I AM A THAI LADY

Ciejay and daughter Nu in the kitchen both great cooks

The two most important appliances in our kitchen

The famous cutting board (tamarinnd) and peppers

The fruit of the gods , Mangos from our very own trees

Lunch at the Burgess's ( notice the pill box ) ha ha

Rice and red curry and fruit for Ciejay my Thai Lady

The story goes like this ,we had been married for about a week and Ciejay was already into taking over the task of changing my house, from a place where a man had lived alone for four years to a home, that could be inhabited by a wife and husband. Well ,she set about cleaning the place from top to bottom , rearranging the furniture and washing all the clothes I had piled in the spare room , one pile for clean and one pile for dirty , they never seemed to find their way into the dresser or put in the closet, on hangers, it was easier just to grab one and iron it or throw it into the dryer if not to wrinkled.She went about cleaning out the cupboards and the stove and all the dirty dishes , well I thought they looked clean. I came home from work after a couple days of this and did not reconize the place , I thought for a moment I had got the wrong house.Ciejay is a great cook,and she had tried to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner , It was ok , but living alone I was use to Mcdonalds, Burger King , and Pizza Hut. I had not had a real home cooked meal in my home in a long time, and it was a real treat. We started talking after dinner about what food I liked and what food I did not like and what would I like for her to learn how to cook for me.She had been living with her Thai sister , and her husband who had already adapted himself to mostly Thai meals , and a few american dishes,every once in a while , well me I had only eaten Thai food once or twice and it was not my favorite , I knew nothing about being married to an Asian person and Asian food. Ciejay ask me if I liked rice and being a meat and potato person ,I said NO ,rice is not something I like . Well a few days went by and It was veggie soup one night , spaghtti, the next. Take home pizza a couple of nights . It was Saturday morning and I walked into the kitchen , because I had not got my coffee in bed as usual and Ciejay was crying her eyes out , I didn't know what was wrong , I thought she was sick , maybe home sick , I didn't know what , so I went over and took her in my arms and just held her for a few minutes , she stopped crying and I said "whats the matter honey" and in her sweet little voice the reply was this "I AM A THAI LADY ,AND I NEED TO EAT RICE." Well a light went on in my head and all of a sudden I realized , that I had said "NO RICE," I felt terrible, and said "ok lets cook some rice for this Thai lady", she said " we don't have rice pot, and I like jasmine rice from Thailand" , all I had in the house was Uncle Bens boil in a bag. I said "ok lets go for a ride ."I had passed a Asian store down the road , so off we went to Wing Wong Asian Store .When we went in , my eyes and mind, and nose ,were opened to all the different kind of foods the Asian folks eat. I told the owner that we need a rice pot and some jasmine rice , well it took her and Ciejay a long time to come up with just the right kind of rice pot , and the right size rice pot, and I bought five pounds of rice thinking that would last a few years ,ha ha . While we were there I ask Ciejay if there was anything elese she needed , ,so we got fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce , hot red and green fresh chili peppers, salted eggs ,and a shopping cart full of stuff that I had never seen in my life and smells like I have never smelt. I thought to myself if that is what it takes to makes her happy, then I guess I will just have to learn how to eat some rice and a little Thai food. Never in my life would I have ever thought ,that just like Ciejay , a meal is just not a meal unless there is rice and fish sauce on the table. Every once in a while tho ,I find myself saying to Ciejay "I AM A AMERICAN" and off we go to the Jolly Frogg, for one of the best burgers and fries ever , or over to the Pizza Company for pizza that taste and looks just like the real thing. We have been married seven years and every once in a while I have to stop and remember that Ciejay still is A THAI LADY. Malcolm