Protests and their Effects

Although as a Peace Corps Volunteer I am expected to not get involved with or discuss politics, I think it's ok if I give a brief objective overview of what's occurring in Thailand right now. It's been a bit exciting lately.

The current Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been a rather controversial figure. About two months ago, to demonstrate to the opposition that he should not resign, he called a "snap election." In Thailand, this means that an election must be held within 60 days. Election day is this Sunday, April 2nd.

To show their disapproval of Thaksin, the opposition parties announced that they would boycott the election. This leaves Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party running virtually unopposed, except for a few tiny political parties who will be on the ballot in some areas.

There have been anti-Thaksin protests in Bangkok for a couple of weeks now. They were initially being held around the Banglamphu area -- a cheap backpacker area where PCV's often stay when in the city. This week these protesters moved over first to the Siam area -- a major shopping mall district -- and then to the Sam Sen area, near the election headquarters. Counter-protests in support of Thaksin have been holding their events in Chatuchak Park, near the biggest weekend market.

This has made our days in Bangkok this week a little more interesting, as we've had to switch guest house plans and stays as the protesters move around the city. (Peace Corps wishes us to stay far away from them.) Yesterday was made even more exciting by the arrival of a mid-day storm, just as we were checking out of one accommodation and moving to another. I thought I had seen enough of floods for a while, but we got to wade through a bit with our big backpacks as we made our way to our new guest house! Hey, at least it made our 100-degree air feel a bit cooler for a while. And it was only ankle-deep, which feels like nothing to me now!

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens after Sunday. By then, we'll be sitting on the beach with my sister Annie, who arrives here in 3 hours!

Sidewalks

In November, I was chatting with a Peace Corps staff member about his trip to Washington, DC several years ago for a conference. He described being impressed by the width of the sidewalks and how easy it was to walk around the city on them. I hadn't consciously thought about Bangkok's sidewalk widths before that conversation, but now I notice it often!

In Bangkok -- and in most of Thailand, as far as I have seen -- a sidewalk wide enough to safely walk on is a rarity. In the event that a sidewalk is more than 24 inches wide, it is probably then largely taken over by vendors of various types: iced coffee mixers, noodle makers, fruit choppers, and sellers of sequined clothing, jewelry, flower garlands, and other assorted items spread out on tables and blankets. As you walk down the street you must dodge not only the vendors and their carts, but also their customers, neighbors and friends out for a chat, and any random motorcyclists who happen to be taking a shortcut.

There are times when the endless vendors provide great distraction for walking through the heat and smog. Today, as we traversed the space between our guest house and the Peace Corps office, we passed by a school that had just closed for the day (summer session). It was a sight to behold all the snacks and treats lined up outside the gates, waiting to be eaten by hungry kids after a long day's study. Meat on skewers, popsicles, green jelly sandwiches on white bread, gelatinous sugary blobs... So interesting, in fact, that I didn't even notice the sweat dripping down my back until many blocks later.

We're spending this evening in the air-conditioned PC lounge, ordering pizza and watching a video. Kind of like a night at home, almost, in a way...

Exercise!

Exercising in Thailand can be a very affirming experience. In addition to attending our town aerobics class when possible, I ride my bicycle and go jogging a couple of times a week. As I plod down the road, passing picturesque wooden houses and rice fields, people call out to me "Exercise!" "Very good!" "Great!" Sometimes no words are needed, and I just hear a, "Ha, ha!" with a big smile.

I have never quite figured out why there is so much enthusiasm at the sight of a farang (foreigner) trotting down the sweat in a great sweat. The people in our village are not known for being exercise-lovers; most people express shock and dismay if Robert and I walk, say, around the corner to buy some dish detergent. Of course, an area where most people earn a living by doing backbreaking labor in hot fields every day is maybe not a place where people have traditionally been in need of additional exercise. But the arrival of the motorcycle to Thailand, and motorized machinery in general, has meant – as it has in many other areas of the world – that once naturally high levels of physical activity are decreasing. Add that to a growing consuption of potato chips and the popularity of television... you get the idea.

