KellyFitz's blog

Good news, everyone! Kelly's blogging days are over! To hear about my first year as a college student, then check out my new blog at: http://kellyfitz.typepad.com/tampa1/ . Peace out!

Do you realize... ?

I just finished listening to "Do You Realize" by the Flaming Lips and it seems like the perfect song to end this blog. That's right: this is it, baby! For this blog anyway. Life does indeed go fast, and it is hard to make those good things last. But they don't have to be forgotten! For the past 101 days since I have been back I have thought about Thailand every day. In the beginning, it all seemed like a dream. Like the whole year abroad never really happened and suddenly I was back in Illinois, scratching my head about that vivid dream I seem to have had during a long hibernation. Time has gone on and I have come to terms with the reality of my year abroad. Culture shock, in retrospect, was nothing abnormally bad. Some things, like the weather channel, needed gettting used to. Silly, right? One day shortly after my return my aunt mentioned something about the weather channel and I was struck with a thought: how preposterous the weather channel is! Why would anyone watch it? This stemmed from the fact that in Thailand the weather is always "dee", or good. Except during the rainy season, when everyone knows that it will rain every day, and during the hot season, when no one wants to be reminded how hot it is. In other words, the weather of Thailand is more predictable than Chicago. I remember now, and see the value in the weather channel and weather.com and the like. I am merely using this as an example for things that struck me upon my return. ... I have been in contact with my host family now that I am back. I have sent three and received a letter. We are friends on Facebook, but for those of you who know me well know that I don't use Facebook except on rare occassions. I am still figuring out Skype. But even if we are not in contact that much, I still LOVE them and think of them every day. And I mean that; no melodramatic cliches here. ... Staying involved with AFS after the fact is a great thing. I went to the sending orientation to see the kids that were hosted in the USA during the 2010-2011 year return home. This was shortly after my return and was quite difficult since I had to see everyone say their good-byes right there in the parking lot. Most kids were pretty cool about leaving, some excited, some mixed. There were only a couple who looked as I must have upon leaving: red-eyed, clutching momentos, wanting to but knowing the futility of fighting the inevitable. I had to help myself to a handful of tissues during (and after) that one. Earlier this month, I was at another AFS orientation with a decidely different atmosphere. This time, we were receiving and orienting the new AFS students! What strikes me is that their first view of America is the O'Hare airport, then some highway, and then a Best Western (which was not the cleanest establishment to which I have ever been). Not the glamor and golden streets that some of them may have been expecting, that's for sure! It was so exciting to remember how I was in their position just a little over a year ago, and see the hopes and excitement written across the host families' and students' faces. Then after that orientation, Cathy, my AFS-USA advisor, had a get-together at her house where I got to meet up with a couple other returnees and talk about our experiences that were all pretty similar despite the different settings. The mere fact that we are AFS returnees forges bonds of friendship between us regardless of all else. It is great to have joined with this organization! ... Here it is, the little sales pitch: please please PLEASE study abroad if you have the chance! With AFS or anyone else, college or high school, just DO IT! The experience is like nothing else and there is no time in your life like the "student" phase. So get out there! The world is wide, full of cool people to meet, beautiful places to go, and things that just want to make you go "wow". So get out there! If you are a high school student, you can visit http://www.afs.org/ or http://www.afsusa.org/ (US students only) for information about how to study abroad or bring the world into your home as a host. And that's that. ... Good bye, and thanks for reading! ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zYOKFjpm9s

I said I would be back so here I am

Every AFS student who goes abroad knows that the situation they enter is only temporary. I was fully aware of that before leaving and reminded myself of it often during the first three months. But once I changed host families, improved my language ability, and got to see more of the fabulous and crazy country of Thailand, I found that I really loved it there. I could really call this place home. Even now that I am back to the US, I feel that I can still call Thailand home.

And yet...

I hardly believe that I was gone for so long. That I even left at all. It all seems like it was one long, fantastical dream; like I was in a crazy flurry (graduation, moving, gum graft surgery, good byes) in the month before, then had a long sleep with some super crazy dreams, and now I am awake again and continuing about my business. Of course some things have changed: like my skin is more tan, I am more extroverted, I have friends from all over the world, those Thai characters are words and not just beautiful, bubbly symbols to me. So now I sit here, in the US, and wonder: was it real? Did I really go abroad? Have I changed or was I always like this? The obvious answers are yes yes yes no, but it is still an interesting internal dialogue to have with oneself.

So... What next for Kelly Fitzgerald / Sujarit? I actually arrived in Chicago at about 7 pm (give or take) on Thursday, May 19. So I have been home for a week and a half. In that time I have visited my old high school and actually got to do exactly what I did in Thailand: drift around the school following friends/teachers/people I sort of know and now know better. It was wonderful to be back in time for the final days of school, last tech crew meeting, senior barbeque, graduation, things of that nature. Since I do now live an hour away from my old life, it was also wonderful that I have a great friend (MATT) who has a great family (I'm running low on positive adjectives in case that's not too obvious...) that let me stay at their house for the past week so I was able to go to school and graduation and such. And now that I am home and for the rest of the summer...

