First Letter Home - Aug 3, 1993

Tracy Turner

C/O Peace Corps, PCT 103A

242 Rajvithi Road

Dusit, Bangkok, 10300 Thailand

August 3, 1993

Hi Gang!

It seems like I’ve been gone for a lifetime – everything is SO different, but because we’re in a group of Americans, it really doesn’t feel like we’re on the other side of the world!  Thailand is so wonderful! Such friendly people.

            We got to Ayutthaya (Ah-you-tia) on Friday – now it is Tuesday night, and there is so much to tell already!  This town was the first Capitol of Thailand (before Bangkok). Most of the ruins, and there are tons, date back to the 1300’s, most of the ruins are also Temples, they’re called “Wat’s”.

            We went to school on Saturday and had Sunday off.  Sunday was laundry day!  There are “facilities” on the roof of the hotel, which means huge washtubs, running water and clotheslines!!

            We are learning a lot about Thai culture, the head is revered as the best part of your body and the foot is the most disgusting part.  Hence the reason you never point your foot at anyone or pat someone on the head.  Men don’t touch women and women don’t touch men (in public).  Anyway, when we were up on the roof doing laundry (writing letters, reading, etc.) Lisa (my roommate) and Jeff (another Forestry guy) were marching through their laundry like Lucy stomping the grapes!  We were all laughing and the Thai women kept coming out (they were doing the hotel laundry) and smiling and bowing to us until they saw Jeff walking on his clothes – they got very upset and of course we were totally clueless!  A few minutes later someone told us… oops… a cultural faux pas!  Jeff turned several shades of red.

            The hotel we are in is pretty nice; at least they have a western toilet, air conditioning, refrigerator and TV (all Thai!).  We hear Group B in Lopburi isn’t so lucky. Some of the things that happen are so funny, I have to share:  Dan’s pillow was like a hunk of cement, (Dan is a Fisheries guy that also hangs around with Lisa and I) and I told him to take mine because I don’t use it.  He wanted to try to exchange it first.  When the housekeeper was one our floor, he asked her…she speaks no English, so he acts it out (as best he could) that the pillow was hard and then pressed the pile of towels and made soft, comfy, ahhhhh, faces.  This all took several minutes, finally she “bing” understood – and put a new pillowcase on his pillow.  She smiled and bowed (wai’d) so many times that Dan couldn’t say anything but thank you.  Then he was very careful no to let her see him bring it down to my room!  Too funny!

            There are some beautiful parks around here too, our school is called the “Sala Pracha Kome” or Government Community Building – next door to the library (all Thai books) you step out the door and run to the right (leo-kwa) and the view is a large pond covered with water lilies, water cabbage and lotus blossoms.  On the other side of this is Wat Phra Ram, one of the big ruins, it resembles a large Phallic symbol!  This place is like a picturesque scene in a postcard!  Across the street to the left is the Governor of the Provinces’ (the first one around 1300 AD) house and gardens, the house is all teak, on stilts, you have to take your shoes off to go in and the ponds and gardens and ruins are stunning.  It really is something to see.

            We have had three full days of school.  There are six students in our group and two “Ajaans” or teachers.  Ajaan Panutat is from the South of Thailand and he is very funny.  He is always asking the guys to teach him some American slang!  So far his favorites are:  “What’s up, Homey?”  “Let’s blow this joint” and “It tastes like chicken!”  So funny with a Thai accent.  Ajaan Atcha is 23 and also from the south.  She is really fun too – that is very common with the Thai people, they like to have fun or “sanook”!

            The ESL (English as a Second Language) / Adult learning methods the Peace Corps have adopted are amazing.  Right now they are teaching us survival skills.  I know all my numbers, most of the food, fruit and drinks.  Plus, the people we see everyday are much more patient with us than they were last Saturday!     The market is on the same street as the hotel (one of the markets!).  It is a thrill getting across the street!  Buses, motorcycles, and tuk-tuk’s.  Right hand drive on the wrong side of the street!  Its not life-prolonging when you are watching for a clear spot to dash across the street and the traffic is going opposite of what you are accustomed to!  AHHHHH!

