6/26, Showering with a Bucket

Well, here I am! 2 days in Thailand has felt like an eternity already it has been so busy.

I arrived in Bangkok exhausted and disheveled, and found the rest of my group thanks to a large green sign entitled “LE THAI FAMILY”. Not easy to miss. The rest of the volunteers, Daniel (the program director) and myself hopped into a van and headed to Daniel’s grandparent’s house. Daniel’s stepmother is Thai and so that has been his connection in establishing this project. The van stopped on the side of the street, and we wheeled our rolling suitcases (I felt very awkward and girly) through an old market into a windy back alley where the house was. We all dropped our bags, completely exhausted and after showers (with buckets of course), slept on mats on the floor for a good 2 hours.

Showering with a bucket is the Thai version of a shower. Instead of a Western showerhead, tub and curtain, Thai bathrooms are typically one room, with a toilet, faucet, large tub of water and a small bucket-dipper-esque thing. Holding your breath and taking the plunge, you dump a dipper full of cold water over your head, soap up, and repeat. At first, it’s a little awkward, and frigid, but after 2 days of the heat and humidity it feels amazing to dump a cold bucket of water over your head first thing in the morning. Also-you have to shower before bed and when you wake up-if not, Thai people think you’re gross. Given the pit stains and sweatiness that is me in Thailand, they’re absolutely right. I am constantly damp. It's really unattractive.

Unbeknownst to me, we had to wake up at 5 am to get our first day started. After 2 hours of jet-lagged, dreary sleep, we drug ourselves out of bed to meet our van. On the way, we picked up fresh fruit off the street, and Thai iced tea and coffee, which they serve in plastic bags with straws instead of cups-so much fun. We bought an excessive amount of fruit, but it was the perfect van snack all day. We hopped into the van and headed off to the main temple in Bangkok-where the King apparently frequents, and saw the “Emerald Buddha” which a huge jade Buddha house in an intricate, ornate temple. My shorts were too short, so after renting a long Thai style skirt, we headed off into the temple. The temple was amazing, looking back I’m glad we went so early because it was still cool and not crowded.

After the temple, we headed out of Bangkok on the way to Taphanhin. After a few hours, we stopped at an open-air market on a riverbank and had lunch. Walking through the market our country coordinator, Supa, bought a ridiculous amount of fruit, insisting we try everything. For lunch we ate fresh steamed fish with basil and garlic, rice and stir-fried veggies. So delicious! After eating, we got back in the van, and after a few hours we started on a detour because Supa had a “surprise”. After 2 hours of sleep and already 9 hours in the van, I was so aggravated. I was exhausted, I just wanted to get to our final destination and I didn’t have the patience for a scavenger hunt/Thai adventure. When we pulled into a massage parlor, however, I started to feel incredibly guilty, because Supa had given us all full-body, 1-hour Thai massages. It was exactly what I needed after such a long trip. Thai massage isn’t the typical muscle rubbing, massage oil massage, but instead it focuses on pressure points and stretching-it’s very interactive (kind of like Kim ;) ) and involves lots of pulling and pushing. It’s not as relaxing as laying and having somebody rub you with aromatherapy oils (ah I’m pining for my time in the Maldives where I got massages while my family was adventurous and went scuba-diving like real people) but afterwards your body feels so much more “in place”. Supa also brought along her friend who was a chiropractor who practiced on all of us. I was little sketched out when he was pushing on my neck and making everything crack-but I’m still standing so I guess no harm done.

After the massages, back to the van! It felt almost like a Shelden family vacation with all of the van time ☺. Our next stop was the former capital of Thailand (hundreds and hundreds of years ago) that was burnt down in a war a long time ago (I’m very historically accurate in my descriptions). There were tons of ruins of old temples and buildings and it was really gorgeous. Inside the main temple there was an enormous gold Buddha-it was probably at least 30 feet tall. Of course, there was also a market where we bought the Thai version of cotton candy. They take sugar and spin it into these long ropes that they roll up into sweet crepe-like pancakes. So yummy! Essentially all we have been doing is eating constantly. It’s awesome. I have to keep reminding myself of how chubby I was after a summer in France and all of the pastries. Must not repeat that! Self-control! I wish…

After the ruins, we finally drove straight to Taphan hin, another 3 hours from where we were. I thought Taphan hin was going to be 4 hours north of Bangkok, but it’s actually about 6. We arrived at Supa’s house in Taphan hin, where we will be staying for orienation until Sunday, exhausted and starving. Of course there was more food-noodle soup. The noodle soup was the Thai version of fast food-Supa sent someone on a motorcycle to the market where they bought soup in plastic bags (one bag for the broth, another for the noodles-you combine in a bowl) from a street vendor. So much better than McDonalds.

After another bucket shower, finally, we headed to bed. Instead of typical beds, Thais have raised wooden platforms that they put mats on. All four girls are sleeping on one wooden platform in a room-it’s definitely cozy. Luckily, Supa’s house is sort of in an adobe style with lots of ventilation so even though we don’t have AC, it’s cool (at night at least).

I can’t believe all of that was one day!