Krabi and Loy Kratong

Last weekend I went to Krabi with the staff of my department and Kelli. We had an awesome time talking and shopping. Friday night we went to a bar called "Smile Bar" where they stock every table with a game of connect 4. While we were splitting a bucket of redbull and whiskey we started talking to a Malaysian couple. After awhile we got a deck of cards and after trying to think of a game everyone knew we started playing Go Fish. Sadly none of us could quite remember if you were suppose to make pairs or get all 4 cards. The next day Kelli and I woke up and decided to go out to one of the islands for the day. We wound up at an island called chicken island where we lounged on the beach and played in the water.

On Sunday we had to leave but before my school headed back we went on a day trip to 4 of the islands to swim and snorkle. During one of our stops there was a large group of fish that we fed from the boat before we jumped in to swim. That was probably a mistake because as I was swimming and floating on the surface I began to be ATTACKED by the fish. The little fish decided I looked like food and kept trying to EAT ME! After I got out of the water and away from the phiranah want to be's I sat on the boat and talked to everyone. One of the teachers decided he wanted to try to catch a fish with his bare hands but it didn't work very well, so Collin and I thought up a better way. We caught a few fish by filling a bag with water and throwing rice at the opening and someone drug it throught the water. After we caught the fish a couple jumped out of the bag and we set the rest free.

Last night was Loy Kratong which is one of the festivals here. I started the night by meeting the two little girls I'll be teaching English to...even though at 8 and 9 they already know more english than some of my students. Then after we had dinner we went back to campus to watch the beauty pagent. I made the mistake of taking the seat I was offered up front and wound up being called up to give out some of the prizes including giving the sash to the girl dubbed "Most Popular". Then during one of the student performances I was drug up front to dance with the students. (Note to self: Don't sit up front again :P) The pagent was really fun and I'm glad I got to go. After one of the girls was sashed "Most Beautiful" a bunch of us piled into a car and went into town to go to the river. At the river we all got onto a long boat so we could set our Krathongs (lotus shaped rafts made of banana leaves) free. We couldn't get the candle on the Krathong to stay lit but that was alright it was still fun. While we were out on the long boat we also lit a Khom Fai (Sky lantern...kinda like a hot air balloon) and watched it fly away. According to the Thai people both of these are suppose to bring good luck.

I'm having a lot of fun in Thailand and I am really enjoying learning about thier culture :D

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