attempting

       I’m rather a perfectionist when it comes to writing. That doesn’t mean I am good, I'm not, but it means that I type and delete over and over until I finally feel like I have somewhat expressed my internal thought process. Expressing my internal though process is rather difficult because I think in a very fast sequence of memories and current impressions: people, stories, songs, events, emotion, logic, book quotes, first impressions, pictures, smells, noises and tastes. As I try to explain Thailand it wouldn’t do for me to just say, “queasy morning snack, fast showers, rough wood floor, cracks, shoes off, call to prayer, buzzing around, burning lips, blond children, king, cop coon jow lie lie.” So you see it takes me awhile to process and report a more comprehensive version.

Thailand

           I really like Thailand. First of all the Bangkok airport is probably my favorite. It is big, modern, and has chai lattes and TV’s playing the Discovery channel in every terminal. I spent an afternoon in Chiang Mei, and as soon as I stepped out of the airport and saw a couple climb onto a motorcycle and drive off, I knew I wanted to come back. My dad and I walked down the main street next to the airport and found a local looking restaurant. We ordered lunch through hand gestures since my Thai was nonexistent. Ok, I have had curry, and it was spicy, but nothing, nothing, could have prepared me for this random curry we chose. Food in Thailand is really spicy, but really good. It is a different spicy than the spicy you get from a taco stand in Mexico. Taco stand spicy goes away with time, milk and lime. Thailand spicy goes away with water, so it is easier to taste what you’re eating as you sweat and your nose starts dripping. I do not understand why countries that are already hot and moist, eat hotter and moister things.

            From Chiang Mei we flew on a little propeller plane to the Nan province. There we met up with the missionary family that we stayed with for two nights. They are such a great, funny, welcoming family living in a village of Buddhists and Muslims. They took us on walks around their village introducing us to all the friends they have made. In their area they speak Thai-lu, which is a tonal language that is really fun to learn. In one of the small stores we went into the lady invited us in and made us sit down. 

                                                         

•    Nan culture 101: always take your shoes off before going in anywhere. Always offer water to your guests and make sure their cup is never empty. If the person you are meeting is older or somehow more important than you then you need to initiate the greeting by placing your hands together like one of those praying ceramic figures and tipping your hands and head down. Then you say what sounds like “so what de ka” and they will respond in kind. After they offer you food, which they will do, you try to say something like “cop coon jow lai lai” but only say the jow if you are female.

           

            After sitting down we were given this...thing. Fermented tealeaves wrapped around a ton of sugar, nuts, salt, and coconut and then frozen. Then you take ‘It’ and suck on it. And the flavor lasts forever. Its like the redbull of the rice fields, minus the drinkability and non-nauseating flavor. The ladies then told us to come back for lunch after we finished out tour of the rice fields, local shops, and town deities. Man, lunch made up for “It”. You should eat Thai food like the Thai people do. It’s freeing. You can’t worry about germs, or mixing your food, or sharing. You just dig your hands into the rice make little balls and use that to scoop up the curries and vegetable concoctions. My favorite two ingredients they use are rice noodles and bamboo, which I ate alot of between wiping the sweat from my eyes and sniffing. Now I think that the reason hot and moist countries eat hotter and moister food is because you stop thinking about how hot your body is when your mouth is on fire, plus by this time you just start sweating straight water.

            

There are so many more details I could tell, but this post is ridiculously long and I was in Thailand for only two days out of my 6-week venture. Next was Sri Lanka.