Sorry it's been so long since we've updated our blogspot! We've been busy enjoying life here in Thailand. Our typical week consists of running on the beach, swimming, hanging with friends, watching sunsets over the ocean, playing beach volleyball, eating delicious Thai food, practicing speaking Thai, driving the motorbike, and getting massages. Overall, it's a good life! Oh yeah, there's a bit of school, work, and homework mixed in with all of that as well. Don't want you to be too envious! :)
Anyway, we've been compiling a list of some things that we've noticed about life here that we've found amusing, interesting, and sometimes confusing.
INTERESTING THINGS
There are elephant crossing signs along the road.
At stands along the road, they sell fuel in reused whiskey bottles for the motorbikes to use. There are also stands with big drums of fuel with gravity pumps. Typical, "modern," gas stations are full-service only (no self-service). With the motorbike, I spend $5-9 on fuel per week.
The record is currently 10 people on a motorbike with sidecar! There were so many it was challenging to get an accurate head count. There were 4 on the bike itself plus 5-6 in the sidecar which included a woman holding a toddler, a mother holding a nursing infant, plus 2 other adults.
For napkins at restaurants, they have rolls of toilet paper inside decorative tissue boxes sitting on the table.
Tré is getting so used to driving on the “other” side of the road, that he is now driving on the left in car racing video games, and is getting into accidents.
Quite often, public toilets are the “squatter” version. There are little hoses next to the toilets to use for rinsing after going to the bathroom. They can also be used for hosing down the bathroom when cleaning.
Language is an obvious difference when living here. People speak Thai. Most people (but not all) speak at least a little English. Written Thai uses a different script rather than the Roman alphabet. Many signs (roads, businesses, etc.) are written in both Thai and Roman characters.
Traffic drives on the other (left-hand) side of the road. In cars, the driver sits on the right-hand side of the vehicle. Most controls are the reverse of American vehicles – stick shift on the left, windshield wipers on the left, turn signal on the right. Although, the foot pedals are the same.
Houses do not have ovens, clothes dryers, or hot water heaters – it’s too hot here! Traditional Thai cooking does not use an oven, we hang our clothes to dry, and there are small water heating units on the wall of the shower to warm the water if needed.
There are wonderful outdoor markets every day of the week where you can get fresh produce, clothes (jeans, underwear, shoes - everything), DVDs, prepared food, household items, etc. Just about anything!
The Thai currency is called Baht. One US dollar equals about 35 Baht.
Cell phones are called “mobile” phones.
Can’t drink “tap” water from the faucet. To drink at the house, we buy huge containers (maybe 10 gallon?) of drinking water for 10 Baht (about 30 cents).
When writing the date, it is written as day/month/year rather than month/day/year.
Like the rest of the world (other than the US), Thailand uses the metric measurement system. Metric is so much easier, we cannot comprehend why the US has resisted converting for this long!
Thai cats are tiny! All our Thai friends keep asking, “Why is your cat so fat?” Tré gets defensive and says, “She’s not fat, she’s just bigger.” Our cat, Cookies, is 2-3 times bigger than the Thai cats. For those of you that were around when we were planning our flight here, the 8 pound weight limit for cats in the cabin now makes sense...
The area we are in is quite modern. There are large stores like Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer where you can find all types of things. There are American fast food chains like KFC, McDonald’s, 7-11, etc. There is a large 4-story mall with familiar stores such as Levi’s, Esprit, Bath and Body, Nike, etc. I was surprised to see all these big stores and familiar companies. As in the states, we are avoiding these places! There are plenty of smaller shops and food stands to get just about everything that we need.
Infrastructure is good. The roads are high quality. Houses have reliable electricity, water, and Internet access.
When women ride on the back of a motorbike while wearing a skirt, they ride "side saddle."
PHOTOS above: Thai and Roman script (yes, we're in a tsunami zone), a fuel station with gravity pump, water heating unit on the wall of the shower
That's it for now!
4. Bottom of Ashley's foot several days after surgery. Yuck!
5. Tré's thigh with 22 staples about five days after surgery.
6. Our terrific nursing staff!
8. Tré learning to use his crutches on stairs.
10. Ashley's surgeon with Tré on follow-up visit to remove staples.
I've been making a concerted effort to learn to speak Thai the past few weeks, and I can now hold a several hour conversation in Thai! I made myself several stacks of flashcards 3-4 weeks ago, and I have been practicing and memorizing them while at the beach. Then I practice speaking with several local friends such as one of the Muay Thai trainers at the gym around the corner, my massage therapist, folks from the neighborhood at our local breakfast spot, one of the Thai dive masters on the scuba boat, etc. I have found it more helpful to practice with folks that speak limited English because it forces me to figure it out. My Thai friends that speak good English are too quick to help. Anyway, I'm very excited!!! However, since the folks I’ve been practicing with are mostly male, I’ve had to make a point of learning a few key phrases such as “just friends” and “no, I don’t want to have s**.” Key phrases… :)
Yet again, Tré has had the, “best day of my life!” He’s mildly obsessed with sharks (along with motorbikes and cable skiing – don’t get him started on those two topics!), and has been anxious to see his first shark while diving. His dream came true as we dove with five leopard sharks this week! Life seems to just keep getting better and better for him here in Thailand. We spent two days scuba diving this week as we worked on earning our Advanced Open Water PADI certification together. Highlights of the dives included seeing five leopard sharks, using the diver propulsion vehicles, diving to 30m (~100 ft), and doing headstands on the bottom (practicing buoyancy). Unfortunately, the visibility was not that great though. For the holidays, we bought ourselves a new toy – a digital camera with underwater housing – and had a lot of fun using that for the first time! As a result, enjoy the pictures and videos!
