Canadian Soil

Homesickness got the best of me.  My first plan was to go to Vietnam and than go home after meeting the family in Bangkok for a few days.  But that planned failed when I phoned the airline company in order to change my flight and was informed that all the planes where booked till June 27th.

The last few days were very emotional.  I was upsetting my parents since I was so upset and I even upset Mon a few times.  When my mom asked Mon to give me a hug Mon started to cry which made my mom start crying as well.

I spent an entire day on the phone with the airline company trying to find a solution for me to go home early.  We thought about flying into Seattle or  Calgary but they both had layovers in Vancouver.  After about four hours I was told that I would be able to fly back home as an emergency.

So my plane ticket was changed and I was scheduled to fly back on May 28th.  That gave me two days to say goodbye to everyone and do all the last minute stuff I had to do.  On the 26th I went to the village to say goodbye to everyone and on the 27th I stayed at home with the family and just relaxed.  The family which included Sa, Tha, Mama, Mon's brother, and us (Taiten, Bow, Mon, and I) all took me out for dinner one night.  It was hard to say goodbye but I was ready to come home.

On the night of the 27th I had to go to the bus station and wait for a bus to take me to Bangkok.  Since I lived in Kamphaeng which is a connecting down between Bangkok and Chiang mai I was not able to prebook my ticket.  That mean't I had to go to the bus station and hope they had a set available.  Since I was planning on catching the late night buses which left from 11 to 12 if by any chance none of them had seats I would have had to have Mon drive me down.

I unfortunately didn't get to say a goodbye to the kids since both were asleep and Mon couldn't wake them up.  It was a long 48 hours of traveling with the time change but when I finally arrived in vancouver I was relieved.  My parents drove down that morning and where only five kilometres out when I arrived.  When I walked into the waiting area I saw my parents just walk in.  I started running towards them with anticipation only to have both of them continue to walk away.  Equipped with two suitcases I ran after them pushing people out of the way.  I was to slow and both had entered the washroom before I could reach them or get their attention.  So I waited outside the rest room for them.  They were both shocked to see me since they believed I was still waiting to get through customs even though I texted them saying I had received my bags.

We stayed the night in Vancouver and drove back the next morning.  Once I got home I went to surprise my best friend Cole with my arrival.  While boarding the plane to Hong Kong I texted him informing him that there wasn't any flights available till the 28th which he believed.  I planned with Morgyn, his girlfriend, to meet them somewhere so I could surprise him.  It worked out perfectly since while he was inside A&W I waited in the car with Morgyn.  When he walked out he just stopped and stared completely shocked as to if it as actually me or not.

After spending sometime downtown running into friends and hanging out with Cole we went back to my house where some of my friends were waiting for me.  My parents had gotten all my friends together to throw me a surprise coming home party.  It was so nice to see everyone again.

Decedents of Apes

It is predicted that during the course of evolution humans evolved from monkeys.  I don't know about all humans but Thai people sure did.  Traditional grooming routines for woman include plucking grey hair out of one another's scalps, plucking each others arm pit hair, and not shaving.  

When I first came down to Thailand Mon considered me weird for shaving my legs routinely and kept saying how lucky I was to be able to grow hair on my legs.  I explained to her how back home its considered gross for women to have hairy legs and that people would kill to have hair-free legs like her.  That's one thing I absolutely love about travelling.  You are always able to learn about another cultures perspective on simple things such as hair removal.
Since they don't shave their legs their are no woman razors down here.  The only razors they have is for men which are mostly used for Monks.  I brought down two razors from Canada and came across the misfortune of breaking them.  I had to make the choose to either go oh natural for two months or buy a mens razor.  I went with the mens despite friends suggesting I unless the inner hippy.
Thai people also pick their noses.  I absolutely can't stand how casual they do it and I don't think I ever be able too.  If your going to pick your nose do it behind closed doors is my opinion.  I love how you will see people pick their nose and than touch something that a hundred other people are going to touch right after them.

Spicy Food

I remember the first week that I arrived in Thailand, Mon had made this dish.  Being in Thailand has altered my prospective of spicy.  I can eat something and believe it is spicy but Mon or Bow have no problem eating it.  (Taiten won't eat anything spicy)  I have learned now that you know something is spicy to one of them when Bow is crying and Mon steals your glass of water after drinking all her own.  They also do the loud breathing and sticking out their tongue sometimes.

