Power Lines and Water

 Power lines and Water.  These are two simple things that have stood out to me in this first week in Thailand.

One of the very first things I was surprised by in Thailand was the massive amounts of power lines.  If I'm honest I find them quite ugly, and a sad obstruction.  I suppose the technologies are not up to that of the U.S., where we must consolidate lines, and run many underground.

I'm sure I will get used to seeing more telephone lines, or rather power lines, but for those of you somewhere beautiful, enjoying the view, be glad there are not more ugly power lines for you to gaze upon.

Secondly, having clean drinking water all the time is pretty great!  It is a simple fact of life in America that I haven't given too much thought to.

I've actually been someone whose been largely opposed to bottled water.  Especially after attending UVM, such a green university, complete with bottled water bans, and water bottle fill up stations everywhere.  Living in Thailand though, bottled water has become a piece of my daily life.

For a variety of reasons, that I'm not really sure of, almost all of the tap water in Thailand cannot be used for drinking.  This is vastly different than the tap water I drank all my life in America.

Anyway though, even after a week you get used to the fact that your water is bottled and shipped.  You buy water when you go out to eat, and if you would like ice.  You keep bottles of water in your fridge.  And as I recently discovered, can pay one baht, or about 3 cents to buy 1 liter of water from a small machine on many street corners.  For some reason I loved filling my water up for the first time.  I can't say why but it was almost like I was a kid buying penny candy.  I got to use a weird machine I couldn't even read and then for just 3 cents I got a whole bottle of fresh, clean, good tasting water!

Anyhoo after reading some other blogs and getting my creative juices flowing these are some of the silly things I've been pondering and decided to write down since I have a little too much free time before school starts. Please don't worry if my thoughts are boring to you, I just felt like writing about them, doesn't mean you have to be interested in reading them :P

If you happen to find blogs and life in Thailand interesting here's some more reading for you:

http://whiteguyinthailand.wordpress.com/

It's an American guy who very honest and humorous, if not a bit random, in sharing about his time teaching in Thailand.  I've enjoyed reading and skimming through his posts and pictures, so if you want some humor and a bit more about Thailand have a look.

On another note if you want to learn a little more about Ubon, say maybe if you were enticed to consider visiting me here even after my complaints about water and power lines.  Or if you just want to learn about where I'm living have a look here:

weloveubon.com

All the best. Some more stories and thoughts soon!