Fourth Letter Home - Nov. 19, 1993

November 19, 1993

            I am adjusting to Takfa very well, but since I have nothing to compare it to except living in the United States, I feel good, I guess that is what matters.  I spend a lot of time with my neighbors and co-workers and no one speaks English, so my Thai is getting better.  My Thai Ajaan is the English teacher at the high school, a funny guy, he is a little mixed up.

            Takfa is where Thai Jicama is grown!  it is called Mont-gao.  Try rinsing it in sugar water, mmm.  I eat some nearly every day, one costs about two cents.  My neighbor’s friend noticed I like it and brought me a huge bag full!  I wonder if I can make French fries out of them?

November 22, 1993

            Hello, did everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving?  I certainly hope so!  Thai people know all about Christmas and we are planning a party, but I don’t think I can explain Thanksgiving, other than we eat too much! 

            I have lived here for two weeks now!  Time is flying!  I don’t know very much about Takfa but I love it here.  The people I work with are my neighbors!  I was so sure the first three months would drag and be full of homesickness, physical sickness and loneliness … so far, none of the above.  Living in the Nicome is a little noisier than I would prefer, but somehow it is different. Maybe because is it “my” neighbors, “my” road, “my” wat!  Not just loud noise from people I don’t know doing stuff I don’t understand!  Living here is a lot like camping, I am learning to deal with ants!

I am glad training is over, there is a certain security in having my own space!  I have been cleaning my house and my yard.  The house was empty and had not been lived in for quite a while.  I scrubbed everything!  It is a typical Thai style house made of wood, with a small kitchen and bathroom made of concrete – the rest of the downstairs area under the house is open.  There is still a lot of trash in the yard, I raked the front and most of the back, now I have ten – one foot high piles, mostly plastic bag material.

            One of my co-workers, Pe-Ratt (Pe Ratana, she cleans our office) brought me a puppy last weekend!  She is about eight weeks old and her name is Susie Sing Sing (I didn’t name her!).  Pe-Ratt said she loves me and didn’t want me to be lonely. 

            My neighbors have a hard time believing I want to live alone!  Thai people have large extended families.  Susie is very smart, I don’t know if that is normal for a Thai dog, but she is amazing.  She is house broken, loves rice and comes when you call her!  When I am home alone, I speak Thai to her.  Like she can understand Thai with an American accent!  I bet she can’t understand any of my tones better than anyone else can.  Most of my neighbors say, “Susie, come here” instead of, “Susie, mah tee nee” and she behaves.  She must be tri-lingual (English, Thai and Dog!).

            Bob, the cat, didn’t come around for a while.  Yesterday, he was back and has been there ever since.  He doesn’t like Susie, so he ignores her, but she wants to play.  They are about the same size, he hasn’t hurt her yet.

            My next door neighbor (and co worker Pe-Chasawan’s wife) Pe-Dom, takes very good care of me, she feeds me and Susie all the time. She is also teaching me how to cook “Thai food”, I think she likes having another female around.  They have two girls, the older, age 8, is “Wan” short for “Malang-wan” which means butterfly.  Appropriate since she is a doll.  The younger, age 4, is “Moom”, which is short for “Malang-Mum” which means spider, also appropriate, she is a brat!  

Plus, their house is like “grand central”, everyone stops by.  Plus, no-one wants Tracy to be lonely, so the kids are allowed to play at my house all the time, they pretty much follow me everywhere.  They are all so cute, and they know to speak slowly so I can understand!

I went to Takli (Tock-Lee, it is the “town” close by – only 27 km away, locals pronounce it Takhee) last Wednesday and looked at bycicles.  I want to get a good mountain bike, so I can ride out into the villages.  Takli reminded me of Ayuttaya!  A small, noisy city.  It was good to get back to Takfa.  On the way back, “Pe-It” (the official Nicome Driver) said I should visit a “tom-pet”.  I just nodded and said ok, ok, totally clueless!  Exasperated with me he took me to the “tom-pet” on the way home!  Turns out to be eight huge caves, with stalactites, stalagmites, and bats, etc.  (he called them “batman”).  We went into three caves with a guide, I understood about 1/10th but it was really beautiful!  There are little food stands up the road with banners, etc.  Made me think of King Arthur and a jousting tournament.  It was only five miles from the Nicome!  Once we got back, everyone knew I had been to see the caves, neighbors always know exactly what you are up to here.  It turns out only a couple of people here have been, so we are all going to make a day of it.

