I actually had to get out my jeans and sweatshirt this weekend as we had some thunderstorms come in and it got pretty cool (down to 70…it was really cold I swear!). We actually had a tropical storm warning and Peace Corps sent a text out to us all telling us that the thunderstorms can come in quickly and are really powerful so to be careful. Where I am at the thunderstorms were mostly at night and in the morning…which made taking that shower in the morning not too much fun. But I am not complaining as it was really nice to have some cool weather.
On Sunday, one of the ladies at the office that has been “taking care of me” got married. They kept telling me all week that I was going to be one of her bridesmaids (and they kept saying other stuff but the only thing that I understood was that it had to do with a microphone…was this going to be the start of my karaoke career?). One of the other ladies in the office told me that she would take me to the ceremony in the morning and would call to let me know what time to expect her…well, I didn’t get a call, but she showed up at around 10:00. We headed over to the house and the ceremony was almost over. I was just in time to watch the parents lead the couple (by a rope that was tied around their wrists) up to the bedroom that they would be sharing. They made them lie down together on the bed and cuddle while people stood around taking pictures (which for some reason made me a little uncomfortable…I guess you can blame those puritanical ancestors of ours).
We then headed down to Nan where they had the reception. Now after all the talk, I was expecting to have to get up on stage and put on a show, but it was typical most wedding receptions…a lot of tables and people eating and drinking (here it’s whisky). The food was really good and they did have some people get up on stage and sing some karaoke, but fortunately I was not one of the performers (which means we left before they could call me up to the stage and make me sing). After the reception, they took me to Tesko (a bit like mix between Target and Albertsons) so I could stock up on my “American food.”
It rained most of the weekend and looks like it is about to start again soon. I think that I am definitely going to have to purchase that hot water heater sometime this week…I just have to figure out how to install it…wish me luck!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I thought Songkran was over!
Songkran was supposed to end on the 17th of April, but I still somehow managed to get soaked Monday! In the morning the city office had a meeting/celebration to honor the elders in the village (which is typically done during Songkran). I got to the office at 8:30 and they were already showing up. There was music and everyone sat under these big tents (to keep out of the sun). We (the “younger” office staff) then went around and poured water (that was mixed with flowers) onto the elders’ hands then they poured the water that was in their hands over their heads.
As we were making the rounds, one of the guys that is always giving me a hard time (whenever he sees me he tells me to “sing song”) decided that it would be fun to pour water down the back of my shirt. I guess I didn’t mind too much seeing as it reached 104 Monday!
After the water ceremony, they did some singing and dancing and then a monk came and they prayed (it is so weird to get used to having religious stuff at a “government” function). Then they brought out these (for lack of a better word) altars (see pic below) and told me that they were going to have a Northern ceremony. They brought out two: pig’s heads and other misc parts, chickens, bottles of whisky, glasses of water, and other misc stuff that they offered to the spirits.
There was then a lot of chanting and a couple of guys tore off pieces of the pig & chicken and placed it in a silver bowl that was on the highest rung of the altar. They also sprinkled water and whisky over everything.
After they finished, they brought the bowls of food up to the spirit house and then the elders took pieces of string that were draped over the altars and tied them around our wrists as they offered blessings for us. It was a really neat ceremony although I could have done without the pigs’ heads.
And guess what we ate for lunch?!? Yep…the pig & chicken that we had used during the ceremony (although not what was left for the spirits). Although I didn’t eat the pig because I think that they gave me the ears and there was no way I could eat pig ear especially when I saw hairs sticking out of the pieces.
I now have these cuffs of string (although it is almost more like yarn) around my wrists and it is so hot out that it is a little uncomfortable. A couple of guys told me that we were supposed to leave the string on for “hah wan” or 5 days and then we could cut them off, but when I showed up for work today everyone had already cut their’s off so I think that I am going to get the scissors out tonight.
As we were making the rounds, one of the guys that is always giving me a hard time (whenever he sees me he tells me to “sing song”) decided that it would be fun to pour water down the back of my shirt. I guess I didn’t mind too much seeing as it reached 104 Monday!
