A Little Catching Up

I've decided sending e-mails gets too complicated. I'll update y'all on the past week when I get a chance.

Where I'm Living:

I guess you could call where I live an apartment. It's in a quiet neighborhood outside of Bangkok. There are about 60 of us all living all together. There are 3 floors with different sections that each have 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. In each of the "units" there are large living/dining spaces with outdoor patio areas. There are people from all over, including Thailand which makes getting around a lot easier. I have had so much fun getting to know people; I feel like I've known some people for years!!

E-mail from January 3rd:

Sawsatdee ka (Hello...duh!),

I was going to wait and send this e-mail until after school started, but after receiving so many e-mails to make sure I'm okay, I decided to go ahead and let y'all know what's up. (I wasn't at the club that burned down and didn't have internet service for a few days. Sorry for not letting anybody know where I was.) So far, I've done pretty much everything I was told not to do (eat ice chips, ride--well, drive rather--a moterbike, eat fresh fruit, and walk through the jungle barefoot) but I'm still alive!!

On the 1st, 15 of us left for Kanchanaburi, about 3 hours west of Bangkok. We stayed in guest houses on the water; despite sharing a small room with 4 other girls, the place was amazing!! The next day/yesterday, we rented motorbikes and did some site seeing. We all paired up and I was just going to ride, but after one guy fell and couldn't get the hang of it, I volunteered to drive. We drove in light traffic through a mix of country side and mountains. We drove to a waterfall that was an hour away at about 100km/hr. All the guys were really impressed that I could drive so well. Score! (Don't worry Mom and Dad, I don't want a motorcycle anymore, but I am adding a dirtbike to my Christmas list.) After dinner, some of us took the bikes out again and pretty much drove all over downtown Kanchanaburi (it's a pretty small town, but driving on the left made it a little awkward). For dinner, I ordered fried fish, but when a whole fish was brought out, I totally freaked out. It turned out to be really tasty though. Today, we drove (in a car) to a tiger temple and another waterfall. It was sooo pretty! A fish started to nibble at my leg and I freaked out and jumped to another rock, all without falling in! I'm disgustingly dirty and covered with mosquito bites and a few cuts (I was chilling on my bike and someone accidentally ran their bike into me from a few feet away), but it's been absolutely amazing so far. I can't believe I've only been here 4 days.

I'm totally exhausted. I've yet to have a free night and settle in. I've met quite a few people so far--and everybody is really cool. There are quite a few that are already familiar with the area; I don't think I will ever get bored. Even when we're not going somewhere we all chill outside our "house." I'm going school shopping tomorrow and then I start class on Monday. Hope everything is great at home!!