eatings

Well, I've gotten to get to know quite a few international students now and tonight when we went on a little walk to find some food. Our new friend Brian is quite the veteran in Thailand, having been here all summer before we got him. He's extremely nice and is very conscientious of Thai people and is quite good with understanding them, speaking a little, and getting himself on their good side in general. Here he is enjoying some of our cuisine for the night.

People say that Thai food can be very spicy... They are right. To give you some idea of just how spicy it can potentially be, I'll recount to you a little story. On our way to our meal by the river, we (as always) were continuously walking past innumerable vendors, and stepping over stray dogs that (we assume) were sleeping. While walking by one cart, probably five or six feet to our right, Brian, Matt, and I suddenly started coughing, after merely breathing in some of the spices caught in a slight breeze. This may not sound that impressive, but it sure made an impression on me. I couldn't even breathe! We were all fine after coughing a little and catching our breath, and by the time the girls walking behind us had came upon the spot, the wafting of the spices had died down enough to prevent them from having the same reaction. If this weren't enough, later this night I got a bit of pepper on my arm, and even after its removal, my arm felt like it was burned for an hour!

At any rate, our food that night was very good and I was surrounded by great company. The meal worked as a cook your own style of Thai barbecue. Brian jokingly said that they did this so you can't sue if you get salmonellae. He may be closer than the truth than we may care to realize...