Monday August 2, to Monday August 9
So much has happened and I have found no time to write. I can only summarize from here. Before I start I have to say I got a guitar finally. We went to Pata again and I checked out the acoustic guitars and made a decision on a Kimus (a highly recommended guitar). I paid 2,700B and it works fairly well, enough to satisfy my cravings. Ok so we went to Ko Chang – Jason, Brandon, and I. We took a bus which was about 5 hours, costing 198B. We took it to Trat then took a boat ride across to the island. We had no clue where we would be staying and by the time we got on the boat it was dark and probally about 7pm. There were other people going to the island and we questioned them to where they were staying. When we landed on shore we decieded just to follow the Canadians we met that were staying at “Cookie” resort and bungalows. We discovered that there was only one truck taxi left traveling to the resort area, because the island is fairly undeveloped. Mostly forest and only one main road circling the island. There were 16 people who needed a ride on this truck taxi, the size of a pickup truck with a covered roof and bench seats with a riding bar on the rear. So we ended up fitting, or rather cramming, all 16 of us on the back with 4 people hanging on the rear. The island is fairly mountainous and we had trouble getting up the hills with all the weight in the back. It was pitch black out and all I saw was what was illuminated by the trucks headlights, it seemed as if we were trying to escape out of the country. Everyone had a good time and we followed the Canadians to the resort and got a bungalow right on the beach for 600B a night, now that’s 200 each…so about 5 bucks a night to stay right on the beach! We got situated and decided to walk a bit down the main road and get something to eat. There were not too many shops but definitely a few for the tourists. After finishing we had nothing to do but go to bed. Brandon slept on the floor and me and Jason shared a king size bed. We could hear the waves crashing 20 feet from our door and I went into a deep sleep. Next thing I remember is hearing the wind howling and a downpour of rain flooding our hut. The rain was so heavy that you couldn’t see outside at all, almost like looking underwater. I tried to ignore it and we had to close the door so that Brandon wouldn’t be soaked. I woke up at about 6am and it was still raining, I had planned to take an early walk and maybe yoga on the beach but that plan didn’t look like it would happen. So I went back to bed and woke up a little later when the rain was down to a light drizzle. We ate breakfast and decided to rent motorbikes to ride down south more and find another place to stay for the upcoming night. We checked out and got the bikes, mine was a manual transmission 125cc, it was 150B for 24 hours. I had to put Jason on the back of mine and his crutches and all our backpacks made the bike a little unbalanced. We went slow until I had the hang of it. We traveled down the road for about 15 minutes until we found another area where we could rent a bungalow and as soon as I stopped on the side of the road we tipped over and Jason and I fell off with the bike landing on top of us. No one got hurt and we all had a good laugh from it. After we got our bungalow, me and Brandon drove our bikes around the island and planned to go to a nice waterfall but it was closed, we think because of the extra rain may had made it dangerous. The roads on the island were fun to navigate. There were many hills and curves and it was also raining slightly. I enjoyed risking my life several times and forgot only two times what side of the road I should be driving on, no biggie. Brandon fell off the bike on one massive curve that had a 50 or 60 degree slope. I didn’t see it because he was quite a bit behind me, but I noticed he wasn’t behind me and waited for him. There was no damage to him, and more importantly none to the bike. We decided to head back when Brandon’s gas gauge was reading empty. We slowly found a place to fill up and then headed back to meet up with Jason. We shopped around a bit and got some souvenirs and ate some more good food. We stayed the night there for 400B, or about 133B each. The experience was pretty good and we met some interesting people along the way. We took a mini bus back that fitted about 10 people and that took longer than we expected, about 7 hours, because the driver kept stopping and resting and eating and all sorts of random activities. We made it back in one piece and my first island trip was a success. We got back on Wednesday evening and had to register for class on Thursday. I woke up Thursday and got my stuff together for registration. I got to the building and met all the international students and it was good to see some fresh faces. The day went smoothly and we had a terrific lunch, free of charge. I signed up for classes, and they all sound interesting. I also signed up for a Thai Kick Boxing class, so we will see how that goes. I did meet some Japanese and French students that seem easy to get along with. It is a new experience to meet so many different people and all of us are unfamiliar with Thailand, so we have a common goal. This is what gets me up in the morning and keeps me excited about the day ahead. I can’t get enough of the exploring and meeting new people. I go to sleep late at night and wake up early so I get the most out of the day, I always feel like I am doing something and although I love life that way, I need to take things a bit slowly. There is too much to do in 24 hours.