- Find a way to post all of the best pictures on Flickr. I actually tried to start that process today but have, unfortunately, met with resistance from my mother's machine.

- Visit friends and family as much as possible.

- Learn to juggle and unicycle. Matt: It's online for the world to see so I better do it now. :P

- Keep up with Thai.

- Work with AFS. There is a boy from my chapter that will be going abroad to Thailand sometime in the next month or so. If you are reading this, please contact me! In any case I will be finding a way to contact you. :) And if any future AFSers have any questions, please let me know!

- Go to Washington DC with Girl Scouts.

- Get a motorcycle license. I am already signed up for a free weekend course. Afterward I will receive a certificate stating that I completed the course, which I can then bring to the DMV along with proper payment and then I will have my license! Easy as that.

- Prepare to move to Tampa. Somewhere in the 20's of August is most likely for the move. Logistics still need to be worked out, but as I learned in Thailand: don't worry about it. Everything will work out. Stress is a choice. :)

Well, I'm home safe in case you were wondering. I had the most amazing 10.5 months in a totally amazing country. Some of my heart will be there always. If you are reading this Thailand: I LOVE YOU! And I will be back. I don't know how or when but I will return. Promise.

Roller Coaster

It's that time: I am back from travels and am facing the reality that I have just a week left with my host family. Lots to do! Finish the photo album I have been working on since January. Self address and stamp envelopes to encourage communication between me and Thai friends. Go out for dinner with an aunt from my old host family. Sort clothes that I want to keep and what will be given to the local orphanage. Sort out baggage restrictions with AFS. Go to school to visit teachers (most of my friends have graduated). Learn last-minute cultural things that I have wondered about but haven't asked about yet. Get a nice family portrait. Take pictures of the house for everyone back in the states to see. Eat a lot of my favorite Thai things. Enjoy all the green that sprung up after some rain came during the two weeks I was gone. Try to figure out how to say good bye to everyone. Go to the rocket festival this weekend. Lots of stuff to squeeze in this last week.

I leave my house for the last time (FOR NOW) on Monday, May 16, at about 9 PM. I will spend Tuesday and Wednesday at end-of-stay camp in Bangkok and then at 2:30 AM on May 19 I will report to the lobby. Then go to the airport. Then at like 6:30 I will get on a plane. Alone. It's going to be a long haul, but I don't plan on sleeping much (if at all) during the end of stay camp so hopefully my time will be passed between sleep and watching movies on the little TV that I am praying is in the back of the seat in front of me. So that'll be that. Due to crazy time zones, I will get back to Chicago on the same day (May 19) at like 7 or 8 PM. I'm not sure. Ask my mom. :P There will be screams, hugs, maybe some tears. Then the drive home. And if we pass a really nice and inexpensive Mexican restaurant, I just may need to stop for those chilis rellenos that I have absolutley been dying for. Mom and dad: you know what I'm talking about. Like we ate the one day we all went thrifting in Little Mexico together and then I slept on the way back because I was so full and we had to open the windows because of all the beans I ate. Chilies rellenos like that. Please. And if not that day, then some day soon after. 

So it is almost midnight on Sunday (also Mother's Day - have a great one mom! Some relaxing for you I hope.) and tomorrow I will go to school again. Summer in Thailand is over, but fortunately for me I will get back to the US just as summer is starting! It couldn't be planned better. I should really be getting to sleep but felt like a little update here would be nice to let all know that my two crazy weeks on Koh Phagnan Island and then Koh Phi Phi Island have come to an end and I am so happy to be back in Yasothon. Just today I was walking in my village and felt with such confidence that I have never felt before that this is my place. I feel good here. Which is just perfect since now I leave in a week. Hence the roller coaster. 

Some moments I am packing my bags and then a sad song comes on and it is too much and my eyes grow hot and wet. Then other moments I am just singing and dancing around the house or biking and talking to everyone in the village. I can talk to everyone now - even the monks! That is the final milestone for me. And then someone asks when I leave and then I remember: just one more week. And then a wave of sadness comes again. They say it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, which I agree with. And it's not like it'll be lost forever, I can always come back. It will never be the same again. Like when I come back to this house, I won't have a wardrobe with all my clothes anymore. I won't have a shelf with all my tofu and vegetarian stuff. I won't have a bed pushed next to my sister's. It will still be my family, but it will be different when I am here as a visitor, not so much a daughter. It's a weird feeling.

BUT! This year has been amazing. It's like a roller coaster all the time - that's how life is. It just feels more intense due to the time constraint and strong emotions rooted here.

Sorry if this post was rambling. (I know it was.) Just trying to get some thoughts out there, you know? But it is late - I need to be up in six hours. Plus the last song on my CD is playing now and I still need to make room for sleeping on my bed since I have made a pretty big mess of packing. I'll write again when I can, and hopefully my thoughts will be more coherent next time. 

