Soi Pumichit (ours is the yellow building)

my flat!

my room

ran out of water

I had a new adventure, food poisoning, followed by another--a trip to the hospital. I'm much better now, and still a bit amazed at the whole experience. I got to the hospital at about 2:00. By 3:00 I'd seen the doctor I wanted, been examined, been admitted to a room, and started an I.V. The speed of things is crazy to me, because I have to wait at least 3 months to even get in to see my specialist at home! The hospital was beautiful, and the room was great (I even had cable, but wouldn't you know, there was nothing on). The nursing staff wore white skirt suits, heels, and little white caps, and they were so sweet! I got to wear some snazzy asian pajamas. I had visitors most of the second day, and flowers, and Susan, my roommate, was a wonderful caretaker and stayed with me (nevermind that the fold-out bed was more comfortable than hers at home :) I had to have an I.V. because, as one of our refugees in TX said, "I ran out of water, so they had to put more in." I learned that I have nothing to fear in hospitals here but fear itself (and a very goopy rice porridge breakfast).

emporium view

This is the view from a restaurant we ate at. The city is SO big!

Starting in Bangkok

I've arrived in Bangkok. It's warm and sunny, and very "big city" feeling. My first days have been a bit of a blur of meetings and schedules, but last night Susan and I had some time to relax. We went to the last sky train station, On Nut, to look around for available apartments. We ended up following an old man over a "bridge" over a canal, which was very scary to me, to see a house (which was way too nice for us to afford.) On the way back, we walked down a lane to see if anyone was in this building's office, and were chased out by a large, angry dog. Susan and I grabbed each other and sped-walked out, and I actually felt the dog nipping at my heels. We decided to celebrate our success (well, our independence, at least) with a Thai meal at a nearby food court. I ordered fried rice, but it tasted plain, so I put a few drops of something red on it, and some salt. I soon discovered that the red stuff was potent! Even my lips were burning, and I was gulping water. I also discovered that what I had thought was salt was sugar. This meal gave a whole new meaning to "sweet and spicy."