“Running?” the woman on the motorbike exclaimed more than asked me as I walked into the 7/11 this afternoon post-jog. “Yeah,” I responded. “Too hot!” (I have no idea why that, of all Thai phrases, is one that I have not picked up yet). While getting blasted by the AC upon entering was nothing short of orgasmic, the lube I nearly accidentally bought was not quite what I was looking for today. No, rather I’ve finally caved and decided to buy deodorant. It took a while to find as it was under the toothpaste and all of the bottles happen to tout “whitening” as their prime function, but it definitely was deodorant (ya know, the whitening kind. Duh). And the most chemically fragrant deodorant I’ve ever laid hands on at that. Now I know what kept knocking my nose off when I ate dinner with Milena my first night here. While the stuff threatens to quelch my already meager appetite I think it’s something I have to do. Yes, “sweety” for ages 12+ (complete with a free pair of nail clippers!) is going to become my new best friend (or help me actually make some!).
--INTERRUPTION. INTERRUPTION. Very important news. This blog post was cut short by a mandatory motorbike lesson on the beach. Beep beep! I now know how to drive a motorbike.
Yes, and drive it I did. Yeaaaah babyyy! Okay, but in all seriousness—this was something I was (and still am a bit) terrified about. The road here is quite busy and so far I only have experience driving on (the wrong side, oops!) of a deserted road. Myat Thu, who has already been more than generous with his time, brought me to the beach tonight to teach me how to ride a motorbike. Well okay, scooter. Matt teased Myat Thu about his bike today, which is in all ways the motorbike equivalent of Dad’s old purple truck. It’s the same color fuschia, and while it doesn’t have purple streaks down the side it does have cartoony dogs on the foot mat. However, I 100% approve of Myat Thu’s pink scooter and applaud him for being man enough to drive it (he has a sweet baby face and is a couple inches shorter than me, but driving a pink scooter—definitely a man! And I mean that with complete sincerity).
While I was hesitant to ride a motorbike (despite it being the absolute first thing I did upon arriving here), necessity called. Yes, I could ride that rusty dinky “push” bike 5+ kms to work every morning in the blistering heat or monsoon rain. Yes, I could sit home on the weekends when my friends went to the beach. Yes, I could skip lunch while everyone else bikes there… etc etc etc. Or I could grow a pair and realize that an activity’s potential for painful outcomes hasn’t stopped me in the past (eg: intoxicated pool hopping, rollerskiing on forest home rd, etc…), and if I’m cautious and concientious, I should be okay.
No real moral to this story, though many thoughts have stirred in my head today. Soon to come: a clarification blog post for yesterday's (it was two pronged and I don’t think I specified my message well enough). Until then—bonne nuit. I’m headed to bed (at 8 PM: down with the sunset and ‘skeeters, up with the roosters) to rest up for a long day tomorrow when I will be accompanying the health workers on a community visit in Khok Kloi, an hour or so south towards Phuket.
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