Double Exposed

I recently developed a roll of film I had found and had no idea what to expect. Apparently I had snagged an old roll from my mom's house and mistook it for a new one and loaded it back into my camera. Most of the prints didn't turn out well but a few actually looked a bit interesting..

Documenting the garden on film

Although we were a bit late in planing this summer, Will and I have managed to grow quite a variety of plant and vegetables. I only wish we could extend summer 6 more moths and keep going. But until I figure that out, I am quite happy with the variety. We have a ton of basil, lettuce, mint, oregano, parsley, cilantro and supposedly peppers, although they haven't done much. I was out in the yard yesterday, transplanting the peppers in the front of the house when I realized in a matter of weekend we turned our house from the eyesore of the neighborhood, to the eyesore with a maintained yard. Funny what cutting the grass and planting a few grasses can do.

Then of course I felt I had to take a few pictures of the beauty we had created and decided to dust off my old film camera. There is something so nostalgic about film cameras, I'm remembering how much I love them. My mom gave me the Nikon N70 which I used to spend hours and countless rolls of film with before the digital age exploded. Bringing it back out and taking shots around the house proved to be exhilarating, and I forgot about how exciting it is to get film developed. Sure, half of my pictures were underexposed or blurry, but the keepers have a quality to them you just can't get with a digital camera.

The Joy of Cooking

I have realized since I've been home that there really is, a joy in cooking. Although I have always know I enjoy it, it took this last trip and coming home to realize just home much joy it brings me. Not being able to cook for yourself and having to rely on others for three meals a day is just not as fulfilling as making it yourself. I believe the joy for me comes in many shapes. Much is found in using family recipes and trying to recreate that dish from your childhood you loved. Much is trying something new and spending time to look up recipes in your grandmother's cook books. Most of it for me though, is of course, the end result, and sharing that with others. I'm currently simmering a pot of tripe, short ribs and spices on the oven in attempt to make menudo, which is a soup I could eat every day for the rest of my life. Others however are sometime thrown off by the idea of tripe, and have a hard time getting around it, so we shall see. Until then I have some stirring to do...

Goodbye Thailand!

It's about midnight now and I'm desperately trying to kill time by spending my last few pennies on the internet. Our flight leaves at 5:30 am so we're attempting to stay up the whole time, which is proving to be much more difficult than expected. We did get a hotel room though so I'm not lugging around my bag and have a place to relax. Today was fun though, and I finally got to see Wat Pho, which holds the great reclining gold Buddha. It was way bigger than I ever imagined and was a great little last day tourist trip. We were going to try and go to the Grand Palace but it was 350 baht to get in, (about $10) and the lines were insane. I don't think we missed much though, it was so packed we could barley walk around just in the entrance, while Wat Pho wasn't busy at all.

Afterwards we of course gorged ourselves on as much street food as we could. There really isn't anything better than Phad Thai for around a dollar and chicken skewers and sticky rice for about 75 cents. I only have about 6 dollars left at this point, but I might be able to squeeze in one more cheap meal before we leave.

Finally, we relaxed at our roof top pool. Oh yes, our $10 a night hotel has a pool on the roof, so we were able to get some last minute bronzing in. Followed by of course, one last 6 dollar massage. The woman at the massage place we go to remembers me from last year, and is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. She showed us pictures of her family who live in Northern Thailand, and told us about her 10 year old son who has just become a monk. She gave me a picture of her and her other son to take home and wrote down her information so I can contact her if I ever some back. I'm not sure if she'll be in Bangkok if I return but she said I was welcome to stay with her family in her home town anytime. It's people like that that make me love this place as much as I do. Not many people in the states would leave you their information and offer a place to stay if you're ever in town again.

Overall the trip has been great and it's always bittersweet to be leaving. I of course miss home but wish I had another month to see all the places I didn't have a chance to on this trip. I imagine I'll find myself back here again one day though, with more time to explore and not quite as tight of a schedule to keep. But for now, I'm counting down the hours until my 18 hour journey home. I must admit Thai food is getting a bit old and I'm looking forward to some variety on meals. I love traveling, but there really isn't anything better than coming home.

So goodbye Thailand! it's been real!


Oh and Will...

see you soon :)

Rain Rain Go Away...

