Behind the Scenes

As per request of a friend I have decided to write a entry based on a more behind the scenes look at my experiences. Instead of writing about what I have been doing I will include some interesting observations and experiences:

1. First, if you were ever a dog lover it would be hard to continue those feelings here in Thailand. Dogs are not treated very well. This is not the case everywhere, but even when a dog has a loving family, in the small villlages, the dogs are rarely bathed and their health needs are not addressed. Dogs are also rarely spayed or neutered so there are dogs everywhere! And there are some really mean ones. In the states I had never really had a good luck at a dog's set of teeth, these dudes have some intense fangs. The only time I have been confronted with a set of these pearly whites, was on bike rides. If a dog does not hear you coming or they are just plain mean, they will chase you, fangs out, barking and growling visciously. I almost think they want to take a chunk out of my sneakers or worse my leg! Luckily, on my first such encounter I was feeling quite agressive and screamed at the dogs in Thai, barked back at them (yes, this is true) and rang my bike bell violently! It all worked out fine. My second experience with these mangy animals happened yesterday, my first day at work, at lunch. Since Thai's are Buddhist they would never put a dog down or leave them to die, thus we have an ugly, sick dog living at our office. My co-workers feed him our leftover chicken bones, sometimes say his name in a friendly way and this is the love he gets. I imagine he is pretty happy. Yesterday another dog sauntered up to our lunch table and as soon as our resident dog noticed, he commenced trying to rip the other's dog's head off. The fight only lasted about 3 minutes, but it felt like forever. Our lunch group was just women but we remained calm and tried throwing water on the fighting dogs, I mean I definitely did not want to get a dog bite, but also wanted the fight to stop. It was kind of scary. The fight finally ended after a friend intervened with a broom. Later I saw our office dog, wandering around, wagging his tail, but also bleeding on his back. Needless to say I will probably never pet him or feed him again. 

2. Thai food is known for being particularly delicious, and it something that this culture takes a lot of pride in. In fact Thais' are also talking about what they just ate and what they are going to eat next. This topic of conversation suits me just fine. While I think that Thai is pretty good, I have also eaten some pretty weird things, not to mention some insanely spicy things! A favorite dish here in Issan is spicy papaya salad and sticky rice. This "salad" includes a little papaya, a lot of fermented fish sauce, some green beans, sometimes crab legs, tomatoes, and tons of peppers and chili. It is seriously spicy, luckily last time I sampled this cuisine I had some warm sour milk to wash it down with! Other things include your typical unknown soups, meats, or chicken served with feet still attached. The fruit here is amazing though! never do you get a bad watermelon or bitter pineapple, all delicious. People here eat mangoes that are not yet ripe. This bitter snack is one of my favorites. My last host family said if you eat these mangoes when you are drinking (alcohol, that is) then you won't get a headache the next day. I eagerly tested the theory with some Peace Corps friends, and the result is, you guessed it....NOT TRUE!

3. My favorite Thai phrase is "mai ben rai", this means no problem, you are welcome, i don't care, it didn't hurt that bad, etc, etc, etc. It can be used in all kinds of ways. 

4. I haven't really seen any weird animals yet, but species of bugs abound! Every night I find a different kind buzzing around my room. In the pursuit of scientific education, I say YAY! In the pursuit of cleanliness and uninterrupted sleep, I have to say NAY. In my last homestay we had the frequent visitors of frogs, fire ants, regular ants, flying ants, mice, large lizards, and small house lizards. There are tons of the small house lizards (jing jokes). They aren't dangerous or gross, but are sometimes loud, but they eat bugs, especially mosquitoes. (Note: all Peace Corps volunteers sleep under mosquito nets). Buffalo are prevalent at my new site!

5. A note about transportation: Most Thai's travel by scooter or motorcycle (without a helmet!) There are tons of accidents, and people that are as young as eight drive these things. I once saw a family on 5, including an infant breezing through town on a motorcycle, no helmets of course. The most popular car in Thailand seems to be the pickup truck, and many many people ride in the back the trucks. It so happens that Peace Corps volunteers are supposed to avoid riding in the back of trucks and are strictly forbidden to ride a motorcycle. This makes getting around quite difficult sometimes. The worse was at my last homestay, when my 65 year host mom climbed in the back of the truck, while I got the front seat with AC. At my new site, it's just me and my bike, which isn't nearly as cool now that I put a basket on the front; it is practical though. I am also allowed to ride in cars with co-workers and friends. 

6. In case you weren't aware, Thailand has three seasons: hot, hotter and hottest. Right now we are in the midst of hottest...I think...I would assume...I would hope it does not get any hotter than this. Temperatures during the day are over 100 degrees. Last night when I went to bed at 10 pm, the temp. read 94 degrees, I finally put my blanket on at 5 am when it got all the way down to 88. Surprisingly, one adjusts to these temps. I can be quite comfortable reading a book in front of a small house fan when its 100 degrees in the room, remember "mai ben rai"!

I think that's enough interesting point to give you all a glimpse of Thailand for now. Don't want to overwhelm you! Please let me know if there are other things you want to know about! This is a great opportunity for me to write my experiences down.