Today is our last day at the hotel, later on in the day, we
will get to meet our host families. There will be an introduction and
ice-breaker session, some welcoming activities, a debrief session, and then we
will journey on to our new homes where we will be living for the nine remaining
weeks of our training. The HomeStay program is a huge component of our training
as it helps us to see, experience, and participate in Thai culture.
There were over two hundred HomeStay Family applications,
only fifty-three families were chosen as there are fifty-five volunteers,
including two married couples. The families were chosen based on many different
qualities and characteristics. Homes were evaluated and determined to be safe,
traditional Thai homes and the families were determined to be traditional as
well. The homes that we live in will likely have squat toilets, outdoor
kitchens, no indoor plumbing, and no internet access. We will be treated as
members of the family and we will contribute to household chores and
participate in mealtime and other family activities; we will also be given a
private space, which may be a curtained off section of the room (some
traditional Thai homes do not have bedrooms and everyone occupies a common
living space) or a bedroom. Our lovely Thai training staff led an Intro to
Homestay session and demonstrated proper sleep time, bath time, meal time, and
laundry rituals, procedures, and strategies to help us to have an idea of what the norms of our household would be. This was extremely informative and
will be very helpful as we proceed.
Proper sleep time rituals include never laying with your
feet pointing towards the east where Buddha resides, it is best to sleep with
your head towards the eastern side of the room, but it is also acceptable to
lay north to south. It is common to take a flashlight into bed, especially in
the case of common living areas, so that in the event of needing to walk around
in the middle of the night, you won’t stumble over anyone or wake everyone up.
We were also shown how to use a mosquito net.
Proper bathroom procedures may include use of a squat toilet
and using a small bucket/container with water from the reservoir to flush and
clean up. Traditionally, Thai folks do not use toilet paper, instead they their
hands and water to cleanse before they get up from the toilet, the excess water
is used to flush. We may bring toilet paper, but we must dispose of it
appropriately as it cannot be flushed and wastebaskets are not kept in the
bathroom. The water in the reservoir is also used for showering, and it may be
cold depending on the weather and the time of day. Thai women use a phasing (a large, circular, wrap around
cloth) for showering and dressing, it’s
kind of hard to explain, but we got to practice using one yesterday. It was awkward,
but fun.
Traditional Thai meals are eaten on the floor. Everyone
forms a circle and sits cross legged on a cloth that would be spread at meal
time, the father calls the meal to order, the eldest person in the home
(usually a grandparent) is served first, the youngest female member of the family
serves the rice and the other contents of the meal are in bowls in middle of
the cloth, it is acceptable to reach in with your hands to help yourself (and
others) throughout the meal, there are bowls of water at the table for hand
washing throughout the meal. Thais do not traditionally use chopsticks, meals are
eaten with a spoon and fork. Food is served in small portions throughout the meal,
everyone is expected to at least try everything, and everyone’s plate is
expected to be clean at the end of the meal. The father says when everyone can
be dismissed from the meal.
At the laundry session, we were asked how we do laundry in
the United States. My answer was: sort clothes by color, place the clothes and
detergent in the washing machine, watch a tv show, remove the clothes from the
machine after they are washed, place them in the dryer, take a nap or go to
sleep, then remove the clothes when they are dry. Here in Thailand, it’s a little
bit different, I definitely would not have the option of napping halfway through
laundry. Clothes are sorted and washed in order of head to toe (head wraps
first, shirts next, socks last) in accordance to the belief that the head is
the temple of the body and the feet are physically and spiritually the lowest
and dirtiest part of the body. Clothes that might bleed are washed separately
in the same order. Some homes have washing machines, many do not. None of the
homes have dryers. Clothes are hung on two lines, the upper line which would
contain shirts and headwraps, and the lower line which would contain all lower
body items and underwear (including bras for women, even though it is worn at
the top of the body, it is hung on the lower line for modesty purposes).
Families/Homes will be assigned based on our expressed medical and dietary needs/restrictions, observed personalities, and our demonstrated language and biking skills. I am really looking forward to
meeting my family, I have some anxieties, but this experiences promises to be
one of the greatest aspects of the Peace Corps experience. So far, Thais have proven to be very
warm and patient. The host families were carefully selected and assigned, so I
have no doubt that my experience will be great, cold showers and all. Depending on my location, I may not have regular access to the inter so I may not
have many opportunities to blog over the next several weeks, but I will be sure to post
updates and pictures when I can.
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| What my sleeping area might look like |
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| What my bath area might look like |
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| What a traditional Thai dinner setting looks like |
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