So after a few days of doing nothing but strategically placing chairs in the water to read, para-sailing slightly intoxicated, and eating more thai food than I thought possible, we decided to move to Koh Chang, the next island. Damn. We arrived and raced a rain cloud to our bungalow, where we have been trying to avoid the short bursts of rain ever sense. It actually hasn't been all that bad as the rain let up today and we went exploring the small town of "Lonely Beach". That of course meaning we ate sticky rice and pork and got a massage. Peering out the window of this Internet cafe however I can see sun trying to break through the clouds so I might have to get out there in my bathing suit as a last ditch effort to come home a bronzed goddess, if you will. Yes, I am going to be that girl, laying out on the sun trying to keep my hair out of my face and my book pages from turning in the violent wind.

ps. i was going to post pictures but this stupid computer isn't letting me. Also nobody likes pictures of a rainy beach right?

Koh Samet

Last Thoughts on Indonesia

Throughout my time here, granted it hasn't been long, there have been several occurrences which after a short amount of time begin to seem perfectly normal. I realized that although I may have mentioned them, a few deserve further description, because they really are quite bazaar. For starters, the Gili Islands and run by the mafia. Yes, there is an Indonesian mafia. The islands have no police force of any kind, with exception to the random checks officers perform by showing up and "making sure everything is ok". What does this mean you might ask, well it doesn't mean there are rebellions running the street burning down bamboo shacks, but it does mean you can buy "magic mushroom shakes" at about every corner, as well as a plethora of other drugs. In fact, you could actually sit at a bar and smoke a joint as you would a cigarette and nobody would look twice at you. The island is a small community thought and you get the feeling everyone is watching out for one another and after taking to people who had lived there for some time, it sounds like it all somehow works.

The people on the Gilis are very different from anywhere else I have been in South East Asia as well. The women, who in other countries are usually pretty forward, trying to sell you things to give you a massage, were very quiet and reserved. The men however seemed to over compensate, as they called out to you every time you walked by, either also trying to sell you something, or as far as grabbing your arm and telling you they love you. Or in Camille's case, trying to kiss you on the cheek. At first I found it so annoying I could hardly believe it, but after time you realize it's much easier to simply pretend you didn't hear them, and they generally don't harass you quite as much. In fact, it gets worse on Kuta, the popular beach in Bali because the men are not only trying to get your attention, they're trying to get hired. The "Kuta Cowboys" as they are known cruise the streets for women to wine and dine, and bill. Glorified male prostitutes are really what they are, and knowing they exist makes you a it hesitant to talk to a local for more than 5 minutes. One positive thing I can say however, is just about every man who we told we were from the US promptly replied with "Obama!". I realized this is the first time I have traveled and not been tempted to sew a Canadian flag on my backpack.

The food on the Gilis is also interesting as it's way easier to find pizza or a burrito than it is Indonesian cuisine. After getting to know some locals however, we found the local eateries where the food was 10 times better than the anything on the beach. The spot specifically, where we visited a few times, you didn't really order anything other than chicken or beef and a friendly woman with little to no English scooped rice, veggie, meat, tofu, some sort of broth, and on other thing which I think had nuts in it into a bowl and handed it over with a smile. A large meal which really feels you up, and only for $1.50.

Lastly, an incident which I cannot believe I forgot to write about, its amazing what a $400 bribe can get you. In this case, it got my friend Aaron through customs. He arrived at the airport in Bali from Thailand and was out of pages in his passport for the enormous sticker Indonesia has which takes up a whole page. The girls and I, not knowing what was happening and why he had been taken into a back room, waited for about twenty minutes when Aaron emerged looking, for lack of a better word, pissed. He informed us that because of his full passport they were intending on sending him back to Thailand (at his expense I assume), where he would have to have more pages added at the American Embassy in Bangkok. Luckily for Aaron he had a good amount of cash on him was able to bribe the customs agent to put the sticker on the back page, which specifically states that it must remain blank. Needless to say it was a shaky start to our time here, but as most bad situations usually prove, it made for a good story.

I have had an amazing time here though and found it incredibly hard to step onto the boat and away for the Gilis this afternoon. Now back in Kuta we leave in the morning for Bangkok. I'm not sure when, but I will definitely be back.