White

Many of you may not realize this, but Christelia and I are both very white.  So much so that you need to adjust the white balance settings on your camera in order to take a picture of us.  Of course, if we were to be showing any more skin than just our faces (the most tanned parts of our bodies) pictures of us would be next to impossible.  Fortunately for us, the Thai people (and I am guessing most other parts of Asia as well) absolutely LOVE white skin.

We enjoyed a week long vacation on the island of Koh Chang in Eastern Thailand not too long ago.  While sitting at breakfast one day, one of the staff came by and poked my arm exclaiming "so white!"  I was wearing a tank top at the time, exposing my upper arms, a part of my body not exposed to the sun very often.  Christine and I had a chuckle, and the staff member quickly wanted to be close to us whenever we were in the area.  Amusing to say the least.

The difficulty we are experiencing regarding the fascination of white skin is most lotions, deodorant, body wash, etc have skin whitening acids in them.  Obviously we don't need the help, so this has become quite alarming.  To be honest, finding products without whitening is almost as difficult as taking a picture of me with my shirt off.

Eduardo