Eventful Past Week

It's been a really crazy past week, which unfortunately means I had no time to write about it. I'll get around to it eventually. Want to post some pics but it's not letting me at the moment. For now I'm posting something I wrote about a week ago.


Saturday, February 6

The weekend's finally here (although we still had our 4 hour language class this morning - Sundays are our only full day off). Class is mentally and physically draining, but overall well worth the effort. We are broken out into language training groups of 4 people. Each group has its own Ajaan (teacher). My language class is progressing at a nice pace. We're a fun and capable group, and we mesh well with each other. Our Ajaan also makes class more entertaining than it would be otherwise. Nevertheless, it's a slow process that usually finds me ready to pass out at some point during each class. For whatever reason (the heat, the biking, the unfamiliar food, the new surroundings, the hard Peace Corps mattress that makes good sleep tough to come by, the 8 hour days) most volunteers are lacking energy. A number of volunteers have gotten sick - I've fortunately been able to avoid that. (EDIT - I actually got a stomach sickness shortly after writing this. Go figure.)

Afternoons are generally technical trainings. Our group of 60+ volunteers is split into two technical training groups, based on our designated assignments: CBOD (Community Based Organizational Development) and TCCO (Teacher Collaboration and Community Outreach). I'm a CBODer - when I go to site in March/April, I'll be working in a municipal office and within the community to help with projects and build capacity among people. TCCO folks primarily work with designated Thai teachers to teach English in Thai elementary (and maybe also secondary?) schools. The aim of each program differs significantly, and so do our trainings. While TCCO is already doing hands-on activities in Thai classrooms, CBOD has been largely subjected to more abstract lectures to familiarize us with Thai government structure, the economy, and our possible community functions. It's somewhat necessary to teach in theory because every CBOD assignment will differ greatly, but it's hard to look forward to these lectures after morning language classes.

This week's technical training has been better, though. For two days during the week we went with our language group and Ajaan to interview some key figures in the municipal offices, villages, and community groups. We rehearsed a few questions to ask in Thai, but all the answers had to be translated for us. We talked to the Nayok (the elected mayor, my host grandfather), the Bpalat (a government-appointed chief administrator), a Puyaban (village head), a monk, and a couple community groups involved in researching and assisting the local rice farming. The Nayok and Bpalat didn't give a ton of useful info. The Puyaban was interesting. At 40 years old, he is the youngest Puyaban of the 7 villages in our Tambon. He criticized the municipal office for failing to give his village needed budget money for community improvements to help with flooding. He said the Nayok is older, uneducated, and out of touch with the villagers - even after knowing I live in his house.

The monk was interesting in a different way. He took us into his air conditioned bedroom for the interview (complete with a raised mattress), showed us pictures on his cell phone, and played a recording of John Lennon's "Imagine" for us. Of the 227 rules monks are required to obey, this particular monk probably broke about half of them just in the time we were there. We later found out monks like this are termed "urban monks", who may take on monk-hood more to make a living than to gain spiritual enlightenment.

Despite some of the challenges, I can honestly say up to this point that everyday I'm happy to be here. The people make the experience what it is. It's a funny culture here. Hospitality towards guests is built into Thais. I saw chicken feet at the market the other day, mentioned that I like eating them in the states, and tonight they were on my plate (trust me, that's not even too high on the list of werid things I've eaten... maybe I'll get around to writing about that topic). They also worry about us like we're their children. Last week after class one day, I rode around the area with a friend of mine so we could scope out where we were meeting for language class the next day. We both got home late - around 6:30pm. Our families were both outside waiting for us when we got home, wondering where we'd been. The police showed up at both our houses right after we got home (although it wasn't exactly clear why...). Like many other volunteers, We learned our lesson.

But what's interesting about Thais is how they won't hold back on things that would be insensitive to mention in the states. For example, if you're overweight, chances are you'll get called "uu-on" (fat) to your face. It may even become your nickname. But what's hard to understand is they do this in an endearing way, without passing judgment. It's just the way the culture is, as complicated as that may be to understand. And it doesn't mean they aren't quick to compliment. In the past few days two people in my host family told me I speak good Thai. I don't necessarily believe them, but it's still good to hear.