            You can get anything at the market, it is like a huge swapmeet, everything from fruit to meat to clothes or toys, plus watches, jewelry, radios, etc., etc.  Everything is very, very inexpensive when related to my American standards.  But, since we are paid by Thai standards… (it is still inexpensive!).  A good dinner costs about 15-25 baht (at the time of this writing, 25 baht equals $1.00 US Dollar).   They have tons of wonderful fruit (nothing that any of us recognize)! 

            Lisa and I are on the “Party” committee, to help build on our support group.  (Yeah! Right!)  One of the events we are planning is a fruit eating party!  Where we will bring a bunch of fruit and the Ajaans will show us how to eat them.  Lisa, Julia, Jeff, Dan & I have already had Ajaan Atcha show us most of them.  There is breadfruit to try, we haven’t yet.

            We’ve tried “lum-yi”, kind of like a grape you have to peel, but tastes like cantaloupe.  And “mongkoot”, sort of tasted like a very ripe, sweet pomegranate, only easier to eat.  And the bananas or “gloy” are like miniature bananas.  The pineapple is “suparote” and is much sweeter, the mango and papaya taste about the same as from Mexico.  I’ve learned to eat “rambutan” too; everyone calls them “hairy cherries”.  They are so good, sweet and easy to eat, lots better than canned!

             We’ve found several food stands where they recognize us!  “Pork on a stick” is our favorite.  Three thin pieces of pork marinated and grilled on a skewer for 3 baht.  (mmmm)  A couple of  stands down they have Roasted Corn for 10 baht!  Over a couple of stands down they have fried chicken and they sell it with a thing of sweet chili sauce.  Plus, every kind of Thai food!  They don’t use as much coconut milk as I was led to believe, so far I have only seen one item with it.  That Thai cookbook I was using at home was very good and authentic Thai recipes.  At least now I can find all the ingredients!!! Plus some…  You walk through the market and there are frogs still alive tied in bundles, and every kind of fish, even eels.  Prawns as big as my hand, a beautiful blue color, still kicking in the ice.  All the chickens including the head and feet, and baby chickens, which they say are quite a delicacy.

            Today is Buddhist Lent, so last night we got to go to the Temple of the Sitting Buddha and hear the “ceremony”.  We had candles and incense and a lotus flower, then we all joined the procession that walked around the “Wat” three times.  It was great!

August 4, 1993

             Today we met the Governor of Ayutthaya Province, I suppose he is equivalent to a Senator.  The thai people were very respectful (and us too!), you could tell is was a really big deal to them.

            We started a game of “Puhn Rah” or “your buddy”.  It is like the Angel game, everyone draws a name and for the next three weeks you have to take care of your “buddy”. 

            Mail is brought to us from Bangkok whenever someone has a reason to go… like tomorrow, Nurse Malee is coming to give us more shots (Rabies and Encephalitis) and so if there is any there she will bring it with her.  Today our training officer Ajaan Utai, was here and he brought two letters.  One for Todd (the birthday boy), last night they said to “write your mother” so I wrote a letter to Lisa, Dan and Jeff… they were jazzed to get a letter, which means I am the only “mail-less” one left.

            I have written so many notes (on Thai) that I have already ran one pen out of ink!  Thank you everyone that gave me pens and journals.  Everything is so new and different here, I am really trying to keep track of it. 

August 5, 1993

 I got four cards today, thank you all very much.  Bonnie’s card made me cry a little, said that Dad misses me.  I will close now and get this in the mail.  I love you and miss you.  I hope everyone realizes how much I am loving this, I am very lucky.

PS One day we were on a bus in Bangkok and one of the Ajaan’s paid for all the trainee’s bus fare and when we tried to pay her back she said “No, no, no… ‘nom-jai’” then, she explained “nom-jai” is a very common description for Thai people, it means “water from the heart”.  Isn’t that pretty?

Ok, gotta go back to class – I love you all.  Hug Tiffers, dogs are not pets here, the Ajaans call them “publicdogs”!

August 9, 1993

             Ajaan Panutat told us a joke today!  Everyone here is Buddhist but he says he is Agnostic!  “God and Buddha were deciding where to go on vacation and they were eliminating each possibility … Buddha mentioned Jerusalem and God chuckled and said, No Way, I’ve been there.  Get one girl pregnant and they’re still gossiping!”

            I am learning to read Thai now!  “Khun chu arrai, ka"? Is what is your name! But in really funny symbols!

