Jason & April Ruggles

First Taste of Thailand

Posted on 06. May, 2009 by April in food, Thai Culture, Thailand

The thin woven pad did little to camouflage the fact that we were sitting on the cement sidewalk. Noisy traffic sped by just a few feet away from where we were sitting. A gecko climbed up the wall, taking his own look at the “farang” (foreigners) struggling to sit in such a way that their feet wouldn’t offend anyone. The waiter brought glasses with the ever-important straws, along with a bucket of ice and a bottle of water, and set them on the short, colorful table. As we waited for the food, two men guided an elephant to our side of the street, while the traffic kept moving like it wasn’t even there. For 65 cents we could have bought a small bag of bananas to feed the elephant.

People continued to walk past as our food arrived, one dish at a time. We each got a small cylindrical basket. Lifting the cover revealed the Thai staple, sticky rice. It turned out to be a welcome reprieve from the spiciness of each dish. We had roasted chicken, a type of seafood-mushroom soup (maybe tom-yum-gai?), papaya salad, and a chicken-herb salad. Each was quite spicy, but very tasty.

Everything was a new experience for our senses. There is so much to get used to!

Welcome to Thailand! Many more stories to come….