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Published: December 31st 2007
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So, here’s the latest blog I’ve been promising!
Our work in the village of Kew Sua has been progressing very well; these extremely bright kids have been learning the English alphabet, phonics, counting, parts of the body, commands, directions, greetings and so on. Their first language is their native Karen hilltribe tongue, their second language is Thai and the English we are teaching them is their third language.
Last week, in another amazing coincidence, Josie, another teacher from the Seattle area visited Kew Sua with a promise to return in February and continue our work after we leave. This brings the number of “farangs” in the tiny hill tribe village of Kew Sua up to four, all from Washington state! Dan stayed in Chiang Mai to get some work done, so it was just us girls in the village this week.
So. In keeping with the tradition of having unexpected, glorious things suddenly happen here…
On Tuesday, December 18th, we held our first classes, then broke for lunch. When we returned to the classroom to resume, we found that school was out for the rest of the day and we were all to be in a get-out-the
Double Trouble
Adam and Teapot. How cute is that?! They're a couple of stinkers! vote pre-election day parade! The kids had adapted large milk boxes into kind of sandwich-boards, which they had decorated with slogans and pictures, and cut out holes for their heads and arms. They also carried numerous banners and some had face paint, ribbons streaming from their clothes, etc. all in all very festive looking!
The older boys played drums, the girls played flutes, some kids had whistles and clanked cans and water bottles, and the smaller children made “clip-clop” noises with coconut halves. We started out through the village in neat, orderly rows…but you know how long that lasts with kids! Our ragtag, enthusiastic group, went marching through the rutted dirt roads of the village, singing and making our “music”, all in the name of encouraging the local people to vote. (Thailand held elections on Dec. 24 and 25; this meant most businesses were closed, and absolutely no alcohol sales were allowed. More on this later.)
It was a scorching hot day, and as our parade progressed, villagers came out to march and sing with us, bringing us oranges and cups and buckets of really questionable water. (I mean, it was stinkin’ HOT). What a fun thing -
Parade Drummers
"Don't forget to vote!" one minute we’re doing English drills and the next we’re in a parade!
But the fun wasn’t over yet!
After dinner, we were lounging on our bungalow deck when there was a huge commotion from the school area (our homestay bungalows are set back into the jungle, near the school.) Some runners were sent to fetch us, and we set off with the group, not knowing where to…we stopped at the first house in the village, and the village menfolk struck up with their guitars, and this group we were in, about 30 villagers and students, suddenly began singing…”Silent Night” in their native hilltribe language. What followed was a warm celebration of Christmas, thousands of miles from home. At each house, we would gather near their bonfire, and sing “Happy Birthday Jesus”, at which point their doors would be thrown wide and we would be ushered into their homes. (Kew Sua is about 94% Catholic, the result of some missionaries passing through many years ago. How unexpected is that, in the middle of the jungle?)
In each home there was a silver offering bowl in the middle of the floor, with a sheet of paper listing in
Thai the songs the family wanted to enjoy, and a few coins for the guitarists. Each home requested us “falangs” (foreigners) to sing one carol in English, and numerous of our traditional Christmas carols, in Thai! After the first song, plates were passed around, containing traditional Karen treats - sticky rice balls, coconut candies and goodies, oranges, passionfruit, bananas, cookies etc. The kids had all brought bags, a’la trick-or-treating, and loaded up.
The families were so warm and welcoming. Babies were passed around (this is common in Thailand; babies are regarded as a precious gift, and the whole village actively participates in their care and nurturing…it’s lovely, and their children are all extremely well socialized and well-adjusted.) Lots of laughing, smiling, some funny games…after about the 5th house, we were totally stuffed with sweets and the celebratory mood was intoxicating. Our caroling continued late into the night, and after we returned home, we each reflected on what an amazing time it had been, being welcomed into the inner circle of this village.
The next night, I unwittingly took an inch-long orange wasp to bed with me. He objected to my laying on him by planting his substantial stinger
The parade, continued
Her little twin sis got too tired, so I helped carry the banner! into the base of my spine. I commenced a frantic dance under the mosquito net which ended in me ejecting my unwelcome bed partner. (The bee, not Josie.) Josie was then treated to my frantic stripping of clothing and my screeching, “get it out!!” Anyone who pulls a stinger from my backside is what I call a fast friend. I now know I can be comfortable with Josie, in ANY situation. His sting is only just now fading from my memory and backside.
We had a fantastic, traditional Christmas (turkey) dinner in town with Josie, which was a splendid treat! Dan surprised and delighted Rebecca with a Christmas gift of a week in the paradise island of Koh Samui, which is where our next post will be from. We can’t wait; Samui and our little bungalow there is simply the most gorgeous, peaceful place on Earth.
Today is New Years’ Eve and there will be a celebration at the nearby Chiang Mai zoo. Monks will send thousands of candle lanterns up into the sky, staged so that, in the words of my dentist, “it looks like a ladder to heaven and brings me to tears”. We just got
Dan Helps the Littlest Ones
Pointing, naming and sounding out the letters of the English alphabet. back from hiking on a trail that is new to us - the same distance to the top of the mountain, but at twice the pace and it was the toughest I’ve ever done! But during the hike we happened upon a gorgeous, ancient Wat that we never would have found otherwise, so I’m extra pleased. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year everyone! I’ll write more soon!
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Mike
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wow
Your blog has opened a door into the Ban Kew Sua world for me. I'm going out to the school on Sunday to teach there for a month. Would be great to connect with you guys before I go. Mike