Love to mothers everywhere! (Especially at 2804 Shorewood.)

Kelly

ฉันเป็นคนไทยแล้ว

The title of this post can (roughly) be read as "chan pen kohn thai laeow", or "I am a Thai person already". And just in time, as I am preparing to leave this wonderful country! But in all seriousness, would I really consider myself to be a Thai person? I know I have adopted a more Thai attittude and lifestyle, though I will always have certain foreign characteristics. 

Still, in the last month or so I have gotten many comments referencing how Thai I have become. One of my friend's little host sisters asked me if I was a "loog crueng", or half child between a Thai and a foreigner. Since I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a prominent nose, I thought the question was rather humourous. Of course neither of my parents are Thai! Still, she explained herself by saying that I speak Thai very clearly and that I could pass myself as a Thai. 

My host parents have also praised me for adopting Thai characteristics and my all-out attempt to learn to communicate. My host mom has even said that I am Thai now and it is the joke that I really am a half-child, just not in the traditional sense. I can speak, eat spicey food, listen to Thai music (something I have come to really enjoy), enjoy two daily showers, wear the same clothes as my thoroughly Thai grandm, and take afternoon naps like a real Thai. 

No matter where I go, I find opportunity to interact with Thais. When I buy something somewhere new, they like to detain me for a conversation to discover the story of this young farang who can speak to them. I have had strangers, from the guy selling fruit to the middle-aged lady sitting next to me on the bus, pouring out their life stories about how their husband left them for his four mistresses or about how their child and his father have a bad relationship or about how they just got a new job at a clothes shop and I should come visit them. It's a crazy world here. And I love it.

Another interesting tidbit: a couple older women now I have classified me as a "saow pree-ow", or sour girl. You see, in Thailand, there are two types of women: sweet and sour. Each time I am classified I am with my friend Julia, who is classified as cute and sweet while I am definitely called sour. I don't know how this can be deduced so quickly by people we don't know very well, but there it is. If a Thai wants to say something about you then they will just go ahead and say it. 

So what it this sweet and sour thing? I suppose a sweet girl is tidy, quiet, helpful, cute, and, well, sweet. The sour girl is more likely to wear risque fashion, have piercings or tattoos, be loud, showy, and some would say more fun. Of course people can be mixed, but those are the two main categories. Do I agree with my sour classifiaction? ... Yes. It's more fun to be sour though there are times to be sweet.

The final inspiration for this post came just a little while ago when a lady at a restaurant told me that I was a) sour and b) she can tell that I spend a lot of time with Thais and am very Thai myself. I am pleased each time to hear this, though I must wonder how they notice it. I suppose Thai people pick up on underlying clues that foreigners tend to overlook or dismiss, simply believing that ït's not their business.

There is it. A rather hastily written post - apologies - but it is a difficult thing to articulate with limited time on a keyboard. So yes, I am still an American, but like so many awe-struck foreigners before me I must say that part of my heart will stay forever in Thailand.

Fond Memories

Since January I have been working on creating my gift to my host family: an photo album. It has taken awhile but I am finally nearing the end. I have made many trips to the Kodak store, been through many rolls of double-sided tape, and worn many colored pencils down with all the sharpening it took to keep on writing my Thai captions nicely. But now there are just three open pages, a page of funny stories to write, and my thank you letter that will be put in the front cover. It's a labor of love that I know will be appreciated since they often like to pull out old albums to look at. But as I stick the pictures in and write captions for each of them, I am reminded of what a wonderful time I have had in the Sujarit household. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I will write out some of my memories to share a little...

- The first day in my new house was a Saturday. An ice cream man came by and I had a durian popsicle.

- I was able to try on my mom's police officer uniform and did a nice photo shoot in front of my house.

- My mom curled my hair for me one day back in December. It was very cute... for about the first hour of school. But since we didn't use spray it looked like a rat's nest by the end of the day. It was still nice to have someone help me put the rollers (yes, those little plastic foam rollers) in my hair.

- My family likes to eat chicken feet. Grilled, put in soup, fried. They can be eaten in so many ways, and there are always just bones left at the end of the meal.

- The spiciest Som Tum (papaya salad) I have ever had was on a school trip to Korat. The lady who made it put a handful of big red chilis in. Then I told her I wanted it spicier so she threw in another handful. After that I could barely talk right. I drank three bottles of water, a box of milk, and ate an apple to try to get the spiciness to go away. 

- My mom and sister don't like toads, so naturally I must catch them and bring them for everyone to see. I can do this often since it is easy to find nice, big toads hopping around in the evening. There's one that likes to go in the kitchen drain and croak loudly.

- Mice are a norm in Thai houses, but Thai people still don't like them. When one comes down the wires from the ceiling, my mom always shouts "noo! noo!" , or mouse. Some fast movements at them send them scrambling back up the wires.

- On birthdays, my little cousin Pete always insists on eating cake before he will eat the actual meal. He is a big fan of sweets and his upper teeth are a little rotten because he is afraid and refuses to go to the dentist. Once his adult teeth come in I hope my aunt will take him to conquer his fears.

