Singburi

And so I am here, and I am short on words.  I arrived at about 11 pm from the bus from Chiang Mai.  I was dropped off on the side of a highway just outside of town.  It was dark.  It was quiet.  I didn't know where I was.  And, maybe for the first time in all of my travels in Southeast Asia, I was actually afraid.  I was alone.  I didn't know where I was, where I was going. No cell phone and no map and no address and no directions. I stood there on the side of that road, sweating and tired and confused.  This is shit is deep.

And then a moto came along.  He spoke no English, and I suddenly realized how pathetic my Thai really was.  But somehow he loaded up his tiny moto and giant me and all my luggage and took me in to town to a hotel.  A real hotel, too, which was shocking considering how remote everything felt there in the dark.  I checked in, I laid down on my bed, I felt alone and okay with that and I went to sleep.

I woke up the next morning and began the Great Wander, that little adventure I so crave when walking the alleys of a foreign land....staring and seeing those who stare.  And suddenly everything began.

I have been to Laos, north and South...to Cambodia and the beaches and northernTthailand, to Bangkok and Krong Koh Kong and the alleys of Sri Racha.  But never have I been in a place where people come towards me to HELP, to truly help.  Within minutes of leaving that hotel and wandering in to the streets of a place I have never been for the first time, people of all ages were coming towards me to give me a hand.  To help me find an apartment or a moto or a way to get to the school that I will be working at.  But this time, it was different.  When I told them I am here to work for their schools it all changed. They weren't asking for money.  They weren't asking me to hire them.  They truly, so simplisticily, were just thankful that I am here.  Thankful that I have come to actually teach, to actually be a very, very small part in possibly givine their children an opportunity to further their education.  To learn.

I had a guy drive me around for hours helping me find an apartment.  He wouldn't even let me buy him lunch, let alone pay him for his service.  He simply said, "we are now friends." Another driver took me 20 minutes outside of town to a temple he loved because I told him I am interested in meditating.  Again, no payment. He just made me promise I would call him so we could spend time together.

Right now, honestly.....I just don't even know what to say.  To you it's likely all the boring stuff...found an apartment and a moto and a job and everything is cool.  But what I'm struggling with to find the words to discribe HOW all of this is happening.  To really illustrate what the community is doing for me....it's just....impossible.  But in my next post I'll give it a try.  And if it doesn't work, I have some pictures of awesome food and we can just go with that.

Last thing.....if you are interested in seeing where I am actually at, it's called Singburi City (mueang singburi) in Singburi Province, about two hours north of Bangkok.  Maybe look it up.

Next post....PICS!