I had a friend tell me over lunch today about beautiful architecture designs that had inspired her and I began to walk down memory lane to Denver, Colorado. Denver has some of the most beautiful architecture, because the houses are a vision of everything quaint and cozy. That city has always felt so comforting to me.
I stole these pictures of random houses in Denver, but I think they are very typical houses. The homes have these big porches and are set back from the road, typically with quaint little yards. I lived there during the summers of 2007 and 2008 and I was inspired by Denver. It was a place where I wanted to be outdoors - learning, active, and exploring. I found a passion for backpacking, hiking, and camping out there; I was sometimes a little depressed and once, homeless there (for a short time, because my housing fell through...yeah, funny story actually - I was sleeping at the park in downtown Denver with my then boyfriend, Kyle, and one morning, we were walking out of the park and another bum came up to us and said, "Hey, I've seen you guys. You are over by the hill. I'm down by the river! You know, I just got a bottle of whiskey and I was going to go drink under the bridge. You can come too." Kyle and I were pretty pumped about this interaction, us being homeless (kind of and though not in a dire situation, still trying to meet other people around the city. We looked at each other and exclaimed, "Yes! Friends!") I found myself in that city in terms of what was important to me after a painful breakup and what type of person I wanted to be. I met beautiful people there and that city stole a piece of my heart. I think of all of the places in the United States worth living and Denver is certainly one.
Then I started working for Greenpeace. Figures.
Finding places that are inspired isn't a struggle. This world is unbelievable and I find inspiration tends to be everywhere, you just need to be open to looking for it. I'm inspired right now by the people in my life. So many people are doing remarkable things, pursuing graduate degrees, traveling to amazing new places, and some people are just enthusiastic about living and are in great emotional states. I'm inspired by it, but screw all you lucky bastards who are living in Denver right now, going to concerts and breathing in that mountain air. I'm jealous, but I'll just have to have some beverages on the beach with Erica. I'm only going to survive this adventure with Erica if I check into rehab the moment she leaves. Last night was one of the strangest interactions that I have ever had in Phuket. When you think of the type of person who would instigate a crazy night in Thailand, you might think of someone clad in high heels and a short skirt, heavy make-up, abnormally tall for a female, with broad shoulders, and an adam's apple. Though she might look like a attractive woman, she definitely used to be a man. Bring on the lady boys! Check this - so, Erica and I go out for drinks and dinner at a really nice outdoor restaurant where we enjoy the atmosphere and some classic Thai cooking. We then decided to go to a jazz bar that I know of in Phuket town, Music Matters. We were especially excited to see some more live music after an expat with a fanny pack took the stage at this funky Thai bar the night before and brought down the house with his spot on Ray Charles vocals and aggressive tambourine moves. It was fantastic! We get to the jazz bar and we haven't even sat down before a painfully awkward, fifty year old gentleman rushes over to us, introduces himself, decides that he's into my blonde hair and the fact that I'm "sparkling", and proceeds to buy us drinks. We are sitting outside enjoying these blue Hawaiian fruit concoctions, when a woman next to us, smoking hookah, catches our attention - since we wanted hookah - and offers us some puffs. We take her up on it and I very quickly realize that this nice lady is definitely a lady boy. What gave this lady boy away? Maybe the adam's apple or the fact that shortly after we sat down she started deep throating the hookah pipe for a photo op! Koreans go for the peace signs...lady boys go for the sexual antics. Oh, and it got sexual. Another man comes over to take some photos of the lady boy with us and she starts telling him that she needs something bigger and does he have anything to help her out. Erica and I were in hysterics and the man, obviously uncomfortable by this very direct come on, stuttered out something about how it wouldn't be as sweet as the hookah pipe. It was painful.
Our lady boy friend in true form.
This is about the point that Erica and I decide to go and get a bottle of whiskey - we had a impromptu jazz band in the back ground, free drinks flowing, and a lady boy who was only getting warmed up. We ended up killing the bottle of whiskey with our new friend, the lady boy that is, and realized that the rest of the night would only continue to become more weird. Sexual advances were coming from all angles, yet people thought that Erica and I were a couple. The lady boy kept insisting that we were on our honeymoon, which was strange, but this ended up being a good thing for us in the end because we avoided being swept off with the lady boy to her friends bar - a place I had never heard of and may not have made it back from had I dared try find out - and I point blank told the awkward drink buyer that Erica and I were together, which he said that he had thought, thus thankfully was able to lower the awkward intensity of the interaction. Erica, my lesbian lover. Wow.
The honeymooners.
As I wrote this blog, my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, but I answered regardless. The interaction went something like this:
Man on the phone: "Sa wa dee krup" ("hello" in Thai)
Me: "Hello?"
Man on the phone: "Sa wa dee krup"
Me: ....pause pause pause (thinking about how to say you have the wrong number in Thai) Hello?...
Man on the phone: "This is Boy"
Me: ...pause pause pause
Man on the phone: "Do you remember me from last night?"
Me: ...pause pause pause...yeahhh. Sorry, I'm working now. Can you call later?"
I slowly lower the phone from my ear and think to myself - what on earth happened last night and who is Boy?
Turns out, and I remember this now, that we ended up dancing the night away with our new found expat friends - no one younger than 40, and had made quite an impression on them. Erica apparently said to Boy, "Why do you call yourself Boy, why don't you call yourself Man". Oh, goodness.
Who knew jazz night would get so spicy?
Remember what I said about rehab when Erica leaves? I still stand by that statement. The sun has finally come out and we are looking forward to a couple more days of adventures and chaos before Erica ships off - back to D.C., but as always, we are going to make the most of it. I hope Thailand is ready!
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