Thursday, May 6

Today was rainy and remarkably cool—the temperature hovered around 80F all day, which was lovely and, in truth, a tiny bit unsettling.

Is this Bangkok?

Sad dried-up bat carcass

We went to Victory Monument to check out a small two-bedroom apartment in the area. It wasn't bad—two bedrooms would give us a little more space, and there were large windows looking out at a charming view—a mix of big-city buildings and ramshackle houses. It's 18,000 baht/month, or $575, which is more than you have to pay in Bangkok but a good price, I think, for a 2-bedroom. But we'll continue looking this week to get a better sense of our options.

Cute buildings near Victory Monument

Roman agreed to take a bus home (!) and, thankfully, we had good bus luck—it came on time and actually reached the destination it was supposed to (neither of these things were the case when I took the bus home from my school yesterday in 100F heat, and I'm still annoyed about it).

When it works out, the bus is great—it's the cheapest way to get around, and it's a fun way to see different parts of the city.

Roman on the (rather colorful) bus

I loved the look of this metal grate work

On the way home, we picked up some lunch—soup with pork, liver, blood cake, and greens, which came with white rice and various toppings, and deep fried chicken skin that we ate in the soup. Deep fried chicken skin is now Roman's new best friend.

Now that I'm not doing much of anything, when I start making plans, I feel suddenly like my schedule is getting packed. I have to get passport photos taken and I have a zoom call scheduled? But when will I have time for a haircut?

Oh right...this is just how quarantine life goes.

Recent New Yorker cartoon

In the afternoon, we contacted a few more apartments, and went to the nearby copy center to get passport photos for our Visa extensions.

When we got back, I had an email from one of the apartments I had reached out to, asking them if they had any two-bedroom apartments available and what the price would be (they'd listed a price range for each type of apartment).

This is what they wrote:

Dear Khun Rachel Tusler

Thank you for your kind interest in our apartment. Please inform us more details below;
1. Where are you from?
2. How long have you been in Thailand?
3. How many people will stay?
4. Do you have any vehicles?
5. Are there any children who will be staying?
6. Are there any pregnant women will be staying?

This is what I wrote back:

1. None of your business.
2. None of your business.
3. Two.
4. No.
5. None of your business.
6. None of your business.

I'm just kidding. I wrote back and answered all their questions. But the American in me totally bristled at these kind of questions, and wanted to shout, housing discrimination! Not that I think any of our answers will count against us (well, as Americans we may pay higher rent than Thais but that isn't because we're oppressed). But, you know, it shouldn't count against a person to be pregnant.

I suppose it's especially needling coming right after all those job applications, with their questions about my religion, height, weight, whether I smoke or drink, the names and ages of my siblings and children, and—once—my blood type. None of your business! None of your business! None of your business!

But then, I'm not sure how much the lack of housing or employment discrimination laws in Thailand is any of my business. Or at least, it feels like it is not my issue to raise. And of course, housing or employment discrimination is rampant in the US, no matter the laws. So I probably shouldn't get too judgmental over here. And if Thai people are organizing for housing & employment discrimination laws, I'll do my best to support that.

But in the meantime, I read these questions and I bristle. And I wonder how it would be if my answers (USA; no kids; no religion, etc) didn't put me in such a privileged position.

Anyway, for dinner we went to Suan Phlu and picked up some grilled squid and what turned out to be a sausage on a stick, which we ate with rice and cucumber and a spicy cilantro lime sauce.

The squid was a little underdone but we ate it anyway. If I remember my high school Biology correctly, that means we will be transforming into cephalopods ourselves before the night is over.

These are just geckos though