Oh Internet, Where Art Thou?

I apologize for not posting in a few days, my internet has been out since Friday and I just got it turned back on today. So what have I been up to? Saturday, I met Julia and this other girl Lauren (who might almost be considered my 2nd friend here) for dinner. We ate at Pizza Company, a Pizza Hut knock off, which turned out to be pretty good. Obviously no Lou Malnatti's, but my yearning for cheese and bread was strong enough that I even manged to eat some vegetables on my pizza. After dinner Lauren took us over to her friends' house where we met some new people, which was nice. We sat around their table, drinking and smoking hookah (well, I nursed an orange Fanta), and trying to fit in. But it was fun. :) (They also gave me a good tip to check out Chiang Mai University to see if they were hiring, as this was the week that the teachers had to let CMU know if they were coming back next semester. I'll keep you posted.) We hopped on a song tau and headed out to bar, where I managed to do quite a bit of people watching. Saw lots of very drunk Thai's, which was amusing, though we didn't stay long as Julia was tired and I didn't really know anyone else there. (Let's be honest, I was tired too.)

Sunday there was supposed to be a festival for Chinese New Year, but aside from some empty stages set up, what we found looked like any other market you can find around Chiang Mai every other weekend. It was blazing hot out and my stomach was feeling kind of upset, so I headed home early and spent the rest of the day trying to get my internet to work. My back started to hurt last night, and since body aches are usually a precursor to me getting sick, I was hoping I had just wrenched it or something without realizing it. But it took me a long time to fall asleep last night (insomnia is probably last on the list of things I would choose to be afflicted with in life), which is never a good sign. And woke up today feeling like crap. I've spent the day in bed, though I did get up twice to go buy orange juice. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow, I have my route to CMU all mapped out and I would like to get over there ASAP. Plus Julia has a friend in town and not only would I like to meet her, but I told Julia she could borrow one of my pillows! Hopefully I can get some new pillow cases for tomorrow so I don't get this poor girl sick!

Sorry for the lame, poorly written, uncreative, and uninsightful blog post, but I'm still feeling kinda blah. I had two good ideas for posts over the weekend, but I forgot them. Oh well, they will come back soon. (My goal for Feb was 20 posts, or about 3 every 4 days. I'm a bit behind my with internet going out but I'll see if I can finish strong.) Hope everyone is doing well, I'm heading back to bed to watch the Empire Strikes Back, or part 2 of my Star Wars Marathon. (Though Return of the Jedi is definitely going to have to wait for tomorrow.) Hopefully I'll dream of Princess Leah... :)

TPWWLT - Metro Station - 'Shake It'

PS - Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has commented on and about the blog to me. Blog comments, facebook message, wall post, gchat, email, skpye...a ton of different people have let me know some way or another that they are reading it pretty often, and you guys have no idea how much that means to me. Yes, its a sort of personal journal, and for the most part, I write what I want to write about. But I also realize other people are reading it, so I make an attempt to make it semi entertaining, even trying to proofread a few times before I hit 'post.' :) So I just wanted to say thanks a lot for reading and caring, and thank you also for letting me know you are reading, if that makes any sense. It's nice to know I'm not just speaking into a void, so thanks again.

PPS - They actually celebrate Valentine's Day here, and not just in the touristy parts of town. The flower market on Sunday was filled with roses and other Valentine's Day merchandise, and I saw quite a few Thai couples walking around at the Chinese New Year's Festival, the girl with roses in hand, the guy with an 'I'm getting lucky tonight' smirk on his face. I wouldn't have even realized it being in what feels like the middle of the summer, but I think I was trying not to think about it being so far away from both of my Valentines. But I do want to say a slightly belated, but very loving, Happy Valentine's Day to both of the special ladies in my heart, Mrs. Ruth Clark and Mrs. Barbara Keefer. I'm sorry I couldn't deliver your roses and chocolates in person but I hope both of you very special ladies had a great day and I love you both!