Why you should wear sandals

This story was from an email I had sent to my family, before blogging became the ease and convenience it is today.

We got a new teacher named Gina, a lovely British woman a few years older than I. She arrived mid-week last week, so I decided to show her the same kindness another teacher, Kathy, showed to me when I first arrived to Thailand. My colleague Haviva and I took Gina around downtown and showed her the ropes of how Bangkok works: what busses to take, how to figure out the Sky Train, etc. Gina wanted to experience the Chatuchak weekend market (sometimes called JJ Market) so she and I went together on Sunday to this bustling glut of humanity.

We had a great time shopping, feeling overwhelmed in the vast maze of the market dripping with heat and crowds. When we were finally ready to head home it began to rain. And it rained and it rained for a good hour, which is average for a tropical rainstorm. Gina and I took cover in a cafe to wait it out. When it let up a bit and we were ready to venture forth, we discovered that the streets were completely flooded. This is why, in Thailand, we all wear only sandals on our feet. I had on my cotton drawstring pants and she her knee length skirt. Both of us wore sandals. We just waded right in and the water came up to our mid-calves.

You see all the locals doing the same thing: hiking up their pants and going wading. It was really amusing! When I got to my soi to walk home, it was the same thing, my street was flooded in some parts, so I’d have to stop and roll up the pant legs again and go wading. Oh the obstacles involved in just getting home!

Another flooding incident happened one time when walking to school. The soi was flooded a bit from a deluge that occurred shortly before I left that morning. I stood before a huge lake in the middle of the road, waiting for the cars to pass so that I could walk down the middle and highest part of the street. I was wearing my Thai-style long skirt and was getting ready to hike it over my knees when I hear a beep beep from an expensive new SUV heading my way.

The driver, a very nice Thai man, gave me a ride the rest of the way to school. He didn’t know English, and I knew hardly any Thai, but I wai’ed him a grateful thank you and said kop khun maa ka, “Thank you very much” and we both smiled. The people here are so great!