El's comments

We are having a wonderful time--we are living the dream and it's great. Also great to have time--blessed wonderful TIME. We forget how much time we devote to work--getting there and back, getting ready for it, thinking about it. Now, we think about what we want to do today. Thailand is a contrast, between the old and the new. Brand new shopping centers for the ultra rich are popping up everywhere. We live in a Thai neighborhood so it is still pretty cheap but I wonder how long it will be before the old Thailand is a thing of the past. It is not as steeped in history and tradition as other places in Asia, like China, --the Thais are more playful and fun loving but they are very industrious and everyone works at something. In the department stores there are so many clerks that they are falling all over each other--they are very helpful and friendly--even though they can't understand a word you are saying. They will run and get the one person who can speak English. We live in a lovely condo complex. In the morning we get up and swim--in the afternoon we sightsee--at night, we take a yoga class. We can eat at the restaurant downstairs for a few bucks. They will fix me plain boiled chicken and plain rice so I can eat there. We can work out any time we want at the fully equiped health club. It's very nice. The fly in the ointment is the traffic (small price to pay, but a factor in our lives). Basically it's an hour bus ride to get anywhere unless we are going to the local shopping mall, food store, or movie. So all our adventures involve a lot of travel time but, like I said, we do have the time. We have a lot of exploring still left to do in order to see Bangkok. Next on our list is the National Museum. We are just back from Pattaya, a beach resort. I saw at least several dozen old fat white guys with young Thai girls on their arms. The beaches were very crowded with umbrellas, chairs, boats and watercrafts of all kinds--not so relaxing. But the sea was still warm and beautiful so we enjoyed our days on the beach. We are not likely to go back--it is very expensive by Thai standards--too much foreign money around and it's not our cup of tea if you catch my drift. We begin Thai language lessons next week so it's back to school and schedules--that's ok--it will just serve to remind us how precious our free time truly is.