Redemption

Inspired by my friend over at http://livingpoorbutnotbored.blogspot.com/, I have decided to attempt a return to the land of blogging. I know I've been sadly absent from this lovely little site of mine, but now I am trying for a comeback. So...

This summer has been fantastic. I got to see a good friend get married at the beginning of June, sit around on my ass all day for the rest of June, and visit Thailand and Cambodia with The BF in July. As much as I loved the wedding and the sitting around being a bum, my trip to Southeast Asia was definitely the highlight of the summer.

This trip was very different from the trips I've been making with my mom for the past few years. Since high school, my mother and I have basically been going to visit her family in Bangkok on our own, since my father says he is too old to make the trip so often anymore, and my brother apparently had better things to do. On these lovely mother-daughter trips, I spend most of the time sitting quietly at the table, eating, while my mom chats with her friends in Thai. I don't speak Thai and hardly understand it, so during those three weeks, I speak a maximum of three paragraphs. It's not bad, though, since I use that time to think, and in between meals, write, and read. So, since my dad, brother, and The BF came on this year's trip, it was drastically different from years past.

Our first few days in Bangkok were quiet. We got over jet lag, ate some good meals, did a little sight-seeing. My mom and I took The BF to see the Grand Palace and the Teak Palace, two of my favorite Bangkok landmarks. Then, we went to Cambodia, to see Angkor. The intricate complex of temples was one of the most amazing, magnificent things I have ever seen. As awful as it sounds, I never think of Southeast Asia as having an illustrious history, but here were these huge temples with gorgeous, intricate carvings all over them and they were simply beautiful. We spent three days climbing up into the towers, crawling over the steps, and sweating the entire time. I don't think I've ever been so hot in my life, but it was totally worth it. :)

After Angkor, we went to the northern province of Khon Kaen in Thailand to visit another one of my mom's many friends. We had a good time, eating and socializing, as well as a little sight-seeing. We saw a Bronze Age archaeological site, of particular interest to The BF, attended a Buddhist ceremony (celebrating something like Christian Lent), and drove through some gorgeous mountains for a scenic lunch by a reservoir (with cattle!).

The last week of the trip was spent on the beach in Hua Hin, which was wonderful. We sat by the pool all day and ate amazing, fresh seafood at every meal. The BF and I went to an elephant village where we got to ride one into the mountains a bit, which was fun. We also got to go kayaking out on the ocean, which was really cool, since I've only ever kayaked once before, and that was on a river. The weather was great and the hotel was beautiful! Yay beach!

Now I'm back in Concord and am starting to get ready for the next school year (did I ever mention that I was rehired?!). I am so excited for this coming year, since I'll be able to improve on my mistakes from this past year, as well as try out some new things. I have a pretty rigid schedule for August, including lesson planning, studying for the GRE, and working out every day, so we'll see how that goes. Here's to posting more often!!

ciao ciao