Security Blanket

[in Thai] "Where did you eat?"
I point across the street as I hand my room card.
"Okay."

As I leave Bangkok, I struggle how to package together an array of experiences until I realize one common thread: the security guards. They are the bookend of all my stories as I greet them entering and exiting the dormitory.

Our exchanges began very congenial with an "are you well" or a simple "hello." But quickly, they developed more personal:

[in Thai] "Where did you go?"
I motion scissors with my fingers over my head.
"Oh...haircut! Very good! How much?"
"180"
"Ohhhhy...expensive. Hmm...okay."

What? Where? When? It is endearing, and I figure it must be part of the guards' job duties to know whereabouts. They must have a better account of my activities than I do. But, I learned that job responsibilities had nothing to do with these "nosey" questions. My weekend host mom, my Thai friends--all asked them. It is simply genuine interest, part of the cultural makeup. The security guards are just being Thai.

The compilation of these short interactions made my last one almost difficult. But it was appropriate to form: ordinary and brief yet sincere:

[in Thai] "Where are you going?"
Chiang Rai
"Now?"
"Now."
"...Okay."

Heartfelt Talk

If you ask my brother if he can speak Thai, there is one phrase he definitely knows: "My Cow jai krap" ("I dont understand").

This summer, my brother was kind enough to let me listen to some thai language on a road trip back home. I was impressed that he tried to learn a bit too. We even practiced a bit together: I would say a sentence and he would reply My Cow jai. Cow jai means to understand, but recentyl I learned it is not a perfect translation. Jai means heart, so a better translation would be to understand with your heart. As a Thai professor told our group, the line between the heart and mind's functions sometime blur. So, it is no surprise that understanding is directly connected with the heart.

Once in Thailand, I started hearing jai all the time. Jai dee (literally heart good) refers, unsurprisingly, to a good -hearted person. But flip the words to dee jai and it means glad. There are dozens of other examples including:

• Jai dam (lit.: heart black) => bad person
• Som jai (lit.: take into your heart) => interested
• Nam jai (lit.: Water heart) => generious

Whenever I now hear the word, cow jai or even jai, it takes me back to the chit-chatting on that bro-bro road trip. But only now in retrospect, do I realize how heartfelt our conversation was:)

Video: A Thai lunch table

You thought Italy was the place of family-style dining and forcefeeding, well, think again.

Video: Market weaving

There are somethings pictures cannot catch. Weaving through a little side market parallel Bangkok's Chao Praya River is a sensory ride rivaling any wooden rollercoaster.