Wednesday, half way through the week. Last night I had a great night. It was Tuesday and * drum-roll please* It Didn't Rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I guess I might have given that away in the title of this post, oops) In case that doesn't make a whole lot of sense as to why that would be such a big deal, Tuesday is the only day of the week that the "new" market is open and despite trying to make plans to go there the last two Tuesdays its been raining! So last night G and I got to go the new market which was fun. This market is in the opposite direction from the old market, right near the cinema (which only plays movies in Thai and it seems like a lot of them are dubbed American movies). There seemed to be a lot more clothes and other non-food items at this market than the other market but there were different food items which I was happy about. I had chicken for dinner and a pork sausage thing stuffed with rice (G got it for me and it was yummy!!!) and G had something - I think it was like a breaded meat covered in a sauce. We ended up eating at a coffee shop which G and the guy who was here before me found at the edge of the market. The owner and his family was so nice! He speaks English so while we were eating outside on his deck-type area he came out and chatted with us. He even offered to drive us home! It was really nice feeling so welcomed - it reminded me a lot of one of the friends I made in India - just so happy and nice and wanting to help you out and be your friend. So yeah, dinner last night was really nice.
Before dinner G and I went and got massages at a place near our hotel! We opted for the "expensive" (less than $12) oil massage. I was totally satisfied with mine - possibly because I have the experience of one other massage. My only other massage was in India and I have to say I definitely preferred the one I got last night. Just to break it down for you... Both were "oil" massages however in India the oil was really oil. It was nice but also made every part of me feel slippery and gross and it took a long time in the shower after the massage to feel clean again. The Thai oil was more lotion-like so it didn't really have those problems. The Thai massage was also more modest which I appreciated. It didn't really bother me about the Indian one, but at the same time I personally prefer being partially covered by a sheet rather than sitting on a metal stool butt-naked (only for the head massage, but still). The only thing I didn't really like about last night's massage was that G and I were in rooms next to each other but the wall between us didn't go all the way to the ceiling and as a result it was easy to talk between the rooms, which, our ladies took full advantage of. It wouldn't really have been problematic (because I couldn't understand what they were saying anyway) except occasionally my woman would want to talk to me and I'm not really a talker when I don't speak the language and I'm getting a massage. But it wasn't a big deal and overall I had a really good experience.
Today has gone well. Kids were a little chatty in some of my classes but overall good. Lunch was interesting though. We had noodles but it was kind of make your own. So they layed out all the different things, 2 types of noodles, 2 meat-type things, and then a bunch of different green things (yeah, I know I sound smart) and then we could put them either straight into our bowls or into this slotted cup thing which we then dumped in boiling stock water and then put into our bowls. And then after you had "cooked" the things that needed cooking you took a spoon and spooned some of the stock into your bowl. I was a little intimidated by the whole process because I wasn't sure if I was doing it "right" but of course the beauty of something like that is that its hard to do it "wrong." It was also nice because I chose not to make mine too spicy because I was excited about the prospect of eating a lunch where my mouth wouldn't be on fire. Don't get me wrong, I like spicy food and I am excited that I am building up a tolerance (or at least I hope I am) but sometimes its nice to eat without either a) the orifices on my face leaking (and by that I mean nose running, eyes tearing up) or b) my mouth actually feeling like I'm just chewing on chilies (even when there's not chilies in sight). Tomorrow though, I look forward to whatever spice they want to throw my way!
I also have some apartment updates but I think I'll save them for a House Hunters International style post so that you get all the pros and cons as well as the full reality of apartment hunting in Chaiyaphum!
Before dinner G and I went and got massages at a place near our hotel! We opted for the "expensive" (less than $12) oil massage. I was totally satisfied with mine - possibly because I have the experience of one other massage. My only other massage was in India and I have to say I definitely preferred the one I got last night. Just to break it down for you... Both were "oil" massages however in India the oil was really oil. It was nice but also made every part of me feel slippery and gross and it took a long time in the shower after the massage to feel clean again. The Thai oil was more lotion-like so it didn't really have those problems. The Thai massage was also more modest which I appreciated. It didn't really bother me about the Indian one, but at the same time I personally prefer being partially covered by a sheet rather than sitting on a metal stool butt-naked (only for the head massage, but still). The only thing I didn't really like about last night's massage was that G and I were in rooms next to each other but the wall between us didn't go all the way to the ceiling and as a result it was easy to talk between the rooms, which, our ladies took full advantage of. It wouldn't really have been problematic (because I couldn't understand what they were saying anyway) except occasionally my woman would want to talk to me and I'm not really a talker when I don't speak the language and I'm getting a massage. But it wasn't a big deal and overall I had a really good experience.
Today has gone well. Kids were a little chatty in some of my classes but overall good. Lunch was interesting though. We had noodles but it was kind of make your own. So they layed out all the different things, 2 types of noodles, 2 meat-type things, and then a bunch of different green things (yeah, I know I sound smart) and then we could put them either straight into our bowls or into this slotted cup thing which we then dumped in boiling stock water and then put into our bowls. And then after you had "cooked" the things that needed cooking you took a spoon and spooned some of the stock into your bowl. I was a little intimidated by the whole process because I wasn't sure if I was doing it "right" but of course the beauty of something like that is that its hard to do it "wrong." It was also nice because I chose not to make mine too spicy because I was excited about the prospect of eating a lunch where my mouth wouldn't be on fire. Don't get me wrong, I like spicy food and I am excited that I am building up a tolerance (or at least I hope I am) but sometimes its nice to eat without either a) the orifices on my face leaking (and by that I mean nose running, eyes tearing up) or b) my mouth actually feeling like I'm just chewing on chilies (even when there's not chilies in sight). Tomorrow though, I look forward to whatever spice they want to throw my way!
I also have some apartment updates but I think I'll save them for a House Hunters International style post so that you get all the pros and cons as well as the full reality of apartment hunting in Chaiyaphum!
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