L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.

I wrote this on Monday, but am just now getting around to posting it.  Sorry... it's been a busy week.

This morning, I skyped with my parents for the first time in weeks, I think.  To be honest, I had been avoiding it.  It's really hard to see my mom, dad, dog, the kitchen I grew up in no doubt filled with yummy American food, the comfortable furniture, etc, without getting really sad.  I feel bad about that, but that's just the way it is.  So, I avoid it.  Sometimes I avoid things that make me sad.  And sometimes I run away from them.  Why do you think I'm in Thailand?  Just kidding... sort of.

In fact, I'd kind of taken an Internet break this past week and weekend.  And I hate to admit it, but it was nice.  And it gave me a chance to start attaching to people and things here.  Here's what happened while I was away:

Songkran

Weekend before last was Songkran.  I posted a little about the "opening ceremonies" but now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty.  Songkran is the Thai New Year.  It's also a time to wash away the crap of last year and move forward into a new, clean year.  (To be honest, my last year was kind of amazing.  Although I was single, lost my job, turned 30, moved back to Ohio and in with my parents, and my dog was diagnosed with Diabetes, it was pretty much one of the best years of my life.  I loved almost every minute of it, save for that week in the Carribean, and the day I had a break down and crawled under a co-workers desk to cry, but well, stuff happens.)  Typically, even-numbered years aren't favorable for me.  Good thing I moved to Thailand where it's actually the year 2555.  Thai time rocks! 

Early in the morning on the Saturday of Songkran (April 14) one of my co-workers popped into my bedroom unexpectedly.  I was alseep in my underwear because it was so hot.  So much for modesty.  Now that the first embarrassment of the day was over, she told me to get up because we were going on a bpai tiao to a Songkran festival in Sukothai (a province Southwest of my own.)  I got dressed and walked down the stairs to where her family was waiting in the truck.  Husband driving, kids in the back armed with giant water guns, buckets, and a giant, industrial trash can filled with water. 

I put my iPhone in a ziplock and braced myself for the day.  I'm a foreigner so I knew I would be targeted and doused with water at some point.  It was inevitable.  However, for the drive at least, I was safely tucked into the cab of the truck, where I would stay dry despite hundreds of people throwing water at my window and smearing baby powder all over the windshield.  Along the hour drive to Sukothai we encountered mass amounts of people armed with their own industrial-sized, water-filled trash cans throwing water at passing vehicles and motorcycles. 

My view from the passenger seat: 

After we arrived in Sukothai, we became entangled in a two-hour long traffic jam... caused by a massive water war.  It was awesome.  I desperately wanted to get in the back of the truck, but PC would have frowned upon that.  Plus, I didn't bring a change of clothes, so I wanted to stay semi-dry.  The two lane highway became three lanes in one direction, and one lane in the opposite direction.  And crowds of people weaved in and out of traffic the entire time.

My view for about two hours.   

Sometimes people would see me and yell "Farang" then throw water or baby powder at my window. I had glass and locked doors to protect me, so I felt safe laughing at them. The rest of the day was pretty great.  Once we managed our way through traffic, we stopped at the Sukothai Historical Park for lunch, shopping, and touring some ruins. 

And then I ran into some other Assasamaks! (That means other Peace Corps Volunteers in Thai)  This was by far the best part of my day.  Being able to speak English!  It was like the flood gates opened and all the words I had been trying to search for in my Thai Dictionary came pouring out in a massive wave, which I thought was quite appropriate given the water holiday.  It also made me hopeful that my co-worker was now aware that I actually wasn't deaf and mute.  And that maybe, just maybe she'd share this information with the rest of the office.



Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I'm trying to put the song associated with title of my posts at the end.  Sometime fun to do, I guess. 

Happy New Year! Suk-san wan Songkran!

Songkran!  The Thai New Year.  A four day festival where water is used to wash away the bad... and also to drench the unsuspecting farang. 

Yesterday, I participated in my very first Songkran activity.  I have to say that I've really been looking forward to the Songkran experience.  Current volunteers and PC staff have been talking it up since my arrival in early January.  And with this first ceremony under my belt, I can say that it's living up to it's expectations.

