Sick :(

So, I am sick and stuck in the hotel because it is down pouring at the moment and doesn't look like it's going to stop. I figured I would update you guys on the past few days. Songkran was crazy. People throwing water(buckets full-probably why i'm sick) and pasting flour all over your face. It was insane. They really go all out here for new year. I was drenched from head to toe and had flour all over my face.
Here's the girl that brought me to the festival. For some reason people were all over her with the flour.Too much fun, I think we need to change our new year to summer time or make 4th of July all about water. After walking through some of the festival 6 of us took two mopeds across town to another area and this is what it was like during the ride.




The whole thing was just nuts. Although now that it is over it is quite nice to not be getting hit with water everywhere I go on the moped.
So, both boys that I have become buddies with had fights this past week. Dia won:) and Beit lost:(. This is Beit bowing to the corner during his ritual dance before the fight.Dia (in blue) is in the two photos below.
The first one he is challenging his opponent in the ritual dance done before every Muay Thai fight. He's got a lot of spunk in him.

Dia did a really great job. The coolest part about his fight was that I was one of the only foreigners there. This was a legit everyday kinda fight where people were yelling and placing bets and getting in the fighters corners telling them what to do. It was also a free fight which was great. It was so much fun! The other place where Beit fought was where foreigners usually attend and it cost $40. You get VIP tickets, but it just wasn't the same.
At the place that you pay more specifically I have noticed that when they set a westerner up to fight it is with a Thai who is not an equal match. The same night that Beit fought there were quite a few westerners that fought. The Thai matches tend to be really good fights, but I think that the Westerners are set up to win the fights. The Thai's that fought them seemed to be smaller and not skilled or don't really even try. One match was just ridiculous with both the Westerner and the Thai seeming like neither of them had any Muay Thai technique whatsoever. Pretty interesting. It's probably not that way everywhere but who knows. I would prefer to fight where I could feel good about my win and not like it was handed to me. Not saying that they do that everywhere for those of you who have fought here, just saying that this is what i have seen thus far.
At the fight that Dia was in there was a festival going on since it was the last day of Songkran. At the festival were some Thai Cowgirls doing sexy dancing on stage and lip sinking to some Thai pop. Pretty entertaining.
Below my trainer was playing one of the carnival games they had. He was trying to win his girlfriend a stuffed animal.

I was playing this game where they fill a kiddie pool with goldfish and you have this paper spatula thing where you try to catch fish and get them in the pitcher before the water breaks through the paper. Really cool! I need to invent it in the states.
Also, there were a bunch of food vendors. I've seen them at the night market also. They have a bunch of different sticks of meat lined up. You just pick yours out and they grill it right there. Yummy!

A little later during the week one of my new English friends(Lamia) and I headed to an elephant farm and went on an hour long ride. So cool! We bought bananas for the elephant and during the ride he would stop and make us give him one every 50 feet.

At the farm they had a momma and baby elephant. Shortly after this picture was taken the baby elephant head butted me. He didn't want me touching him. He was strong.
I have been updating this post over the past few days. It is now Monday and I am feeling a little better. I had a really bad head and chest cold for the past three days and ended up taking Saturday and Sunday off from training. Feeling slightly better now. Still have the cold a bit but I think I am going to try to train today.
More later...