Ha…did I get your attention? The term “humps of desire” came up this past week when a group of students from ISDSI spent time here at UHDP. The North American students of the study-abroad program have been studying about and integrating into Thai culture for the past two months. An important aspect of living in Thailand is learning to be riiap roi (to be polite, viagra well-mannered) in your outward manifestations: clothing, eczema hygiene, placement of body parts, and language used towards people with varying status relative to yourself. For example: feet are considered “dirty” because they come in contact with the ground whereas the head is considered sacred. One must not point at or touch objects with their feet; a big no-no is to have contact between feet and head (not riiap roi at all!!).
The challenge for foreign women especially is to learn how to be riiap roi with regards to appropriate coverage of “humps of desire”. This includes shoulders and knees too! During my month in Chiang Mai, my language teacher and a friend in her mid-twenties would comment on how un-riiap roi I was to travel around the city in tank tops (I was biking constantly and sweating profusely, so tanks were the best option at the time according to my Western sensibilities). Thailand is well-known as a vacation destination and most tourists in Bangkok and Chiang Mai are dressed most un-riiap roi -like (spaghetti strap tanks, short shorts, sarongs and bikini tops) because they view these places as places to kick back and get a tan.
I can tell my acceptance of being more riiap roi has improve since living in Thailand because I’m horrified at what tourists wear and I dress more lady-like when I’m in Chiang Mai and Bangkok (I’m treated better by shopkeepers and local folks too). It’s been quite a challenge though, to not feel insulted when I’ve been told I look like a boy or I look like I need to do my hair, etc. But covering my “humps of desire” is coming more naturally to me here…mostly as I learn “heat mitigation” (ie. how to control my sweating…haha…so not riiap roi to discuss publicly).
Ruth, very enjoyable article and very enlightening as well. I’m taking a course on worldview & culture, and I found your thoughts here track really well with what we’ve been learning in class as well. The man who teaches the course is a former missionary to Indonesia. It sure is amazing what a fool we “westerners” can make of ourselves in that part of the world. Perhaps even more ironic since neither you nor I are even remotely “western” to look at. 🙂 I trust you’ll continue to improve in your riiap roi – and I’m sure you will!
Blessings,
Gerald
Ya, cultural sensitivities are tough for me. Cameroun is a very social society and there are lots of unwritten laws about meeting and talking to people. I regularily attend different agr. association meetings, and the other day I agreed to walk down the mountain for the first time with everybody. It took 45 mins to walk 1 km. I have never walked so slow in my life. Good luck being riiap roi!
Ben