Post 30: Schools Out!

It is quiet in the oppressive heat. Sound moves slowly through the thick air and lethargy pervades everything. Schools are closed during the hot season because it is too hot to go to school. Minute actions, like walking to the trash bin or tidying my bedroom, can leave me feeling dizzy and weary. The only tenable way to pass the sweltering days is to read in my hammock, shaded by the thick leaves of a jackfruit tree. The summer break lasts for two months. March and April were busy months for me, filled with visits, Songkran and travel. Now it is May and I am back at site, waiting and melting away the few weeks before school starts. Both due to the temperature and the absence of anything structured to do (like go to school), I’ve been reading more voraciously than usual, painted and scribbled poetry, introduced neighborhood children to Frisbee and Twizzlers, and worked on various side-projects for school. With my open days drawing to a close, I want to write a bit about the wonderful experiences vacation from school offered, starting back in March.
The Grants Conquer Thailand
Dad and Yvonne timed their visit with the last days of school. They wanted to see what the schools were like in-session and came prepared with Frisbees and DC key chains for my graduating sixth graders. Like my mom last October, Dad and Yvonne successfully navigated their way to Phitsanulok on their own. That evening, we met nine people from my site-an assortment of teachers and friends-for a fresh fish dinner on the river. Dad and Yvonne tried Thai chili relish for the first time, and elicited laughter around the table when they gulped down water afterwards. My dad paid for the meal at my request, to thank all of them for supporting me over the past year. As the youngest, I am never allowed to pay for meals, and this was an indirect opportunity for me to give back.
I took Dad and Yvonne with me to Thangam School the next morning. Back in the beginning, the teachers and students were shy when I brought other farangs around. Now after a year, they have met so many of my friends and family members that all timidity has evaporated. We started with a grand tour of the school, and then my first graders performed Alphabet Zoo and “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”. After distributing and demonstrating with the Frisbees, one of my sixth grade boys jumped on my dad and straddled him. One of my other students was so excited about her keychain, she took it apart and was unable to put it back together, so we promised her a new one. We ate school lunch with everyone, and then my plan was to make som tum (to review, the spicy papaya salad). Som tum is a big part of life here in rural Thailand. People eat is fairly often, and making it or going to a som tum shop is always a social, communal, shared activity. That morning before school, we’d stopped by the open, daily market to explore and purchase the necessary ingredients- unripe papaya, limes, chili peppers, tomatoes, shrimp, and green beans. The sugar, fish sauce and wet soaked tamarind were already at school, along with multiple mortar and pestle sets. Som tum is easy enough to make, the trick is to assemble the right ingredients and mash them together in tasty ratios. Some people prefer sweeter som tum, while others lean towards spicy with fermented fish paste, or salty with weird little rice-paddy crabs. I made the first round under the watchful eyes of the teachers (sans rotting fish goo and crabs), and Dad and Yvonne tried their hands with the mortar and pestle as well. Then the teachers and students took over, and we spent the next few hours eating and comparing, making more som tum, and then eating and comparing again.
The following day, we went to Wat Bot School, which has a totally different vibe. The school is more than 10 times bigger than Thangam, and while the little kids are just as cute, the big, district school lacks the charm of the tiny, village one. Dad, Yvonne and I meandered around, said hello to many of the 40 teachers, peeked into the music room, played with the kindergartners, and watched the elementary kids chant their Buddhist prayers. As it was a cloudy day, we took the opportunity for a long, leisurely stroll around the community, passing by my favorite spot-the rickety wooden suspension bridge over the river. For lunch, we ate some of the best noodles I’ve had in Thailand (made special for us because I am pals with the cook), and visited the hospital and the prettiest local wat in the afternoon. The next day we departed for Sukothai and Chiang Mai, where my sister would meet us in a few days time.
March 13th was National Thai elephant day, and the three of us celebrated at an elephant camp outside of Chiang Mai. The camp held a festival with lots of food, shows, and activities. We saw elephants painting pictures by holding the brushes in their trunks, and over 60 elephants eating simultaneously from massive piles of bananas and watermelon rinds. Many elephants in Thailand are treated horribly, tied in chains, hit, and forced to walk the streets looking for people willing to give money for a ride. These elephants however, were protected and well cared-for. It was beautiful to see so many borderline mythical creatures uncaged and content. We passed the time until Sarah arrived with spa trips, lounging by the pool, and shopping at Chiang Mai’s awe-inspiring Sunday night market. When Sarah finally emerged through the gate at the airport, I made a bit of a scene by flinging my arms around her and crying on her shoulder, but I was so happy to be reunited with my little sister, I didn’t care. Plus, (for those of you who know her), a bit of forced cuddling probably did her good. Over the next few days, the four of us went on an abbreviated Chiang Mai wat tour and ate too much . Then Sar and I did Jungle Flight (a 6 hour zip-line-through-the-forest excursion) and took a short trip to Chiang Rai as a twosome, for some sisterly bonding time.
Our next stop after the mellow North was Bangkok, which no-one would describe as mellow. Our hotel was beautiful and we pledged to take full advantage of its amenities. After a regroup, Beau met us at the Jim Thompson House, a museum that was formerly the home of an American ex-pat living in Bangkok. His home is a series of teak wood buildings, very well-decorated, as Thompson managed to amass quite the collection of Southeast Asian art before mysteriously disappearing one day, never to surface again. My dad wants to write a movie about it and is currently searching for a leading man  At sunset, we all went for drinks on the roof of the Siam @ Siam hotel, which offers awesome views of the city and excellent mojitos. We spent my family’s last full day in Thailand doing a site seeing highlight tour of Wat Po and the Royal Palace. Even though I’ve been to Bangkok many times, I never do the touristy things there, so it was my first time to the palace as well. I took Sarah to Khao San, the crazy New Orleans-esque backpacker quarter, for souvenir shopping, and that night, we ate dinner on a boat. Many a time on the river taxi, I had seen old wooden barges slowly gliding up and down the water at sunset, lit up with twinkling lights and the tinkling of wine glasses. I knew my dad would love the idea of dinner on a boat, so we booked a table through our hotel, and had a magical meal while floating on the river.
Looking back, the whole visit feels like a blur that went by too fast, but a happy blur filled with pools, temples, fluffy beds, markets, and long conversations over breakfast omelettes and Singhas (but not together). When they left for the airport, I felt overcome by the dreaded sense of emptiness which I’ve grown sadly used to- that of saying goodbye to people you love. I consoled myself in thinking that if this first year passed so quickly, so will the next one and I’ll be home before I know it. But before then, many things awaited me. Like Songkran and Indonesia.