ALBERT CAME WITH ME

Moved into the apartments on Saturday.  I'll post lots of pictures of it soon, because it is very very cute and feels AWESOME to be independently living, at least for a little while.  Saturday night was pretty insane, as expected -- we hit up the same nightclub that Pi Ben and Pi Nat took me to my first weekend in Chiang Mai, but the drinks were MUCH more expensive; a.k.a. I no longer had a host brother doing all the paying.  Am starting to feel progressively guilty about how much money my host siblings probably spent on me. O_O

As it was, when I was unpacking with Jordan and Sarah, I noticed some movement in the bottom of my rolling suitcase, and then noticed that that movement belonged to an epically large set of legs.  Further investigation revealed that these legs belonged to none other but the one, the only Albert.  We freaked out for a long time, and then closed the suitcase, took it out to the balcony, and removed all the items one by one until nothing was left but Albert.  Then Jordan flipped it over and he scuttled under the air conditioning unit with terrifying speed.  Holy hell.  I thought maybe I had gotten rid of him forever, but far from it.  I'm halfway expecting to come back to the U.S. and find him in my wallet, or something.  He is still the biggest spider I've ever seen.

Started course on Sustainable Food Systems yesterday, and I'm supremely excited about it in a really really nerdy way because of all the talk of economics and politics.  Have been walking to school everyday (i mean, for the two days we've gone to school from the apartments) and always arrive feeling like my lungs are full of gasoline/debris.  Will probably purchase a mask, preferably a stupid one with Hello Kitty on it or something.  Speaking of stupid things, have purchased a twin bedsheet for the apartment, which is terrifying: blue plaid, with some freaky looking bears playing soccer.  Because there is like 3 times more closet space in the room with the king sized bed, Jordan and I have been sharing it, but we just have one king sized bed cover and two twin sheets that lay next to each other and look hideous.  Hers has zebras.

Crossfit is happening every day this week, and on Friday we are visiting some kind of food conglomerate.  I'm so excited.  Next week we split into our two groups and go on expedition.  I go to Mae Ta first, a community that recently switch from industry style farming to sustainable agriculture.  We will be doing lots of farming and interviewing, and received a grossly intimidating glossary of agricultural terms in Thai.  Example: Swidden. Example: Understory.  Am a little concerned, since I can barely ask a vendor how much pork on a stick costs.  BUT, EXCITING NEWS:  I can now read everything I see in Thai, as long as I have a little time and it's not in a freaky font.

Okie dokie, I'm going to eat and then try to read all the articles I didn't read last night.

Love
Emblz