Kissing Elephants and Loikratong Festival

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Newsflash: Shark attacks come in waves.

Not to worry, we have not been attacked by sharks. (Would be tough, considering we’re more than 500 miles from a beach). However, while discussing the topic of shark attacks with Kristin, a girl from Virginia Beach, we noticed that a lot of shark attacks seem to happen at once, then none for a while. And I made the totally innocent remark that shark attacks come in waves. Lunch resumes as usual. About ten seconds later, I look at Kristin, and she looks at me. And we nearly choke on our papaya salad because we’re laughing until we’re crying. Thus passes a typical lunch break at TMC Massage School.

Anyway, now that I’m done playing comedian, back to Thailand. So I’m into my third week of Thai massage school, and I am all alone this week as (sadly) my German friend Janosch only decided to do the first two weeks. So I’m now spending the days with Dao, my adoptive “Thai mom.” She’s the cutest thing ever – I want to fold her up and take her home in my backpack. And she’d probably fit. She’s about eighty pounds soaking wet and is the TOUGHEST creature you’ve ever seen (she has a son Jeremy’s age, if that’s any indication of her age). Her twenty or so English words consist of useful jargon such as “scapula” and “tibia bone” – great for learning massage, not so great for conversation. (And my Thai words consist of “socks” and “Really?” – also not very useful). Not to worry, our days pass in a delightful blur of seeing who can hurt who more (her), whose legs stretch more (hers), whose arms stretch more (hers), whose back is more flexible (definitely hers). Ah, yes, during our morning stretches, it never fails to amuse Dao that I cannot (nor have I ever been able to) touch my toes. (Meanwhile, she’s folding herself into a little Thai-sized pretzel and yawning like it’s nothing). Sigh. I especially love when she’s holding pressure points (for “ten seconds”)...each and every time, her countdown is: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10.” I don’t know what she has against 6, 7, and 8, but it cracks me up (when I’m not crying from her thumb dividing my joints from their marrow).

On Saturday, Kate showed up from Bangkok for what turned out to be a very busy weekend! She was here to see one of Thailand’s biggest festivals, Loikratong – kratongs being beautiful little floating candles wrapped in banana leaves and flowers. From guidebooks and explanation by the locals, this is our grasp of Loikratong: Once a year, the people of Thailand fill their kratongs with candles, incense, money, and little personal items (often hair or fingernails). Then they set their kratongs adrift down the river to “carry” away their sins of the year. Along with the kratongs (and even more beautiful) are the gigantic paper lanterns that they light and send into the sky to carry their wishes to heaven. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. Swirling around the black sky like an alternate version of the stars. Regardless of one’s personal beliefs, the festival is absolutely spectacular to behold, even as a mere spectator. It’s chaos in the streets, with fireworks and firecrackers going off at irregular intervals all around you – the past few nights, we’ve wondered if we’re actually in the middle east somewhere, as it sounds like bombs are dropping all around us. Somewhere in the mix, too, there was a parade, a beauty pageant, the usual Sunday Night Market, lots of food (of course)...Speaking of food, on Saturday night, one of the advanced students at TMC organized a dinner for all of us at the River House, a new upscale restaurant. About twenty students (plus Jeremy and Kate) gathered for a yummy dinner and a perfect spot to watch the opening fireworks and float a few kratongs.

On Sunday, Kate and I awoke early and headed out to Baan Chang Elephant Park, an establishment that rescues abused or unwanted elephants and gives them a safe, loving home. They now have 13 elephants in their care (the most recent addition being a rescue from a logging camp near the Burmese border). We had the privilege of spending a day out there feeding, riding, bathing, and interacting with these HUGE but gentle creatures. It was a very humbling experience that just about brought us both to tears at some point. The three-year old baby gives “kisses” by sticking his trunk against your cheek or neck and making a “sucking” noise – kind of like getting a hickey from a vacuum cleaner. It tickles like crazy but it’s the coolest thing. After we fed them about 3,000 bananas (an adult eats 500-600 pounds a DAY), our mahout guide taught us how to mount and dismount bareback (er...bareneck, really), then the three commands for stopping, going, and turning. After a few practice runs, we trekked off for about an hour up and down a nearby hillside. Then we dove right into a lake and spent the last twenty minutes bathing our elephants and scrubbing them down with hard brushes. A little intimidating to be in the water with such large creatures, for sure, but wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

A few fun facts about elephants: All white elephants born in Thailand automatically become the possession of the king, who now owns 11 white elephants. In the wild, an elephant will return to the exact place where its parents died for its own death (hence the term “elephant graveyards”). The average price to purchase an elephant in Thailand is $25,000-$30,000. A female is pregnant for 22 months and nurses for 2-4 years. Much like humans, elephants grow until their late teens or early twenties and have a life span of 70-80 years. Their memory is incredible, and they can remember people they’ve seen only briefly as long as five years later. And there’s more, much more, I’m sure, but those are the few that stuck out in my mind. Kate loved the place so much that she’s going to come back and spend her holiday from university volunteering at the park (jealous!).

So!!! I have three more days left of school. On Saturday, we’re taking the overnight train back to Bangkok for our last three days in Thailand. Next Tuesday evening, we officially depart for home, via Seoul and Seattle!! Will be seeing you guys very very shortly...

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