we are finally beaching it!

sawatdee kah(hello) from Ao Nang, a beach town near Krabi in southern thailand. we are using the internet at our guest house from last evening. it was quite an adventurous day yesterday, and with jet lag settling in, little sleep, and constant newness it was a night that ended early. we arrived very safe and sound on Feb. 26th after two wonderful first class flights (thanks Barb!). once at the airport we were swindled for the first time. a friend had advised that we hire a car... well, we were approached right away and showed a 'pre-paid' amount (900 baht... nearly $30!! in reality it should have cost us, with tolls, about 500 baht. grrrr. now we know!). the guy said, 'yes??' twice, we looked at each other, then around at all the other chaos, and didn't even get a chance to discuss it before we were wisked away, the man carrying barb's bags and walking fast to a car that was parked amongst many tour buses. he set us up with a driver that ended up not speaking any english. the drive to the hotel was much longer than necessary, we ended up passing it without seeing the sign and had to go back after a stop on the side of the road for our driver to ask another taxi and then a woman picking up garbage where our hotel was. the woman helped us translate and we waited while he paced having a cigarette before taking off in the opposite direction... and eventually finding the hotel. (i realize now that my phrase book would have helped tremendously.) it was very nice and we were quite cozy for the night. however, we slept so much on the plane that getting some sleep was very difficult.

the next morning, we called my new boss and arranged to meet him at the school (!!) at 12:30. so, we hung out, packed, rested, showered, took a trip to the grocery store (very cool!), then arranged a taxi to take us to the school. our taxi driver was very friendly (this time) and just happened to be our age. i entertained him by trying my best to speak thai from my phrase book. there was much laughter and eventually we made it to the school. they let us in the gate and we waited with the guards (and many many little thai boys in their uniforms running and playing in the yard) until my boss came down. he brought us to his office and we stayed a while and met many teachers, saw the school briefly (my classroom is so great!), then jumped in a taxi and headed to the airport. we took a cheap flight to krabi and then a SPEEEEEEDY ride in a shuttle bus to ao nang, which is where i sit typing this.

making sleeping arrangements was very much a learning experience. i am very leary of being taken advantage of because we are tourists... and because we don't speak thai, so i have a hard time trusting anyone. it's not a good thing, but we've had to learn from our many mistakes thus far. my students will know that i don't like to argue, but bargaining is necessary to be able to save any money. while it is quite cheap in thailand, this resort town is used to getting much more for their services than i want to pay. i think it's time to find a quiet, secluded beach where there are very few tourists. i'll update you further on our progress.

we are happy and well and learning many new things every minute. we are off to breakfast and finding a better, cheaper place to visit!

i miss you all! send me a message!