In short, in two groups, our study abroad program hiked between 5 rural villages in the North of Thailand and stayed with families in each one. Some were closer to the city and others were farther away, but all rely on the forestland to farm rice and feed themselves. They are almost entirely self-sustainable, growing all of their own vegetables, and of course: rice. There is barely electricity, and in some villages barely any vehicles to travel there and away, because they rarely need to. This land and forest is home to the Karen people, a population of villages who truly value and cherish the gifts of the forests and live in respect to preserving it forever.
11/2/12 Huay Ton Ko, the first village: “I’m having a moment, and I need to write about it! All week I have wondered: does my MooGah (host mom) like me? I have mistakenly done a lot of rude things and she always scrunches up her face when I talk to her like she can’t understand. I just came over to the kitchen to look in an watch her cook, and in a rush she came over and hugged me. She has never initiated anything before- conversation, instruction, anything, but we just had a moment of understanding. I’m sitting here in the doorway where she sits and suddenly feel so connected to her. Even though we are socialized differently and behave differently and have different ways of acknowledging people, we are the same at the very center. Being in the village has been such a rejuvenating experience: being with people who care first and foremost about their own health and the health of the land.”
11/6/12 Huay Hee, the second village, writing to Ali about the things I don’t want to forget:
“1) The STARS. They are magnificent, I feel as though we can see every layer of them, and the milky way too! There are patches of sky that ebb and flow, darken and pearl into this milky strip of galaxy. The stars even twinkle here and even burst at times. Every time I look up at the sky, I’m sure my pupils get a little bit wider.
2) Waking up in the mornings. When we wake up, our MooGah has been up or a few hours already (usually since 4:30 am) cooking, so the sweetest smelling wood fire aroma fills the air of the house and coaxes us out of bed. Sometimes it is hard to wake up, and other times it is easier, but I almost always have to pee really bad after not wanting to get up in the middle of the night. So, we duck out from under the mosquito net and step carefully across the precariously placed bamboo floor emerging outside to a beautiful sunrise: the first few rays of day coming over the hill. On the walk down to the bathroom the puppies lick my feet and nibble at my pajama pants and I look out over the small farm below, perfectly rectangular brown raised beds, with grid like patches of green vegetables.
3) Writing by candle light- I love this lifestyle of getting up and going to bed with the sun, but the sun even still sets very early, so we burn a small candle on an upside down bamboo cup for a small bubble of light.
4) Bucket showers- a mix of discipline and relief… most of the time I’m so dirty that I’m eager to dump the ice cold water on my head.”
11/8/12 Nam Hoo: “We don’t stay as long in this village so it is harder to get to know our families, but we still had some cute moments today: My Bpatee (host father) took me to see the farm and a cave nearby that we actually went inside. He is so small and old and has about 10 LONG hairs growing out of his chin that I just want to wax right off. Also when he speaks he just grunts so I can barely understand him. But today he came over and sat with us and told us semi-sentimentally that he has never had daughters before
11/10/12 Huay Nam Mae Hong Son: “This morning we went to the rice paddy fields, its like a small haven of beauty and bounty of food! We cut rice and I cut my pinky with the sharp knife, and my MooGah lovingly rubbed an herbal leaf on it to stop the bleeding.”
11/13/12 Hike to Pakalo: “This was one of the most unbelievable hikes I have ever been on- we started out down a hill, overlooking the rice fields we had been working in the day before which was so fueling for the rest of the day. From here we decended into the jungle, and basically hiked down a river for 7 hours: through the whole thing massive rock walls rose up on either side and stretchy vines hung down. There were rushing waterfalls and technical moments involved. There were also parts where we came upon cairns that were very precariously placed, small works of art to show that some skillful people had walked before us.”
11/14/12 Huay Nam Mae Sa Guud: “By some fortuitous series of events, Emma and I ended up showering behind some lady’s house in her river. This was such an epic way to end the course- with Thailand trickling and spreading all around us, washing our hair and tired pruny feet in the cold water felt so good.”
Also, I am on recovery day 2 of food poisoning: living hell. Nothing makes you less apetized my your favorite Thai food than the memory of it shooting out your mouth and nose. I was basically a human faucet for 7 or 8 hours. I hope my Karma has some healthy times in store!
