Thailand

Like A Buddha

I woke up underneath a lilac hued blanket. I shifted in my seat trying to improve my circulation. It was hour 23 of a 38-hour journey. To think that only 100 years ago it would have taken somebody months to get from Detroit to Bangkok. It could have been a shorter process if I had flown directly out of Detroit on Thai Air, but I opted for the group flight out of L.A. with China Air because I wanted to arrive with the other students and be picked up by our study abroad coordinator. The airport in Bangkok is one of the biggest in the world and I did not want the hassle of navigating in another language after an international flight. Plus this way I’d get to meet the other students right away.

The old couple sitting next to me did not speak any English. The woman had a voice like air slowly leaking from a balloon and the man had four long grey hairs on his chin. They looked fragile. Originally my seat was between them. I had offered my seat to the woman. I was hoping to sit on the aisle side because I hate climbing over people to get out, but the woman insisted that I take the window seat. So I was trapped. My legs were numb, my back was sore, and I was pretty sick of the lights and the noises of the plane. I was hungry too because earlier in the flight, when dinner was served, I had been doing a disgruntled imitation of somebody asleep.

How would I have gotten to Bangkok 100 years ago? Boat probably. One of the flight attendants up-righted my seat and dropped my tray table. She set breakfast in front of me, finally! The flight attendants were all beautiful. Their uniforms were the same lilac color as the blanket. I looked around and noticed that I was the only one with breakfast. Weird place to start, middle of the plane. There was a little note on my trey; it said “Special meal (V).” “Awesome,” I thought, “V” most be for vegetarian! The beautiful flight attendants most have wanted to get the picky eaters out of the way first. I pealed back the foil on a dish of grey mush. Gross. “Well I’m hungry enough to eat it”, I thought to myself and went to town.

My mind went back to when I purchased the group flight ticket. I was so anxious. I didn’t know if I should go with that option or if I could find a better deal by myself, I wasn’t sure exactly which airport code to use, I couldn’t find flights with decent layovers, and I’m pretty sure I never told anyone that I was vegetarian…how did the know? What is this grey mush? The flight attendants came back around with the standard breakfast. The old woman asked them something and then all four of them argued in Chinese for a while. Then they all looked at my food, looked at the seat numbers, and looked at me. I was sitting in the old man’s seat. I had eaten his special meal. Good job. Way to represent your country, Bridget.

When they all quieted down I asked one of the lovely representatives of China Air if she would kindly explain to the old couple that I was very sorry, I had thought the food was for me. Believe it or not, she did not look thrilled by this request but I think she did it anyways. After the flight attendants left the old man looked down at his hash browns, eggs and sweet roll and then over at the half eaten tub of grey mush I had unwittingly spared him from and started giggling like a Buddha. Great. Now they’re laughing at me.

 Jet Lag

After the plane landed the ten other students and I made our way through customs and immigration, exchanged currency and picked up our luggage. With some searching we found our coordinator and climbed into the van bound for Rangsit. In Thai the “R” is pronounced L. So it sounds more like Lungseet. I watched out the window almost the entire hour from airport to hotel. Thailand looks a lot like Costa Rica, lots of banana trees and stray dogs. The people never stop smiling, it’s beautiful.

Around hour 38 we got to the Diamond Place Hotel. I left my grandmother’s house in Detroit at about 8:45 AM on Dec. 31 and got to the hotel around 3:30 PM Jan. 2. I don’t even know which hour would have been New Years. Getting into the hotel was easy for me, I have only two backpacks. I packed light because I plan to stay abroad for two months after the end of my program. I want to explore the rock climbing along the southern beaches. A beach is no place for a rolling suitcase.

We checked into our rooms and then reassembled in the lobby. A couple of the students from the fall semester were taking us out to get things for our apartments and dinner. We piled into taxis, one of our leaders rattled off directions to the driver in Thai and we were off. We pulled up to an enormous fountain with a colossal hot pink Christmas tree behind it and behind that was the behemoth Future Park. This is the first place I see in Thailand? A mega mall?As we walked up the stairs to the mall the speakers were playing Bob Marley. The first song I learned to play on mandolin even. Two days later I would return to Future Park to haggle with a shop owner about a dusty mandolin. I got it. But on this night the goal was to get everybody who wanted one a cell phone. I ended up with one because of some very convincing arguments from my new friends. The phone was 750 baht (which is about $25) and I can put minutes on it at any one of the millions of 7-11’s. How very urban!

In the food court I had a face melting experience with some papaya salad. I drank a liter of water and could only eat about a third of it. Maybe I’ll get skinny like these Thai girls… At home I wear a small but here I feel like I could rip the blouses Chris Farley style if I flex too hard. Later I learned from the girls who have been here since September that it is typical to gain 12 pounds because of all the rice and fried food. I’ll keep you posted.

Back at the hotel I crawled into a bed for the first time in what felt like a week but only fell asleep for about 3 hours. What gives? My roommate is still sleeping why can’t I? At 5 AM on the balcony I rolled out my yoga mat. I spent my first morning in Bangkokbalancing in tree pose while the sun came up. I saw the night watchmen turn off the lights of the shrine as it got light. I smelled smoke as it started to rise from the street vendors’ cooking fires. I heard unfamiliar birdcalls from the Banyan forest below me. I watched the road fill with hot pink and neon green taxis and the light reflecting off the high rises. This is only the beginning.

 Weekend MarketSaturday morning my roommate and I took a bus out to the weekend market. From the walkway crossing over the busy road I looked out over the market. At least 4 football fields could have been completely covered with all the makeshift shops. Inside the market we explored the maze of fruit stands, artwork, Buddha statues, and anything else you can think of. This is what I expected. The stands are so tightly packed that you can’t see the sky or the way out once you’re inside. You are completely engulfed. The only organization to the whole compilation is that the expensive goods are at the center. I wonder if they do that so that thieves can’t get away quickly.

I had a bag of strawberries for breakfast. When you buy fruit they also offer you a bag of sugar, salt, and fish flavor all mixed together. I don’t know why anybody would want to change the flavor of the fruit here. It is all so delicious. When you buy pineapple the vendor puts two pre-skinned halves in a plastic bag and then whacks it into sections with a machete. You can get a bag of pineapple for 15 baht, that’s like 50 cents. Yum!

Later that evening one of the guys I had spent lots of time getting to know in the L.A. airport called me to say that he was leaving. He is not going through with the program and he’s not coming back. He is headed for the poorest area he can find to deliver food and clothing that he brought in his suitcases. He doesn’t speak the language but this doesn’t seem like an obstacle to him. Says he plans on living with the poor people for at least three years. Meanwhile, the rest of us had a dinner date. At a Thai restaurant near campus all of the international students studying through USAC came together for dinner. There are 26 of us from all over the US and some from Europe and one from Korea. I think we all share mutual mixed feelings of admiration and concern for our charitous buddy. I can’t wait to hear the end of his story.