- My grandma has a chicken farm, and sometimes I can go over in the morning or evening to help feed them. The chickens are for meat.

- My dad took my brother and I to see a boat race in town last year. There was one road along the river with all the stalls and goings-ons. We drove down it once, and on the way back I opened the ceiling window and stood up. I was like a one-woman parade since everyone was puzzled and excited to see this foreigner riding through. Several people invited me to dance on stages, which I had to refuse since there was nowhere to park the car.

- My father has taken me and Pete to see the monkeys of Yasothon that live about a half hour away. There is also a dirt house that we went to that belongs to a Thai man and his American wife (strange pair - usually it is an old foreign man with a younger Thai woman). They weren't home but we could still go inside and browse the library of Thai and English books.

- I made PBJ sandwiches to bring to school, and my sister really liked them. There was leftoever peanut butter and jelly, so my mom bought more bread and one evening she ate that for dinner instead of rice.

- I have become a pro hula hooper by practicing with our weighted blue exercise hula hoop.

- I have gotten funny pictures of everyone in my family sleeping. They have also gotten a funny one of me sleeping sitting upright, with my mouth open, as I dozed off during a letter-writing session. 

- May and I make a great dish-washing team. I rinse, she soaps, I rinse again, and we put away together.

- My familly taught me to make Khao Lum, or sticky rice cooked with coconut in bamboo shoots. If I can get ahold of some sticky rice and bamboo shoots and fresh green coconuts I would be happy to make it for all to sample.

- Macky (my brother) has some serious music talent. He can play all the traditional Isaan instruments but right now is in the "I really want a guitar" phase. It's a little expensive so I hope he can get it someday. The joke is that I will buy a guitar secondhand and send it to him from the US.

- The first time I saw my mom using a typewriter at work, I laughed at loud. I appreciate the old-school factor, but what was really cool was the fact that it was a typewriter with a Thai alphabet. She doesn't use it often - Thailand is a civilized country with computers and Internet, but sometimes she just needs to use  a typewriter. I guess.

- Another example of old school technology: there's an old lady that we buy stuff from in bulk to resell individually in our own store. To add up the final cost she uses an abicus, or the predecesor of the calculator. I suppose it is from a lifetime of practice that allows her to flip the little beads back and forth super fast and then somehow deduce a final price from that.

- One day a car hit a bus a little ways down the road from our house. No injuries, so my father felt it was okay to go and take pictures since he is doing a thesis about preventing road accidents.

- One night there was a fair in town, so May and I went to walk around. We looked at the squirrels for sale as pets, I taught her to play BINGO, I tried to win a Pikachu doll by throwing darts at balloons (no way did I get anything with my horrible arm), and we went on a spinning ride and screamed the whole time. Literally. It was obnoxious, to say the least.

- Pete likes to dance, and there have been many occassions when he has found himself in the circle of clapping, laughing people. He dances in the traditional Isaan fashion, though I have found that he is capable of MTV music video dancing too if you put on some fast music.

- Never have I met a baby who receives as much attention as Chip, my baby cousin. There is always someone with him to play and watch. Thai people don't need to "babyproof" their house since there is always someone to watch since they tend to live close to their extended family. For the first few years of her life, my grandma was the one who raised May in Yasothon while my parents worked in the neighboring province of Ubon.

- Riding around in the back of a pick-up. With teachers, siblings, cousins, other AFSers, Thai friends, people I don't even know... It's something that I really enjoy about Thailand and will miss in the US. Sitting in the back of a pick-up is frowned upon, right?

- Going to my grandpa's house. That was a great week with May and Macky and my dad's family. I liked seeing a different part of Thailand, even more rural than Yasothon.

- Starting off the new year by waiing my parents and listening as all my sister's friends that were at our house called their moms.

- Trying on my sister's university uniform. She wore the other suit and we did another nice photo shoot together.

- One day I came home with my sister so we got back at 8:00 pm. Usually my family eats right at seven and the days we come home late May and I eat together and everyone else has already eaten. But one day my mom had cooked a full Thai-style meal - all vegetarian - that we ate together. It was so touching that she cooked all the different dishes in vegetarian so that I could eat with them too.

- Last month we ate fresh, ripe mangos for dessert everyday. The easiest way to eat it is to cut it into three pieces: two fleshy pieces and the pit and then use a spoon to scoop the flesh out of the two pieces. As for the pit: my family gave it to me to gnaw on after I demonstrated a vigorous liking for it.

- One day I dressed up, in a short dress, high heels, leggings, hair, and all to drive around and run errands in town. Fun times.

- We went to see a movie called Suck Seed, which is about high schoolers forming a band with a complicated romance involved. Happily there were subs, which made the movie a little more enjoyable so I could laugh about some of the more intricate jokes too. It is a movie I would recommend to anyone who is interested in learning more about the lives of Thai teenagers.

