Staying healthy in Southeast Asia

Before I came here I thought to myself, 

"Hell yeah, I'm going to Asia, I am going to eat healthy and be surrounded by all different kinds of holistic herbs and medicines and everything is going to be great!"

Maybe that is the case for China, Japan, or Korea [ I have not been so I do not know first hand]. As for Thailand it is the exact opposite. Staying healthy here is a daily chore. Especially being a teacher, teaching little kids, and living in the area we do. Now I must admit that the school does actively try to keep the school clean. The 5 cleaning ladies bust their buts every day mopping, scrubbing the walls, scraping the stairs etc. But in a country where picking your nose is socially acceptable my little ones constantly take advantage of this norm, or sneeze into their clothes, cough with out covering their mouth. 

There are only so many times I can wash my hands between classes to avoid getting sick. Thus I have been sick for almost half the time I have been here. I do my best  carry around anti bacterial wipes/lotion and I take multi vitamins every day. 

Aside from the external things I can do, eating healthy in the middle of nowhere can be quite a challenge. Every day at school we are served for lunch white rice, [or some sort of carb] with a chicken or pork dish, and a cabbage soup which ALWAYS has at least 1 ant in it. Luckily they always float to the top making it much easy to take out! lol  

The way they prepare chicken is just to hack it up and throw it in.. every piece, every bone. And they FOR SURE are not aware of how to properly keep E. Coli and other chicken bacteria's contained. I have been to markets where they have chicken just laying on the table the juices flowing everywhere on the ground on their hands, their clothes. I even saw one lady clean off her table using a chicken breast! 

So because of these issues we are forced to eat at "Western Establishments" IE: Mcdonalds, KFC, Pizza Company, etc. Which is also not healthy for you, but you know [ or hope ]  that the food is being prepared properly. 

Here are some pictures from our local market to support my explanations: 

                                                                            

                                                 Deep fried chicken heads/necks.
                                                  Yummm-E [sarcasm]

Ya know, for days when you are
 really craving some pig face!

                                     

             Animal insides of some sort.

Now I know what your thinking, why not just cook yourself at home? Well most foods that you buy in the grocery store are all written in Thai. They do actually have nutritious facts and what ingredients are in it. How much this is regulated I don't know. Knowing Thailand, they can put what ever they want on the label and leave out what ever they please as well. I just recently found out that one of the most popular beers is made with formaldehyde. Stay away from "Chang" no matter how cheap it is, you will wake up with what is known here as a "Chang Over" 

Back to cooking at home, which Nick and I do as often as I can. The only problem is that ovens are pretty much obsolete here. You can find them but they are either really small, or pretty expensive. Leaving the Wok, grill and  Microwave as our main source of cookery.

Keeping in mind this is a 3rd world country I cannot expect western ways of life. It is something I have learned to get used to and another reason to appreciate America.  It is insane, and quite a difficult way of life, and defiantly the least glamorous part of living in Thailand.

Please send Airborn! 

Cheers Mate! 

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QOTD: Any tips on how to eat healthy under these conditions would greatly be appreciated!

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