Day to Day, 12/30/2008

Normal life -- not what you expect on a travel blog, because it doesn't consist of daring adventures,etc, but as you may have gathered of late, Tony and I have settled into a mellow village-life existence. And I am quite pleased to report that it suits me just fine. One reason for that is because it's always beneficial to slow down, yes? Another, I'm finding, is that it helps you notice even more. I've been noticing what is subtly lovely: orchids slyly growing on tree trunks; the relaxed, knowing smiles of the elders; the daily laughter of ALL ages, the sunsets over endless rice fields & reflection in the waterbeds; the way the dirt floors are swept clean around houses and temples...I've also been noticing some differences that are not necessarily obvious to the speedy traveler, like how people truly adore their children, how the elderly are not neglected but included in the family always, how FUN is seen as a necessity for children in school, how nice it is to eat fresh things every single meal and how pleasant the air is here. I've noticed that Thais don't have that urgent sense of privacy that Americans do (a walk down the street at night allows you full viewings of life at home, wide open), and that aerobics is offered right there on the street for 5 baht (15 cents), with an instructor on a bamboo platform, demonstrating the moves (OK, I still haven't joined in, but I plan on it next week, I swear!). Few Thais actually walk, but they sure do economize by packing in as many extended family members as possible in pick-ups, buses, tuk-tuks, and even motorcycles carry whole families, or four school girls-- impressive!... So, yah, life is about daily routines for us now, but there are also new things every day--more to contemplate, more to learn (as there should be everywhere we exist, right?). Yesterday, I went for a long run on a dirt "track" (narrow, winding road that goes for miles and miles through rice fields & waterways) while Tony slogged around in his rubber boots in the marsh, using his borrowed net to catch things to study. We are about to move into a true Thai house, so stay tuned for pics & details! Hope your daily routines are serving you well and also allowing for fresh insights along the way. love, Becca

This one goes out to my homies....

Within the pubescent population of Thailand are the frilly showings of khatoys, boys that unabashedly languish in their feminine disposition. Khatoys, also known as lady-boys, have all the demonstrative traits one would expect, the flamboyant hand & body gesticulations, the primped appearance which can include eyeliner, foundation make-up & painted fingernails all the while found in the company of one or more girls. They are also unequivocally the most participatory students. It is important to understand that khatoys are not just simply tolerated, they are popular & genuinely well liked. The topic of khatoys begs the which-came-first question, did an open society provide safe space for the prospering of lady-boys or did lady-boys influence a more open society?
Recently, during a weekend school retreat billed as English Camp, that Becca & I were required to attend, Saturday evening set the stage for the Miss Christmas Pageant, where contestants were judged by their presentation of themselves, talent, interview & costume. Of the 3 winning candidates, two were khatoys. Lala, the first place winner, was lavishly decorated in his own handmade marde gras-style outfit including facial make-up, moving in cheerleader form to Thai-techno music playing from his mic-amplified cell phone. In the interview part, when asked why he desired to visit Paris, Lala answered, "to find my husband." It is not unusual that it exists, what is unusual, at least by American sensibilities, is how it exists. During the pageantry, the boys all watched with complete nonchalance. This is a culture where boys can be seen leading their same gendered friend by the wrist, regardless of age. I have experienced grown married men interlocking their fingers with mine while having conversation. What a fantastic phenomenon it would be if young American adolescent males could exist without such squeamishness towards their own gender & grow up to be adult males with one less hang up in the American landscape. TLC

Thai students are supposedly shy, but their drama skills are pretty good when put to the task. We're trying all kinds of tricks to get them speaking English.

Tony & friend, Howard, off fishing in the blue bathtub! Same day, Becca walks to the Orchid Wat & meets this female monk there

just down our street
& just outside of town

Trip to Vientiane, Laos

We rented bicycles for $1.25 a day! Vientiane was a very easy city to get around & relax in. The people are lovely, as well.

Dec. 10 update

We have another holiday today, and I'm not even sure why, but we're enjoying it nonetheless. Tony is off fishing with our one (& wonderful!) English-speaking friend, Howard, from near Manchester. Howard also joined us for my birthday, when we rode our motorcycles up to Khon Kaen to check out the silk festival, stay at a hotel & have some meals out. It was a good time. Since then, we have been cooking great meals together, with the grub we picked up at the big grocery store in the city, combined with our local market produce. Tony's spring rolls are still TASTY!.. Today I walked to the orchid wat (temple) outside of town, just to explore a bit. It was very soothing to be there, almost alone. There's a big outside Buddha that I think I'll visit once a week, because of the good feeling there. All the wats we've been to outside of Chiang Mai have been LOCKED, which is so sad to me. I like to meditate in them, but I suppose the beauty of meditation is that you can do it pretty much anywhere. I walked back along the road & decided to detour through the rice fields, on a windy path in & out of tree areas & swamps, and then took my time through the village streets. It was a delightful day for photography and making connections with the locals. I like to call them NEIGHBORS, actually! I am a bit enchanted by this village, and it helps to just walk around to take it all in. I like that life is not all about teaching, although that aspect is going well, too. Yesterday I poured out the love & silliness while encouraging my students to try to speak English and we ended up having a good day of it. I wish I saw each group more than once a week, as it is near impossible to get names down, much less really GET somewhere with the language. They sure do appreciate the little Thai I use in class; course, much of that is just comic relief for them. I even attempt to write in Thai on the board, saying "so-ai, mai?" (beautiful,no?), which gets a mix of giggles & claps. This weekend we have a big event called English Camp, which happens once a semester-- 80 juniors & the foreign language staff attempting English-speaking games at a National Park. I'm sure we'll blog about this!... Can't believe it's Christmas season, as it is still 75-80 degrees & no sign of Santa in the forecast here! But I sure hope y'all are in the spirit of giving & enjoying the company of those you love. I send mine, to add to that. Cheers! Becca

