not trying to be vegan, cabs, my new roommates

When a wise person discovers he's going to be living on a vegan site for 6 months, he might modify his diet ahead of time. Slowly, but surely, his body will acclimate itself to digesting nothing but fruits, vegetables and grains. I, however, have taken this opportunity in my last days of carnivore-hood to find a meat and dairy product in virtually every meal I've consumed in the last couple of weeks. Yesterday, for example, I had chicken for breakfast on the plane, a cheesburger for lunch and spaghetti carbonara for dinner. I think I'm gonna be juuuust fine.
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Chiang Mai's got these taxicabs that are about 3 feet wide by 4 foot long. They have no doors or seatbelts and their ceilings are made of tarp. They kindof resemble those amusement park cars that ride on tracks and are not intended for people over 4 feet tall because they're just that tiny. They also go maybe 40 miles an hour and spit up diesel fuel like nothing I've ever seen before. They've got these handles on the sides so you can hang on for your dear life as the cabby goes careening around corners, cutting off larger, more threatening vehicles until you get to your destination and he slams on the breaks. Then you're supposed to haggle over the price.
I wasn't meant to haggle.
No really. Yesterday I managed to get into a cab and talk down the price of my fare, saying numbers and "that's a bit pricey" in Thai. This was a pretty big accomplishment for me because I'm not confrontational, especially with strangers. And I don't think I've actually ever succesfully haggled before, even in markets where it's customary to do so. Then by the time we settled on a lesser fee, I felt guilty and ended up paying his original offer. Whatever. It's the difference of paying $1.50 versus 50 cents, but it's the principle of the thing. I should be able to haggle just like everyone else and not have a complex about it when it's all said and done.

I got a cell phone and I registered for 10 hours of thai classes :)
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I found my first problem with Thailand.... one I actually knew about ahead of time, but it bothered me how I ran into it. After winding down yestrerday, I got into the shower, started lathering up when i hear things fall to the floor, different from water falling. like, TAP taptaptaptaptap. I looked down and there was a New Orleans sized cockroach, then another and another. I look up and there's a few more where they came from up in the vent. "crap," I jumped out of the shower, grabbed my towel (still sudsy and soapy) and ran for my hiking boots to start pounding away at them.
I killed the three and then rinsed off in the sink instead of the shower. After I;d gone to bed, in the middle of the night, I woke up to the same tapping noise. i turned my light on by the bed and jumped out for my boot again to start whacking again. His guts sortof spewed on the floor, I sortof just left him there so that his friends could witness his deformed body as a warning to the rest of them not to visit me,...or maybe they'd just bide their time and seek revenge as a whole posse. Whatever, they're not paying $15 to stay here every night. In any case i went back to bed with one hiking boot on my foot, laced, ready for more attacks...slightly on edge.