Anyway, I have come to enjoy running in Thailand, despite the heat, because in addition to the physical benefits I get, there’s just something about having 20-some people cheer you on that makes you want to keep going.

If You're In the Neighborhood...

When we arrived in our town, and for a good several months following, we had a semi-host family here in our neighborhood. Por Or Sawat, principal of the biggest elementary school in town, and his wife, Ajaan Warangkana, my other co-teacher, were our landlords and close neighbors. We spent a lot of time with them on weekends and during our first summer break. After the flood, they moved an hour away to the city, but still work here in town and Aj. Warangkana is still one of my closest friends in Thailand, despite the age difference!

Por Or Sawat and Ajaan Warangkana have two daughters, Nong Boi and Nong Bao. Nong Boi is 26 and has been working various jobs in some of Thailand's larger cities for several years. Nong Bao is 21 and will be a senior in college next term. The two of them come home for holidays and breaks regularly.

The big excitement of the last couple of months has been Nong Boi's decision to be an au pair in the U.S.A for a year. She leaves on Monday! She will be living with a family in Westchester County, New York, for one year. We've seen their photos and I've spent many hours giving Aj. Warangkana all kinds of reassurance that America is plenty safe. I've also tried to pass on as much cultural advice as possible. Nong Boi speaks excellent English and has been accepted at an MBA program at Thailand's most prestigious university. She is deferring enrollment for one year to have this experience in a foreign country first.

So, it's been a bit odd to be working here in Thailand and helping someone prepare to go live in our homeland at the same time! I admit to feeling a bit jealous -- I'd like to be heading back to the land of diverse foods, winter, and inescapable Western toilets as well! But I'm also looking forward to spending a year with Aj. Warangkana, hearing about Nong Boi's experiences and perhaps helping with any issues that come up.

So if you're in the neighborhood...Let us know if you'd like to meet the daughter of our landlords and form yet another Thai-American connection!

(Photo shows Nong Boi, Nong Bao, Por Or Sawat, Robert, and Ajaan Warangkana at our nearby national park last year. )

Ceremony

There are days when, if you were to observe me attending a Thai ceremony, you might see me twiddling my thumbs or nodding off in the heat. Then there are days when you’d see me attentive, interested, and thoughtful. Sometimes, when sitting with my hands folded in a "wai" position while the monk chants on and on, I think about the days I spent teaching in American schools. I often get frustrated about life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand – that’s probably an understatement – but I do recognize that this experience of being submerged in an unknown world is a unique and special one.

I arrived at school for today’s "ngan" (celebration) just as the first group of my 6th graders were having their corsages pinned by family members. Some had parents, others grandparents, a few had aunts, and one had a teacher stand-in. They all looked very happy and I was proud thinking about how I’ve gotten to see them grow and change this year.

When the monk was reciting and when the local government official was speaking, I took time to look around at the various teachers, students, and family members gathered in the meeting area. I thought about my days in the classroom, our class field trips, the students visiting my house and even, once, bringing fresh vegetables, and I thought about what I might like to try to do next year. I still don’t understand much of the language, and I don’t know the various and assorted family members by name, but I do feel connected in some small way to this little village across the rice fields.

The 6th graders completed the first half of their formal education today, and I complete the first half of my Peace Corps service on Saturday. It’s a good time for looking both backward and forward. It’s also a good time to be aware of the present, and to acknowledge the small pleasures of life in northern Thailand.

Robert just commented that the watermelon he bought from our neighbors next door for 10 baht (about 25 cents) is "just beautiful" on the inside.

"Vacation"

The concept of a "vacation" has changed for me somewhat since I arrived in Thailand 14 months ago. Now, for something to be a vacation, it can or should include the following: 1) air conditioning, 2) English language being spoken, 3) the ability to sit on a chair/couch/floor etc. in a position other than the standard acceptable Thai female position, and 4) easy access to cheese, Diet Coke, or beer (the first two not being available in our town, and the third off-limits to me as a respectable female school employee).

