I had never had bronchitis before. After 12 days of being sick with no relief, I gave in and went to the doctor (on a top 10 list of places I do not like to be). He listened to my sickly saga, looked in my throat, listened to my breathing via stethoscope, and immediately gave the prognosis: bronchitis. The result: a flu vaccine (to ward […]
A State of Not-Knowing
My Thai language skills are far from fluent, and although many people compliment me on speaking “so clearly”, the breadth and depth of my vocabulary leaves much to be desired. This means that I am often suspended in a state of not-knowing. Example: (Any dialogue in Thai will be in italics) Right now I have a sore throat and stuffy nose, and my voice is […]
Elevator Music and a Magic Water Cup
The first thing I noticed was the lack of soft jazz elevator music. As I looked at the bare walls and windows, I almost missed the familiar teal and mauve textured wallpaper. The lights seemed whiter, sharper, more painful. The buzzing and squealing from the equipment seemed to have a higher pitch and a deeper resonation in my jaw. Then I remembered, I’m in Thailand: […]