The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The purplest bicycle the world has ever seen.

The past couple of days, it has really begun to sink in that I live in Thailand.  I had a weekend that was pretty glorious, though not without it's problems, not without the life involved.  I already had my adventure on Friday, involving my bicycle, my shopping journey.  And the weekend was no different.

She's started to explore outside the house.  It's a
very safe neighborhood at the end of a street.  Cats abound.

Saturday morning, early, I had to go to the hospital for a check up.  Apparently, it is uncommon to go to a small doctor's office for anything; all things involving medicine are immediately directed to these giant structures filled with nurses.  The school had us go for the check ups since they are required for our work permits and visas.  It was a pretty amusing little venture.  I got there early, a little past 7, because I wanted to beat the crowds and the traffic.  I got height and weight, blood pressure.  The nurse laughed because she had to stretch the height stick out a bit farther than usual.  Blood work, chest x-ray (complete with fancy hospital gown), and peeing in a cup.  I had to wait around a bit after the x-ray, so they gave me a coupon for the cafeteria downstairs.  I ended up eating at Au Bon Pain downstairs instead, because there weren't any noodles and I was hangry (yes, hangry, like hungry and angry) after fasting for 6-8 hours.  Once I got back upstairs, the doctor poked and prodded and checked my ears while wearing a face mask, then told me I was anemic and otherwise in great health.  

Not QUITE as cool as my old sarong ones, but these
will do.

By the time I got home, and skyped Aaron, I was disinclined to leave the house again.  I felt very tired, a bit sick, and just not up to an adventure.  That's quite a bit of life overseas for me.  Sometimes, I just don't want to leave my sanctuary and fight to communicate.  Some days, it's no trouble.  Some days, I just can't.  I watched TV on my computer until I fell asleep.  That suited me just fine.  That's the bad.

This whole bag cost me $3.78.

This morning was the good.  I slept in, even though it gave me a bit of a headache.  Once I got up and around, I found my way to the weekend market and acquired a bowl of soup and coffee.  It wasn't just any soup.  This was the soup that I miss the most from my time in Cambodia.  It's my desktop picture.  It was guey tio in Cambodia, here it's guey deeo.  It is rice noodle soup in a galircky broth, with fried garlic bits and spring onions on top.  Although, I accidentally chose the glass noodles instead of the rice noodles, which  only noticed when I began eating them.  They turn clear in the hot water, and my normal rice noodles still retain their opaque white color.  They still tasted phenomenal, especially paired with the coffee from the lovely seller who spoke English and looked far more wealthy than I expected.  

I also bought a sarong, some comfortable shorts, and some veggies for next to nothing.  And then, the plants.  I kept seeing a plant seller on the way to work.  For our commute, we have to go the wrong way for about a mile before we can u turn onto the correct road.  I'm sure I'll write more on traffic at a later date.  I parked my bicycle near the moto stand on my side of the big road, then took the stairs across the top to get there.  The lady was a very stereotypical seller, at least by Cambodia standards.  She had a hat with an over-sized visor and a fanny pack, and she luckily spoke just enough English to make things known.  She told me that if I spent 2000 baht, about 60 bucks, on plants, she would make a free delivery with the car.  60 bucks later, I walked out of there with a beautiful selection of plants that made my driveway look so much more appealing.  I'll get more at the next pay cycle, I think, and a hammock.  

That's the good.

Here's the ugly: Thailand is hard on the system.  Today I was suffering from some major tummy issues.  I barely ate, felt nauseous at both ends, and was feeling the heat in a very extreme way.  I took care of myself.  I ate rice for lunch with a bit of green curry.  I drank some iced tea to keep myself cool.  I bought some Royal D-licious (shout out to all the PCVs out there), and tried to rest and relax.  But my body feels weak and ill.  I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me.  That, or, my body is trying to adjust to the 94 degrees that it was most of the day.  Maybe both.  Plus, it is that time of the month again.  So, the ugly adds up.  

There's a little bit of everything every day.