Kalasin- A land before time

This past weekend was a long weekend because of some Buddhist holiday. So Jes, Heather, Phe Nok and I went to Kalasin (actually a village about 30 minutes outside the city) where Jes has a family friend. His name is Burney and he is 72 years old. His dream was to retire and move to Thailand and marry a Thai woman and spend the rest of his life here. That is just what he did, he is married to a lovely woman Phe Luck and they run a Buddhist retreat center out of their house. They constantly have people coming and going to worship in the little temple they have made or cooking food to gather and eat at the house or bring to the temple just down the road. Phe Luck is quite a driven woman and immerses herself in serving the people that come to her home and Burney enjoys the new people he constantly meets and holds down the fort while his younger spunky wife goes out and about.  

Heather, Jes, Phe Luck, Me, Phe Nok

We got there Friday afternoon after about a 5 hour journey. It was a bloody hot day and once at Burney and Phe Luck’s house we sat all afternoon drinking water and eating delicious vegan food Luck had made. All the food we ate was new to my taste buds and delicious! Saturday we had a leisurely morning and more soy, tofu, mushroom based foods before heading out for an afternoon of adventures.

Burnie Locked inside

Phe Luck locked Burney in the house and us girls went out. First stop was a lake where we saw we could go swimming. . . we begged Phe Nok and Phe Luck to take us back just before returning home. So off we went into the city to go to the Dinosaur Museum. Only because of Snowmass’s recent discovery I was thrilled to be going to the museum. We first made a stop off the side of the road at a park that has a selection of dinosaur sculptures. We made fun with the beginning of the Dinosaur adventure by going back to the land before time and playing amongst the extinct creatures. As you can see from some of the pictures we had a wild time. Next was the actual museum that not only had dinosaur fossils but a room on planets and another room on geology. It was quite the place to explore. I felt like a kid again too because I haven’t been to a museum like this since I was a kid.

 

 

Next stop was lunch in a little hut on the river where we ate our favorite meal of soam dtam, sticky rice and grilled chicken. Phe Nok and Phe Luck told us they were afraid to take us back to the lake to go swimming and that we would have to swim in the shallow river instead. They had a huge fear of letting us swim despite us telling them we swim on a daily basis back home and that Heather is a lifeguard and swim instructor. We put our feet in the river and who knows what changed their minds but they all of a sudden said “ok we go to lake now and you swim”. I have never seen Heather so excited!

So, back to the lake where we had been earlier that morning. We weren’t prepared to go swimming but fortunately venders were selling swimming attire so we purchased our 125 baht swimsuits and into the water Jes, Heather and I went while our two Thai friends sat on shore completely covered from any ray of sun. It was quite the experience to be in water fully clothed. Yep, I said we bought swimming attire but in Thailand you don’t show your body so swim wear is long shorts or capri pants in our case and a t-shirt with undies and all still on. We swam some laps, did summersaults, treaded water and just enjoyed the cool weightless experience while chit chatting.

Water at last!!!

No wonder they are afraid of swimming they have too much clothing pulling them under to drowned

Exhausted from our fun day full of adventures and thank goodness a dunk in the water we relaxed the rest of the evening. The next day after breakfast we said our goodbyes and made our way to the bus. Our ride home was a true Thai experience as we didn’t get a seat on the bus so had to stand the entire way home. We were squished in like sardines but at least standing for the few hours was a good workout on the legs. At first though no one stood up to let Jes sit down. Now remember Jes is about 6 months pregnant and obviously so and not a single person offered her their seat until about 2 hours into the ride a woman finally got up. Heather and I were fuming at the fact that not a single person would move for her especially in a culture that is said to be so generous and giving. None the less fortunately she did end up getting a seat for the windy and hilly part of the drive.

Our weekend adventure was fun and we had many laughs going way back in time and swimming for the first time in at least five months. I felt so relaxed too on the trip because I had planned my lessons the week before so never once stressed while I was away about what to teach Monday morning.  

As for this week I taught Monday and Tuesday as usual and then Tuesday after school Phe Toy came to pick me up and I spent the night at their house for Donah’s 7^th birthday. Phe Toy and I went into Sakon Nakhon and picked up dinner stopping at 3 different places- Big C (like a super wal-mart), an evening market, a restaurant where we got food for dinner and canomes (sweets for desert) and finally a 4^th stop at the bakery where we bought a birthday cake (it had a South African flag stuck in it). I was thinking there was going to be a huge party at the house for the amount of food we got but when we arrived it was just the family eating dinner together as usual. We stuffed our faces and sang “Happy Birthday” to Donah. I gave her 7 spankings, sharing a custom from home, and some hair clips and nail polish as a present. I also made her a birthday card and she was impressed that I wrote her name in Thai. The rest of the night she walked around hugging the card I made for her. I just love this family to pieces!

 

They also informed me that 3^rd grade has testing this week so getting back to school Wednesday morning I found out I would only teach 2 classes that morning and no classes on Thursday. I quickly called some WorldTeach friends and once I was done teaching for the day I headed out to observe Peter teach that afternoon. Followed by an evening with the boys – Peter, Ben and Zach- at Peter’s house. Then today I went to Zach’s school and observed him teach. I have been wanting to see other volunteers teaching for a while now because I feel like I have needed some new ideas for what to do with my kiddos and that is exactly what I got.