My co-worker, Pe-Chan also has an orchard (sort of) they have lots of trees started, they are breeding different kinds of Brahma cattle, fighting cocks, plus raising sugar cane and corn.  It is also about 5 miles from here and we have gone there for a “picnic” twice. which means we had lunch on a bench in front of the cattle “barn”, but it is surprisingly fun!  About 15 people show up and there is lots of food and talking.  I always know when someone is speaking to me because they slow up their speech about 98%! 

All the neighbors in the Nicome are so nice.  They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but on the 28th they celebrate “Roi Katong”, which is where everyone in Thailand sets a little boat with a candle afloat on the river (mainly on the Chao Praya River), and if the boat floats for a long time, then it promises a good rainy season (kind of like groundhog day!)  Imagine that, they want a good rainy season!  It actually hasn’t rained since a week before I left Bangkok and it feels very dry, I’m using chapstick!

Yesterday I bought some potatoes (they were very expensive) and make French fries!  They were so good!  (no catsup though).  We tried doing the same with jicama, it was good too, a lot sweeter!

            My neighbors are all planning a big Christmas party.  They tell me I am cooking a turkey, American style!  The second time we went to the orchard for a “picnic” Pe-Chas took one of the fighting cocks (they call them gy-boxing!) and had its neck rung and in a pot of boiling water, before I even knew what was going on!  Three men had it cleaned and plucked in minutes!  The men do all the cooking at a picnic and it is fun because they each have their own specialty!  They put the chicken on a stake (yep, head and feet still attached!) and covered it with chili peppers.  Right about now, Pe-Dom was panicked, the farang can’t eat hot food!  I assured her I would be ok.  They put a large metal can over the bird, covered the whole thing with rice straw and lit it!  The chicken was done in about 20 minutes, tasted like Cajun blackened style, very good.  Except, fighting cocks are worth a lot of money, either he was a loser or old.  Either way he was tough, but very tasty!  I said, “next time we should use some papaya leaves…” in my PC training I learned that meat tenderizer is made from papaya leaves.  Pe-Dom and a couple of others remembered when people used to do that… I don’t know if they believe it, but next time they said we would try it!  That’ll be my peace corps contribution!

Now, we are talking about baking cakes and cookies, Pe-Dom wants me to teach the kids to bake!  I was ready to call Geoffrey to fax me recipes (by the way, there is a fax machine in the PC Office in Bangkok, but it isn’t for personal use, one guy’s mom faxed him a letter and everyone knew about it in an hour, a medium no-no!), so I am just kidding!  Anyway, today I received a package from Mom today with a Readers Digest.  There just happened to be a couple chocolate chip cookie and brownie recipes, both of which look simple enough to transfer to Thai ingredients!  The Ajaan told me I would have to go to Takli, or Bangkok, to find some of the stuff.  He goes twice a month, so I can give him a list!  I like living here!

Going over to the market here is fun, too.  There are a lot of people there but there are always five or ten that know who I am and Thai people love to talk, specially if I have my usual parade of children.  I am still not sure what I am doing here, but everyday feels like one of those commercials for the toughest job I’ll ever love!

One day last week, Pe-Toy was making brochures (in Thai, I think they were about the Nicome), and told me I was going with them. We all piled into a pickup and went to a very large Wat, about 10 miles away.  About a mile down the road, Pe-Toy told me I was going “for show”!  It turned out to be a huge Expo.  All the groups that did anything they could sell, had a booth and were selling or at least displaying what they were doing.  It was great, I got to see how involved these people were.  There was a couple of dairy farmers there giving away milk.  It was so good.  We also took a pickup load of seedlings from the old nursery  and a man with a loud speaker was telling everyone that the Community Forestry Peace Corps Volunteer was giving away free trees!  I think those people believe the trees are blessed or maybe came from America!

November 23, 1993

            I just found out we are going to another expo tomorrow, oh goody!  Today, Pe-Chas took me to a “nursery” over by the hospital (for only three doctors, the hospital is quite large).  There is about ¼ acre planted with Teak and Eucalyptus trees.  They should be sprouting in the next three weeks, and then we’ll put them into little bags, like seedling pots, and after four or five months we can plant them on community land in the Nicome.