Part of the festival includes wearing flowered shirts and paying respect to elders, and yesterday my aw bah taw hosted a celebration for all of the residents of my Tambon aged 60 and older.  My Tambon includes 12 villages, and there were over a hundred people at the event.  And staying true to the Thai way, we were all dressed alike in flowered shirts. 

Per the usual, I was asked to give a speech.  Sadly, I had no idea this was happening today and was even more ill prepared than I normally am.  I stumbled through the Thai part until they told me to stop.  Then they asked me to give a speech in English.  So I did.  They cut this off even faster than the Thai version.  As humiliating as this might seem, it's starting to become easier to laugh it off and I'm learning to enjoy each experience - whatever it is - because I'm lucky to be able to have this kind of view of another culture.  I'm grateful for that no matter how uncomfortable it may be at times. 

Here I am giving my speech.  That's my Balat to the left, standing in the matching shirt.  He's awesome.  Thank God I have a sense of humor about myself.  I look like an idiot.  

Then they had me walk around and take photos with the elderly folks from the different villages.  Here are some of those photos.  Don't I look completely comfortable and gorgeous?  haha! 





I'm not 100% sure, but I think the white powder on my face is there to ward off evil.  In actuality, I think people just have a great time smearing each other's faces with the pasty mixture. I think about 20 people got a hold of me and by the end of the day I had it down my neck, in my ears, my hair, and all over my clothes.  It's fun to paint the white person white. 

We spent the majority of the afternoon playing games and they even got me to play a game which involved a phallic shaped gourd being tied around my waist which I had to use to hit a ping pong ball across the ground.  Sorry to report there are no photos of this... well, there are, but I'm not posting them :)

 

And then we danced the Rambon, a traditional Thai dance, which apparently causes me to make stupid faces. 

Then we ate... and ate... and ate some more.  And after lunch we played some more games.  And some of the people put these flowers around my neck, which I believe is a Thai blessing of sorts.  I'm still trying to learn about all of the different cultural elements, but any blessings, I will gladly welcome. 

And then, near the end of the day, the actual ceremony began.  What I've noticed about Thailand, and that I'm sure everyone that has visited or seen pictures has noticed, is that it's certainly beautiful on the exterior.  But what lies beneath the surface is far more intoxicating and stunning than one could ever anticipate.  Everyone knows the saying "Good things come to those who wait" and I believe Thailand encompasses this more than any place I've ever been.  If you wait patiently in Thailand, it will reward you with something more beautiful than you ever expected. 

And that's exactly what happened yesterday.

After being re-smeared with gobs of white paste, everyone filled buckets with water and flowers.  Then we knelt on the ground with hands clasped in prayer across from a row of multi-colored and sized Buddha statues.  Everyone started to pray.  The rapid humming of Thai prayers from hundreds of mouths is something that can etch itself into your brain.  It's entrancing and consuming in a way not many things in life are, and a sound that will always make me remember my time here. 

We rose with our buckets of water and we gently poured a little bit onto each statue, a symbolic cleansing of the new year of all that is bad or evil.  The elderly stayed seated and those of us under the age of sixty took our buckets of water and slowly snaked our way through the curved rows of chairs, gently pouring water into the hands and down the backs of those who had likely lived their entire lives in this community. 

As they splashed the water back on to me, they grabbed my arms and wished me good luck with my life.  And I really think they meant it.  By the time I had worked my way through the crowd I was soaking wet from head to toe.  Everyone was. 

While it was hard to imagine pouring water on old people in the United States and getting away with it, I couldn't help but think about how Thailand made it beautiful.  An exchange of good luck for the new year by literally washing away the bad.  It made me glad I've stuck it out this long. 

I haven't written about it publicly, but this experience has extremely difficult and one of the most challenging things I've ever done.  I'm often so painfully homesick that even my teeth hurt.  If you dangled a plane ticket in front of me right now, I might grab it and run the 500k to Bangkok just to see my family and my country.  I miss them.  And for one of the first times in my life, I miss the United States.   

But instead, I will wait with the anticipation that Thailand gives me something beautiful.  Cheers to the New Year!  And with all these blessings, it's bound to be even better than the last!  Happy Songkran everyone!

