The gas cylinder situation

Having family in town is the BEST but also working a 40 hour work week and then staying up late for 6 days in a row and then somehow getting sick does take a toll on a person. At the market this weekend, Mina said, “Olivia your eyes look tired. Come to the market at 2 you need rest.” THANK YOU MINA. With this time off, I slept super late, almost read one book within the span of 2 hours, and ate chocolate covered pretzels for breakfast, and only left the flat in search of water and coffee, or as I like to call them Life’s Biggest Necessities. And heck, while I’m up and out, might as well to the responsible thing and get a new gas cylinder.

Our gas cylinder is the thing we use to boil water for coffee and make eggs- basically the two things Erin and I survive off of. And it’s been out for like 5 days. I try asking the apartment cleaning lady/gardener/knower-of all-the-things if the shop is open today since I’d called without getting an answer. But of course I don’t know the official work for ‘gas shop’ in Thai so she found a tenet who speaks English and I asked her and she said maybe. I thought I might as well walk there since it’s like oh maybe 3 minutes away. I’m strolling down the ally and see another lady who lives in the market, knows everyone and everything and seems to have like 184 jobs. She asks where I’m going, I tell her-still not knowing the Thai word for gas shop- she finds 2 school aged girls to translate, they don’t understand so the pair run inside their apartment and wake up their dad who then calls the shop only to discover they don't have my size of cylinder ( I can say this part well- lek, sii som aka small, orange color). Not to worry, the All-Knowing-Neighbor takes me and one of the school aged girls to another ally to consult with two vendors they know of another shop. They point to an advertisement on the wall with a near-by gas shop, which she calls only to find out that they too are out of my size of cylinder. She then instructs the gas shop to deliver a new gas cylinder in the size I need to her apartment tomorrow because I have work and won’t be around when they can deliver. Y’ALL. That literally 10 people that worked together to orchestrating this whole getting-Olivia-gas situation.

This makes me feel two things. One- a dire need to learn all the thai right now in this very instant. And second feeling is a deep sense of gratefulness for people’s ability to offer kindness, patience, and helpfulness to a person who is mostly a stranger. Though it took 10 people, which is kind of ridiculous let’s just say it, it means that on some level 10 people cared about my well-being. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it and they had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning than to help a confused white girl. But I’m clinging to the optimistic thoughts mostly because it makes me feel like I belong here.  And that’s what every human needs to survive and begin to succeed. That’s what’s making me thrive here in Thailand- little glimpse of belonging. And it’s the biggest challenge that life is offering me right now; slow down enough to show people you want to belong to them, that you care for and about them, that you desire engagement and connectedness. So I will. I’ll create time in my schedule tomorrow to sit with the All-Knowing-Neighbor lady and to ask the school aged girls how their homework went and to thank the dad for calling the gas shop. Because once you feel like you belong, it’s only natural to make sure other people know you’re there to stay.