the guesthouse. We were headed north. He dropped off the girls and had them ask me again where I needed to go. I had a pretty good idea that he was going to take me to the wrong place, but I figured I would tell him that when we got there and try to re-communicate my destination. We had dropped Patricia off first a couple nights before, so I knew what the place was supposed to look like. Which was very fortunate.

He DID take me to the wrong place. Green World Palace. Exactly where I expected he would mis-take me. A very large and opulent hotel. I let him know it was the wrong place. I told the doorman and the security guard where I needed to go and they gave my driver directions. I had already planned to throw him another 20 baht for the trouble. He asked directions of a couple of people on the side of the road. Finally, he just dropped me on the correct street. I guess. I got my bags out and asked a woman across the street. It was just up the road on the left.

I found it and took my bags up to the front office. The woman at the counter gestured to a sign that (I assume) said ‘no vacancy’. She went to get the woman in the restaurant who I knew (from conversations with Patricia) spoke English. I told her that I was friends with Patricia, which she understood. She said they were full. I explained that the owners had Pat tell me to come here and that there should be a room. I asked to leave my bags downstairs and if I could go to Pat’s room so that I could try to wrangle her up. No answer on her door, no answer on her cell, no answer on her room phone. No, I wasn’t crying yet. I was, however, sweaty and exhausted and tired. I sat down in the restaurant to try and decide what to do. The lady at the front counter with a little chubby baby (their favorite kind in Thailand) kept gesturing to me to wait. Ok. I wasn’t going anywhere. I sat for about 10 minutes before the restaurant lady was available again and she told me that they had a room. In fact, I had my choice of a couple different rooms. I picked the one with the balcony overlooking the courtyard. I helped them take my large suitcase up the stairs to my spacious, well-furnished room. Blessed big bed, mini fridge, T.V., desk, table, wi-fi and big bathroom. Wi-fi!! They brought me the WEP key and left me to it. Got out of my sweat-soaked clothes, cranked the A/C and set up my computer.

In between chats, I dropped my laundry with the woman around the corner. Arranged to pick it up the next day. I also walked down the street and bought some water, soda, ice cream and snacks. Strange to be able to stock up on things and keep them cold…

Got a call from Phil at one point and explained that I was in a hotel, I was happy for now and told him that both Pat and I were content living in Songkhla, if there was a way they could arrange a transportation allowance. He said that he would talk to the person who handles that sort of thing come Monday. We also need letters from the school so we can open bank accounts here and, well, get paid. He said he would get it sorted. I asked about using the school as a place to receive mail. He said he would check on it, but that he didn’t figure it would be a problem. I will also ask the school next week.

Patricia ended up calling me around 2pm. Thank God! I found out that she had been in the hospital all night. She has had an inner ear infection for more than a week. It makes her nauseous. She couldn’t stop throwing up so she went to the hospital. They gave her an injection to stop the vomiting, but I don’t think she got much rest. I took her a bottle of water and told her to go to sleep. I had shown her how to put her phone on silent the night before and we had forgotten to take it off vibrate. That’s why she hadn’t been answering all day. Also, there is some issue between our phones. I don’t get texts from her. We made plans to go to the zoo and the ocean the following day.

I spent most of the rest of the day chatting with Spencer, until he went to bed. Then I ventured out in to my new neighborhood. Pat had told me that there was a really nice restaurant across the street. I met Pop and his family, who own the ice cream shop and restaurant and cyber cafe across the street. He spoke pretty good English, which was comforting. I ate my Pad See Ew and water and chatted with Pop. I let him know I was friends with Patricia and that I was teaching at the same school in Hat Yai. Nice to know that I would already have friends if I stayed in this area.

Decided to take a walk down the street, find out what was in this area. It was about 8pm at this time. After dark is when most people are out and socializing in Thailand. Sitting out front, doing tile work to their patios, bathing their kids (which consists of getting them naked and hosing them off on the front porch). I realized that I am fully used to all this now. It doesn’t even seem strange to me, and it never really did. I’m used to only hearing Thai around me. I’m used to the chaos and noisiness. I’m used to walking down the street and seeing a bull tied up 20 feet away. It would be bizarre to me to be back in America.

I walked all the way to the main road and then headed north. I made note of my landmarks (giant Toyota dealership on the corner) and walked until I reached a place where I could top up my phone. Tried to add 100 baht to Patricia’s phone as well (she has used a lot of her own minutes trying to find us housing) but I think she uses a different service. On the way back, called a fellow teacher who is six provinces north and had a nice talk. Making plans to go to Phuket in August for my birthday. We happen to have a 4-day weekend at that time. Another teacher in Bangkok may come along as well. I know both of them through my alumni association with TEFL Institute. Liz, in BKK, happens to be Andrew Biggs’ cousin. Yeah. It’s a small world after all.

School is going really well. My students seem to like me. They have fun and remain engaged in class (which is amazing considering our classes are twice as long as the typical Thai class). I have been able to get them to write sentences and get up in groups to do role-plays. Po Or (the director) sat in on my Friday morning class. He addressed the class when he was finished. Of course, he was speaking Thai, but he seemed to be very pleased. And he has spoken with Patricia and told her that they are all very happy with me and her. Tom….well, that’s a whole other story. Pretty sure he is going to start an international incident and won’t be long for Thailand. No respect for the customs or hierarchy or a willingness to adapt his American ways for the new country that he has chosen to live in.

A note to those who may choose to travel this way. You may be asked to pay more than you were told for a cab ride once you arrive at your destination. One hundred baht is an additional $3.16. It won’t make that much of a difference to you, but it will make a huge difference in a Thai person’s life. Pay the money and let it go. Don’t get in an argument in front of your school’s director and students, yell at your fellow teachers and almost start a fist-fight with the cabbie. Just sayin’.