Christmas in Phuket

Christmas in a far away place wasn't as horrible as I thought it was going to be.  We actually had a very nice weekend but it was still very weird to be sweating in Decemeber rather than freezing my butt off.  Christmas Eve day, Nancy and I went to the beach after fixing my flat tire on my motorbike - that was a nice Christmas present from Thailand.  We always go to the same part of Kamala beach and on Saturday, we decided to change it up and go to the completely opposite end of the beach.  It actually felt like we were on a totally different beach because one - it took us 10 minutes to drive there, two - the sand texture was totally different, three - the waves were huge, and four - we had a different view of Kamala.  We lasted not even two minutes in the water and decided that laying out in the sun was not on our agenda and we headed to a bar that I had gone to Friday night and loved.  It was at the very tip of Kamala beach and was set up in the rocks and trees so it felt like a treehouse.  We proceeded to drink yummy tropical drinks for the afternoon, hang out with the Thai bartender, listen to his music and play cards.  It actually felt like we were far far away on vacation somewhere exotic. 

Christmas Eve afternoon

 Christmas Eve was spent at the Phuket Town night markets about fifty minutes from where we live.  We arrived thinking it was going to be like all the other markets we go to but it was far from that.  It was the most massive market I have ever been to and literally sold everything from puppies to board shorts to DVDs to beautiful clothing to used sneakers to scrunchies.  And the food was amazing!!  When I first arrived in Thailand, the smell of the markets made me incredibly nauseous and I had to leave immediately.  Now I love the smells and I bounce from vendor to vendor trying everything I possibly can before I get too full.  For those that know me, know that back in the US I could have been considered a picky eater. Not anymore.  Now, I literally eat anything I can that looks remotely safe and that doesn't have flies on it.  I have absolutely no idea what I eat most of the time here because even if I knew how to ask "What is that?" in Thai, I wouldn't understand the answer so I just hope for the best.  My meal on Christmas Eve consisted of some sort of chicken, yellow noodles, a cup of corn, a piece of bruschetta (not very good) and a chocolate ball.  Total cost - $2.85  Best thing about the markets is that food is cheap, unlike if you buy it in a store or at a restaurant, so if I hate what I'm eating, I can throw it out and try something else.  At this market, it was probably 95% Thai people that were there and Nancy and I decided to keep the Christmas spirit up so we bought Santa hats for three cents before we went and rocked them the whole night.  Once again, just blending into the crowd - NOT.  Definitely got some funny looks but overall vendors said Happy New Years to us and smiled. 

NOODLES!!!  My favorite kind is all the way to the right

Where has this vendor been at all the other markets I have gone to?!

Dessert Lady and her tree

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day I woke up at 7:30 am and skyped my whole family that was at my aunt and uncle's house because it was 7:30 pm on Christmas Eve there.  That was really nice but also very wierd because half the time people couldn't hear me.  However, it was very cool to "be there" when my little cousin pulled her tooth out.  Didn't open any presents from my family on my Christmas morning because I wanted to wait until it was Christmas morning Boston time so we could all do it together how we always do it.  Instead, Courtney, Nancy, Shawn and I did a little gift exchange before we headed to the beach for the afternoon. 

Christmas Day Thailand style

 Christmas night turned out to be a little eerie around here because there were high winds like I've never felt before and not only was it the eve of the anniversary of the tsunami but the Thai people were actually anxious and told us that the winds were exactly like what it was like before the tsunami came seven years ago.  After talking about where we would go if we heard the tsunami alarms, we decided that another tsumani hitting the same beach on the same day of the year was too crazy so we put it out of minds and enjoyed our dinner.  I was determined to have anything but Thai food for Christmas dinner so I had chicken fingers and french fries in a duck basket - not always an easy task finding American food around here so that was the best I could do. 

My awesome pants that Courtney gave me for Christmas

Christmas Dinner

8:45 pm sharp I called my family on skype and Jacquelyn carried the computer through our normal Christmas morning rituals of running down the front stairs into the living room and opening our stockings.  Luckily, her stocking for me reached me in time so I had something to open on Christmas, which was very nice.  Then we headed to the other living room to do presents from under the tree and see what everyone gave each other.  I was so happy that my electricity didn't go out because it had gone out four times earlier in the day, so I could be there for all of Christmas morning.  Headed to bed and woke up and it was still Christmas at home!  I have promised myself that I am never missing Christmas again!