So despite our exessive amount of travel over the past seven weeks, it was with some delight that I accepted yet another official request from the Peace Corps to visit the new group of trainees’ and share my (very limited) wisdom. Perhaps even more delightful was the accompanying ‘request’ that those of us visiting training this week also spend two days at the Peace Corps Thailand Volunteer Lounge in Bangkok, setting up the new library. While setting up a library may seem like a bit of a chore, doing it in a highly air-conditioned building with a group of English-speaking volunteers while eating cheese pizza and drinking Diet Coke pretty much sounds like a vacation to me!

And if that wasn’t already vacation enough, due to the political excitement currently occurring in Bangkok (elections are next week), we volunteers are not allowed to stay in our usual cheap guesthouse neighborhood. Robert and I were forced to upgrade to a hotel with a swimming pool.

I now offer up my first ever restaurant review for all those Bangkok travelers in search of good Mexican food. We visted Charley’s on Sukkumwit Soi 11 (watch for the sign on the left after passing the first 7-11). The food was expensive, and the Spanish rice wasn’t worth mentioning, but the bean burrito was excellent and the chips & salsa can’t be beat. The decor and chilly air temp also make for a pleasant dining experience.

All in all, a fine weekend. We returned this morning (after the overnight train) to a hot day. Most schools are now closed for the summer, but I did grade a few tests at my second school. Our world map isn’t quite finished... but it will be eventually!

Speaker Savvy

We are here in Bangkok this weekend. Last night we climbed on a bus at Victory Monument to return to our hotel after dinner. Victory Monument is a central bus stop and lots of buses and bus riders mill about.

In Thailand, buses are usually operated by two characters: the driver and the money collector. Last night's money collector was a woman about 45 years old. When we climbed aboard she was standing at the open door in the middle of the bus, speaking into a megaphone. We took our seats and she continued to speak into the microphone for several minutes, advertising the bus and trying to entice customers to climb aboard.

After several minutes, she pushed a couple of different buttons on the megaphone (it was high tech, I guess), spoke into it some more, and then tied it to the railing of the bus stairs. She pushed one more button and the megaphone began to speak on its own -- continuing to call out to potential customers in her voice while she walked around collecting money from us awed passengers.

We were thus able to listen to the megaphone for several more minutes, but alas, as it was Thai and a megaphone, we could only make out a few specific words. "542...passing by ... and ... and ... ... 10 baht per ticket..."

Ode to the 6th Grade

In the pattern of Thai schools, today was a sudden last day of the term. I was originally told that today would be the last day, so at one point it would not have been a surprise. Then, however, the last day was changed to next Thursday, so I prepared myself for that. Just last week, the last day was changed to tomorrow, so I did know it was coming up suddenly. But I still wasn’t quite prepared to show up at school this morning and find out that in fact, today was the last day, after all.
So I am sorry to see my 6th graders go. They were an awesome class, and they head off to matiom (high school – grades 7-12) next term. 19 students – 12 girls and 7 boys – most of whom were interested in learning English, at least a little bit, and most of whom gave it their all. They were a class that loved looking up their own vocabulary to answer my questions, and loved drawing cartoon pictures on all their question-and-answer assignments. I’ll miss them.
In the photo, we are doing "Scrambled Sentences." I write a bunch of questions and answers on strips of paper, such as, "What is your favorite food?" "My favorite food is ice cream." Then I cut the strips into words, mix them up, give them to a group of students in an envelope, and their job is to put them back together again. I usually do color code the sentences as a little hint. Fun fun.
The school year isn’t over everywhere yet, though. I’ll be going to my other school tomorrow. Its last day is supposed to be next Thursday (originally next Friday, but they moved it up one day), but maybe that’s changed since I was there last three days ago. Tomorrow morning I’ll know more! Is this confusing? I think so!

Tasty Little Frog

Now, I did not say it was tasty. I am merely quoting the potato pickers. These little frogs jump out of the dirt when the machine turns it over, and the pickers gather them in bags and take them home to make curry.

