5 Senses

Asia I’ve found (well at least China, India, Cambodia) is constant sensory overload. I love it.

Seeing

It’s not an uncommon experience in the US to walk down the stairs and catch someone drinking straight from the milk or orange juice carton. You make a little awkward eye contact. They giggle. You role your eyes because it’s not really your place to tell them to stop. I had a very similar experience with my host grandfather. The only difference (and I kid you not) was that he was drinking straight from the teakettle.  Seriously, spout in mouth straight from the pot.

Smelling

I was walking to lunch with a teacher whose English name is Magic. I took a breath, and all of a sudden I was coughing and chocking.  I didn’t understand what was happening. My eyes were burning and I was chocking on air! When I was finally able to compose myself, Magic pointed to a giant pile of hot peppers across the street from us. “Those are very very spicy,” she said, “we won’t take this street back.” The air is too spicy for me here. THE AIR!  That’s it. I’m going back to America.

Tasting

You know what’s delicious? Cold, sweet, green (mung) bean soup. No one at home believes me, but I swear to God it’s amazing! It’s so refreshing on a hot  40 degree Celsius (boy did I pick the right time to come to China) day. Who would have thought that my new food obsession would be literally translated as “green bean mush.”

Hearing

Fireworks. Every night. Can’t see em because of all the apartment buildings. Apparently it’s a tradition to set off fireworks when someone dies. It’s depressing that someone within my hearing radius dies every day.  This sound really freaked me out until I asked what it was.

Touching

A Chinese friend of mine, Sophia, took me for a traditional Chinese massage yesterday. As I go through this I want you to keep in mind that I spent $11 USD. Before the massage could even start I had to take a tea bath, and let me tell you: a traditional Chinese tea bath is even more complicated than a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. I had to bathe, then get out, then wait for them to change the water, then get back  in THREE TIMES! While I was in the tub I would scrub my front with a giant teabag, while the masseuse scrubbed my back. Fortunately I read enough South American novels this summer to be moderately okay with being bathed.  Each time I got out of the tub I would have to put my slippers on to walk 1ft to the bed. Then I would lie down and the masseuse would dab the sweat and tea off my face with tissue, and feed me sips of tea, never allowing me to hold the cup myself. During the second and third baths the masseuse fed me sips of a different sweet red liquid. After the last bath I  could feel my pulse throughout my whole body. It was like the feeling you get when you know you’re going to get into deep trouble, or after just having run the mandatory school mile. I wanted to jump out of my skin I had so much energy. It turns out that the red drink was a natural Chinese energy drink. Between that and the tea I’d been soaking in I was hardly ready for a relaxing massage. I was in the mood to dance the night away.

Once in the massage room, the masseuse calmed my pulse by rubbing essential oils on my face.  Then she proceeded to comb my scalp with a wooden comb. It was slightly less than pleasant. The whole first half of the massage was focused on my scalp and face. The focus of the entire second half was on my back. Apparently it’s only supposed to hurt if you’ve messed up your muscles. I most definitely had. They also noticed the different heights of my shoulders, which I tried to explain to them was scoliosis. The massage concluded with masseuse rolling a hot grooved rolling pin-thingy up and down my back.  Oh and more tea.

After the massage, Sophia explained to me that my back might turn red in the next few days. If it did, that would be the toxins leaving my body. Today I am sore as hell, but not muscle sore, burn sore. My back is covered in red splotches…attractive.