A Weeks Adventures

The past week has been busy filled with a various activities. On Sunday I took a day trip to a nearby city of Mukdahan with my friend Pon, a dentist who works at the PlaPak hospital and who I tutor an hour a week in english. She brought along Giew a doctor at the hospital that just moved to PlaPak to complete a mandatory 2 year government service to areas in need of doctors. We made a 2 hour drive to mukdahan in search of a famous spot along the Mekong river where you can enjoy a nice lunch over-looking the mountains and river. Their lunch speciality...roasted baby pig! There were dozens of baby pigs sliced down the middle, bones, teeth, tails and all put onto sticks over the fire. I politely declined the dish and opted for some morning glory tempura, sticky rice, somdtam, and a few bites of salted fish. The view was amazing from our little hut on the cliff.

After lunch we hopped back in the car to visit a famous local church. Its always a little weird seeing or visiting a church is a buddhist country but that is one aspect of buddhist culture that is so great. They are very open to learning about different religions and cultures, accepting all people. After walking around a bit we were off to the main attraction of the day, a buddhist festival at Wat That Phanom. On friday marks the holiday Magha Puja or Sangha Day. This is when Buddha addressed a meeting of the 1250 arahants. The festival lasts over a week where people go give merit to the temple and celebrate. Outside the wat there were stalls lining the streets selling anything you could imagine. After wandering through the streets we headed into the wat to give merit. This is where you light en-sense sticks, say a prayer, walk around the shrine three times, and stick a gold piece of paper to a statue. I'm sure it is actually more complicated than that but that is my short explanation of what happens. We met up with more of Pons friends from NKP hospital, grabbed some dinner at a restaurant called Kitty and finally were on our way back to PlaPak.

That coming Monday was Valentine's Day and I decided to have a fun low-key day with my students of making heart cards and singing shimadrink-a-dink, I love youuu. Thai are very into love and relationships with one of the first things people will ask is if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend. The majority of the shirts sold here have multiple hearts, bows, or the words Love and Happy written on them. My students knew of the holiday but it wasn't made into such a big deal like in the US. My teacher Pi Med said the holiday is just for teenagers. Anyways here are the end products from my adorable 3rd grade boys

Sixth graders Paaw and Ging (the heart is a favorite pose!)

Message from my 3rd grade class!

Finally we come to Tuesday, the start of Boy Scout camp. With only have a reference from the days of tagging along my older brothers boy scout trips I wasn't sure what to expect from a thai boy scout camp. I was happy to learn that the girls are included in this too, they are called Girl Guides! The previous week my 5th and 6th graders have been preparing walking around with rope to practice their knots or spending the afternoon perfecting their marches and line formations. The camp consisted of all elementary 5th and 6th graders in the PlaPak district. They start the day with a flag raising and speeches. After that they were sent on a 8km hike, the teachers did not participate so the morning was spent sitting around chatting.

5th graders Ora-thai and Bow practicing knots in english class!

After lunch there were 18 different stations set up providing activities from singing, boating, team building games, and even flying down a zip line on a tire into the lake. Naturally I wanted to participate in these activities which the teachers were exciting about. I was deemed as the "example" for the zipline. There were no harnesses or safety equipment, you just put your legs through the tire and hold on as the zipline takes you straight into the lake. It was fun but left me with wet pants the rest of the day!

At the top ready to head down!
Flying over the lakeDespite not feeling that great from a headache I had a great day and could tell my students were loving every minute. I would not say there are as hardcore at the US boy scouts but it was a good experience for elementary school students!

Isan Beauty

What is considered beautiful here in Isan differs drastically from the American eye of beauty. It has reminded me constantly of the well known phrase 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' or in this case culture. The palest whitest skin, long hair, big eyes, slender body and big noses are the objects of desire for Isan women. Why is it we always want what we can't have and put ourselves through the most extreme measures to achieve it? In the US women are baking their skin in the sun for hours to get a nice tan or having plastic surgery to get smaller noses. It has been quite ironic and at points funny to live in a culture who values the exact opposite. When temperatures rise up to the 90's or 100's women are still layered in jackets and pants. This left me quite confused at times and I would ask my teachers why they were still wearing a jacket. They would point to their skin and say "black, black, no". Yes, they were scared their skin would turn black-they say 'black' instead of 'tan'. One of the english high school teachers, who use to work in southern thailand at the beaches, recently visited my house and made a comment on how she would always see the women in bikinis with black skin on the beach. This of course horrified her on why anyone would be out in the sun in a bikini!

When I first arrived in Thailand looking to buy the essential toiletries (lotion, face wash, deodarant...) at the local market it was almost impossible to find a product without "whitening" meaning there was some chemical bleach in it. This of course was my first shock of what I'd soon learn. Many thai people approach me and the other volunteer asking to touch our hair, nose or skin. We are like some foreign creature that they have only seen on TV. Countless times I get comments about my curly hair often called "Pom Tuk-ga-ta" -doll hair. This brings me to my next cultural woah of the importance of a slender body. Here in Isan it is perfectly okay to comment on someones body shape, a taboo to bring up in America. My co-teachers will call each other fat or even a student if they are a little chubby. Pi tuk often comments about one of my P.5 girl students who is a bit chubby saying, "Bow fat, very fat".She then looks to me for an agreeance wanting me to say "Yes, she is very fat" (I don't actually say this but rather smile and nod). At first these comments caught be off guard but I'm slowly learning that it is not necessarily meant to hurt the person's feelings but rather just stating what they are seeing. Rule: If a person can see it, it is fair game to talk about.

Having stayed in my village last weekend, where there isn't much to do other than ride around the rice field or sit in bed and read, I decided I was going to take my chances and head over to the local beauty salon to get a hair cut. This was going against my teachers recommendations saying in PlaPak "mai sueay" -hair cuts in plapak not beautiful. Oh well, I decided I'd rather have my money go back into the village I live in rather than the city. As I walked into the shop it caused quite a stir with many of the ladies snickering and laughing to each other on how the farlang was there. After waiting a few minutes my time was up and I gestured to the women cut while saying "Nit-noi, Nit-noi"(little bit, little bit) I figured it is pretty hard to mess up on curly hair because little imperfections are easily hidden. All went smooth and she blow dried and straightened my hair, first time in 4 MONTHS, and even put the finishing touch of two little french braids. In the states a trip to get a hair cut can cost as much as $40..but in PlaPak..about $3!

Beauty Salon PlaPak