Learning Thai

As we're trying to learn Thai we have of course been overwhelmed by all of the new vocabulary. Many words sound similar (at least to our ears) and slight differences in tone create important differences between otherwise identical-sounding words. Today I had a very practical lesson in the difference between the words กะเพรา (ga-prao) and กระเพาะ (gra-pao). The first word means "basil" and is an ingredient in one of my favorite Thai dishes - a stir fry of meat, basil leaves, and chilis. I learned that word a long time ago but have never practiced reading it and have never been exactly sure of the pronounciation since Thais don't always stress the "r" in the "pr" sound. Anyway, as I walking back to our house today I saw a sign advertising what I thought was basil fish. Although I had never heard of this I hoped that it was a delicious stir fry of fish and basil leaves so I ordered a serving. However, what was advertised was actually "gra-pao" and as it turns out that refers to fish maw (the fish's air bladder). It comes in a thick gelatinous soup along with chunks of coagulated blood and the optional toppings are cilantro, chicken, and hard boiled quail eggs. It actually tasted OK but the consistency of the fish maw and the blood were enough to keep me from eating the whole serving.

In other news...
-Tomorrow is my last day of this module at language school. After that I have a two-week break. We're looking forward to that and hope to finally visit a Thai beach. This module has consisted of reading short stories about Thai culture. Here's a sample:

-The weather has changed drastically this week. Some kind of tropical depression has moved in and we've had more rain in the past week than we got in the previous 5 months. The temperature has also dropped to a comfortable 85 degrees and we are not complaining!

-English tutoring with our Thai friends continues to go well. It's fun to see their interest in learning. They've invited us to go with them to some kind of large church service this weekend. We haven't had much exposure to the broader Thai church so I'm looking forward to experiencing this.

-Tom