6.16.12

I actually traveled from Songkhla to Hat Yai by myself. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I took public transport on my own in a foreign country. I am still very proud of myself every time I accomplish this. To some that may seem ridiculous, but I come from a town where public transportation is pretty much non-existent. So, when I get a motorcycle taxi to take me to a mini bus stop (I think I figured out that when they say ‘wen’, they are really mispronouncing ‘van’) and then I get on said mini bus and am able to get myself to the Big C Extra to meet Fon, it really is a notable accomplishment.

I left some water and fruit hanging on Patricia’s door for her so she had something when she woke up.

I met up with Fon around 9am. Got on the back of her blue and white scooter and she took me to see the apartments at Prathomtip and also at The House. The ones at Prathomtip were nice enough, but in the monthlies, you had to rent your TV and fridge and provide your own linens. But they included wi fi. For 4,500 a month not including utilities. At The House, they included everything (except utilities) and they were much nicer. For 5,500 a month with a six-month lease.

I had to do a bit of shopping for sundries and such. Patricia was still in a pretty poor state and I think the pills they gave her at the doctor were just antihistamines. She had a sinus infection that had developed into an ear infection and was starting to move to her chest. I told her that she needed something like azythromicin. I also figured that some vitamin C probably couldn’t hurt and she also requested some Paracetemol. Also on the list: a backpack, an electric kettle, some toiletries and cereal.

Had Fon take me back to Big C Extra. Four floors of shopping. Many times the size of a Super Walmart. The escalators are actually inclined moving walkways so that you can take your shopping cart from level to level. On the top floor is the department store. Was able to get just about everything there except all the drugs. Checked out (1,130 baht) and then headed to the Boots Pharmacy. I love the pharmacies here. No prescription needed. They have a nurse who works behind the counter and you tell her what you want (or ask her, if you don’t know what you need). She spoke English, which was great, but I could see the Zythromax I needed on the shelf. Got some of that, some Paracetemol, two bottles of vitamin C tablets, some Immodium (good to have on hand), and she suggested some activated charcoal to go with it. All told, was about another 1,100 baht. That’s about $30. Ridiculously cheap.

Now that shopping was done, I told Fon that I wanted to treat her to lunch for taking me around to look at apartments. You know she tried to decline. I insisted. I asked her if she liked Japanese. “No, Teacher Robyn. Even though grandmother and mother Japanese, I no like Japanese food.” And she said it with a little giggle. I want to put her in my pocket and keep her forever. She took me to the bottom floor where the food court was located. Basically, you pay 100 baht at a kiosk and they put it on a card you can scan. Then you just go and get whatever you want and they scan the card and take money off the balance. I got Pad Thai and a Fanta. Sixty-seven baht. Fon had pork with rice. We took our cards to the kiosk and got our change back. I really like this system.

I didn’t want to take up much more of Fon’s day, so I put everything in my new backpack and caught a mini bus back to Songkhla. I was still dragging. Didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted. Was starting to get a fatigue headache. I rested my eyes on the trip. Couldn’t really relax, however, since I ended up with the padded board that they put between the jump seat and the middle row as an extra seat. No backrest. Once I finally returned to the mansion, I tried getting Patricia on the phone. No luck. She was probably sleeping. I decided that I should probably have a rest myself. Laid down for a while. Then I decided some pork-on-a-stick was in order. I got four for 20. Almost as soon as I got back to the room, Pat rang me. I decided to take her the things I had picked up for her. Especially needed to get the antibiotics and some protein in her system.

Told her about the apartments. I think at this point, we were both fairly set on staying in Songkhla. The places I saw were both nice enough, but we had grown attached to our little neighborhood on Rat uthit Neung. We liked the people at the mansion and knew some of the vendors in the area. Plus, Songkhla was much nicer than Hat Yai. More peaceful. And we really enjoyed our morning drive to work. Not much traffic. Straight shot down Thanon Lopburi Ramesuan to get to school. Driving through the countryside with mist over the fields and the hills. Past the massive mosque with the rising sun glinting off the dome. Better than taking the same amount of time to get to school stuck in a traffic jam in Hat Yai. Decisions, decisions.

I went back to my room for the rest of the night. Pat called me a couple hours later and she already sounded better. She said she could feel the difference. Wish I had thought to get her the Z-pac earlier in the week…

Next day I lingered in bed for most of the morning. I woke up at 7am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Not surprising since I had gone to bed at like 9pm the night before. Watched TV, ate fruit, messed around on the internet. Got a call from Patricia at 12:30pm. She was feeling much better and felt like going out for a late lunch. We decided that we would go to the Buzz Stop (Irish ex-pat bar and restaurant) so we could get some fresh veggies.

I took a shower and got ready. It seemed that my a/c wasn’t really working, but I thought I was imagining things. It had been dripping all morning, however.

We got motorcycle taxis about 1:45pm. Riding down Saiburi Road at top speed is fun. Especially with very little traffic. I don’t know how long it will take before I get used to being constantly stared at. A pickup with a family in the back was just ahead of me. They were all staring and smiling. I waved. They grinned even bigger and waved back. When we came up alongside them, I waved some more and the mother was trying to encourage the little girl to wave back. She was just smiling and giggling the whole time.

A salad. A big, proper, lovely salad with romaine and grape tomatoes and cucumber and grilled chicken. With Thousand Island dressing. It was heaven. Nice to know there is somewhere that I can get “western” food. And well done western food, at that. They also had Tom Ka and, since I had been searching for it since I got to Thailand, I ordered that as well, with rice.

Chatted with the owner. George. From Ireland. I told him I had been out that way last year. In Cork. He said, “You know the best thing about Cork? The road goes all the way to Dublin.” I still laugh every time I recall it, especially since I can hear him say it in his thick Dublin brogue.

The salad was more than enough food, so I took the soup to go. They put it in a bag for me with a rubber band. Yay! Snack for later. Pat had found a proper deli in the area with salami and cheese and lots of other imported stuff. Unfortunately, it was closed on Sundays. We thought we might go later in the week.

Headed back to the mansion and retired to our rooms for the hot part of the day. We needed pick up our laundry after 6pm.

When I got to my room, I was sure the a/c was busted. It was no cooler in my room than in the hallway. I checked. The remote and the unit said it was still on. But no air was coming out and it was dripping lots of water. I went downstairs and gestured to the night manager’s wife (found out later her name was Win) to get her to come up. She fiddled with the unit and then brought up a key to the room across the hall. She had me move in to that room for the time being. It had a separate living and bed room. The a/c was only in the bedroom. Oscillating fan in the living room. Distinct temperature difference between the two rooms.

Instead of napping, I worked on lesson plans since I had to work out what classes to give quizzes to and how to get all of the classes on the same page so I wouldn’t have to do triple work each week. Ugh. I did get things sorted for Monday at least.

We were supposed to be getting a new teacher on Monday, but when I spoke to Fon that evening, she said “Teacher Larry” never arrived. Oh goody…