Sanna's adventures in the Pacific: observations from Thailand

So in the 3 weeks I have been in Thailand, I have seen lots. Somethings are tragic, other just plan bizarre, and of course there are the just simply hilarious moments. I have tried to write them down so I remember. So here is a sampling of Thailand through the eyes of me!

Feet
The Thai people view the head as the highest, best part of the body and consequently the feet are the lowest and well the grossest part of the body. This makes sense right, you walk on your feet, they are the lowest part of the body. So here is the part that is a little odd to me. Everywhere you go, everytime you step indoors, you take your shoes off. If the feet are so gross why are we exposing them to each other? Also, just a little news flash, the more you walk barefoot, the grosser your feet get! Just an observation.. I love to be barefoot ( my mom can tell you stories about when I was a little girl) and am happy to obey the custom, but just a little confused on the reasoning.

Massages

This could be one of the best parts about Thailand. You can not walk down a street without being asked if you want a message. The two most common types of massages are Thai, which combines a massage with yoga, and Oil, which is just a massage with oil. I have tired both several times and have a few pointers for when you embark on the world of massages.

-Get your massage on the beach... extra relaxing and its so much nicer to hear the waves rather then the hussle and bussle of the massage parlor.

-When getting a Thai Massage, make sure not to get the a large person to be your masseuse. I made this mistake and almost lost the ability to breathe! There are several maneuvers they do to help stretch you that involve... basically sitting on you. Well as you can imagine when I big girl sits on you, it makes it very hard to inflate your lungs! This same women... we'll call her Olga, also left a bruise on my elbow and legs from massaging too hard. (note- I bruise easily) While you don't want them to be super strong, you also don't want a masseuse that is just barely touching you... that annoying as well. I have yet to have the perfect massage!

The roads

Oh where do I begin? People are crazy drivers here! First of all they drive on the left side of the road, which after being in Hong Kong prior to arriving here, I am somewhat used too, but still its a bit strange. There are loads of motorbikes, as well as cars and trucks on the roads. I am not sure if its their chillness that they are just not paying attention or if when they hit the roads they get impatient, but man its nuts on the roadways! They pass on both sides of you!

The range of vehicles is also quite interesting! There are loads of motorbikes, so ancient with no mirrors, other with side carts which are small but somehow act as school buses at the beginning and end of the day. One of my first sights when I arrived in Phuket a few weeks back was a family of 5 all piled onto a motorbike! This is a sight I have grown used too! There are also the insane bus drivers that pass on the highways going 90 km on a blind turn! Its a miracle not more accidents occur!

With all this said you might think I am crazy to get on a motorized vehicle and get on the roads. Well let me assure you that I don't drive far and I am the slow poke on the side of the road. I think my top speed thus far as been 60km!

This is my handsome motorbike, I named him Henry!

Stray Animals

Lets just start this segment by saying Bob Parker would be truly appalled by the lack of spaying and neutering in Thailand! My first day here I was waiting at a school to be pick up with one of the other volunteers. Several dogs we just hanging around so being the animal lover that I am, I was oh aren't they cute, and began to pet them. Tim the other volunteer quickly informed me that these were all strays and I probably shouldn't touch them! A few moments later we turned around to see these dogs fighting over rolling in a dirty diaper! Man I have never wanted to wash my hands more! The dogs are everywhere, and they are not afraid of cars or motorbikes, so you have to be careful at night! Some will curl up to sleep right on the side of the road!
There are also stray cats, but they seem to be much less.

Trash

Oh trash.... its everywhere! I have already written about this, so I wont harp on it too much more! There is just trash everywhere despite trash cans all around! I was speaking with one of my Thai bosses who had a really good point. She said that back in the day, all food was wrapped in leaves and other natural substances that break down quickly. So people would just throw them on the ground when they were finished. Apparently the messages was not released that plastic takes decades to break down if not longer!

language

The Thai language is an incredibly hard one to learn. Not only do they have a completely different alphabet, but also MANY different tones. The same word can have two or three meanings because it if pronounced with different tones. For a native speaker of course this is easy, they just have the ear for it. Me on the other hand... I am lost! The kids have taught me many words. Usually when preparing a lesson I will look up the word in Thai so I can help them understand the definition. Most of the time I get a room full of kids laughing at me because I have pronounced it completely wrong! I usually laugh with them, because when they correct me, it sounds like, to me, what I have just said! I am just happy that I can make them smile!

Thai time

Going along with their chill lifestyle, well its not hard to imagine that they are not always on time to things. Everyone here just rolls at their own pace, which sometime is not the most efficient! The Swiss blood in me cringes at moments like these where people do things completely backwards and so slowly! I am drawing a blank on a good example.. I will be sure to add one when I think of one!

Strange animals on the side of the road/sidewalks

Oh I wish I could upload all the pictures I have of strange animals here! I generally see them at night when I am walking home and it is dark and all of a sudden I look down there is a huge frog, just hanging out... frogs freak me out! So you can only imagine how awesome my reaction is! I have also run into my fair share of strange spiders and cricket like things, all much bigger then in the US. The one critter I truly despise are cicadas! At home we have them every 17 years, here in Thailand... ALL THE TIME! You will be sitting eating dinner when all of a sudden you are dive bombed but one! And the noises they make, its different then at home, much more high pitched! Mom you would have a headache in a heart beat!

Some new pics from the last week! I have many more to add... hopefully soon!

On Tuesday we went to the orphanage to and taught them a Christmas lesson! They loved it! We made mini trees and decorated them. As you can see they wanted me to wear mine. The best part was I forgot I had the tree on and went out to dinner.. looked like a total fool!