August 15, 1993

 Hi Everybody,

            First of all if you are watching the news, I am pretty far from Khorat, we looked on a map and it is much closer than any of us thought!  We try to watch the news and it is pretty funny, all in Thai!  They don’t show enough pictures either!  Anyway, don’t worry I am fine.

            Lisa (my roommate) called home the other night and found out our letters take about 3-1/2 weeks to get home!  No wonder we haven’t received much mail!

            Ajaan Atcha, Lisa, Julie and I went to Utai Tani (I hope you all have detailed maps and can look up these places!), they were having an English Camp at one of the schools.  About 120 thai kids and 10 other volunteers, we got a pretty good idea of life as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV).  Everyone should plan to visit me as soon as possible!

            We got our first gamma globulin shot since my last letter.  Actually it didn’t hurt half as much as the typhoid.

            Back to our training, five PCV’s came to give talks about things that did or could happen to them and what to do, personal safety type stuff.  At the beginning they played Jimmy Buffet’s song, “Changes in Attitudes”.  It was very comforting!  “There is so much to see waiting in front of me, I know that I just cant go wrong”…”if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane”.  It really fit! 

            I am sleeping like a rock!  Except for some vivid dreams!  Everyone is having them, we decided it’s because of the MSG – they put it on all the food.  The other night I dreamed of mosquitoes and bugs!  There are quite a few of them here.  It was probably because we spent the day learning what to expect about home stay.  Next Monday I will move in with a family in a small village.  Most of the differences are more cultural than technological.  Hob nam is a shower, however it is a large container of water with a dipper and the shower is pouring the water over your head, and we wear a Pasine, which is a very pretty piece of material sewn in a circle.  I am getting pretty comfortable with the hong nam or squat toilet (I can’t believe I can even say that so casually!).  Washing our clothes is an experience too!  Pants, shorts, and skirts hang on the low part, underclothes (if shown at all) are also on the low line.  The whole head foot concept is very serious.  We also learned about our sleeping arrangements, small, with a mosquito net.

            I am also eating much better than in the beginning, we can finally order more than fried rice!  I was so jazzed today at lunch I had Quiteow Mu (Pork soup with noodles) and I asked for plain rice and GOT IT!  Yahoo!  Kau blau  It sounds silly but you should be very proud of me!

            Last Thursday was the Queen’s birthday.  “No School” We took a field trip to the Wat (Temple).  Simply amazing – awe inspiring!  The ruins, Wat, and city itself were built around 1350 (add 543 for the Buddha calendar!).

August 21, 1993 (Our one month anniversary!)

            I met my host family yesterday.  So far I have only met Kuhn Pa (father), my Kuhn May (Mother) wasn’t home.  Everyone is matched with a typical Thai household.  I was bummed that my family’s kids are grown and live in Bangkok.  He is the Village Headman, and has some kind of government position.  He is responsible for the Wat, the Temple where we study.  His wife, my Kuhn May works at one of the ruin sites, providing information…Kuhn Pa says she has been preparing for me for two weeks and she really wanted a female.  (She has two sons!)  The Ajaan’s told me they were a very “disciplined” family!  He asked how my parents felt about me living on the other side of the world and if they were going to visit me, and would I bring them to meet them.  (I said Yes!) Anyway… I was sort of stressed because I can’t speak Thai (much) they can’t speak English, but now that I have met them I am so excited!  Plus, the house about 200 feet away has two kids.  They are somehow related to my family… “Can I teach them some English?”  Plus, we have a washing machine and two dogs (that are pets!).

            I was talking to another volunteer, the one that played the Jimmy Buffet song, Conchetta from New York, she is an English Teacher and she has been here for a year.  About six months ago she went to India for two weeks and worked with Mother Theresa!  She has also been to Nepal and Malaysia and all over Thailand!  Yim (smile).

            Last week we had a guest speaker, a PCV who became a Buddhist Monk!  We were all pretty ‘psyched’ to meet him, he has been an ordained monk for eight years.  Unfortunately, he had a lot of opinions about ‘western influence’, he put a lot of the religion into easy laymen terms.  We got a pretty good idea of what to think about as far as these people and how we can help them develop without changing their culture. 

