Things I learned while living in Thailand- Part Six

Food will never be spicy enough for me, unless New makes it.

I always knew that I liked spicy food.  Buffalo wings, Franks Red Hot Sauce, Tobasco, cayenne pepper on my pizza, you name the spice and I will tell you I love it.  But there are plenty of foods in the States that aren’t spicy and you can’t douse with Franks.  I would usually add some black pepper, and be satisfied.  This method no longer suffices.  I crave the heat.  I yearn for the burn.  New makes it right every single time.  

The first time I ate New’s food was December 26, 2009.  Yes, the occasion was that momentous that I remember the exact date.  We were sitting in Paul’s backyard, under his canopy of bamboo plants.  New had cooked at her apartment, two doors down, and brought the food over to his house.  She was shy and nervous, meeting and cooking for two new white girls, and I was thrilled to have new Thai food.  I took my first bite, and I nearly died.  Paul had warned me about the heat, but holy smokes!  This was like nothing I had every tasted.  Immediately the roll of tissue was brought out, and I alternated between wiping my tears and my runny nose.  But, I couldn’t get enough of it.

My hunger for New’s spicy food, and the spice of authentic Thai food, is insatiable.  The times I have visited the States, I was ecstatic to have bread again.  But it never took more than a few days for me to miss New’s cooking.  Som tam.  Yam woon saen thalay.  Moo ping gap naam jin.  Plaa paow.  Oh.  My.  Word.  My mouth is watering just to think of it all.  I am going to start saving money for the “New Needs To Open A Restaurant In The States Fund.”  I promise that she can also make food at a level of spice on a more humane (read: Western) level, so you too will want her to open this restaurant.  

Donations can be mailed to my home address.

Things I learned while living in Thailand- Part Five

I miss seasons, but I don’t miss short days.

I have always known seasons.  When the weather starts to get hot, it is time for school to end and trips to the lake to begin.  When the weather starts to get cool it is time for apple- picking and leaf- raking.  When the weather starts to get really cold it is time to get the sweaters and boots from the basement, start Christmas shopping, and get my skis tuned.  When the weather starts to warm up again it is time for dirty snow and beautiful blossoming trees and flowers.  Each season has its own list of pros and cons, but they created order in my life.  And then I moved to Thailand.  

Thailand has the hot season, the hotter season, and the hot and wet season.  It is monotonous.  And it is pretty darn hot.  Over the years I grew used to the heat. I rarely used air conditioning.  I started to shiver in temperatures below 75 degrees.  I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes in any temperature lower than 68.  (No, I didn’t feel my fingers or toes most of the time I was in New Zealand.)  But it gets boring.  Seasons don’t mean anything there.  There aren’t different activities associated with different seasons.  Well, let’s be serious, there aren’t any activities at all.  But, I was thrown off.  All of a sudden my dad’s birthday would be a week away, and I had forgotten to get him a present.  It was just as hot as it was the month before, and the month before that!  How was I to know it was August already?  And Christmas, forget it!  The country was not only stifling hot in December, it is Buddhist.  There is no snow on the ground, and there aren’t any Christmas tree stands throughout town.  And that is where the homemade paper wreath came in!

Short days, however, those are a thing I didn’t miss.  When I went to New Zealand there was still light in the sky at 9:45 pm.  I was utterly confused.  I had spent the last two years living my life in light and dark.  If it was becoming light, between 6:00 and 6:30 am, I needed to be in the shower and getting ready for school.  And if it was getting dark, between 6:00 and 6:30 pm, it was time to start thinking about dinner.  In New Zealand, it was never dark!  How was I supposed to know when to shower, eat and sleep?  And now in New York, it is always dark!  It feels as though I should be sound asleep just as my mother asks me what I want for dinner.  (Yes, my mom is making me dinner, and I have no shame telling you that!)  The long and bright days of summer are wonderful, but the dark days of winter are going to take some getting used to.       

So, seasons, I am glad to be back.  Short days, I’m not especially thrilled to be back to you, but I’ll do my best.  

And for those of you looking to buy me presents, I will happily accept socks and mittens!  This winter is going to be rough.

Things I learned while living in Thailand- Part Four

I will miss the ingenuity of Thai people.

Whether a car needs to be fixed with a twist tie, a leaky roof with bubble gum, or a fence with a coat hanger, a Thai person will figure it out.  Or, are you hungry?  Someone will be more than happy to jump in the pond behind New’s house to gather some snails and catch a few fish to grill.  

No matter what the problem is, the Thai people will fix it with whatever is readily available.  And often, what is readily available is pretty limited.

My favorite little tricks, however, are those that are used with some regularity.  Opening a beer bottle without a bottle opener?  No problem.  Ask me to demonstrate sometime, I have plenty of Thai party tricks.  And my other favorite is music.  No speaker system?  No problem.  Stick a cell phone in a glass, and it is an instant speaker.  Sticking the makeshift speaker in a nearby tree is even better!

Freshly found snails for dinner.

And a homemade speaker in a tree.  Surround sound- Thai style.

Things I learned while living in Thailand- Part Three

Traveling alone can be pretty great, but I think I’m all done with it.

Traveling alone has given me an amazing amount of confidence.  You name the country (within reason), and I will be happy to go.  And I will be happy to go alone.  I not only have the courage and “life skills” (as my friend Maya’s mother calls it) to travel alone, I enjoy it.  I appreciate traveling alone for what I can gain from it.  I have the freedom to go where I want, when I want.  I have the opportunity to experience things without the influence of anyone else.  I then have the power to tell the story of my travels any way I please.   But, as much as I can, and do, travel alone, I don’t want to do it anymore.

I want to experience the world with other people.  I want to stop taking gorillapod photos because that is the only way I will be in a photo.  I want someone in photos with me.  I want someone to share experiences with.  I want someone to eat meals with.  I want someone I know to sit next to me on the plane, bus, train, ferry, van or in a cab.  I want someone to talk to that I don’t have to recite my one minute autobiography to.  I want company.

So does anyone want to travel with me?  I’m a pretty awesome travel buddy.  I can attest to that.