In typical Thai style (suddenly and without warning), I moved into my new house yesterday. Since I only have one suitcase and one box, a couple of the ladies from work brought a truck to help me out. When we pulled up, there was a table sitting outside in the sun and on top of it was all the American snacks my family had mailed the previous week. I had asked if I could go ahead and store it there even though I hadn't moved in so I didn't have to move the box several times. And in typical, kind Thai style, they had no problem with that.
When I first saw the table I thought they had laid out the food and unpacked the box for me just to be nice. Upon closer inspection I saw that everything my family had mailed was COVERED in ants - inside and outside the packaging. The little bastards had eaten their way through the bags. Because Thais don't really show emotion, especially mad or sad emotions, I had to resist the urge to throw myself on the ground and cry a river. I had been looking forward to eating this food my first night in my new home for over a week. So instead, I looked at it, looked at the Thais, and said "I'm eating it anyway."
I'll be damned if ants are going to ruin my American food. I have been day dreaming about eating tortilla chips for 4 months and I wasn't going to let this bag go without a fight. Screw the ants. I'll eat the ants, too. Might as well since I've been eating their eggs and I probably need the protein anyway. I started opening the packages and pouring the food onto the table. The Thais told me that ants don't like being in the sun, so if we spread the food on the table and put it in the sun, they would leave. And most of them did.
A box of wheat thins, a box of triscuits, a box of pop tarts, a bag of Tostitos, a bag of pretzels, and a box of little debbie brownies (I realize how this sounds and I'm asking you not to judge unless you have ever lived - for an extended period of time - somewhere without access to your native foods) were spread across the table. For the next hour I, along with three of my Thai friends, painstakingly removed ants from every single pretzel, wheat thin, triscuit, pop tart, and Tostito chip. The brownies went to the fridge.
By the time we were finished, I realized that Thai people like wheat thins more than tortilla chips, they HATE triscuits, and that I don't know many people in America who would have put that much detail and time into making another person happy. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Truly.
Then, to top off the day, I slipped and fell down the entire back staircase in my house. Stairs here are made for Thai feet, which are about half the size of mine. I have a lot of adjusting to do, but I think with some time, patience, and ant-free tortilla chips everything is going to be just fine.
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