Random Thoughts...part II

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

These are some thoughts and inner reflections on the first few months of Peace Corps service here in Thailand. Many of these come from Dale Yurovich, a fellow volunteer while others have been inspired by other volunteers and their own input. Hope you enjoy.

1) You can shower with many different creatures, including frogs, toads, large spiders, thousands of ants, geckos, and ..............

1A) You can get use to or adapt to many things but thus far I have yet to get use to a cold shower early in the morning.

2) Thai's eat more fried foods than any American I know and yet they still maintain that girlish figure. I have yet to discover how this is possible but if I were to eat like this in the States then I would have had my second heart attack last week. Please send all get well cards to my family.

2A) I have never had better fried chicken in all my life and mixing the fried bits with rice is a new favorite treat.

3) Their are more pick-up trucks in Thailand than at any county fair.

4) I can now cook using a wok.

4A) I've now learned two new ways to cook eggs. The incredible, edible, egg is freaking right!

5) All Thai's are deaf forcing them to play and listen to music at volumes which allows the next village over to hear. This holds true for television as well. My neighbor's daughter was watching an early morning children's program today at 6:45am. I know this because I heard it as if it was in side my skull...

6) A polite greeting for a Thai adult is known as a 'Wai'. Hands clasped together at chest level, bow the head, and say Saa-wa-dee-krap/ka. A polite greeting for Thai children is to smack each other on the side of the head as hard as you can. The shoulder is also acceptable although not as painful and thus not as respectable. A good swift kick is also acceptable.

7) I don't use toilet paper anymore and I kind of like it. Seriously think about what you do for a moment. You wipe your own ass with your hand protected only by the thinnest piece of paper you can find. I'm going to have problems shaking people's hands when I get back to the States.

8) If you ever have to wonder how long you should let water boil before it is safe to drink then you should just let it boil some more.

8A) Nope. Still not safe. Let it boil some more.

9) Pooping something solid is a cause for celebration.

10) There are people who have never seen snow.

11) There are people who will never see snow.

12) There are people who have never seen pictures of snow.

13) It is accepted that one should remove his/her shoes before entering any public building or private residence. This isn't really a problem since most people wear sandals.

13A) It's nice to be able to wear sandals to work on a daily basis. Especially when you have to leave them at the door and walk around for most of the day bare foot. I highly recommend it.

14) With regard to food, everything has bones in it. Eat slowly so as to better enable you to pick those bones out.

15) A lot of weird things make a lot of weird sounds at a lot of weird times.

That's all for now. I'm tired and am going to bed.