- On Sunday, when there was snow in Chicago my mother informs me, it was super hot here. So hot, in fact, that in the afternoon, we (me, May, Macky, my mom, aunt, and two little cousins) retreated into May's and my bedroom, turned on the AC and a fan, and watched movies on the Internet. Seven people, two beds. We made it work.

- Nong Chip, my little cousin, likes to play with my hair. It must be interesting for him since blonde hair is hard to come by in Thailand. I am pretty sure I am the first foreigner he has ever met.

- Teaching Macky and May a little bit of English. What they were interested in: when to say shit. Teens are the same everywhere I suppose.

- My mom and sister are trying to get fit, so sometimes we do exercises together. Last night we listened to some Thai music I bought at the market ( one CD was 40 baht and has 160 songs and the quality hasn't noticeably suffered. I am impressed with the Thai knock-offs available. For the most part.) and took turns playing badminton in the dirt path in front of our house next to the road. The person who wasn't playing hula hooped. It is such a nice, relaxed atmosphere.

- Just this morning we found two baby kittens in our front yard. Someone must have dumped them here because they are too young to possibly have willingly left their mother. They have been crying with hunger and creeping into the house all day but we are not giving them anything since if you give a stray food it will stay with you forever. And my mother is not interested in having cats. It has been fun to play with them today though I am pretty sure that they will not be here when I get back in two weeks.

Most of these memories have and accompanying picture, and I have many more pictures with plenty of memories to go with them. Sorry about the lack of pictures this year, though loading them takes quite awhile, especially if writing captions is involved. But fret not! I have a pro Flickr account that I will be sure to make use of upon my return. The first or second day back I will probably be spending sorting pictures and loading nice albums online from the entire year. This will make sharing pictures with all easier, especially since I have so many and no one has the endurance to even pretend to be interested in all of them. So that is how it will go down... Once I get back.

So for now I will take leave to prepare to embark on my last trip in Thailand that will once again bring me to the south. Plans are pretty unset right now... all I know is that I leave tonight for a brief stint in Pattaya before heading on to the south and that I will arrive home on the sixth of May. I will be able to go to school for a week, celebrate the rocket festival that is the fame of Yasothon, and then immediately after leave for a one or two day end-of-stay orientation in Bangkok before getting on the plane all by my lonesome on the morning of May 19. So little time left... more reason to grab every minute that I have!

Love to all and apologies if I do not post in the next two weeks since Internet in foreigner-infested places is expensive: 60 baht perhour (as compared to 15 baht per hour in Thai-only areas like Yaso). I hope spring has sprung in Chicago... It's about time!

Special note: Happy 25th Anniversary to my wonderful parents! Good for you guys - 25 years is a milestone for sure. Enjoy your Jamaican vacation, yeah man!

 

Better Than Christmas

All my life Christmas has been my favorite holiday. People get together, there is plenty of baking, presents, and warm feelings inside with cold weather outside. I thought it was the best holiday ever. Thought. Now there is a new holiday in my heart: Songkran.

Songkran is really the  Thai New Years. It is a three day festival celebrated from April 13 to 15 every year or longer in touristy areas like Chiang Mai or Pattaya. The key to celebrating is using as much water as possible during the hottest, driest time of year. It is, in essence, a nationwide water fight. People put tanks of water in the back of pick-up trucks and use small buckets to splash fellow drivers and pedestrians; gangs form in town that stop motorcycle drivers to pour water on them; and if you go out you can expect to get wet. As the festival gets going, you can't even expect displaying a cell phone to save you from enthusiastic splashing. It was fabulous. Even after the first day I had sores on my fingers from where I had been gripping the bucket. I spent most of my time in town on the side of the main splash road, bucket in hand and water at the ready, with a face covered in baby powder with more being applied constantly by both boys and girls, young and old. Some people didn't even have baby powder, they just wanted to touch my face. This was okay since it was all in the spirit of the festival. 

At the end of the first day I was able to say...

-I have never used so much water in one day.

- I have never been so wet.

- I have never danced so much.

- I have never had so many people touch my face.

- I have never had so much fun.

I spent the first day with Julia (German Teacher Assistant for the year with AFS) and her family in front of their clothes store. We were there early (about 10 am) and left at about 6 since it was getting dark, cool, and her parents wanted to go home.

The second day I spent most of the time visiting a friend in the country. It was nice of him to have me over but his grandfather had just died and so it was a very tense atmosphere there. When we went out in the pick-up truck the people that stopped us to splash and apply baby powder did so entirely too rough. I feared being dragged out of the truck by my face. I ended up sitting inside the truck. They dropped me off in the city at about 4 pm. Before anything else I made a run to the 7-11 to put money on my phone. I was waiting in line when my father came in, dripping wet, and told me to hurry up and get in the truck. I love living in a small town - you always run into someone you know that is willing to help you. I did, went to pick up Julia, and we were able to drive around town and play with my family. It was a nice end to the day.

