Cold Showers. I’m not really the biggest fan of showers. I don’t really take them too often. But since I am perpetually sticky, I need bathe in order to look somewhat presentable at work. When taking showers, I prefer the water to be scalding hot. I like the feel of the burn on my skin, so much to the point where my skin reddens. But in Thailand, many apartments don’t come with water heaters unless you pay extra money for it. In an attempt to save money, I chose an apartment that didn’t have a water heater. I expected cold showers before coming to Thailand though. I remember thinking of how to brace myself for this new encounter when I was still in the States. Should I try getting used to cold showers or should I embrace hot showers as much as I can before I leave? I embraced my remaining hot showers. I really don’t do well in the cold.
Getting used to skin piercingly, frigid showers has been somewhat entertaining. The process it takes me to get into the shower is both long and abnormal. Either I will quickly run in and out of the cold spray in short sporadic segments, splash certain parts of my body several times before submerging myself completely, or I will position my body in the initial stages of a backbend in order to wash my hair without the cold water dribbling down my back. Sometimes I run in place in order to keep warm underneath the shower. Fleeting and faint screams and whimpers can be heard coming from my bathroom door. I know I’m pathetic. It is even decently hot outside as I am whining about how cold the showers are. Hey! I’m from California. This will all pass soon though once the hot season rolls around. It is supposed to get pretty hot so I will probably be loving the cold water a lot more than I do right now.
On top of that, I don’t have a working towel—compliments of cheap Thai manufacturing. My towel starts to rapidly deteriorate whenever it gets wet. A variety of strings and threads will come off as I dry myself. Afterwards, I am completely covered in red strings and lint, almost defeating the purpose of taking a shower in the first place. The towel was starting to develop small holes and gaps in its threading. I just threw it away, frustrated with its inefficiency. Instead, I have learned to air dry. First, I shake as much water as I can off my body. I even use a squeegee technique I picked up. Then I stand in front of my fan in many awkward and even promiscuous looking positions, attempting to dry even the most cavernous parts of my body. Sometimes I will dance furiously around the room as if there is music playing. I wish someone could see this entire process of me drying off. Or maybe not, that would be creepy right? I’m sure my neighbors have seen all of this actually since I never seem to close the curtains. This is the alternative to using the cheap Thai towel I bought. I should probably buy a pricier one, huh?
What’s That Smell? Oh yes, I am starting to smell. Not only are my sweat glands overworking from the heat but because I have to be pretty conservative in my dress, things tend to get wet and smelly after a while. I definitely have to wash my clothes a lot more than I am used to. The sniff test isn’t working anymore since everything that I’ve already worn has a distinct stench or serious sweat marks in all the obvious places. Deodorant isn’t as effective anymore either. Back in the States, I used to only use deodorant occasionally (mainly because I would just forget). But here, it is a necessity.
One part of my body that is starting to smell a lot is my feet. I usually like my feet the most. Surprisingly, I have always gotten compliments on my feet. My former athletic trainer used to tell me that I had the best ankles and feet to tape up. But since moving to Thailand, my feet are fairly repulsive. The streets are very dirty in Thailand. Even after just walking barefoot on my apartment floor, my feet will have a layer of soot on them. Cars will pass by and spray muddy street water all over your legs and clothes. The streets are sprayed with water regularly so there are numerous amounts of dirty puddles all over the walkways. With the unleveled and cavity filled pavement, it is hard to avoid getting a bit of splatter. When ordering food, there will be a seafood bucket that drains pungent fish-smelling liquid, splashing and dripping all over your feet. By the end of the day, my feet are coated with dirt, food reminisce, and bacteria. I wouldn’t even doubt that feces might be an added ingredient of this wonderful concoction. Disgusting I know, but I wouldn’t put it past Thailand.
Thai Massage. Have you ever experienced a Thai massage before? It’s in a world of its own. My first time experiencing a Thai massage was in Thailand. Thailand is the best place to get massages because it is very inexpensive. My first Thai massage in Thailand cost 100 ฿ ($3) for an hour long of tugging, pulling, stretching, jabbing, and the good standard rubbing. In the States, Thai massages would probably be in the price range of $60-150 for an hour. Some other types of massages, like oil or aromatherapy, will be more expensive but not that much more expensive (150-200 ฿ or $6 at most).
Not only is it inexpensive, the women and men who work on you are very well trained and immaculate with their touch. They are truly amazing. Their hands possess the perfect balance between gentle and strong. They first start with your feet, finding your pressure points and rubbing away any tension you have in every sinew of your muscles. Then, they work up your body to your legs, arms, back, and neck with this same technique. It seemed a bit too soft for me at first so I made the mistake of asking for more pressure. She definitely went to town on me. I had to cover my mouth to avoid yelping and to prevent her from noticing that I was sticking my foot in my mouth.
She used every part of her body; she used her feet, elbows, legs, arms, and fingers to stretch and massage my body. Some people compare it to doing yoga. They will occasionally position your body in complex positions helping to stretch your body in ways you’ve never stretched before. She stood on my body a couple of times as well. This was a bit painful in certain spots. She stepped all over my inner thighs and upper back. She was very small in stature so I can’t even imagine how I would have felt with anyone slightly bigger standing on my back. The Thai massage is definitely something I would recommend when visiting Thailand. Even if massages aren’t your thing, try it out. And it’s only about three dollars. Now after describing all this, I have to have another.
