I have such fun, each day at lunch, going across the street to the market near my massage school to pick out what I will eat for lunch. At this market they have prepared foods, fresh veggies and fruit, drinks, desserts, you name it. Each day is a discovery. "Hmmm what to eat today?" I ponder as I wander the rows and rows of vendor tables. "Fried insects? Hm no, not today. Fried whole fish? No, too many little bones. How about long curled sausage, chopped into bite sized pieces? Nah, I had a meaty lunch yesterday." And so on. . . Today I settled on banana leaf surprise (little triangle banana leaf packages that often contain rice puddings but who really knows? The vendors rarely speak English), grilled eggplant, glass noodle stir fry with strange but delicious crunchy-yet-slimy fungi, watermelon and a yogurt drink. I also bought a mango for tomorrow's breakfast and sweet rice cakes for a snack. All of this for 100 baht, the equivalent of about $3. Just wonderful. It is no wonder so many ex-pats land in Chang Mai and just never leave. Or leave only to return. It is so easy to live here for so cheap! Last night I did another trip out to the Night Bazaar to perform for the people. I went shopping at the mall beforehand to find some clothes that are better for hooping and found a perfect outfit of black tights and a long black tanktop/dress with a pretty gold design printed across the front. I also bought some cheap slipper shoes which slide on smooth ground, also preferable for hooping. The outfit worked out great and I was hooping better than ever. I put headphones on and entered a private world filled with Pretty Lights, my current favorite electronic artist. Pretty Lights can inspire my hooping like nothing else and I just rocked out. It didn't matter that people couldn't hear the music. The energy of it came flooding out of me and pushed me to hoop at the limits of my abilities, and to do it well. At one point I was single leg hooping, with my free leg extended behind me, and balanced like that it occurred to me to try to turn in a circle on my planted foot. Bit by bit I turned myself in a complete circle, hoop still going around my planted leg, my free leg extended behind me, and one arm extended out in front of me. I received some serious applause for that one. Kicked myself for not getting it on film but there will be other times. I had never even practiced that move before and I was able to do it right then and there! Thanks to the smooth slipper shoes I had purchased certainly. Of course later, when I did have someone filming me, I couldn't even get close to doing it again. Such is life. Look below for the video from last night and another from last week. This afternoon I went on another exhausting tour of the city in search of a post office. I left with my hoops and flow wand on me thinking I would have time to go to a park to practice. One post office near me was closed but I spoke to one of the workers who pointed me to another one across town that stayed open later. As I was about to go the man inquired about my hoops. "Show me?" he said smiling a smile full of yellow and brown, crooked teeth. Oh shucks, such a sweet man to take time to point out on my map where to go, so I said "Alright, I show you." I gave this man the shortest show of my life but he loved it! He practically squealed like a little Thai school girl with delight. Afterwards he clasped his hands to his chest and smiled the biggest crooked yellow toothed smile, his eyes disappearing in the folds of creases and wrinkles in his weathered face. He was so thankful for his little personal show and closed his large hands around mine in a hearty hand shake. I love moments like these. Hoops are so simple and yet they impart such joy so easily. This is indeed my job on this earth. Send out joy into the hearts of as many people as possible. So I'll start with nice post men who show me the way to where I need to go. So to close this blog, I'll get around to why I titled it "America in a Can". On my way to the internet cafe from the post office, it being far too late to head to the park to practice, I stopped off at a 7-11 to top up the credit on my Thai SIM card. Suddenly, as I crossed the threshold of the automatic sliding doors, was struck with a powerful craving for coke. This is what 7-11 does to me. The place reeks of American fast food and consumerism and so why should I be surprised that the moment I enter its doors and am pelted in the eyeballs by its blinding fluorescent lighting that I should desire, more than anything else in the world, Coca-cola? They take their drinks with a straw here so as I left the store and mounted my bike, I was already pounding the straw into my leg to open it, feeling a bit like a junkie getting prepped for a long hungerd high. Biking in traffic, I hungriliy slurped away at America, stopping only to burp colossal burps now and then. By the time I got to the internet cafe, just around the corner, I had already finished nearly half. Now the empty can, straw still poking out, sits in front of me at the computer and so became the title of this post. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this installment of Erin's adventures in Thailand!
2 Comments
Mom
3/30/2011 05:10:29 pm
Erin, I didn't see the video you refer to...are you sure it's on this website?
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Faeryn FireA fiery fairy who has set off to explore Asia and discover new things about the world and herself. The journey is one to fully realize her strength and an unwaivering faith in her personal power. Archives
December 2013
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