First Day in Bangkok: Thursday August 16th

                                                     Just getting ready to leave the States.

             My hotel room with my roommate Adrienne from University of Richmond at Viengtai Hotel
                                                       We are here from 8-15 to 8-17

                    Close to a temple near our hotel where I got to pray with the Buddhist monks at 8am.

First day here and I am already eating street food! I had Gai Tai Pad Thai (Chicken and egg Pad Thai). So delicious! No stomach ache and no need to use Pepto Bismo. I am adapting wonderfully to this beautiful city of Bangkok and it's food. So fresh and delicious.

Streets of Bangkok near our hotel. Lots of street shops for clothes and food. Looks very underdeveloped, but everyone is so happy here and everything is so beautiful just the way it is. So many shops and so many people. The craziest thing to me is how the taxis drive right behind the people, but are so careful and skilled at driving! If New York ever needs new drivers, Thailand is the place to recruit!

These are just some of the dishes we had at the restaurant near our hotel. So many seafood dishes because we are close to the ocean and fish is really accessible. Everything was delicious and I am happy I got to try out all of them. The last photo is just about a fourth of our total group.

Sky Bar where Hangover 2 was filmed in Bangkok! It is so classy here, with proper attire required and soft music playing in the background. You just stand on the rooftop, order drinks and just enjoy the view with an amazing company. Absolutely incredible and I am so happy I had an opportunity to experience this. Truly unforgettable. Last three photos are a 180 degree view.

Day 1: I would say pretty amazing. We had our first day of orientation where we learned more about the students in the program (only 8 students in Public Health Program with me and 26 students in the Development and Globalization program) by playing so many icebreakers and having wonderful introductions about ourselves and each other. Then we identified our style of learning to help us with the semester abroad. Then, we learned a couple of useful Thai phrases, which I have been using: (obviously understand that this is how I pronounce everything and may not be completely correct, but it is a learning process.

Ka Phun Ka: Thank you
Mai Ka: No thank you
Suati ka: Hello
Gai: Chicken

Lastly, we had amazing dinner, great adventures and wonderful company. I now have less than 4.5 hours to sleep before we check out out of our hotel and travel to Khao Yai National Park for a nature walk before we arrive to the Fah Fang Resort.