No witty name for this post

See...I told you guys I would get back into the rhythm of blogging. Don`t tell anyone...but I just had to google how to spell rhythm after I got it wrong an embarrassing amount of times. So life is pretty chill over here still. Just  trying to find things during the day to keep ourselves busy, like going to MBK shopping center or watching Muay Thai fights.

At night it usually consists of us hitting up Khoasan road. Sometimes we get wild, but usually just to hang out. Since there are so many tourists on Khoasan someone came up with a brilliant way to exploit them...find the cutest little girls they can, give them a bunch of roses to sell, then unleash them on the unsuspecting tourists. As you all know I am a sucker for puppies, kittens, and children. A couple of weeks back when we first met two of these little girls it was because they had exploited some random guys into buying us roses, which is the norm. They go up to a group of people at a table, give highfives, play thumb wars, then convince the men to buy flowers for the women at their table or for random women at the surrounding tables. Since we have been in the Khoasan area for so long we have seen these girls a lot and have gotten to  be best friends with them, they give us candies and have also given Tits and I each a ring. Last week we found out it was going to be Sofi`s birthday on Sunday so we decided that we were going to have a bit of a party. Yesterday we went out and found a banana bread cake,  drizzled some chocolate syrup on it, stuck as man candles as we could on it and took it over to Khoasan. We were sitting at an outside bar waiting for them to show up when we see them come sprinting down the road towards us with huge smiles on their faces.

Sofi is the one in the red. The loved this so much, as soon as she had blown out all the candles they yelled `AGAIN` so we lit them all a second time and she let her sister blow them out. That was closely followed by them shoving cake into Tanita and my mouth`s and giggling the entire time. I asked if I could adopt them. They seemed really keen on the idea.

So that was nice. Today we decided it was the right time to do a Thai cooking class! Probably one of the better decisions I have made in my life. Tanita, Dom, Kyle and I went to a vegetarian restaurant where we would be learning how to make four dishes. Pad Thai, Curry,  Tom Yum, and Mango Sticky Rice. The instructor was adorable, she was so nice...but there was an awkward moment where she sat us down and made us sing a song about yummy food. Once we got past that she showed us the ropes. Thai cooking is so easy! Basically all you need is a handy little wok and this nifty stirfry-flipper-scoopy-utensil. I can`t wait to cook all this stuff at home cause it`s so fast and sooo yummy. Maybe if you ask me nicely, I can make you some Thai food.

I have something for you guys to check out. It`s Sasha Zaitsoff`s blog. If you are like me you may have been wondering why this is the first time you have heard that Sash has a blog, but he is shy and has kept this gem a secret. Even though it is mostly pictures, Sash`s personality really seems to shine through so for those of you who know him well might be able to appreciate it a tiny bit more. For those of you who don`t, or have no idea who Sasha is (you should, he is going to be famous very soon) you should still check it out because he has some really neat photos up. Hopefully through the ski season he will give us some words to read so we can keep up with his season, don`t forget to look out for him on the world cup circuit!

http://www.sashazaitsoff.com/

Volunteering like it's my job

That would be cool if it was my job. But it's not. And seeing as the schools are STILL flooded, I can think of no better way to spend my free time. Today was my third day at the red cross, you would think by now it would be less of a shock for them to see white people coming to help, but I don't think the novelty has worn off yet and they still get so excited! Today it was just Kyle and I, but on Thursday Lee also accompanied us. Who are they you might ask? Well I'll tell  you.

It's pretty cool how I met Kyle actually. I think so at least. Way back when we were staying on Phi Phi island, we decided that we were going to each have a 'bucket' which is exactly what it sounds like...it's a sand bucket full of alcohol. Tanita happens to be a very small person though and the alcohol seemed to hit her harder than most. This lead to me losing track of her a couple of times. At one point, after she had finished accidentally falling on a child and suffocating it a little bit, I found her down one of the roads eating some poor guy's pizza. That poor guy was Kyle. Most people would not stop to help a random drunk girl stumbling down the road, let alone let them have some of their slice of pizza...even pick off the ham from their pizza because the random drunk girl is a vegetarian. But Kyle did. When I showed up he continued to help me take Tanita back to our hotel room so she could pee and we got to talking. We found out we were both from Canada and when he asked me where in Canada I didn't expect him to have ever heard of Fernie. WRONG. He lived in Fernie this past summer and worked on at the mine. HOW COOL IS THAT?? I'm halfway across the world, on a tiny tiny island, and who do I run into? Someone who lived in Fernie!! Nobody here who I tell that story thinks its nrealy as cool as I do, but I don't think they realize how small Fernie is. Kyle and I think it's pretty cool. Anyways Kyle is a rockstar and showed up at our doorstep the next morning with two bottles of water for us. Obviously we became instant friends. He just arrived in Bangkok so we have been kicking it for the past couple of days and doing fun stuff.

