My Journal - Oct 8-9, 1993

October 8, 1993

Now it is Friday, yesterday we learned how to propagate bamboo, it is pretty easy, and fun. Interactive learning is definitely the best, we were all tired, full from lunch, but using a big knife, hacking away at the bamboo made all the difference. We each took our ging-py and planted them in Rachel’s Nursery. We only have to wait 1-9 months to see if they will grow.

Tonight we move to our second homestay, I am going to live with a teacher, they have a nursery attached to their house. The best of both worlds, an Ajaan to help me with my Thai and baby plants nearby.

October 9, 1993

Ok, so far, I don’t understand a word they say, but they seem to understand me just fine. So, I guess I am learning to communicate.

Today we went to a funeral. The family I live with is PePytune he is a grade school teacher, PeNoy is a sweetie and they have one son living at home. He is 14 years old. Muey, another son is 20 and goes to school in Bangkok. PeNoy’s best friend is  PeJim, she lives across the street and they have a zoo over there. About 10 different birds in cages and a white squirrel. PeJim peeled a banana and gave it to the squirrel, he is so cute, he repeeled it, bit all around and ate the inside. Thai bananas have seeds so he actually only ate about 1/10^th of his banana, eating around the seeds.

Anyway, PeNoy and PeJim asked me if I wanted to go to their friends house, by tiow. Ok, we got there and a bunch of women were sitting around, busy and outside a bunch of men were building something. PeJim pointed to the woman who lived there and said “she looks sad, baby dead”. I agreed, that was sad. PeJim  took me over to a bed covered with mosquito net and said that is her, baby dead. Turns out, she was 39, and died at the hospitals of “lome”. (??) One woman took a knife and basket and came back with a ton of flowers. We arranged them on banana stalks. Pretty cool, take the banana stalk, poke holes in it  and stick the flower stems in). The men were building a coffin. It was a box, they made a lid out of bamboo frame with lots of decorations. Tomorrow, everyone will go to the Wat and they will burn her. Through the whole party, only one woman cried, she was about 40 and they may have been good friends. She did smile later on. It did seem like a party, except for the dead body in the room.

Later PeNoy and I walked to the talad (market), we stopped at three houses to chat and meet the farang. At the third house was a brand new beautiful house, no glass in the windows yet. A man on a motorcycle with an ice chest strapped to the back full of fish. We bought some fish, more people collected and we sat on our heels to chat. There is always one person that takes an interest and really tries to talk to me. This time it was a 15 year old girl. I got lots of practice.

Later that day, PeJim took me to a party (no dead people at this one). They called it “Tambone”, something about two Wats. There was a lot of praying and eating and eating. Pe Jim was cool, she sat at the fun table even though they made room for us at the girls table. We stopped at the funeral house on the way back, it was still going strong. There was a lot more people to talk to.