Same Same but Different

There is a funny expression here in Thailand, that a lot of Thai people know how to say in English, there are even T-shirts in Bangkok with this expression on it: same, same but different. Now this expression doesn't really make sense at all, but somedays I start to think that I understand it...

On Tuesday I went on a study trip with two workers from the hospital and my counterpart. We rode for about an hour in the ambulance to our provincial capital where we hopped on a bus with the rest of the folks from around our province attending the visit to a hospital about 3 hours away. I settled into the bus (pink and purple peacock themed) and cranked up my Ipod, in the hopes of drowning out the Thai karaoke. Thai music isn't all that bad, but the karaoke songs are TERRIBLE and LOUD and NONSTOP, all of which lead to a headache and a grumpy Sarah. It's no secret that I loathe these bus rides as I haven't been able to hide my true feelings for them from my co-workers. 

We finally arrive at the hospital for a good study of the rape crisis center that they have there and were able to talk with the police officers and counselors associated with the program. It was one of the more productive field trips that I have been on. 

There's a hitch though! When we arrived everyone rushed to the bathroom after being on the bus for so long, including yours truly who had chugged a Pepsi in anticipation of sleepiness during the bureaucratic Thai speeches (sorry if that's too much information, but the story is indeed about the bathroom). Arriving in line, I see that everyone has taken their shoes off. This is a pretty common thing to do before entering a Thai house and even at some government offices and health stations...but I have never seen it at a bathroom. Not really thinking, I take my sneakers off and stand in line in my white tennis socks. It's finally my turn, thank god, and my co-worker points to some slip-on plastic shoes for me to wear while in the bathroom. We all know that I have incredibly large feet, even in America, but these flops were made for a five year old! The bridge of my foot would not even fit in them. At least I had my socks on right? Not so, the bathroom floor was soaking wet from the Thai method of flushing, which is dumping water from a bucket down the drain. Since the toilet is a shallow, squat toilet the water gets everywhere. So, cursing under my breath, I removed my socks and went into this hospital, wet, public bathroom barefoot. It was probably fine, but part of me couldn't help but to wonder what was water and what was eerr not; you see with a squat toilet there is room for error in hmm let's say aiming. Sorry if this is disgusting or graphic to some of you, but just so you know I felt the same way. I was so grumpy from the bus ride and put out by the inconvenience of having to go to the bathroom the Thai way...same same but different no?

Emerging from bathroom hell, promptly sat down on the ground to put my socks and shoes on. The Thai's around me were appalled. Though Thai people sit on the floor to eat at their own home, sitting on the ground in public is considered very dirty. I was just so grumpy and angry that I did it anyway and as I did, I smiled and said, "I am American, same same but different, right?"

The rest of the day was fine, and I am glad I went. I was able to learn lots of new Thai words related to healthcare and get to know my hospital workers better. The bus ride home took 4 hours and the karaoke was again non-stop. Our car to take us back to the village was late picking us up and we didn't get on the road until 8 pm. When we stopped for dinner at a road side noodle stand, the man from my hospital basically played 20 questions with me on what the heck I was doing living in our village for two years. I explained about Peace Corps and my personal motivation for being here and seemed to appreciate it and understand. Then he asked, "Aren't you scared?" and I said, "Scared of what?" He answered, "You know of evil spirits, snakes, Thai bad boys, that kind of thing..." I jokingly replied, "aren't they all the same?" He chuckled and said I would survive Thailand just fine. As we drove on into the night I couldn't help but wonder will Thailand really be that hard to survive?