Advertisement
Pa Song, Mama Tu and Pi-tuy
I live with Pa Song, and Mama Tu, and Pi-tuy is the volunteer coordinator at Rasi Salai school. This picture was taken at a memorial a Thai man from province of Yasothon built for his mother. One day his mother was late in bringing his lunch to him in the fields, so he killed her, then ate the lunch she brought, and then felt bad about it so he built this over 2500 years ago. Sooooo.. I have finally got around to posting something new! Things have changed a lot since my last post, and I am happy to say to all of those who have been emailing me: my Aunt has posted me a new bra this week!!! (so hopefully it will get here before I go back to BKK). I know it must sound silly... I'll explain it when I get back!
The past week has been filled with lots of Thai food: fish balls, fresh fruit and vegetables. I have had barely any carbs since I got here, so I guess I'll see if that Atkins thingy really works! I am craving sugar, but I think that might be because I am a bit lonely and homesick. More on that later, though.
I will tell you a bit about the family I am living with:
Mama Tu (said "Took"): She is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met! Even though I have broken probably every rule in Thai culture already, she is so supportive! She is a very beautiful woman and she is ALWAYS well put together (most Thai women are, but she is one of the
Yasothon Rocket Festival
These rockets go up to 3000m high! best!). She speaks pretty broken English, but I have been working with her all the time trying to teach her past, present and future tenses etc. She is one of the administrative directors at the school. She is also studing part time (Tues, Wed and Thurs nights) for her SECOND Masters degree in some sort of administration. Like I said, she is very loving, and always expresses it. I couldn't ask for anything more!
Papa Song: He reminds me very much of my own father. He looks stern on the outside, but he is very humble. He always kindly helps me correct my mistakes, and he drives me to school every day. At school he is one of the disciplinaries (I think), but whenever I see him or catch him by surprise his eyes light up and he has a big smile on his face. He has had two kidney transplants and has to go to the nearest city (50 km away) twice a week for dialysis (sp? :S ). He is also studing his second masters degree with Mama Tu.
Together they are the best (host) parents I could ever ask for. Even though they only make
Yasothon Float
Mama Tu, Me, and Pi-tuy 4000 baht a month (each) (about $150), they put a T.V. and air conditioning in my room. Even though I begged them not to, they did it anyways. I guess it just shows how accomodating they are, and how much they want me to feel at home here.
Surprised at how much money they make??? They are one of the most "well-off families" in the village, and probably the province. It is impossible to fathom how poor people here are until you come here and see it for yourself. When my family asked me how much money I make at home, they were flabbergasted.
Mama Tu asked me the other day why I cried when I got here... I tried to explain it in English, but I don't think she understood. I feel very bad about that b/c I asked their daughter and apparently Thai people NEVER cry. Oops. Oh well... another Thai cultural rule broken.... :s... and I'm sure there is more to come!
Gook: Age 22. Mama Tu and Pa Song's daughter. She speaks VERY good English... I barely have to slow my speech for her to understand me. She is in University in BKK
In a Thai village
Gook and I were walking around Pa-Song's village when these ladies asked Gook if she could take a picture with me... sometimes I feel like a doll b/c yesterday a basketball team in a park in Si Sa Ket wanted a picture with me too! studying Economics (which is very much like Canada's Business Facultys, I think). She has helped me a lot, and I am sooooo grateful to have her around to translate things!!
Yai: the 90 yr old grandmother. Every day I see her, I am more and more amazed. Even though she is 90, she seems more like 70! She does everything herself... she is also very religous! She feeds the monks every morning, and meditates and watches buddhist sermons on TV. She eats good food, and spends the day in the garden mashing up tobbacco and herbs and chewing on them. One day I came home and it was raining, and she was rushing around the house to close all the windows... I helped her, and she thanked me... it was VERY genuine. She also tells Mama Tu I am beautiful and read my plam once (she told me I'm not good at saving money hahaha).
Dee: Age 19. The family's niece that lives on the property. Every family lives all together on the same lot, and Dee lives with her parents in a house 20 feet away from Mama Tu and Pa Songs. She is like my sister,
Praying for Good Luck in a Temple
This was the "lucky" temple I was talking about! and even though we have trouble communicating, we have had some very good laughs. Her 21 yr old brother finished university and came home yesterday. He seems very sweet as he is always refilling my glass (of WATER!!) and carrying things for me. Canadian boys could learn a lot from him, you know!
So all in all, things have been looking up. I have a new found respect for all teachers, as I have just realized how difficult it is to teach a large class. I have also decided that I will NOT take a year off to teach english overseas.... it is hard enough to keep a class of 50 students attention, nevermind teach them a forgein language!!
Last weekend we went to Pa Song's village and visited his family. We then went to a big temple, and when we were driving down the road a huge snake slithered across the road in front of the road. Mama Tu got very excited b/c that ia a sign of good luck for everyone in the car. When we go to the temple we had a great guide (he didn't speak English, but he was very sweet), so I
Beautiful sunsets
NE Thailand has spectacular sunsets every night... this one was not an exception! learned a bit about Buddhist customs. I did this little thing that tells your fortune: You close your eyes and pray, and then pick something that looks like a chopstick from a container. The chopstick that you pick has a number on it, and there are little papers with your fortune on it. According to mine, I am going to be rich, travel lots and have good luck. I felt bad b/s everyone else got bad fortunes! We then went a hit a gong (I think that's what it was, anyways) and if it makes a specific sound that that means you are lucky. Well when I did it, it made that sound, so the guide took me over to a gong that you rub with your hands. If it rings then you have good luck. I tried it, and sure enough it rang! And loud too! I then hit a different gong and it made the right sound. I thought the guide's jaw was going to fall off! Needless to say that everyone agreed that I was going to have good fortune in the future.
That was exactly what I needed, too. Throughout my stay here I have
One of my six classes
I know I shouldn't say this, but this class is my favorite. They are eager to learn, respectful and ready to try to learn English! been dealing with many bad bouts of lonliness..... but I remind myself that that is part of the reason why I wanted to travel alone. I think it is good to face things that scare you - even if they make you cry at the worst of times!
I have been diligent in doing yoga and meditating, even though for some reason my muscles here are really tight! I think it might be my body still adjusting though. Since I wake up at 6:00am every morning, I have lots of time to do these things. I realize I am very lucky to be here, b/c since I can't what everyone is talking about, it's almost like I'm in my own little world. It is quite meditative in itself. It also allows me to absorb everything that is going on around me : to digest all the colors, smell the scent of the flowers, and devour the sound of the animals in the jungle.
I will try to attach some pictures of the family and things around here! The internet is being tempermental, so I might wait until another day. I love you all lots and miss you!! Send
Rasi Salai Volunteers
The three volunteers... Ikue is from Japan and is teaching the new Japanese program, Aton (the man) just arrived from England and is spending two weeks here, and ME! me an email some time!!
Love,
Raylene
Advertisement
Tot: 0.113s; Tpl: 0.026s; cc: 9; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0438s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Cassie
non-member comment
Maybe he was hypoglycemic
Wow, that guy who killed his mother for not bringing his lunch on time sure has some anger issues. That's kind of crazy actually, what a horrible thing to do! Anyway good to hear your bra situation will soon be resolved. If you come to Oz you MUST visit me too! I'll send you an email with possible flight suggestions. That's crazy that papa-song has to get dialysis after having the transplants. Has he got some genetic kidney disorder? We're doing the renal system next week! love you HEAPS. Cassie