- I’m currently living with only half of the things I brought with me. They told us to only bring one bag to our host family’s house, so half of my stuff is still sitting in a bag that I won’t see again until the end of March.
- Sometimes the sun, moon, sunrises and sunsets look so awesome that they look fake…or like they belong in a movie
- My host mom gave me an info booklet and audio CD about meditation. My whole family asks me every day now if I’ve meditated (I’m so exhausted at the end of every day that I haven’t tried it yet….maybe eventually)
- The tv in my house is always on, and it’s always on the same channel, which I’ve discovered is basically a meditation (or Buddhist) channel
- The letter R is pronounced as an L a lot here, which has made language acquisition all the more difficult, and I often think I’m hearing new words when I’m actually hearing words I already know
- Sometimes I think in Spanish when learning Thai. I haven’t used much Spanish since high school, but maybe it’s because that’s the only other language I’ve really been introduced to before…..but it’s funny….and confusing
- I’ve eaten a lot of ‘kanomes’ (treats/desserts) since I’ve been here, but they’re not always what they look like….when we were staying at a hotel the first week we’d have coffee and treats every afternoon, and one day we were having what I thought was a small cake (similar to a few we’d had already)….I bit into it to find tuna and corn inside…
- I don’t talk to my host grandma much (she’s often not around), but one day we were eating fruit together and she took out both her top and bottom dentures, showed them to me, and laughed. I wish I understood more of what she says to me, because I guarantee it’s funny
- Having a conversation about what I did, what I ate or where I went in a day has never been so satisfying as it is when I can speak and understand Thai with my host mom
- Stray dogs are everywhere and sometimes chase us on our bikes. I wish I could adopt them all and take them to site with me.
- I haven’t
worn makeup or used a hair dryer in over 2 weeks (I used both just about
every day in
- I used to think the tan lines I got playing softball all summer were bad…they’re nothing compared to the ones I’m starting to get now
- I eat rice usually 3 times a day…I thought I might get sick of it quickly, but I love it
- 7/11 here has all sorts of strange ‘treats’….the aisle that has a bunch of stuff that resembles Little Debbie snack cakes includes cakes with fillings like beans, tuna, corn, and other things I’m not sure of yet
- A
snickers bar at 7/11 costs more than a lot of the fruit in the market (Yes
mom, I bought a snickers bar….I still love chocolate in
- A can of beer costs as much as an entire meal
- Sugar is used on a lot of things here….often in the form of sweetened condensed milk, and it’s awesome
- I wash all my clothes by hand, in buckets. My host family has a washing machine, but Peace Corps told them not to let me use it because I need to get used to living conditions similar to what my permanent site will be (the fact that I change clothes at least twice a day doesn’t help the laundry situation)
- Everyone rides motorbikes here and almost no one wears a helmet. It’s also common to see 3-5 people (usually a few kids included) riding one at the same time
- We’ve eaten fish a lot at my house, and most of the time it’s served whole….tail, head, bones and all on the plate. I was a little apprehensive at first, but I love it
- I’m getting used to greeting everyone I see, being stared at, being laughed at, and not understanding what people are saying to me
- I rode my bike at night for the first time last week....I’ve never ingested so many bugs at one time (imagine riding a bike in the rain, except instead of rain, it’s bugs)
- Everything I heard about Thai people before I came is proving to be true….they’re so welcoming, gracious, generous, and happy (and I can’t even understand what they’re saying most of the time)
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