Last Tuesday my friend Mark came to visit me here in Ubon. Mark and I both went to Cornell together, but we never really became friends until Thailand. He lives in Bangkok where he works for an English teaching company, he speaks (and reads) excellent Thai, and he had never been to Isaan. After taking a 10 hour (unusually long) bus ride from Bangkok to Ubon, I had already left for school in the morning. It was, however, very exciting to come home after school to a friend. At night, Mark, P’Nuan, and Andrea (Fulbright who lives in Warin- about 40 minutes away) all went to Hat Ku Dua for dinner. Hat Ku Dua is a restaurant that consists of clusters of little huts on the river. You can bring your own booze and music, and they serve amazing seafood. This was only my second time going, but I can’t help but want to open a Hat Ku Dua like restaurant in the states. Maybe on Lake Michigan?! It is such a relaxing, chill time. At night, Mark and I checked out the bar across the street from my apartment. It opened a few months ago, but I’d never been because I don’t know anyone that drinks in Ubon (except for P’Nuan), and it is generally considered taboo for women to drink alcohol. We split a bottle of red wine. Last Tuesday night, I learned that Thais chill red wine (hilarious…)
The next day Mark came to school with me. Let me tell you, I might as well have brought Brad Pitt based on the students (both girls and boys…) squeals and giggles of intrigue. (And I thought that I got a lot of attention!!) Yes, we had to answer the question, “Is this your boyfriend/ girlfriend?” all day. Mark had some great teaching tips, and we even co-taught a really successful lesson to my afternoon 8th grade class. (We taught “Directions” and Mark and I started class by acting out “next to,” “across,” “between,” etc.) It was SO much easier to teach with a co-teacher, and I thought that it was a much smoother, better class too. I wish I had a co-teacher, who spoke fluent Thai, every day! Inbetween classes, we explored the surrounding village (night and day from Bangkok), and we took a walk to the School Farm. I had never fully explored either of these areas on my own, so Mark visiting forced me to finally play tourist in my own home…story of my life! Specially intriguing at the School Farm: the little headmaster’s house that looks like it was pulled straight out of a fairytale, 5 little huts on stilts (exciting) where the poorest students live/ work in exchange for housing, a cage of black piglets, the greenest fields of rice we’d ever seen, and extraordinarly large banana tree leaves. After school, we stopped by a huge funeral for one of the mother’s of a teacher at school. When we showed up, there must have been 15 monks chanting, followed by 10 fifteen year olds performing a traditional funeral dance. Every attendee was handed a beautiful white paper rose, that we each one by one placed near the dead body to use as kindling during the cremation. I was a little bit creeped out, but I think that it was simply because I’m not used to people being cremated in America as often as they are here. The white paper flower idea, and all of the guests contributing one, is actually quite lovely.
Hilariously unexplained: As quests crowded around the shrine where the body laid, waititng to place their flower, two men on both sides of the shrine (up the stairs) came out with big pots of individually gift wrapped 1 baht coins. They threw them in the air, similar to American weddings where guests shower the newlywed couple with birdfeed or rice. However, the coins were heavy, and they were literally knocking people in the face. It was a ridiculous image. Better yet, the coins are considered good luck (like many things here in Thailand), so 80 year old men were dodging for the coins on the ground, knocking out 5 year olds. It was one of those moments where I didn’t fully comprehend what was going on, and all I knew was that I was being smacked in the face by one baht coins from the “funeral piñata,” only to then be shoved as an 80 year old went in for the kill.
On Friday I didn’t have to teach because my students had to take the ONET exam (a very poorly written English exam written by Thais and most certainly not checked by a native speaker.) Can you imagine if the ACT or SAT had typos, and plain old grammatically incorrect answers- for all 4 multiple choices? I’m not sure you can tell, but this test makes me really angry because the questions are so poorly written, and choosing the correct answer is often a matter of choosing the “least incorrect” answer from the 4 choices. Regardless, because we didn’t have to go to school, my Thai family took us to Ubon’s two most dazzling National Parks: Pha Taem and Kaeng Tana. Pha Taem is known for it’s incredible mushroom-shaped rocks (actually amazing to see), its incredible views overlooking the MeKong River and Laos, several thousand year old cave paintings (my personal favorite site), and the most gigantic vine I have ever seen (check out the pic- seriously looks like it was straight out of Jungle Book). Kaeng Tana, on the other hand, had beautiful views of the river, and a very long, very rickety bridge. Some of those wooden planks definitely looked, and felt, like they were about to break. Yikes!
