Day 5 in Village

Today's song is:

It is January 1 2016 .. Happy New Year. On the first day of the year, all throughout Thailand, the local monks walk around their district and receive alms from their constituents. In Bangkok, the line of monks is kilometers long!

BTW, I am back to full health :-)

Some pics from the village:

TTYL

Day 4 in Village

Today's song is: Don't stop the music by the Village People  .. bit of a theme while I am there :-)

If yesterday was the epicenter of my intestinal maladies then last night was the calm of the eye of the storm and I foolishly ate (because I was starving) a spicy chicken hamburger from 7/11. Big mistake as I paid for it all night! The good news is I appear to be getting better today ( a 7 out of 10) and I only ate a slice of bread and a boiled egg and it stayed down and is causing no discomfort. However, the toilet trips are still occurring albeit not as frequently.

Pictures tomorrow, I promise. Last night I missed the school extravaganza and everyone asked Thavorn where Jimmy was and of course all the girls wanted to hold Jaidan (for a short period - 18 kilos) and they all say ... Jaidan so cute! Thavorn could not shoot any photos or videos as she was concerned about where Jaidan was at all times.

The lost boys (16-24 are all in the woods and have been having a bush party for over 24 hours. It is starting to quiet down down that the temperature is climbing past 30 degrees. Alcohol can only take you so far. What is the saying  ... mad dogs and Englishmen?

That is it for the time being, time for another recovery nap  .. after a toilet stop :-)

Jim

Village Day 3

Today's song is:

Unavailable :-(

The conditions were all there for a perfect storm, and like George Clooney doing his 'Old Man and the Sea' modern version he thought he could cheat the Gods of the Sea.

It was blistering hot when we arrived 3 days ago and I started chucking back the bottled water but I should have noticed that the bottles were the exact same bottles I bought over 6 months ago. The labels should have alerted me me as they looked weathered.

Dinner was a varied menu of eel, snake, rat, and pork. Thavorn had previously told me she would only feed Jaidan and I pork. However, I noticed that everything went into the same two fry pans, so I think all the meat tasted the same with different textures. My insides were rumbling a bit so I thought I would wait to eat a bit and it turned dark about 6:30. I previously showed you the lighting is not great in the house (term loosely applied) and I eventually put some pork together on a plate with some rice. About 5 bites later I noticed that some black spots were moving on my rice so I put on my glasses and discovered at least 20 black ants dining alongside me (minus the ones I already ate). I picked out all that I saw and finished the plate. When in Rome ...

I started to get Jaidan ready for bed and decided I would sleep with him under the too small mosquito netting. Thavorn would sleep on the floor beside us with the 2 fans on high to keep the mosquitoes away from her. I, and Jaidan had only shorts and a t-shirt each. During the night, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees and I woke to an odd feeling in my kidneys and an overall general malaise, combined with a fever and headache. The rest of the night was toss and turn waiting for daylight and a trip to the john out back.

Jack Nicholson has a classic line in the Bucket List  .. 'Never Trust a Fart'  .. I did, and it was not pretty, trying to keep Jaidan out of it and trying to wake up Thavorn. Of course there is no toliet paper in the whole place (a bucket of water suffices) and I looked around for a solution. You would be amazed what a diaper can soak up.

The day has progressed and I am taking amoxicillin (purchased at the local Thai pharmacy without a prescription), a couple of advils and nothing but water and a few S-100 soft drinks. It has taken me all day to write this, a sentence at a time. I may end up missing the school extravaganza tonight.

This is only the second time Montezuma has had his revenge on me and like I said, it was probably a perfect storm of bad little wiggly things.

TTYL

More Pics from the Village

Here are a few more pics:

Thavorn checking her daughter Thai for head lice.

 

Jaidan's evening bath

Everyone loves a farang baby

Jaidan already has a love for motorcycles :-)

New front extension  .. nice meeting place

The local school

In the distance is the communications tower I am talking to.

 

The red hoop at the top stops snakes from climbing higher and frying themselves.

Ontario Hydro would love the interior wiring in the village.

Overhead lighting  .. stylish

Definitely in need of a new roof ...

Village Day 1

Today's song is: By the Village People .. In the Navy

I promised you some pics so here they are:

Norther Bus Station

Bank branches everywhere in Thailand  .. take a number for service

On the bus  .. played an annoying game show for 5 hours  .. too loud!

Pickup truck for last 7 kms

The clan starts to arrive

Momma

More pics later ...

Last night .. Village tomorrow

Today's song is: I Would Do Anything for Love .. Meatloaf

Last night the 3 kings from the orient (John, James, and Arthur) had a night out in Bangkok and we paid for it today with mighty hangovers  .. but I seem to remember we had lots of fun :-)

Tomorrow morning Thavorn, Jaidan, and I will head off by taxis to Mo Chit, the Northern Bus Terminus and catch the bus and a commuter truck transport to Thavorn's village. It is one of my semi annual trips to the village and I am sure the local mosquitoes just can't wait until I feed them some farang blood.

I will attempt to be better at taking some pics from around the village as well as the local school and school show extravaganza and get them posted. The internet is quite fast in the village (go figure) and I believe it is because the school is less than a kilometer away and I suspect the tower is close by.

I will also truck around on Thavorn's motorbike, a 135 cc Honda.

I am off to sleep early tonight as I try to placate my body after last night's abuse.

TTYL

Christmas Brunch

Today's song is: Have Yourself  .. Christina

Christmas brunch at the Novotel was the best Christmas brunch I have experienced. They put on an immense spread of food and the beer and wine are free flowing. Simply the best brunch or buffet ever and the service was fantastic! Highly recommended and at 1,500 Baht it is a fantastic value.

Jaidan was extremely well behaved and we were able to hang in for about 3 hours and 7 glasses of wine :-)

I have decided that there is no reason to buy Christmas gifts for Jaidan.  This is Christmas #2 for Jaidan and so far the only gift he has is this Christmas hat that we bought at a bar on Christmas. No Tree, no gifts, and no bah hum bug. Times have changed :-)

Party hats all around for the children  .. many, many children!

Met a Thai Sana ta Clause

A bevy of beauties singing Christmas carols.