            Yesterday I received a card from Mom (by the way, thank you for the steady mail, I appreciate it!)  I am not sure how she got the address of the hotel I am staying at, but it was funny!  We hear stories of phone calls where they know enough English to say hello and yes she is here and hang up!  Letters addressed in English automatically go to the closest Peace Corps Volunteer!  Because no one at the post office reads enough English (in the smaller towns) to figure out whom it is for!

            Fortunately, there is a volunteer that lives here in Auytthaya and she brought it over last night – it got to me seven days from the postmark!    (Monday, I move to a village, so be sure to use the Bangkok address).

            I’ll be at homestay for 3-1/2 weeks (my Thai should improve drastically!) and then, we (trees) go on site visits and technical training for six weeks, we will be in the North and Northeast.

            PS We get the International Newsweek, but we have already read all our books, plus each others, so if anyone feels guilty about not writing yet, and you know who you are… Please send me a book or magazine!

            It’s starting to rain on me again! (fonetoke) It’s hard to believe I have been gone a month.  There is a tiny spider crawling down my arm, now he is on my knee, now he is on the pipe I am leaning against, probably hurrying home to beat the rain.  I find it funny that it doesn’t bother me to have a spider using me as an expressway!

            A group of us went for a walk, sightseeing, and when we returned most of my underclothes were gon!  Off the clothesline!  It turns out it has been happening in various degrees to all of us.  We’ve been in this hotel for three weeks, now I can’t wait for homestay!  (I can’t believe I just said that!)  All the Volunteers took it well, Mai Ben Rai (No problem).  But Peace Corps told the hotel they probably wouldn’t use them again.  I feel bad, all the maids and housekeepsers were searched after my incident, as they left wortk.

August 25, 1993

            Here I am living at someone’s house, someone that I met last Friday!  It’s so cool!  My Thai has no where to go but towards fluency!  The family that I live with (now that I have better “scoop”) has only Kuhn May (mother) her name is “Somwong” and my Kuhn Pa (father) is “SitTeeChai”  He is the village headmean, in Thai called the “Gumnon” (aka Big Guy!) he is in charge of all of the villages in this tam Bone (County), it is an elected position, plus he is responsible for the Wat or temple, where the elementary school is.  There are 21 TamBone in Auytthaya province and his Ban Pom (District) has 11 villages in it.  My Kuhn May works with three other ladies at another nearby Wat.  The one I wrote about on Buddhist Lent.  We are going sightseeing on Saturday; they said they are going to show me everything in Ayutthaya!

            They have two sons, age 26 & 23, number one lives in Bangkok and works for Honda.  Number two is a construction worker in Supanburi, not far from here.  He is supposed to come home for a visit and to meet the farang!  We also have a dog, only one though, apparently a “pet”.  His name is Tawn, he is really a cool dog.  One of the first full sentences I understood from Kuhn May was, “Tawn chalb wing len gup puen…wing, wing”  (Tawn loves to run and play with his friends, run, run.)

            We are continuing to study, thank god, my Thai is probably about 4 year old level.  We are unable to study at the Wat, because they are currently building a road past the Wat, it is too noisy.  So, we are studying at Lisa’s house, my old roommate.  It’s about a hundred foot walk to Lisa’s house which is full of kids, and right on the Chao Praya river.  My house is about 50 feet from the river.  I’ve only walked over there once, but it is very beautiful, tropical.  At Lisa’s they have a little pier and everyone swims!  Lisa, Dave and Dave live in three houses clustered there and they did their laundry and bathed in the river.  The water in the house is piped out of the river (except drinking water, which is collected rain water).  I’m not sure where the water in my house comes from, but so far, none of us are sick…

            The food is better than I imagined!  My Kuhn May is an excellent cook, she says she’ll teach me, at least that’s what I think she said!  Thai people really do eat rice at every meal!  Kuhn Pa makes a steamer full everyday.  They asked me if I like hot food?  My answer “my pet” not hot!  They said “Pa my chalb gin pet” Pa doesn’t like to eat hot food!  We’ve had three meals together and whenever a hot pepper (prick) gets on my bowl, Kuhn May dives across the table and scoops it out!  Ahhhh pet, pet, ahhhh!  At least they don’t let me eat it just to watch my face!

