I was supposed to wake up early, finish packing, clean out my refrigerator, say bye to Jason and move out of my apartment for good, however...
a) my alarm went off but my phone was on silent
b) I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep
c) I slept through my alarm
d) I never set my alarm
because I rolled over and looked at the clock AND IT WAS WAY, WAY LATE!
I had to leave for the airport in 12 minutes. OMG 12 minutes. What? I literally jumped out of bed, screamed for Jason to get up and hopped in the shower for the fastest 2 minutes of my life. When I got out I started yelling to Jason, "put this in my bag, clean this out of the refrigerator, etc, etc." I started packing up bags of food and running them down the hall and stacking them outside of Sian and Linds' rooms. I banged on Lauren's door, asking if she would take two boxes of my shit that I could go through when I got back. I was, to say the least, frazzled. I ran out of my apartment and down the stairs with my big pack on my back. I hailed a taxi but he refused to take me to the airport. I then hailed another taxi who agreed. Thank God! We were about a mile down sukhumvit when my current taxi driver decided heading to the airport wasn't a good idea and told me to beat it. WHAT? But you just picked me up and told me you could take me?! Gahhhh.
I flagged down another taxi and thankfully this one took me ALL THE WAY to the airport.
I wasn't planning on checking my bag however, so when I got to the airport I headed to my terminal. When I arrived the attendants told me I could not bring my bag on the plane and that I would have to go to baggage check which was in a different terminal. Me and my big bagged self went sprinting through the terminals, hoping to make our flight. When we arrived to the front of the baggage claim counter the woman asked me if I was ok with the extra checked baggage fee. Well no, I certainly wasn't, but what the hell else was I going to do? I had to check this bag and I had to make my flight. She took the bag and watched me sprint off toward my terminal. All of you "on the edge of your seat" readers will be happy to know I did make my flight that morning.
I texted Jason to apologize for being a complete nut (what a great farewell impression, right?) The text I received back was telling me to be really careful-- there had just been a series of bombings in the south, close to where I was headed. There had also been a bombing in Hua Hin-- thank god Tash had left a week earlier. Figured I should probably be on top of it because last time there was a bombing, my mother found out about it and was wondering if I was ok. This time I tried to be proactive instead of reactive by texting her and turns out she didn't even know about the bombings! #DamnMyGoodDaughterConscience
When I finally did decide to head out of the shoebox sized airport in Nakhon Si Thammarat I was met with a whole lot of nothing. I tried like mad to get a taxi, but there were none in sight. I was going to have to succumb to the ridiculously overpriced airport taxi service. The taxi driver had no idea how to get to Ben's, even after speaking to him on the phone, and ended up dropping me a few blocks from his apartment. This wouldn't have been a big deal, however, Ben was on crutches so it's not like he could come get me. I trudged on in the heat with my big yellow bag.
Ben's house was nice- it had a downstairs living area and kitchen with a bathroom. Upstairs there were two bedrooms and a bathroom. I lucked out because Ben had a girl roommate who was gone for the weekend so I was able to stay in her room.
We didn't do much because of Ben's crutches. He had been in a motorbike accident a few months ago and had messed his leg up pretty badly. He was currently recovering from one of a few surgeries he would have to undergo. That was fine by me though- I was looking forward to a weekend of resting and relaxing. We ordered some super delicious thai style burritos and then underwent the task of binge watching Stranger Things (I highly recommend it, in case you're wondering)
Ben took me to a few different restaurants in his town (these were pretty much the only things in his tiny town).
One of the mornings I decided I'd make breakfast, however Ben had no groceries. I went wandering into the neighborhood because he said that there were a lot of thais nearby who sold eggs and other items out of their houses. I was slightly freaked out, because as I walked, I came across two very, very large buffalo. They just kept nomming on grass though, so I just kept on walking. Phew. That's definitely something you don't see everyday (or ever!) in Bangkok. I came across a few thai women who were selling groceries on their front porch so I stopped to get our breakfast ingredients. While doing this, I witnessed some kind of thai celebration that included fireworks near their shrine to buddha.
I'm glad I got to see and experience the tiny town Ben lived in, but being there reaffirmed for me that I had made the right decision to live and work in Bangkok.
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