Countdown - 23

Today's song is: Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die  .. Willie

I live in probably the most entertaining and exciting city in the world. Bangkok has about 10 million people who call it home but at any given time most folks guess about 12 million people are in the city. No one seems to know as census taking is a lost art with the Thai government. They are much more experienced at military coups having gone through 19 since 1947 (not all successful).

However, in 23 days I leave all that behind and leave downtown Bangkok for 4 months in a rural Thai village of approximately 300 people. I am cheating a bit and will spend 55 days of that time in Canada but nevertheless it will prove a challenge. Sleeping under a mosquito net and using the outdoor privy, along with no hot water is challenging for me.

I have one big cheat to help me. I have purchased an aircon unit and will be installing it in the bedroom we sleep in. That bedroom will also be my work area during the day. I will also have to install a drop ceiling as well. I will still lose some cooling out the wood shutters (no screens or glass) but c'est la vie.  This is what air units look like in Thailand. The compressor sits outside on a concrete base. Usually each room in a condo or house would have one of these units installed. They sell for about $350.

I will also be shopping at Ikea for a single bed mattress topper to sleep on. We already have a queen size unit for a mattress we bought last year. Mattresses in Thailand are little better than a slab of wood. Thavorn and Jaidan will sleep on the queen and I will take the single as I toss and turn most nights. The bedroom is not large enough to accommodate Jaidan's crib and the queen sized bed.

I am committed to turning my 1 pack back into a six pack while I am in the village as there is a track around a man made lake that I will run around in the early morning before it gets too hot. There is also some rudimentary exercise equipment outdoors near the track. Far from ideal but then again, this Thai village looks like a shoot from a Chuck Norris or Stallone movie flick about saving soldiers missing in action in Vietnam.

I may even decide to shear my long hair and succumb to a buzz cut  and requisite baseball cap. At times my rather hippie image gets a little hot in Thailand. No guarantees although it would make 2 of my 3 children happy.

Thavorn is busy arranging a truck to take our stuff from our downtown condo to the village which is just under 4 hours away. When we moved the last time, everything we owned fit into the back of a pickup truck. Since then we have accumulated 'toddler' stuff, such as a crib, bicycle, electric motorcycle, high seat and assorted toys and balls. I also have a large 34" monitor and the aircon unit as well. I think we will still fit in the pickup. The same man is moving us and he said he would charge us 3,500 Baht which is about $130. Labor in Thailand is very inexpensive :-) as the minimum wage is 300 Baht for a 12 hour day!

Tonight, Thavorn is busy boiling a chicken to make some chicken rice. She made some last week but the sauce was missing an ingredient that she discovered via a Google search. Not bad for someone who had never had a cell phone or used a computer 3 years ago when I met her. Thavorn loves to cook despite our condo only having a 2 burner stove. You learn to juggle. I have mentioned before that it is cheaper to eat out in Thailand rather than cook. That is, unless you go to the huge outdoor market where you can buy a whole chicken for 50 Baht a kilo. Not sure how much it sells for in Canada, but here in Bangkok you can be assured it was plucked same day. I have been to this market and they have the animals in cages and slaughter them on the spot as needed. Everything from chickens to pigs.

Jaidan does love chowing back on chicken legs. He is now 20 months old and has about 10 baby teeth. Here are some pics from tonight's dinner of chicken leg and sticky rice.

I hope you keep reading over the few months as I cover our move and adjust to life in the village. We will move back to Bangkok on September 1. The move back will be easy as we will have our own pickup truck by that time. Thavorn will be learning to drive and get her licence. She is very excited about buying a truck.

TTYL