            One thing about village homestay, it is much safer for us.  The government selects the villages, and the Gumnon selects the families.  They choose the best families, and the whole village takes care of you.  “Face” is very important, if anything happened to us they would lose face.  Yesterday, Lisa, Brigid and I walked over to “Moos” the next village, about 10 minutes walk, to see Dan and Leigh (fishery volunteers), my Kuhn Pa was in a truck behind us, driving slowly… making sure we didn’t get lost.  Once we got to Dan’s, he called Tawn, who was running along with me, and they went home.  An hour later when we walked back both of my parents were on the other side of the house watching for me.  I feel so protected!

            The volunteers we’ve talked to say that’s pretty much how it will be for the next two years, because your “site” will be just as protective of their “farang”.  One girl told us her village asked for an English teacher 17 years ago, so they won’t let anything happen to her!

August 26, 1993

 I go mail today!  Thank you Kumiko and Tera, newsy letters are the best, I cried but it was a good cry! Good to hear Tiffy is doing well and thank you, Tera for doing the journal thing!  That is so great!  I told everyone here about it and they all think it is a great idea too.  We have a journal for everyone here, one girl started it and passed it on.  It goes to a new person every day or so, it’s so inspiring to read.  Kuhn Dan, a fisheries volunteer from Wisconsin, Age 22, wrote the following:

            “To have it all, then give it up and start again from the unknown…to live a life that is yours, living out dreams, creating more.  To have strength and courage, and yet be moved by a child’s smile.  To accomplish the smallest, but influence the most, give, love, grow… To search your soul, yet not dwell within oneself.  To find your place in the world, yet never be afraid of change.  To be determined, use compassion, the truth, not selfishness and single mindedness.  To feel yourself, be tru to your heart, cherish, feel to be.”

            I mentioned an English camp… I got a letter from one of the kids today!  It is in “Thailish”!  Kuhn May helped me read it.  Yesterday I tried to translate a card Mom had sent, I think Kuhn May understood, I think!

            If anyone has any questions about what I am doing here as far as the Peace Corps is concerned, be patient…  I don’t know yet!  I am in “training”, assimilating myself in Thai culture, learning to communicate with the Thai people and beginning to learn about development.  It is definitely a much simpler life, I like it!

            I am looking into diving lessons here, in Southern Thailand.  There is a British company that the PCV at a National Park is very good friends with and we get a deal.

            I have been trying to put together a list of what I miss… it’s tough, I really haven’t been gone long enough, plus, in a way you can get everything here (sort of), it’s just sweeter!  Except lemonade and grape juice, they put salt int hem!  Really!  Coffee is everywhere, but it’s “Nescafe”.  Bread is easy to find!  My idea of “breakfast” goes on sale about 4:00 pm – i.e. waffles, pancakes (no syrup), Roti (sweet, like a quesadilla without cheese!), donuts – the bakery is packed, etc.  In the morning, you can find coffee but the bakery is sold out and the vendors area ll different.  Spice, rice, fruit, etc.  the fruit in Thailand is a letter in itself, I can’t even tell you about some of it … it is all Thai!  The fruit is all much sweeter, riper, it is called poulimai.  Suparote = pineapple, som = oranges or tangerines, although the outside stays green.  Mongkoot = looks like a giant plum/pomegranate, very tasty!  Lumyi = a grape with a peel, but tastes like cantaloupe.  Papaya and Mango = the Tahia people eat before they are ripe, ripe, som dom.  Bananas – there are hundreds of varieties!  Ngok or rambutan = looks like a WWII mine and tastes like a pear.

            The most popular desserts, besides cookies, Thai people love cookies, is kidney beans or corn in sweetened coconut milk.  They serve it over ice cream.  Plus cooked sweet potatoes.

            Yesterday morning we went to a town meeting and met all the villagers.  Walking back, a cart with a ringing bell pulled up.  The Ajaan’s and kids were so excited.  One Ajaan said, “Oooooh, let’s get an “iteam burger” (iteam is thai for ice cream and burger is western!)  IMAGINE THIS…. A small, slightly sweet hot dog bun, a scoop of sweetened rice, three scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream and mung beans sprinkled on top.  It was great!  I’ve gone over the edge!

            Tomorrow we see our whole group together again – for shots!  (cheed-ya)  It’s typhoid again, jep = hurt.  Then we’ll play organized sports, len gilaw or jungle Frisbee!

