Today I had 3 classes in the morning.  It’s so hot.  After lunch it got chilly, windy and then it rained.  Then it was hotter than before and humid.  I wonder how I ever survived childhood since I grew up in this climate.  It feel impossible that people can live and thrive in this heat.  It zaps my energy and feel like a zombie walking around.

After school, Noi said I should go to the temple with her.  Some of the teachers are decorating and getting ready for the celebration tomorrow.  As I say yes I wonder if I might regret this yes.  I’m tired and I just want to go to bed early.  I went home and took a shower just to cool off.  I sat in front of my evaporative cooler on my “couch” and didn’t want to leave, but I had said yes and at 5 til, she called me to ask where I was.

The temple looked like a small town, high school fair.  There were several booths that the villagers are setting up.  There’s a big stage and some food booths.  There are decorative lights.  The decorations remind me of the homecoming floats we created in high school. They spend the time on some details and not on others.  The obnoxious green satin material is carefully gathered and draped to create beautiful drapings.  The post of the booth are covered in other fabric.  Yet, the wires everything is hung from are sticking out like a sore thumb.  That’s just one example.   One of the teachers is a historian for the town (or that’s what I got out of the conversation).  The booth we were decorating had a bunch of old photos of a town called Ban Na.  Ba Na was the town that existing in this area before the dam was built.  It would be under water now.  There are some people still alive that lived in Ban Na.  There are pictures of the historian teacher talking with one of them. There are also pictures of her with the Princess which is a big deal.  I wasn’t a huge help in decorating, but they were excited to see me there.  Some of the men were practicing with their band for the festivities tomorrow.  I walked over to watch/video.  They made me sit with them in the circle.  They tried to talk to me, but I had very little idea what they were saying.  There will be a play tomorrow telling the story of Ban Na so I watch some of the practice of that.  The actual holiday that is tomorrow is a religious holiday though.  So I’m not sure why all the history.  Buddha was born, enlightened and died all on the same day.  Tomorrow is that day.  It has a long Thai name for the holiday which I can’t remember.

Noi and I ate dinner.  I remember eating at this restaurant before.  I probably wrote about it.  It looks like a falling down shelter on the side of the road with a few tables.  But the food is delicious.  After dinner, I asked Noi to take me home.  I’m so tired.

(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore