Sy Baat/ Tam Boon--Making Merit.

Honoring tradition, I got up at the wee hours of the morning to feed the monks before I left my village. It is part of what is "making merit" or tam boon in Thai Buddhist culture. This is traditional to do especially when you leave a place and/or go somewhere new.  It is something a lot of villagers do every day.  They wake up at 5 AM to make rice for when the monks make their rounds ( I think some call it the walk of poverty?)  and start chores for the day.  Without fail, the monks will walk just after dawn.  It's part of their daily ritual.  Anyways, you can't see it in the pics below but, what happens is the monks come to your house and if you have rice ready to offer, you stand by the side of the road (have to take you shoes off for respect) And, one by one, you fill their bowls with rice until it's gone.  Then, you sit and bow with your hands in a prayer position and they say a prayer for you in Pali--which is an ancient language similar to Sanskrit.  Usually, it is something like--may good come to you, may you find the right path, may your heart be pure and true...something like that.  It's actually quite lovely. 

Last Day for Site Visit

My last day in Sisaket, I spent a lot of time with Susan's host family (Susan was another volunteer in my group who lived closest to me and I became close with her hosts).  They are a sort of modern-day aristocratic family that have a beautiful "compound"-- small area with a collection of houses masked by trees which feels like a tropical oasis in the heart of rice fields.  Very kind people and super artistic/talented.  One of the girls in the family ("P Yee") is about my age and she was generous enough to pick me up, take me to lunch, then for a Thai massage, and finally an evening of cooking and reminiscing at her home.  It was the perfect closing to my trip back to site.  When I got back to grandma/ yie's house, I sat around with P Gaeo and chatted about the old days and what the future holds...played with the idea of sleeping under the stars but opted for my indoor floor accommodations which after sleeping on for 6 nights already had become almost comfortable.  Pics of the final day ensue...

Susan's old host accommodations--everywhere they have signs
and pictures and artwork--makes you feel like your at some
natural gallery equip with guest houses, tons and tons of flower/plants,
a restaurant (their kitchen is set up like a restaurant) and even an outdoor shower!

Set up for cooking--this particular job was peeling a cutting garlic
and shallots. Garlic and shallots are particularly popular in
Thai food and they grow A LOT of it in Sisaket.

P Yee at the "restaurant"...it's actually just their household kitchen
but set-up like a restaurant. 

Peel & cut.

P Yee and P Gai, their neighbor in the kitchen.

The outdoor bathroom/shower at P Yee's house.

With P Gaeo the evening before I left. 

Lovely ladies.  We're a bunch a goofs--grandma isn't smiling because
her teeth are red from eating too much beetle nut!

Grandpa's rice silo storage area.  He is getting ready to sell
2 bags of rice.  They keep some to eat and sell as they need money.

The Night of Mugata

OK, confession.  For almost a year, I've maintained a happy vegetarian (only eating fish) status and just recently broke back into the world of meat. I was actually planning on eating meat while in Thailand--especially in the village, I figured I wouldn't ask for something special since food is sacred and sometimes not as bountiful.  Most things have meat in them, anyways.  With this in mind, I set foot in the village fully aware my diet would change a little.  Well, for a couple days there, I really went off the meat deep end (I can't deny it was De-licious!) and lived in a sort of meat-fest fairy land. Thai people also know how to cook meat well which is a known fact!  Rationalizing it in my head means I kept telling myself that most meat in the country is much fresher and healthier than factory farm processed meats which is true (it also means more possibility for food sickness? it's a crapshoot).  One of the particularly meaty meals I had was "Mugata" or "Ngua Yang" (Thai BBQ or grilled meat) which consists of a convex grill-type pan with the meat on the grill and a sort of reservoir around the grill that is filled with broth (gets richer as you eat it because the meat juices drip down) and vegetables/ glass noodles.  Often times the blood/fat juices of the meat are poured into the broth as well.  This is all cooked over coals/open flame.  Once "suk" or ready to eat, you use chop sticks to peel the meat off the grill--maybe take some broth/veggies/noodles in a bowl and dip them in the spicy/sweet/garlicy sauce and pop it in your mouth. It is incredible.  And I swear to you...I never crave meat anymore!  But, this is sort of a special ritual, eating mugata is not an every day occurrence for Thais either--it's reserved for celebration.  Once my counterpart suggested having a mugata get-together, it was a no-brainer that we had to do it!  Splendid idea. Unfortunately, my stomach did not approve later which, is another story. 

ANYwho...cease the day, cease the moment, right? When in Thailand... indulge a little. pics below.

With my counterparts daughter--"Nong Bai Dtong" (which means leaf of some fragrant plant)
who is almost exactly the same age as my eldest niece--6.  She has
grown so much since the last time I saw her!

Mugata and all it's glory!

With 2 of the Jaidee village council members and my counterpart,
"P Dtai" to my left.

