survived my first "disaster"

yes.....i have had---and lived through---my first "disaster". things are bound to go wrong somewhere along the lines when integrating yourself into a new culture. here's the story of my first glitch here in mae sot:

the guesthouse i was staying at from when i first arrived was beautiful. not so cheap for thai standards, but at 250 baht (which is roughly $7.50cdn) i'm not going to complain. it was clean, had sheets on the bed, two pillows, a towel, a clean bathroom that usually had toilet paper in it, to name a few of the things this place offered. well when i showed up on their doorstep in the early hours of sunday morning the guy in charge wanted to know how long i was staying. i hadn't even showered since the day before, having taken the over night bus, hadn't yet talked to the woman running the program i was about to bevome involved with and i had no idea what side was up let alone know how long i needed a room from him. i guessed that by wednesday i might have a better idea of what was happening so i told him i'd stay 'till atleast then. it wasn't 'till tuesday that i met the group i was set up with and they are also the people responsible for my food and housing. they said they wouldn't be ready for me 'till sunday and i thought......"great. i like where i'm staying. it's got a lot of interesting people staying there for me to meet. i'll just tell the guy i need to stay 'till sunday." well when i got back that night i didn't see him and when i woke up wednesday morning i saw him and told him i needed to stay 'till sunday. his response was "oh no. i promised your room to new guest coming today. but don't worry. you can stay in mary's house......much cheaper for you. only 100 baht/night. homestay. no problem." and before i knew it this smiley faced burmese woman was accepting me in her house and had already prepared my room with a mat, towel, mosquito net and lock and key for the door. now.....i took one look at the place and thought "ok. maybe one night won't be so bad. then i'll figure something else out. this could be an adventure." so i put my things down locked the room and went out to go to the office and get some ideas for my class down on paper. i returned some hours later for my afternoon shower. i opened the door of my room only to see it full of mosquitos and watched a mouse/rat/rodent of somekind crawl out of the room between the wall boards! inside i freaked out. didn't know what to do next really. i didn't want to stay there with mice, but didn't want to hurt the woman's feelings. i decided to go ahead with the shower and i'd talk to aryca (the volunteer coordinator) about it when i saw her later that night at a going away party for another volunteer friend working at the medical clinic. well, susan, my nova scotian friend i have met here, asked me about mary's house when she saw me (things travel fast here in this small town seeing as she already knew my housing had changed) and i told her about the situation and how uncomfortable i was with the uncleanliness of the place and not wanting to offend the woman. she said "just leave". i had no idea it was that easy. susan offered to come with me and tell the woman i wouldn't stay afterall. we got my things and stored them in her room 'till after the party and i am now staying in the guestroom where the volunteer office is. which isn't clean either, but for any of you who know me well........you'd be shocked at how well i have dealt with the spiders and other bugs!!!

so i'm in a mice free room (so far anyway!!) and guess i'll just stay there 'till my "apartment" is ready. that should be interesting! but i have survived my first disaster of this time in mae sot.