And Lee. Well I met Lee in Laos when I was there doing a border run. He is a leprechaun. By that I mean he is Irish. And he also happens to be the sassiest person I have ever met. I know most of you are thinking, yeah right Mackensey, have you met yourself? But yes, it's true. There is someone out there sassier than I am.


Alright so now that all that is cleared up...On Thursday we rocked up to the Red Cross Hospital again, jumped on the back of the trucks, and headed out.


There are so pretty awesome views of the city from on top of a large truck

We actually ended up handing out supplies in the general area of where I am supposed to teach in. It's not looking so hot.

The rice master. Just kidding. He spilled everywhere.

Lee is pimping me out to these Thai guys at this exact moment. And he did it in Thai so I couldn't understand what he was saying. I told you. Sassy little leprechaun.

This is today. Another beautiful sunny day. This time we didn't go on the truck to hand supplies out, instead we helped pass along what seemed like 10 000 bottles of water on to a big truck full of army guys. It was pretty awesome. Then we packed clear plastic bags with all sorts of canned food which will later be handed out at the flooded areas. It was a really fun day, all the Thai people worked super hard and helped tell us what to do as best as they could.

My new hood <3

Kyle blending in with the Thai girls....not

 

Action shot. Don't you feel like you are right there with me?

Our crew

The bottles were really big. And kind of heavy. Good thing I spent all those years ski racing. The whole 'dryland' thing paid off today

They wanted a picture with the Farang. Not sure why I'm the only one smiling.

The beginning process of packaging. Things got more hectic. Much much more hectic.

It was lunchtime, but Kyle and I decided to hang back and finish helping tie the bags up. There were only 4 other people there so we got to sit in front of the fan. Score.

Who needs to go to the gym when you can single handedly move all these bags of cans?? Nice work champ.

Our other crew

I am going to sleep in tomorrow morning, then head back to the red cross again on Saturday for some more fun! It's the best feeling in the world being there and every time I walk away there is a huge smile on my face, and I get all giddy. It's what I imagine doing drugs would feel like. But better. I'm going to sleep so I wont be cranky tomorrow when I hangout with Tanita. I am trying to get her to break up with her boyfriend so I can keep her all to myself. No dice. I have a few tricks up my sleeve though. Before I go though, I want to send a big fat good luck to my boy Conrad who is starting his first world cup race at Lake Louise today. So proud! We all know you're going to kill it.

If you can't teach em...join em

Hey guys, you might have heard, but there has been lots of flooding in Thailand over the past few months. Yep. It's kind of a big deal. Read a newspaper. It has been a tad inconvenient for me, and I have been getting a little frustrated just waiting around. Today I decided to do something about it. Tanita and I woke up at 6:30 this morning, showered quickly then jumped on a bus and headed towards the Thai Red Cross Hospital. A few days ago we researched flood relief and saw that the Red Cross was taking volunteers to package survival kits and distribute them. That sounded right up our alley and we decided to do it. It actually took three tries, the past two mornings we haven't been able to wake ourselves up and ended up sleeping through our alarm but today we finally got our butts in gear. 

When we were on the bus, we me a man with a red cross on his shirt and he told us which stop to get off of and actually escorted us to the hospital because he was going to the same place. When we found the area for volunteers, the whole entire group of people stopped and stared at us, we were like celebrities. People were coming up to the guy we were with and asking (well we assumed this is what they were asking) what he was doing with two white girls, their faces just lit up when he told them we were here to volunteer and they all got excited and immediately took care of us. I felt bad that we were getting such special treatment but no one seemed to mind. We got placed in a team with three other young boys and an older guy who they put in our group because he spoke enough english to be able to give us instructions.We loaded up some more supplies into a massive truck, jumped in the back with said supplies, then hit the road. 

