LEARNING HOW TO LIVE

Hello Friends! Well, Samantha & I have been living in Bangkok for 9 days now – in some ways it seem so much longer and in other ways so much shorter. But life’s like that isn’t it? These nine days have been very full of different activities & getting over jet-leg! I kept waking up at 6am with no alarm – which is very unlike me – and by 7pm I was falling-over-tired. Time change does strange things to the body & mind!

Samantha & I live in what they call a dorm, but its more like a hotel with long-term residents! We live very near a university, so our building is a mix of students and non-students. We each have our own small room with the basic necessities [bed, table, wardrobe, bathroom] and a few bonus items [mini fridge, internet, TV and air conditioning]. Since there are no kitchen facilities we eat out for all our meals [except breakfast – we keep some bread & fruit in our rooms]. Interesting fact about Bangkok: EVERYBODY eats out the majority of the time or they will order their food and take it home. When we asked why, our friends told us it is cheaper & does not consume as much time. The average meal [from street venders & small street restaurants] costs 30 Baht, which is $1. Samantha & I have been enjoying the delicious Thai food; we don’t always know what we are ordering, but so far everything has been eatable and for the most part amazing!

Above: My room Below: Papaya Salad, Chicken, Greens, Mango Sticky Rice...delicious food!

Samantha & I started taking Thai lessons from one of our friends; we are enjoying it but finding it a challenge! [I’m so glad I learned how to roll my r’s when I was in San Diego, it’s coming in handy here! Thanks Carlo & Pancho!] The language is so different from anything I’ve learned before. Besides new sounds, I also have to learn and remember what tone to say it in – rising, falling, high-pitched, low-pitched or medium-pitched – sometimes I can’t even hear the difference! One word can have many different meanings, depending on the tone you use. Talk about confusing!

Since our Thai is very limited at this point we find ourselves playing charades a lot! This morning Samantha & I walked to the 7-Eleven [which are EVERYWHERE by the way! They are more common in Bangkok than a Tim Hortons in Canada!] to get a decongestant for her. [7-Elevens carry everything you could possibly need – pharmacy, bakery, stationary, meals, snacks, drinks, phone credit…you name it and they probably have it!] So, I ended up having to act out sinus congestion to try and communicate with the lady what we needed! Another example, I was doing laundry this afternoon [I don’t have to wash clothes by hand because our building has a machine!] and the machine wouldn’t start. I went to the front office and tried to act out that I needed help with the laundry machine! I guess I’m brushing up on my acting skills! Thankfully we are meeting many people who speak English at the Thailand Campus Crusade for Christ [TCCC] office, which is an answer to our prayers.