I love....Lamp.

The past few weeks have been super busy and pretty stressful with the semester coming to an end. The students took their finals last week which then had to be graded within 24-48 hours so any necessary re-sits could occur. The whole process of letting a student re-take a test until they pass is beyond me. I personally see no positive outcome with that system, but I have to suck up some of my educational beliefs while in Thailand because this is their system and I have no say in what is occurring. That said, it was a fairly busy week and my desk was constantly covered in heaps of tests. It looked like a disaster... and I needed to step away from the situation. So, I stepped really far away and headed to Koh Samet with Sarah and another co-worker, Alex. 

After about 6 hours of disgustingly hot and clustered van rides (a random Thai man accidently snuggled me on one leg of the trip), we made it to Ban Phe, the mainland beach with the needed ferry service to Koh Samet. We waited a bit at the pier and played with two adorable little puppies. They were only semi-clean but I am so deprived of puppy play that I just embraced the cuteness of the situation. And then, finally, we made it to the island where we were abruptly brought to a panic when we saw that a massive music festival was being set up for the weekend, and we had no place to stay. Luckily, we found a pretty cool spot, but we had to fork over more baht than expected since all of the cheaper rooms were full. But, I was okay with spending about $10 to sleep in a bungalow on the beach. Gotta love Thailand. 

We immediately took a stroll along the beach and then sat and devoured an amazingly delicious BBQ meal. I forgot how good beef and baked potatoes were. Mmmm. The rest of the night was super fun and spent at a place called 'Lamp.'  It was a random tiki-esque bar set-up on the beach with room for about 9 people to sit. The bartender looked like a baller, the music was bumpin' and we couldn't resist the simplicity of it so we settled in and ordered some drinks. As I sipped my mojito, I spotted the tiniest little black puppy resting in the sand and I died a little bit from the overwhelming cuteness of the baby mah  (dog). Obviouly, I immediately swept her up in my arms and barely let go for the next 3 hours. She was only 4 weeks old and it was true love. Later in the night, she dozed off in the connect 4 pieces on top of the 4 foot high counter. I literally turned my back for 2 minutes and when I looked back, she was gone! Apparently she rolled over in her slumber and off of the counter. Poor little pup. But don't worry- she was okay. 

Lamp Bar....awesome!

The next day was perfection. The three of us soaked in the sun with banana shakes by our side, a whole lot of swimming and floating in the tropical waters and playing a lot of frisbee. It felt amazing.... until later that afternoon when we all realized how burnt we were...whoops! But, we aloe vera-ed our bodies up (thanks to Alex's purchase who claims that sunburns make him very emotional - 555) and took on the night once again. The beach was bursting with activity and we were able to catch a fire show and a Muay Thai match, both of which were scary and exciting to watch. 

Srall lovin' life

Fire Show.

  

Stolen from Google. But you get the gist. 

The weekend was loads of fun and so needed after the frenzy of finals. The only downside? We had to miss the music festival because we had to come back to Suphan to teach on Sunday. ON A SUNDAY! Oy! And the festival looked incredible, especially since it included a performance by my favorite Thai band, 25 hours. Seriously- listen to this song, and feel bad for me. 

                                         Yin Dee Tee Mai Roo Jak

Welp, now its back to the grind, submitting final grades while the students take their Thai exams. I can't believe my first semester is already coming to an end!