3:08 p.m. - Sunday, Sept. 22, 2002
Ms Leslie is...... happy?
I take it back. There is a God after all. He called it quits and now lives in Pattaya Thailand. He walks through the ordered chaos in dirty shorts, T-shirt and flip flops in rain so gentle and warm that no one even bothers to use an umbrella. He's living on Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese seafood so rich and cheap that it doesn't seem possible to get hungry. He sits under a huge tin roof, drinking fruity drinks and eating fresh spring rolls, stuffed with cilantro, crab, bean sprouts and a number of things not very familiar to the western palate. He sits among a wild and luscious profusion of multi-colored orchids and tropical flowers and drinks while he watches sailors from the navy base escorting their chosen companions along the sidewalks to the multitude of cheap rooms and apartments.
God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden and then moved in himself.
Mom and Sis hate Thailand. Mom is sickened by the smell of the streets and the food. She wants desperately to taste American Food, cooked by American cooks in the American way. Sis subsists on crackers from the 7-11 store. Both are counting the days, I think, until they can get on the plane to California.
I love Thailand. I love the food, I love the people, I love the crazy traffic and the mysterious sense of calm that the people exhibit as they move along the anarchic streets like a dangerous human river. I'll hate to leave. I'll come back.
And yet, I wonder if Thailand is to blame for my happiness. I have a feeling today that my happiness doesn't depend on my location. I think it must be inside me.
I had a foot massage yesterday. For a little less than five dollars, the girl spent an hour massaging me from toes to head. This in addition to my daily breast massage and overall cleaning by my beautiful young nurse Penn. Today I had crab cocktail for beakfast and some kind of delicious seafood surprise medley for lunch. It had crab legs sticking out of it, and tender squid rings, shrimp, chinese sausage, and again, a lot of things I'm not sure I can name. I washed it all down with margaritas served by a waitress who would not allow me to want for anything. Instant service. Instant anything.
Tomorrow, I'll go by air conditioned bus to an orchid garden for a show of elephants, dancers, Thai boxers and who knows what else. For about ten dollars, I'll be treated like a queen, fed, led and delivered back to my hotel at the end. The following day, I've made an appointment to have my teeth cleaned by a real dentist. Depending on how much cleaning is needed, I'll pay between ten and fifteen dollars. What a crazy place. Dental care for the price of a half-day tour.
I love you guys. Just you wait until I get home and can use my own computer for free. I'm wild to write about all I've seen and learned. I'm wild to tell you how lucky I feel, and how really, really very satisfied with my place in the universe I feel. It's gonna take a lot of words.
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