Well, it appears I'm in Thailand...
...or at least such is the impression I get from the oppressive heat, smog, and food. I suppose the food isn't actually oppressive, it's taste power is just so high that if I were an enemy of food, or perhaps a subject of food (in the feudalism sense), it indeed would be oppressive.
I was greeted at the airport by a charming and energetic Sanon who swept my bags away and drug me three times around the airport in spring-shaped circles to find a place where we could avoid the 1 dollar airport surcharge on taxis. After three days with only intermittent bursts of sleep, totalling less than 7 hours I'm sure, I would have told him to forget about it, that I'd just pay the dollar, if my love of frugality on principal weren't so strong. A typical high-speed drive from the airport to my old (and once again new) neighborhood of Saphan Kwai left us at the front of Steve and Sanon's, where within five minutes we were planted in front of the TV watching Robots Wars. It's so cool! How did I never know about this show? Build robots and have them battle to the death in some kind of fucked up cyborg gladiator's pit? Did I make this show myself?
In later afternoon we ventured out into the city, a bit to Sanon's reluctance, and explored my new neighborhood/his boring old neighborhood, depending on which perspective you prefer. It's clear that house-husbandry has caused Sanon to grow a little lazy, as he usually has no more energy than to be out of the house for more than two or three hours before the siren's call of his couch and satellite TV draw him home, or at least draw complaints out of his mouth. He has been a good sport though, about tromping about the land with me during the day time while Steve is at work, something which I'm sure is a hell of a lot less fun for him than it is for me. In the past couple days he's become my work day companion, and we spend most of our time together, he seeming as happy to have someone around the house to keep him company, as I am to have a friend whose constant presence will keep me from stopping and thinking to myself, "What am I doing?"
Last night (which was day two here), found the three of us, Steve, Sanon, and I, running around the back streets and alleys of the Indian neighborhood looking for somewhere open to buy ghee and cardamom pods ("but not that sick Thai-grown shit") at 11pm, which Steve suddenly decided were a necessity after a late dinner of chicken randang. As it turns out, Steve spends money much like Soren. There is usually a goal purchase to any shopping venture: some kind of bottled juice, cardamom pods, a panini, but on the way towards that purchase, the goal becomes dwarfed, sometimes lost, by other purchases along with way. You follow him into Safeway with the intention of getting a sandwich, but leave with a cart full of meats and cheeses about which Soren has said, "what's this? I'm buying it," or "hmm. throw it in the cart." In the case of Steve, replace Safeway with the Indian neighborhood and meats and cheeses with random treats that remind him of his days in Mumbai.
Today Sanon is out house-sitting for a friend and Steve is, of course, at work, leaving me alone for the first time since I arrived. It's nice actually, having time to update LJ and not worry that I'm boring/intruding or something else. Today's goal? Buy a cell phone.
I was greeted at the airport by a charming and energetic Sanon who swept my bags away and drug me three times around the airport in spring-shaped circles to find a place where we could avoid the 1 dollar airport surcharge on taxis. After three days with only intermittent bursts of sleep, totalling less than 7 hours I'm sure, I would have told him to forget about it, that I'd just pay the dollar, if my love of frugality on principal weren't so strong. A typical high-speed drive from the airport to my old (and once again new) neighborhood of Saphan Kwai left us at the front of Steve and Sanon's, where within five minutes we were planted in front of the TV watching Robots Wars. It's so cool! How did I never know about this show? Build robots and have them battle to the death in some kind of fucked up cyborg gladiator's pit? Did I make this show myself?
In later afternoon we ventured out into the city, a bit to Sanon's reluctance, and explored my new neighborhood/his boring old neighborhood, depending on which perspective you prefer. It's clear that house-husbandry has caused Sanon to grow a little lazy, as he usually has no more energy than to be out of the house for more than two or three hours before the siren's call of his couch and satellite TV draw him home, or at least draw complaints out of his mouth. He has been a good sport though, about tromping about the land with me during the day time while Steve is at work, something which I'm sure is a hell of a lot less fun for him than it is for me. In the past couple days he's become my work day companion, and we spend most of our time together, he seeming as happy to have someone around the house to keep him company, as I am to have a friend whose constant presence will keep me from stopping and thinking to myself, "What am I doing?"
Last night (which was day two here), found the three of us, Steve, Sanon, and I, running around the back streets and alleys of the Indian neighborhood looking for somewhere open to buy ghee and cardamom pods ("but not that sick Thai-grown shit") at 11pm, which Steve suddenly decided were a necessity after a late dinner of chicken randang. As it turns out, Steve spends money much like Soren. There is usually a goal purchase to any shopping venture: some kind of bottled juice, cardamom pods, a panini, but on the way towards that purchase, the goal becomes dwarfed, sometimes lost, by other purchases along with way. You follow him into Safeway with the intention of getting a sandwich, but leave with a cart full of meats and cheeses about which Soren has said, "what's this? I'm buying it," or "hmm. throw it in the cart." In the case of Steve, replace Safeway with the Indian neighborhood and meats and cheeses with random treats that remind him of his days in Mumbai.
Today Sanon is out house-sitting for a friend and Steve is, of course, at work, leaving me alone for the first time since I arrived. It's nice actually, having time to update LJ and not worry that I'm boring/intruding or something else. Today's goal? Buy a cell phone.