Breaking Into Song

Bua has us up at 6 AM because we must not miss the morning market in her village in the Song District.  Her sister Tim (teem) is enlisted to be one of our motorbike drivers.

Tymo hops on the front of the bike and now Bua is sandwiched between Tymo and Ben.  Tim is my driver and John drives Lisa. Tim will later joke that John drives like a teenager.  I feel fortunate that Tim carefully avoids all potholes.  

We arrive at the bustling market and Bua urges us to try things.

We are uncertain, what with a plate of large beetles (used to make ground chili paste), frogs on skewers and platters of chicken feet.  There are also delicious surprises like the bamboo stalks stuffed with sticky rice and roasted.  Bua peels one and we sample.  This lady gives us two bags of fried rice for the price of one.  I dither over a stuffed donut and Bua tells me to take it quick or it will be gone.  I get the last two.  The tiny pastry has a sweet center stuffed with honey and coconut.  

We get coffee, dark and very sugary, since it is made with sweetened condensed milk.  

Bua and Tim spread all the selections out on a tidy mat and we enjoy a lovely breakfast.  I especially like the sweet custard on sticky rice that had been wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. Ben likes a sour savory dish made with stewed young jack fruit and eaten with small balls of sticky rice.

Tymo's buddy, Guy, lingers around us shyly.  Bua explains that Guy's parents have left him behind for jobs in the city.  This is not unusual - Tim is raising three grandkids while their father works in Bangkok. The kids are rather neglected, watching lots of TV since their grandmother does not have the energy for active parenting.  Bua and Corne have progressive ideas about raising Tymo and Bua worries about all the kids being raised without their parents.

The market is completely closed up and empty at 8.  We now set off with Bua on an ambitious tour of village life; there will be several unplanned stops along the way.  

We stop into visit Bua's elderly uncle and aunt. Bua tells us that the villagers are delighted to meet foreigners, who they welcome with open arms.  Song gets few visitors unless with Bua.  We are the first Americans she has hosted.  

Her uncle and aunt invite us in to sit, and soon her uncle offers to give each of us a Buddhist blessing while tying our wrists with string bracelets.  He chants a prayer as he ties the string and finally blows breath on our wrist in a final blessing.

As we leave, uncle offers us each juju fruit from a little bag.  When I say how good it is, he presses me to take the bag.  This will come in handy.

As we walk along, villagers greet us and Bua. She explains the usual greeting is, "What did you eat today?"  This is on the lines of, "How you doing?"  Sure enough, we are asked this a lot.

This guy is working on his front porch separating sesame seeds from chaff.  He welcomes me to give it a try.  I quickly learn it is harder than it looks.  John tells him he probably doesn't want to hire me by the hour. I offer him juju fruit and he happily takes one.

We stop by the immaculate medical clinic to use the "happy rooms" (toilets).  The doctor is not yet in but Bua gives us a tour.  The whole village is getting TDAP shots and boosters.  This is a government order to prepare for ASEAN, the new Aisian EU equivalent which will connect 10 Aisian countries economically.  Thailand is concerned about an influx of disease that could accompany the loosening of border restrictions.

We can tell from the posters and equipment that preventative medicine is important.  Diet advice, blood pressure monitoring, etc, are prominent.  A dentist visits once  a week to serve the village.  This is likely inadequate, but people are encouraged to get medical care and pay little - a dollar a visit (Thai minimum wage is $10 a day).

Speaking of medicine, the neighbor down the way got a TDAP shot and now his arm aches.

 

He has made a poultice of turmeric and other herbs and is making a warm compress.  More juju fruit is offered and accepted.  I hand out juju fruit to whomever passes and greets us.

We meet the long-time former mayor of our village.  She had the great honor of being the first woman mayor and then repeatedly reappointed to the post.  

She invites us to meet her dog's adorable puppies and we get cuddles.  More juju fruit.

A while earlier a retired school teacher has bicycled by and invited us to stop by his house.  Bua fills us in that he is quite a collector of old things.  Sure enough, he has a 1961 VW Beetle and English Hillman sedan parked under his house.  He leads us upstairs to show us a prized possession - a wind-up phonograph.

 The story is that 35 years ago a ninety-year old woman gave it to him.  She had owned it for many years.  She would take it out to the rice fields or over to the tobacco workshops and play it for the workers.  They might pay her a few Baht, but mainly she was giving them the joy of music to while away their dull work hours.

N in 

Teacher tells us that he loves American show tunes,especially Sound of Music.  Soon we are singing it together. We discuss "The King and I" and Teacher tells us he loves the movie, but it is forbidden in Thailand.  The scenes in which Anna scolds the King of Siam (now Thailand), offend the royal family.  I think this is may not literally true since Pauline in Bangkok told us Thais love that movie.  

Bua says she likes John Denver so we try a round of "Country Road."  Bua knows all the words.  Teacher asks me to email the pictures we have taken and gladly accepts juju fruit.

Out of juju fruit, we hop on the motorbikes for a view of the dam and another home workshop.  

We have no idea that people make sculpted snakes, elephants and fanciful dragons all from sawdust and white glue.

 

The workers have a a assembly line approach.  They cleverly use plastic tubing to form their shapes around.  At the end It will be pulled out leaving a airway for incense smoke.

This man is the owner of this workshop. The ladies who work for him are making flying dragons for $10 a day.  The objects will later be realistically painted.  John buys a small iguana for $1.

Bua and the elementary school English teacher, Star, have developed a program for the middle school age kids to practice their English.  

Whenever Bua has English-speaking guests, she arranges a visit to the school at lunch time.  

The kids put on a cooking class in carefully practiced English and teach us to make papaya salad.  They then invite us to give it a try ourselves.  We get a lesson and lunch!

Tim and Bua also take a turn.

The kids are shyly eager to communicate with us, but know little English.  I get out my iPad and show them pictures of our elephant tour.  They love that.  Trying to think of something, I teach them "Row, row ,row your boat" - they especially like "Merrily, merrily, meririly, merrily." Later Lisa and I realize we should have tried "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  

Our last village stop is at the wat (temple) to meet a group of elderly ladies who are weaving under a spacious pavilion.  The monk became concerned about so many elderly folks isolated at home and he developed social, light work programs at the wat so they can gather, talk and even make a little money.  

These ladies seem very happy with their work and take a break to show us what they are doing.  

Though they are sewing the finished fabric into shoulder bags, I ask if I can buy a couple of yards of  finely woven striped material. it is measured out and I am given a few inches extra.

Our last stop is to see This huge Buudha (150 feet high) at a hilltop wat.  He watches peacefully over the nearby villages.

We have to leave soon for Phayao.  It is almost time for our mini bus to pick us up at Red Brick Homestay.  Bua gives us the bill for our lodging, meals, transportation by motorbike, and personal tour.  The total comes to 4000 Baht, or $30 each, for this entire experience.  Can you believe it?

We give Bua hugs and one extra to pass on to Tymo.  She says he will be sad when he comes home from school and finds us gone.  We hope that we are only saying, "See you later," to Bua and not "Goodbye."  She has given us an unforgettable day.