A Family RTW Travel Adventure (2008-2009)
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Love Last Longer

It was all beginning to make sense.

The day before, the housekeeper at our hotel had button-holed Dani.  In limited English and extensive pantomime, the housekeeper had said she was not feeling well. The various symptoms she acted out led Dani to believe she had a bad cold.

Later, over lunch, Dani said: “She was trying to ask me something, but I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to say.”

The next day, the housekeeper appeared at our door once again.  This time, Caroline tried to interpret.  She handed Caroline a foil package of capsules that looked like cold medicine.

The housekeeper said: “Farang leave this in room.  He throw away.  Me take.  What is?”

Caroline told the housekeeper to wait for a minute while she checked, then showed me the package of pills.

The foil contained about a dozen orange and white capsules.  Four of them were missing, presumably ingested by the farang. I found the name “Prelox” on the bottom of the package.

“I’ve never heard of Prelox,” I said. “But I’ll check online.”


Picture 1

A quick search revealed that Prelox was a “natural” form of Viagra.  It’s advertising slogan:  To Make Love Longer Better. (What did we do before Google?)

We realized the housekeeper was looking for cold medicine — not something to spice up her love life.  Now how to explain Prelox to her?

Dani stepped into the hall and whispered:  “It’s medicine for a man.”

The housekeeper looked confused.

“It’s to help a man…”

More confusion.

“…To help a man with love…”

This phrase and a small bit of pantomime seemed to communicate the point.

“Oh, farang here to buy love,” she said, suppressing a smile. “No good.”

We dug into our first aid kit and found some over the counter cold medicine, which we gave to the housekeeper.

She thanked us and tucked the cold tablets, along with the Prelox, in her pocket.

5 comments

1 Doug Spiro { 02.26.09 at 9:17 am }

I think one of the best things you all are getting to experience is having to communicate with people who don’t speak your language. To be able to interact and understand such a myriad of different people is a valuable skill that will help Connor and Caroline as they grow up.

On a less deep note I was wondering what happened to my missing 8 Prelox pills 🙂

2 Chris Aagaard { 02.26.09 at 7:32 pm }

Greetings Craig! My name is Chris and I am affiliated with a high-profile television production company located in Los Angeles, CA. We are currently searching for American families about to embark on a trip around the world. Please contact me at the following phone number or email address if this sparks your interest. Thanks so much for your time and I hope to hear from you soon!

Best,

Chris Aagaard
424-202-3434
chris@relativityreal.com

3 Laura { 02.27.09 at 7:03 pm }

I am literally falling over laughing right now. This is *priceless* 🙂

4 Kara { 02.28.09 at 8:39 pm }

Hi Craig & Dani – if something happens with this Chris person, make sure you tell us if you are on the telly – I knew I should have gotten your autogrpahs before you went.

Have fun & look after each other.

Cheers,
xx

5 Thai Farm Cooking School — Global Mama { 03.03.09 at 4:27 pm }

[…] of delicious street food, and dealing with a hilarious lost-in-translation moment involving a hotel housekeeper and a packet of mystery medicine that you *must* read. Just outside Chiang Mai, the whole family went to the Thai Farm Cooking […]

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