Fighting Fears of Foot Fungus

Muay Thai Fighters

Dear Reader,
If you have a fear of foot fungus that you would like to face head on, I strongly suggest you spend some time in Thailand.  Thai custom dictates that shoes are often removed indoors.  This does not only apply to houses. In fact the students in my school walk around sock-footed most of the day with the main exceptions being outdoor play and the bathroom.  The no-shoe rule applies in some stores as well. Your hint is to look at the doorway for a pile or a few pairs of shoes - if they are there, then go ahead and ditch your shoes before entering.

The most important no-shoe places are the temples.  I can't imagine coming to Thailand and not visiting any temples.  The Golden Mount at Wat Saket is the only temple I can think of that allowed shoes inside the building.  So if you take the average amount of tourists per day and add it to the average amount of locals visiting any given temple each day AND take into account that all of these people are barefooted, you'll have an idea of how freaky this can be for a person who has a fear of foot fungus. 
This afternoon our CCS group went for a special training session with local Muay Thai boxers.

Ada and I before getting hot and sweaty

I knew we would be barefooted but what I did not account for was the excessive amount of sweat those floor mats are subjected to daily.  In the two hours we were there I think it's safe to say there was at least three gallons of sweat dripping on the floor.  Delightful (that was sarcasm).
I had a great time.  I haven't been able to work out for almost three months now so it felt amazing to work up a sweat. We had so much fun as a group cheering on our friends and laughing at ourselves.  The ever present language barrier added to the hilarious exchanges between the boxers and volunteers. My roommate Dana gave one of the instructors a run for his money! I'll have to see if I can add a video to the blog so you can watch her in action.  We had a fantastic time, but let's get back to the subject at hand. 

Delainey getting ready to show off her skills

I'll tell you now, my dear Reader, I have never scrubbed my feet with such intensity as when I came home from our training session.  Yuck. Double yuck! The soles of my feet were as black as tar. It felt like forever before I got them clean.  I did survive though.  I feel like after that experience I can probably walk barefoot just about anywhere. 
And that is how you overcome the fear of foot fungus.

Only men are allowed in the boxing ring - no females

Dana won!

My trainers for the afternoon

CCS Bangkok Group July 2015