Halfway through.

So we are halfway through our trip to Thailand and I figure that's a good time to recap things.

I am just behind where I wanted to be in terms of my training. A few injuries and some unkind food set me back a bit so I still think that I'm doing well overall. The only things that I want to accomplish is a bit more time in the weight room, maybe put in a few 6 hour days, and securing my weight back up at 160 pounds.

Danielle started training and I think it's great for her. There were women Muay Thai fighters at the show we went to yesterday but unfortunately we had to leave early and not see them*. She also seems to be more interested in fighting in general and we have been looking at female fight vids both MMA and Muay Thai since YouTube is no longer banned in Thailand. She says that watching women fight gets her more interested in training as well**. Good stuff, although I fear that she will not be as comfy, soft, and squishy to lay next to if she keeps it up.

*This brings up another point. Even in America women usually fight at the very beginning or the very end of a show. I understand that Thai superstition says that a ring where women fight is cursed or something so maybe having them fight last here is due to that. But it seems odd to me to have this marker separating them from other fighters on the bill. I know most male MMA fans love to see women fight, for various reasons. So the draw is there, why not?

**Props to any organization that has women fighters alongside men. The fights are just as interesting, and the women themselves are athletes who have poured just as much sweat, blood, and who knows what else into their training.

We are adjusting well to our surroundings the only barrier here is still language. There are about 10 words that all sound like "kao" to me so the tones and length of vowels are really being a large barrier to understand common speech. However what words we do know, we use without hesitation anymore and we seem to be picking up odds and ends of the language here and there.

I am used to cold showers, dirty streets, and the general opinion that we live and train in one of the many assholes of Bangkok.

I keep looking back to America every now and then, to be honest there are many pro's and con's about comparing Thailand to America. This is expected as with any other country. But I really look forward to only a few things back home. Friends and family are what I miss the most, I miss training with The Kai and feel silly now for not pushing myself there as I am here, and everything else is just small stuff. For the record I do not miss work, but I miss some of the people there.

In all I am having fun here, but I miss you guys. I look forward to being back in November, and I'll probably not shut up about Thailand until I find a way to get back here.