Thailand Adventures, Pt. II

… continued from Part I 

path to the shore!

So we get settled into our beachfront bungalows on Chaweng Beach in Ko Samui. First order of business, get changed into our swimsuits and head to the beach. So the four of us go out, lay out our towels, set up books, ipods, sunscreen, etc. I hang back to watch the stuff while the girls go out and get some waves. After a little while, I was ready to go in so I head out. Well by the time I get out to where two of my friends are, they’re talking about how strong the tide is. I can feel it too. We also notice how we’ve drifted off down shore away from our beach chairs and decide to swim back in that direction. All was good until I was suddenly pretty far away from them. Next thing I know, I can’t swim. It literally felt like I was trying to kick my legs through molasses. Nothing I was doing was really working. I

random yts and the waters that tried to take my soul!

had taken in some water and it was SUPER salty. So salty that it burned my chest and made it impossible to take any subsequent deep breaths. Ok. So I’m out here in the ocean with no lifeguards, I can’t swim against the tide, I can’t take any significant breath, I even tried to relax and let the waves carry me back to shore but they only crashed over my head causing me to flounder and start over again. Damn. I was DROWNING! At that point, I called out to my girl L like, “you have to come get me!” She kind of paused and looked at me funny so I said it again, “No joke, come get me, I can’t!” Then another wave crashed. She was the closest person to me even though she wasn’t really close at all. Thankfully she was able to swim to me and I relaxed enough to let her drag me close enough to the beach so I could walk back in. I don’t think I can convey how fucking freaky it was to almost drown. FYI, I can swim. You can’t graduate from UNC without being able to pass a swim test so it’s verified. LOL. Those waters were just too much!

Thailand Adventures, pt I

I had a fabulous time in Thailand. They say it’s the ‘Land of Smiles’ and for the most part, I’d say they were right. I smiled a lot while I was there and the local people were always cracking jokes and laughing, albeit at our expense most of the time. It’s taken me quite some time to get around to writing this recap, with my computer troubles and winding down from the vacay and all. Sorry peeps. So, understandably, things fade from memory and all of the witty and great things I planned to write about have kind of disappeared from my mind. Still, it seems like this entry is going to be a two-parter.

March 14th, Depart Tokyo/Arrive in Bangkok: My 3 travel buddies and I met up at Narita Airport in Japan to catch our flight to Bangkok. The flight was long, about 7 hours as I recall, but I had the opportunity to watch some movies I had missed (Secret Life of Bees and Australia). The good thing about international flights is that they give you booze just like they’d give you water, ya know. None of that pay to play bullshit like they have on US domestic flights. So

TKY to BKK

you know being the lush I am, I had to take part. I had about 4 mini bottles of red wine.

Bottle #1

Mini is kind of a misstatement, because you could get a few glasses out of ’em. I think we were approaching our limit though because one of the lovely ANA (All Niipon Airways) flight attendants asked us if we could ‘hold our alcohol’ before bringing us our last bottle. Don’t judge me lady!

Finally, we landed in Bangkok and waited at baggage claim forever. Suvarnabhumi Airport is not very expeditious, FYI. I think it was somewhere around 11pm. Anyway, we head straight to our hotel, the Fraser Suites which we booked at the corporate rate thanks to my boy Matt. Matt has a popular bar in  Bangkok called QBar. Check it out if you get a chance. Also check out the Fraser because it was BEAUTIFUL! We had a connecting suite that we only got to enjoy for one night because of our hectic schedule. While in the city that evening, we stopped by QBar of course for some drinks. Then we met up with a couple of girlfriends from school and headed over to Khao San Road. Um, don’t go to Khoa San Rd. It’s full of dirty backpacker people and if you’re reading this, chances are you’re too bourgie for all of that. Then again, I’m

Could a face like that give you the runs?

kind of glad we went just to say we did. We basically rolled down the street then rolled back up, stopping for some Thai street food. Now, everyone tells you NOT to eat the street food because you could be signing up for some hellish diarrhea or worse, but we were hungry and the lady looked nice! Street pad thai isn’t so bad and no one had the runs! BONUS!

Eventually, we retired back to our sweet room at the Fraser, after trying some crab flavored Lays and guzzling bottled water.