            I love you and miss you all very much, I hope everyone can come and visit me here, it is incredible.  Keep smiling, yim and miss me, kit tune.  I can’t believe how much Thai I already know!  Wow!

September 10, 1993

 Hi everyone, halfway through training!   I have just returned from adventure no. 1 (not counting the whole Peace Corps in Thailand thing).  I went to visit a current volunteer, a visit pre-arranged by the Peace Corps.  It was so … enlightening!  Now I am 200% more jazzed to get on with training and move to “my” village!

            All the trainees are given a site to visit and directions (from the volunteer) to the site, some went in pairs but most of us were alone.  We all went to Bangkok early Saturday morning, some went shopping, etc., etc.  A group of about ten of us found this Mexican restaurant, called El Gordo’s, that we had heard about, an American owns it, he had been out of the U.S. for about 25 years, has a Thai wife and two kids.  He has been living in Thailand for six years and seen PCV’s come and go.  The food was great and I don’t even love Mexican food.  So far, the only beer we have seen is Carlsberg, which is ok, and Singha (Thai people call it Beer Sing), and another Thai beer (not to tasty!).  This place had Corona’s I am in heaven!  We stayed there most of the day and then we stopped for ice cream on the way to the train station, it was good but not the same.  At 8:30pm we boarded our sleeper train.  Six of us, three English teachers going to a school and the other two forestry-ers, Julie and Brigid went to Nong-Kai, which is on this side of the Mekong river, next to Vientiane on the Laos border.  I was by myself, I got off the train in Udon Tani.  A sleeper train is too cool, if you can sleep in a car (except while driving!) you can imagine sleeping on a train!  I got to Udon Tani which is in the northeast at 7:30 am.  Keep in mind I am beside myself with fear… I walked outside and was confronted (assaulted) by several samalor drivers (bicycle taxis). 

            One Tuk-Tuk had a woman and child in it already, so I went up to him and he was nice and didn’t ask the farang price (he didn’t know that I had insider info!),  He took me to the bus station, I was talking to the woman in my pseudo-Thai and she informed the driver where I was going… we dropped her off and traveled on… at the bus station, he parked his little tuk-tuk and took me by the arm and started asking everyone which bus I needed to get to Nan Sang.  He “put” me on the bus they indicated … but there was no driver or any other passengers ??!??!!??!?!?!?  I climbed off the bus, and the tuk tuk driver ran back over and pushed me back onto the bus, I wish I could have said more than “thank you”!  I made myself comfortable and watched him drive away!  Then the guy that told him which bus I wanted came on and sold me a ticket!  24 baht, or about $1.00.  I asked how long until we leave?  Oke ja gee mong, ka? He answered in Thai, I understood!  I had about 30 minutes so I got back off the bus, mission impossible music drifting in and out of my head!  I got a coke and went to the bathroom, and then a three and a half hour bus ride to Nan Sang.  We went over a small mountain; it was lush, green and tropical, a beautiful view.  When the guy got on the bus with a chicken and sat a couple of rows behind me I started looking for Michael Douglas (remember Romancing the Stone!).  Nan Sang was at the end of the bus route, so it wasn’t too difficult to know where I was supposed to get out.

            Again, several samalor drivers!  I walked through them t the first samalor and asked “by Nicome, by bahn farang, no icee ka?” which means, please take me to the foreigner’s house in the land settlement.  All the drivers, sticking close together, nodded, “chy, chy, bahn farang, yoo Pia”  Yes, that’s Pia’s house. 

            We take off … 7 km down a dirt road, in a samalor, through the most lush, green landscape, squared off in squares (not square ones though) of rice fields dotted with a few trees, cows and water buffalo!  They are domesticated and they use them as oxen in the rice paddy.  When these big guys aren’t at work or grazing, they are sitting in water!  The farmers dig holes about a foot deep and big enough for the buffalo to fit – the rains keep them filled. 

            Driving down this dirt road, we passed a large pond with a group of kids splashing around and two water buffalo in up to their horns!  Wait until you see these pictures, more buffalo than people.  (Is anybody surprised?)

