Ode to the 3 Rs: Rain, Razorbacks and Riskybussiness?

Here in amazing Thailand it rains nearly everyday.  In the states rainy days were great for sleeping, eating and watching a few movies.  Nothing is really accomplished and if something is accomplished, there is a high probability it is from a desk, possibly at the Tyson Discovery Center (Pat is always making discoveries I am sure of it).  In Thailand, there are no discoveries made on a rainy day, instead there are traditional practices. There are people hard at work, upwards of eight people riding in each vehicle (motorcycles included), all with something to do. Loud tractors filled with straw or logs to build structures conducted by tired farmers ride up and down the bumpy roads with purpose.  Every year in this beautiful country, rainy season means life and life in abundance.  Everything turns green as do the thumbs of Thai farmers.  Each meal consists of several dishes, organic vegetables, lizard, snake, fish, frogs and the list goes on.  Rainy season is not a dreary time in Thailand, instead it is the happiest time of the year.

 The change in seasons has brought me much happiness as well.  The rainy season in Thailand also accompanies my favorite season in Fayetteville; autumn.  As I type this blog entry I can almost feel the fall air enter my lungs, see the beautiful leaves in the Ozarks and hear the sound of the roaring Razorback crowd during a Saturday night football contest.  The red and white fills the stands like plump Petit Jean hot dogs fill their wrapper and victory tastes just as good as the crawfish boil that took place just hours before in the pit....ahh memories.

I have had the opportunity to do many things over the past few weeks and I feel very fortunate to have done so.  I went with the Ministry of Education in Yasothorn to "do ngaan" which translates to "watch work" in Pattaya, Thailand and Chonburi, Thailand.  We stayed a night in Pattaya and the second night stayed at a military base that was absolutely incredible.  Something about ocean water just seems to cleans the soul and the surrounding air provides a sense of wistfulness.  I was able to meet several principals from the surrounding schools in my communities, one of which happens to be a scratch golfer.  Many nights of talking, eating, singing karaoke and watching Issan traditional dance.  It was a healthy dose of Thai culture and man did I enjoy it.

On the way back on the bus from Chonburi, I took the liberty to get off the bus early and do some traveling on my own. Something about walking down the street in a place I am not familiar with and on the road to no where and with no plan in mind makes me feel free, a liberating and beautiful thing.  After about four hours of travel I landed in Khorat, Thailand.  I made a call and it came to be that a few Peace Corps friends were staying the night in Khorat as well. We met up and made the most of our time together.  Vacations are a great thing but sometimes they make me confused with where I am.  Just when I find a sense of comfortableness in where I live and what I am doing in the village the "big city" uproots me.  It is really inexplicable but  as one man from my village looked at me and said when walking down the street in Pattaya "wian hua" which means "spinning head".  Sometimes one just feels lost, overwhelmed with where they are because of cultural contrast or the seeing of new things, this is what the man was describing and I could not have agreed more.

Rode my bike back into the village as the sun was setting and my head was still somewhat "wian" from the week of travels and being outside "home".  A few days later I was beginning to find my niche again and just then I was invited to go to Mahasarakam with a fellow teacher from the school I work at who is currently studying a masters program for Education Administration.  So I was gone again and again "wian hua".  I had a lot of fun and it was neat to see how similar college courses are in Thailand to that of the United States and the University of Arkansas.  I would say the biggest difference is that all students must take off their shoes before entering the classroom and "wai" the professor to pay respect to their status.  Of course me being me, I forgot to take off my shoes and spent most of my time and brain power being REALLY self-conscious and trying to hide my feet from everyone, classic move.

Well, I suppose I should wrap things up.  Eight months in already and time has flown by.  I have learned a lot about myself throughout this journey so far, one of them being that I now know I can successfully use the squat toilet without completely disrobing (nice) and the other is that one CAN indeed "owl" a "plank".  I will get back to you next time but until then, special thanks to Papa Johns Pizza, Coca Cola, Petit Jean Meats and the Razorback Marching Band, I am Luke Fries, Go Hogs!

Rak Tuh,

Luke

Maybe A Mormon?

It is a typical day.  I am riding my bike through the bumpy, windy road on my way to work.  The road conditions are not optimal as it looks as though during the night someone decided to throw three hundred grenades on the road and then soak it with water in order to hinder my getting to work on time.  I spent some time last night preparing for my day, washed and ironed my clothes, even shined my shoes (what?).  Just as I am dodging the last pothole in a series of potholes an impatient driver splashes me and my laptop bag with water.  This isn't the kind of water that dries and is unnoticeable, this is the kind that stays there forever.  I laughed, and kept pedaling.  I then thought to myself as I looked down at my outfit which consisted of a button down shirt, tie, black dress pants (rolled up so the black bike chain grease couldn't stain them) , argyle socks (showing), with black dress shoes, I look like a Mormon missionary.  It wasn't a bad thought, just a thought, and I laughed.  Then a Thai lady yelled at me (it's just the way she talks).

I often find myself speaking a different kind of English these days, which could be a credit to my integration into culture, or it could just be me losing my mind.  For example, when someone asks me if I like living in Thailand it usually reads something like this "Uhh You-a like uh live in-a Thailand?"  and instead of answering in my usual voice with correct grammar my answer instinctively goes something like this "Yes I-uh like verry mush".  It honestly reminds me of an old children's story that my dad used to read me when I was a little kid about the boy would couldn't say please; the boy had lost his "please".  Well I have lost my English.  If I was at all socially awkward before, I have the full blown stuff now.

I don't really have a whole lot to write about today, I am averaging about a post a month on this thing which I believe is enough but here are some things that I am excited about/ are new with me (making lists is much easier).