Most of their dishes have a combination of some kinda chili and fish sauce.  Its amazing how much chilis and rice these people go through.  Fish sauce doesn't have that much flavouring but is added to give stuff a bit of liquid.  I swear all these people need to cook a good meal is oil, eggs (we go through about 48 eggs a week), fish sauce, and chilis.

Some of the stuff that Mon cooks is so spicy it hurts to breath.  The spice gets gets stuck in your throat and makes you cough.  When these days occur I usually have to have a cup of water on hand at all times.

Sometimes I might eat something and its not spicy so I will continue to eat it.  Than it hits you like a backhand to the face.  Holy man!  The key to eating spicy food is to work your way up gradually and to have something to get rid of the toxin.  The best is to have a cucumber or cabbage.  Cucumbers have saved my life and my lips a few times.

I have eaten spicy to the point that I have had a huge stomach ache afterwards.  When Bow and I eat are spicy noodles we can never only just have one bowl.  We of course needed seconds which just nearly kills us.  After are second bowl of noodles we usually go for a swim to cool off.

Feet

Buddhism emphasizes the head as being sacred while the feet are vulgar.  Since Monks aren't allowed to wear shoes to show respect you must remove yours when interacting with them.  Once a Monk has become older they are allowed, but due to modernization you will see plenty of Monks walking around with sandals on.      

You must always remove your shoes when going into a house and most stores.  You should also never touch anything buddhist to the feet.  For instance when I was at a temple ceremony in Phichit we all received a piece of string.  This string is significant since everyone held on to it while the Monks chanted, making it good luck.  

Everything can be turned into good luck down here.  Washing the Monks bathrooms is suppose to bring you good luck, and even receiving a bottle of water will if you drink a little bit each day.  Finding a parking spot in the market, or not having an accident while driving.  The string that was going to be discarded I was using to pretend to tie Taiten's ankles together.  Oh Boy was that wrong!  I have never seen such quick reactions out of Thai people before.  Mon started shaking her finger at me and Bow gave me a disgusted look.  That was my first scolding.

Also gesturing to certain objects is a no no.  I pointed to all of Bow's school books with my foot one day. Bow said since she learned with the books its considered rude to point to them with your feet.

Home Sick

After Andrea left I went home and cleaned up my room a bit.  By that I mean I packed my small suitcase with the clothes I'm to scared to wear incase they get wrecked and souvenirs I have gotten.  During the time that I was packing I started to think of home.  I have occasionally thought of home.  How exciting it will be to see everyone again, share my stories, and enjoy a cheeseburger!  But never have I thought of going home early, until today.  Out of the blue the thought occurred to me.  My stomach tied itself in a knot and I got butterflies.  I than mentally categorized reasons why and why not I should go home early.  Than I began planning how I would go about going home early.  I kept talking myself out of it and than back in but I consciously kept begging to find a reason to go home.

Thank goodness my parents came on skype were I talked things through with them.  My parents both liked the sound of me coming home early and my dad even started mentioning things we could do when I got back.  The next three hours I skyped with them was a mixture of confused moments.  Again the talking myself in and out of options and a lot of crying.  

Once I had settled down and felt a bit better I skyped with my best friend Cole.  But the feeling of homesickness once again hit me while talking to him.  I am very fortunate to have such amazing people in my life who love and miss me and are there to support me through the rough times even if I am half way around the world.  

So after five hours of skyping and endless amounts of emotions I was just as confused as what to do.

My reasons for staying

-going to vietnam

   (which might be an experience I will never get again)

My reasons for leaving
-seeing my family, friends
-If I continue to be homesick I won't enjoy myself

Bugs for Lunch

The next morning Andrea and I got up in time to get the kids ready for school.  After we had dropped the kids off at school Mon took Andrea and I to the market so we could purchase bugs.  Haha no joke.  We actually bought bugs, to eat!

I absolutely love the market.  Every time I go there I discover something new and disgusting that Thai people eat.  They literally have everything from fried frogs to crickets!  When I went with Andrea and Mon they even had turtles.  So once back at the house Andrea and I had lunch which of course consisted of peanut sauce with noodles and are recently purchased bugs. 

