Thai Massage

No Thai experience is complete without one of their famed massages, so I decided to go get one last week. I went the conservative route and chose to get the shoulder/back massage rather than the full body Thai massage, but it was something of an experience nonetheless.

After giving me a towel and making gestures indicating that I was to remove my upper garments, my masseuse hurried off to go poor me some green tea (to no avail, since I don’t drink tea), and I was left in a thinly veiled room feeling VERY glad that I had opted out of the full body experience. I had managed to discreetly cover myself with a towel and was lying face-down on the mat she had indicated before she came back in, set my tea down, and sat on my legs. Hm. Wasn’t expecting that. She then proceeded to bend my legs back toward her so that she could massage my feet. It felt AMAZING. After she was done with my feet, she began using her knees to work on my calf muscles…then my thigh muscles…when she reached the muscles above that I started thinking, Wait! Wait! Doesn’t she know that I only wanted a shoulder massage?! And then, Woah! Who knew my butt was so ticklish? I’ll just have to grit my teeth through it….I don’t want to laugh….how embarrassing would THAT be?

Luckily, the lower body massage didn’t last long—apparently it was a complimentary sample of the REAL Thai massage. Which, frankly, I don’t have a huge desire to ever get. The shoulder/back massage was plenty for me. The masseuse bent my arms into strange contortions behind my back and then...beat me. I don't know how else to describe it. I didn’t find her harsh slaps up and down my arms and back NEARLY as relaxing as the slow shoulder rub that Diana had given me earlier in the week. But….it was certainly an experience. And….I have to admit, I DID feel relaxed after; though as a result of the massage or as a result of feeling relieved that I was no longer BEING massaged, I couldn’t tell you.

I think next time I’ll just go in for a foot-rub and facial.

Storm

Tuesday, March 1 2011

7:30 PM

I’m sitting in on the floor of my house, listening to some incredibly loud thunder and to the wind throwing rocks at my house, wondering how safe a wooden house with a corrugated tin roof is in lightning storms. Walking here from the teahouse was probably the scariest experience I’ve had yet in Thailand.

I’d been watching the lightning light up the sky for about 7 minutes when I decided I’d better hurry home before I got caught in the rain without a jacket, umbrella, or flashlight. I bid Paul and Machima goodnight, and quickly slipped on my flip-flops before I walked into the street. I had been walking for about thirty seconds when all of the street lamps went out and the wind began to pick up. Sparks were flying from the side of the road—I honestly don’t know where they came from—and the wind began to blow dirt straight into my eyes. I had to walk blindly for several seconds before daring to open them again with my hand as a shield. A rather large dog started trailing me with a low growl in his throat—I honestly felt like I had walked into the movie Something Wicked This Way Comes. Luckily I made it back home safely—though I can’t say I necessarily feel safe.

Hmmm….Ok….the power just went out here and I can’t find my flashlight… And I just saw a mouse run into my room by the light of my computer. I can see the lightning through the slats in my house….and I can’t hear anything but pelting rain and thunder. This is terrifying. I keep telling myself it’s just a good adventure.—all alone in a wooden house….without a cell phone or a flashlight. What a cool thing to write about right? And a mouse on the loose only makes things more exciting. OK…..I’m going to go search for my flashlight by the light of my computer.

7:55 Found it…and I have now discovered that my house leaks. There’s an ever growing puddle by my front door and I can hear the constant drip…drip….drip….from the ceiling above. I can’t tell you how eerie it is to be able to see lightning through the walls of one’s house. The lights started flickering on and off a few minutes ago—I turned them off deciding that maybe the darkness wasn’t so bad after all. I’m really thankful for computers with batteries.

Earlier today I came home early from the home due to lack of internet access—by the time I got here I felt incredibly achy and woozy. I tried to drink a couple bottles of water (assuming I was just dehydrated), but it didn’t seem to help. Finally I opted for lying on my floor by a fan after taking a nice cold shower (PS no sarcasm is intended by nice cold shower, I really HAVE grown to appreciate them in this heat). After lying down for a few minutes I felt my floor start shaking and heard someone making strange moaning noises outside. I took this as a sign that someone was outside on the side porch, and after prepping myself, opened up the door to peer out. I was slightly startled to find an adult Thai man wearing nothing but a purple sarong like garment around his waist. He was several feet away from me on the porch and beckoned for me to

GAH! I hate this thunder. I’m thinking I should have just stayed at the teahouse. Thunder is so much more frightening when you’re alone.

Anyways, he beckoned for me to come out. He kept making strange noises and pointing to his throat. I knew from the stories of other volunteers that one of my neighbors had a mentally disabled older son—I assumed this was he. I asked what he was doing at my house, and he just kept making strange noises and pointing to his throat. He said something in Thai and motioned for me to come toward him again. I just shook my head and told him that he’d better go home. I popped my head back inside my little wooden shell and locked the door. I decided just to hope that he would go away, and I commenced with reading The Da Vinci Code while I waited. A few minutes later I looked outside again and he was gone.

What an eerie day this has been….

More Creatures

February 24, 2011

11:23

I can’t sleep….and I’ve decided to make myself some hot Milo to see if it will lull me a little bit. When I was putting the powder mix back on the shelf out ran a HUGE mouse from behind the peanuts. Not very lulling….my heart is still racing. At least I know that I didn’t hear it get murdered by a tokay yesterday like I thought I did….that must have been a different mouse.

Speaking of tokays., look what I found yesterday:

I tried to go around the house to get a better picture, but to no avail. I didn’t want to step into my jungle of a yard, and it was difficult to get the right angle from the back patio. I took a few pictures of this little guy...

…only to look up and find a giant mama tokay starting at me from just a few feet away from my head. Talk about frightening. It ran away before I could even attempt getting a good picture.

Bad News

Monday, February 21 2011

3:44 PM

Pi Eet just came in to inform us that a little boy at the home named Tinji just got sent to the hospital with Malaria. This is not good news for a number of reasons.

1. It means that the mosquito that was infected with Malaria was from here....something that is pretty rare. Usually people in this area only get infected if they've been traveling many miles away (e.g. NZ Paul got infected by a mosquito in Cambodia).
2. Disease bearing mosquitos are especially rare in cool season, and numbers tend to go up in hot season. Hot season starts in April which means we've got a couple of months for the disease bearing population of mosquitos to increase.
3. The other volunteers advised me to stop taking my anti-malaria meeds when I got here, as the side-effects can be aggravating and malaria is so rare in the first place. I followed their advice.
4. I just read an autobiography wherein the author got malaria twice and nearly died from it both times. Not to mention the symptoms don't sound fun.

Kimberella: Part 3 (YES it really happened!)

I cleaned my kitchen this week!!! I feel a rush of joy every time I walk into it =) The floor is even clean enough to walk on in bare feet!

It was an all day job...but totally worth it.

Step 1: Feel totally overwhelmed

by the job ahead of you

Step 2: Start doing it anyway

Step 3:

Wash

Rinse

Dry

Step 4: Scrub the table like mad and then find places to store everything.

Step 5: Take a shower. Read a book. Find something refreshing to eat.

Swimming in the Sangkhalia

Last Saturday I went with the kids to go swimming in the Sangkhalia river. About 40-50 of us loaded into the back of the "bus" (really just a pick up with railing along the sides) and set off on the 20 minute drive to the river. On the way there, with a child on each knee, I contemplated the fact that I wasn't at all bothered by the closeness, the heat, and the filth. I've come a long ways from home I guess.

The river was a refreshing treat after the long read in the back of the truck. Most of the kids immediately stripped down to their underwear and hopped right in--some didn't even keep that much clothing on. There were several smaller boys running around completely naked. I was a little more conservative and decided to wade in fully clothed. It felt amazing! The first time I've actually submersed myself in water since being at home. I just sat down in the middle of a shallow portion of the water and soaked it all in.

I was intriguing to notice the ways in which the people used the river. There were several people that waded out with bars of soap and, only partly clothed, washed themselves thoroughly as if no one else were around. About half an hour after we arrived, the kids scattered to opposite banks in order to avoid the pick-up that came barreling in. The driver got out of the car and commenced using the river as his own personal car wash.

The girls thought it was fun to put mud make-up on Amber, Helen and I. Haha...I didn't expect it to feel so good to have someone rub mud on my face. On the left is a picture of my personal make-up artist, Dok Bwa. Yes, this is the same girl that threw my shoe in the garbage can.

On the way home, we made a quick stop to a monastery to visit the monks' pet monkeys. Haha....I never noticed how ironic that is. Monks with MONKeys.....giggle. Anyway, it was kind of cool to see monkeys so close. The kids fed them pieces of orange and couple even got the monkeys to come sit on their shoulders. Kind of dirty little creatures....don't think I'd like one as a pet.

Terrified

February 17, 2011

7:11 PM

AAAAAAGH! I was sitting calmly at my computer typing an email, when suddenly I hear a loud frantic squeaking coming from the top of my closet. The word squeak doesn’t sound scary probably…. But when it’s loud and frantic….and you’re not expecting it, it’s almost enough to make you wet your pants!!!! (not quite though, don’t worry).

I sat straight up wondering what kind of rodent or lizard battle was taking place on the top of my wardrobe when a big fat mouse nearly scampered off the edge of it. It’s still up there now…right by my fat suitcase and my bag full of electrolyte packets. I kind of want to look….but not enough to actually do it. What if the mouse was being chased by a tokay! Ick, Ick, Ick. I used to think it was funny that people were afraid of mice….not anymore. I’m officially terrified. Suddenly, my pink mosquito net with the gaping hole in the side doesn’t seem as safe as it once did.