            I learned a little of what they expect of me today.  They told me to figure out what kinds of seeds I wanted to get, what kind of trees I wanted to plant…and the Nicome would buy them for me.  Now I am trying to figure out who is responsible for the new nursery, if there is a worker assigned to it, or what.  I am also doing a lot of research on “how to…” for the trees I think we should plant.  Plus, I am asking everyone else what they think, since they live here, and I want to “chat” with some villagers.  The beauty of not speaking Thai very well, is that people think it is a language barrier, when the truth is, I haven’t a clue what I am doing!

            Susie is busy eating the garden, she takes down about one eggplant and two bean plants per day.  I don’t know if I could convince a dog in English that the plants are not play toys, much less in Thai!  She is so cute though.

I have started another list of stuff to send me:

a. any articles from local newspapers that you think I might be interested in.

b. paperback books, and magazines

c. posters of wildlife, American life, and American states and holidays.

d. books or pamphlets on raising orchids, herbs, and vanilla beans.

e. Asian cookbook

f. marshmallows, for the next picnic.

g. microwave popcorn with butter & salt (we don’t have a microwave, but that way it’s pre packaged!)

h. used stamps – they love them here!  the stamps are usually missing from my letters and postcards, or they are standing in line when I get mail!

All in all, everything is fine, I miss everyone and cowboy dancing.  Thailand is very comfortable, and the Peace Corps is a pretty cool company to work for.

I love & miss you.

Write Soon

November 24th, 1993

            I have spent the last two weekends cleaning my house, it is all wood with big windows, no glass or screens, and lots of dust (amazing in a country as humid as Thailand).  Plus, it is easy to clean, you just push the dirt through the floorboards… great for crumbs!  It makes so much sense to keep your house open and invite the dust and mosquitoes in, and then go over everything with a feather duster and broom once a day.  At first, I was going crazy dusting everyday and sweeping all the time, now I’ve realized my neighbors think I am Geng (great) because they all clean their houses everyday too.  It is all part of the routine!

            I got a postcard from Mark (friend from dancing at the Crazy Horse) with cowboys on it!  Thai people automatically label you so they can identify with your “personality”.  Mine is “she likes to pull weeds, drink beer, and cowboys!”  The postcard went all around the village before coming to me.

            Last night a group gathered in Pe-Chas yard, we ate dinner and drank Thai whiskey and ate more, and then had dessert!  One guy brought a guitar and Pe-Chas strummed and sang “love me, love my dog”  I guess you had to be there, but it was pretty funny!

Dec 1, 1993

My puppy is getting fatter and braver, she is acting like a watchdog, always patrolling the property!  It is too cute, she is about as big as my foot. Her little face resembles a bat, kind of pointy with pointy little ears!

If a Thai person wants to speak english, they call them “farang dawng” which translates into pickled foreigner or guava.  Something about speaking English when it isn’t natural makes it pickled! 

            The kids here are learning Jingle Bells.  I made the mistake of teaching them the “batman smells” version and now they are confused (I thought it was funny!)

            Chai, my friend and Ag teacher, asked me why I joined the Peace Corps.  I was trying to explain (in Thai) and he just grinned and wagged his finger at me and said “C-I-A”.  At first it really shook me, because we heard stories that a lot of Thai people really believe that.  But, I think he was joking because now Wan and Mum yell “C-I-A” and “top secret double agent” (with a Thai accent!) when they are playing around me.  I taught them the theme to “mission impossible” and to hide while running – it’s cute.  

            Some things like that are difficult to handle, because you shouldn’t joke about it, but come to think of it – I am far from the CIA type, and I don’t think they would send an agent into Takfa!

            Pe Dome crochets and she does beautiful work, but she says she always gives it away because other people appreciate “handmade”.  Last night we were all sitting at her house and she told Chai to stay and have 10 minutes of conversation.  She then hopped on her scooter with the two kids (this still cracks me up!), Chai said she was going to his house for books.  She came back with a pile of Thai Craft Books.  Crochet, Needlepoint, and Sewing.  What fun!  I ran home and found the one needlepoint project I brought with me, “Call to Dinner” with ducks in it.  She was impressed!  (I’m geng!) I feel like I am some kind of answer to her prayers, we have so many like interests.  She is half way between a Villager and a modern working woman – typical of teachers in Thailand. 

