Life in and around the flat.

I am on a roll right now - and have been taking more pictures lately. I thought it would be fun to show you some scenes from my neighborhood community! I feel badly that for confidentiality reasons, i really can't share much info about what we do here...but i want you to feel a part of my life out of the office too!

So, i will take you on a virtual tour of my daily walks with Sally (yes, I really do get up at 6:30am...most of the time!) Here is a view of the 'jungle' (we like to call it) in front and basically behind our flat/office.
And this is for all of you that want to see the 'squatty-potty'....that I haven't had to use, but could if I needed to Well, here is a pretty picture of my feet for my friend Kimmy Lou! whoohoo!!! :) *one of my coworkers told me I have nice ankles! See for yourself! Next door to us is a preschool - yes, right next door, where i can hear them singing at the top of their little lungs every morning! It really is cute :) We are frequently accosted by dogs - at least their bark is worse than their bite! (so annoying) *one dog actually waits for us at the end of the road, sees us and dives through a hole in the cement wall of his yard, then barks his head off at us - sissy! We then pass an abandoned lot...it literally goes from shabby to expensive homes then go across a bridge...with questionable water? to a beautiful home with a gazebo.
Just before we get to the end of our Mooban (village), we encounter a vivid site - it's the Chinese Buddha and his mother...doesn't it look like the Virgin Mary??! Very weird - sort of creepy and oddly intriguing. **This is another interesting phenomenon - Thailand is primarily Buddhist, although i do feel like i'm in a little bit of a bubble with all my christian coworkers sometimes. It is great though - i love them! And i have been getting out enough to meet people too...especially after Sally leaves in March, I will need to venture out alone. Anyways, there are alot of temples and alters around - i'll take some pictures sometime...I don't really care - so i don't notice them, but it is a huge part of the culture here. There are even some houses in our neighborhood that have little 'offerings' on their front lawns, or water bottles lined around their houses to ward off the 'evil spirits'. Although, i don't think they realize that the dogs usually just eat whatever they put out! It's kind of like cookies to Santa! The cultural complexities are interesting - i'd like to know more....

So back to the tour...we go down some small side streets and pass some nice homes
and slummy apartments, only to encounter the gorgeous SUNRISE that i look forward to seeing, because it reminds me of how early i got up to see it (and exercise, of course)! Sally and I have been trying to do at least 4 days a week - 3 miles a day. I'm proud of myself! :) *we are also in a gated community and have a bunch of friendly guards that cheer us on as we walk - hysterical! They even 'salute' us when we come in and out of the Mooban! SWEET.
Hope you enjoyed the tour...i have some more photos of the surrounding city to come!! :) Wish you were here!!