Tim had to travel to Bangkok on Friday to request a travel visa from the Embassy of India. Interestingly enough, he said there were several monks there waiting to obtain visas as well. He chatted with a couple monks who said they were going to Maryland to visit a friend. All the people around the monks were very deferential - moving out of their way, giving up seats for them - a degree of respect you don't see much in the states for anyone. And you wouldn't believe the kind of information the embassy requires before they will consider granting a visa - including paycheck and bank account information. They said if you didn't have your bank statements, you could just provide the pin for your account - as if! We'll see what happens - they said it would take eight days.
On Saturday, we went to Central Festival, which is the big mall in the center of Beach Road, the main drag. We decided to take in a movie. We were hoping to see "Interstellar," but again arrived at the wrong time, so we saw "Mockingjay" instead. Pretty good special effects, but I still don't like how Katniss is portrayed - liked her much more in the books.
After the movie, we noticed several groups of kids in the mall wearing matching outfits and figured there must be some kind of dance program going on. There always seems to be some kind of event happening at this mall. It turned out to be a Teen Dancercise competition. It was held outside under a tent in 90-degree weather, but the kids didn't seem to mind, even though some of them were wearing heavy costumes. We sat and watched for a while - seemed very American to me, but it made me question what really makes something American? The world is so small anymore, fads can become global in a day.
Got a kick out of the group of girls wearing Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames sweaters!
Check out Ronald McDonald performing a "wai." "So wat di kaa, Khun Ronald!"
And there are Christmas decorations here - not sure if this happens everywhere in Thailand, or just here in Pattaya because of all the "farangs." I dunno, it doesn't really make it feel more Christmas-y to me when all the other clues are absent, like the cold weather and the Christmas lights. On the left is the construction of the "Christmas tree" (if you look closely you can see the guys climbing around on the structure adding the greenery), and on the right is the completed tree with a plethora of Snoopy decorations.
Saturday night we were in our hotel room when we heard the distinctive "boom" of fireworks. It was only 8:30, and the fireworks weren't supposed to start until nine. So I threw on my shoes and dragged Tim down to the street. (We were on the wrong side of the hotel to see from our room). The fireworks had stopped by the time we got downstairs, but we figured maybe it had just been a few practice rounds. The street was closed to traffic, which was nice because you usually have to take your life in your hands crossing the street. We walked a little way down Beach Road, past booth after booth selling all manner of things, and walked through to the beach. Every day Thai workers come and set up chairs and umbrellas for the tourists, and every night they take them down. Well, tonight the chairs were still there, and all were turned 90 degrees to face the center of the bay, which for us was south. We were immediately greeted by a young Thai woman in a "Hello Kitty" t-shirt, who politely informed us that it was "one chair, 100 baht." (That's about $3). So we paid our 200 baht and sat down in a couple of lounge chairs that had clearly been sat in by hundreds of farangs before us, and were listing slightly toward the water.
We enjoyed some people-watching: a couple launched a chinese lantern, and a "woman" in front of us turned out not to be a woman at all. This is really common here, and the transgender population is a very accepted part of society. It made me wonder: if it is so well-accepted here, are people more open to raising their child as transgender, or does it manifest later in the teen years? It reminded me of a book the library just got, entitled "My Princess Boy." It was not terribly well-written, but it was the first time I'd seen the subject addressed for a child.
Anyway, the fireworks were supposed to start at 9 p.m. Shortly after 9:30, the street lights were turned off, and the fireworks began. It was a sublime, enchanted evening. I hate to use a cliche', but the fireworks really were spectacular. Oddly enough, four European teams were the only participants: United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Italy. Don't know if a winner was actually announced, but it was very enjoyable.
Things are "booming" in Thailand!
Hi Liz! Finally getting to catch up on your blog and LOVE IT! Please keep the stories coming for those of us stuck back in Commerce, where you can't see Pontiac Trail through the library windows for the snow coming down right now. My BFF Joshua and his partner have many trangender friends, and most of them went to Thailand to have their reassignment operations. Apparently it is easier/cheaper to get such procedures done there than it is here.
ReplyDelete