It's Always the Small Things

One of my good friends here was a volunteer 2 years ago and stayed in Thailand to teach at an international school in Bangkok. He was going to be away on vacation and offered to let me and some friends stay at his condo for free for the weekend after the GRE, including access to the fancy pool and gym. After the "leprosy" and dental work and GRE, this couldn't have come at a better time.

We lounged by the pool, ran on a treadmill in an air-conditioned gym (without mud, dogs, kids, cows, and mosquitoes!), and ordered in food delivery. We felt like we were living the life, and we kind of were. It's an example of how the simple things in life always matter more.

And now I'm back in the rice field, in my house infested with cobwebs, spiders, lizards, and plenty of lizard poop. Everything clicked back into place when Grandma Next Door greeted me and helped me carry my bags inside, but I'm still struck with the dichotomy of my life and how challenging that can be, even still. Each time I'm away from the rice field for awhile, it takes me a day or two to readjust and reaclimate myself. It's always something small and seemingly insignificant that pulls my heart and mind back into the village. This time, it was a farmer who proudly yelled "Good morning!" in English at me while I ran around the lake this morning. I smiled and thought to myself "The fancy gym in Bangkok doesn't have that." As I continued on my run, my appreciation for the village and my neighbors and my life here intensified just a little bit more. It's strange, it's always the small things that make me feel like an American in Bangkok, and it's always the small things that make me love my life in the rice field that much more.