Orientation is one of those non definable words that can mean "read the handbook" or "waaaaaay more information thank anyone can take in still somewhat jet lagged"! Today was #2 but lots of fun.
One exercise we do in every country is the Drop Off - starting from the volunteer house we get instructions to go to the local pharmacy and price headache pills or something. Or job was to take a tuk-tuk to the local fresh market.
First a tuk-tuk is a motorcycles pulling a back seat with extra wheels. Completely open except for a covering. Think surry without the fringe and the only horsepower under the fender. It would not be fun in the rain, but scooting along with nothing between us and the next 1000 vehicles on the road was a riot! The road has been under construction for a decade and still is only 16% complete so there were barricades and u-turns that went through some rough turf, but we found the market.
It as one of nicest and cleanest I have seen outside Europe. Miles and miles of fruits and vegetables, pork, fish still flipping on the counter, every shell fish imaginable with little inner beings still trying to escape, all parts of the chicken except the cluck. We had to find two fruits and vegetables we did not know which was not hard. Then we discovered Thai Donuts.
Thai people are generally friendly and smiling, make eye contact and Lots of finger pricing and a caculator for when things got over 10 baht. My companions were ones who love to bargain so we negotiated on principle from 7 cents to 6 cents US. It was not too crowded and very clean.
We ended up buying a beetle nut thinking it was fruit - the desired effect of which is supposed to be "happiness." I was not convinced by the expressions on people's faces. It was one of those things I had read a lot about in many books as an item you chew and then spit the red juice to try to hit a target. Looking at faces, the only spitting was into napkins. But an adventure.
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One exercise we do in every country is the Drop Off - starting from the volunteer house we get instructions to go to the local pharmacy and price headache pills or something. Or job was to take a tuk-tuk to the local fresh market.
First a tuk-tuk is a motorcycles pulling a back seat with extra wheels. Completely open except for a covering. Think surry without the fringe and the only horsepower under the fender. It would not be fun in the rain, but scooting along with nothing between us and the next 1000 vehicles on the road was a riot! The road has been under construction for a decade and still is only 16% complete so there were barricades and u-turns that went through some rough turf, but we found the market.It as one of nicest and cleanest I have seen outside Europe. Miles and miles of fruits and vegetables, pork, fish still flipping on the counter, every shell fish imaginable with little inner beings still trying to escape, all parts of the chicken except the cluck. We had to find two fruits and vegetables we did not know which was not hard. Then we discovered Thai Donuts.
Thai people are generally friendly and smiling, make eye contact and Lots of finger pricing and a caculator for when things got over 10 baht. My companions were ones who love to bargain so we negotiated on principle from 7 cents to 6 cents US. It was not too crowded and very clean.
We ended up buying a beetle nut thinking it was fruit - the desired effect of which is supposed to be "happiness." I was not convinced by the expressions on people's faces. It was one of those things I had read a lot about in many books as an item you chew and then spit the red juice to try to hit a target. Looking at faces, the only spitting was into napkins. But an adventure.