The last day was for sure the best. Julia slept over at my house. In the morning we made flower necklaces and at lunch we went to the temple to give the monks lunch (thus making merit), wash the hands of all the old people in the village to receive their blessings (a tradition that was originally giving old people a full bath and new clothes), and to dance to my grandma's drum beat  in Thai style  with a rather drunk old man that kept professing his love for us. It was interesting for sure. Before we left the temple we also splashed water on all the Buddha statues, enduring very hot stones on bare feet as we did so. 

In the afternoon my dad had to go into work, so he was able to send me and Julia into town. He dropped us off at the start of the road and we were free to do as we liked from there. We started walking down the street, stopping to dance and splash water at every opportunity. We ended up finding a headquarters in front of one house that had an old German man with his younger Thai wife. They were very nice and insisted on feeding us and giving us drinks and let us use their bathroom and made sure we did plenty of splashing. In other words, they were typical Thai people. We would hang around there mostly but we also would walk up and down the street.  Or we would hop into one of the many pick-up trucks that was also clogging the street. The first time it was Julia's idea. She saw an empty truck with barrels of water in the back. She said "Kelly, do you want to go on that truck?" Of course I did! So we did and before we knew it tons of other people we didn't know had climbed on too. We danced so much that it was shaking like it had hydraulics. That driver must have had an interesting story about the crazy foreigners that rode in his truck. This then became normal to hop into any truck that looked like fun and then hop off when we wanted. We would also walk and stop to dance with people during a good song from their sound system but did not hesitate to move on once the thrill of the new group wore off. We danced with other teens, old people, on tables, on a stage with lots of shirtless young men... it was a great time. 

I was sad to leave but at 6:30 my parents were waiting in front of a market and we had to meet them. So we did, drove around to splash a little more, then went home. The next day there was no more party in the city though we did go to a neighbor's house where they had the monks over for lunch. Then there was karaoke and dancing. We sang the Backstreet Boys and The Killers and then danced to the Isaan music, though it is much harder to get into than English music. Depends on your upbringing and personal taste I suppose. In any case, this was the best holiday ever. I will find a way to celebrate in the US but look forward to the time when I can come play again in Yasothon of course. Chiang Mai and Pattaya are for tourists without Thai connections. Besides, I saw it on the news and there are so many people that you can't even walk. Not so fun. Inthe country is definitly more fun, plus there is the novelty of being one of the only young foreign people there. 

Best time of my life!

Attention everyone: please take notice of my amazing new profile picture. This morning I was finally successful in my nine month quest to ride a water buffalo. It feels so good now that it is done. Thanks everyone for your support!

The best (belated) April Fool's Day EVER!

I didn't remember until my father made a comment on the coincidental timing of my "I can't wait to show this to everyone" post but yes, we do have a fun holiday called April Fool's Day. I was bummed that I was not able to do anything this year but then decided that why not try something anyway? This is Thailand, after all. It doesn't matter if my prank coms a little late... That's how life is here. So yesterday (April 11 = one one) I got my sister so amazingly good. Here's how it all went down...

In the afternoon my aunt brought a ton of watermelons over. I am not sure why - I think they are to eat/sell/give to friends and family. She put them all on our front porch. Come evening, I had to move them to put reed mats down on the porch. This is the task equivilant to setting the table. My grandma said it would be fine if I just pushed them to the side and laid the mats down, put I insisted on actually moving them off the porch. She and my sister thought this was funny - they laughed and said that no one would steal them if they stayed on the porch. But they were also watching TV and so didn't think too much about it. So I was able to move a lot of melon through the shop's side door and into the bedroom my sister and I share (which is also like a hallway with three doors that connects the main room of the house (with the TV) to the front porch to the store) without anyone noticing. Excellent. I then found a blanket, laid it down on my sister's bed, and proceeded to arrange the melons into a human form. Once satisfied, I covered them with the second blanket (this was to keep her bed clean... I like to prank without hurting or seriously inconveniencing people) and then again with her usual blanket. And of course I took the time to ripple and scrunch the blanket so that it looked like someone was laying in the fetal position with the blanket over their head. It looked pretty darn realistic. I showed my brother and he at first asked who, but then when I told him it was watermelons he adjusted the feet a little to make it look better. Perfect. Now all we had to do was wait.

This had all occurred at about 6:30 PM, before dinner. My sister is trying to lose weight so she just ate a bowl of fruit for dinner and watched TV while I prepared my dinner and then ate with everyone as usual. I was afraid that she would see while I was in the kitchen, so I prepared quickly. I needn't have worried. We ate. Not yet. We cleaned up. Nothing. I washed the dishes. Nada. I showered. Still no. In the evening we even had neighbors come to the store and May had to go through our room to sell stuff, but she was so preoccupied with the TV show and the light was not turned on so she didn't notice. Drat.