I meet more people that are staying in the same building and there was a consensus that we should make the most of our 3 day weekend and go to another island, Ko Samet. I agreed and we met at 7 am to make the trip. This time only a 3 hour bus trip that cost 128B one way. We arrived on the beach and the weather was nice, and we had trouble finding a place to stay. We ended up getting a 2 large bungalows with 3 king size beds. There were 6 guys and 5 girls. So the guys were in one and the girls in the other. We all ate dinner and enjoyed the beach before the sun went down. We stayed up late and talked at the restaurant/bars on the beach. There were a fair amount of other people there and we made friends quickly. The locals are the best to talk to and they are all very friendly and laid back. At night there was a “fire” show where they would spin a flaming stick and some nun-chuck type things. It was entertaining and some of the guys tried it with no real success and a couple of burn marks. We did some night swimming and the water was always warm. The sand was white and extremely soft under my feet. These islands were known for their coral reefs and I felt a few rocks and coral a few times. After going to sleep and waking up early I felt relaxed and amazed at where I was. I off the Cost of Thailand and it all seemed so surreal. It was all hard to take in, there was too much beauty surrounding me and I couldn’t help but notice it all. The new day was a perfect one at that. The sky was deep blue and white clouds whisked high above, if any place was paradise, it was here. The island mountains rose up behind me while the cost line made several inlets so as to hug the crystal water. There ocean had no quarrel and remained placid and smooth all day. This made swimming a dream, like diving into a warm vein traveling to the heart world. After swimming a bit I decided to trek the island and see what was out there. I got packed up and took rations and headed out exploring while the others relaxed on the beach. I just followed the main dirt road up until I hit another beach where, it just so happened, I saw several topless women sunbathing. I didn’t not stare of course and it seemed normal yet foreign to me, and I believe only Americans would feel this way. I kept hiking up to the northern tip and went through several local villages. They had huts on stilts out on the water and also on the land. I traveled by the main boat dock, where there were many shops, and found a woman making fried bananas on the side of the road. These I had to try, and believe me they were worth the 10B. I have to say they have been my favorite food I have tried in Thailand. After exploring around the whole island and eating a bit here and there I managed to find my way back to the beach were we were staying. I had spent 4 or 5 hours out in the sun and had put little sun tan lotion on. My skin did feel a bit burned but it only got worse later on that night. We played some soccer and Frisbee on the beach with a few other locals and ate a good meal again on the beach. We all stayed up, the others drinking and carrying on, but I enjoyed it still. They respected my choice and we all had a good time. We checked out and got on the boat the next morning and I sat in a hammock for the ride to the island. This was the highlight of my weekend, it seemed like bliss for that 30 minutes, with me swinging back and forth in the back of the boat floating along the coast of Ko Samet. I closed my eyes and didn’t want the moment to end, but of course we had to land on shore again, and the journey continued. Took the bus back with no problem and made it back alive for one more day. By this time it was Sunday at about 4, so a few of us needed to get some last minute uniform items before showing up at Thammast on Monday. I had to get some black pants and search for inexpensive black shoes. I got the pants, which desperately need hemming but no luck on the shoes. I decided I would just wear my converse. We were going on a tour so we had to be in basic uniform, but the shoes didn’t really matter.