After the water ceremony, they did some singing and dancing and then a monk came and they prayed (it is so weird to get used to having religious stuff at a “government” function). Then they brought out these (for lack of a better word) altars (see pic below) and told me that they were going to have a Northern ceremony. They brought out two: pig’s heads and other misc parts, chickens, bottles of whisky, glasses of water, and other misc stuff that they offered to the spirits.
There was then a lot of chanting and a couple of guys tore off pieces of the pig & chicken and placed it in a silver bowl that was on the highest rung of the altar. They also sprinkled water and whisky over everything. After they finished, they brought the bowls of food up to the spirit house and then the elders took pieces of string that were draped over the altars and tied them around our wrists as they offered blessings for us. It was a really neat ceremony although I could have done without the pigs’ heads.And guess what we ate for lunch?!? Yep…the pig & chicken that we had used during the ceremony (although not what was left for the spirits). Although I didn’t eat the pig because I think that they gave me the ears and there was no way I could eat pig ear especially when I saw hairs sticking out of the pieces.
I now have these cuffs of string (although it is almost more like yarn) around my wrists and it is so hot out that it is a little uncomfortable. A couple of guys told me that we were supposed to leave the string on for “hah wan” or 5 days and then we could cut them off, but when I showed up for work today everyone had already cut their’s off so I think that I am going to get the scissors out tonight.
Monday, April 23, 2007
My Saturday
How sadistic do you have to be to plan a meeting at 6:30 am on a SATURDAY?!?!? That thought ran through my head multiple times as my alarm went off at 5:00 so I could be ready to go. They told me on Friday that there was a meeting on Saturday morning to honor the King and that they would pick me up at 6:30. So I got up at 5:00 (ok really 5:15…same thing) showered, dressed, and had just taken the first bite of my cereal ("Frosties" here in Thailand) when they showed up (it was 6:10…I thought Thais were always late?!?) I was quite surprised when they showed up with the silver bowls they use at the wat (temple) and filled with flowers and food (which told me that there was going to be some worshiping and donating) because I thought that we were honoring the King not praying (I am starting to learn that they go hand in hand here).
When we got to the ampur (larger city), there were two rows of tables and everyone gathered around them and waited. And waited. Remind me again why I had to wake up at 5:00? Finally, truck-loads of monks started showing up. We all lined up behind the tables and the monks walked down the row and we "made merit" by giving them food. They had so much that they had helpers walking next to them taking food out of their bowls and putting it in bags so that they would have room for it all.
We then all assembled in an auditorium and prayed for a couple of hours…yes I said hours. I now know why we had to start so early. Monks have certain rules that they have to live by. Among them is the rule that they can only eat one meal a day and it has to be before 12:00 noon. So we started early so that the monks would have time to eat their daily meal.
I spent the rest of the day laying in bed with the fan 2 feet away as it was 102 degrees inside my house. I did make a quick trip to the store that is a few buildings down but it was too hot to do anything else (and it got up to 103 the next day)!!! So I hope you are all enjoying the cool weather where you are at!
When we got to the ampur (larger city), there were two rows of tables and everyone gathered around them and waited. And waited. Remind me again why I had to wake up at 5:00? Finally, truck-loads of monks started showing up. We all lined up behind the tables and the monks walked down the row and we "made merit" by giving them food. They had so much that they had helpers walking next to them taking food out of their bowls and putting it in bags so that they would have room for it all.
We then all assembled in an auditorium and prayed for a couple of hours…yes I said hours. I now know why we had to start so early. Monks have certain rules that they have to live by. Among them is the rule that they can only eat one meal a day and it has to be before 12:00 noon. So we started early so that the monks would have time to eat their daily meal.
I spent the rest of the day laying in bed with the fan 2 feet away as it was 102 degrees inside my house. I did make a quick trip to the store that is a few buildings down but it was too hot to do anything else (and it got up to 103 the next day)!!! So I hope you are all enjoying the cool weather where you are at!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Death in the Peace Corps family
I don't know if any of you have heard, but Julia Campbell, a PCV in the Philippines disappeared on April 8th and her remains were discovered on April 18th. It sounds as though she went for a hike and fell off a cliff. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends and the other PCV's in the Philippines who also lost a family member.
