Another Crazy Neighbor

Another interesting and different person moved in beside my unit in the past wk. She is a Belgian women now living in New York City who goes by the name of Boogie. In what appears to be her mid-thirties, Boogie sports dreadlocks and is a practicing witch. As I was talking with her on of the first evenings she moved in, she told me more about her passion of being a witch and some of the practices she gets involved with. I don't really remember precisely what she explained in regards to her witchcraft practice, although she said she is not into black or satanic witchcraft.
Later on in the evening as I was practicing some yoga in my room I could hear her, 2 rooms over, doing some witchcraft in the form of chanting and what sounded like pounding on drums or something. It was all fairly entertaining and made me feel more alive and appreciative for my time and experiences here in Thailand.

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Met my first African American here on the island of Ko Phangan several days ago. It is uncommon enough to meet many Americans, let alone a black one from the states. I was hanging out outside of the 7-11 talking with a friend from yoga school when I heard a bunch of commotion coming from a large black dude about 10 ft away. He was ranting something about water to the clerks in the 7-11 and tossing water all over the place from a collapsable type jug. He seemed a bit out of control and I was just hoping the situation wasn't going to escalate into anything violent. The Thais are very laidback and non-confrontation, but if you cross them I have heard they can get quite vindictive and violent. Apparently the country has one of the higher murder rates by gun in the world.
I just stood back and observed and thought he potentially sounded American byhis accent. As I was heading over to my motorbike he turned out to be heading in the same direction and his bike was parked next to mine. I asked him what was going on and he said something about them giving one price for some fountain water, and then upcharging significantly when he was leaving. Didn't seem like that big of a deal, but miscommunication occurs often with the language differences. I asked him where he was from and he said New York City. That would definetely explain the attitude he possessed, as attitudes in NYC are much more in your face than here in Thailand, where much significance is placed on keeping your cool and saving face. I told him I was from Philadelphia and we talked a bit. He was with a beautiful woman from Taiwan. Didn't get a chance to find out what he was doing here or for how long.