State of Immersion (pt. 2)
Heading into our homestay in a Northern Thai Village last Monday - Sri Baa Khun Village as it is known here - was incredibly nerve-wracking because none of the 23 of us knew what to expect, or how to speak Thai. We took red trucks or "songtaews" to get there, which are basically like big construction trucks with open backs where passengers climb in and sit on benches (seat belts are not a thing). Red trucks are the main form of public transportation in Chiang Mai, especially for those who don't have cars or motorbikes.
Oh my gosh, motorbikes are literally EVERYWHERE, which makes sense for Thai's because they are much cheaper than cars. But they're also incredibly dangerous because they don't have to adhere to normal traffic laws (or at least it doesn't seem like it) so they're constantly skirting around cars and flying down streets out of nowhere. There also really aren't established sidewalks or crosswalks, so it's easy to feel like you
could be run over at any second as a pedestrian, especially because vehicles don't have to yield to pedestrians. Not to mention that the driver and passenger seats as well as the direction of traveling cars on the road is opposite of the US, so it takes some getting used to. Not so fun fact: motorbikes are actually the second leading cause of death in Chiang Mai after cancer, and due to an international student getting into a serious accident several years ago, IPSL students aren't allowed to ride them unless we're on the back and wearing helmets. Otherwise we could get kicked out of the program, but as of now I don't have much of a desire to ride on one anyway, so I'm not too worried.
Anyway, we made the uncomfortable two hour trek to the village in the red trucks where we were dropped off in the community hall and paired up with our host families. Thankfully, because there were so many of us students, we were put into groups of two per one family. I lived with a wonderful lady from the Philippines named Chiara, who is in a separate program and with whom I have since become good friends. Ours was a family of five: a grandmother, her daughter and husband and their two children, ages six and two. It turns out we lived with the youngest kids in the village, which was exhausting because they constantly wanted to play, but very rewarding once we all got past the language barrier and the kiddos opened up. Also, we only really got to spend time with them at night because they had school and daycare while we had a bunch of activities planned each day.
Our family's house was small compared to US middle-class homes, but with beautiful architecture and tiling on the inside. For the sake of privacy, I won't be posting any pictures of the house, but from what I know its structure was pretty standard for a Thai baan (house). There was only one floor and four rooms: a kitchen/dining room, a bedroom for the family of four, a bedroom for Chiara and me, and a living room with a bed for the grandmother. The dishwashing area and bathroom were connected to the house, but were basically outside with just a roof for cover. The cooking area was in the backyard and entirely separate from the house, and I didn't even get to see the inside because our host family didn't let us help with any of the cooking!
In Thailand most showers do not have curtains, they just exist as part of the bathroom with a lone spout protruding from the wall. In the CMU dorm bathrooms there is an indented area of the wall and a drain, which makes the shower feel more like it's own entity. But in the village the only indication of a shower was the spout, and there was no drain. For the whole first day I was anxious about showering because I didn't know where the water would go, but finally I realized it just seeps through the floor into the ground. Nevertheless, it's pretty normal for the bathroom floor to be wet for the majority of the day.
Our host me (mom) and pa (you guessed it - Dad!) cooked amazing food the entire time. I quickly figured out the staples of village food (and Thai food in general): rice, eggs, chicken and fish. They also eat other meats like pork and liver, as well as cabbage, kale and other vegetables I don't remember the names of. For dessert we always had fruit, some of which was really odd tasting and some that was delicious. We have all become particularly obsessed with Mangrut (pronounced Mangosteen in English). I wish I could bring some back to the US! It's a white fruit which is something new to me. Oh and fun fact, cantaloupe in Thai is also cantaloupe, but it's yellower and not nearly as good in my opinion.
When Thai's eat fish they tend to serve it whole, so you sit down for a meal and there will be an entire cooked fish in front of you, and you sort of have to pick out the meat and try not to choke on the bones. It was very disconcerting the first night, but overall Chiara and I felt we got very lucky with the food we were served because some people had to force down frog and octopus soup...
