McRice Burger

We've been in Bangkok, again, since Monday and met up with Chris on Tuesday. Although we haven't seen as much of the city as we initially hoped, we've been able to visit a couple sites and hang out with Chris and his friends from the Peace Corps. It's been fun meeting the other volunteers and hearing them talk about their time in the service. Surprisingly, it sounds a little bit like listening to people in the Navy talking to each other. A lot of acronyms and inside jokes about the culture and lifestyle of living in a foreign place. The only tourist location we've really made it to was the Bangkok National Museum. Definitely the best museum we've been in Thailand or Laos - the museum has seven enormous buildings, each with a different focus area. We spent most of the time in the history building.All three of us also did some suit shopping yesterday. Nicole and I met a guy outside the museum who recommended a temple that we should visit and a suit shop. I don't know if it was an elaborate scheme or what, but we also met a guy at the temple who knew about the suit shop and told us about how great it was. The suits were nice and the price was reasonable, though, so if it was a scheme we didn't really care. We were both fitted for suits and a few shirts. I've never had a tailor made suit and I'm looking forward to having a jacket that fits both my shoulders and my waist. Usually a suit that fits my shoulders looks rediculous barrel shapped through the body. Someday, we think, we'll use them for job interviews, but neither of us can remember what jobs are.After we finished our fitting, we met up with Chris at the shop he was at. On the way we stopped for a legendary McRice burger. A chicken patty just like the states, but the bun was made of rice instead of bread. I can't stand fast food, but I felt like this was a reasonable exception - part of the cultural experience. It was delicious...Nic was not impressed.

Chris went to a shop that one of his friends, Tom, recommended. Tom had been there all day helping other volunteers decide whether to get full leg lining, one pocket or two, stitching on the lapel, etc. Chris is also hoping to use his new suit for a job interview in the not so distant future.
After suit shopping we headed out for some bowling with a group of PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers) at one of the shopping centers. I think Nicole ended up with the best score of the three of us, but the highlight of the night was a spontaneous Isan style dance party by the PCV's - shown below.
This week has been pretty laid back - a good rest stop before heading to Hong Kong to meet up with Chellis for her grandmothers birthday and the Chinese New Year. We can't wait!