            I want to think of something I can cook for everyone, they want me to make farang food!  I bet I could make spaghetti or peanut butter sandwiches!  I made French fries last week.  Pe Dome and Wan loved them.  Not too much was said but they ate them all, 5 potatoes worth!  Later, Chai came back with 5 more potatoes (potatoes are scarce here) and did the whole thing by himself!  And I thought nobody paid any attention.  We are going to try to make hamburgers this weekend, I have seen ground pork in the market… and you can get bread, just not in my Village!  The last time I was in Takli with PeChas and PeDome they made a special stop at a bakery, I think just so I would know where it was.  Bread is an American survival food, they probably thought they should get me there quick.  If it wasn’t too hot to eat bread it would be funny.

            PeDek is the radio operator in the office, all the Nicomes communicate with each other and the DPW by radio.  My desk is pretty close to him, so I listen in a lot.  It reminds me of Radar on MASH, the operators all talk small talk before they get down to business.

            Pe Dew, a teacher, came by the office yesterday to ask me if I could help her.  She teaches an English class on Saturday mornings.  When she told me it is at the Education Center and is a continuation school for adults, I got very interested. It is for Villagers that have not finished school.  Pe Toy asked me if I would teach them to dance like Cowboys!  It could happen, prophesy fulfilled!  Seriously, they want me to teach them English related to their farming.

            The neighbor kids were eating sugar cane again last week, it is so good.  Nakorn Sawan is famous for sugar, corn, sorghum, and cotton.  Anytime you go to the market, there is pineapple, papaya, oranges (really tangerines with a green peel), abut 8 kinds of bananas, guavas, jicama, rose apples and many others, all really sweet and yummy.  I don’t understand why Thai people aren’t fat like Samoans, I just start to feel comfortable and they are eating again!

            Everyone is teaching me Thai culture along with Thai slang – I hope I don’t misunderstand or confuse the two; they could easily make me say something stupid.  I thought I was gullible in English, but in Thai I am an organ grinders monkey!

            We got a kick out of everyone staring at me at the Wat with the monkeys.  Cone Thai chalb doo farang maw gwa chalb doo ling! (Thai people like to watch foreigners more than they like watching monkeys!)

            The latest cultural note:  When you know someone, Sawat dee is a formal hello, to say hi informally, they ask a question… by ny? (where are you going?).  You can answer by bahn (I’m going home), or by talad (I am going to the market).  If you are eating and someone comes to visit, which happens all the time here, you say “gin cow” (eat rice!).  Most people say, “No. I just ate”, but it is polite to ask, so everyone does.  I am like a baby learning to talk, everyone goes out of their way to say, “by ny… I say it all the time too, but I never understand the answers!

            Also, whenever we are eating together and someone comes to visit, everyone looks at me to invite them to join us.  Must be a status symbol to have the farang so comfortable in your home they invite people to eat!  I think I will continue to eat rice when I get home, maybe every day, I really like it.  The rice is Jasmine Rice or Hom Mali, it smells so good! The meals seem much easier, and imagine if you had a refrigerator?  The possibilities are endless!

            Have to tell you about today’s lunch:  Something hot with chicken; a broth with pork and liver; and fried fish.  First, I take a spoonful of rice with the hot, and see the chicken (the skin is still on it) that’s good, I can recognize it.  Then I take a spoonful of the broth (with rice), I think, boy I hope this is liver!  It was, and tasted good.  Next, I tried the fish, it’s a little Tilapia gutted and fried whole – usually butterflied, it looks like two fish attached at the fin.  At this point, I had to laugh!  I have eaten all these things before, so I sort of know what to expect.  The first time I ate these things I left the table very hungry.  Now, I see that whole fish, and breathe a sigh of relief, “I can eat that, and it’s not hot!”  I feel like it is no big deal, I have gotten used to it, but every day is an adventure!

            Last weekend, we picked two papayas off one of the trees in my yard and ate them, they were so sweet.  In Thai they are malagaw.  I kept the seeds and am going to try to plant them in the nursery along with some tamarind (macom tet).

December 3, Friday

            PeOw (Supawadee) just put some new flowers into my little vase on my desk & it reminded me of something funny! When Thai people meet each other they usually Wai (hands together & bow your head) and say Sa Wat Dee. Everyone does it, its about equal to a handshake (but appears more regal or formal). Anyway, the last rose PeRatt put in the vase wilted in less than a day. PeDoy, my co-worker, would laugh & say Sa Wat Dee and stand it up. After a whole day of this dawned on me. By late in the afternoon everyone was doing it. When a flower bows its head . . . everyone wais back! Isn’t that the cutest little tradition!

            So today, I have new pretty flowers (they pick them from my boss’ garden!) & everyone is pointing them out to me! My Sawatdee! Wanee goolap sway! (No hello bow! Today’s roses are pretty!) I had to share with you!