I have never eaten a frog in Thailand, though they are quite popular in our town. The ones that come out during the rainy season are much bigger than this little guy!

Potato Pickers

One of my goals in Thailand has been to join in some farming activities. How could I say I had really been here otherwise? Yesterday I finally got my chance.

Rice, of course, is Thailand's staple crop and staple food. A majority of the fields around our village are rice fields for a good portion of the year. But after the rice is harvested in November and December, potatoes are planted. Potatoes, being a "New World" food, are clearly not indigeneous to Thailand. However, with increasing globalization comes Western snack food, and Thailand is now full of potato chips. We can buy Lays not 20 feet from our front door.

This month the potatoes are being harvested. They aren't sold in the markets in our town, but are sold to Lays and other chip factories a couple of hours west. One of my co-teachers, Waewnapa, lives in a house bordering the fields a few kilometers north of our house. We rode our bikes up there in the morning and spent a little over an hour helping to pick.

It was a fun process -- as observed by someone who only had to do it for one hour, of course, as a full day's labor I'm sure it's backbreaking. A machine called a kuboda (not a Thai word) was operated by the owner of the field. It turned the rows of potatoes inside out, so that the potatoes were lying on top of the dirt instead of underneath. The pickers (paid 100 baht per day, or about $2.50) followed behind with buckets, gathering all the sellable ones and discarding the rest. (Rotton ones were tossed to the edge of the field, while ugly but edible ones were put into pockets.)

You might notice the difference between the Thai people's clothing and the foreigners'! Thai people don't like the sunlight because it makes your skin darker, so they wear multiple layers to make sure that no skin is exposed. I would wilt in one of those outfits after 15 minutes, so I compromise with a t-shirt (must cover shoulders) and mid-length pants. The hats were lent by my co-teacher's mother, and although I first hadn't wanted to wear it, I realized quickly that it was very useful. The Thai women were very concerned about my white skin turning dark in the sun, but I assured them I had put on plenty of "cream." They seemed a bit skeptical.

In the photo on the left, the mountains are nearly invisible because of the heavy smoke in the air that I mentioned in an earlier post. In the photo on the right, Waewnapa is dressed in blue next to me in the field.

At the end of the morning, everyone broke for lunch. We rode off with a large back of potatoes in my bicycle basket. Last night's dinner was baked potatoes, canned baked beans, and salad!

Purple and Orange

Yesterday, because 4 teachers and half the students were absent and my co-teacher wasn’t sure how to keep her 6th graders busy all day, I was able to say, "Well, why don’t we work on the world map some more." (It had been about three weeks.) So small groups of kids worked with me throughout the day, adding two more colors. I am pleased to say that we restored Kenya to existence (it had been mysteriously connected to Uganda on a previous painting day), as well as the Palestinian Territories, Macedonia, Eritrea, and Timor. (I don’t know why we seemed to have a pattern of erasing political hot spots!) Next week I have to be sure that we get back Armenia, Lichtenstein, San Marino, Senegal, and parts of Russia, Mexico, and Bangladesh...
Along with the hot season seems to come the arrival of the noise season. Rural Thailand is very funny in that people really seem to follow the schedule of the sunlight. They get up when the sun rises and go down when it sets. This means that people are awake and moving about for longer periods of time in the hotter seasons than in the cold season, when there was significantly less sunlight. It also means that instead of the loud music coming on behind our house at 7:00 or 7:30am, it now starts as early as 6:30. (And when I say "loud," that means loud enough to be heard through our special thick windows and over our fan.) So much for sleeping in on Saturdays!
Last night for a treat – our first full weekend at home since January – we made eggplant parmesan. Yes, eggplant parmesan. I had bought the mozzarella in Chiang Mai two weeks ago, and the parmesan came from care packages (!), and our town is full of eggplants. It was really very good! I think I had forgotten what it tasted like.