Let me describe these bugs for you.  The outside was hard and crunch which was good except they were extremely salty.  The inside was a network of fried guts which oozed juice the moment you bite through the bugs shell.  Just describing it is making my mouth water. 

When Mon came inside and saw Andrea spitting into the garbage can and me performing the "that-was-so gross-dance" she investigated our remaining plate of bugs.  Mon informed us that we were suppose to take of the shell and eat the inside.  I personally preferred the outside.  The texture of the inside was what had gotten to me.  

After we had finished eating our delicious lunch Andrea and I took the scooter to the Ancient city.  On the way we stopped into about cafe were I have made friends with the owner.  We ordered smoothies and chatted with Dao for a while.

I had no problem finding both entrances to the ruins.  The park is split into two different areas and only one side I had visited before.  This time I got to see both sides with Andrea which was a lot of fun.  We spent almost the whole day there and by the time we were finished we were both hot and sweaty.

So are solution was to go back to the house and go for a swim.  We turned on music and relaxed by the pool which is how I usually spend my days when the kids are at school and Mon is at the village.  Once the kids got home we did english together and played cards.  In the evening Andrea and I went to the night market.  I couldn't believe the amount of people who actually spoke english or at least the numbers.  I however talked Thai with them to achieve a bigger discount and also to improve my thai-communicate.    

    

Company!

I never thought I would get to share my experience with a friend but at last the day has come!  Andrea who I met in Koh Phi Phi traveled up from Bangkok and stopped in on her way to Chiang Mai.  She is planning on staying here for two days to experience real Thailand.  That so far has included a full moon monk ceremony (have no idea what its really called), and a trip to the village.  She also got to thoroughly understand the concept of a "thai time."

We started the morning at five thirty.  I pre-warned Andrea that the next few hours would involve a lot of chanting and might get rather boring.  She took everything in stride and appreciated the experience.  It also helped that we socialized quietly during the ceremony.  I explained how things worked in the Buddhist culture while she explained to me about Hinduism, since she spent two months in India before coming to Thailand.  

We had a typical day out at the village; Laying in hammocks, playing with the Dow's son, and eating food.  Taiten, Andrea, and I went for a walk and ran into some un expectantly huge leaves.  I seriously have never seen leaves that big in my whole life!!    

Its amazing how much Taiten has grown up during the five months I have been here.  He used to be this shy, timid person who only communicated with well known associates.  However this has greatly changed!  When he first met Andrea he had no problem talking to her and was even eager to join in activities with Bow and us. 

Bow, Andrea, and I drove the motorcycles to go get lunch, which was noodles.  We took Sak and Sa's bikes which where both standard.  Bow had to start the bike for me the first time but I had no problem getting it started by myself the second time around.  You have two extra foot pedals, one which is the brake, and the other to change gears.  I was surprised I caught on so quickly, and was riding like a pro in no time. 

Since this is my last month I have been getting photos with everyone in the village. I'm going to print a copy for each family as a gift and memory.  I absolutely love the village and the people and I hope they feel the same way about me too.  I consider them as my extended family and look forward to coming back some time in the future to see their growth.

The village was good until Andrea got an allergic reaction to noseeums.  She started to get progressively redder and had uncontrollable itching.  I asked Mon if we could leave soon so Andrea could take her medication back at the house, but the concept of soon was almost two hours later.  "Thai time" is a pain in the ass sometimes.  I have adapted to it but there is the odd occasion when it bothers me.  I could tell that Andrea was extremely uncomfortable, so I went to find Mon to see if I could hurry things up.

When the family wants to go somewhere I literally have five seconds to get out the door.  No one tells me whats going on and they never give me a heads up to when we are going to leave.  However when someone else wants to go somewhere its a struggle just to get out the door.  This is a common occurrence when we want to go camping.

When we finally got back to the house Andrea took her medication and had a cold shower which brought her back to health.  We decided we would try to do some baking with what ingredients we had.  However we had to wing-it and substitute a lot of the ingredients.  We made a brownie cake and a apple pie cake which turned out alright.  Even though they turned out very different than they would back home they tasted really good to us.  I think this is since we both haven't had dessert in months.  Even Mon and the kids really like them.