Team Drewfus

Last year I walked like 8 miles. I think it was 8 miles. I can’t remember. All I know is that I joined a group of my friends and took off from the Art Museum (the Rocky Steps for you all not that intimate with Philadelphia) for a walk that invigorated our bodies as well as our spirits. I felt good afterward, even though my feet were hurting. It felt good because we walked for our friend Drew aka Drewfus and many others dealing with Multiple Sclerosis.

Being in Japan, I can’t lace up my sneaks and walk with the crew on Sunday, May 3rd in Philly. However, I’m still down with Team Drewfus as a virtual member. As such, I’m helping to raise funds for MS research.

Sure, I have a connection to MS because my boy lives with it everyday but what does that have to do with you? Well MS may already affect someone you know and love. YOU may even develop the disease. I assume that most of my readers fall between the ages of 20 and 50 years old… well that’s the age range where most adults will develop Multiple Sclerosis.

MS is a condition in which one’s immune system attacks it’s own nervous system, stripping away the protective covering around the nerve endings. Kind of like when you strip away the insulation around electrical wires, screwing up the signals. Like I mentioned above, MS starts to show up in younger adults and for some reason is more prevalent in women.  There is no known cure for MS.  According to the National MS Society,

Having multiple sclerosis means that you may not be able to walk when you wake up. Or that you may suddenly have impaired vision. Or that your memory will fail you for no apparent reason. The symptoms of MS are different, and devastating, for everyone – the only certainty is that it will affect yet another person every hour of every day.

If you are so inclined, please visit my team page and donate whatever you can. It’s a recession, that’s for sure, but you could be helping me or my friend or yourself at some point.

Go Team Drewfus!

Click Here To Donate to Team Drewfus,
participate in a National MS walk near you, or to learn more about MS.

Spring Break!

Hey all,

I’am currently in Thailand for my last spring break in a very long time (I won’t say ever, bc in this economy, I could probably go back to school. ugh). I’m in Bangkok now which is super stinky and mad sketchy but whatev. It has it’s own “character” I guess. Headed to Ko Samui then Ko Phan Gan, Krabi and Railay before stomping over Bangkok again.

Be Jealous!

A rose by any other name…

So most bloggers and news outlets have already ran with the story of Ms. Marijuana Pepsi (Jackson) Sawyer. The accomplished woman with the odd moniker. Now is my turn. In brief, Marijuana Pepsi Jackson was the name given to this woman (Sawyer was her married name), a name a police officer almost arrested her for because he thought she was trying to pull a fast one on him. Despite her name, or maybe because of its unique character, Marijuana is a bright and successful woman. Currently, she is a teacher holding a Masters degree. She is working towards a doctorate as well. I would link to a story or two about her but honestly, I feel they’re mostly written in a condescending tone. I’ll leave you to Google her.

I really like Marijuana’s story. Over the past 3 years or so, I saw a lot of blogging and messageboard posting about so-called “ghetto” names or “Black” names. People deride the parents and forecast lives of unaccomplishment and shame for the children. I have always thought that terribly unfair because I wondered who was supposed to be the arbiter of “good” names? I also take issue with the implication that names must be close to a certain European/Western origin or else they are not worthy. Even people who choose to name their children “real” African or Arab names are laughed at because after all, ain’t they just regular ol’ Black folk?

Red Pump Project

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is Tuesday, March 10th.

It’s a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages us to take action. While progress has definitely been made in the areas of AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group.

In observance of this day, two wonderful bloggers, Karyn and Luvvie came up with the idea of The Red Pump Project. So Bourgie Adventures is rockin’ the Red Pump to celebrate and recognize the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease both directly and indirectly.

I remember that one episode of South Park where Cartman thought he had AIDS but no one cared because AIDS was “so retro” and everyone was concerned with cancer. Well I certainly don’t want to diminish cancer but HIV/AIDS is not “retro”, the whooping cough is. HIV/AIDS is still going strong. Look:

*HIV is the 5th leading cause of death in women in the United States, ages 25-44
*High-risk heterosexual contact is the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections in women

*From the beginning of the epidemic through 2005, almost 86,000 women have died of AIDS and AIDS-related complications.
*The largest number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses during recent years was for women aged 15–39 – Stats from CDC.gov

Yo. That last stat really gives you some perspective. Ages 15-39. That’s me, my friends and my sisters. Let’s not lose sight of reality, okay?