"P Sayan" to the left--a close friend/old neighbor and the
lady who lives across the street.  I never knew nor probably will
I ever know her name... every time I ask her or someone else, they
just tell me to call her "yie" or Grandma.

To the Left, my original "Grandma" Yie Lamduan--Lamduan is a
flower and "P Dtai" to the right--she was my work counterpart
for 2 years and she was kind enough to organize the Mugata
get-together... she reminds me a lot of my real sister--even the
same age. She's very grounded, kind... practical.  

"P Gaeo" whose real name is Suban but everyone in Thailand
has a nickname, it is customary.  She is a single woman who ate dinner with
 grandma & grandpa & I almost every night for 2 years--I think of her as an older
sister.  Often I would walk to her little, little convenience store just
a block from my house and sit for literally hours at a time--sometimes talking,
sometimes we would sit quietly, watch T.V., study, gossip...whatever.
 It was nice to have a friend like that.  

The Village Times

Dear friends,

I am actually writing from an island in the South of Thailand where I traveled to today as part of a wellness/yoga retreat. While I told myself I would use most of the retreat time for quiet reflection, I am also going to try to update the blog a little since I have been in transition and/or with intermittent Internet service throughout my whole trip.  And, I can't help but take a little advantage of the wifi here. It is excellent!  

So, back to the village re-enter experience. 

I have started to enclose some pictures (below) from that trip and you can begin to see all the social activity I crammed in while I was there. It was exhausting, fun, happy, and with only minimal tong sia (upset stomach or diarrhea--sorry if that grosses you out, it's actually worse to experience... turns out my stomach has not been around fermented fish, real Thai chili and semi-raw oysters in a while and of course I had to indulge.) Pictured immediately below are 'yie' & 'dta'--or you see me refer to them as "grandma" & "grandpa" this is more or less a generic term used to address an older person/person of a certain phase in life--but these 2 are my original 'yie' & 'dta'--even though younger than my actual parents they were (more or less) the family that took care of me most while I lived in Jaidee village for 2 years.  I stayed at their house. 

From there, you can read the captions on other pics for more detail. It was really nice to see my previous co-workers, especially the old counterpart who ended up lifting me a ride to the provincial city where I caught my bus back to Bangkok--not to mention treating a huge feast my 3rd night there.  It's weird, you kind of expect to leave a bit of a legacy behind when leaving a Peace Corps site but you don't really know how it will happen until you're gone for a while.  

It warmed my heart to see pictures I had given to people still posted around and people in the village calling out my Thai name "Chomphu!" as a rode my bike by like a day hadn't passed since I left.  I suspect for many villagers,  I am the only Westerner they have really known in the flesh for a period of time so it's easy for them to remember. Many people still think I am French.  which, I guess is something that can't be helped at this point!  If they don't know I'm American by now...

I was also happy to see the daycare water project still in tact. What is more, sustainable agriculture practices have really improved.  A lot.  There is now an Ag. resource learning center at my old office (which I am soooooo proud of!--that it happened, not that I'm taking credit for it or anything ;) It seems like everyone is doing more of their own raising of small animals and has their own vegetable garden and composts more often. It really made my trip to see all that!

The health clinic has grown in structure as well and school curriculum is changing to better align with ASEAN goals--becoming more progressive (I hope)

Other things that I was not too excited to see were...

--Garbage burning--still happens and the air pollution is evident and pervasive

--HIV/AIDS # of infected cases has actually gone up quite a bit in the last 2 years.  I didn't have a chance to see the Hope group in the District--the PHA (person's having HIV/AIDS) group I worked with. 

--Young persons dropping out of primary school as early as 10, 11, 12, to work, marry, whatnot.

All in all, it was good and I was very glad to have the opportunity to visit again. It was a strange feeling like I didn't have enough time there and on the other hand...I had too much time!  Village time tends to move reeeeeealllllllly slow.  Particularly, when just coming from a fast-paced place like Bangkok.  

Tis a bit hard to explain--the time balance of village visits.  

~More pics/posts shortly!

"Grandma" sitting with the assistant village headman and "Grandpa"
pictures without a shirt. This is business as usual, their house is a hotspot
for information and gossip.  Behind "grandpa' lies their little convenience
shop.  Sadly, "grandma" no longer has to noodle stand.

My sleeping quarters for 6 nights while I stayed at Yie & Dta's
"Grandpa & grandma" house. It's amazing how quickly my body
forgot the hardness of sleeping on a floor when I returned stateside...

My buffalo friends were replaced with ducks...seriously...
my neighbors buffalo are all gone.  Sad, but I can jive with duck I guess.

Sitting with my old supervisor (P Che) and his wife.  He's a fan
of tea so I brought him some Tazo from America.

At lunch my 2nd day back with many of my old co-workers from
the local government office--some not pictures. My old supervisor
treated everyone.

