Bug over, bring on the pizza, but hold the ketchup

There are many experiences to be had in Thailand—noshing on roadside food, bargaining down to the last baht in the weekend market, getting an hour-long foot massage for about five bucks, to name a few. But you’re not fully initiated until you get some good bacterial food poisoning that makes it nearly impossible to leave the apartment. I hosted some kind of parasite about a month after moving here, but haven’t had any problems since then until last week. This time around I hastened recovery by spending 24 hours in the hospital hooked to a constant drip of fluids and antibiotics. The hospital I go to is unbelievably nice, even a little surreal. Bright, shiny and distinctly modern down to the white Barcelona-style chairs grouped in mass in all the waiting rooms, it’s more akin to a spa than any hospital I’ve been to in the US. All of the nurses wear skirt suits, heels, nurse’s caps, and a wide smile (come to think of it, I have yet to see a male nurse, I suppose due to the more defined gender roles here). Anyway, it was actually kind of nice to give in and let food and drinks come to me. I left my apartment in a hurry, intending on a quick appointment to rule out dengue or anything wild like that, not even grabbing a book. A book was exactly what I first longed for when I agreed to stay, but all literary inclinations were forgotten once I found the remote control. I grew determined to make up for a year of almost no TV, devouring National Geographic, CNN, BBC, Oprah, CSI, and my new favorite sitcom. Was I just that light-headed or is The Nanny really one of the funniest shows ever created? I pledged to buy the whole set on DVD and was disappointed to learn later that only the first two seasons are available. Ah well, maybe I can catch reruns when I’m back in the States.

Oh, and by the way, I’m 100% better now. I even ordered a pizza the other night for the first time since moving here. My medium pepperoni pie arrived with six packets of ketchup, a Thai fascination I don’t really understand. Most Thais will completely smother non-Thai food—pizza, pasta, sandwiches—with ketchup or chili sauce to give it more flavor. I love how humorous cultural differences can be. Like this one: It’s perfectly acceptable to pick your nose here (I’m talking half a finger outta sight) and then examine the, uh, fruits of your labor. Then on the other hand (forgive me), it’s seen as completely repulsive to bite your nails or put your fingers in your mouth, actions that are fairly innocuous to Westerners. You funny, funny world.

[Writing this blog sometimes gives me ideas of pictures I need to take. I'll add one to this post later. It's either going to be a ketchup-covered pizza or someone digging. Got a preference?]