After a 12 hour overnight bus ride from bangkok to my site, I was picked up by my Thai counterpart and taken to her house. After eating a bit of food she asked me if I was ready to go out. She probably said where we were going in Thai but I didn't understand it. Next thing I know I'm at a funeral. Funerals are very different here. There are groups of people hanging out outisde eating and drinking. Males in one area and females completely separate. Everyone stared when I walked in and I heard shouts of foreigner coming from every direction. Everyone wanted to talk to me and know who I was and what the heck I was doing in their village. The separation of male and female didn't seem to apply to me for some reason. I met lots of key village people and learned to cook some Thai food too. After that I went to a wat and got string tied around my wrists from a monk who chanted over me and poured water on me. From there I was taken to a waterfall, a market, and a windmill.
That night I stayed with a host family. We ate some delicious food and everyone sat on the ground and ate with their hands which was very different from what I have experienced in Central Thailand. The next morning I met two elderly women who weave mats for sitting on the floor. They taught me how to make one and I sat with them for a few hours making the mat. They asked me if I could help them develop a market for selling them because they can not make enough money. Then I walked down the street and met another elderly women sewing traditional hill tribe shirts. I sat with her for a while and spun a bicycle tire attached to a string that spun out the thread for her. After about 10 minutes my arm was killing me but this lady could probably do it for days on end. In the afternoon I met a teacher who is very excited to work with me and was incredibly nice.
The next day I went to the government building in my village which will be my main base for doing projects out of. When I walked in everyone was so excited and was yelling and could not wait to meet me. I said hello in Thai and everyone dissolved into fits of laughter. After being introduced to everyone they crowded around and whipped out a scale. Everyone is gesturing for me to get on it and at first I am horrified, but after a few seconds I thought the whole situation was hilarious and stepped on the scale with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. When they saw how much I weighed people were high fiving and laughing even harder. Then they told me I need to diet. It was an incredibly strange experience. I also went to a daycare, health center, and a community group to meet with people and discuss why I am here. In the afternoon back at the government building they dragged me upstairs, handed me pom poms and told me I was going to be a cheerleader. About 8 of us practiced a cheerleading routine for an hour and then at the end after seeing how bad I am they asked me if I can do a Thai sport instead. Apparently there is a big sports day competition next month against other villages and it is very competitive. Every day they stop work an hour early and split into groups to practice the sports they are competing in.
Near my site with my counterpart Pii-Dao.
2 year old who I stayed with! She's incredibly energetic and tons of fun. She took me around the neighborhood to meet everyone and by the end I had 10 kids hanging onto me.
If you're thinking gosh that looks like ants and maggots in a sandwich bag, then your only half right. Those are red ants and ant larvae in a sandwich bag, get with it people. I only ate the ants and was very nervous to do so because I thought they might bite me since they were still alive. The larvae looked a bit too much like maggots for my liking. This is a common food in my Tambon, people love it which I absolutely do not understand.
View in my village. This is what a lot of the area looks like. There are gigantic fields everywhere with mountains/hills in the background. Beautiful.
Cheerleading practice with my coworkers!
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