The mundane

Disclaimer: I meant to post this a few days ago, but I was busied with some mundane-ness ;)



A friend of mine asked me to write him about the average, the mundane of daily life here in Thailand.  So far, I’ve written only two (epic-ly long) e-mails to him describing, in some very colorful language, what happened to me on that particular day – today being one of those two days.    

Mostly, these two emails highlighted my inability to eat at the rate Thais want me to, my general lack of knowledge about what exactly is happening at any given moment, and the randomness that seems to fill every second of every day.  It made me wonder if my life was like this in America but I wasn't pay attention so I didn’t notice, or if I was just so focused on the big picture that I failed to absorb the little, wonderful things about my days.  Like I couldn’t see the forest for the trees, or in this case, the trees for the forest. 

So, I’d like to share a piece of today with those of you who care enough about me to read this (thank you), because it is the best example of normal and mundane and a fairly accurate description of what my daily life is like.   And I’d like to apologize to my friend, if he reads this, for repeating myself and this ‘mundane’ day, so I’ll throw in a few more details for his sake.

Today I should have been able to sleep in for an extra hour.  Last night was “Cowboy Day” which meant everyone wore denim and plaid shirts, ate lots of pork and fish, and watched interestingly clad dancers and singers on a stage set up outside the office.  I’m sure there was a purpose to this, perhaps it was a fundraiser or celebration of sorts, but as usual I had no clue what was going on.  Regardless, this meant I was at work until 10pm and had to catch a ride home from a co-worker since it’s too dangerous to ride my bike at night.  This also meant I had to catch a ride to work this morning as well for I’m not allowed to ride on motorcycles and my host family doesn’t own a car, and my bike was at work.   Anyway, my co-worker said she would pick me up at 9am, which meant I could sleep for an extra hour.  YAY!! 

A random shot of the singer and dancers at Cowboy Day

However, that didn’t happen.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but all Thai villages have a PA system that broadcasts songs and news throughout the town.  And boy are they LOUD.   And lucky me, this morning there was an announcement an hour before my alarm was supposed to go off.  So, I lay on floor listening to the opening song and then what was being said very carefully.  Last week, the announcement was about me.  I woke up at 7am on Saturday to an announcement about what I would be doing that day.  Now, I know I have limited Thai, but I know my name, the words most often associated with me, and my schedule.  But today they didn’t mention me.  Probably because it was going to be a mundane day. 

After the announcement, I got up to shower.  My first of the day.  Showers are a big deal here.  I’m not sure if it’s as much a cultural thing as it is a necessity in this sweltering heat, but it’s one of the things I talk about the most.  That and if/what I've eaten. 

Before I made it out of the door to my room, I was asked if I had eaten yet.  No.  I showered and walked back to my room.  On the way, I was reminded that breakfast was on the table.  Now, breakfast can be derived of any random food that happens to be available in or around the house, or whatever was for dinner last night.  But, at least in my house, it always includes eggs in one of the egg’s various forms.  And it ALWAYS includes rice.  Sometimes there are chicken legs.  Sometimes there is a soup with pork balls.  Sometimes there is a cold noodle dish that tastes citrusy and spicy.  Sometimes all of these things are present.  And because my host family at site is AMAZING and they treat me like a princess, they always have coffee, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and fresh mangos set out, too, because I told them that’s what I like to eat.  But what I didn’t mention is that this is all for me.  This has ALL been set out for me. 

Today I had coffee and a strawberry wafer cookie thing because it looked pretty.  We were out of bread, so no pb&j today.  My co-worker arrived 30 minutes early and we attempted a conversation while I finished my coffee.  Speaking Thai is mentally exhausting. 

When we rolled into work, I saw that they were setting up for another meeting.  There is an outdoor meeting area and for the past couple of days, they have had all-day meetings.  I have no idea what they are about even though I sometimes help with set up.  I can’t read Thai.  I’m illiterate here.  I hate it.  

I also saw a group of people gathered under a little tent off to the side of the meeting hall.  In an effort to practice Thai, I asked my co-worker what that group of people was doing.  She told me, but I didn’t understand.  I went into the office and rattled off a couple of emails and checked facebook, and told a couple of folks that, yes, I had already eaten. But after about an hour, curiosity got the best of me.  I asked again what the people were doing in that tent and if I could go watch.  Again, I wasn’t clear on the answer so I just walked outside and went to investigate. 

