Insights and Sites to See

I have been inspired to start this blog with a list of Things That You See On A Sidewalk In Bangkok:

• frogs/toads
• rats/mice
• un-neutered dogs and pregnant partners... and what leads to this...
• motorcycles, scooters and cars/vans - all who will honk at the person walking if they are in the way
• smoothie stands
• street vendors who have tables and chairs for you to sit at and dine, who are also equipped with umbrellas and tarps so that they can stay open even if it rains
• children being bathed
• people sleeping
• cats sleeping

This was inspired by my walk to the market and video store.

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Life here has not been too exciting the past week, although I am quite surprised to say that we are already half-way done our trip!  As of last Tuesday!  And today marked the half-way point in our teaching itself.  Crazy!  This blows my mind since I feel like I'm only just getting my footing in my classrooms.  To give some idea as to how this has come about, I can best describe the experience of teaching in Thailand as being similar to learning to skate - at first you are completely unbalanced and fall and do the wrong thing a lot, but once you figure it out, it starts to feel really good.  The students help with this last part (the making you feel really good part) as they have a resilient love for you, and they are always excited to see you - even if two slots before that you made them cry.  Also, they tell you things like "Miss Amanda - you so beautiful" and give you cards that remind you that "You are a beautiful and pretty.  I love you."  (If you can't tell, today was a better day than previous days and I'm riding the high).

Other than that, no news to speak of.  Sam and I were both not 100% last week so it wasn't all that crazy in the evenings.  We watched Erin Brokovich (which I hadn't seen in ages - and was reminded why I loved that movie) as well as Pride and Prejudice (the new - short - one).  As a result, I am currently reading Pride and Prejudice after having finished Alan Quartermaine.  So far I'm enjoying the book, but since this is now the second book in a row that I am reading that stars British characters in an older century I have found that my internal voice has taken on a British accent and I am predisposed to using language that is less suited to the current century.

Friday night we returned to our (apparent) favourite Bangkok bar - O'Reilly's at Sala Daeng BTS.  It was amazing.  This time we actually got to sit downstairs so we could see the band and we were people watching.  I had a caesar salad and it was possibly the greatest thing ever.

Saturday, Lynne and I adventured down to Khao San to talk to a travel agent about going to Vietnam.  That plan was unfortunately kiboshed by the fact that it would be too expensive - coupled with the fact that we would not be able to fly out until the Saturday morning and would have to fly back on Sunday night to teach the following morning.  Not cool.  To pick up our spirits, we did a great amount of shopping and I am quite happy to report that we were successful in purchasing most of the gifts that we are planning to bring home.  No you don't get to know what you are getting:P  Also, since this is a particularly touristy area they have a Subway so Lynne and I indulged in sandwiches that tasted like home. mmmm.

Sunday was the touristy day for us.  We were picked up by Wes (the same guide that looked after our Bangkok Temple Tour) to go to Ayutthya - a previous capital of Thailand that was burned to ruin by the attacking Burmese in the 18th century after having stood since the 14th century.  The ruins still remain and are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

It blew my mind to try and imagine what the sites would have looked like in their glory days.  We could pick out where there had previously been buildings that no longer existed.

Also, the Burmese beheaded the most of the Buddha statues in the city as they burned it to the ground.  This is best highlighted at Wat Phra Mahathat, where a tree's roots have grown around the statue head of a large Buddha in the aftermath of the sacking.

Here there is also evidence of major looting on the part of the Burmese as they actually dug under the stupas to get at their treasure.  As a result, there are buildings and walls that are leaning because of the altered foundation they were built on.

This site was followed up by Wat Phra Si Sanphet - a temple that was situated next to the Royal Palace of Ayutthya.  Here the three stupas were rebuilt after their partial destruction when the Burmese sacked the city.  I cannot imagine what it must be like to see the pyramids in Egypt because even next to these stupas I felt pretty small and could not begin to fathom how exactly they were built the first time around.

The Palace grounds are now, for the most part, open green space with remnants of walls that once were much taller than us but now we can simply step over them and walk on them.  Here there is less evidence that the Palace even existed as you walk on the grass, although you occasionally come across what was a path or stairway.

Before lunch, we visited the outdoor reclining Buddha.  Although this Buddha is not as large as the one in Wat Pho, it was still imposing.  Personally, I prefered this one to the one in Bangkok as the stone statue draped in the golden robe felt a lot more realistic and earthly, as opposed to the golden statue.

We also made our way to one of the temples that actually survived the Burmese.  The reason for its survival was that it was situated where the  Burmese had set up camp - making it a more dangerous target in comparison to the rest of the city.

Following lunch we went to a Chinese influenced Buddhist temple on the other side of the river.  This temple is one of the temples that is part of the Theravada Buddhist pilgrimage that people wishing to reach enlightenment must follow.  It was really neat to see the Chinese culture infused into the Thai culture, as there seems to be a number of differences between the two (in my eyes).

Overall, a very informative day.  I had not really been exposed to that much of Thailand's history before our visit to Ayutthya, but now I would like to do some more reading about it.

I'll keep you posted about this week and weekend!  I'm quite excited for our camping excursion.  TTFN! - Amanda