Determined

Hi,
Boy, there must be a lot going on over there. Only one brave person admitted knowing the song. And Linda still has to go back to the drawing board. I gave you the group yesterday. Today I'm practically giving you the song. The chorus:
"Cheer up sleepy Jean. Oh, what can it mean To a __ __ And a homecoming queen.." Hint: Some of us used to get accused of doing this during school. Who me?
Today the water was back in the kitchen and the pressure in the shower is stronger. I'm not even going to begin to try and figure it all out. I have come to the conclusion that we are subjects in a test. We are, for all intents and purposes, the first tenants in this house. Someone may have lived here years ago, but Boon Serm and his wife have never been landlords. As a consequence, we're all flying blind. Imagine, if you will, that your living in an environment where the person you rent from doesn't speak your language, lives on the property, still considers the space you rent as theirs (like wandering in, unannounced), and thinks everything is fine, in spite of the obvious. It's still a wonderful life and I wouldn't trade it in, for the most part, but that's a capsule of the essence. We've been 'training' them about coming into the house and Boot has let them know that they can come in if we invite them. Same way vampires have to behave.
The weather is changing here. It's winter time. There are basically three seasons here: Rainy, Winter and Hot. We had a few really cold days over the weekend but it looks like we'll have a warm week, during the day. It's supposed to be in the mid 80s during the day and the low 60s at night. For many here, the nights are a problem because they don't have warm clothes. Last year many got very sick because of exposure. This year there have been drives to collect warm sweaters and jackets to donate to those in need. We brought warm clothes because we knew it would be cold in New Zealand when we go in March. Looks like we'll be wearing those things sooner.
Today we went to a store we'd never been to with Pat and got a heater. Very slick number for the bathroom. It's like a three foot tower of heat. Should be great for after a shower on a cold 'winter' night. The store had tons of stuff that we didn't have time to investigate. Most of it was from China, some of it looked good and some looked questionable. There has always been a strong Chinese presence in Northern Thailand (history lesson later), and with the trade routes opening up, more and more goods are being imported.
We also discovered another major market district. Supat got a call from Boot saying she needed trash bags. We were taken into this dense maze of streets where everything is sold. Foods of every description, 'bags' (we were taken to the plastic bag store), cut flowers, clothes, etc. We'll definitely be going back for a real excursion.
Well, time to go. We've been having a Dark Angel marathon and we just started season 2. (the DVD would make a nice holiday gift for some travelers I know)

Peace,
Danny

"One determined person can make a significant difference; a
small group of determined people can change the course of
history."
~Sonia Johnson

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style

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