The King & Bing of Thailand

Yes, my birthday was a national holiday thanks to Thailand's King, born on the same day!

Giving Thanks, 11/26

I am grateful for a sense of belonging and a sense of things settling, somewhat, on the inside enough for me to soak up what's around me. Now I feel at ease and quite content to call Mancha Khiri my home for a while. My fears of this village seeming too small & isolated have subsided, and now I breath easier, enjoying the eager, shouted greetings of the neighborhood children and the elderly smiles, as I pass by them on their bamboo daybeds under trees. Our school, just three blocks away, is always pumping with activity, beginning with a morning assembly each day (a gathering of more than 2,000 students & the faculty to sing the national anthem, say prayers to Buddha, honor the latest great student achievements, and hear a message from adult mentors. Throughout any given day there are Isan music & dance practices, Scout troop/ soldier trainings, color sports and preparations for academic competitions-- to name a few. A very lively campus! Tony and I are the only teachers who eat with the students in the canteen, but we also enjoy our solitude in the Foreign Language Department office, where we prepare for our 25 classes of 45 students (that's each of us), check our emails & Christian Science Monitor online, and drink coffee (I have my sacred jar of peanut butter there, as well). We have had a new challenge of creating lessons for really basic English speakers-- lessons that need to be high interest, fun, meaningful & useful. Hmm, wait a minute! Shouldn't ALL school lessons consist of the same? Well, still, this IS a different ball game for the both of us! (speaking of, Tony created a baseball game of sorts to test their skills & it was a hit). . . As you can see in the photo, we were in a parade with our fellow teachers & admin (student band & fire dancers followed us)-- Tony is wearing the King's yellow, note. This parade took us to the river, where we floated our candle cradled in a beautiful bamboo & flower holder for Loi Khathon. This celebration happens every full moon in November, to honor the importance of water. People send their floating candles off with wishes. It was a lovely sight! We are learning a great deal, both at school & of the culture we are immersed in... So, yes, so far things are going quite well for Tony & me. There are so many people I MISS, but for that I am even grateful. Just lucky to have good people in my life, good people to come back to. There is much to be thankful for, indeed. I can only hope you all are feeling the same way today. . . love, Becca

beginning of November shots

the streets of Mancha Khiri
& dancing!

Arriving at Mancha Kiri....

11/9~ It's the weekend. Becca & I have had the second half of the week to experience what's in store for us here. Mancha Kiri, in all it's myriad of spellings (it's spelled one way on the Municipal Building front wall, spelled another way at the Police Station, different than at the apartment building we are staying at & different yet at the bus station), is a small village of shop keepers & rice farmers. It has a main thorough fare with three smaller streets, called sois, bisecting it; one we live on, one that the high school we teach at is on, & no traffic lights. It is where everyone knows each other; where water buffalo can be seen herded down a street, causing cars to go around them, & their caretaker comes up behind them with either a stick to goad them on or a 5 gallon plastic bucket to catch their droppings before they hit the road. A place that is surrounded by water & rice paddies. It's in a vast valley, very green & lush & whenever I am in such a place it is easy to think I'm in Hawaii, but it's the water here that prevents that comparison. The north is a virtual swamp & the people have learned to create raised earthen walkways in cultivating it.
But it is the students we have come here for. They are quiet & shy mostly with a bubbly curious side. They all know some shard of Engrish & they stumble on some bit of pronunciation & that is why the land of smiles sequesters native English speakers. But it is not a heavenly marriage; farongs, as foreigners are called, aren't really that welcomed in the land of highly suspicious, superstitious working people beyond the convenience that they provide & their money. It is not to say that there are no genuine smiles & generosity on those lively brown faces, but there are many levels beyond that smile & we will never know how weighty the thoughts are that occupy those that we greet. -TLC.

