Have I mentioned I wither in the tropics?
Maybe all humans didn't originate in the same place. I mean, why is it that all these twenty-something-year-olds mainly from England, but I hear German, Israeli and Italian English accents as well (only the occasional North American English accent) - why is it that every full moon 8,000 to 50,000 of these sexually hopeful international tourists choose Ko Phangan in southern Thailand for holiday?
Today, with the common bacterial infection that affects 50% of travelers' digestive tracts in this never-dry climate and hygienically casual culture, I creep out to the beach, well after 3 p.m., to avoid the oppressive sun and it's most damaging rays, only to find the same 500 folk that I saw this morning during my coconut breakfast still playing volleyball, learning to spin poi, making out on inflatable floats, and mixing pink cocktails in what they consider paradise.
I last a literal 20 minutes before the sweat and heat combined inspire a clausterphopic feeling akin to suffocation. I shake off my beach towel, scratch off the sea lice (for real) and retreat back into my queen-of-the-jungle bungalow to apply another layer of powder to the heat rash that has turned my backside into a horror movie special effect. I feel like an alien in this tropical world. I wonder if everyone here really adores this climate as much as they profess or would they and their pale white skins, now blistering and peeling quite horror-movie-esque too, actually feel more paradisal in Glasgow, San Anchorage, Stockholm or Winnipeg as I would, if they could only admit it.
I was wine tasting in Napa many years ago, just initiating into the sport and asking questions of anyone seemingly more experienced than I. "Which wines do people prefer?" I questioned one particular vineyard's server who pours for hundreds of tasters every week. Her answer opened my eyes to wine and social habit in general, "People say they prefer the heavy reds, but what they request another taste of are the sweet whites time after time." Peer pressure? Social eagerness? Immaturity? It's okay to adore the musky bite of the Merlot or Port, but how many of these lobster skinned, dysentery infected, alcohol dehydrated, heat rash itching, cockroach avoiding, mosquito bitten backpackers would have the self authority to proclaim to the world's travel snobs that they prefer a light Sauvignon Blanc anyway?
(This piece was written in humor. I am in fact enjoying Thailand beyond measure in spite of the climate assault.)
8 Comments:
Enjoy the durians, and dragon fruits for us Tonya.
nemo
BLISSFUL IGNORANCE TO FOLLOW THE HERD. STAND OUT. BE DIFFERENT. VOICE YOU OPINION. NOT THE OPINION OF OTHERS. BE YOURSELF.
CHECK OUT THORIN @ WICKEDJESTER.COM
MY OPINIONS ARE NOT HIS BUT THE POINT OF VIEW IS SIMILAR.
JEFF PAGE
durian ravaged and self expressed :-)
Hi Tanya, I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself. It's me, Amy.. your personal astrologer... lol, sorry I bunked out on ya with that, but my life took a turn.. I cut off my dreads, which was quite cleansing after 12 years. I'm living in Montana now. I'll try to send you some more info soon.. I'll check if there is anything pertinent.. Blessings and Fun,, love Amy
Amy, thanks for finding me here! You are the first person to really take the time to introduce me, in a comprehensive way, to transits. And I would love to discuss all things astrology with you again. Thank you for finding me.
No more dreads after 12 years!?! Way to go, grrl! How does the wind feel on that scalp!
I chuckled when I saw the prickly heat powder. I spent a month in India many years ago and was relieved to learn from a local that the rash I had was only caused by the heat and I simply needed prickly heat powder. I giggled when the container was actually *called* prickly heat powder.
I felt the heat, saw the bugs, and smelled the pollution but I was so in love with the experience that it lives in my memory as one of the best times in my life. My husband, however, remembers the heat, the bugs, the pollution and says he never wants to go back to the fires of hell ever again.
I'm happy to see you are also enjoying yourself. It sucks that you got a bit of digestive upset, however. *Hugs*
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
And check out my artsy composite in the photograph. I was hoping someone would get it. It's a photo of Prickly Heat Powder, in my vision, accentuated by the prickly durian skin and the implied heat from the candle flame.
Okay, it's a long shot, but I was hoping someone would get it:-)
I'm having the biggest chuckle right now. I was so fixed on the image of the powder, because of the memories, that I didn't even notice the rest of the picture! You're quite funny and clever, Tonya!
Love,
Wendi
XOXOXO
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