smells surface as the morning market pushes onwards. It is 8am and the street stalls are bustling. It is still too early for the massive rush of tourists, and find myself the only one wandering around with no real purpose of purchasing. no lunch to buy for, maybe some fruit, but since I am leaving what is really the point of buying a bag of mangoes?
I trudge on through, Pork is on display in a nose to tail fashion. the whole head, a prominent feature gives way to an array of innards and a cute curly little pink tail. a true dissection dream. I study it not with disgust, but with the same curiosity I probably had when I would find a squirrel dead on the side of the road- shit, scratch that- I would have been bawling my eyes out over the squirrel. Anyways, back to the pig at the market, or maybe just back to the market. I continued on down the stalls. winding a bit as I delve deeper into the maze, trying not to slip on the water slicks that have a new life forming around the puddles. a green life, with dripping remains of ice, blood, guts, fish....you get the picture. I can feel each droplet from the puddle splash on the back of my calf, and I silently hope my skin doesn't burn off upon contact.
Back to the smells. Dry, fermented fish tell me I am in the center. this is the family meeting points. the random fried foods, Chinese herbs, gold and rubies, and buckets. lots of buckets. I take a deep breath in and soak up this moment. this is where I am meant to be. now. not forever. but now. and that makes me feel lucky. I take a turn and move forward, look up and am surrounded by stalls of flowers. breathe in. breathe out.
here are some more smells, and the associations and memories I hold dear:
back ally's: Jasmine flowers that bloom in the evening, cashew nut flowers, and..piss
the street: grilled meats, herbs, chili, charcoal, gasoline
the highway: dust, dirt, gasoline. not wise to walk on...in the heat of the day.
temples; incense, pure light, flowers, earth.
restaurants; fish sauce from the back kitchen.
the beach: cigarettes, salt
the bus: old sweat, new sweat, urine, ick.
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