            Today while I was eating lunch (someone usually cooks lunch so we all eat together!) . .. First, let me say, I love Thai food, and if I have Quoiteeow (Chinese rice noodles for lunch, then I am hungry for rice for dinner! Anyway, today was “something” hot with chicken, and a broth with pork & liver & fried fish. OK, here’s the meal: First, I take spoonful of the hot (with rice) and see the chicken, the skin is still on it – that’s good, I can recognize it! Then, I take a bite of the plain (with rice), I think, boy, I hope this is liver! It was, and tasted good. Next, I tried the fish, it’s the little Tilipia gutted & fried whole – usually butterflied so it looks like two fish attached at the fin. At this point, I started to laugh! I’ve eaten all these things before, so I know (sort of) what to expect and if I stop to think about it – the first time I ate these things . . . I left very hungry! Now, I see that whole fish & sigh relief – I can eat that (and it’s not hot!)

            I feel like it’s no big deal, I’ve gotten used to it . . . but every day is an adventure!!  Last weekend we picked two papayas off one of the trees in my yard & ate ‘em. So sweet! In Thai, it’s Malagaw. Yummmmm. I kept the seeds & we’re going to put them in the nursery! Ahhhhhhhhh!

            I kept some of the seeds from a Macomtet tree, it’s a type of tamarind – fun to eat, I think they’ll grow there – as long as they get warm & water.

December 6, Monday

            It’s Monday! Yesterday was the King’s Birthday! Big deal in Thailand! Everyone went to a ceremony in the morning, I was going to go to Nakhon Sawan – that evening – but, a co-workers wife was sick in the hospital, and I guess she got worse, so they took her to the big hospital . . . PeDoy (the electrician) & I stayed and watched all the kids! I tried to make the spaghetti I promised them – it was ok . . .everyone sat in the backyard & tried it – no one had ever had it before, so they didn’t know what it should taste like! Tomatoes are easy to find and catsup. I had basil in my yard, I chopped up some pork (mu) and onions & garlic. It was ok, but sweet, and the men liked it more than the kids, except Wan (she wants to be a farang!) She added peanuts to it. (Which actually made it pretty good).

            Next time I’m making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches!

            Saturday, I went to the school! It was exactly like Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam (Tera’s note: filmed entirely in the Kingdom of Thailand!) EXACTLY!! I’ll be sure to take pictures of our baseball game!

            I got there at 9:00 a.m., there’s about 50 students, age 14-25. . . .there were 3 other teachers, they introduced me & left! Honest, the first ½ hour was a lot of hmmmmmmm, hmmmmmmmmm, but they had a book, and we read together, & I taught them to say the words correctly & then asked them questions to make sure they understood the paragraph. It was a lot of fun – around 10:30 a.m. (yes, I was supposed to teach for one hour), I asked how long they would be there – they said until noon! About five minutes later, Marilyn showed up. Marilyn was the volunteer here before me; she works for an NGO in Bangkok. She was going to Chaing Mai, so stopped in to bring me some books and peanut M & M’s! She was with an engineer who will be moving to Takfa to build a bridge. I guess when you have no water you should build a bridge . . . anyway, it turns out he is Nurse Mallee’s brother. She is the sweet woman that gave us all those shots, what a small world!

            So, I told the students I had to leave & another teacher miraculously appeared and took over! All in all, it was a lot of fun and I look forward to next week! Unfortunately, I won’t be teaching any cooking classes!

            Peach Corps will be having an “Old Fashioned Christmas Party” for all the volunteers (there are about 200 of us in Country). When we all went to our sites, through tears we promised to write until we saw each other at Christmas! Now, a month later – Lisa & I are deciding if we want to even go to Bangkok, or anywhere at all . . . too funny! ‘specially since my neighbors got an oven, so we could bake Christmas cookies! Lisa & Juli may come here!

            I’ve had three mosquito bites on the soft underside of my arm just now! Aahhh,, the mosquitos don’t seem to have as strong venom, because it will itch a little and then go away – the only time they bug (little pun) me is when they get inside the mosquito net. Then I nearly go insane!

            Thai people say Yaon chalb got farang, pratwa yoon booah cone Thai! (the mosquitos are bored with Thai people so they like to bite foreigners!)

            I love you all & miss you, please write soon so I will miss you more! Also, could someone send me some spaghetti sauce (the powder kind!)