1.  I now steam my own sticky rice at home (Thai people are impressed even if you're not!)
2.  My parent's are coming to visit in a couple months (maybe we can have a cooperative post as I know their experiences will be very interesting)
3.  It is my brother Joe's birthday in a few days (holla back)
4.  Hogs start football in a week or so (Can't wait to listen to Chuck Barrett and get his phenomenal description of those delicious Petit Jean meats)
5.  Last but not least, my niece Lynlee started Kindergarten and I heard she is a great student (Love you all)
6.  Next time I will be more awesome

Luke

Like Sand Through An Hour Glass......So Are The DAYS OF OUR LIVES...dun dun

It has been longer than I expected since I have been able to update Thailikeshirt copyright, stamp, double stamp, triple stamp no taksies-backsies.  Over the past month I have been a fairly busy man.  I mentioned some of the things I would be up to in my last blog post and of course I promised to give updates and pictures from all events.  The truth is the beach was too much fun and way too beautiful to have time to take pictures.  I always get frustrated with myself when I sit around taking pictures and I forget to actually take it all, so this time I neglected take photographs.  But, I did take a few pictures of our Peace Corps Reconnect Conference and the First Annual (lets hope there is a second, third and fourth annual) Ban Non Yang English/Life Skills Camp which you will be able to view at the bottom of this wonderfully put together blog page!

            So when I left you last I was headed to Ko Samet, Thailand which is a beach near the Province Rayong, Thailand which is approximately 200 km from Bangkok (side note, I always hated when people who wrote in these blogs in kilometers because I felt like they were trying to be cool and prove that they now thought in kilometers this, in fact, is not true it is just what people tell me and then I am too lazy to try to convert it to miles even though throughout this rant I probably would have had time to plug it into my cell phone and give you the conversion but that is besides the point) and head there I did.  I stopped off at the Peace Corps Headquarters in Bangkok and dropped off my bag for Reconnect and headed to the beach with some of my good Peace Corps buddies Tanner, Kelly and Bobby, good group of guys.  We had a blast with days filled with throwing the Frisbee around and eating delicious Thai food right on the beach, Thai style, and nights watching fire dancers and eating more food.  Needless to say for those three days we did not feel much like Peace Corps Volunteers but it was a much needed vacation for all of us. 

            After heading to Ko Samet, we all went to PST Reconnect in a city near Bangkok where we invited our Thai counterparts from our sites.  Some of them had never traveled alone or ever stayed in a hotel so it was a very interesting three days.  By the time the counterpart portion of the conference was over most of our counterparts, especially mine, missed cao neow (sticky rice, most people in Issan eat cao neow rather than jasmine rice) and were ready to go home to their families and their own beds. I must admit I was beginning to feel the same way.  I missed my host family, my house, the teachers and students at my schools, the food and the peacefulness of a long bike ride or run. Fortunately or unfortunately I was stuck at the hotel in Suppanburi for another five days.  The rest of the conference was beneficial for us all and we all gained some great perspective from the stories that everyone had.  We had fresh ideas and we were all very anxious to get back to our sites.  One volunteer said during the final session said that it had been great seeing everyone and speaking our native language and being able to hang out in the hotel but the fact was we were excited and anxious to get back to the place where most of us now call “home”; I believe he hit the nail right on the head. 

            Of course before I had the chance to get back “home” I had to take a detour to my other, “home”, as Suppanburi was only one and a half hours from Ayuthaya, the place I did all of my Pre-Service Training and of course the home of my first Thai family.  So they drove to pick me up and I stayed with them one night before getting on the bus to go back and start planning my English/Life Skills Camp that was quickly approaching.  So one night of laughter and great food and I was on the bus back to Yasothorn. 

I was kind of scared that I was going to run out of time to plan when four other volunteers showed up a day early in order to help finish up the planning and make materials to conquer the Camp the next day, and the day after that.  It was a great time and the volunteers that came and stayed at my “baan” for a few days were extremely awesome and dedicated to making the camp be a success.  Without their great teamwork and their talent I am sure it wouldn’t have been as great, but they made it happen.  Two days of wonderful games and activities and lessons on topics like Hygiene, Teamwork, Self-Esteem and Food and Exercise.  The students learned a ton and they had a great time doing it….VICTORY!

After English Camp we headed as a group to Khon Kaen which is about three hours from Yasothorn during the long holiday “Wan Cao Pansa” in order to celebrate the success of our Camp.  We met some other volunteers there and relaxed again for three more days.  By the time that trip was over I was ready to head back and get back to my routine.  I was missing my site dearly and I hadn’t seen my host mom or family in over a month. 

When I returned home I went to my smaller school on Tuesday and one of the teachers informed me that he had killed a snake called “ngoo sing” (snake sing) and that he wanted me to come over to help him and the principal of the school eat it.  This was not my first rodeo with snake sing and man was it a good way to get back in the groove of village life.  We ate and ate and ate.  Unfortunately I stayed too late at the teacher’s house and was not able to see my host family again which I was ready to do.  So the next day at dinnertime I rode my bike to see them.  Nothing had changed.  “Bai nai maaa?” (where have you been?) my host mom asked me and then the next question “gin cao duay gaan mai?” (will you eat with us?)…..Home sweet home…..

Here I am now in the village, I was able to teach the volunteer health workers in my community some English the other day and it is rice planting season so I helped plant some rice with the students on the school farm.  

So here are the pictures for a wrap up:  Beach, Reconnect, Ayuthaya, English Camp, Khon Kaen, Health Workers, Rice Planting!  Enjoy!

Much Love,

Luke