***Third Day***

I met Tina at the gate and we went to the MWR building to get my request-for-use-of-the-cafeteria paper signed. She left, and I walked to the thrift shop, where I worked until 3. We had pizza and purple cake for lunch. And I bought some clothing patterns. Then Beverly drove each of us to our gate. I walked back to the apt, and got on the computer. After reading e-mail, and listening to 80's music on Youtube, we had supper. Then watched "Johnny Dangerously".
***Day three in Thailand***
I woke up while it was still dark - a result of going to bed too early. Finally we all got up at 7am. We shower, dress, and go to the hotel buffet for breakfast. I had a little trouble with the toaster because it was like a conveyor belt. Michele spies the largest millipedes I have ever seen on the wall. (Its an outside room). We meet in the lobby at 8:30 for the day tour. My stomach isn't feeling well. We follow a man with a bike (no motorized vehicles on the island). We stop at several hotels along the way to add to our entourage. We walk further than we have walked before along the beach road. Finally we turn and come to a house on stilts at the water's edge. The man pulls out four buckets of flippers for us to choose from. We choose pairs in our sizes. Then we all duck under the building and wade into the water and climb into the boat. The water was deep enough that my shorts are wet. The boat is just a large canoe with a tarp to protect the 10 of us from the sun. We speed to an island cove and are given 15 minutes to snorkel. I just swim and float. Getting back into the boat is harder because the ladder is very short and there is no bottom to push off of. Then we motor to another island and cove. This time I put on a scuba mask and look at the fish. I didn't use the breathing tube because I don't know how clean it is. The fish are very colorful, but are scared away when more boats come. A similar large canoe runs into me while I am watching the fish. Don't they know I can't hear them shouting underwater? Then back aboard, we go to another island, this one has a floating pier. We park next to another boat, and have to walk across it to get to the pier. The pilot has styrofoam lunches to hand out and bottles of water. We walk to the beach, and find places at a picnic table. This place is crowded. Michele isn't feeling well and gives her lunch to Chris. Near the table hangs a caged bird. Michele watches it do backflips. After eating, we walk through the jungle to the toilets and another grotto. When our time is up, we go back to the boat. We go to another cove that has incredible soft spongy sand. There are no other boats here. We explore the beach and shallows. I wish heartily for a bathroom, but there are none here. Something doesn't agree with me. Then it starts to rain and we get back in the boat. We sail on over choppy waves. My eyes are closed and I feel as if someone is throwing buckets of warm salt water over me. I hold tightly to the seat as the boat kicks in all directions. The wind on my drenched body is chilly. Then we pull into a harbor. I think the ride is over, but then three girls get off and the rest of us go on to another beach. This place is also deserted and there is no hope of a bathroom. We comb the beach and walk in the shallows again. I am glad when we get in the boat to leave. But the ride home is even worse than before. It is still raining, wind blowing, and the sea spraying. But the ride is rougher. I have a death grip on the seat, as I discover that they are not nailed down. We ride up one wave and slam down the other side, over and over. I am trying to protect my spine from the impacts. Finally Chris is able to shove a life jacket under me and that helps alot. I pretend that this is Busch Gardens and the ride will soon be over. It seems to take forever to get back, but when we do, I am beaten and tired. We face a long walk back to the hotel, and there is no other way to get there because the tide is low. Everything we brought is wet except the camera which we carried in a plastic bag. At the villa, I shower and go to bed while Chris and Michele walk the beach looking at creatures stranded by the low tide. Later I take some Aleve and write down my experiences. I think I deserve some fabric and a Thai massage. The massage places here on the island are one-room glass front businesses. The lack of privacy does not appeal to me. I see Chris' red neck from yesterday. Now he has a matching back from floating face down watching fish.
We walk in search of supper and stop at one of the other hotels. We order Thai food, of course. My meal tastes like someone sliced up a pine sapling and made soup with it. I am told Thai women eat this to stay slim. (I'd rather exercise.) Then I have a pina colada and feel much better. Still no paper umbrella, though. As we leave, the hostess asks where we are from. When we tell her we came from Seoul, she sighs and says that it is much cooler there. I offer to trade places with her.
Walking back from supper, we stopped to let Michele buy a shirt, and I bought some incense for my Secret Sister. The pina colada made me feel so good that I didn't care later when I woke up because the man two doors down set off fireworks and played loud music. I didn't even notice when he shouted "Talk to me, I'm Peter Pan!". (We think he was smoking something).
Today's lesson: If you are not feeling spry and adventurous, take a big boat.