Becca & I camp at Doi Inthanon

A series of mass transit stints puts us in Chom Thong, more than half way to our destination. There, I ask various local folks with pick-ups if they are going up to the park, hoping to avoid the 300 baht price tag from songtaus that ply the route. I track down a piece of cardboard & buy a marker. Stooped over my sign I feel a tap on my shoulder, looking up I recognize a local man, perhaps a hill-tribe member, one that I had propositioned earlier. Smiling at me he asks, "Doi Inthanon?"
"Yes." I sputter & run to find Becca. Minutes later we are piling into the back of the pick-up with uncle, two young boys, a spare tire, various food provisions & a live rooster, mom & dad in the cab. There are stops along the way, one is to pack the back with 14 boxes of milk, which changes the seating dynamics. Our ride takes us to the park entrance where we get another back of a pick-up ride to HQ; here we rent a tent. It rains at night & the next day.
Next day in the rain, we pack into a gracious family from Bangkok's small vehicle (Becca soon loses all feeling in her right leg)& we head up to the summit of Thailand's tallest mountain. The peak of Doi Inthanon is part of the same mountain range running up into Tibet where it rises as the Himalayan range & Mt.Everest. The summit is cold, windy, rainy & socked in with fog. Great, no panoramic views, no far-off horizon, no expansive sky above. The same thing happened to me on N.America's highest point, Mt.Whitney. At the nature center we hook up our next ride down the fog shrouded mountain out of the wet cold. As we make our way back to Chiang Mai the sun & humidity makes it hard to imagine our butts were freezing a couple hours ago. -TLC

Oct. 29

On our camping trip to Doi Inthanon (the highest peak in Thailand). We shared the back of a pick up with the two boys in the photo.

FREE 2 B Hair-free!

What I like about Thailand

I like the thunder & lightening storms which are accompanied by heavy downpours. I like how it's possible to turn a skeptical look into an accepting one with a nod & a smile. I like how young & old alike acknowledge you with a wai (pronounced why) which is a slight bow of the head with hands in a prayer position just below the chin. Here, I like the easy-going atmosphere of "mai pehn rai" which means no worries. I like the International Insect Museum, in Chiang Mai, maintained in person by the small gregarious Thai man, who is the founder, & how he makes a point of greeting you to tell you something of his life's work in Malaria research. I like the elephants, who's spirits are the soul of this land. I like getting around the city on a motorbike, as crazy as that can be at times. I like how the value of a commodity is based on what you're willing to pay buoyed by the lively exchange of acceptability set by the merchant's bottom line. I like the noodle stands on the street because I can get a meal for under a dollar. And I like looking around me & seeing the distinct characteristics of a new land that tell me I'm not in Kansas. -- TLC

Ocotber 21, June Bing's Birthday!

My mom is a champion camel rider. In Thailand, it's all about elephants. Here's to ya, Mom! Thanks for the inspiration!

some Chiang Mai wat (temple) photos

Here are some temples (wats) in the Chiang Mai area where we are living.

Tony & his spice, Reclining Buddha, riding a tuktuk

October 12 brief update

Yippee! We have been unable to blog at our place of residence, and I have finally arrived at an internet cafe in the "Old City" (the oldest part of Chiang Mai that is surrounded by a moat)to make this attempt. Tony and I are doing well and are starting to feel adjusted. We were NOT big fans of Bangkok, where we stayed for the first four days--too huge, dirty, crowded. We are not cityfolk in general, and Bangkok is ALL city! We did take in some sites, but were happy to leave for the north. Our room at A-Nine Boutique Guest House (sounds fancier than the reality of it) is our first place together & we have established routines of attempting internet use, washing clothes, making oatmeal for breakfast, catching world news on TV, reading, sketching (Tony)& writing, and boning up on how to teach English as a second language. Class is way kick-back, as we are the only students & our instructor, Stephen, is a gentle, easy-going soul. There may be teaching positions open for us in one school here, otherwise we may be located just outside of Bangkok for a few months before a possible university gig in China. We'll see!
During the last few days I have enjoyed some discoveries in the area, which makes me excited for more. We can use the guest house bicycles to get into town which is great. My first Thai friend is a monk named Sanan, who approached me at a temple eager to speak in English. We had a wonderful chat (for and hour & a half), and it's possible that we may exchange language lessons. Yesterday, while Tony spent 8 hours sketching native Thai animals at the zoo, I road up a big mountain to check out a large temple, Wat Doi Suthep. I enjoyed taking it all in: the rituals, all the gold buddhas, the bells, the many houses of prayer (that's what I am calling them until I know otherwise). People flock from all over to climb the 300+ steps to the temple grounds. If we stay here, I may sign myself up for a meditation retreat there.
Yes, the temp is rather steamy hot here, and so is the food (feelin' proud of myself as I have already graduated from "no spice" to "a little bit"--I don't want to try to write that in Thai, as I will butcher it). Tony is a stud with the spice! Thailand does not seem to be a hard adjustment, and we are eager to see & do more.
I DO have photos to load onto this blog space, but they're on my computer & that has been challenging! So, hopefully soon!... Just wanted to let you know how it's starting out for us, and to wish you all well. Hope you are all enjoying your own life adventures! Oh, and here's to our next president, Obam-aahhhhh!yah!
I send my love . . . Becca

Getting Ready to Leave

It's just not that simple, as Becca & I prepare to leave for Thailand we hear in early September there is rioting in the streets, protesters killed & curfew in Bangkok. Two days before our departure date we receive an email from the director of our program that our destination, Pai, has been flooded & the school that we are enrolled in for teaching English has suffered major damage; so now our destination is no longer Pai, it's Chang Mai. What next?