On Saturday I went to what is supposedly the largest market in the entire world (in terms of the largest number of vendors, I believe), Bangkok's Chatuchak Weekend Market. Vendors at the market sell new and used clothing, handicrafts, food, collectibles, and live animals. It was an incredible place to wander around, I saw something new and interesting every time I turned my head.

We took a city bus there, so after about 45 minutes of slowing creeping through Bangkok traffic we made it to the market, which is in a park, so it was surrounded not only by big city buildings, but also green trees and a little pond with rowboats.

The market had everything and more than you could ever possibly want. I was expecting more of the same cheap, tourist-y stuff that we see everywhere, but there was actually an incredible selection of handmade items, used clothes, antiques, stationary supplies, fake flowers, and lots and lots of puppies (that I still wasn't allowed to touch!)

We snacked as we walked, on shaved ice topped with condensed milk and fresh mangoes and coconut ice cream served in a coconut shell. There were big stalls and little ones. Some people sold sunglasses and fake perfumes off of mats on the ground, while others had shops with two or three interconnected rooms and atmospheric lighting. One section of the market entirely sold vintage western shirts and leather goods, another corner was full of local art, with contemporary paintings lining the white walls of mini galleries.

If you could imagine something, some impossible, crazy thing, I have no doubt it would exist somewhere within the winding aisles of Chatuhak Market.

The other excitement from this weekend is that yesterday, the census-people came knocking on my apartment door! After a moment of confusion for all of us when I opened it, from me, because no one ever knocks on my door, from the census takers because they weren't expecting my farang face, they found me a form that was written in English and handed it over.

So as of yesterday, the Thai government now knows that I am the only resident of my apartment. They know I have a college degree but am unable to read or write in Thai. They know I have a tv, a fridge, and air conditioning (they don't know I lack a chair, a spoon, and actual sheets). They know that I have an actual flushing sit toilet in the house and that I don't drink water from the tap. They know everything there is to know about me!

I was out of the country when the US census happened back home, so all this time I've been worried that maybe I didn't actually exist, but now I definitely do! I exist as a foreigner who doesn't even know her address or phone number to fill them in on the census form! I exist in Thailand!