Randoms (May 25, 2011)

So, it's been a while since I wrote but couldn't really figure out what to write about.  I mean, how many stories can one really tell about monk ordinations, funerals and other Thai events?  That's much of what happens in my life these days, and although it's usually fun/strange/interesting for me, it may not be so much fun to read ALL the time.  So, for fear of disappointing my avid followers (thanks guys!) I thought that I'd have to write about something to keep you guys in the loop on my life in the hood.  So I figured I'd bullet out a few random things - here's my Top 10:

1. There's a lot of paperwork in Peace Corps (PC)....every time I complete something I feel like I'm back in NY, but not for the good stuff!  Sorry PC, I love you but there really is a lot of papework.

2. I was attacked by a chicken a couple of weeks ago.  Most people are afraid of the stray dogs (which there are lots of) while bike riding, b/c they like to chase you, but I'm offiically more scared of the chickens. This particular chicken thought I was going to run over her chick, which I came close to I'll admit, but was able to avoid.  But mama wasn't happy with me and went balls out crazy.  I practically fell off my bike, screaming like a mad woman.  Seriously, my initial reaction was to scream and curse at it.  Once I got away and gained my composure I was completely embarassed and hoped that my neighbors were taking their mid-day nap and didn't see the scene.

3. In Ayutthaya during training, I washed my clothes by hand - literally the worst experience ever.  It takes hours, working hard in this heat is excruciating and once you are finished you question whether or not your clothes are even clean.  So you could imagine my excitement when my host family in Don Nang Hong (DNH) let me use their washing machine and agreed to let me come do my laundry even though I'm not living with them anymore. It's been a blessing.  But the other day, riding my bike home with my huge and very full basket of clean clothes after a nice down pour was difficult (rainy season has begun).  I was pulling into my 'driveway' and fell off of my bike and so did all of my clothes.  Oh well! 

4. The village I live in is quite compact with the houses being very close to each other.  But only about 50 meters away, the land opens into field upon field and it's beautiful and refreshing.  There are always cows and buffalo grazing and it's lovely to see.  Sometimes the cows cause a little traffic jam for me.....they like to hang in the middle of the road and lazily munch on their grass.  It's actually very cute.  One of the farmers takes his cattle for a walk every day and they pass my house on their route.  It makes me feel like I'm living a bit of a peace corps life, even though I'm in my house with my fan blowing on me because I'm fortunate enough to have electricity.

5. I had to leave work early today because I was having some stomach issues.  This is not all that uncommon here, but everybody at work was so concerned about me.  Three people called me tonight to see how I was feeling and if I needed to go to a doctor.  Thai people are kind.

6. I received a few packages from home including some of my favorite goodies (thanks Mom, Jackie and Mo!)  I ate a box of cheez-its in less than 24 hours - can you tell I'm missing cheez-its?  Good story, I was sent huge bags of raw nuts b/c Thailand just doesn't have raw nuts, it's a shame.  But some of the hood kids and ladies came over the other day and asked what I was munching on.  I offered the nuts and the older woman said no because they were fattening.  What I wanted to say was: "you just ate dinner doused in oil with 10 tablespoons of sugar, and you are concerned about my nuts being fattening?".  But instead, I said they are a little fattening but to eat a few are really healthy for you.  So, she caved in and tried it and so did the kids.  the kids loved them and came back for second and third helpings....another health victory for me!

7. I've been interviewing community leaders and other community resources to learn about the strengths and needs of my community.  There are 11 villages in my community, so I've been meeting with a lot of people and it's keeping me busy.  I've assessed that every village has stated that lack of exercise is a big problem.  Meanwhile some of the villagers have told me that they would like the community to have dance aerobics (this is huge in Thailand and great exercise). Apparently, we used to have it but they stopped - they wanted me to teach it but I immediately nixed that idea.  So, I spoke to the women who used to lead the class and she said if I get people, she'll teach it every day!  Now that I've interviewed most of the villages, I am aware of some resources, know some important people and have some great promotional ideas for this (i.e. DJ announcements on a local radio station - the DJ and I are tight; the daily morning announcements that each village makes through the information tower enormous speakers).  I'm so excited to get this started and give the people something they have asked me for.  And I'm  not doing much - I 'm doing what the CBOD program encourages.  Use the communities resources and strengths and make stuff happen that can be sustained when I leave in 2 years....check this one off as a hook up! 

8. I played dominoes Monday morning with some village ladies....they were really good and I lost 30 baht!

9. I helped some village women and young girls make baskets out of bamboo that hold the sticky rice.  I was excited to take part in something very traditional and cultural here.

10. I've been accepted to the Gender and Development GIG for the Peace Corps. There are a group of 5 (2 were just chosen from my group 123, me and my friend Joe) who meet regularly to talk about issues related to gender and development in Thailand (which there are lots of things to discuss).  From there, we have the freedom to do what we want to address these issues.  As a PCV, my work is limited to my tambon, but this is something that allows me to work on something a bit more large-scale/country-wide.  I'm very excited!

