oh yeah

I remembered a Thailand story as soon as I left the internet cafe. I may post a picture about it sometime, if I get a chance. Ok, so here's what happened:

Saturday was our day off. A group of us went to this Thai culture/elephant show/garden place. For 50 baht (like less than $1.50), you can get your picture taken with an elephant! So we all decided to do it. Some people stood next to the elephant, or sat on top of a baby one. But the elephant I chose is trained to pick people up in its trunk and hold them in its mouth! So I have now been in an elephant's mouth. It was one of the most unusual experiences of my life.

Other than that, I've been learning to fight fires, first aid, life boats, life rafts, all kinds of things seafarers need to know. I've had 3 of the 5 tests, and made 100's on all of them. As long as I pass the other two, I will be a certified seafarer, which basically means that as long as I stay in the port cities, I won't need a visa, and I won't get a stamp in my passport. I can pay $$ and get a stamp in my passport, but that would be silly. I've also learned lots of vocabulary, like fo'c'sle, coxswain, and quayside.

Oh and, I had a dream about Mama's sweet tea.

thailand

So I'm in Thailand now. In the second week of my pre-ship training. It's really great. I think I'll actually miss this place when we get on the ship. I am exactly 12 hours ahead of Texas here. So if you're wondering tonight what tomorrow is going to be like, I already know! That might not sound as clever as I thought it would, but you get the idea. I can't really think of any great Thailand story right now. Just wanted to post and say I'm here, on the other side of the world. And I'm loving it. Though I miss those in Texas who I love, including the dogs :(. I know it's silly, but I dream about them...I also miss sweet iced tea...But I'm here, I'm safe. Things are great. I can't wait to move into my tiny cabin on the ship on Saturday.

holland

I never know when you say Holland and when you say The Netherlands...

A couple of friends and I took a long walk the other day. We intended to go to the nearest town, but went the wrong direction. We realized it early on but decided to keep walking and see what we could see. All we found was the highway, so we turned back. When we found the right direction it was too late to go all the way to town, so we just went to this tiny little community that's about 2 or 3 kilometers away (so we've been told). I don't really know how far it was. But anyway. Up till then, it seemed that I could still be in Texas, not TX in September, but the farmland was quite familiar. When we got to the village, we could tell that we really were in Holland, for real. There is a real Dutch windmill there. It was amazing!

in the netherlands

I've been here for almost a week now. I'm getting used to being away from home. I've met lots of great people, many of which will be on the Doulos with me (there are TONS of Doulos people).

The Netherlands is green, wet, and cool. It's a nice change from hot, dry Texas. But soon I will be somewhere that is probably still green and wet, but not cool at all...

Yesterday was the most intense day of training. It was a simulation of trying to enter a restricted country. The country was made up, but it was modeled after real life. Even though I knew it was fake, it was kind of like the Matrix. "Your mind makes it real." It was terrifying, really. I have no plans to go to a restricted country, so I was not at all prepared for the interrogations and such that we faced. But it was good to have gone through that experience.

OK. Almost out of internet time. So I'll leave you with one more closing thought, which some of you may not get....

After my shower the other day, I wanted to see how much time I had left before I had to be somewhere and I asked myself "What time is it?" Immediately, the next thought in my head was "Are you cookin beans?"

Bon Voyage

Saturday was my Bon Voyage Party. It was really great! I think that just the right number of people were there. I had put together the shortest possible guest list-which turned out to be a little more than 100 people (that's including everyone's children). I think that there may have been 50 people there, including my immediate family. And they weren't all there at the same time. I think that I got to visit with all of the grownups, for a few minutes at least. My goal was to have few enough people that I could have some time with everyone. I think it was the best party possible. Except for one part...
Certain people insisted on a CWB? concert. (FYI: Can We Bail? was Melissa's and my band in college-we wrote silly little songs that, for some reason, people loved.) We didn't have our guitars or music with us, and it had been over a year since we played, and between last time and the time before last it was also more than a year. So, we didn't really remember our songs, and without having guitars it was just us singing. I think I heard someone say it was the worst concert they had ever been to. But it was fun to bring back all those memories of college and CWB?.
Now, the party's over, only work remains. I've got a list of things I still need to do before Sunday, so, time to stop playing...
[my family:]


P.S. All the party pictures from my camera are on my photobucket:
http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/justrachet/bonvoyage/