Just by living in Thailand you are losing the war on nastiness. Bugs are winning. Geckos are winning. Dirt is winning. Bacteria is winning. Sweat is winning. Frizziness is winning. And I'm sweeping, brushing, and disinfecting just to keep from losing more ground.
Two weeks ago after a decisive victory in the Battle of the Ants, I conquered some important territory in the kitchen. But nastiness is way ahead in out latest skirmish. When I cut my finger a week ago slicing a tomato, I had no idea nastiness was planning a full-on attack on my face.
During a delightful weekend in the Gulf of Thailand with my aunt, nastiness in the form of sea water took hold. The cut I ignored swelled up and started oozing. I'll spare you details and pictures, but I will say my left pinky is multicolored and the size of New Jersey.
A doctor prescribed an antibiotic but before it could start to work, nastiness working through my body's compromised immune system stuck two huge cold sores on my lips. And if I didn't feel enough like a monster already the sun burn I also contracted on my forehead at the beach has starting to peel. Needless to say:
In the States, if I had been struck with this perfect storm of nastiness, people would've pretended not to notice the puss-filled lesions on my face. In fact, in college I walked around for weeks with double black-eyes from falling on my face and people quietly presumed my boyfriend beat me.
Here (and I'll admit it's out of love and concern), every person I encounter approaches me, cocks their head, stares, and asks what's wrong with my lips, forehead, and finger. Not being able to explain in Thai that I am nastiness' latest casualty, I just yell, "I'm a monster!"
