Observations and Tidbits

Since I'm cooling my heels in bed for a couple of weeks, working on getting over this stinking leg infection, I've had lots of time to think.  Not deep thoughts, mind you.  Just thinking about random stuff.  I thought I'd share.

• I don't think it's a good idea for the nurse to write an expiration date on a piece of tape and put it on your hand when you're admitted to the hospital.  I thought I only had five days to live.  Then day five arrived and I realized that it just meant I had to get a new IV port.  That was a relief.
  
• Who else wears all those giant pajamas that they had in the hospital?  Green is for boys, pink is for girls.  I thought they were unisex but after the first day in green the nurses made sure I only had pink.  I really liked them except for the fact that the top had strings that tied together instead of buttons.  Even when they stayed tied, there tended to be gaps which showed off my cleavage.  Not the look I was going for when chatting with the priest.
  
• Is is just me or does it seem funny that they play American country western music at the fancy new mall (Terminal 21)?
  
• Tuk tuks are quickly becoming a thing of the past.  I'll miss them.  But I do enjoy riding in the Pepto Pink taxis.  Too bad I can't wear my giant pink PJs while I ride.  If I'm ever really rich I'm going to have a vehicle collection.  Sort of like Jay Leno.  Except I'll have a tuk tuk and a Segway.
  
• Kids say the darndest things.  My kids sit in teams of 4/5.  We randomly switch up the teams every 2 weeks.  The kids are used to the drill and seem to like it.  They know they'll compete as a team and have chances to win prizes based on how they do following the rules.  After they form their new teams, they choose team names.  Some things the kids said recently:
• One boy, as he watched his team coming together, slapped himself on the forehead and said "Oh no, we are not clever!"  Then, as two more kids joined the team he started laughing and said "Oh, it will be ok.  You're clever!"
• A sensitive little girl was very distraught because her team chose a name other than "Hello Kitty", the one she wanted.  As the kids moved on to an activity, I rubbed her back and talked to her about compromise.  With tears and snot flowing, she turned big brown eyes up to me and with deep emotion said "I know but "Hello Kitty" is so beautiful!"
  
• Why do so many countries add so much sugar to orange juice?  At breakfast the OJ and guava juice both look delicious but they are too, too sweet.
  
• The hotel where I've been staying, Citypoint Hotel, is full tomorrow, so I have to change to another location.  I'm moving closer to the hospital.  It's called the Dubliner.  Yes, I'll be staying in an Irish hotel which is over an Irish pub in Bangkok.
  
• I've never owned an Ipod.  I've owned two Kindles.  No question, if I was trapped on a deserted island, I'd go with books rather than tunes.
  
• I ate Subway yesterday.  It was cheaper than in the US but tasted very much the same.
  
• People in Malawi, Thailand and Myanmar (three countries where I've spent time recently) all have much thinner people than the USA.  But it's hard to find diet sodas.  Am I fat because I drank diet soda?
  
• It's considered a syndrome when a song gets stuck in your head.  Is it also a syndrome when a craving for a certain food won't go away?  For me it was a burger and salad.  I've had those (although not an American burger) so I'm over that craving.  Now it's mashed potatoes.  Luckily, I can take care of that easily when I get home.
  
• I prefer vegetarian pizza.  I'm not that choosy about the toppings but have to say that corn and cauliflower on pizza are not my favorites.  And using ketchup as the sauce is just wrong.
  
• When the kids made pirate hats they wanted to wear them constantly.  I figured "Why not?" so let them wear them all the time.  What's cuter than 29 little pirates taking a math quiz?  Now I'm researching other hats and masks that we can make - and how I can tie them into the core curriculum.  
• At home in Myanmar I don't have a telephone, internet or television.  But I can still procrastinate and waste time like an expert.
  
• In the hospital, they checked my vital signs regularly.  That included me informing them of my bathroom habits.  Every two hours I giggled when they asked "How many peepee?  How many poopoo?"  It feels a bit lonely now that no one cares.  BTW, in Mandalay "peepee" is "light" and "poopoo" is "heavy".  It seems that #1 and #2 are not universal.
  
• The prices in Bangkok have really gone up but today on the way home from the hospital we passed a flower vendor.  Two dozen beautiful roses for about $1.50.
  
• I had to look online to find out what day it was today.  And what month.  Is that a bad thing?