Bare Necessities...

Today I have completed my quest for the bare necessities of life. First, and foremost, I achieved fire. That all powerful gift handed down from my forebears is now under my control in my very own kitchen.
I had been fretting and worrying about how to get the gas tank to my house for days. Finally, I was at a restaurant and saw a young man pull up, roll in a full gas tank, and roll out an empty one. Eureka! They delivered. I had only seen them at one shop, which, upon visiting, I saw the very youth of the night prior. After much meddling and muddling in Thai so poorly pronounced I could not be understood, and hand signals, the message was received and shortly their after I was followed home with a full tank of glorious fuel for my little burner.
Next, I was on a bus for an hour and half to the nearest mall/department store complex. Many malls here are simply an extension of one or two large stores. The nearest to Nong Chang is in Nakhon Sawan, a neighboring provincial capital.
There, I purchased a properly warm comforter for my bed. Now I had a warm place to sleep. Though, surely, you must think, Nong Chang has blankets? Indeed they do dear friends, indeed they do. However, I've found that once you leave the fashoinista-rich environs of Bangkok, you quickly find yourself among rural Thais for whom color and style have no meaning.
When I first purchased my bed and asked about sheets I was confidently handed a set of garishly pink "Hello Kitty" sheets. Now, I wasn't in the mood to be terribly picky, but that was just not within my realm of acceptability.
"Do you have another" I motioned and asked. Rapid pointing to the bed and sheets and indications that it was the right size. "I don't like the color" (unable to utter the phrase "anything but pink hello kitty"). A confused look of defeat, that was all they had.
So, I found myself trucking to Big C, the titan that competes with a fellow titan, Tesco Lotus, for the coveted position of "The Walmart of Thailand."
I arrived, wandered about the attached mall with disinterest, and came across my third necessity, although to anyone but a Westerner it is sheer luxury: a how water heater. The price was large (at least 4,000 baht, installation included), but the allure was strong. I told them I would be back to see how much Big C would suck out of me.
I also purchased some sketchbooks--why not pick art back up in my little town?--before hitting the Big C.
It was everything I had expected, a giant gleaming well-organized warehouse full of everything from televisions to fresh meat. I had run into a fellow teacher (an overwhelmingly shy Filipina who taught English to kindergartners at my school) and her cousin, and we decided to make our way to bedsheets. Everything that wasn't hideous was over 1,000 baht, and included a full set (but not a simple sheet, only a fitted one, to my dismay). Finally I decided on the middle of the road 1300 baht set (around 40 dollars) that was pleasant enough. Success.
I had decided that I would stay in the middle of the road, where it seemed safely comfortable but not bordering on excess, in my purchase of a hot water heater. 4,900 baht, installation included, would suit me just fine. They will install my glorious contraption tomorrow at 3, assuming they can find my house using the drawing I made.
Ah yes, my landlady, when asked to give me my address, seems to have given me something different entirely. The road she wrote down was certainly not mine. I shall have to inquire again.

And there we have it. I can cook (although not yet keep food cold), I can sleep and bathe comfortably, and I have a place for the vast majority of my belongings. The cultivation of beauty shall come with time, and more paychecks, for now, I shall simply enjoy the bare necessities of good living.