Then, at about 11, she decided to turn in and read a book. My dad and brother were already in bed and my mom was showering. So I was sitting in the main room all alone when she came back out, eyes watering, to ask if I knew what was in her bed and to go look. I got up quickly, mostly to hide the smile I couldn't control from stretching out on my face. I eyeballed the form in our dark room and then asked if it was Macky. We went into our parents' room (Macky sleeps there since I came) but there he was, sound asleep. This was disturbing to May. Who would come sleep in her bed? I suggested Nong Pete (our chubby little cousin) but he had just came and left our house not too long ago. Would it be a costumer from the store, taking gross liberties in our house? She said no, but seemed to weigh this as a possibility. She wanted me to go in and take off the blanket and see, but I said no way. Too scary. After all, why hadn't it woken up as we were talking so excitedly? My eyes had even started to water a little too by this point! I went to the doorway and did a loud grunt. No arousal. Instead of taking further action, we decided to wait for our mom to finish showering and then have her look. As we sat, May changed the channel from the ghost movie on TV (she usually loves to watch ghost movies) and told me her story in a voice a little higher than usual.

According to her, she had gone into the room. She put her phone on the bed next to her pillow and was going to turn the light on when she noticed the form in her bed. At first she thought it was our dad but thought it was weird of him to come in and sleep like that. She pulled the first blanket off and was reaching for the second one when her arm brushed its head. It was hard as a real human skull, which freaked her out. That meant that this figure was not pillows after all. And if it was a person, how was it breathing under two blankets like that? At that point she left our room, leaving her phone in the darkness next to the intruder, to come get me.

We were still waiting for our mom to finish her shower when our father came out of his room. May insisted that he go look. He futzed around with some papers first before going in. He didn't hesitate to pull the blanket back. May and I were standing together in the main room as he did this. He gave a little scream, but it was one of those screams he does when something funny happens like if Chip (the baby) does something silly. Maybe he mumbled it or maybe she saw, but somehow May knew it was watermelons before she went in the room. She did not think it was funny. I went in with her to look at it and then started to giggle, then laugh, then screech. (That's what my laughs turn into. It's horridly obnoxious.) I collapsed on the floor laughing and she came over to scold me and tell me how unfunny it was and to kick me (not hard, but kicking someone is very impolite since the feet are such a low part of the body). I felt a little bad since she was so shaken, but that's how pranks are. And no one was hurt so it's okay. :D My mom and dad both thought it was funny (especially my mom) and we all (escept May) had a good laugh.

May at least let me sleep in our room, though she read aloud (which she never does) to keep me up and told me to watch out. What will her revenge be? I am a little afraid, but mostly interested to know what  Thai person would do for a prank.

  
Me before she came. Looks realistic, no? 

The Best Intentions

NOTE: I began composing this on April third. I ran out of time and so now I am going to finish. :)

First of all, I have just now realized it is April. Which means I can now say that I am leaving NEXT month. Not in 2 or 3 or 5 months. NEXT month. I still vividly remember being shocked at having to tell people that I had been in Thailand for a whole two months. How time flies! But I suppose that's what people always say - during  vacations, in yearbooks,  after a good, overly long nap...

Anyhow, I believe there is a saying about how the worst things are done with the best intentions. I have learned quite a bit about this. I wouldn't say I have done anything that can be called the worst, though things don't always turn out as hoped for. 

- On my first trip to Chiang Mai, I decided to buy a Northern-style suit for my parents, brother, and sister. My sister could fit in hers and my mom actually likes to sleep in the dress, though for my dad and brother... too small. I couldn't find the XL suits so his vest  doesn't  close. And when I bought Macky's suit I told the seller that it was for my younger brother who has a "dooa lek", or small body. I forget to tell them that he is 12 so the suit I bought is for a much younger person. But since I never buy clothes for younger people I wouldn't know -I thought it would fit! He was able to get the vest on though it didn't want to close all the way. And he did try on the pants out of goodwill for me, though they were entirely too small. At least we got some laughs and it turns out it perfectly fits my fat little cousin Pete who is 4 years old. So it's not going to waste but I have not been able to get the picture of us all wearing matching suits like I wanted.

- On my second trip to Chiang Mai there were birds in cages that you could buy and release to make merit. I know that you release them and then the seller catches more to take their place but I still felt bad enough to buy two birds for 20 baht. I opened the little cage and they flew immediately. One flew up and away, the other... flew into a wall. And died. There I was, trying to make some merit and you know what I did? I killed the animal I was trying to help. Not that I believe it is entirely my fault, though I could have walked to a more open area before opening the cage. At least the seller let me release two more birds for free.

- On my birthday I happened to be in Bangkok. This turned out well because I was then able to eat Indian food, which is my favorite. (The night before my last day in the US I went out for Indian dinner in full costume with my parents. I gave myself a day before getting on the plane because I am always so full afterward.) The restaurant also had an Indian bakery, so I decided to buy one of each item to bring back for my family to taste since I am sure they have never eaten anything like that before. Unfortunately, no one but me liked it. My sister said it was like sand. So the box sat in the fridge for a week. This was the grace period I gave everyone before finishing it myself. Sweet. Fattening. Delicious.

