We are Same

---

Rain, rain, and more rain. Today was a monsoon. It rained nonstop all day. And when I say rained, I don't mean a little spritz like when you feel the kid next to you sneeze, I mean like the tipping bucket that kids stand under at every water park ever. All day. There was a tropical storm in southern Thailand a few days earlier so I'm thinking that's where it came from, because apparently it's really uncommon for it to rain in the "winter". I put quotation marks because i can't justify calling 85 degree and sunny afternoons winter. So the weather changed our plans a little bit. We went back to the Donkeaw Hospital, where we learned how to make LukPrakhop, which are basically a bunch of natural herbs like ginger, lemongrass, menthol, and tumeric mixed up into a cloth ball. Americans call them Thai herbal compress balls and you heat them up and massage them onto your body to relax you and open sinuses at the same time. We got to make one for ourselves and someone actually did one on me and let me tell you it was very relaxing. We also got little samples of a Thai massage, we can book a full one later in the week. And I just about died laughing watching some of my friends get these massages. It's not your traditional relaxing and calming massage that's for sure, it's all about pinpoints and digging down deep until it hurts and my friend just about couldn't hold her expressions in the whole time. Turns out the masseuse was blind so he couldn't pick up her cues of writhing pain. But hey, beauty is pain. I'm sure I'll give more detail and graphics when I'm up for my full massage. Excited but also terrified.

Next we went to lunch, where I had a traditional padthai with prawns and a vanilla milkshake! You have no idea how good that milkshake tasted to me. Wow it was like America in a glass. We also shared some fried tofu, fried chicken (again, taking me back to america), and fried calamari as apps. next up was just about the cutest thing ever. We went to an elementary school where the Thai nursing students were partaking in their clinical rotation and organizing activities for the kids that we could help with. These kids come from the poor areas of the city and are immigrants of Thailand. Almost every kid in there came from different tribes located on the border of Myanmar and Thailand. Chaing Mai, being the most northern city, takes in a lot of these broken and impoverished families that were originally from the tribes. These kids are held back, not completely fluent in Thai, and are experiencing school for the first time. I was in a room of about 20 6-7 year olds singing and dancing to "baby shark" (in English!). My heart melted. I had no idea what anyone was saying and what the nursing students were teaching but I had this revelation almost. These kids are from completely different cultures, backgrounds, languages, geographical location, and yet they still act and behave exactly like any crazy 6 year old boy I see in America. Picking noses, flicking each other, being rambunctious, flipping their eyelids inside out (gross), dabbing, these kids are the same. And that's when I realized how similar we all are. Sure, there are plenty of differences and contrasts between people, but when you peel away the environmental factors and look at children, raw and innocent children who start with no cultural or geographical emphasis, they are the same. We are all human, all one being with similar thoughts, doubts, and behaviors, and I think the world forgets that sometimes. I know I forget it. Those children melted my heart I just wanted to pick one up and run home, I didn't though, so no need to call child services. All children are accounted for.

Dinner was really special. When we got back to our apartment, our buddies were waiting for us with traditional Thai dresses and jewelry. They dressed us, did our hair and make up, and sent us off to Khum Kantoke, a traditional style restaurant where you sit on the floor and eat family-style Thai food and watch beautiful traditional Thai dances. Again, it's all about the hands, and I don't understand how far back their hands can flex but they look so fluid and graceful when they dance and they wear these huge long fingernail looking things to accentuate it even more. The dresses are so gorgeous, bright colors and big fashion accessories. We were done up to the nines. We ate our delicious meal of white rice, curry pork, fried chicken, green curry, among other things, and watched as the dancers performed. It was unreal. The whole time we were there tourists would come up to us and ask to take pictures with us, I think they thought we were some of the dancers, so we just let them believe it and became famous for the day. Today was an amazing experience that really allowed me to dig deeper into the Thai culture and traditions and actually be a part of it rather than just watch from a tourist perspective.

Until next time,

Molly

---

Comments

[Cindy]

My eyes are leaking
Caught me by surprise on that one! I’m still a little teary-eyed. Started with your revelation of humanity and continued with my pride in what a beautiful person you’ve grown to be and how I’m so thankful that you’re able to experience this. Enjoy!