Friday
It hasn’t cooled off one bit. We have discovered that houses here that are two stories are much cooler since they have the upper floor to insulate the first floor. We visited Khun Pa Cha-Onn, Nattawan’s aunt, who recently broke her hip and her house is significantly cooler with very high ceilings and two stories. We will survive.
On Sunday and Monday we worked on a yard project. The front yard was filled with construction debris. Since we want to implement our landscape plan the first step is preparing the soil. So that means digging up the front yard that has chunks of concrete, tile and wood. There is also about six inches of sand on top of the dirt. Nit and Noi, Nattawan's cousins, had started the project but we had a long way to go to finish so we pitched in working only very early in the morning (until the sun came up) or in the late part of the day (after the sun went down). We moved very slowly as the heat is unbelievable. We made progress and were pleased that by the end of the week we would be able to finish.
On Tuesday we drove to Hua Hin about an hour south of here and shopped for household items like outdoor doormats, and ready made or assemble your own cabinets for bathroom storage. Although the selection is much better in Thailand than SL, it is still limited by our standards. Most Americans have no idea how the rest of the world lives. Take it from me they make do with a fraction of what we have on every level and are doing just fine without 100’s if not 1000’s of choices. After finding some of the items on our list we went over to Kay and Bill’s house. They had invited us to spend the night so we thought ‘why not’. We are on vacation and Ron is semi retired so why the heck not??? We had a great visit, got to see some news in English (something we both miss when we travel) and Kay prepared a lovely Thai feast for us. Kay owns a fantastic Thai restaurant in Eugene and has to go back there soon for a month to relieve her business partner.
The next morning we got up and had another delightful Thai meal: rice with sliced chicken and sauce. Yum. Our favorite cuisines are Thai and Indian so we are in hog heaven here. Food is so inexpensive here, and it is real easy to find take-out places so our breakfast was take-out. Many Thai people eat take-ut meals. After breakfast we went to town for more shopping. We were able to find some reading lamps for one of the bedrooms. Ron had hoped to find lamps parts here so he could make lamps from celadon vases. No such luck. He will have to buy the parts in the US and bring them here. We will also have to bring lampshades from home. Lampshades here are quite different and part of the lamp hardware is part of the shade. We were glad to have found something, as we love to read every night in bed before going to sleep. Next we went to a design center and found a few more things like the doormats I wanted. We got a quote on wood blinds for the master bedroom, the only room that needs privacy as it is exposed. After a quick lunch of duck noodle soup, we headed back to Kay and Bill’s and then headed home. On the way we stopped for a massage at a place we had not tried in Phetchaburi and got a mediocre massage so we won’t be going back there.
When we got home we discovered Noy and a friend had finished the de-rocking project in the front yard. We were flabbergasted. All the rocks were stacked to one side and all the sand had been moved to another part of the yard. On Thursday they worked all day in the sun to move the rocks to another part of the property. I tried to get them to stop because of the heat but they kept working so I took them water and fresh fruit that had been chilled. Noy said I couldn’t work anymore! You should know all the family speaks English but very limited. So Noy pointed to me and said, "No working". He told Nattawan he couldn’t believe Ron and I would get out there and do yard work. Little does he know when we re-landscaped our yard we worked hard labor for 16 weekends to transform our backyard. We will have some challenges here because there is a significant amount of concrete walkways around the yard. In addition Noy has started improving the yard by planting various plants. So we will need to do what we can to implement the design given these factors. All the more fun.
The family has us completely spoiled. They bring us tropical fruit grwon in the yard and various Thai dishes to try. We are blessed: mangoes are in season. We can't get over how accepting and kind our Thai family is. We have fun trying to communicate. Yesterday Tui got Cha-Onn, her mother to say thank you very much. Cha-Onn is 86!
Ron got a job while here to write a proposal for ICMA. We have a desk and his computer in the bedroom so yesterday he was in there all day with the AC on and I found lots of excuses to join him since the rest of the house is so hot. Another factor that increases the heat is the window and door screens we added. Since Ron’s episode with Dengue fever in SL, we are more cautious. But screens really cut down on airflow
Today Ron was doing a project: shortening the legs of a freestanding bar that had been given to Nattawan as a house-warming gift. It was about four inches too tall. So Ron was killing himself trying to saw these very big 4inch thick legs with a hand saw. Being the pushy broad that I am I told him I thought he was killing himself and what he needed was a circular saw so made him stop and took him to the one store we knew might have one. My treat. He now has a circular saw and is making a grand mess in the living area that I swept and mopped yesterday. I think I had it backwards. The bar is now the right height thanks to Ron’s hard work in the heat.
I have decided it makes no sense to cook here when take out is so readily available and so inexpensive. Today I got eight little packets of food for 80 baht, not quite three dollars. This will be enough for two people to have at least two main meals. When the man told me the price, I exclaimed, "Is that all?" Everyone laughed. We got food from this stand near the house two days ago and it was delicious.
All week we have had the use of Timm and Tum’s car, Nattawan’s cousin and her husband. Driving here is a trip. Although they had real roads unlike SL, it is not uncommon to have people on motorcycles or cars coming at you on both sides. Yikes! It is unnerving to say the least. The motorcycle is the predominant mode of transportation here and the cyclists are very reckless in their driving so you have to pay complete attention when you drive. So I help out by pointing out potential hazards. We are quite a team of old codgers! But so far we have done quite well, given that they drive on the left side of the road. The driving is tame compared to SL however.
If we were to compare Thailand to SL, we would agree that Thailand is far ahead in terms of development. Both are democracies. Thailand has a very revered king. The country’s name was changed to Thailand, the land of the free from Siam when it became a democracy. People seem more industrious here and Thailand is much cleaner. There is a higher standard of living here and Ron said the food is better. We have geckos in the house here also. Both are tropical in terms of climate. When the tsunami hit Thailand they declined outside aid, saying they could take care of their needs so others could have the money. Unlike SL, Thailand has never been colonized. The pubic transportation system, infrastructure and the like are far superior to SL.
We are searching for a water delivery company that might have the equivalent to a five-gallon water bottle that will fit the water-dispensing machine we bought from SL. We have found a similar model here but since there is no ‘yellow pages’ we are stuck so far. Time to post so bye for now.