Vacation

Hello America (and a scant smattering of other places), 

I've been quiet for the last few days because I have been on vacation.  I'm actually still on vacation.  

My current location is what I would call an artsy/tiki/bungalow hut on a beach in Koh Phi Phi.  It has been the perfect getaway and is bringing me back to trips to the Virgin Islands with my parents as a little girl.  While I won't regale you with intrepid stories of our travels (I am here with 6 other people) I can tell you that Koh Phi Phi was completely destroyed by the '04 Tsunami.  Pictures of the post Tsunami island are hung in most restaurants and the whole environment keeps reminding me of the post 9-11 New York that none of us will ever forget.  In bars there are still pictures of lost friends and signs point to "Tsunami Village." It's hard to fathom my beautiful little bungalow being completely destroyed by a wave but then again it was hard to imagine those colossal towers being destroyed by anything at all. 

On a much lighter and completely different topic altogether I learned tonight at dinner of an Asian phenomenon that I had not heard of at all previously.  A group of us were sitting around when one of the guys brought up massages in the mens bathroom.  This all might sound a little Senator Craig but apparently while you are peeing in the men's room in Thailand a man comes up behind you and puts warm towels on your neck and then swings you around and cracks your back.  Then you are expected to tip him.  All of the boys at the table had experienced this.  I am considering an incognito mission to discover if this is really true. I have my doubts.