We considered “our neighborhood” to be be the area which was walk-able distance from our lodging. Looking back through these pictures of our neighborhood already makes me feel a little sad that we will probably never again see these streets which became so familiar to us during the five weeks we were there. Once again I must say we are very happy that we had the chance to experience this very different place in the world and meet the people there.
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Typical students in their uniforms walking down our street.
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Most are not walking but riding motor scooters. One day I counted 32 motor scooters going in or out in just five minutes.
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At the end of the street is this place where you can grab a ride on a motor scooter or, occasionally, a cab. One day Chuck and I took a motor scooter to church together. It was just a bit harrowing, especially when our driver was going against the traffic (which is very heavy here no matter where you are) and when we went over this little pedestrian/scooter bridge pictured below. Whee! Wish we had a picture but we were busy holding on.
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The 7 Eleven dogs. These two were always lying in front of the doors to the 7 Eleven. They found a way to beat the heat this way as whenever anyone went in or out, a blast of the very cool air conditioned air would come out. I fed them scraps sometimes although they were not starving and one wore a collar. At another 7 Eleven across the street from our church there were two other dogs (also 1 black, 1 brown) who had discovered the same way to keep cool.
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Here’s the guy who supplies the fruits and vegetables to the food stands along the streets. There is always an array of fresh fruit and Chuck and I often bought some for our breakfast the next day.
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I’m amazed he can balance his scooter with all this hanging from it.
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We referred to this woman as “the chicken lady” although she also cooked fish at her little street-side grill. Chuck always stopped to greet her on his morning walks (which I did not do because of the oppressive heat–I only walked when there was something I really wanted to see as when we were touring.)
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Chicken Lady’s “kitchen” up the stairs. We ate here (at the one and only table) one day–just chicken, no sides, and no drinks. When we wanted a Coke they went next door to purchase one for us.
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We discovered this place the last week and ate there four times. It was almost like home. They had a wonderful pepper gravy on either steak or pork chops. Very tasty.
The sweet waitress (owner) of Steak For U.
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My lunch. It looked so good after eating mostly Thai dishes for weeks. It was more expensive though–Pork chop -$2.99 and t-bone steak $ 5.07 – the most expensive item on their menu. We usually spent about $ 4 total for lunch for both of us with drinks in the Thai restaurant on the ground floor of our dormitory.
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This open-air food court was just around the corner from us. In the evenings, the little “restaurants” around the perimeter would begin cooking and the tables would fill with mostly students.
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Along the street in the evenings. Time to eat.
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A couple of blocks up the street was a side street where fish were trucked in and prepared for sale. Notice temple in the background.
Along the streets were several micro-businesses such as laundromats, usually with 2 or 3 washers and no dryers. People dry their clothes outside on their balconies (as we did) or right on the street. Across from us was a small hotel where you could stay for $15 a night. There were tiny drug stores, internet cafes, and sewing shops. Everywhere the Thais seemed an industrious people always working hard.