After waking up Monday morning I headed to Thammast for the Vimanmek Mansion tour and the Grand Palace tour. Jason decided to stay behind and sleep until his class later in the day. So I went with the group from my building and we met other students at the meeting point. The first tour we went to was the mansion, it was “the worlds largest golden teakwood mansion”. It was built by King Rama V, the most adored and respected Thai king. He enjoyed western architecture and so the large mansion had many styles built into it. It had the first electric chandelier and first shower and many other technological advances for their day. The mansion was huge, it had 78 rooms and several sets of staircases. The sections were color coated and separated different parts of the mansion. I believe there was blue, green, ivory, pink and peach. The king’s area was peach. This mansion housed millions of dollars of artifacts and gifts given to the previous kings and whatnot. I enjoyed the Chinese section with many teapots and paintings. The king had a different colored tea set for each day of the week. I also found out that Vimanmek means “paradise”. The tour took about an hour and a half and we saw some traditional Thai dancing at the end. I got to talk to my Japanese friend, Eshike, and also the French one, Mail. After eating some rice and cantaloupe, we got back on the bus and headed out back towards Thammasat. We stopped and let out anyone who didn’t want to go on the next tour of the grand palace. Then drove down the street towards the entrance of the Temple, which is within walking distance from the school. The Grand Palace “(the temple of the Emerald Buddha) is the city’s landmark and should be the first place on any visitor’s itinerary. The Palace built in 1782, consists of several buildings with highly decorated architectural details. The magnificent Royal Chapel, Wat Phra Kaeo, which is the same compound, houses the Emerald Buddha, one of the most sacred Buddha images in Thailand”. That is the description the school gave us on the handout describing the trips. When we arrived at the Grand Palace, we had to wait a bit for another group to show up. Once our guide got everything taken care of, we were able to proceed into the compound. We got in for free, where normal tourists would have to pay 200B. We had a another lady meet us and she was our tour guide inside. I will attempt to recall all that I had seen, and give some history that I have in one of my Thailand books. When you first walk in through the gates and pass through the surrounding wall and roofing, you spy the enourmous sparkling temple and other tall structures. Everything is brightly colored and gleaming in the sun. You are suddenly transported into another world. You are greeted with the Wat Phra Keo, the temple that houses the Emerald Buddha. This structure has several overlapping roofs and shingles in blue, red, and orange. The points at the top are covered with gold, and as you eye extends down you notice all the detailed work inlayed in the pillars and on the side of the building, words can not describe. There are many other structures jutting out high into the sky. The Phra Si Rattana Chedi, is the tall gold covered cylindrical building. It contains a pieced of the Buddha’s breastbone. As I turned around and looked around the whole place I saw many tall statures of the Ramakien Monkey Guardians. They are the classic Thai figures and there are, I believe, eight sets of them. Each with different characteristics, for example, one pair had a elephant trunks for their noses. After walking with the guide and hearing the history behind the many buildings we headed towards the old throne hall. We passed by the may wall paintings, and this too was amazing to see. The “Ramakien Gallery extends clockwise all the way around the 178 panels depicting the complete story of the Ramakien.” This distance is about 2,080 yards, which is just amazing. The story is a mythological tale of the monkey king, love and war. As we pass by the tour guide explains some sections as to what is happening. All of it was hand painted and very detailed and beautiful. We continue walking under the roofed wall, and then the dark clouds rolled in and it began to downpour. It rained hard for about 10 minutes, then it slowed up enough so that we could walk to the old living palace of the Kings. This area is closed off to normal tourists, but we had special privileges because we were Thammasat students. This area we had to take off our shoes at the door and we were not allowed to take pictures, but it was all very beautiful and antique. I enjoyed walking without shoes and many places require it, like the Vimanmek mansion and some restaurants. We saw many artifacts and the rooms were expansive and grand. As we were about to leave it began to downpour again so we waited inside and we all had time to relax and take it all in. I sat crossed legged on the floor, closed my eyes, and just felt the energy in the room. It had a very serene and comforting feeling that allowed me to meditate easily. We sat for about 20 minutes, until the rain let up a bit and some people sent over large umbrellas for us to share. We continued out of the palace and followed the tour guide as she pointed out new things. We stopped at the royal guest house and this is where any of the kings guests stay, like queen Elizabeth or other royalty. By this time I realized I was late for my first class which started at 3:30, Thai Civilization. A few other people were headed out to go to class so I went with them. We walked back to Thammasat, which took only 8 minutes or so. When we got to the class it was about 4:15 and we snuck in the back and sat down wherever there was a seat available. The teacher didn’t notice, or ignored us, and kept on teaching the material. What, material already! She had already started teaching on the first day of class, which I did not expect. I noticed that there were about 10 international students, which were all wearing their uniform, and about 20 Thai students, which only one was wearing his uniform. So I figured the dress code was pretty lax. I also found it interesting that the Thai students talked constantly amongst each other and some were even crashed out sleeping on the table. There was constant chatter during the teachers lecture and she didn’t tell anyone to be quite or wait for people to give her silence. So learning here will be different, but I think I can manage. After class was over I waited for the other international students which had been sitting on the other side of the room. Anna in particular because we had gotten to know each other a bit and I wanted to see what she was up to. Anna is from Florida, but she has been going to schools all over the world and has an accent. Her parents live in Spain now, so she said that even though she is from Florida she has no other home at the moment other than here. I first noticed her when she was carring one of those grocery bags that are canvas, it has a rainbow and turtles on it and says “save the environment” in German, the same one that Meaghan has. So we walked and went over to the international office where I picked up my student I.D. card and she had to revise her schedule. There I met two other Thai students and Matt, a guy that lives in my building that I had not talked to much before. They said they were going to get food at the cafeteria so I joined them and said bye to Anna. One of the Thai girls had just graduated Thammasat. She introduced herself as Joop, it means kiss. We talked a lot and she was very interested in finding out more about both of us and America. She said she has traveled a lot, but has never been to America. She made us laugh and taught Matt and I how to pick up Thai girls. She taught us Koon Soo-Ay Mah Krup – you are so beautiful, and Pom Chorp Koon – I like you. I was a fun experience and by then it was about 6pm so Matt and I headed out and said good bye, and they took down our emails and our room numbers. After getting back and meeting up with Jason, I was tired and took it easy for the rest of the night.