We drove for about an hour and a half and the first hour was uneventful. Then we started hitting water. The streets we were driving in had about a foot and a half of water in them, then it progressively started getting deeper. We saw peoples homes, businesses and fields submerged in a couple of feet of water. All Tanita and I could do was just sit there and look at each other with our mouths open. We turned down a rural road and drove for a few more minutes and saw more of the same. Then we came up to the spot where we would be handing out supplies. People were lined up along the road watching as our truck pulled up, they were sitting on huge dirt burms and sand bags, but they were smiling and clapping and yelling to Tanita and I you're beautiful. I don't know if they were talking about the way we looked, or the fact that we had come there to help, but I'm going to pretend it was the latter. I will never in a million years forget that. 

We jumped down out of the truck and were greeted by more smiles and cold water, then the work began. We formed a line, the older man in front handing out a bag of food, then Tanita giving them a pack of water, then me giving them a bag of right. It all happened so fast. We were handing out supplies like crazy, as fast as our hands could move and it was HOT. We were sweaty. Very sweaty. But there was an amazing lady who brought Tanita and I sun hats, and water, she even stuck a straw in the water and held it for us while we were handing out supplies. Even though it was super hot and we were doing some serious heavy lifting, I had a smile plastered to my face the entire time. 

The boys. How adorable are they? We wanted to put them in our pockets and take them home with us.

This is the lady who gave us hats and water. She took so many photos of us and grabbed everyone who was too shy to ask us for a photo and got them to pose with us. There were a lot. The man who was acting for translator told us that so many people came up to him and told us how amazed they were to see us there, they appreciated it so much because it showed them that other countries around the world do care, and do want to help and they aren't in this crisis alone. He also said he had lots of people come up and ask us why the foreigners came to help people from a different country, his response was that volunteers have no nationality. I thought that was beautiful and the perfect way to describe it.

They insisted on showering us with fresh cooked food and water and fruit and kept offering us things to drink and eat. We had to keep declining and declining. We didn't want to eat all their food!

The boys kicking back for some well deserved Bacardi Breezers...super manly drinks. But they are 17. And just bought alcohol underage and seemed pretty proud of themselves so we didn't make fun of them

I retract my further statement about Thai people not necessarily being friendly. I think that is just in Khoasan road area. Here they were beautiful. The floods may be a tiny bit of an inconvenience for me, but for them it is devastating. It broke my heart to see their land and their houses completely underwater because they don't deserve that. I wish I could do more to help but I guess there is nothing anyone can do about mother nature. All I know is that I am going back.

Bangkokable

It's me again! You guys tired of reading my blog yet? Yeah well deal with it. But I forgot about a few things that I should have blogged about. Like the last night Mick was here. We had heard about a festival a few blocks away happening that night, so we got all dressed up, went out for a nice dinner then headed over to check out the festival. 

The festival included lighting lanterns and sending them into the air, and decorating boats with flowers and incense and sending them out in the water as an offering. The boats were really beautiful so obviously I wanted to send one of my own out.

We met some university students who has just made their own boats and they gave my all their left over incense. Clearly the logical thing to do was put all of it on my boat. There was so many that i had to sacrifice a hair elastic to keep them all together. So worth it. When I lit it up all the Thai around us were laughing because the flame was really big. I think they were impressed...

It was a great night and a nice way to send Mick off. 

Alright back to the present.  Since Tanita and I are just hanging out in Bangkok right now I thought there wouldn't be anything really to blog about and I would get a well deserved break after all that crazy updating. But Bangkok has surprised me. We went for a walk outside our hotel and decided to wander over to a park we had caught a glimpse of earlier. On our way me met the cutest Thai man ever! Before I came here I heard that Thai people are the nicest people ever...unfortunately we have found that isn't actually the case. We are getting the vibe that they don't really like Farang. (westerners) But this man was so nice! After he finished laughing at us for trying to climb over a barrier and run across a busy highway he showed us the proper way to get to the park and we had a nice conversation with him about the floods, and his pregnant wife who he was waiting for. It warmed my heart a little bit. 

So we finally got to the park, and were very excited to see grass! It sounds silly but it is not a common thing you see much of in a city like Bangkok. We were slightly disappointed to learn that the grass wasn't all that soft and it actually hurt more than felt nice, but still, we were excited. I stopped to casually play some soccer with a few members of the Thai army, then we made our way to the middle of the park where we settled down to watch the sun set over the Grand Palace. There was a nice breeze, some kids were flying a kite, and we played "Three Things", a game that kept the quad entertained over the summer where you have to choose three things you would live with for the rest of your life. It was a nice moment, just a little reminder that life is good. 

Hopefully nothing exciting happens to me in the next couple of days so I can give you a break from reading this thing. Lot's of love from across the world. Hope you are all enjoying the cold weather...it's 33 and sunny here....awkward....