fromthemouthofmoi

I hate to go on about toilets but in Thailand, except for western style hotels, you might be in for a surprise. Style wise they are actually pretty neat but for utilitarian usage I found them to be a nightmare and not because of how they looked but because of what is required to use them. You need balance,  Olympic speed skater thigh muscles and a friend nearby to haul you out if you tip over. I have never been one of those women that seems to always go to the bathroom when her girlfriends need to, but while visiting Thailand I drug everyone to the toilet with me when the urge came. The bucket of water is usually filled with fresh water and used to flush away whatever has been put into it. You can flush the paper unlike Merida, but that is really the last of your worries here. I used to wonder why I seemed to frequently see Asians squatting while milling about. Like on a cigarette break or waiting for something they are more often than Westerners seen squatting. I was alrea...

As an American of African descent I am all about things being created equal and I am always on the lookout for people and places that see me as a human being rather than a colour. Just like you, I like being treated well and looked directly in the eye. I enjoy the feeling that comes with transactions that leave racism and class out of the picture. I love not feeling like an outsider. I like feeling a part of the world I live in and I like the feeling I get when I am given common decency, not because I asked or demanded it, but because it is a given. I don't get that in America. In America I have to fight for it on a daily basis and in reality I am tired of wrangling for it. Plum Tired. Most racism today one would need a machine of some sort to detect, but it is there nonetheless. It is there for a split second when I ask for directions and the person I ask momentarily flinches in recoil not sure if I am really about to mug them. It is there when I overhear people talking negatively...