Just a Note on Typhus

It sucks! It’s horrible and rotten and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy-ok, maybe my worst enemy.

     Yes people, I somehow or another managed to come to Thailand and within three months contract Scrub Typhus. If you are interested, you can read more about it on its wiki page. Basically, for nine days I had the worst fever I’ve ever experienced, accompanied by muscle and joint pain/spasms. There was also a not-so-fun headache and gastrointestinal issues to deal with. I could not seem to get comfortable, no matter what I did. The fever alone was enough to knock me horizontal; then factor in that I had the other symptoms to contend with.

     Very long story shortened, I spent a night in the hospital after two visits within the same week. It was a private hospital so it was very nice and they took good care of me. Most everyone spoke some English so it wasn’t at all awkward or weird, that could have been apathy from the typhus though…

     They took good care of me, except for correctly diagnosing me. They told me it was just a viral infection that needed to run its course. Ha! Infection indeed! Bah!

     My employers were wise enough to know to take me out and have me see a friend of theirs who specializes in internal medicine. He runs his own private hospice and after thoroughly looking over my tests and paperwork from the hospital he talked with me for about ten minutes. Voila, the diagnosis of Scrub Typhus was, well, diagnosed. Now all I have to do is take two pills a day for a seven-day regimen and I will be better. My fever broke after the first two days on this drug so I think this Doc was right on.

     But I mean really, c’mon, Scrub Typhus? I’ve got some weird luck.  

Critique My Blog

I am taking part in Teralyn's Critique My Blog Blogfest. Details Here.Basically anyone who would like can give me some feed back about this blog. Even if you're only slightly inclined or would only like to comment on one or two things, please feel free to do so. I'm really looking forward to improving my blog and seeing what is working and what's not.
You can either leave a comment. Any, and I mean ANY comments are welcome.
Some of the things you can discuss are:

Appearance: Does it appeal to you? Is it too busy, or too plain?
Layout: Is it difficult to navigate? Is it cluttered, or sparse?
Frequency: Does the blogger post too often? Not often enough?
Content: Are the posts interesting? Unique? Are they focused, or all over the place?
Quality: Are the individual posts too long, too short, too sloppy, or too generic?

Thanks so much for participating! I'm excited to see what everyone thinks.

Food and Babies

Last night I ate This...

Don't ask me how to spell it, 'cause I really can't. It sounded like baa jaa. It is a Chinese dish; wrapped in a banana leaf is rice, prawns, ginko biloba, dried fruit, peanuts, mushroom, and pepper chicken. It was Very good. I will definitely be having this again. 

It's been pretty monotonous lately. Wake up, shower, work and eat a few times in between. I've always been an avid reader, so I have read a few books since my last post. 

One thing I wanted to point out about Thai culture is that whenever you go into a store/shop/business there are always plenty of employees to help you. Generally, in the States if it can be done by two people than one person does it (so the 'man' can save on labor costs) but I suppose that since the cost of living is so affordable here employers choose to pay attention to customer service. When walking in the bank there is someone to greet you, find out why you are there and facilitate a quick visit. At the mall, small kiosks that normally are run by one person in America have at least three people working. I really like this aspect. It is quite common to see several people standing around because there is not enough work for them all. 

How many jobs have you had where you were doing the work of two or more people? Not fun, right?

I want to post a few pictures of the kids so you can share in the cuteness.

Nadia

The Twins. On the left is Nadine and on the right is Nathan.

Thursday I've got plans to go to Chinatown with my boss so I think that will be post worthy. Also, tomorrow I will be posting a request for reviews of my blog so I'll know what you do and don't like and how I can improve-just a heads up.

Motivate Me

     I find my first instinct is to apologize, yet again, for my lapse in posting. While I will fully disclose that I have felt some culpability in deferring writing, I just as quickly admit to frustration at being regulated by a self-imposed deadline.

     In layman’s terms, it’s my blog and I’ll post when I want to.

     Bangkok has been pretty much the same. I had a nice holiday and I’m looking forward to 2012.  The weather is hovering around high 80's. And that's winter! I’ve been spending time everyday learning Thai. Whew…what a language. There are 44 consonants and half as many vowels. I do love my Roman alphabet. However, I refuse to let my laziness keep me from learning as much as possible. Now the issue is motivation.

    Motivation. What a merciless creature! You either have it or you don’t. And let me stop those of you that would say one could have a small measure of motivation; certainly you’re aware that is just a way of saying you’re trying to be motivated and pretending at it until, or even if, the mood decides to strike you. Don’t mistake me, motivation is indeed a blessing to its twin curse of not being inspired. Though, when you are dealing with the better sibling, then you have to contend with its cousin follow-through. Who among us doesn’t stand on the front lines with one or all of those relatives?

     My aim while in Bangkok, though, is to become a master strategist and try to decipher how to make them work for me instead of in opposition.

    What motivates You? What spurs you to action? What, in your life, compels you to achievement?

     It could be any number of things. For my part, the catalyst generally lies within me: the desire to improve myself or feel worthy. Humility aside, I think that’s the only real reason to take action. While changing yourself for another person sounds incredibly noble, its logic falters. History is full of incidents wherein someone tries to measure up to another’s ruler and inevitably falters at some point or another. Set goals for yourself and then work to fulfill them because You want to. If you want to be a better person for another that’s all well and good but find your raison d'être from within. That way, when you meet your aspiration or don’t, then you will have only yourself to be accountable to, and you will be all the more sated when you achieve whatever you were after. My two cents, anyway.

