Adventures of a Babbling Biologist

The morningnstartedbout with a trishaw ride through the streets of Chaing Rai that felt more as thoug we ourselves were the attraction. It never ceases to amaze me the attraction that foreigners have with Americans. We then ended our trishaw ride are the local food markets where we got to see traditional food that the locals eat here. Much of it was filled with exotic fruits, foreign cuts of meet and many dried food for preservation. At one point we qpruchased turtles to set free at the temple for good luck...okay and maybe also with the alterier motive of them not being eaten. Many of the Thai sources of protein encoded but not limited to: catfish, eels, lung, liver, chicken and pig feet, turtle, intestine, shellfish and BUGS. You bet your bottom dollar I ate that damn cricket when it was handed  to me by a stand owner and while then texture was mildly repulsive, the flavor was good. After we went to another temple in which the original emerald Buddha was housed and therefore a r...

Today we woke up to enjoy our last extravagant breakfast poolside over deep conversation. Following breakfast we went to get and infamous Thai massage because why not get as many as possible, but rest assured it was worldly different than you standard American massage. Any one who knows me know that I am not worried about nudity in any fashion, but this was bit of a culture shock not knowing what to expect. Laying there naked as I came, she full fledge massaged my boobs and a bit culture shocked was trying to figure out if his was costumary if I had just entered a realm of some freaky shit. Following the massage we rest assured at this was the norm as kacey had the same experience. We then caught our flight and were off to Chaing Rai. The moment we landed I knew this was the Thailand that I had in mind. The streets were just as clean and eye people just as friendly, I fell in love. We went to the night market which had a different feel that the Bangkok markets, but we're nothing sh...

You every day I think that the next day really can't get any better than the day before, but somehow it does. Today was our free day to do what we wanted so we decided to go to Wat Arun Temple of the Dawn since wwe did not got do the day before. With a stroke of genius on Kaceys part, we decided to take a 45 minute über commute that would cost us a mere $8. Upon arriving we wandering around he Cambodian inspired design of the temple and watched as the Thai natives bustled around us to set up for an event. We happened upon and elaborate temple that was meticulous and gleaming. We embraced our bare feet against the cool marble and entered into the building. Upon entering my eyes settled on the monk performing a blessing. Kacey knelt before him and I leaned into my discomfort, followed suit and I too knelt before him. I sat the listen to the hum of the monks voice drown out the chimes blowing in the breeze as I felt the warm air enter my lungs and my body become enveloped by excitemen...

Today was our first full day in Bangkok. We started our morning with an amazingly diverse breakfast to make my inner fat kid happy. We travel through the bustling streets of Bangkok as we gathered a wealth of knowledge about the culture and the history from sanity of our air conditioned car. Umongst the bustle of the daily morning commute for the locals the streets were lined with locals adorned in black to commemorate the beloved king that had past in October in order to pay respect. We were asked to dress in all black, covering our knee and shoulders in ordere tonpaybrespect to the kings whose ashes remained in the Grand Palace as this was taken as a very serious issue. We made our way through large densely packed crowds to see multiple inasturctures adorned with elaborate detail. Each build was just as maticulous as the next, howevere, was unique in it own way. Many of the building had architecture that was influenced my neighboring countries architecture. For example the pottery fr...

Hey all, Yesterday we arrived to the airport in Bangkok around noon and we made our way to baggage claim to meet our host. To no avail, for the first hour, Kacey and I wondered around attempting to find a familiar sight. After about an hour I spotted our five foot nothing host wandering around as frantic as we were. Upon arriving in our hotel our host promptly took us to learn to the use the sky train..public transport...just my forté. For the next few hours we spent our time at shopping mall per our host's recommendation. We both found it quite intertaining at the westernization of the mall that mimicked iconic US tourist destinations on each floor. We then went back to the hotel in agreence that we were exhausted and we proceed to relax for we had a big day the next day! We slept on and off from 7 pm to 7am ...YIKES, but "rest assured" we were ready for our epic adventure come sunrise.

When I tell people I'm going to Thailand I always proceeded to get the infamous question "Why?". In typical Gianna fashion, I save a little face and simply tell them something to the effect that it's been a dream trip and Kacey was the only human crazy enough to join me on this endeavor. To me though it is much more than that. For those of you that even remotely know me understand that I find pleasure is doing things for others, even if that means at the expense of myself. However, after selflessly serving others in an attempt to save the world, it was about damn time that I claimed my "self" back and really learned to love me for me. What did this look like exactly? It meant transferring schools (UC Santa Barbara), moving alone and making new friends yet again...my favorite thing to do. Let me tell you though, there is not one day that passes that I regret my decision. College continues to not only supply a wealth of knowledge in academia, but it has taught...