Mini-Meat

I have lived in Thailand for about five years now.  When the neighbors started blaring traditional Thai music loud enough to shake the windows before FIVE IN THE MORNING, I realized that much of what seemed unusual when I first moved to Asia has become pretty routine.  Instead of getting ticked at them, I just thought, “huh, guess the neighbors are having a wedding or something today.”  Likewise with foods – everything seems pretty ordinary these days.  That is, until today. 

Today a couple of the folks from church and I went out to visit the homes of a few others from church.  Around noon we stopped into a noodle shop for some lunch.  What’s that on the menu?  Field mouse.  Then I’m ordering that.  I’ve heard of some folks eating this, but until now never been to a place that actually made it.

The unmistakable little carcasses were just begging me to eat them.  The people I was with suggested having it prepared “Phat phet” – mmmm, fried spicy field mouse.  I figured they know more than me, so followed the suggestion. 

Let me tell ya’, they make their “Noo naa phat phet” very, very spicy. 

The verdict?  I think this first taste will also be my last.  Nothing against the flavor of mouse meat, but there are just too many bones to make it an enjoyable meal.

Loy Your Grathong

It’s time again for the Loy Grathong festival in Sukhothai.  We have a few newcomers to the central Thai mission team, so we took them to the mother of all Loy Grathong festivals, which happened to be nearby in Sukhothai. 

Loy Grathong is a festival in Thailand where people float little boats down rivers or in ponds to symbolize their sending away their troubles and sins from their lives.  We skipped that part of the activities, but I mustered up the motivation to dust off the camera and submit a few shots of the old city for my loyal readers:

We actually beat the crowds by going the night before the main festival, but the place was already decorated up very nicely.

Maintenance

A while back, my old pickup needed a new battery.  When shopping for a car battery, what you will notice right away is that folks here in central Thailand rarely use the newer “maintenance free” style of car batteries.  As far as I can tell, there are a couple reasons for this.  1) The maintenance free batteries are more expensive.  2) The older style batteries seems to last slightly longer (provided you take good care of them).

I have had to get into the habit of checking the water levels in the battery weekly, just like the other fluid levels in the truck.  Actually, the battery needs more than just regular checking, it needs regular filling.  And you can’t just fill them up with ordinary old water, like the stuff out of the toilet, either.  Thankfully, I live within easy walking distance of a service station where they sell what car batteries crave: ‘lectrolytes.

No word yet on whether my plants like this stuff too.

Gardening Fail

A while back, I planted several types of veggies out in the back yard.  The only one that survived: okra.  So far, these are the only guys who have eaten any of it.

All Teared Up

There aren’t too many things that get me teary-eyed.  One of those is conjunctivitis.  Pink eye (or at the Thais call it “red-eye”), is something I see a little more of in Thailand than I remember seeing in the Northwest. 

Earlier on in my time here, one friend in particular seemed to have it twice a month or so.  It may have been that Thailand had some bugs that he hadn’t much resistance to, or maybe it had something to do with him living in the post-tsunami refugee camps at the time.  The kids running around the camp seemed to come down with it from time to time, but that may have been just because of the Canadian guy with sensitive eyes staying among them.  Eventually another friend staying at the camp caught it from the kids.  She (along with my wife and I) seemed to think it was pretty funny when she rubbed her eye, then stuck it in the eye of another friend who had been doing his best to stay away from the outbreak.  He didn’t find it quite so funny.

Thinking back on that, it seems more mean that funny.  Until last week, I hadn’t had this annoying affliction since I was about six years old.  Like my friend, I probably got it from someone sticking their hand in my face; but unlike him it probably wasn’t intentional.  I’m sure all of my readers know first hand about this irritating, yet non-serious bug.  But I learned a few things this week that maybe you didn’t know:

• don’t ride motorcycles when you have pink-eye.  The wind combined with lack of face-shield only seems to aggravate the condition.
• don’t let on to any of your ESL students that you have pink-eye.  Their parents will be calling with sudden cancelations.
• don’t ride motorcycles at dusk when you have pink-eye.  The insects pelting you eyeballs only seem to aggravate the condition.

In writing this, I’m reminded that there is a certain line in attempted humorous autobiographical writing.  A line between taking a light-hearted outlook towards the things you go through, and revealing to the whole internet that you might be a bit of an idiot.

Whoops, I think I need to put some eye-drops in, I’m getting all teared up again. 

Chew On This

Growing up in the northwest United States, I was exposed to a few things that kids in other parts of the world might be missing out on.  No, I’m not referring to hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities – though most kids are sorely lacking in exposure to those types of sports.  What I had in mind was something a little less wholesome: chew.  That’s right, good ol’ chewing tobacco. 

I remember as a kid in Jr. High, when I became the lucky owner of a half pouch of Beechnut.  How this bag of smokeless gold came to rest in a ditch along the road where I walked home from school, I’ll never know.  Most likely it had been discarded by a more discriminating snuff user upon his first taste of the stuff.  My outdoorsman hero chewed Copenhagen, but that brand is only for the toughest and most rugged northwesterners.  And for people old enough to buy their own. 

Thankfully, chew was hard enough for me to procure at that age that it lost it’s attraction before I could make a habit of it.  Nowadays it seems that chewing tobacco is a habit still kept only by tough old outdoorsman (and women) types of another generation.  Actually, a similar description could be applied to the “chew” many people enjoy here in Thailand.  You guessed it: betel nut.

Betel nut, or “mahk” in Thai, was at one time quite common in S.E. Asia, but in recent decades has fallen into decline.  When you take a look at the long term effects on your mouth, it isn’t hard to see why:

Betel nut trees (actually, Areca palms) can be found most anywhere in Thailand.  As I write this I can see a few in the neighbor’s front yard.  They are used as ornamental palms practically everywhere.  Here are a few in the city park:

The betel nuts (Areca nuts) grow on little sprigs off of the trunk.  The cows grazing in the park didn’t seem to mind me helping myself to some of the local produce.

Kids in America really don’t know what they’re missing.  Anyone old enough to walk can buy betel nut if they like.  No need scavenge for it, or wait in front of convenience stores asking people to buy it for you.  Heck, if they don’t want to buy it, they can grab a few from their own front yards. 

Betel nut contains a mild stimulant.  Something akin to a cup of coffee.  I didn’t notice anything of that nature, but I did find that it makes your whole mouth numb!  The taste also leaves a lot to be desired.  Try to imagine the bitter/sour flavor of a very green banana.  Now multiply that by a hundred and you have something close to the flavor of fresh mahk off the tree.  On the plus side though, it still tastes better than Beechnut.