After a terrible night of sleep in my hot, stuffy guesthouse room shared with an insatiable mosquito, I got up at 5 AM and came to the internet cafe to IM with my dear friend Stacy who got engaged to her boyfriend Gian over the holidays. I am half asleep, eating Dunkin' Donuts and drinking coffee from 7-11. Chris and I leave for India this morning and I am so excited/nervous and unsure of what to expect. This is going to be an insane day.

We intended to spend our last day in Bangkok at an amusement park, but the weather didn't cooperate and we opted to go to a Thai boxing (Muay Thai) match. If you're not familiar, Thai boxing is the national sport of Thailand and is more like kickboxing than American boxing. The fighters are usually rediculously young, like 15 or 16, and the matches are cheered on by mostly middle-aged Thai men who watch the matches standing up, cheering, grunting, and gyrating in response to every blow.

The event begins with everyone standing in honor of the King (as does everything in Thailand, even movies). Then, the fighters emerge in their corners wearing big colorful silk shorts and giant yellow flower garlands around their necks. Then, accompanied by a live band, they crouch and slide around each other in something resembling a courtship dance before removing their ceremonial garlands, and then proceed to kick the shit out of each other. We watched three matches from the nosebleed section, and immediately saw the first defeated fighter rolled away in a wheelchair after the third round. Good times!

I am off. Next update from India!