Som Tum

Not sure what the deal is but Thais are very impressed if a farang can eat som tum (spicy papaya salad). Today when I was talking to the 5 old ladies they asked if I could eat som tum and were very impressed when I told them the day before I eaten som tum 2 times. The women asked how many peppers I would eat in my som tum, when I said 3 peppers, there was a positive cry of wonder.

Last night when I was ordering som tum on the street from a street vendor a Thai girl who was in line in front of me was shocked, and when I say she was shocked it was like I had changed water to wine kind of shocked. She was stunned (mouth hanging open) that I could read the Thai sign advertising the som tum and even more so (kept talking to her friend about me) that I was waiting in line to buy some.

I guess the whole som tum thing makes me "a kinda Thai person" in their eyes, like I passed some kind of initiation test.