            Pia, the PCV, and I sat and talked and ate pancakes!  Yummmm, I am only the third person to visit her, ever, she has been there a year.  Staying with her I got a real good idea of the things you can’t get while living here – please see the attached list, if you need to know what to send me!  Pia Showed me all around and told me all about her “job” and what it was like, I was very impressed.  A Nicome is a Government Land Settlement, usually for people displaced by war, etc.  In Pia’s Nicome a dam was built by the government about 30 years ago and the lake displaced a number of families.  There are about 300 families in the Nicome, it is very large, six villages.  Unfortunately the villagers were only given about 1/10th of what they lost. 

            Pia’s job is mostly research, she finds out what other trees or whatever these people can do to make a better life for themselves.  She has one geng (really good) farmer that has added a mango orchard to his farm and is busy grafting crabapples and other varieties , and started a “bazillion” seedlings – Pia gets seeds and saplings from the government nursery.  He made enough last year to buy a rice thresher machine.  Plus, she gave a class on different ways to plant rice and he used it.  He planted the seeds directly into the water instead of transplanting shoots, he is the only farmer not out “stooped over”!  He was also quite pleased with himself that his rice wasn’t in pretty, neat, little rows!  He sold most of his seedlings – that is how he made money.  The PooYaiBan (Village Headman) from another village also planted seeds and sold seedlings, he made about 10,000 baht (25 baht = $1.00) extra, which is more than his annual salary!  So, now a bunch of villagers are asking for her for assistance!  Plus, she has several farmers planting rattan, which no one grows here.  They can eat it and like bamboo, make furniture. N It is off to a slow start, but at least the villagers are giving new idea’s a chance.  In that same village, they formed a “Mae Ban” or woman’s group.  Now they have a silk production going.  Millions of big ole silk worms, they feed them and sell the cocoons (and they eat the worms, ick!)

Next Wednesday I am out of Homestay, and on to Technical Training.  I will miss my new family, they are so nice, I was definitely the luckiest one in our group, not to mention my Mom was such a good cook.  Thai people love to eat and since I am bigger than most of them they expect me to eat a lot!  Well, ok!

            My little “brother” is home for the weekend.  He is 23 and much sweeter than my “other brother”.  Neung (#1, 26 years old) was only here a few hours, watched TV and slept.  Song (#2) crawls under the table laughing hysterically if I talk to him, I haven’t figured out if he is really shy or if my Thai is that funny!  Mae says he likes to laugh.  He sits and talks to his parents and plays with the dog.  Tone turns himself inside out when he sees him!  I promised I would be back to visit, and we would talk… they all laughed!  Yep, it must be my Thai is that bad!

We have Thursday to Sunday (16th-19th) off, so Lisa, Julie and I decided we were going to this island.  I guess it sounded good because now everyone is going!  It is a couple of hours from Bangkok, called KoSamet, near Cambodia.  It is monsoon season, so we are likely to have the island to ourselves. 

Then on to technical training… six-community forestry PCV’s, two Ajaans, two technical trainers, and a van – touring Thailand!  We are: Me, age 32; Brigid, a graphics designer from Kansas City, Kansas, age 24; Julie, another design major from Michigan, age 23 or 24; Jeff, a 6’4” graduate from Yale, football, age 24, from Scarsdale, New York; Lee, age 28, from Oregon, an American Indian; and Dave, age 31, a professional student from Cornell and a returning PCV.  Dave spent two years in the Philippines, and 6 months in Mali, Africa, where he got very sick (malaria, denge fever, dysentery, etc.) and was medivac’d home.  No, I don’t know why he is back again either!

            Dave and Lee are special cases, both are very opinionated and Right!  Jeff is a real sweetie and even stuck up for Dave a couple of times.  David wanted to go on daily nature walks, so he could teach us about the trees and soil contents.  We, as a group, decided it was a little too early in our training for his personal expertise! 

Thursday, Jeff and I were walking to lunch and I told him we were going to trade him (Jeff) for Mark (another geek) to round out the tree-men!  He laughed and looked over at Dave and Lee and said, “Yep, I don’t see a lot of male bonding the next two years!”

            I have seen our schedule for tech training, eeeeeeeee!  I am excited!  We go back to Udon Tani for a week and then to Northern Thailand, above Chaing Mai, and then I think to the south, but not to Malaysia.  Most of the time I think we are staying in the National Parks.  The schedule looks like a tourist itinerary!  “Rattan farm, crocodile farm, bamboo hat makers, silk processing, silk weaving…” all are people and places we will visit, while in class.  Too fun!

