Market adventures

Yesterday, having finished my teaching practice for the week and looking for something to eat for dinner, I strapped on my helmet and bicycled to a local night market, which I had visited with friends the week before. After navigating the often-perilous traffic on the Ring Road (one of the highways), I made it to Meechok Plaza, locked up my bike, and had a look around (unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures!).  I was exceedingly hungry, but I couldn't actually tell what most of the stalls were selling; this market, unlike some of the bigger ones, had no signs in English and very few farang customers. Everyone always says that you can just point to something to order, but when everything is in separate bowls and you have no idea what the end product will be, it's not very easy to point to everything. Put plainly, I was pretty nervous about how I would actually get food in my stomach.
After doing the rounds of the market twice, and being too scared to actually order anything, I stopped at a stall which looked popular (always a good sign, right?). There were little fried chicken dumplings floating in a pan of oil, so I approached the guy and said, "Ao ann nii" (I want this). He laughed a little at my broken Thai, scooped up about six dumplings, chopped them up, and put them in a bag (side note: everything comes in plastic bags here--fruit, meat, soup, you name it!). He also scooped a lot of sauce into the bag, and gave me some cucumbers on the side. As I sat down to eat it, I found out that it wasn't fried chicken at all, it was just...fried. As in, no chicken inside. It was like the breaded shell around fried meats, but there was no meat in it, just a little dough. It was delicious, as most Thai food is, but I was thoroughly perplexed while I ate it. The sauce was also really tasty, a spicy and sweet blend that has been cropping up a lot here. However, by the time I finished it, I was still hungry, probably because it was mostly just a fried shell. I managed to find some sort of meat on a stick (also in a bag) and ate that too, and also got orange and passionfruit juice. And all for only 40 baht!
The funniest part of this mystery meal was that when I got back to campus and asked the older volunteers about it, they had no idea what it was! Next time, I'm going to have to take a picture.
Anyway, in terms of a general update, I finish TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) this Friday, and start Thai classes on Monday. Thai will be every morning, but we'll have afternoons off, which is a bit of a relief considering we've had class most afternoons until now. Maddie and I move into our permanent rooms next week, once the old volunteers move out. I can't believe they're leaving so soon!
As a final note, part of the soundtrack to my life at the moment necessarily includes a song that you probably are at least a little bit familiar with: Gangnam Style. Now, I know it's popular in the States as well, but this song is UNBELIEVABLY popular here. Last weekend, it came on in a club and every single person there started doing the dance. I hear it probably at least three times a day, which is pretty excellent, because it's so addicting. Anyway, have fun dancing!