Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup
June 26th, 2006
THE VILLAGE TEMPLE IN BAN HAT BAI, THAILAND
We traveled back upriver to Ban Hat Bai, a Thai village, June 22, 2006. Our open-air boat gave us an up close view of the Mekong river. I could put my hand in the water.
The trip to Ban Hat Bai took several hours. The weather was perfect but the benches were hard. We were all happy when we finally arrived at our destination. Ban Hat Bai is known for its cloth weaving and when we reached the village, our tour guide called the owner of a fabric shop. The old woman reopened her store and made a few sales for her trouble.
We walked to center of the village, which was oddly quiet due to the funeral of an important resident. A half-dozen women wearing traditional clothing greeted us, though. They immediately latched on to the black women in our group and began touching their hair. The Thai women were fascinated by it.
THE WOMEN OF THE VILLAGE LOVE ANNA’S HAIR!
We sat under an open-air pavilion in the town center and local performers entertained us. A woman sang — a kind of chant really — accompanied by a man playing a hand-carved flute. The woman sang about her life in the village. She had lived there for 41 years but had never been granted citizenship and could not travel about the country freely. (Only citizens have this right.) We clapped to the beat and a local woman encouraged us to show our appreciation in the Thai way. “Say, say, saaaaaay!” we shouted. (I’m not precisely sure what it means — “rock on!” is a good guess — but we shouted it after every stanza.)
After the entertainment, we rinsed our hands in a bucket of water and sat for dinner at two tables. My table was situated under a fluorescent light, which attracted a horde of flying insects. I saw insects of every variety, many of which ended up in my food. I would guess conservatively that 15-20 bugs landed on my plate over the course of dinner. I flicked them off the plate and carried on eating.
The three of us at the table tried to be discreet. We didn’t want to let on that we were bothered by the bugs. But the women serving us were aware of the bugs — they just didn’t see them as a problem. At one point, a local woman sat by my colleague, Dennis, and helped him remove bugs from his plate. “I don’t think I ever had someone pick bugs from my plate,” he observed dryly.
(I hesitate to mention this incident. I don’t want to put the villagers or the meal in a bad light. However, we were told at the start of the trip to expect some culture shock and this was it for me. Actually, it first happened the night before when we ate dinner at a restaurant in Chiang Saen and almost got eaten alive by flying termites. I took photos of a salamander eating the termites on a wall just outside the dining room.
I should note, for the record, that the food on this trip has been superb. We eat three meals a day at upscale restaurants. I don’t know when I’ve eaten so much or so well. The diet is quite healthy — rice, vegetables and meat. People here don’t eat at fast food restaurants and they don’t eat much processed food. I haven’t seen any obese people. The food is fresh — sometimes it flies right onto your plate! )
I had a second helping of food and then got up from the table. Our tour guide announced our sleeping assignment for the night. My colleague Aaron Sorenson and I would be staying at the home of Kesanee Saengsuwan, a local farmer.
We walked through the dark to Saengsuwan’s house in the adjacent village of Hat Sai Thong. We stopped first at a home across the street, the home of her mother in law, for a welcome ceremony. (Four other colleagues staying at houses nearby joined the party with their hosts.) We sat on the floor around a large plate filled with snacks. Saengsuwan’s mother in law poured us some homemade rice sake and we took four rounds of shots. (I took the first round slowly and coughed, which made everyone laugh.)
SHARING THE SAKE
Our hosts instructed us to extend our arms and they put some of the food into our cupped hands. Each of our hosts then began to speak — all at once — a cacophony of well wishes. (Aaron translated for us: “May you live long and prosper … may you enjoy good health … may happiness be yours.”) We placed the food in a large bowl and one of our hosts took the bowl outside and placed it in front of the house. She placed it there to insure that the gods would protect us and keep bad spirits away.