The Peace Corps is a weird place where people from all walks of life come together and become family. I now have so many brothers and sisters that I never would have met had I not joined the Peace Corps, but right now I couldn't imagine my life without them. We become each other's support and encouragement. We call each other when we are sad, when we are frustrated, when we just did something incredibly stupid, or when we just want to speak to someone in English. We become family.
So if you have a few minutes, please say a prayer for Julia, her family, her friends, and her PC family.
The Peace Corps is a weird place where people from all walks of life come together and become family. I now have so many brothers and sisters that I never would have met had I not joined the Peace Corps, but right now I couldn't imagine my life without them. We become each other's support and encouragement. We call each other when we are sad, when we are frustrated, when we just did something incredibly stupid, or when we just want to speak to someone in English. We become family.
So if you have a few minutes, please say a prayer for Julia, her family, her friends, and her PC family.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Pictures
I fixed it!!! No longer am I trying to decipher Thai while posting to you guys. Here are the pictures that I was going to include in the previous blog (and a few others)...
Here is a pic of some kids at a "soaker station" getting a passing truck.
Me at a Wat (temple) before we are to start praying.
Swearing In Day with the Princess (she is in the middle...I am in the back row)
This is a pic of the dancing stage and the ladies that you were had to dance with (notice the barrel of water in the middle of the stage)
Here is a pic of some kids at a "soaker station" getting a passing truck.Me at a Wat (temple) before we are to start praying.Swearing In Day with the Princess (she is in the middle...I am in the back row)Swearing In.
Songkran
(Note: I am currently getting the Thai version of this Blog so if things are a little messed up, I'm sorry...I still can't read Thai so it makes this a little difficult. I also had some photos to post but as everything is in Thai I can't figure out how...check back on this one as I may get them up eventually!)
Friday started the official Songkran holiday (I say official because as you all know, most people started celebrating early). Well, everyone had a blast. One of the staff from my office invited me to her house to go to a dance (similar to the one I went to on Thursday). Again, more water was pored on the farang and more dancing was done, this time though, I was given tickets to dance with some men...and thus got to tear the tickets when the whistle blew. (I had a photo of the stage & the ladies dancing that I was going to post here).
We then went into Nan (the "big" city) and it was absolute chaos there. There were the "soaker stations" set up on the side of the road, but my favorite was the "drive by dousers." They loaded a big barrel into the back of a truck and about 10 people hop back there and they pour water on anyone lucky/unlucky enough to cross their path. And when the "drive by's" met the "soakers" water flew everywhere...and worse yet when two "drive by's" met. (I had another photo that I was going to post here...does anyone have any suggestions as to how to change the language settings?)
All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend (and a long one at that…I don’t think that I have ever had a 5 day holiday). Some other notes, I finally killed a scorpion although it was not THE scorpion…this one was a baby which means that they are breeding and now I am scared to go into my kitchen/bathroom at night because they are nocturnal creatures. Also, my fingers are officially rubbed raw from doing laundry…I am seriously contemplating buying a washing machine, I just have to decide what is more important…hot showers or clean clothes…what do you think?
Friday started the official Songkran holiday (I say official because as you all know, most people started celebrating early). Well, everyone had a blast. One of the staff from my office invited me to her house to go to a dance (similar to the one I went to on Thursday). Again, more water was pored on the farang and more dancing was done, this time though, I was given tickets to dance with some men...and thus got to tear the tickets when the whistle blew. (I had a photo of the stage & the ladies dancing that I was going to post here).
We then went into Nan (the "big" city) and it was absolute chaos there. There were the "soaker stations" set up on the side of the road, but my favorite was the "drive by dousers." They loaded a big barrel into the back of a truck and about 10 people hop back there and they pour water on anyone lucky/unlucky enough to cross their path. And when the "drive by's" met the "soakers" water flew everywhere...and worse yet when two "drive by's" met. (I had another photo that I was going to post here...does anyone have any suggestions as to how to change the language settings?)
All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend (and a long one at that…I don’t think that I have ever had a 5 day holiday). Some other notes, I finally killed a scorpion although it was not THE scorpion…this one was a baby which means that they are breeding and now I am scared to go into my kitchen/bathroom at night because they are nocturnal creatures. Also, my fingers are officially rubbed raw from doing laundry…I am seriously contemplating buying a washing machine, I just have to decide what is more important…hot showers or clean clothes…what do you think?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
"This would never fly in the States"
“This would never fly in the States” those words kept running through my head as I watched my coworkers open the second bottle of whisky at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday (the first was opened at 12:00). Luckily, I told them that I don’t like whiskey so they were gracious enough to pour me a Spy (Thailand’s version of the wine cooler) otherwise I don’t think that I would have made it home (I do have to ride my bike and I have heard from other volunteers that it can be quite treacherous if you are drunk).
I didn’t know what the office staff was celebrating, but assumed that it had something to do with Songkran…after all, it was starting in a couple of days. So I just sat back and watched the laughter and fun (it is a little hard to join in when you don’t understand what people are saying) and ate some really good food for they had brought Som Tom which is a spicy (and I mean spicy) papaya salad that is delicious (even if has fermented fish in it). Later on, they told me that Sin (the office janitor) was getting married that evening (at least I think that’s what they said but they made the poor guy clean up all of the food after everyone left and he was here bright and early the next day).
As soon as 4:30 rolled around (that’s the time we get off of work) they all hopped on their motorcycles & I hopped on my bike and we went to a dance that was held to raise money for the Wat (temple). We had to leave a donation at the table and then if you wanted to dance, you had to purchase tickets…there were about 6 ladies with me and we managed to convince (or con?) some drunk guy into buying us all tickets so that we could dance. Now in order to dance, you had to “buy” dances with these ladies who were wearing neon green or neon orange cheerleading skirts. So we all stood in a big long line dancing with these women (there weren’t any guys wearing the skirts) and they would blow a whistle throughout the song and that was the signal for the ladies to tear up a ticket. Now also on the dance floor were three big barrels of water (it is Songkran after all) and every once in a while, someone would walk by with a bucket and pour water down your back…so everyone was soaking wet.
I just have to say if “this would never fly in the States” then I am glad I am here in Thailand because I had a lot of fun! And I was even cold when I got home & had to bundle up in a blanket to get warm (I checked the thermometer and it was 88).
I didn’t know what the office staff was celebrating, but assumed that it had something to do with Songkran…after all, it was starting in a couple of days. So I just sat back and watched the laughter and fun (it is a little hard to join in when you don’t understand what people are saying) and ate some really good food for they had brought Som Tom which is a spicy (and I mean spicy) papaya salad that is delicious (even if has fermented fish in it). Later on, they told me that Sin (the office janitor) was getting married that evening (at least I think that’s what they said but they made the poor guy clean up all of the food after everyone left and he was here bright and early the next day).
As soon as 4:30 rolled around (that’s the time we get off of work) they all hopped on their motorcycles & I hopped on my bike and we went to a dance that was held to raise money for the Wat (temple). We had to leave a donation at the table and then if you wanted to dance, you had to purchase tickets…there were about 6 ladies with me and we managed to convince (or con?) some drunk guy into buying us all tickets so that we could dance. Now in order to dance, you had to “buy” dances with these ladies who were wearing neon green or neon orange cheerleading skirts. So we all stood in a big long line dancing with these women (there weren’t any guys wearing the skirts) and they would blow a whistle throughout the song and that was the signal for the ladies to tear up a ticket. Now also on the dance floor were three big barrels of water (it is Songkran after all) and every once in a while, someone would walk by with a bucket and pour water down your back…so everyone was soaking wet.
I just have to say if “this would never fly in the States” then I am glad I am here in Thailand because I had a lot of fun! And I was even cold when I got home & had to bundle up in a blanket to get warm (I checked the thermometer and it was 88).
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