October 29th. First day off the America...
Arrived the night before around midnight to 80 degrees and densely humid air. My aunt and her friend Monica picked me up in a taxi, and 30 minutes later we are dropped off at her house. The whirl wind of the past 24+ hours quickly put me to sleep.
The next morning I had to start things off right- Monica and I went to a local coffee shop for a cappuccino followed by a visit to a nearby "spa" for a thai massage. $10 for 1.5 hours, not bad at all!
After some lunch at home base, we met my uncle and over a dozen of his students and headed via bus to an orphanage to play with 1-2 year olds. It was so sad to see all these adorable babies who had been abandoned. The women who worked at this facility deserve sainthood. The Orphanage was huge, many brightly colored buildings with little bits of lawn. Photos were not allowed so you will just have to imagine walking in to a room with 20+ parent-less babies. There were many more rooms with many more children, but I never left the first one I entered. My arms are actually sore today from holding a two year old in each arm. Holding them up so they can stare out the window, whispering them promises, "you will get out of here" and "you can doing anything you want when you grow up." They need the love. I brought two home with me... no, but I wanted to for one minute. It was hard to leave, I will go back.
My aunt and uncle gave Monica and me a quick tour of The International School of Bangkok (where they both work) and then we picked up their daughter Gabriella and headed to dinner...
An adorable little outdoor venue, "The Garden Treehouse." We were sat in a section looking out to the Chao Phraya River (runs N-S through Bangkok.) "A very natural section" said the owner... a little too natural for some of us! A woman at the next table bolts out of her seat before we have opened our menus, screaming "SNAKE!" A thin green snake slithers through the short trees three feet from our table. So that went over well... We switched tables to a "less natural section" and enjoyed the amazing dinner! I can't imagine getting tired of fried Tofu in red curry with fresh thai basil.
So a pretty standard day I imagine.... especially since today (Day 2) began at 6 a.m with the offering of fresh food to a barefoot monk that makes this daily visit to our front door... I will keep you posted! Missing you all dearly.
