so here I am...

after almost two weeks of busy and hectic bangkok life, FINALLY I can provide you with the following:

- It sure is a really big city! It takes a while to walk to the nearest skytrain station, but when on the train, only 10 minutes to the center. "Center" is a very vast area, more than an hour walk to get to the main curiosities, but the taxis are very cheap. Of course, I'm walking everywhere but it's not a city that encourages strolling; it's dangerous because of all the cars (manymany) and the air is very polluted. The best way to get around is the boat. The chanals are just great, also because it's the only place where the heat is milder and for sure there's no air condition on the boat (remember buses in Iran? Here's even worse...)

- The historical part of the city is really nice, the temples are fantastic, but it's all interspread into the new structures, so in fact the temple areas really seem like green (also spiritual) oasis just a step from the busy roads. I haven't seen so many yet, but what i've seen was really nice. I visited the National museum, which took me half of a day and I thought it would be even bigger. Anyway, it's a nice museum, all texts available in english.

- The food is just fabulous, although you never really know what you eat; anyhow it's great! Lots of sea food, fried bananas, mango, pineapple and all the rest, great street snacks, all very cheap! The only drawback is the spice-level, which can sometimes really be too much, but apart from that it's really great.

- People are fantastic, smiling all the time and generally very polite and helpful; of course, since this is a very cosmopolitan (coslopolitan!) city, you can't avoid the numerous foreigners, and they are really lots of them. Not just tourists, also people leaving here permanently.

- The traffic is terrible, almost like in Teheran, plus they drive on the left side so street-crossing is a challenge.

- Everything is very affordable, even too much, so even if it all costs little, you are always tempted to buy everything, so money flies...

- The appartment is nice and I have a spare room for guests, SO WHEN ARE YOU ALL COMING TO VISIT? There's a really nice swimming pool on the roof :)

- The school is near to the residence, everyone is really kind, the students are ok, and I'm slowly getting into it. I only have one free day, which is friday, I work also saturdays and sundays, so I have to get into the rhythm still because it is demanding. But I'm having a lot of fun too, so it's not too bad.The first week was quite busy, this is also why it took me so long to get in touch. I think I'm doing allright, so far no complaints!

- There is a great massage saloon just outside the residence, it costs about 4 euros for an hour of really great thai massage, so, yes, it's a hard life!!!

- I havent's seen anything otside Bangkok yet, apart from the 2day trip to Ayuthhaya (about 50 km north) that I did last week. It's a city of temples, former cultural, commercial and political centre, with lots of elefants walking around and fantastic fried small sweet bananas - a really nice place.

I promise to let you know more often about life here, I'm adding some pictures so you get a better idea of how it looks like around here!

Well, to make it even more vivid, you should try to add the nicest food smells and oriental spices that you can immagine, all around wherever you happen to be!

A big hug from me,

Lucija