First Show!

Well, we did it! Yes, the band that still hasn't settled on a name managed to play our first show. we've been through a lot in terms of band names. John wanted us to be called "Babes in Thailand" which was vetoed by everyone though i had to give him props for creativity. it just sounds like the title of a porn movie. then we were talking about a name that had both Thai and English in the title. we talked about using the word "Bri-ow" which in regular thai means "sour "but in slang means "unique, one-of-a-kind." some other names thrown around have been "DinDee" which means "good dirt" and "Loi-ey" which means "REALLY!" but these don't have an english in them which makes me sad. we want something that has a double meaning.

so saturday we probably had one of the worst rehearsals of all time. it was raining and we went to a new practice space which ended up being way to expensive, loud and full of screaming children. we had the mandatory band drama due mostly to nerves. but as they say, "bad rehearsal, good show."

even though our set has quite a few slow songs, people seemed really interested in it and everyone commented on the originals. john wrote a funny song about foreign guys who come to thailand to pick up thai women and everyone laughed so much during that number. and i think people liked my song "marie antoinette." david wants us to wear feathered masks during that song in the future which is a possibility. mostly people said they loved the sons that featred 4-part harmony. we are lucky to have a bass, tenor, alto and soprano so we are planning to do more songs that really showcase the voices. also, we plan to buy some small handrums so hilary and i can help out with the percussion.

so here are the pictures. our next show will be at a benefit dinner and we will open for this amazing free-form jazz group that usually plays in bangkok. we also got offers for some next gigs around town (thanks to the lampang bike guys!)

Regarding Geckos

I've been enthralled with these creatures since the moment i got here and haven't actually had the opportunity to see them very often. You can hear them all the time but they are pretty mysterious otherwise. In Laos, one guy told me that a dukae gecko fell on his stepmother and she couldn't get it off because it has sticky suctions on its hands. the woman was freaking out and the gecko started biting her! they ended up having to kill it which must have been traumatic for the woman as well. Chan told me that if one of them gets on you, you just have to wait for it to move. what?! yeah right! so you better believe that i was super-apprehensive when i took this picture at kirk's house. the thais have even made a horror movie involving a huge, human-eating gecko. so here is some more info on the critters from wikipedia:

The Tokay Gecko (pronounced Du-kae), is a nocturnal arboreal gecko native to southeast Asia and the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Their native habitat is rainforest trees and cliffs, and they also frequently adapt to human habitations, roaming walls and ceilings at night in search of insect prey. Tokay geckos are aggressive carnivores which will eat a variety of insects and even small mice. Their aggressive behaviour can lead to attacks on other male Tokays, other gecko species, and also human handlers. Tokays are the second largest gecko species. They are distinctive in appearance, with a bluish or grayish body sporting orange or red spots.
They are renowned for their aggressive disposition and (unusually for lizards) their loud vocalizations, sometimes referred to as a bark. Their mating call, a loud croak, is variously described as sounding like tokeh or gekk-gekk, whence both the common and the scientific name (deriving from onomatopoeic names in Malay, Sundanese or Javanese), as well as the family name Gekkonidae and the generic term gecko. The bite of a large tokay, while unlikely to cause lasting damage to a human, is painful and can easily draw blood. Furthermore, a tokay gecko, once having bitten, will not readily let go. Tokay owners report that the only effective way (other than waiting) to get the lizard to release its hold is to submerge it in water.

Good Times!

Last weekend a few folks from Lampang went on a group trip to Chiang Mai. We ended up having a group of 8 friends who went out for the evening: Me, Hilary, Otto, Justin, David, Jeab, John and Kazu. After a relaxing coffee at the Fern Forest Cafe (a beautiful garden in the middle of the city!) we went out for delicious Mexican food. We hired a song-taew(mini-van) for the night since there were many of us and we planned on drinking. Our first stop was the new German Brewery!!! yes, we sampled the weisens, doublebocks, lagers, etc. it was amazing! the music and entertainment was top notch as well. there were a couple of old guys singing traditional songs and speaking in some "old-fashioned" dialect that even otto couldn't understand. then a man came out dressed as Batman and sang a song about how he missed his girlfriend. he was also wearing skin-tight clothes and dancing among the beer vats. after that, a man came out and played some kenny g. saxophone tunes and serenaded me at my table. it was difficult to keep a straight face since i particularly hate that kind of music. then we all piled back in the songtaew and made our way to the Brasserie. this is the place with the amazing guitarist so we all danced and promised to go back when we can hear a full set.

so saturday was cool and then tuesday our friend Anjan invited us to a Hindu temple in town for some fabulous vegetarian indian food. we didn't know that there would actually be a full hindu service before dinner. it was very interesting for me. a man read from a holy book and then there was singing and chanting. the most interesting thing was when people took turns to go up to the vishnu statue and bless themselves by waving a candle around in the air. i felt a little awkward because i didn't know what to do most of the time. the women had to sit on one side of the temple while the men were on the other. they also separated when they ate dinner. it was definitely a unique experience and the food was amazing and the people were very kind. they invited us to go back next week and i just might!

here are some pictures from saturday. hilary and kazu enjoy the songtaew ride:


hilary and justin....how are they able to coordinate funny faces?!

Blissful:


Roomies in Purple:


the crew:

Officially Over

Today as I biked through the sweltering mid-day sun and now as I sit in this internet cafe that smells of sweaty pre-teen boys, I realize that I am officially over my honeymoon period with Thailand. I've sampled her curries and gawked at her golden temples but i'm no longer feeling that distinct sense of wonder. I have reached the comfort zone and it feels good. I feel like my life here has taken on a certain predictability though i'm definitely not bored by any means. It's nice to finally know my way around town, to easily be able to find things like tampons and to be able to read street signs in Thai. Yes, I can even crack jokes in Thai!

my job,too, has taken on a a nice schedule though all that could change in October. we are getting a new head of the english department and i'm not sure what's going to happen. lucky for me, contracts here are easily broken with little or no penalty. there are jobs aplenty for a girls with a masters in english here. but i really want to stay at yonok if i can. i love my students though they can be brutally honest sometimes. last week they told me i looked like a panda because i hadn't slept very well the night before. thai people are so polite yet very quick to tell you that you look fat, tired or sloppy in general. it appalled me at first but now i just smile and say, "kap koon kah" (thanks!) they call the freshmen students here "freshies" which still cracks me up. i'm glad to be in my sophomore year here. karen used to always tell us that Lampang is truly a home for her and that she always misses it when she goes away. i'm just now beginning to understand what she means. i have a life here. it's not like being a tourist...i have my market, my laundry lady (who still manages to tie-dye all my clothes) and my coffeeshop. i have a great group of friends and a nice set of extra-curricular activities....yoga, the band, potluck, trips to chiang mai.

of course, i still get pangs of homesickness and guilt over missing so many important things at home. i can't wait to get back to the states to spend time with my family and friends and to go back to school ( i miss it already!) at the same time, i worry about reverse culture shock and having to live in the fast-paced, fear-filled american culture after living in the sabai, mai-pen-rai thai culture.

mostly i can say that i'm sincerely happy these days and enjoying my long-term relationship with this country and this culture. i feel like i came here for a reason and that i'm actually accomplishing some goals. i wish for everyone that they could feel their dreams actualize. it's pretty powerful stuff!