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Monkeys & Elephants! October 13, 2004 |
| It's been two months since I've arrived in Thailand, and it still seems like no time has passed at all. Since the school year ended a month ago for me, I've spent this last month at Polly's home in Lopburi. Polly's family has watched over me good, and have made sure that my stay here in Lopburi has been eventful. I've done a lot of shopping for some things (A few of which will be sent home instead of lugged around with me from family to family) and have been to all kinds of places. My guide to Lopburi has been Polly cousin Will (I'm not sure how to spell his Thai name, so I'll use the name he got on his exchange in the US) Lopburi is very different from Bangkok. For one thing, it's a little smaller. Another way is that there's more nature here. Just the other day, in fact, I had two encounters with nature. The first was with the monkeys and the second was with a baby elephant. Will and I had planned to go to Kontom (Basically a big flea market thats open only on Tuesdays and Fridays after 5:00 PM. I'm not sure on how the name is spelled though.) and we had to use a pedestrian overpass to cross the street. Unfortunately, three monkeys decided they needed to cross the road. When I saw the first one, I thought it was pretty cool. The monkey must not have appreciated me looking at it and looked like it was going to bite me. The second monkey went staright past Will and I and went for the bag of vegetables someone behind us had. As I was watching the second, the third monkey snuck up behind me on the hand rail. When I turned around, I was a little shocked. I think the monkey was shocked as well because it's mouth dropped open and it's eyes widened like it was a character in a Loony Tunes cartoon. As we continued across the overpass, the first monkey came back and I wound up fending it off with one of my sandals. Later, when we were leaving Kontom, I had my encounter with the baby elephant. Will and I had to catch a bus back to Polly's house, and one was just about to leave. I started to push through the crowd to catch the bus and didn't see the baby elephant until I nearly walked into it. Needless to say, I was surprised. Not so much at the fact that I saw an elephant (I've actually seen a few adults in the streets) but the fact that I nearly ran into it. I'm still struggling with language, but I'm trying to learn it. Thai is really hard because sometimes a word isn't spelled how it's pronounced. I've got a few pictures to send, but I will send them tomorrow. I hate to procrastinate, but tomorrow we're going to a large zo, and I figure it'll be easier to send them at all at once. Love to all my family and friends back home and good luck with getting home back in shape after the hurricanes! | |