A Pattern, Sort Of, At Last

This week we are finally feeling like there is a pattern to our days again. We have gone to school more or less regularly, put in a day at the school district office, and slept in our own bed. There is something to be said for routine.

Today, Thursday, was my first full day of teaching since probably early January. No classes were cancelled and no meetings were held. Although we taught about pollution and saving the earth (my co-teacher's topic of choice), which had nothing to do with our previous lesson on Halloween, the kids got into it and it was pretty fun. I think one of next year's lesson planning goals will be a focus on CONSISTENCY.

This evening after dinner but before sunset we went for a walk through a neighborhood I had never entered before. We went past all types of houses -- new concrete structures with beautiful gardens as well as shacks with large cracks in the wooden walls. There was a surprising number of trees. When we arrived at the river and looked across to the mountains, it seemed to be a different place from the one we were living in two months ago. Because of the dryness and mysterious other reasons, there have been fires all around the mountains lately. They send huge amounts of smoke into the air, which, combined with the smoke from farmers burning off their fields, makes a thick cloud of grey in the air. The setting sun was a bright red color.

The two photos were taken by Robert on Monday during his Scout expedition with the 2nd and 3rd graders. I think they are irresistably cute with those little beanies. There were 160 of them walking all across town.

Never a Typical Day

Today Robert and I both returned to school after two weeks' absence -- last week at the HIV/AIDS conference and the previous week touring with his family. I thought it would be a relatively normal day, but of course I was wrong, this is Thailand!

My morning consisted of reading a book because the teachers were busy showing their 3-ring binders and display boards to a group of evaluators who were visiting the school. The kids were quietly working on their math. My co-teacher sent me upstairs to "rest." (They always think I need rest.) In the afternoon we managed to teach the 6th graders for a little over an hour, the topic naturally being.. Halloween. My co-teacher had decided that with only 2 weeks left of the school year, she wanted to be sure they learned a little bit about the culture of the people who speak English. Hmm.

Robert's day consisted of walking all over town with 2nd and 3rd graders for a Scout activity. The goals, in his observation, seemed to be, 1) exercise, 2) "Scout" skills such as tying knots, 3) conduct and teamwork, and 4) sharing responsibilities. He reports that it was pretty well run, and enjoyable besides.

This evening's dinner was stir-fried vegetarian meat with peppers (Robert) and stir-fried vegetarian meat with ginger (me), both with sticky rice of course. I found both mangoes and strawberries in the "market" today, so I'll be making smoothies in a little while.

It's getting very hot again. Yesterday I took four showers!

Do They Wear Those Shoes in the US?

Last night, Robert and I went to the wedding of a school district employee, Nong Bee (the bride). While I can't say for certain how closely this wedding resembles most other Thai weddings, I can say that it was very similar to the others we've attended. So with that small sample size, I will now describe what the experience of a Thai wedding might be like.

In our case last night, because the wedding was in the city an hour away and many other school district personnel were attending, we were able to catch a ride. Our friends Pi Noy -- who also works at the school district -- and her husband Por Or Wirat, together with their Norwegian exchange student Chanon (age 17) picked us up in the late afternoon. The ride over the mountains made me a bit carsick so I arrived at the party feeling somewhat under the weather.

In general, Thai weddings are not religious ceremonies. But because the home of this bride was too small to accomodate the large number of guests (500), the party was held at the local temple anyway. The ceremony actually took place in the morning -- date and time having been determined by fortune tellers some weeks earlier -- with just family and close friends attending, so this dinner event was the reception.

Upon arrival, we signed the guest book and staked a table. Once all seats at the table were full, the servers started to bring food, one plate at a time for all diners to share. The first two plates were appetizers -- strange crackers, nuts, and preserved eggs. After that came salad with fish, a whole fish, stir-fried vegetables with shrimp, meat soup, and fruit. Pi Noy ordered me a plate of vegetarian fried rice so I wouldn't go hungry!

Once the bride and groom had arrived, guests went to take their pictures. Later in the evening, they visited all the tables, so guests could take more photos, give their envelopes with money, and receive their party favor (a glass key chain).

