The drama of the day is who will drive me to the highway to catch the bus.  I had asked Noi to drive me after class and she said she would.  Then Pat told me the school driver would take me because Noi had to be in a meeting.  Noi said she had plenty of time to take me.  So it became up to me to decide.  Oh jeeze.  I decided to go with the school driver.   Pat seems so stressed lately, I think she might implode.  I don’t want that.

I had to leave school at 3:00 since my bus is at 4:30, which means I get to sit at the side of the highway for over an hour.  I don’t understand, but this whole thing is ridiculous already so I just went with it.  The bus was late so I ended up sitting on the side of the highway for 2 hours.  This is why you never go anywhere without a book to read.  I got stared down by a stray dog for at least a half hour of this time.  The bus ride was ok except that the road from Tak to Mae Sot is terrifying.  It’s full of steep switchbacks.  There’s construction going on.  There are huge drop offs to nowhere.  There are tons of construction vehicles and large double semi-trucks taking stuff to the border.  Most of the semis struggle going uphill which makes the bus driver go around them, pulling blindly into possible oncoming traffic.  The bus driver seemed to have a mission to make up for being late.  I’m not sure how the bus wasn’t struggling with the hills, but it didn’t.  It must have turbo drive or nitrous or magic.  There are lines on the road to tell you where to drive, but he didn’t see them, maybe because he was going so fast.  He road down the centerline a lot and spent quite a bit of time on the shoulder very close to the edge to nowhere.  But, now I’m safe in Mae Sot.  My hotel room is nice and I’m waiting for a burger, fries with ranch dressing and a milkshake.  Yes, ranch dressing – I’m quite excited.

(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore