My Two Homes

I arrived in Ratchaburi three days ago. It was absolutely surreal to see the town that i had come to call my own five years ago while I was doing my student exchange in Thailand. The town has gotten a little bigger with a few more department stores but overall it is the same place. How strange! I took a bike ride throughout the town and visited all the places I used to go. Some stores that i remember are no longer there but for the most part it was exactly the same. The market still smelled of fish, beef, fruit, great Thai food, and all the other smells that are specific to a Thai market that i don't have the vocabulary to describe.

Seeing my host family has been absolutely terrific too. They are some of the nicest people you will ever meet and it is nice to see them again. Hi, my little host brother, is a lot bigger but other than that, my family is more or less the same. Hanging around the house with them has been great and a wonderful experience... a lot of things are just as they used to be. I still will read out on the porch, Na Nan will still ask me lots of questions, the food cooked by Pae and Mae is still amazing, etc.

And it is weird going from India to Thailand to America. Ratchaburi is like an adopted home for me with my adopted family. In a lot of ways, Thailand isn't really such a foreign culture to me. It is home. But in two days I go to my other home, my real home. How bizarre! I would be lying if I said I am not looking forward to coming back to the USA but it is bittersweet leaving India and then my home and family in Thailand.

This should be the last blog I write before i get back to the USA so thanks to all who read it! Hope it gave some insight in to my trip. Thanks for all those who posted comments too; they were really fun for me to read.