Pollution

I don't want to complain, but I'm going to justifiably complain. The pollution here has really started affecting my health. It's a factor of Bangkok that I was prepared for but also of which I was frightened because I really despise dirty air and loud vehicles (the latter is one of my biggest pet peeves).

I'm located about 30 minutes south of Bangkok in an industrial area. My apartment is right under the highway. I am greeted in the morning by a thick brown-ish haze, the thickness of which is highlighted by the sun's unrelenting rays. It's utterly disgusting (and I mutter that probably every day, by the way). I step out into the street with a grimace and try to hold my breath as I close my eyes when trucks, motorbikes, and cars barrel down the street, put-put-putting and spewing black smoke straight into the faces of pedestrians like yours truly.

I dislike exercising outdoors. Hell, I sort of dislike being outside near the street. Anyway, back at home, I'd rarely get sick, even though Los Angeles's air isn't of the best quality either. But here, I've experienced a scratchy throat on multiple occasions; my eyes get dry and red; and lately, I've been coughing - no, heaving - up stuff from the depths of my lungs.

I could very well be getting sick from being around all my snotty and dirty children (PS - the students' bathrooms at school don't have soap. WHY.), but I doubt it because my other friends here have also experienced similar symptoms. One of my friends, Jo, got an eye infection and had to get eye drops because they were so swollen and red (a similar thing happened to a kid I knew at USC who moved from Australia and wasn't used to LA's pollution). Yuck.

This is literally one of the biggest reasons why I feel compelled to escape the city every-two-weeks and relax on the beach. Fresh air!

Oh, speaking of which, I'm going to Phuket and Pi Pi tomorrow for a week for the holidays. Joy!