KHAO SARN ROAD: We then went to the touristy Khao Sarn Road afterwards and did a little shopping. In Thailand, there are no piracy laws, so I was able to get legit CD's for around $2.50 a piece.
MONSOON SEASON: Had the first major storm the next night. I was out on the balcony in my friend's room when a huge lightning bolt struck the building next to where we are living and it immediatley wiped out a few miles of house's electricity, including my building. It was amazing to see the town simutaneously shut down in an instant. Luckily, power was restored about 45 minutes later. But my friend was trapped down at the "Loyola Center" (our own center that just Loyola students can use; includes cable tv, kitchen, phones, computer, etc.) and the street to get back was flooded. She braved it though, and went through the above knee-high deep water only to find a few rats and "other animals" lurking in the water with her that rose from the overflooded sewer..
WEEKEND MARKET: The following day I went shopping at the Weekend Market. I read somewhere that over 200,000 people per day attend this market, in which there are just under 3,000 vendors. I bought a huge backpackers travelling bag for just $14.00. It will definitely come in handy when I travel around, especially this weekend when I hit the beach at Hua Hin about 3 hours away.
PAT PONG MARKET: Every night at Pat Pong, the red light district, there is a market on the streets and sidestreets. With me obviusly not looking like a native of Thailand, the merchants try and get you for all you're worth. But when I found that it's a miracle when you simply say the words, "I go to ABAC(Assumption University); I live here" they immediately ask you what you are willing to pay, and I actually don't get ripped off. For example, I bought a watch for 500 baht ( about $10 ), but the women originally wanted 2,500 baht (about $55)...T-shirts for 200 baht for 80 baht..and I even bartered for my friend's Gucci bag from 2,700 down to a mere 600. I've learned that the more thai language you know, especially the numbers, the more respect you get, and the less you spend and don't get scammed.
TUK TUKS: On the way home from Pat Pong, my two friends and I took a tuk tuk back to school. With a tuk tuk, you have to barter and settle on a price. Well, we got 160 baht to get us back to school (about a 30 minute drive). After saying our address, and the driver repeating it back to us for confirmation numerous times, we found ourselves asking what was taking so long to get home. He stopped a few times to re-confirm our address ( the number of our address is 24 ( in thai, soi yii sip sii). But, for some reason, he though it was 124 (roy yii sip sii). He took us one hundred blocks past our side street, called a soi, and realized his mistake. So a simple ride home turned into a big road trip. We stopped at the gas station, he bought us Pepsi's and was real apologetic. He even asked me if I wanted to drive the tuk tuk home, but the girls wouldnt let me. Then as soon as we got out of the gas station he stopped again to make a phone call. When he came back 5 minutes later, the tuk-tuk wouldnt start! So here we are in the middle of nowhere at 2am on the highway. Luckily, a cab came by about 10 minutes later, and what we thought was an easy 30 minute ride back to campus turned into a long 3 hour excursion.
NAMES: All Thais have their original names, which are long and difficult to pronounce, but they all have nicknames too. Here a few that I have met and remembered:
Guys- fang, hung, robert, thanin, team
Girls- ton, cartoon, thing, tle, ao
BAHT: The official currency of Thailand. About 43 B to $1.00
Dinner (rice and meat) and a drink: 45B
Thai Beer (35oz.): 43B - 50B in stores; 80B at bars
Gallon of Gas: 12.99B
T-Shirt: 80B
Bottle of Water: 8B
Mid-Ranged Bungalow at Ko Samet: 450B
