cold showers

The main problem I've had so far is that the water heater doesn't work very well in my bathroom! I've only had one warm shower since I've been here. It certainly motivates me to get out of the shower quickly. Since I go running at the beach pretty much every morning, at least I'm hot when I get back and ready for a cool-down. Fortunately, the beach hounds a.k.a. devil dogs (stray dogs) didn't bother me this morning, but now I'm wary of every dog I see.

Last night Paul and I went out for a drink with one of his students and a friend of his, who is from Australia. They both work at Child Track, an organization that helps tsunami orphans. They also apparently do some work with Burmese refugees; there are a lot of them here, since things are so bad in Burma right now. It was neat to hear about their work. Joanne (the girl from Australia) is leaving soon, so we might meet up again before then.

Today, after some brainstorming about the lesson for the beginners on Monday, Paul and I went to lunch with Benz in Khao Lak at this beautiful restaurant overlooking the sea. It was pouring rain though, so we couldn't see too much! Khao Lak is absolutely gorgeous. We actually live just a bit outside of Khao Lak in Bang Niang. Khao Lak is hilly and has some great look-out spots. The road that goes through Khao Lak towards Phuket winds it way up and around the hills and through the jungle (at least, that's what it looks like to me), with an occasional breath-taking glimpse of the ocean through a break in the trees. I don't even mind the rain. It's kind of an adventure to slosh around in the puddles. After lunch, we dropped Paul off at the bus station, where he started his 8-hour journey down south to see his parents for the weekend.