View for the lake where we ate dinner. 

Eating (again) with a good teacher friend of mine (to the left of me)
and her fellow teachers--second time in one day I ate fish dishes
 under a bamboo hut on a lake!

Change & Muun Duum (same same)

Hello & Sawadeee Tuk Kon! 

Just a little update to wet your whistle and more later.

Well I’ve been out to the “Chon A Boat” (country) pretty much since I arrived in Thailand—less a lag day in Bangkok—and out there, as reunions of the sort go, I was limited on time and access to the Internet.  I just made my trek back from my site village in Sisaket Province last night where I spent the last 6 nights.  It was a whirlwind of hugs (no kisses), reunions/get-togethers, many huge meals, Thai massage with friends, small visits, and some of the usual activity—i.e. riding my bike around the village like in the old days. 

It’s a strange phenomenon how things change and still, some things stay eerily the same.  The most obvious changes are evident in building and structural development in addition to people “growing-up”, having babies, getting married, getting divorced, moving, etc.  What’s remained the same is how people interact and relate.  Upon arrival, I was reminded instantly of the formalities that must take place.  For instance, it was better for me to stay with my old neighbors (remember Grandpa and Grandma?!) than my old landlord because of the relationship we had when I lived there—who I was closest to, etc. Also, these two parties even though neighbors do no communicate with one another and had I stayed with the old landlord, I would have been limited to what social activity was appropriate and with whom.  It’s all very complicated but very much the same as I remember it.  People still ask me right away...”how old are you now”...”why aren’t you married”...”when are you going to get married and have children”...”how much money do you make”...then there’s the...”you look skinnier, you look fatter, younger, older, taller, different, prettier...all the physical changes that people like to point out in Thai Culture...etc. etc. –Those taboo questions and remarks that are rarely asked in American culture, especially right off the bat. 

So, that’s my little update for now!  Will have more soon~Pics of new house structure (my old rental) are forthcoming, have been having some trouble uploading. 

My old house structure where I lived as a PCV for 2 years
in Sisaket Province.

The new house structure (same house pictured above) that was
erected just after I left in 2011. 

New hallway--addition to the old house where I used to live.
You can see the old structure in the back.

With an "old friend"--dog at the guest house  in Bangkok I used to
frequent as a Peace Corps Volunteer--the owners still
remember me from 2011!

With RPCV and Thai friends in Bangkok

Thailand, Part Deux

Hello friends,

Since the close of my Peace Corps Service in April 2011, this blog has been eerily quite. I figured Peace Corps was over and with it, came the end of my blog. Kind of like closing that chapter in life.   But, I realize now that maybe my Peace Corps experience has really just begun as  I gain RPCV status and continue to fulfill goal 3 of the Peace Corps Mission: "taking home" my experience of the 27-month stint (lots of presentations, formal & informal talks in the past 2 years) 

 On the other side, I've maintained relationships with my beloved Thai friends and family and made new acquaintances stateside with Thai business people and students living in the U.S.  In short,  

I'm happy to say that HeidiThailand lives on!  And, as time passes, so does this blog enter a new chapter.  Upcoming are new updates and adventures as my relationship with Thailand (Thai people, Thai food, Thai country, etc.)  continue. 

The impetus for all of this, you ask?  As of yesterday, I'M BACK in Thailand!  Yes, for about 5 weeks I am here to visit friends, my site community, host families, attend a yoga retreat in the South and play tour guide with a friend of mine from high school who arrives in about 2 weeks.  

Sure, life has certainly changed and continued after I left Thailand--so a brief update in pictures on what I've been up to since my recent return...

Not in chronological order:

I've become a yoga teacher & more dedicated yogi since my return--taking a bit of a hiatus from International Development as the job market in my field has proved to be a less than desirable situation.  Here in Prasarita Padottanasana 'A' in Okoboji, IA July 2012

Aubriana Mae made me a proud Aunt for the third time
when my sister gave birth on August 17, 2012.  For the
last 6 months, I have been living in Des Moines, IA with
my sister and her (growing) family. 

At Tiger Leaping Gorge, China May '11--
6 week trip in China immediately following departure
from Thailand--arrived back to the States in June 2011

College buddies reunite in Aug. '11 for a wedding

With cousins in San Francisco, June 2011 (me pictured right--
experiencing some culture shock probably in that very moment)

Sampson is my parents newest pet addition,
he joined our household shortly after my return.
I stayed at their place in Sioux City, IA upon my
return from San Francisco (June-Aug 2011).

With two of my closest friends in Boston (where I lived and worked from August 2011-May 2012)
In Boston, I received my 200-hour yoga teacher training certificate and worked at a 4-star hotel--met lots of Thais!) 

Reunion with Iowa cousins in July 2012, it was so nice to see my Aunt (center)
 before she passed away unexpectedly in October 2012