Tuesday August 10, 2004
Jason, Brandon, and I decided to go to Cosaun Road today. This is one of the largest market streets in Bangkok, you can basically buy anything here. There are always a ton of tourists and backpackers, and this is a place you have to be careful in. I had not previously been there before, but Jason and Brandon gave me the low down. You can negotiate on anything and if you want something you don’t see you can just ask and they will probally have it. You want ninja throwing stars, tazers, pirated software and movies? You can get it, and for cheap. When we arrived we agreed to go our separate ways and meet at the Burger King right at the top of the road in about an hour. There was clothes, hand carved elephants and Buddhas, jewelry, books, insense, knives, swords, electroand plenty of places to buy fruits and the like. I had only been there for about 10 minutes when:
Experience: ...will tell you guys later...So after I had gotten out of the alley it was already time to meet the guys at Burger King. I walked feeling stunned and stupid. I needed time to digest it all, so when I showed up to meet them I must have looked a little out of it, I just said all the shopping and things to buy overwhelmed me. I asked if anyone was hungry because I saw a place where they had cheap food and some vegetarian stuff. We walked to the place and it was a traditional Thai restaurant. By this I mean open to the street, small, and with wooden tables and stools. Very simple. I ordered Pad Thai with Tofu and an Ice Tea. All this was delicious, and only cost me 35B. Brandon had class so he took a taxi to Thammasat while me and Jason took one back to our apartment. We rested a bit and then Jason and I walked down to the market by the Phrachan pier, about 15 minutes, where there is a fairly large market. Along the way we found the Post Office and I mailed 3 post cards, one to Mom, one to Pops, and one to the Samahas. We got some food and miscellaneous items, I needed some thread and needles to hem up my black pants because they were excessively long. So we got back and just took it easy for the rest of the evening. I read some Thoreau and typed some, and attempted to send pictures via the internet, but no luck. I have class tomorrow at 12:30, Thai society and economy. Brandon and I are in the same class so we are going to walk it together. Did a half hour of yoga and meditation that helped clear my head of things and kept me centered, I got to sleep easy.

