Let's have dinner and a bath
Trip Start
Feb 02, 2006
1
16
31
Trip End
May 14, 2006
Khorat, Thailand
Friday, March 31, 2006
Anyway, I get back to my tiki hut and settle in to watch the Flintstones in Thai. You'll be happy to know that Barney Rubbles' son says "bam, bam" in Thailand too. At about 6pm along comes NuangChaun, the kindergarten teacher who keeps shoveling food on my plate. She is SO sweet but doesn't speak a single word of English. We smile at each other alot. She motions for me to go with her and starts closing my windows. This is not unusual as every evening one teacher or another has falang duty and either brings me dinner or takes me out to a nearby food shop. So I grab my backpack and go. We drive. And we drive. And we drive. Gradually it occurs to me that this is too far to be a dinner date. Finally we pull into one of those shophouses (a row of garages with 2 floors of living space above. She pantomimes that this is her home. The penny drops - I am to spend the night here - no toothbrush, no hope of pajamas as they wouldn't have pajamas to fit me in all of Thailand. Worse, not even a book to read.
We go to a little fair across the street from her home where there are numerous food shops and about a dozen arcade games. Now, I say a dozen arcade games, which there were, but they were all the same - throw the darts at the balloons. The only difference was the prizes - some offered Mekong whiskey, some tacky plastic who-haas, some health and beauty aids. We played 5 times and won 4 cans of talcum powder (?) and a small stuffed cat. There were many booths with things for sale, several selling (again) health and beauty aids. I guess that's a big deal here. So anticipating a long night, I bought a toothbrush and some deoderant. Two bases covered anyway.
One of the food shops was selling little thin shelled taco type shells filled with marshmallow fluff. NuangChaun handed me one and I said "aroi" - delicious. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You never tell a Thai you like something (I still can't get rid of the results of the great mango incident.) She immediately bought a box, we went home and she poured me a coke and opened the box. So, this is dinner, I think. Oh well. I choked down three and then concluded that starvation was preferable. They taste like Little Debbies with a triple dose of sugar. "Full" I mime to her. About 10 minutes later she brings out a lovely dinner of rice and chicken and cucumber soup. Go figure. We eat and then sit in dead silence and then she mimes do I want to take a bath? Now, in Thailand this is very common. Since they bathe so frequently (they often don't have sinks) they will often say, "Do you want to take a bath?" much the same as we would say "Would you like to wash up?" So, out of boredom as much as necessity, I agree. I use her soap, shampoo, and toothpaste, put my old clothes back on and come out reasonably clean. And we sit. And we stare. She shows me pictures of her children. I ooh and ahh. The clock ticks. She asks if I am sleepy. It's 8 pm. I realize that the massive teak bench I am sitting on is to be my bed. These benches are all over Thailand and I'd give anything to send one home - the wood is beautiful and the seat part is easily 3 feet wide. If you sit back against the back, your feet stick out straight like a centipede. Apparently, she intends to put a quilt on the bench for me to sleep on. Oh my aching back. Thai beds are notoriously hard (firm would be too soft a word.) They're like sleeping on a pool table. But a teak bench...... Well, I'll survive I guess. We sit. We stare. NuangChaun makes a phone call (Thais are ALWAYS on the cell phone.) She hands me the phone. It's Mr. Witchai, the English teacher whom I barely understand. He says NuangChaun wonders if I would prefer to go back to my school to sleep. Oh, thank you, God. But I say, "Whatever is most convenient," like a good guest. Fortunately, she is astute and senses my discomfort so we go back the 45 minute drive to my tiki hut on the school grounds.
So basically, I had dinner and a bath and went home. This would be such an odd scenerio in the Western Hemisphere. Try inviting your friends over for dinner and a bath- see what they say.
BTW- I am in Khorat now, the gateway to the Issan area of Thailand - the Northeast. Noted for it's even spicier that usual Thai food. Menus all over Thailand have regualar food and then a couple pages of "Issan" food. I really like this town. I got a nice hotel for $10/night ( no pool though) and the Internet cafe charges 20 baht and hour (50 cents.) I can handle this. Tomorrow I go to see Phimai temple ruins which are supposed to be magnificient although to be honest, I'm about wat-ed and ruin-ed out by now.
s