Dollar Meals. I’m not talking about the McDonald’s Dollar Meals. This is the real deal in Thailand. Meals for a dollar. Pad thai, green curry with chicken, fried rice, mango sticky rice, each costing about 30 ฿ or $1. It is amazing really. Can you even imagine spending that price on food? If I bring a meal home after work, I might pick up a papaya salad, fruit, and drink. This will cost me about 60฿ ($2). If I go out for a meal during the night, I might get some fried chicken, rice, salad, dessert, and a drink all for about 100฿ ($3). If I go out to a nicer restaurant, my meal will generally cost in between 60-150฿ ($2-5). There isn’t any tax or tip either, making going out to eat even more appealing.
Now that I’ve been here for a while, my perspective on food prices has changed. If I spend a lot of money on anything back at home, it is usually food. I don’t mind splurging on food. But now, things are different. I look at food and food prices differently. There has been many times in which I have approached a restaurant and been completely appalled by the prices. “Four dollars for a meal! Are you serious?” These prices are even cheaper than the prices of fast food in the States. I usually won’t even eat food that costs more than 60฿ ($2) unless it is a special occasion. I don’t know what I am going to do when I go back to the States. How am I ever going to eat? I might have to resort to the dollar meal at McDonalds since it will be the closest to what I’m used to.
Mosquitos. I am getting eaten alive over here. I’ve always knew that mosquitos like me but I didn’t know that it would be this bad. When I get bit, I react rather severely too. My skin puffs up and reddens. Then the bite develops into a large irritating lump. It then starts to grow four times its original size—of course depending on how much I scratch. Remembering my previous experiences traveling in tropical countries, I definitely prepared for those blood suckers. Again, I brought along with me a wide variety of mosquito repellents and malaria pills and completely infested my body with copious assortment of mosquito related diseases to help myself resist those nasty buggers.
Mosquitos tend to hunt during the night time, at least the ones I’ve encountered out here. Right as the sky starts to dim, they come out. And you can sense them. It’s almost like the darkness that begins to spread across the sky is actually a dense swarm of mosquitoes ready to attack. So mosquito repellent is necessary around this time. But sometimes, it’s easy to forget. I forget all the time.
Occasionally, I purposely don’t put repellents on because of the awful feel and smell. As you rub it all over the exposed parts of your body, you can feel your hand stick to your skin more and more. As the traction increases so does the smell of DEET. How do you explain how DEET smells? I don’t know how. It pretty bad smelling and it taste terrible too. Trust me. Sampling the product wasn’t my own choice. I just keep on forgetting to wash my hands before going out to dinner. Regrettably, I sometimes associate the smell of DEET with certain finger foods. This reminds me of when I used to associate the smell of phemaldehyde with pizza. Strange combination, right? Well, after dissecting human cadavers, I used to get this craving for pizza. It ruined pizza for me for a while. DEET is extremely effective though. Supposedly, the smell of DEET completely hinders mosquitos’ sense receptors throwing them off their path to your skin. I was recommended the Ultrathon brand before coming out here. It is pretty amazing repellent and it lasts for a long time. However, I don’t think I’ll be able to have children after this trip. DEET is not supposed to go well with fertility. Maybe I should’ve eaten at that penis restaurant in China.
I have had some bad experiences with mosquitos so far, despite my use or misuse or nonexistent use of the repellent. I sometimes will get 20 bites by the end of a night. It doesn’t help wearing a skirt sometimes since the mosquitoes tend to get trapped up there. Sometimes, I will be trapped in a room or a car with them, without anywhere to escape. And it feels so good to scratch. I enjoy scratching so much. Unfortunately, the scratching quickly leads to scarring. Thus, I have multiple scars all over my body now. I don’t know why I keep doing this. I know it’s really bad. Oh, but it feels so good.
An Excess of Job Offers. Back in the States, it is difficult to find a job, especially as a teacher. But in Thailand, I’ve been offered jobs left and right. Every other week I have someone asking me to work for them or that they will pay me to teach them English. I have gotten offered jobs while walking in a mall and even while buying food from a street vendor. This one time, I was getting a massage and my masseuse tapped me on the shoulder and started to speak to me in Thai. The only part of the conversation I picked up on was the word ‘kru’ which means teacher in Thai. She then handed me her cellphone and the person on the other line asked if she could pay me to teach her English. I got offered a job while getting a massage! Well it’s not your typically contract/salary job but it’s a job. It’s extra income, which is huge here in Thailand.
Although I have a job at the moment, it isn’t uncommon for teachers to pick up a side job of tutoring over here. English tutors get paid about 500 ฿ ($15) – 1000 ฿ ($30) an hour. It might not seem like a lot to those who tutor in the States, but when a meal costs a dollar, it’s pretty good pay. There are several ways an English speaker can make money here. There are summer camps, mall tutoring centers, and your basic year round teaching jobs. Or if you just want to learn Thai and they want to learn English, you can coordinate a language exchange at a coffee shop or restaurant. These exchanges are very common. If you are a white-looking, female, English speaker, you will snag a job right away. Female teachers are high in demand for some reason. It’s just a rumor but I heard if you are an English speaking African, Indian, or Filipino teacher, it will be more difficult to find a job. I guess there may be some issues here with race. Someone needs to start up a civil rights movement in Asia!
My school actually just gave me a year contract. I guess they liked me well enough to want to keep me around for an actual full school year. I am thinking about signing the contract but I don’t know what to do. Not only do I have a very solid job and salary lined up for the next year but I can easily get work at another school in Thailand. Makes me reluctant to go back to the States since I don’t have any jobs lined up for me there.
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