March 16 - Bangkok's Gem

I think I am getting the dates mixed up as my computer is still set to Nova Scotia time, so every time I check the date it is really a day behind. My apologizes.

It is early morning here and Misty is sound asleep. We seem to be on different schedules. Lately I have not been able to stay awake past 9 and sleep in past 7. Misty is having the opposite problem and cannot fall asleep until midnight and her body does not want to get up in the mornings. I guess it gives us each our own quiet time, sitting beside each other in bed trying to stay in one place as to not wake the other.

Misty and I decided to stay in Bangkok this weekend and just take it easy. We spent most of Saturday exploring the local hot spots. Sunday was spent at the park beside one of the large shopping centres. It was about a 30 minute walk, or three stops on the sky train. We decided to walk it as it was quite nice out (as always, but by quite nice I mean a little cooler…so about 30 degrees). It is funny how we have gotten used to the weather now. When we first arrived the heat set us into slow motion and caused us to just want to sleep and sit around and not eat anything. Now some days I find myself wearing long pants and turning the air conditioning and fans down. So back to this park. The park is one of the gems of Bangkok, nestled in the middle of a busy area. On the centre lies an artificial pond which is home to many turtles which you can feed. Around the pond sit trees that many people use for shade. Off to one side is a playground for young children, and volley ball nets and a basketball court. There is also a large in ground swimming pool that Misty and I plan on checking out in the near future. Surrounding the whole park is a running track. The park was well populated with families and couples alike. Misty and I spent the day watching people and reading our books. I picked up a new book as I have been having trouble getting into the other. This one is called “Mister Pip” that some of you read for social studies. I am about half way through it and very much enjoying it.

We went into the shopping mall in the day to sit in some air conditioning. Once again we met someone we knew from Mercy who was out with her family for lunch. Lately we have ran into someone we know when we come to this mall. Misty and I went to the same place for lunch and I think I had one of the most delicious meals I’ve had since I came here. Mind you it was Italian and that always wins me over.

We also watched a concert in the mall that was called “Twinkle, Little Stars.” You guessed it, it was a concert of children. These children were apparently the best young talent from ages 7-14 that Thailand has seen. We watched from the second floor and as the man was introducing the show in Thai he looked up and saw us and then welcomed us in English and invited us to come down and see the show. Way to draw attention to us. Even though we have gotten used to most of the constant stares, some things still catch me off guard. I had to laugh yesterday, as we were passing a gas station a Ferrari was coming out. The motorbike taxi drivers that were sitting at their stand ignored the car and instead watched us. I think Misty and I will take this one as a boost to our self-esteem.

Misty and I joined the boys for supper last night. During their prayers for their meal they thanked the Lord for having us. It was quite nice. They treat us like royalty, making sure that we are the first served and that we are able to try whatever we desire. If our water is empty and the food is spicy (Pet) they will have it filled up with cold water before you even have a chance to get it yourself. They really enjoy trying to teach us Thai words for things such as the food we are eating or the utensils we are using. They get a real kick out of the way we attempt to pronounce some words. I find it funny that there are times when Misty and I say a word the exact same way and they say one of us is right but not the other.

Speaking of Thai I forgot to mention that when we were shopping on Saturday I pulled out my Thai skills again and asked how much something cost in Thai. The girl answered me back in English, how do you know how to speak Thai? I think this shows that we are starting to get our tones right for the more popular phrases.

I do not really have any more exciting stories to tell you as I have been forgetting most of them. Instead I will fill you in with some more interesting things about Thailand.

All students who attend school in Thailand wear a uniform. It is usually a white shirt with blue pants or a blue skirt. The school name is embroidered on one side and your name is on the other. Girls are also required to wear their hair back with a brown bow. Boys are expected to keep their hair short. Finger nails are to be clipped and not painted. Also, students are not allowed to dye their hair or wear make up. Accessories are not allowed unless it is a piece of string tied around the wrist to symbolize some kind of religious offering that was made. Necklaces that are small and represent their faith are allowed but not fashion necklaces. Shoes are black and all students have matching socks. Clothes are to be ironed and shoes are to be polished. The girls referred to the dress code as strict but they said that they liked it because it made everyone equal. Coming from areas that had a lot of poverty, the girls were able to blend in with the rest of the student population.

Rice is the main staple here and is eaten with breakfast, lunch and supper. I think the main purpose of rice is to offset the spices in the food. Food is usually eaten by mixing rice and the main dish with every bite. If the food is really spicy many of the boys will go for an extra helping of rice to finish it.
Seafood is also quite predominant. Some form of seafood is in almost every meal, whether it is crushed up fish or fish oil. Squid, fish balls, prawns, and fish are very very common. I should also mention that when seafood is served such as prawns, it is not served in ready to eat bites like we are used to. Instead you are served the prawn, shell and all. Sometimes it is hard to get used to seeing your fish on your plate, with its eyes staring back at you as if someone just plucked it from the ocean and slapped it down on your plate. Sometimes the look of the food is enough to turn you off, but it can be quite appetizing. You just need to get over the initial shock. So far I have tried squid (which is quite tasty), prawns, fish balls, and many different kinds of fish. A non-seafood lover would be able to survive here but their options would be very limited.

I should also mention that nothing is wasted. For example, if we have chicken, if you look around you can see some of the children have the fingers of the chicken, and some of them may pull the knuckle bone out of their mouths. Unlike children back home, these children do not think twice about what is on their plates, instead they just eat it. Last night at supper one of the children showed me how to eat a prawn. After taking the shell off, he put it on his plate. I assumed that this was just so it will not fall into my food but then he put it on a spoon with some rice and showed me that he ate it. I don’t know if this is common practice or just him showing off to me, but none of the other children flinched. I, however, don’t think it is going to be something that I will try in the near future.

We have been told that eating from the street vendors in the slums is safe, but it is best to bring your own bowl. The utensils are usually not very clean. (You would laugh if you looked in our book bag and saw the necessities we carry with us every day, a bowl, a spoon and fork and toilet paper.) I have come to conclude that you need to shut your mind off to everything you have every learned about sanitary and unsanitary conditions. If your aim was to find a place that was sanitary, I’m afraid you may die of hunger. (This is in the food stalls, I am not sure of the restaurants but I am sure they are ok).
Meat has been hanging in the heat for hours and many pieces have attracted flies. I do not want to think about what happens to the food that is not eaten that day. I think questions like this are best left unasked and unanswered. Even in the grocery store, eggs are found on a regular shelf and not in the cold food aisles. All of this may sound unappetizing but if you are interested in eating the food from the local food stalls, your best bet is to see where all the locals are eating. We have been introduced to what the locals consider as the best food stalls, by the locals themselves. Even though the food handling habits would never meet the standards set out by the Canadian Food Inspection, the food is quite tasty. So far we have not gotten sick, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will stay this way.

Well Misty is getting up, so it is time to start the day. We don’t really have too much planned, maybe head back to the same park as yesterday and write up some lesson plans for the week. I find this is difficult as there is no set curriculum, and people in our classes have all different English abilities. It is very hard to plan for the range of abilities that we face. Also, we do not have the luxury of the internet. Yes we are able to have fairly regular access but the internet here is very slow and cuts out a lot. A google search may come up with a lot of hits on a subject we research but being able to see these hits is a different story. If you click on them most of them will come up with “cannot find server.” So the internet is basically useless.