After swimming in the lagoon of a now-dry waterfall (Note to self: Advertised waterfalls are completely dry during the dry season haha), on the way home we made a quick stop at a pony farm. It was very fun for me to see, and even smell, ponies again. It had been a while! It was even more fun for me to see my 19 year old friend, Yee, ride a pony for the very first time. All in all, Mark's visit was very exciting, and I can’t wait to repeat last Friday’s National Park itinerary when my Mom and sister come to Ubon this April. Who knows, maybe the waterfalls will even have some water by then!
Happy Leap Day!
Hat Ku Dua
Mark and I in front of our dining/ chill-out hut. We couldn't help but discuss how
fun it would be to have had these on our college campus.
Every weekend with all of our friends...
My landlord's dog, Lucky
Chilled Red Wine
(Lost in translation in Thailand)
Oh how many wine snobs will crinkle their noses at this!
Driving shotgun with P'Nuan on the way to school in the morning.
This is how I get to school everyday.
P'Nuan
Mark, looking tough next to those stuffed animals back there.
The fruit stand we stop at every day so I can contribute to our
family-style teacher lunches. (I do miss bringing my own lunch sometimes...)
Oh Collectivist cultures!
How expensive of a ticket do you think that this would be in the US?/
How many horrified/ worried stares would it receive?
Misty rice paddies on the drive to school, 745am
Exploring my school's village
Fairytale house at the School Farm
Stilt houses at the School Farm.
That bridge would be a liability in the states/ not the best to try and
not fall off of after a night of drinking ha
Black happy piglets
(Fattening them up before they will surely be eaten)
One thing I will never forget about Thailand is the vibrant,
almost neon green color of fresh growing rice.
Farmers, with the help of water buffaloes, plowed this land.
No machines here!
Having fun with banana leaves. Mark and I started a little photo shoot.
Villagers looked at us like we were absolutely crazy.
"Those two crazy farang are taking photos with leaves."
Serious fun.
Mark's beautiful diagram for our "Directions" lesson.
Do you see my Chicago plate?!
Funeral: Before getting smacked in the face with gift wrapped coins.
The white flower (kindling for cremation) that each guest was handed
My dinner...Pork Satay with a sweet peanut and vinegar sauce.
To die for.
Look at how someone parked their car. Awesome.
I didn't make a racist joke.
My friend Kate's brother, and his pet squirrel that he walks on a leash.
Awesome.
"Life is Short & Is So Your Pussy"
Would have been funny enough if the "so" and "is" were
where they grammatically should be.
My friend Own, lying on his vintage truck that he just finished painting
himself. I love this truck- it's so miniature, and the back is painted pink!
Mushroom-Shaped Rocks at Pha Taem!!!
Not every day you see these. They seriously are so cool!!!
Mark, Me, P'Lew, Yee, and little Nomurri
Me, P'Lew, and Nomurri overlook Laos
It's like we're back at Cornell!
But with higher cliffs, and no fences.
Taking ledge photos
Pha Taem National Park
(Background: Laos)
This sign says "Dangerous Steep Cliffs."
So typical of Thailand to me- they go by the "Common Sense" law.
There are no fences, a tiny warning, tons of children running around,
and you accidentally walk off of a 300 foot cliff? Ehh...
Slippers Area?!
Oh no I wore my sneakers!
Cool cliffs
Cave paintings...over 2500 years old (I think!)
There are water creatures and people drawn.
My Thai family + Mark
Sitting on a great big rock in front of where
there normally is a beautiful waterfall...
Hilarious, yet again.
Nomurri and I sit on the Great Climber!
I snapped a quick photo of P'Lew and Nomurri from a steep cliff.
No big deal- the photo rocks.
Going for a dip! Swimming in natural water, where there are fish,
is probably one of my favorite things to do...ever.
P'Lew and me. Jungle Book?
THIS WAS SO COOL!
Normally there is a waterfall here, but only a trickle now, the dry season.
Yee told me that when you come at night, the moonlight reflects off of the
waterfall through the hole, and that it is absolutely stunning.
First pony rides! I loved how much this gentle Thai man
loved his ponies.
Me + Pony
Hard to see, but Mark is blowing darts through a bamboo shoot (weapon)
Jungle Book.
Kaeng Tana National Park
This bridge was freaky, and so long.
Snakeskin!
I will leave you with this happy pic:
Overlooking Laos at Pha Taem. Life is too good :)
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