opposites

The internet where we're staying has been down. I saw some interesting wildlife since my last update--monkeys that will try to steal your camera if you get too close and a leech...right after it dropped off my leg. Leech bites don't hurt, but they sure do bleed for a while. Anyway, a trip to the rainforest is worth a little leech.

We also hit downtown a couple of times. Big cities are always exciting. Tall buildings, expensive but super good food, crowds. Many pictures to come at a later date.

Rockstar

Today we spent the whole school day at secondary school. Reportedly, I look like a mix of Harry Potter and Bill Gates, and, of course, we are pretty tall. We taught ultimate and then walked around the campus, stopping for snacks at the canteen. We also got to field a few questions about America in a couple of classes.
At a different school, in the afternoon, we learned how to play handball. We hear that America has a team. For the uninformed, it's kind of like playing basketball on a soccer field.
Action: here

Moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of rice

We are staying in a small city now for a few days, visiting at area schools and playing ultimate and teaching some English. Our schedule is filling up. Plus I got to show off my chopstick skills to a Chinese guy.

I have pictures posted here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2248017&l=df7ef&id=7002204

Homestay

We went to a cave in a mountain yesterday. The cave has a room where the light coming from the hole in the top makes it look moonlit in the middle of the day. Also, you can walk up and out of the other side and all over the mountain. It was jungly and terrific.

There's this program here where for like $17 a day, you can stay with a family and they feed you. It's pretty much awesome. They have to have a Western style (ish) bathroom, but they don't necessarily speak English. That just makes it more fun. We played games with the kids and ate crazy fruit and crazy spicy stuff and rice for three meals. It's pretty much awesome.

Flexibility

Watched an ultimate tournament today. Entertaining, and long. We caught up with some friends from earlier in the week and made some new ones today. There is a school here to prepare students to finish their studies in another country, and we met a couple of guys who plan to go to the University of Minnesota. We told them to buy big coats.

Adventure

One thing I like a lot is adventure. I think I got at least my fair share tonight. After my first experience with grass jelly tea, the group of us white guys drove around in a big ol' van on a bunch of back roads way outside of the city looking for a gas station with the gas light on. God made our gas last long enough, so no problem. Also, He probably had a hand in protecting us while we were backing up in traffic...several times.

durian smells

I walked past some durian (it's a popular fruit) in a market this morning. It smells a lot like feet. I hope I get to try it.

Saw a recording studio from the train today.
Jamming Studio
Garage Music Production
I like the sound of that.

KFC is probably the most popular Western restaurant around here. Makes me a bit of a celebrity, I guess. Anyway, we finally went to one today, and it happened to be staffed by deaf people. I think it was the first time I've finger-spelled in another language.