having fun in a new world

i'm at zeno's place right now.....where he is staying in bangkok.....and it is waaaaay different than i'm used to, being a backpacker and all. he's here for a month working for the american embassy and the housing they provide is at a hotel that is far beyond anything i will ever be staying at on my own. when i walked into this place to meet zeno the other day you should have seen the looks on the faces of the bell boys and service people at the desk. usually at these kind of places there are people all over you saying things like 'may i help you sir?/ma'am?'.....'what can i do for you, sir?ma'am?'........rushing to be at your every need or desire. well when i walked up to the entrance, (now picture me with a backpack on the front and back and a smaller bag in my hand.......shoes stuffed in the side pockets and a water bottle hanging off the sides), people looked at me like i'd just landed from mars. it took several minutes for anyone at the front desk to even make eye contact with me, let alone help me. finally i told a woman that i was here to meet a friend, told her the room number and she called it. she sounded a little like this: 'mr benjamin? you have......a......friend here?......wanting to see........you?......ok.......i shall....aahhh.......bring her to you.' there were many pauses and question marks in that little conversation, but when she escorted me to his room and saw the embrace she knew i was in the right place.......well......sort of. funny! gotta run for now. i'll blog again hopefully not too long from now. i go to mae sot tomorrow night on the night bus. hope it's not too bad.