This past weekend I went to the Fireboat Festival. It is an Isan holiday that is celebrated on the full moon of October every year. They build structures out of bamboo and then fill recycled cans with oil and light them on fire and send them down the Mekong River. Some of the boats even set off fire works as they are going down the river. They also float thousands of candles down the river too. Very magical!! The entire day was full of dancing and street markets and lots of people dressed in traditional wear for their special dances. Before seeing the fireboats in Nakhon Phanom we went to Tap Phanom and watched the Pla Pak high school dance in front of a well known Temple.
Yesterday was my last day with my volunteer group. My PaAaw (PA) (principal) picked me up. His name is Gai which means chicken. His wife, Toy, was with him. We visited a village and met Toy's mother and grandfather. Then PA Gai and Toy took me to their house in Sakhon Nakhon. They live with PA Gai's parents and their 3 children- 1 son (9yrs) and 2 daughters(11yrs and 7yrs). Next to their house they have hundreds of frogs, fish, and chickens. Not the pets I would expect to own in the states. The PA Gai, Toy and their 2 daughters took me out to dinner in the city. We went to a pizza restaurant. We ate pasta, pizza and french fries. So thoughtful of them to do but it was a little weird eating American food here in Thailand. Not sure if I really liked eating it or not.
PA Gai, Toy, the grandparents and three kids live in one house and they have another house across the street. That is where I will be staying for this week and maybe the entire year. They really want me to live with them and it would be nice to be part of a family but it is far from my school and other volunteers. Still not sure what will happen. I may live in both places. The two girls slept with me. It was a pretty quiet sleep over because they know very little English and I know almost no Thai. Still nice to have them around though. We slept from 7:30 to 7:30. Can't remember the last time I went to bed that early or even slept for 12 hours. It was nice to be able to catch up on sleep though.
This morning I made eggs with the grandmother. It was quite the experience. She is very kind and really good about teaching me Thai although it is hard to have it stick in my brain, I am working hard to learn though. I must remember to be patient with it. They are so generous to me. Toy calls me phee saai (younger sister) and for her to say that is a term of endearment. Their daughters feel like my pee saai's.
School starts Monday so I have lots of planning to do this weekend. Hope all is well at home with everyone!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment