Welcome to the Jungle
My first taste of Thailand was spent lounging on the beach throwing back some beers, but the “real world” is slowly setting in as I’ve made it back to Surat Thani. In the passed three days we’ve started to get settled into the city and also our respective schools.
As a group, we were brought on our orientation tour around town looking at various buildings we may find handy while here – immigration, the hospital, and of course Tesco (basically Target). We stopped off at a temple that is right near our main Language building and I couldn’t help but think of how my mom loves elephants and this place was crawling with them! 
While it was great to drive around and see these places, you can’t (or at least I can’t) find my bearings while I sit in the back of a van. It’s much easier for me to take to the streets by foot…or in this case by bike.
The week has been spent reviewing teaching styles and writing lesson plans during the day, while the night is our time to explore our surroundings. A few of us jumped on bikes and hit the road. 
Of course a stop to the night market was necessary for dinner where we saw some interesting items and tasted a fraction of them. Chicken satay in a bag was phenomenal and while I didn’t have the fried chicken (head included) yet, it looks like it would give the ol’ colonel a run for his money! 
Riding aimlessly around we stumbled upon a local restaurant with a live band, so clearly we had to stop to take a listen! I couldn’t understand a word the band was singing but their style was something I could relate to.
Most of my time spent here will most likely be spent exploring and eating…so get used to some pictures of markets and foods! The “beer pier” as we refer to it as, is a great spot at night to grab some cold ones and a plate of something delicious and local and watch the night boats load up with goods and passengers. Whether it’s a new fruit, pork and rice, or bbq chicken, I have yet to be disappointed in a meal here.
Now that we’ve covered my last few meals…on to the exploring! We took a ride out over the bridge into what I’m considering is the jungle. I’m fairly sure I saw Mogley and Baloo running around through the trees, but I can’t be sure.
Now this city girl has had her fair share of country and outdoor experiences, but this was the jungle – complete with a monitor lizard – which, by the way is a very insulting thing to call someone here…I mean they’re pretty ugly so I wouldn’t want to drag that nickname around the rest of my life. But if I did I'd probably shorten it to something cool like M.Lizzy. 
Please ignore my sweaty face…this is what I look like in Thailand. Even when I get out of the shower. 