We have had three people go to the hospital already.  Paul, in our group was very ill.  They gave him antibiotic and told him he didn’t have any “meba’s”!  Shane got the same thing, but he waited for a couple of days and ended up going in for an IV because he was very dehydrated.  Kate, went for denge feaver!  Our first one!  I guess most of us will get that, about 50% of the current PCV’s have had it.  (whine!)  It can last three days to two weeks and feels like malaria.  The dusk and dawn mosquitoes carry malaria, the daytime ones carry denge fever.  I am thinking of marketing cutter scented antiperspirant and toothpaste!  It has become pretty much my favorite scent!  I have about 15 new bumps on my leg, they are fast little devils!  There are a lot of mosquitoes in Thailand (slight understatement!) and they love farangs!  Thai people say they are bored with Thai blood, so they only bite the foreigners!  A couple of times I have walked away missing limbs!

My Thai is still improving, because it can’t get any worse!  I am saying some whole sentences.  When I say something complete and my “mom” answers me as if she know what I was talking about, I get so tickled!  I do that little dance for getting to the goal with a football!

Back to health, I haven’t been sick, even one day – a couple of times my tummy told me it had never eaten anything like that before…and probably shouldn’t again!  But, my family tells the Ajaans / Peace Corps all the time how healthy or strong I am.  “Tracy, keng ren ma!”  Everyone else in my class has had a cold, but I didn’t get it!  Yea me!

Here in the village, it is very serious that the family we stay with is responsible for us.  Most of them have never spent time with an American (fortunately, my family has!) and since we are from the US Government cooperating with the Thai Government, the villagers think we are very important!  Since, I am pretty clueless about my new environment, I am glad, they take very good care of us.  And, I have cool dog! My “mom” says I can take him to my site and then home to America to be Tiffys friend.  I love this place!

Mom, if you want to join the Peace Corps, I still highly recommend it, most people do it after college at a younger age, good for them, but I think I am having a much easier time because I am older and a little more accepting of the cultural differences.  Even though some of them are pretty hard for me to swallow!  It’s a lot like camping, the entire existence is much simpler, even after only six weeks.  I am ready to adopt a few of these things at home… like shoes off in the house; bathroom waterproof and with a drain, its easier to clean!

I love you all and miss you a lot.  Please write when you can and start planning a visit!  Oh, wait!  There is more!  I love Tom Brokaw!  I want everyone to know it, he is wonderful!  At 7am there is one hour of TV in English.  “Good Morning Thailand”…”Tom Brokaw’s Nightline, via satellite… and “Face the (Thai) Nation” … each 20 minutes long with no commercials.  Thursday morning they did something on Clinton and health care … I saw Roger Johnson (the ex CEO of Western Digital, now head of GSA).  I never saw him in Irvine, I had to come to Thailand!

It is amazing how unaware the Thai people are of Aids.  I haven’t seen any prostitutes, but then I haven’t been looking.  Sex trade is illegal here, but everyone makes money so no one is willing to stand against it, even most of the commercial sex workers.  The Peace Corps has us all doing some kind of Aids Awareness programs, mostly for the schools.  This is best since we only have about a first grade vocabulary.

I also heard that California only pseudo recycles plastic… they ship bottles to Thailand where they are burned (Pia worked for the EPA in DC).

Ok, I will close for now, bye bye.

My List (please send….)

-          a solar shower, the bag used on a boat or camping. 

-          Cutter, Peace Corps provides us with 35% Deet – the average joe (in America) can go to a camping store and get 95% Deet Cutter!

-          books and tapes – your letters on tape and music.

-          magazines – time dated stuff is great, People, Cosmo, Newsweek & Time, Orange Co, San Diego, Sunset, etc.  (Peace Corps provides us with the International Newsweek – it’s ok.)

-          dry milk, nobody drinks milk here, maybe I will get a goat!

-          camera battery – canon sureshot, they are expensive here.

-          any freeze dried “American food” (I can find everything in Bangkok, just can’t afford it!  Ps they have bread and toast here, its really fluffy!)

-          send Tera stamps and envelopes so she can continue to send you these letters.

-          Yourselve, or pictures – I don’t want everyone to change too much while I am gone.  Plus, I love sharing this experience with everyone I know.

Big Hugs – xxooxxooxxooxx