Tuesday July 24th

Last night was a bit interesting.  We had to tear apart our suitcases looking for some children's ibuprofen for David.  He had a sore armpit.  Yeah, I wondered the same thing.  How does somebody have a sore armpit?  He said his heart hurt.  But he was holding under his armpit...we figure he strained a muscle trying to move our suitcases around earlier in the evening.  Oh well...this morning, he seems to be doing OK.  He's watching "Blue's Clues" on TV.  Amazing...the small world we live in...  And we decided to clog the toilet in our apartment.  I know what you're thinking...you're not correct, however.  It wasn't Lowell...it was David.  Must find plunger.  And the Internet doesn't seem to be working right now either.  So I can make my webpage on my computer, but I can't upload it until the Internet comes back.  So some of the comforts of home are missing.  But I am sitting here looking over the palm trees at the beach and a few of the islands that are off the coast of Pattaya....so I guess I can't complain.

We went looking for apartments today a bit.  Wow!  We found a condo that is awesome.  No pictures yet...but maybe tomorrow...  It's far newer than the condo we had looked at earlier, with better quality appliances, newer building, etc.  The only difference is this condo doesn't have a view of the water.  Oh well.  We plan on spending a good number of weekend days at the beach, so I think we'll survive. 

In the afternoon, we got to go out to my school.  (International School Eastern Seaboard)  David got to see where his new kindergarten classroom will be...and Lowell got to see where his science lab will be.  All in all, it was great to get a bit acclimated.  It was about a 40 minute drive to get there, with a bit of traffic here in Naklua where we live, but not much after that.  Then we drove up to Sri Racha, which is a coastal city a bit northeast of the school.  (It's straight up the coast from Pattaya/Naklua where we are right now.)  We were being driven around by a real estate agent that happens to be a parent at our school.  He's interested in helping teachers get settled.  Jim has helped quite a few folks. so he was showing us a few houses in Sri Racha for comparison to what's in Naklua/Pattaya.  (Look at a map if you can...Naklua is basically the northern outskirts of Pattaya.  More residential, not quite as hectic.)  One was a beach house that was very primitive, but right on the water.  It's a big tidal flat with lots of fishing activity (oysters, mostly).  A bit more "out there" than we were looking for.  Then we got to see another house near the beach that was far bigger and newer, but still a bit out there.  So we headed into downtown Sri Racha for dinner.  (See the food page...)  It was a great evening.

Then on the way home, Jim drove us through downtown Pattaya to help us get our bearings.  Tomorrow we plan on wandering around the city a bit.  That should be fun and exciting...and a bit daunting.  But it'll be a great adventure.  Our first goal is to find out how Devin can get to a grocery store using public transport.  (Our goal for over here is to avoid purchasing/renting a car.)  After the tour of Pattaya, we came home and crashed!
 

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