It was a group of elderly women and they appeared to be making brooms and welcome mats/rugs.  I asked if I could watch.  They said yes, immediately offered me food, and then they said some things I didn’t understand.  So I sat down and watched them for a while.  Then, one of the women brought me materials to make a rug.  For the next two hours I worked on my rug and used a hook to pull pieces of fabric through a potato sack with lining around its edges.  At first I was awful and clumsy and everyone laughed at me, but I laughed, too, and it wasn’t long before I got the hang of it.  I had a great time with those women, even though I was dripping sweat, was sitting on the ground in my skirt, and my legs kept falling asleep. 

Then it was lunchtime.  One of my counterparts retreived me from the rug-making tent and took me to the open-air meeting area.  They were serving curry and an unfamiliar soup, along with rice.  I went for the curry first and got about two bites in before they determined it was too spicy for me (it wasn’t), moved the curry out of reach and put the soup in front of me.  I didn’t like the soup.  But they are protective of me, and for that I am appreciative, so I ate some anyway.  But I didn’t eat much.  Sadly, I don’t ever eat much here.  I’m still adjusting to the changes and the food and am often, and unfortunately, sick. 

I went back into the office to check my e-mail.  Before I sat down, I was asked if I’d eaten lunch yet.  I said yes and that I was full.  But I was asked again by three other people – just to make sure.  Again, I’m not sure if this is a cultural thing or if it is because it’s one of the things I can actually talk about with people.  Regardless, they brought me some snacks and a piece of cake.  I said no thank you, but they asked me to at least try it.  “Chim chim!”  It was so cute and I didn't want to hurt their feelings so I tried the snack. I didn’t like it.  But they were excited that I tried it so I finished it.  Then I ate my piece of cake, which was actually quite good.  Normally, I don’t like Thai sweets, but the cake tasted vaguely like American cake and I was excited. 

As looked over the news and was doing some research on the upcoming Thai holiday (didn't want to be ignorant), one of my co-workers opened the window between our offices and motioned for me to come to her office.  She does this daily and because of my lack of language skills, we mostly just sit and look at each other.  Or she’ll ask me a series of questions about how much things cost in America or if I eat rice every day in America.  The usual curious cultural questions which I’m happy to answer.  Today, she immediately asked me if I’ve eaten, if I’d like to eat, or would I like a snack.  Yes. No. No.  Disappointment.  We stared at each other until she told me to sit down.   She opened Google translate and typed something.  The translation made no sense – not in any context whatsoever.  Whatever she typed in Thai had been translated into “Sarah will kick it.”  I spent the next 5 minutes trying to explain what the word “kick” meant to her and a couple other interested office staff by going around kicking things and saying “KICK!” and having them repeat it.  This made me feel like a jerk. 

Eventually, everyone got bored with Google translate.  But then my co-worker remembered a friend of hers, who is married to a German man, is in town.  After a lot of confusion and a few phone calls, it was determined that we will walk down the street to her friends house so I could speak English with the German husband. 

When we arrived, I felt very awkward and guilty for interrupting these people's day.  But they were very gracious and welcoming and we began to talk through bits of broken English, Thai, and now, German.  The German man didn't speak much English.  I speak about three German words, none of which were helping.  But through my mixture of English and Thai he and his wife were able to put together - in German - what I was saying.  We went on like that for about 2 hours.  Then my boss called and said everyone at the office missed me.  The family and I exchanged emails and they told me I was welcome to visit any time.  I can even visit them in Germany, they said.   We returned to the office.  I really wanted to finish my rug, but I saw the ladies are cleaning up, so I hoped they would be back tomorrow.

After a while, I headed home on my bike.  When I got there, my host sister asked me if I was hungry and handed me a bowl corn, sugar, and coconut shavings. 

I'm not a huge fan of coconut corn, so I didn't eat it.  Instead, I sat at the table looking at it.  Then she told me it was time for dinner and we were going to the som dtam stand by the river to eat.  YAY!  So we got on our bikes and went down to the stand where we feasted upon meat-on-a-stick and papaya salad.

The river.  (a view from our table)

What we ate.

With my host sister, Tum, at the som dtam stand.  Plates cleaned!

And that was my mundane day.