Time to Get Star, Spangled, Hammered

I'm a travel addict.  If I can jump on a plane and go anywhere I will.  New food, new languages, new climates, new people?  I'm in.  But deep down I do love my home, so when the fourth came around I was ready to bust out my red, white and blue spirit and celebrate my favorite holiday.  Instead of hot dogs, potato salad, Bud heavies, and fireworks, we dug up some spray paint, Leo's, volleyballs and guitars!  Hey, as long as the beer is cold and the friends are plenty it's a holiday to me!

Being in Thailand is sometimes like being in Florida. You are almost guaranteed some rain at some point during the day for about a half hour...and of course we were spending this particular day at the local pool, soaking up rays and then getting extra prune-y with a quick down pour.  

While I got ready to make some tees at our weekly "Shart" night (that's SHaring and ART), little Miss Maprow decided to rummage through my belongings.  I swear I can't get away from these animals (highly allergic, btw).  

Since there are only a handful of Americans in our group here I decided I could hand-make us some sweet duds for the weekend festivities.  Of course we have our "token" Canadian - a must in a group of traveling  'Mericans...so she got a shirt as well! For a first time spray job I'd say they turned out pretty well.  A little tape and cardboard go a long way at shart night.  

July 4th weekend was celebrated on the beach at Jam Bay with some cold brews and hot volleyball players.  At this point, the 4th felt pretty normal to me - beach day with good friends and a good excuse to wear as much red, white, and blue as humanly possible.  

Team north American (and Australia) was ready to kick some butt at the tournament...except instead of serving aces, we had our asses served to us.  Clearly I didn't pick up too many volleyball techniques from watching those Marist girls play for four years.  

(rain clouds and dance moves)

(But why is the rum gone?)

The birthday boy himself was presented with his favorite kind of bucket - the boozie kind.  

(Happy Birthday, America!)

As you may have seen in last weeks video post, my very own roommate and the bff played a few jams on stage and my were we impressed with their vocal stylings!  Looking forward to some more performances from these two!