Wednesday August 12, 2004
Woke up early, too early so I went back to bed and woke up again at around 9. I had class at 1230 so I went to Brandon’s room to see if he was up yet because we are in the same class. We talked and agreed to meet at 1200 downstairs and walk to class together. The walk to Thammasat isn’t so bad. We have to go up cement stairs and across a bridge, then down a set of stairs again. Then we turn though Wat Amarian, which is a fairly big compound. It has the standard temple with beautiful architecture, but what I find mysterious about this Wat is an old, smaller temple structure that looks as if it had once been burned down. It looks very old, yet it miraculously remains it posture. It has a black and white feel to it, with the temple roof in ancient green shingles and monotone paintings. Every time I pass, it feels like a haunted house, yet it contains wisdom, and I am speechless and awe struck every time. It is off to the side and many others pass by it without even a glance, but I am swallowed by it every time. After we pass through the temple grounds and walk out through the golden gates we continue down the street towards the pier. This pier is the “Railway” pier and connects us to Phra Chan pier right next to Thammasat. The whole trip usually takes 15-20 minutes. It costs 2B to take the ferry, and we usually arrive fairly dry. We walked to the class and made it there at 1230, but it seemed that the previous class had just gotten out. We waited and then sat down with a few other people I knew. I had heard that the Thais just use time as more of a basic guideline and not as an exact measurement. After the teacher came she explained that we would probably be starting 5 to 10 minutes after 12:30, so that’s OK with me. The class was Thai society and economy and the topics she explained were interesting. After class we talked a bit with some other people and then decided to go eat something at the cafeteria. I got some veg. food again with some corn chips and corn and tofu and just some random stuff with spicy sauce on top, it was interestingly delicious. We met Josie there, another international student from Louisiana who is 2 feet taller than me, and we ate together. We went our separate ways afterwards and I went to look in the bookstore. I met up with Brandon there and we decided to find out if the library has the books we need because many people make copies of the book instead of buying it brand new, which leads to me questioning the copyright laws around here but the teachers even recommend that we copy them. It costs about a quarter of the price, which compared to text books back home, it is extremely cheap. I think about a 100B per book, which is less than three bucks. So we went to the library and Brandon found out that the books were somewhere else and I sent him on a mission to find them and get them copied while I used the schools computers to send some emails. Afterwards I decided to rent a dvd from the library and watch it. You see the school has a big multimedia area where there are about 30 tv’s with dvd players and head phones where you can watch movies, so this looked like a good idea. I got the movie Bad Company with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins, it was alright but I got bored of it after a while. After I finished that I went back to eat some more at the cafeteria, because it is good and cheap, but the Vegetarian place was closed. I tried ordering at another place but I ended up getting a dish with meat in it so that was no good. While I was sitting at the table a man came up to me selling bottle openers. I had seen him go up to many people and they all rejected him. He then came up to me and spoke surprisingly good English. He said that he was unemployed and needed to get money for is underprivileged children. He had a soft voice and his eyes were truthful, even behind his thick glasses I could see someone in need. He said they were 25B and only 5B is profit for him. I really didn’t need a bottle opener and even if I bought one just to help him out I wouldn’t use it. So I just gave him 20B and he blessed mean and said that he knew I was kind and generous from my hansom face. I’m glad to help anyone, and what goes around comes around. After I left the cafeteria I headed back to my Apt. There was another International student I ran into. I forget his name at the moment, but I think it is Matt. Anyway he waned me to go get some beer with him later and told me to meet him out front of Pata, the department store at 9pm, I said I wasn’t sure I would make it, but I think he expected me because I really didn’t object too strongly. Well I crossed the river again and went back to my apt to see what Jason had been up to. We decided we were hungry because I didn’t eat the dish that they gave me with meat in it at the cafeteria. We got Brandon and went to the little restaurant near our place, a traditional Thai sidewalk dinner, like I had previously described. I ordered papaya salad, or Som Tum I think. We got several dishes and didn’t know whose was what. After dissecting the dishes I we all found ours and began eating. Then, a funny feeling came over me, my mouth felt like it was lit on fire. This dish was freaking spicy, and I mean deadly spicy. I went through two bottles of water and a bowl of rice before I even got halfway done. My head was throbbing and I felt light headed, like I was about to pass out. I thought the dish was delicious, but just really spicy. It was a cold dish, like a salad, with tomatoes, sliced papaya and peanuts, and of course chili peppers and red flakes which meant it was dangerous. I turned out all our meals were spicy and we must of looked like fools downing water and our faces turning red. Mine and Jason’s eyes and nose were watering pretty bad. I couldn’t finish my meal and mouth and lips felt like they had gone to hell and back. Well that was an experience. I left still hungry so when we came back to the apt. I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I went up to Brandon’s room and we brought down the movie Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, that is an illegal copy he bought on Cosaun Rd. The Quality was pretty poor but I watched it all the way through. After it was over I began typing this. Then I expect I will read a bit then go to bed.

