Today I didn’t have any classes.  I went to school anyway so at least it looked like I was working.  I did work on future lesson plans which is good because they still take me forever.  At lunch I went home and made a grilled cheese sandwich and then went to get coffee.  It was way too sweet, but that’s really my fault for not practicing “no sugar” in Thai.  Then later in the afternoon one of the ladies in the school office made a coffee run so I had another way too sweet coffee.  I love that they put coffee in bags and then give you a side of ice so that your coffee isn’t watered down.  I just love that they put liquids in plastic bags.  I know that if you don’t have a cup or bowl to put the liquid in, you just stab it with a straw and drink out of the bag.  I have no idea what the correct protocol is for when you have a cup of ice.  Do you still stab the bag with a straw?  Do you cut a hole in the bottom or do you oh so carefully undo the rubberband and hope to not spill any?  I’ve done the latter.

In an attempt to learn the student’s names I asked them to put their names and favorite activity on a piece of paper and then draw a picture of anything they’d like to on the back.  Just after a few classes, I realize that this is an impossible task on my part.  There are over 500 students and I haven’t been able to remember one name yet.  Attached are some of my favorite pictures they drew.

After school, I went back to my house and sat on my “couch” in front of the R2D2 green evap cooler.  I’m supposed to go to the temple for the festivities tonight.  I just wanted to stay on my cool couch forever and not move.

Chelon, the teacher that is a historian of the area and who put together a booth at the temple and directed the play that was going to be done tonight had asked me and Robin to attend the festivities.  She had told Robin 6:00pm so Robin picked me up at school a little before.  We got there and people were still setting up.  None of the teachers were there.  Robin had never been to the temple so we walked around the temple grounds for a while.  The guys in the band, Noi’s husband is one, were delighted to see me again and tried to get me to dance.  There was a lady last night that insisted I take her picture.  Tonight she insisted again that I take her picture.  One of the guys in the band really took to Robin and gave him the sash he had been wearing.  He also insisted that I take a picture of him.  So many villagers were excited to see us and smiled or wai-ed us.  There were food vendors but none of the food looked good to me.  There were a bunch of tents with food too.  Robin ran into a lady he knew from the dam and she invited us to eat with her in one of these tents.  Most of food was too spicy for me or had fish in it, but I still managed to find some to eat.  My mouth was on fire for about an hour from a tiny bit of tom yum I put on my plate.  I really like tom yum, but jeeze, why so much pepper?

The festivities really didn’t start until 8:00pm.  So I was fairly bored by the time they did.  I never did see any of the other teachers except Chelon.  She bought us cotton candy.  I felt like a very happy 8 year old.  There were a lot of people standing on the stage while people gave speeches.  Then in the middle of one of the speeches, fireworks started going off behind us.  The area has been in a horrible dry spell.  So, let’s set off low exploding fireworks right next to the people and lots of burnable things.  I love not quite safe fireworks.  After the fireworks, they set off what looked like a geyser of sparks.  The geyser of sparks went off every 5 to 30 minutes for a good portion of the rest of the evening.  Then the play started.  It was the history of the town of Ban Na.  Ban Na is the town that had to be relocated/abandoned when they built the dam.  It is now deep underwater.  Islands near the dam were once mountains.  The best I can tell is the people of Ban Na moved around in boats, grew rice, and had a nice life.  Then there were men with swords.  Then the people had a peaceful time.  Then the town fell to drinking and fighting.  And I have no idea what the rest of the play was about or what the ultimate fate of Ban Na was (well, I know about the dam, but that didn’t seem to be part of the play).  After the play there was traditional Thai dancers and then a parade of sorts on the stage with people in traditional dress, carrying offerings or banners.  Even though I was rather clueless of what was really going on, the part that I really liked is that this isn’t some cultural show for tourists.  This is the real thing.  This is the real history told through dress, play and pageantry as told by locals for locals.

When the show appeared to be over I was ready to go and Robin seemed ok with that.  My new buddy who keeps getting me to dance tried to convince me that it was too early to leave.  I should stay and dance.  It took quite a lot of slowly inching away to be able to leave.  Chelon seemed so touched that we both came to this and walked us out to the motorbike and stood in the street as we drove off.

(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore