HomeStay Week Seven: Seven Memories

There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not reminded that my time here in my Pre-Service Training (PST) home-stay community is coming to an end. Apparently, word has gotten around, so I am now also having conversations with folks in the community about my pending departure and if I’ll ever come back to visit. I’m not out of here yet, but I must admit, the past several weeks have been quite memorable and I will surely miss this place. Some memorable moments I’ve mentioned in previous posts -- riding the elephant, adventures at the dinner table, encounters in the bathroom, and random people in random places knowing my name…  Since this is my seventh week here, I think that it is appropriate to list seven memorable moments, not top-seven and not in any particular order, just seven of the many moments that I’ll hold dear to my heart as I leave here.

1.  My host mom and sister combing my hair. Yes, my natural hair. They were so fascinated with my hair when I finally took out my braids. They helped me to blow dry and cornrow my hair, and even add in extensions. They didn’t do a bad job, but I did stay up that night fixing it up…
   
2.  Deciding not to ever mention “Ticket Agent” in my employment history. Tones are so important in Thai language, one ‘word’ can have multiple meanings depending on the tone and the context used. Dtuua-tɛɛn means agent/representative, kaai means to sell, dtǔua means ticket. I had a job as a dtuua-tɛɛn kaai dtǔua before I moved to Thailand. Dtuua (different tone) means body. Saying dtuua- tɛɛn dtuua (without the appropriate tone) would be suggesting that I was a person who sold my body… Kinda like saying someone was “a pro” or “in the business” – making reference to the job without using the specific term. Anyone who knows my history with music lessons knows how terrible I am with tones, and would agree that I shouldn’t even mess with this one. 
   
3. My folks took me to KFC. I had recently declared that I love fried chicken, and they’ve served it at least twice a week ever since, but this particular day, they decided that they would take me on a little field trip so that I can eat American style fried chicken. So we ordered a family bucket, and I also ordered my favorite – the twister. Ummm… Not the same, at all, none of it. I told my host mom “Gai tot tii bahn aroi gwaa KFC” (Fried chicken at home is more delicious than KFC).
   
4. A typical first-time conversation here in Thailand pretty much revolve around the following questions: What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? How long will you be in Thailand? Do you miss home? Are you married? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you want a Thai boyfriend? (Regardless of previous answer.) Do you think Thai men are handsome? What do you like to eat? A couple (actually 3) of these conversations, in the presence of my host parents, have resulted in my being awkwardly shuffled into me taking a walk and/or eating with somebody’s son/brother/friend. Awkward is an understatement, but it’s cute and funny to those setting it up, so haha. My sense of humor improves every day.
   
5.  My host brother doesn’t usually have a whole lot to say in general, but sometimes when our folks have other stuff going on, they ask him to stick around to help me with my homework or the washing machine, to ride with me to the corner store or ran-ahan, or to pick me up from an outing that unexpectedly ended after dark. My parents are protective and don’t want me to be home alone, or to go out alone (except to training), or to ride my bike before/after certain hours. I understand completely, but sometimes I feel like a burdensome little sister sometimes. I’m the big sister in my family at home, so that’s the last thing that I’d want to be to anybody. He’s younger than I am, and quite coy, so our interactions are almost laughable sometimes. It’s hard to adequately describe specific anecdotes, but he makes the list anyway.
   
6. Funerals are pretty informal social occasions here in Thailand. Events for one funeral are spread out over seven days, with maybe one or two days being semi-solemn. Basically, we dress in any combination of black, white, gray, and sometimes jeans, the community gathers at the home of the deceased or at the wat (church), they bring in tokens (flower or blanket wreaths) during the first few days, the monks come out and recite prayers nightly, and then it’s just lots of food, eating and socializing every night. I attended a funeral where the daughter of the deceased is an English teacher. I was happy to speak to a villager who could speak English, and she was happy to have a native English-speaker to speak English to. We hit it off pretty well, and then she started to get possessive of me and she begged me to come live with her since her mother was gone and she was going to be lonely. She really and seriously would have kidnapped me if she thought that she could. I haven’t seen her since the funeral, but I think about her sometimes and I hope she’s doing okay.
   
7. I mentioned in a previous post that I really enjoy my one-on-one breakfast time with my host mom. Apparently the feeling is mutual. We had a really nice warm conversation about my pending departure, and she “Pii ja siia-jai, mai chop gin kaao con diao. Ja gin gap krai mai?” Basically, her heart will be sad because she doesn’t like to eat alone, and who will she eat with… Her husband goes to work early and her kids don’t eat breakfast. Before I could respond, she realized that it was time for me to leave and she shooed me away. The thing about these conversations, as soon as they start to get mushy or sentimental, someone finds a way to change the subject, make a joke, or dismiss the conversation. But she knows that I’m going to miss her too.

My host mom and I making merit on Maka Bucha Day (Buddhist Holiday)

I’ve had great moments with my neighbors, within my community, with my fellow trainees, our trainers, the ajaans… I’ve developed relationships that I just cannot put into words and I am going to miss them all. PST has been quite the experience, I’ve learned and grown a whole lot over the past several weeks, and I do feel prepared to begin my two years of service. Next week will be the grand finale, it’s going to be pretty hectic, and so this may be my final post as a trainee before I become an official Peace Corps Volunteer.