I have to say, the work ethic of these villagers is impressive. My host Me works night shifts at the hospital from midnight - 8am, and my Pa works at a market selling fruit. He is usually there for ten hours a day he said, and with the couple's opposing schedules they barely spend time together during the week. My host Me also barely gets to sleep because she spends the day cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids when they get home from school. When I asked her how she manages without sleep (or coffee) she just said, "I have to be strong." Man, that's an understatement..
On our first morning (Tuesday) we worked in the rice fields for about an hour, even though we were supposed to be there for three. It was pretty fun actually even though we got very muddy and wet. We transferred the rice from a muddy field into this pond water where I guess it sits for a month or two. They didn't really explain the process so I honestly couldn't tell you how it grows from plant to grain, so more on that later.
We then went on a bumpy terrifying jungle ride to an unknown destination. Traveling around the village we all piled in the back of white pick up trucks - again very uncomfortable but also kind of exhilarating. We ended up at a reservoir after half an hour, which was pretty anticlimactic because none of us had clothes we could swim in. We then went back to our host families' houses for lunch and a siesta (very common here) and began practicing a Thai dance in the afternoon, which we would eventually perform on Friday.
On our second full day (Wednesday) we went to a local school in the morning and taught English. I got to work with eighth graders which I was psyched about. We didn't do any lesson planning or preparation, so most of the time was just improvising with games and basic vocabulary lessons. My partner and I also did some writing work with our students, which is the activity I think they benefitted most from. A lot of Southeast Asian students learn the English alphabet at a young age but have a hard time writing in English because their native script is completely different. After the lesson we had ice cream with the students, said our goodbyes and spent the afternoon at some hot springs. They were probably the hottest I've ever been in and given the already humid temperature, most of us didn't submerge ourselves fully or stay submerged for much time. That evening we again practiced the Thai dance, and were in bed by 9pm. Most of the villagers go to bed very early because they get up by 5 or 6am and work long days. Since Chiara and I were living with young kids, we basically went to bed when they did. I think I got ten hours of sleep a night; it was magical.
On our third day (Thursday) we went to a farm and befriended some goals and monkeys and then went to a market to prepare for a cooking competition in the afternoon. There were four teams each with two host mothers, and we were given a list of ingredients (in Thai) and a certain amount of money. Having the host moms' assistance made it pretty easy to find everything, and we ended up with extra money which we all spent on our first real coffees of the trip, which were served in plastic bags that you literally just poke a straw into. Very amusing. Again that night we practiced the dance and played with all the kids in the village.
On our last day, Friday, we performed the Thai dance at a nearby temple for all the villagers. I don't know what the dance is called in Thai, but it is known in English as the "dance for women in love". So naturally it's only traditionally performed by women, although they made an exception for the ten or so boys in our program. It's honestly a very slow and basic dance, and the most exciting part about it all was getting dressed up and wearing these long gold fingernails that made the hand movements in our dance look really beautiful. Afterward we sat through a temple ceremony where a group of monks basically just chanted for awhile. This would've been fascinating to listen to for an hour if any of us could speak Thai, but it ended up being slightly miserable, at least for the girls
because we were wearing these silver chain belts to keep our skirts up that were as tight as corsets. Following the ceremony we had lunch, packed up and said goodbye to our host families. The connections we had made in five days, using almost entirely nonverbal communication (lots of hand gestures) were pretty powerful, and it was harder to say goodbye than we expected. But I'm not gonna lie, it was nice getting back to some of the luxuries of Uniloft, like the junk food, coffee and air conditioning.
All in all, the homestay was an uncomfortable but eye-opening and rewarding experience. Funnily enough, but not so surprisingly, most of the villagers used Facebook abundantly and uploaded lots of pictures. So at least we still have a connection that way! (When I got back home I used google translate to write on my Me's wall and properly thank her for for all she provided for us - good old technology!)
Well that's all for now. Check in next week for an update on my first week of classes!
Peace and love :)
-Amy