Lots of these features are similar to what you might find at a wedding reception in the U.S.: Dinner, party favors, guest book, etc. One that is strikingly different, though, is the presence of the "dancing girls." We haven't quite determined how or why this particular aspect of Thai culture arrived on the scene, but it was sometime in the last 25 years. At many major events -- housewarming parties, weddings, even funerals -- families will rent a large stage, music equipment, and an entourage of dancers, mostly female and mostly wearing scanty clothing. With the music blaring for hours, the girls dance with moves that make most Peace Corps Volunteers turn their heads away. We have even seen these girls at temple festivals.

Last night, as Chanon and I compared wedding customs in the USA and Norway with those in Thailand, I couldn't remember whether or not the high-platform shoes worn by the dancing girls are currently popular in America. I shouted over the music that I thought maybe high school girls wear them sometimes. Anyone over there can feel free to update me on this!

Anyway, the first photo shows Robert and me with the wedding party. The second shows Robert dancing in front of the stage with our aerobics instructor, Kun At. One other note -- the white wedding dress is a relative newcomer to the Thai wedding scene. Most northern Thai brides still wear traditional, brightly colored, northern Thai wedding dresses. Nong Bee had several photos displayed of her in a red dress, as well.

And it's getting hot again -- the cool season is over! I miss it already.

Transportation -- Fun Fun

Many people have asked how we get around here in Thailand. Not being allowed to drive motorized vehicles, we rely primarily on our bicycles when we're at our site.

When we need to go to town, however, or when we need some big-city transportation, things get a little more exciting. Of course, in the BIG city (Bangkok) there are taxis and buses and all those "normal" modes of public transport. But up here in the north, it's not that fancy. Instead we have the SONGTAEW.

"Song-taew" translates literally as "two-rows." A songtaew is a pickup truck with a covered back, usually furnished with two benches facing each other, and occasionally a middle bench as well. If there's a lot of luggage, it gets tossed up top.

If we want to go to our provincial capital city, perhaps to eat pizza, buy oatmeal, or get on the train, we walk about a kilometer to our local songtaew departure station (the road in front of a convenience store. We tell the driver where we're going and wait for 8 passengers. It can be a very short wait or a very long wait. Once there are 8 people -- or if the driver is in a hurry -- we take off. It's a 52 kilometer ride over the mountains. Sometimes we stop to pick up more passengers, and sometimes we drop people off.

How crowded can a songtaew be? We once counted 21 people!! It was rather squishy. We've also ridden with a motorcycle and with large sacks of rice.

When we arrive in the city, there is an official stop where all the remaining passengers pay the driver their 30-baht fare (about 75 cents) and from there he proceeds to drop us at our destinations. It's quite convenient on this end.

The songtaew. A classic Thai institution!

Blink of an Eye

Sometimes I am amazed at how events happen so quickly for us in our Peace Corps Thailand life. During the first three months of 2005, we changed households twice. In September, our home was fully flooded in the space of 45 minutes. In the past three months, I have been to Bangkok 6 times (8-10 hours each way), Chiang Mai twice (3-4 hours), Uthai Thani twice (7 hours), and hosted 10 American guests. There's never a slow moment. Sometimes I really want a nap!

It's the little things, though, that can make life seem so unpredictable and dramatic. Coming home after another journey to find that the market has disappeared, for example. A place that was, a week ago, full of fruit and vegetable stalls and tables of butchered meat, suddenly no longer exists but has been replaced with an unwelcoming sea of grey rubble. No warning that I knew of, although perhaps it was in Thai so I just didn't pay attention. It rather makes me feel as though life is rushing along with no sign of slowing, and I had better hold on fast!

Reports are fuzzy as we've only been back in town for a few hours and have yet to get a full story from a reliable source, but it seems that the town is building a supermarket. Life in rural northern Thailand goes upscale, or something like that. In the meantime, the fruit sellers have relocated to the street. I hope I can find my favorite apple woman again tomorrow.