Monday, January 18, 2010

I'll take you to burn.

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Recently a couple of fresh-faced 18 year old Australians have started hanging out at the windsurf place. They're volunteer teaching through i to i for the month, and their enthusiasm is infectious.

On Saturday, the monthly free speedboat to Magical Crystal Island for TEFL students left at 9 am. I was on it, because it's free and because Ali and Celine would be on the island this weekend. Josh, one of the Australians, hitched a ride too along with three TEFL students, Bert and (at the last minute after being persuaded by how close we were and how much fun we would have) Autumn.

The island was magical as ever, but actually overcast most of the day, and it was a little chilly in the water.

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The sand was still white and the water still turquoise, and more fun can be had at night anyway. Every night at Ploy Bar, there is a big fire show. Josh was eager to see the fire show (as he is eager for anything.) I've seen the tail end of it before, but this time we caught most of it. It's shiny, muscular Thai guys with poi and flaming sticks and giant sparklers and it was actually pretty amazing.

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After the fire show, I finally got to release a lantern called Khoom Loy. You hold the top of the lantern and make a wish until it fills with heat and flies away.

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Where does it land? What happens to its parts? Isn't this a fire hazard? These are not questions people ask here. We just admire the pretty lights.

We ordered a hookah and then danced our asses off until late.

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The bungalow I stayed in, like many in Thailand, does not offer a blanket or top sheet. Normally this would be fine, but it was very cold that night. I slept in my jeans and tee shirt, and was so cold I took the only other dry piece of fabric I had, which was the dress I would wear Sunday, and wrapped it around my head and arms. I looked it up today and the overnight low last night in the nearest city was 22c, which is not quite 72 farenheit! No wonder I was freezing! It's supposed to get down to 20/68 later this week.

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In the morning: mosquito net, beach hair, awesome new beaded necklace I bought on the island.

In the morning after I thawed out on the beach for a bit, I finally got a massage on the beach which is just as wonderful as it sounds.

The ferries all have pretty fabric and flowers and sometimes feathers at the front, for the spirits. It must be good luck, because instead of just climbing through other ferries or up on the stacks of tires at the pier, my ferry home had an actual 1x8 plank that each passenger had to walk to get onto the boat. And we all made it! Thank you spirits!

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