Please check out WomensHealth.Gov for info about National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Also feel free to post this information on your blog as well!

The most gangsta rock paper scissors game

Now this didn’t come about in my travels although I would have loved to see this happen in person.

A little background on what’s happening. This is a game show featuring the stars of a famous Japanese comedy duo “Downtown”. The rules for this game go something like this: Each participant throws their chosen sign (paper scissors or rock), and the loser has to quickly grab a helmet and place it on his head before he is get smacked by the giant fan-like object (called a harisen) that is so often used to smack people over the head with in Japan. If they are able to get the helmet on before they get smacked, the game continues and they immediately do paper scissors rock again. The game ends when one person wins RPS and is able to smack the other on the head with the harisen before they get the helmet on.

And I thought I was serious about RPS!

MESSAGE!

I waited a long time to post up anything about this Chris Brown/Rihanna (Robyn Fenty) situation. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t post anything about it at all on my blog but you know, hard to get away from.

I’ve tried to stay out of conversations because people talking about shit they don’t know about infuriates me to no end. There are so many commonly held misconceptions about the realities of domestic violence that it not only makes me angry, it makes me sad and a little afraid. Therefore I have spoken very little about CB/RF. I’m still not going to go into it because I feel like there’s too much to say as the problem is bigger than those two individuals. Plus I don’t want to make myself upset. So I’m just going to post this recent press release from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Let them make it clear and succinct for you:

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Stands With Rihanna:

“She is not responsible for the violence perpetrated against her.”

Washington, DC — When singer Chris Brown reportedly assaulted his girlfriend, fellow singer Rihanna, following an argument on Sunday, February 8th, there was an immediate public outcry of support for Rihanna.

Visibly battered and bruised, Rihanna has joined the ranks of millions of women, becoming part of a horrifying statistic of 1 in 4 women who will be beaten by their intimate partners during their lifetimes.[1]

By Wednesday, February 11^th, however, the tune had changed. With new information alleging that Rihanna had begun the argument herself, public support began to waver. Some implied, and others firmly stated, that because Rihanna may have started the argument, she deserved the subsequent abuse she suffered. Now as stories circulate about the couple’s reunion, support for Rihanna seems to be waning even more.

This is unacceptable.

The idea that someone “deserves” to be beaten is intolerable and appalling. Choosing to use violence in response to conflict—and we emphasize that violence is a choice—is the sole responsibility of the abuser. Regardless of the circumstances or other factors of the situation, violence and abuse is never an acceptable response. Rihanna, or any other victim of violence, is not responsible for the violence perpetrated against them, plain and simple.

Rihanna’s rumored reunion with Chris Brown does not in any way mean she “wants to be abused.” Reasons for staying in or returning to an abusive relationship are more complex than a statement about the victim’s strength of character. For most of us, the decision to end a relationship is one of the most difficult we will ever make. A battered woman’s emotional ties to her partner may still be strong, supporting her hope that the violence will end.[2] Also, it is extremely common for battered women to return to their abuser multiple times before she leaves for good. Gaining strength, relinquishing hope, or letting go of someone we love is very hard and takes time even when violence is not present. Supporting victims of domestic violence in their process and understanding the dynamics of domestic violence is vital to their success and survival. To learn more about domestic violence, please visit these links:

Domestic Violence Facts
Why Doesn’t She Just Leave?
Men and Domestic Violence

We hope that Rihanna finds the resources she needs to heal and regain her sense of security and self and encourage everyone to support her in her process. We also hope that Chris Brown is held accountable for his actions and receives support to learn alternatives to violence as a way to deal with conflict in his life.

[…]

[1] Tjaden, Patricia & Thoennes, Nancy. National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, (2000).

[2] What You Should Know About Domestic Violence. Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://www.caring-unlimited.org/what-you-should-know.html

Oh, and please quit using “Chris Brown” or any derivative of his name as a euphemism for beating anyone up or the like. It’s stupid and diminishes the gravity of the situation. kthxbye.

candle on the dashboard

Unhhh. Gimme a hug.

Live the questions