Coyote

     Over the past week or so I found myself to be rather sick of Thai food. This could be a slight problem since I still have three weeks here. However I am hoping that it is just a phase and I will return to fully embracing it by Monday...or Tuesday at the latest. As a temporary solution Quin, Cashana, and I went into Bangkok last night to get some Mexican food at a place called Coyote. According to trip advisor it is the best Mexican food in the city. Although we arrived five minutes after happy hour which was mildly disappointing the yummy food more than made up for it. It definitely wasn't the same as Mexican food in America but it wasn't bad. It's hard to explain but the sauces had more of a meaty/savory quality. After eating we spent some time exploring the city. While walking around we passed a Dairy Queen that was serving both mango sticky rice and mango pudding blizzards. I'm not sure how exactly they make it, but I would say that it would be a safe assumption that it has sweetened condensed milk in it, because it is in everything here. One of my friends classes is having some sort of pot luck. She lives with us so of course we do not have a kitchen or real access to food besides the 7/11. So she was struggling with what food she should bring. We all agreed that sweetened condensed milk shots would be a perfect appetizer for this crowd.

     In the pictures below you can see the symbols for bathroom that the district we were in seemed to be rather fond of. We kept seeing the silhouettes on the walls in different building and weren't quite sure what they meant. After stumbling past these life sized ones at the real bathroom it became ver clear. I thought that they were pretty funny.

       During our adventures that evening we also found the Magnum Cafe. Where chocolate was a main ingredient in most of the entrees and you could make your own Magnum bar. Cashana stopped to take advantage of this decadent opportunity, having still been slightly scarred from my last Magnum experience I decided to hold off.

      Not too much else has been going on in my world the past few days. Finals are coming up in two short weeks so I have been starting to get my information organized for that. The educational system here is a lot different. I'm not a huge fan of it and from what I have heard from my American classmates they aren't either. The relationship students have with professors is a lot different. Overall I would describe it as less trusting, more critical, and unclear expectations that are none the less expected to be met. I was sick earlier this week and told some students to let the teacher know I wouldn't be in class for the quiz (because she did not give us her e-mail). She told them to message me and let me know that if I did not come to her next period class to make up the quiz that she was going to fail me. This was rather distressing and I can not imagine any of my professors in America doing something like this. In the end I went to the hospital, got a doctors note, and convinced her to let me make it up next week. In general teachers here are also much more dependent on powerpoint. There is also a chance that they will be thrown off if you ask questions. Thai students as a whole don't really ask questions...ever. It has something to do with saving face and not looking silly, apparently it is a big deal here. Of course I didn't really get that memo and found that sometimes professors react slightly negatively to some questions. Especially if it is a question they don't know the answer to. Don't get me wrong I really do like most of the professors I have met here I am just trying to compare it to my experience in America. Thai people are aware that education is better in America. I have had several people baffled at why I left America to come to school here. It simply blows their mind. I always try to explain it but the language and perhaps cultural barrier proves too much. Most people here do not travel to much, it is not something that is valued the way it is in America. So it is hard for them to comprehend the benefits that I would get from going to school here for a semester. Well that is about all for now. I hope that everybody has a nice day!

My latest crocodile hunter find. Isn't she a beaut!