It's the end of the day now, so I thought I'd take a moment before biking off into the sunset to tell you all about my current beauty regimen.  Beauty, as we all know, is not about our outward appearance, but it is still important to look one's best when representing more than oneself in a foreign country.  Beauty is often described as being how we feel about ourselves on the inside...but for me, right now, my beauty routine has two main components to keep my insides and outsides happy:  insect repellant and deodorant.
My deodorant (Tom's Natural) goes on after my nightly bucket-shower, as does my first dose of bug spray (Wild Lives 28). After leaving the hong-naam and going the few feet to my room I usually add to that some anti-itch salve (Calagel or this Chinese Herbal stuff Chai told me about that’s high in camphor) before leaving my room and going to eat dinner in the front area, which both moisturizes my legs and gives my skin a bit of glow, wink!   (Oh!  I think that this morning pii Lek said we have a beehive under the house, and that’s why there are always tons of bees enjoying the fluorescent light in the morning!  Neat!).  After dinner and before studying I spray Ben’s Tick and Insect Repellant (Wilderness Formula!) on my bed, pillow, blanket and all around my bed as well, sweeping dead bugs (and any live, impetuous ants or beetles) and stuff that fell through the netting off my bed in the process.  After studying I’ll put on either Cutter or Ultrathon Insect Repellant, making sure to get across my waist where my shirt and pants meet, as the insects like to bite there as well as feast upon my ankles and lower legs (I guess I look good enough to eat!).  After this extensive process my room is redolent of DEET and I'm pretty ready for some Beauty Sleep!  Thus, I partake of an Atarax so I can slumber peacefully instead of itching/scratching all through the night.  In the morning, refreshed and ready for another busy day here, I hit the deodorant again (Secret Powder Fresh) and spray down with Wild Lives 28 again before going out (leaving my room to eat breakfast, that is).  Sigh.  Being this beautiful is hard work!
Smile.  I'm obviously having fun here, and this week we TCCS volunteers are putting together a teacher training camp to help Thai teachers (our main objective!) pick up some techniques for teaching English more effectively.  I'm in the Materials Development group, and we're working with dice.  Not 'playing' with, but showing how dice can be a versatile teaching tool for any subject and pretty much all ages.  I'm sure I'll be the belle of the ball when we present!
This is another something I'm loving about this Peace Corps journey; who would have ever imagined a time when I had a beauty regimen, or that there would be a time when said routine consisted entirely of insect repellant and deodorant in vast quantities?  Smile.


Jane
2/26/2014 10:27:21 pm

I am so happy you are able to take care of yourself and protect all your beauty, inside and out.

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Spook S.
2/28/2014 03:16:21 pm

Thank you Jane, you're definitely one of the beautiful people I've had in my life to model myself after! I'm happy I've got access to insect repellant too, and I'm considering sending love notes to the manufacturers, smile!

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pookie
2/28/2014 03:07:46 am

have you ever heard of putting deodorant on your bug bites? apparently it's supposed to make them not itch... I've never tried it because at dad's house we have enough campho-phenique to float an aircraft carrier to Thailand, lol!

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Spook S.
2/28/2014 03:19:25 pm

Nope, never heard of that, and I'm running low on my after-shower deodorant, so I'm not wasting it on my bites! You should find this Chinese herbal stuff somewhere in Oakland, it's great, and less runny than plain old campho-phenique.

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    These are the personal opinions of Spook, and do not reflect those of the Peace Corps.

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