Thursday August 12, 2004
The Queen’s birthday, no class. So I wake up to the phone ringing, I answer it and it is Moo, a Thai student. She says hello and wants to know if I want to go with her and some other international students out to lunch today, so I was glad someone wanted to hang out with me and agreed to meet at 12:00 at Thammasat. We debated where we would go eat, but since Moo and I are vegetarians we had limited choices. She finally decides we will go to this good vegetarian restaurant near Cosaun road. The place is underneath a hotel, but looks homely. The whole menu looked delicious and I had a hard time choosing, but I decided on the noodles with fried tofu and vegetables and peanut sauce. Then I got a banana shake, that was awesome too with a hit of coconut milk. After I finished that I had to get this desert: Black sticky rice with mango and banana in a bowl with coconut milk. This was amazing too, like a sweet cereal. After we ate there, we decided to look around on Cosaun Rd. and some one wanted to look at books. So we did that for a bit then went to a ice cream place where they got fondue and multiple flavors of Ice cream. I have been having trouble keeping the vegan diet here. About half of the dishes you get have egg in them and I have since learned to say Mai Kai, no egg, but I have eaten egg out of hunger and frustration that I can’t order what I want. I haven’t had any cheeses or cows milk here, but I cant read the ingredients on any of the packaging, so I’m not positive that the bread I’ve been getting is vegan either, well any way I had to have a few bites of ice cream too. It’s hard here, a good 95 percent of the students got out late and drink a lot, and of course I don’t, and also I am a vegetarian and I have only met 1 other international student that is also a vegetarian. So it is hard to go out and have fun with people who don’t like the same things you like. It then gets to the point where they either naturally filter me out of their daily activities or they pressure me into doing things I don’t want to do. Well either way I feel like the outcast, even amongst foreigners in Bangkok. I do feel guilty and like I had committed a grave sin because I had some ice cream. Well after we were done there, we decided to head back and we walked through this park to get on the nearest ferry. There are some festivities already starting, little girls are dressed up and having a formal dance. We continued on to the river where we took the speed boats back to the pier close to my building. By this point everyone else had gone separate ways and I was left to walk back to my apt alone once again. Before I got to my apt. I had planned to call Meaghan, and that’s just what I did. I got to hear her voice for the first time since I left and even though she was mad I was happy to talk to her. We couldn’t talk long because she was just getting to work, so the time difference is always a problem. Well headed back to my apt. and I met up with Brandon and Dave eating in the downstairs restaurant, they said they were going to see the festivities near the grand palace and national museum. There is this gigantic circular field that is used for these purposes. I went up and got Jason and we left with a group of people from my building. As I walked down the streets I saw white lights adorning the trees, like Christmas. The streets and trees are filled with this warm glow, people are flocking to the area to celebrate and honor the Queen. As we were getting fairly close we begin to hear loud bangs in the air. We look around and realize that they have started the fireworks show. Everything has slowed to a standstill and everyone is looking in the air at the massive fireworks that are exploding off in the distance. By this time we are in the middle of a main road looking up into the air with palm trees light up and surrounding us. It was quite a breathtaking moment. The fireworks lasted a good 10 minutes and they came from 3 different directions around where we were standing, so when one side stopped a new side would start theirs, so all of Bangkok was lit up with these explosions of color. After it had all finished we continued to follow the crowd into the massive field where there were about 5 stages set up. Each stage had its own performance. Some dancing some musical and some comical, at least that’s what I’m guessing. The crowd was thick at this point, and we all had difficulty following each other through this mess. The must have been half of Bangkok in this area because it was packed, shoulder to shoulder. We passed the usual vendors, selling unidentifiable meats or canned drinks. We made our way to one stage, but it just was not that enjoyable. There was music and noise coming from every direction and people were brushing and shoving past us. We decided that we had taken in enough so we headed to the outside and less dense area. We got to an area where we could regroup and decided that we needed some food. We headed out to Cosaun road again, and if you hadn’t figured it out this is the main road to go to if you want anything and everything. We stopped at quite restaurant, but it turned out to be not so quite after all. The man at the table next too us was a bit intoxicated and kept asking us questions and just blabbering on while we were trying to enjoy our meals. It was interesting. I ended up getting a watermelon smoothie, which was basically blended up watermelon (sill delicious), and some vegetarian spring rolls. We all talked for a bit and had I had a good night overall. We took a taxi back, it was almost midnight and the traffic was still horrible. Brandon found out the hard way that it is impolite to talk about any of the royal family’s age. The driver said “it’s the queens birthday”, and we said “yeah…uh happy birthday queen” because we felt the driver was expecting us to say something. But Brandon said “yeah, how old is she again, 72 or something?”.. and the driver just stared back at us in silence, that was the end of that conversation. So when we got back Brandon tipped they guy a little extra because he didn’t want to get reported and deported. I stayed up a bit and read, and then got some ZZZ’s. I didn’t sleep too well though