The Problem With "Nam Som"...

This is Dan starting... ... ... now!

Few things bother me more than when I go somewhere in Thailand, actually knowing how to say what I want, and the people won't even respond to you. This happens all over the place because there is a common (but not ubiquitous) sentiment that since I am white, I am rich and do not speak any Thai. Both of these are in fact wrong, because I am a teacher who is paid in Baht, and have a decent grasp on basic Thai. There are two sides of this situation as always, but Im going to be negative and tell you about the unpleasant side:

Sometimes, people just won't listen.
-On a bus to a major intersection, I asked the attendant to go to "See-Yan." Immediately he walked away and called for another attendant who must speak a little English. She said "bai nai?" (Where are you going?) "See-Yan" said I, exactly the same as before and with no questions or problems we were on our way.

- I love spicy things.
While Thai food has a reputation for being very spicy, a lot of it comes very bland but with a full compliment of additions and condiments. Namely: prik pon (crushed red pepper), nam som (crushed pepper in a sweet water), nam tan (strangely sugar since literally it is brown water!) and nam plah (fish sauce=garbage to me).
So when a dish is served up at a regular restaurant (as opposed to street food), you usually have to ask for extra seasonings. The two I want are prik pon and nam som. (more on nam som in a minute) The problem is when I ask for it, I get blank stares every time no matter how I try to change my tone or accent. I've finally learned that I am saying it completely right, but they are not listening. They take one look at me and decide that I could not possibly have asked for what they think I said. Which is always funny because once I get it, I ask them what it is called in Thai and they respond, exactly the way I said it, "prik pon."

*More on why nam som is confusing*
Thais use the word nam=water for a HUGE variety of phrases and words. Foe example, tears are "eye water" (nam tha), orange juice is nam som (orange water), vinegar is nam som (orange water), sweet spicy sauce is nam som (orange water)... Wait, there's no way they could use the same word for 3 completely different things... is there???

It turns out that yes, my friends, nam som is the name of at least three completely different things, and these without tonal difference. (for example the word "mah" can mean come, dog, horse, grandmother... depending on tone)

It's really no wonder I'm not understood sometimes, what with the tones and inflection. But that's not what bothers me. This is the Land Of Smiles, to be sure, but it is not without its scoundrels and selfish-folk alike. I've never felt the effects of racism so acutely as I have here and I've never more wanted to just blend in and not be noticed as the "farang" (white foreigner) walking down the street. 95% of the people are happy to see you and share their world with you, but the other 5% (4.5% of which are taxi and tuk-tuk drivers) just think you are some rich whitey with nothing better to do then invade their country and cause them 10 seconds of inconvenience. The worst part is that I am a legal alien, an attentive local, a speaker of the language (at least to a decent degree) and a teacher of THEIR CHILDREN!

Thailand if you weren't so beautiful sometimes we wouldn't get along so well.


A note on the pictures: both are in Saraburi (not Sarah- burry but sada-boodi!) the first is on our way to a nice "restaurant" when we were caught in a torrential downpour and the second one is at the saraburi train station, as I hope is clear from the sign.

2 months in and I'm doing alright!

This is Erin. Dan has had the last few posts so I'm finally back to contribute a few of my thoughts.

School has been SO busy! I still stay at least an hour after the last bell rings trying to finish things up and am still taking work home at night because preparing for classes is never ending. But on a very positive note, the last 2 weeks have been pretty great. AND I have finished writing my midterms! Things in my classes have been going so much better and things are clicking. I'm getting to know my students pretty well and they are so funny. I had my club singing along to Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and Justin Beiber this week... Like any 13-15 year old girls, they LOVE Justin Beiber.

Last weekend for 4th of July Dan and I got out of town and went to Hua Hin with some friends. It was sooooooo good to get out of the city. Nothing really compares to 4th of July at home, but taking a break from Bangkok with an amazing group of people helped curb the homesickness... plus the area we stayed in had a ton of American food! I had an omelet and toast 2 times AND a club sandwich. I think its really hard to visualize how much rice I eat in a day, let alone a week... but having American food options just made the weekend that much better. We also went to a monkey temple and got to feed the little guys... monkeys are so much scarier than you would think and they FIGHT for food. You can see in the picture one of the guys is pulling at Dan's shorts. They will climb on you without thinking twice to get some bananas. Its crazy. This weekend we stayed in BKK again, but I think next weekend we are going to visit our dear friend Rory in Saraburi and the weekend after that we have a 4 day weekend so we are going NORTH to Chang Mai. I'm so excited!

A monkey!

Dan feeding monkeys. Notice the cage in the background... Thats where they keep the food.

This photo is of Rory and myself. To celebrate the 4th I decided to get an ice cream sundae for us to share... as you can see I was very excited!

After 2 months of living in Thailand, things seem pretty normal. For example, my day today will consist of cleaning up the apartment, doing laundry and grocery shopping... maybe finding someplace to work out and going to bed early because I have work in the morning. All in all, my daily routine is not very different from what I was doing in Madison. The good news is that I'm not getting as homesick anymore, but I still have my moments where being here is too far away from home. Last night we met up with some other teachers from school who have been living in Thailand for 3+ years... while that would be exciting that's not the life for me. 10 months of this heat will be plenty, plus I don't want to miss out again on raspberry picking and jam making with Grandma, Kelly and Mom. And yes Mom, I am jealous :)

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Most recent cooking discovery:

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with Seasoned Bread Crumbs

So I went to the store to buy stuff to try and make from-scratch jambalaya. No dice. What I though was a huge wall full of canned tomatoes and beans was actually the largest variety of canned mackerel in tomato sauce I've ever seen. After thinking to myself, "What kind of country doesn't have canned ____________? (insert tomatoes, beans...) I imagined a Thai person in super target cursing the day he landed in the US, "What is this uncivilized place without even ONE brand of canned mackerel in tomato puree???" The cultural bias is clearly staggering.

Erin, in her infinite wisdom, happened across a bag of elbow macaroni noodles and I was a bit skeptical. However, when she suggested mac n cheese, my heart skipped a beat. We bought buy-one-get-one free extra sharp cheddar (one of 2 cheeses available, the other of which is the slimiest, greasiest, snottiest mozzarella this side of Papa Johns) and headed home. This is my story.

Directions=
Take used ends of any bread laying around and chop finely. Melt a decent amount of butter in rice cooker and add crumbs, black pepper, Giada's Italian Seasoning (thanks tyler) and a touch of garlic powder. Stir to coat. Continue to cook at high heat until you can hear the crumbs dinging against the walls of the cooker. Your bread crumbs are now delicious and crispy.

Set crumbs to the side and boil macaroni noodles with salt-seasoned water. While noodles boil, grate as much cheese as you think you can handle. Sharp cheddar is nice, but it can be pretty intense if that's all you have. I recommend a blend of 2 or 3 cheeses, something sharp (cheddar or a hard parm-like cheese, something gooey and meltable, and something in the middle as your main cheese (a medium cheddar perhaps?) While noodles are still a touch al dente, drain.

Return noodles to rice cooker and add a cup or so of milk, half a stick of butter, and cheese a small handful at a time. Stir continuously (easiest if you have help) and add remaining cheese. If it's too thick you can always add more milk but don't over do it. Serve with a handful of seasoned bread crumbs on top and options of salt, pepper, prik pon (red chili powder) and italian seasoning.