11. BONUS:  I skyped my sister and brother-in-law today and got to see my 2 beautiful nephews.  It was the first time I've seen them since I left in January and it gave me such a boost :)

Till next time.....

I'm falling in love....(May 10, 2011)

.....with my community!  The more people I meet here, the more I love it!

I'm offiically living all on my own, like a big girl!  The house I'm living in is quite small, but perfect for me.  It's small enough to manage (cleaning,etc) yet big enough where I can have guests.  My home is on the same plot of land as my landlord.  The village is quite compact and there is not much space, yet there are beautiful flowers and trees.  I think it's better that I don't have land to maintain...if I want the views of fields, I walk 100 yards to my left and it's gorgeous.  There's this one farmer who walks his water buffalo down my block ever morning....so that keeps things real for me.

My first night in the new house, all of the new neighbors came over to watch me cook asking why I didn't use sugar or meat.  Interesting conversation.  One women came over with rice - I told her I had some already, I would just rather not eat rice for dinner that night. I proceeded to tell my spectators that although Thai people eat rice 3 times a day, Americans eat rice maybe 1 time a week.  There was literally a gasp from everybody (adults and children) and then silence.  The silence was broken by the women with the bag of rice as she began cooking it for me.  Again, I thanked her but said I didn't want rice.  This was apparently not acceptable and so the rice was made for me and I ate it for dinner.  It was actually a good thing because she taught me how to use the rice cooker!  Funny, even though now my cooking has become less of a novelty and I no longer have spectators, I eat rice every day.  I guess I'm just melding in. 

Burn the house down - April 21, 2011

There was a very big event in my community this week (in April).   A monk had died about 3 weeks ago and the villagers have been planning for his funeral for 3 weeks.  He was in a casket this whole time in the Wat while the villagers planned.  I attended 1 of the planning meetings and there were so many people there, all taking a part in this.  That alone shows you how important monks are to the Thai Buddhists.  Sometimes I question the sincerity and legitimacy of many of the monks (let’s hope this doesn’t give me bad karma!) but this was an older guy who was a monk all of his life and was well respected in the community.  My host family and I went to the Wat a few nights during the week to help the ladies prepare while the men set up chairs, tables, etc and basically re-did the Wat.  There was apparently some heavy fundraising for the event, so the money went to getting the Wat done up all fancy.  Wednesday was the big day and nobody went to work because we were all at the Wat.  There were tables upon tables of food as each village set up food stations and fed everybody in the community.  It was really nice to see that everybody came together and just handed out food; it was very community oriented.  I did help serve some food at 1 point and everybody came to my station to get food from the farang…it’s seriously hysterical how much of a novelty I am here.  It’s like, I’m just a regular old jo schmo just like you guys but they still think it’s hysterical when I do things like this.  Otherwise, I was fed all day long and chatted with people – 2 of my favorite things: food and people.  So, I’m not sure if it was the aura of the event, the food or leisure socializing but for the first time, I just fit right in and it felt so good after feeling like the odd man out for the past month. 

After a day of eating and chatting the ceremony began with, you guessed it, some chanting with the monks.  I’ve never seen so many monks in one location before.  They all went up to the casket that was placed in this little house-like-building in which you had to walk up about 6 steps.   After that, all of the villagers went up to pay their respects, placed a flower on the casket and said a prayer.  Later that night once the sun set, the little house with the casket was lit on fire and we watched it burn with fireworks in the background.  The fireworks will forever elude me, but the burning was interesting.  I learned that Buddhists used to bury bodies like Christians (if I understood correctly, this was about 50 years ago), but they began to burn for 2 reasons: burying bodies took up too much land and it ‘was dirty’ because of disease then being in the ground. After all was said and done, we went to celebrate, Thai style of course.  The typical Thai party consists of the market stands, like any festival back home, with a massive stage that is decorated with insanely brightly colored curtains and electric lights.  The stage is then taken over by singers and dancers.  These dancers defy the typical modest Thai culture.  The dancers are practically naked and dance provocatively.  Yet women don’t wear clothes that show shoulders or anything above the knee because it’s viewed as inappropriate.  I think it’s just another reflection of a culture that historically has been so sexually repressed and now people are going a bit buck wild.  It reminds me a bit of America in the 60’s and 70’s, although not nearly as wild.  While the singers sing and the ladies dance, the audience gets all giddy like they are at a concert with the biggest celebrity in the world (I love this, think it’s so cute!) as the drunk 14 year old boys, along with some drunk grandmas, tear up the dance floor.  I was given flowers to give one of the male singers – when you do that, it basically means that you think they are great/beautiful so everybody got a kick out of that.  I left at 10:30 that night and woke up at 5:30am to the music still going and people still dancing.  These Thai’s know how to party!