Sights, sounds, smells, and maybe most importantly, tastes

Hello to all of you back in America and our new Thai friends. We’re having a blast. This is my first blog and we’ve seen and done so much already, so this will be by no means chronological. I’ll try not to dwell too much on the items already discussed.

Sight

Thailand is a sensory feast. Everything is adorned with color: buses, Wats, people, buildings etc. Things that might be considered tacky in America are celebrated and ubiquitous in Thailand. Colors have significance beyond aesthetic appeal too. Different colors identify political factions, days of the week, and Kings past and present. In Tha Muang, Kanchanaburi, I walked down a side street after having lunch and just about every man I saw was wearing a pink shirt. You could arrive at many conclusions about this experience; strange choice of gang color, business convention, fire-sale on pink shirts, etc.; but the truth was that the color pink is closely associated with the King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, and the men were showing their support. Or maybe it was just Tuesday, I’m not really sure.

Smell

Street markets are a daily occurrence and provide the most amazing smells. Most Thais eat and buy food at these locations, and they are definitely preferable to the Wal-Mart of Thailand, Tesco. Some markets are open only in the morning, others until late at night. There are baskets overflowing with rose apples, dragon fruit, and mangos; live fish, crabs, and oysters piled high on ice; and dried meats, spices, and fruits hanging like wind chimes.

Sound

Attempting to speak the Thai language has provided an endless (and probably hopeless) fascination for me. A big thank you to everyone who has helped (many times to no avail) me navigate this most interesting language. It’s a very fun language to speak and the different tones (5 in total) used in speaking make a rhythm and meter that sounds almost melodic. Unfortunately the tones also cause me to mix up words by using the wrong inflection. This can result in a benign malapropism or sometimes be as embarrassing as calling somebody bad luck instead of beautiful. And in Thailand, bad luck is no small thing. Some words make more sense in Thai than they do in English. In Suphanburi, I would awake to the cook shouting, “meow, meow, meow…” as she called the cats for breakfast. Later, and to my relief, I learned that she was not trying to speak to the cats but rather using the Thai word for cat. Unknown onomatopoeias and misused tones aside, I love the language and the people who speak it.

Taste

I won’t dwell on tastes, even though that is the main focus of our daily activities, but I will say that if you only visited Thailand to have lunch you would leave happy and entirely satiated. All of our hosts have been incredible cooks and each meal whether at a restaurant or sitting around a kitchen table has been amazing. The communal or family-style way of eating is perfect and allows everybody to try all the different dishes and eat until you are eem mak. Many conversations throughout the day are concerned with what everybody is going to have for the next meal. It's a beautiful and gastronomical way of life.