- I like to wash the dishes in the evening after dinner. My family insists it is okay to wash them in the morning, but I prefer to wash in the evening because A)it feels good to move a little since I am so full B) Somedays I would rather go watch the sunrise than wash dishes C) If I wake up late then my mom/sister would already have washed them. It's not like they hold this as a grudge - I assigned myself to dish-washing duty. I don't mind and it is something easy that I can do to help, or so I thought. One evening I was pretty tired but wanted to do the dishes anyway so I would be free the next morning. Long story short: I broke two ceramic dishes. We never use nice dishes or china or anything (in fact our plates/bowls/silverware don't even match. But when you eat Thai-style it doesn't really matter.) so that's not a worry. It's just that the load crash that happened not once but twice was embarassing. Luckily my family is totally chill and this was greeted with "Mai pen rai", or nevermind.

- One day I was home alone and instead of watching TV or otherwise not using my time, I tried to be useful. My plan: clean the house. I did a lot of dusting, sweeping, and then mopping. This is all well and good, but the mopping didn't work out. We have mops, but they are DRY mops. As in you can spray a little bit of special spray and then mop to buff up the floor but it is not really meant for the old soap and water approach. The result was that the wet mop then gave off a rather offensive mothbally odor. Cool. Now the whole house smelled since I had off course tried to clean the whole house. I was in distress - having my parents come home to a smelly house was not what I planned. Remembering the time my house in the US was filled with smoke and I put down Arm and Hammer baking soda to absorb the stink, I was inspired. Only instead of baking soda, which is not easily to be had in Thailand due to lack of ovens, I used baby powder, which can be found in abundance. I put it down everywhere, let it sit for an hour or two, then swept through the house not once but twice to make sure all of the evidence was removed. Success! When my dad came home he commented on the pleasant fragrance in the house, which lead to me admitting to putting down baby powder though I did not want to admit why. He probably just thought it was some quirky foreigner thing. 

- During a family outing to Big C (the Wal-Mart of Thailand), I was pushing the cart with Pete, my chubby four-year-old cousin, sitting amongst our purchases. I was doing the normal go-fast-then-stop with him as we went through the store. Then came the time when my sister was picking out a new phone, which led to us staying in the same place for quite awhile. In an attempt to keep him entertained, I did a donut. He loved it. And insisted on more. I obliged, leading to more and faster and tighter circles each time until the inevitable happened: the cart tipped. I have never seen a crowd gather so fast. A couple people helped me upright the cart and gather the groceries, but most just stood there to qawk at the clumsiest of all farang. Wow. Pete was okay and I am amazed that he didn't even cry. He's the spoiled kind that would cry if he awoke from a nap to find himself alone. This time I think he was too shocked for any sort of theatrics. My aunt/his mom was not upset since no one was hurt - she just smiled and said "Mai pen rai". My sister and mother outright laughed. So that leaves me and my burning red face, which took forever to go away. I don't blush often, though I definitly did this time.

- Over a week ago I made an enormous pot of applesauce so that my hosts could taste a bit of my culture since my family picks apples and then makes an absurd amount of applesauce every autumn. Everything was fine and the house was smelling like fall and then it even had the smell of... burning. Great. I burned applesauce, which sounds funny but is amazingly easy to do. Once it was set I transferred the unburnt slop into a new pot to prevent the burnt tastse from really getting into the sauce. I think this helped a little. But what really saved it was a frantic bike trip to the 7-11 about a half a kilo down the road to buy some ice cream. So that evening my family got to eat warm applesauce over ice cream - a Fitzgerald family classic. The ice cream was a treat, though the applesauce was more of a compulsary topping. I said you can't just have ice cream - you have to eat the applesauce too. Everyone but Pete (who acted disgusted and even spit his tiny taste out) tried. No one liked the applesauce straight up and alone, but most seemed to think that with ice cream it was edible. Perhaps not the most delicious thing ever, but they ate it and no one did the eat-around-it thing. Yay. And guess what? I was even able to give some to the village monks. I had this idea before serving, so I portioned out some extra applesauce in a separate pot for the monks. (You must separate monk offerings from normal food. You can't just buy something and eat a little and then give it to the monks. Nor can you buy something for the monks and then change your mind and use it for yourself. This includes not smelling flowers if you are intending to offer them.) The next morning I was putting a little sauce into nine little baggies (there are now nine monks at the temple. Usually there are four or five but numbers swell during the summer when school is closed.) when my sister said that the monks probably wouldn't eat it alone - it was best over ice cream and that the monks would really enjoy ice cream since no one ever has the idea to offer it. This was meant as a joke but lead to another frantic bike ride to the 7-11. So then that morning we went to the temple (usually we offer food in front of our neighbor's house since the monks walk around the village to collect offerings every morning) and at the end of the offering ceremony May told the head monk that the applesauce was meant to be eaten with ice cream. I didn't stay to see if they ate it or not and that evening when we took a stroll to the temple I was not daring enough to ask. At least I can be pretty sure the ice cream was eaten.