     As to what I’ve been up to…work. Nadia is learning at a wonderful speed. She is so bright and imitates something new each day. Lately, she has taken to a phrase that she hears regularly throughout the day-‘all done’. After each meal, bath or task I will say or ask, ‘All done?’  I should preface this with the fact that the kid despises getting her hair washed. Well, now after the first of her bath, like clockwork, she will look at me with baleful, pitiful eyes begging “All done?” Poor kid. That only serves to illustrate how intelligent she is.

     I’m enjoying watching her bloom socially. It’s quite common for children her age to be a bit reclusive and shy. I get the privilege to watch her gently reach out socially and interact with other children. During playgroup on Wednesday, she was very outgoing, singing and even playing with other children. I feel more and more that I definitely do not have a wallflower on my hands. Knowing that I’m aiding in shaping her social skills for the rest of her life is no small order but it also makes me very grateful. I get to be a part of that. That’s pretty cool.

Prodigal Daughter

     I know. I'm a record breaker. I broke another one and stayed gone for far too long. In my defense, I have a nasty head cold and don't feel much like posting, even now. But people actually read this thing so I'll try and do better, even if it is just me whining about having a cold in 90 degree weather. I haven't really been up to much other than working and sleeping.
     I did attend a wedding party here. Boy, was that a hotel or what? Very swanky and very beautiful. My employer explained to me that in Thailand there are specific days that are predicted every year by a fortune teller, and those are the days that everyone wants to get married on. Supposedly, there is a best-day-of-the-year to be married and a worst. It was very busy and the wedding guests were so numerous I don't think I saw the same face twice.
     I couldn't wear black since it would be considered bad luck, so I chose a fancy little blue/grey number. The food was ridiculous; there was so much to eat and it was all so good I felt guilty. I also felt a little like a crasher but then it was also explained to me that probably only half the people in attendance knew the Bride and Groom. Another thing that struck me was the sheer magnitude of pictures taken. I don't mean just by iPhones or cameras all willy-nilly like, I mean the professional wedding photos that use a spot light that is on equal footing with the sun, in terms of heat and the light emitted. The entire time I was there (about 2 hours) all the Bride and Groom did was pose for photos. Each photo was a long line of anywhere from 7 to 17 people, maybe more. I was told that it is the standard to take so many.
     I also loved the string quartet they had set up; they played so many songs that I recognized that I was singing along without even knowing it.

     That's all for today folks. I'll return and regale you with something amazing when I'm less dizzy.

Have a wonderful holiday. I wish you all lots of happy, new memories. Don't forget to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' on Christmas Eve.

Am I a Dog?

     We spent the day at the giant mall. And if you think I'm exaggerating...
http://www.seaconsquare.com/eng/floor_plan.html See? Told you so.
I bought some batteries and some please-stop-this-itching-from-that-behemoth-mosquito-that-infiltrated-my-bedroom-and-drank-my-blood-like-an-angsty-teenybopper-vampire-last-night cream. I'm serious. I got welts. This must have been a mosquito trained in covert operations. He had skills. I must have been bitten at least eight times before I noticed.

    I also laughed hysterically today at a communication speed bump. One of the other nannies was trying to ask me if I was tired but neither of us knew the word in each others language. So then the other nanny tried to pantomime it. Only she held up her hands, bent at the wrists and stuck her tongue out panting. Like Fido would. I frowned and asked, "Dog? Am I a dog?" Which then caused a cacophony of laughter from them because they knew what they were asking. I spent a minute or two confused while they looked up the translation on their phone (thank god for internet on phones) and then when I saw what they were asking, I joined in on the laughter.
I now plan to tease the other nanny mercilessly about this. Yay! My first inside joke. It definitely helps with that isolated feeling. I've also decided to devote at least a half an hour to an hour each night to learning more Thai each night. Today I'm feeling like I can do this and do it well.

Anti-Thematic

I know I have been remiss in posting. Mea culpa. Nothing extraordinary has happened so I decided just to post a few random things. Unrelated and moderately unremarkable.

Flossy Pork.
No, that wasn't a typo. It has swiftly become one of my favorite ingredients. Even if it does look like yarn.

Don't judge too swiftly. This stuff is yummy! It has the texture and consistency of cotton candy--only it's pork.

I first had some in some whole grain rice and though the appearance had me guessing, I went for it and am glad I did. 

I'd also like to take advantage of this lag of exciting to show you where I sleep. Nothing amazing but it's my own private room and I adore privacy. Infinitely better than when I was living aboard the cruise ships and sharing about the same space with two to sometimes five other girls. 

And now for something else completely random, check out the box the Cornflakes come in at the local supermarket call Tops.

Pretty retro huh?

     I walked up to the local mall today and discovered that I'm completely spoiled by going to Seacon Square every Friday. This mall is much, much smaller. Only three measly levels and I walked around the whole thing in less than forty-five minutes. It took me almost that long to walk up there! It takes half the day to walk around Seacon Square. There was an IMAX movie theater there. And when you see on the news that the 'Twilight Phenomenon' reaches overseas, well, yeah, it does. There was a line of about eight girls/women waiting to take their pictures with a large cardboard cutout of Robert Pattinson/Edward Cullen and a blown up wedding announcement from the movie. The movie came out at least, what, three weeks ago? And there was still of line of estrogen waiting to take a picture with a piece of cardboard in the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday...but hey, I'm all for forms of expression and entertainment and as long as it's not hurting anybody I don't have anything to say about it. Well, anything other than 'Really?'. 

     I will endeavor to do something exciting this week. Or at the very least something very specifically Bangkokian to write about.

     As always...questions? comments? I welcome any interaction. Except if you want to call me a complete idiot. Just don't. Trust me, I call myself one plenty.  For instance, about twenty minutes ago, when I slipped on a completely dry floor and bruised my buttock. Also, a klutz.