The man of the house took out a ball of string. He cut several lengths of string and gave them to our hosts. Each of our hosts then went to each guest and tied a string bracelet around his or her wrist. While they tied the bracelet, they again vocalized their well wishes, caressing our hands as they spoke. The ceremony was so sweet, so simple and so sincere; it was impossible not to be touched. I’ve been told to wear my two bracelets until they fall off; otherwise, I could jeopardize the good luck they will bring.
Saengsuwan is 35 years old. She and her husband make their living as corn farmers. They have an eighteen-year old son, who is currently studying at a university in Chiang Mai. Saengsuwan lives in a one-floor home made of concrete. It has a large front and back porch. The front door is made of solid wood, which has been hand- carved. There is some attractive, decorative ironwork over the front windows. All of the windows feature screens with wood shutters, but no glass.
The inside of the home features a large living room, three good size bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. The home is sparsely furnished with well-used furniture. The living room features a TV and a coach, a picture of King Rama on the wall. The bathroom has a sink, which doesn’t work, a faucet for bathing, and a simple toilet (made for squatting but not sitting.)
The house has a beautiful view from the backyard, with a creek that sometimes floods bringing snakes — cobras and constrictors — into the yard. A month or so ago, Saengsuwan found a boa constrictor as thick as my thigh. The villagers killed it and sold it to a restaurant.
KESANEE SAENGSUWAN CLEANING THE FRONT PORCH
My colleague Aaron stayed in Saengsuwan’s house with me. Aaron is fluent in Thai, which was a godsend. Through Aaron, I was able to have an extended conversation with Saengsuwan. We talked about a great many things. I asked her what I wanted to know about Thailand and she asked me about America. She’s a well-informed woman.
Saengsuwan said that Thais have always had a good opinion of the United States, though that has changed somewhat since the Iraq war. She said that some Thais now question America’s motives. When the war began, she said, some people felt as though the United States had gone “power crazy.” Other people thought that this was a good thing, since Islam had seemed to go power crazy, too. She said that gas prices had risen dramatically since the war and that people in Thailand had trouble paying the higher prices. She wondered if the next president could do something about it.
I asked her how village people felt watching American TV shows. Did the constant display of (unattainable) wealth demoralize the villagers? Did it make them dissatisfied with their own country? “No,” she said. “It just makes us want our country to be like America.” I noted that Thailand is wealthier than many of its neighbors and that one day it could be as prosperous as other industrialized countries. “When will that happen?” she laughed.
Saengsuwan acknowledged that Thailand had made a great deal of progress in her lifetime. Her village now has running water, electricity and a paved road, all of which has been introduced within the last 20 years. “I liked it better in the old days,” she said. Why? “People were better. Children were more respectful,” she said. (Saengsuwan Believes that American TV helped foster poor values among young Thais. She said they are materialistic, promiscuous, and disrespectful of their elders.”
A GROCERY STORE IN BAN HAT BAI
I asked Saengsuwan if she had any questions she wanted to ask about America. She said that the villagers had heard that the American government gives retired people a check every month. “Is that true?” she asked. I tried to explain the Social Security System.
We spoke for about an hour or more. I then excused myself and went to bed. I slept on a thin mattress laid out a bare floor. It was very comfortable and I slept soundly. However, when the roosters began to crow six hours later, I was already up.
I had been told to bring a few small gifts for my home stay host, something representing my institution, and I gave them to Saengsuwan after breakfast: a CD of African American folk songs, two Central State pens, a yellow Central State T-shirt (the King’s color!), a black Central State T-shirt with the worlds “respect my mind” emblazoned on the front, two Central State bracelets (the Lance Armstrong variety), and a child’s train whistle. Mrs. T seemed delighted with the gifts.
SAENGSUWAN AND NEIGHBORS
Saengsuwan and her neighbors walked us through the village to our waiting bus. I went into the bus and retrieved my bag of baseball caps. I gave them to all of the women. I missed one man who looked at me expectantly. I offered him a hat, which he appreciated. I have three hats left. I sure wish that I had brought more.
SO LONG!
Entry Filed under: Freeman Fellowship
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