Since returning from Na Nong Bong, my days have been filled with dancing until 4 AM, returning to Yasothorn, and celebrating Thanksgiving. On the 14th, a bunch of my friends and I decided to go to Sunset Bar, which is in the middle of a huge field outside of Khon Kaen city. We set off in two tuk tuks, and unfortunately, one broke down, so we waited by the side of the road for ½ an hour and then made our way to the bar by 12 AM. We sat underneath a sky full of stars and just talked while looking out into the fields. We also danced like fools to American music until 4AM, and took someone’s birthday cake and completely devoured it (he gave us permission to, but seemed stunned when he no longer had a cake).
On the 21st, Ana and I returned to Yasothorn, where I had my first unit, and we were able to stay with our homestay family, which was amazing! As soon as we arrived, we were put to work by our paw, who had us harvest dead rice for the cows. Our family has 20 rai of land, but we think that he did not trust enough to harvest the rice that is used to feed people, which was probably a good choice. Although I don’t think that I was particularly good at harvesting rice, I simply hacked it off with my sickle, I found it to be extremely relaxing and peaceful. We then had lunch, went back to work in the field, and then went on a wonderful walk throughout the village. On our walk, we even made a friend named Gus, who was a stocky little dog that trailed us wherever we went. After we returned from our walk, we read and relaxed while looking out over the pond, and then had dinner. Soon after, Ana and I prepared to go to bed, but we were unable to sleep for more than an hour the entire night because it was absolutely freezing. The house is constructed out of wood and provides very little protection from the howling wind. As a result, we were left shivering the entire night, and barely got any sleep.
We woke up at 5 AM, which wasn’t so bad since we were eager to warm up, to go to the Green Market, which is the market where the farmers sell their organically grown produce. We stayed at the market until 9 AM, and then went to Meh Pid’s house, which is where our friends, Maina, Jordan, Liz, and Shayne stayed. Their house had a wonderful raised, wooden plank that we all slept on, covered by a mountain of blankets. I slept for 2.5 hours, and it was wonderful to sleep in the fresh air, especially after having gotten such poor rest the night before. I then read…We’ve all been reading a lot, and many times, there are 10 or more of us in a row with our heads bent low over our respective books. We then went to farmer’s camp, which is where people learn how to farm and kill their own animals, and we were able to spend some time on the farm of 40 rai. While taking a tour of the land, Liz was almost stabbed by a running cow, and I was head-butted by a goat! Then we were on our way back to Khon Kaen. Although my trip to Yasothorn lasted less than 48 hours, I had a wonderful time.
However, last night, the 22nd, topped dancing underneath the stars and harvesting rice…We celebrated Thanksgiving, and surprisingly, it was delicious! CIEE was very kind and brought us to the nicest hotel in Khon Kaen, The Pullman. There was a Thanksgiving buffet being held there, complete with a turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, sushi, bread and cheese, salad, etc. It was a startling sight for us, and we attacked the buffet as soon as we laid eyes on it. I ate 5 plates of food, and had a food monster growing inside of me by the end of the night. I was so stuffed that it actually hurt to laugh, and I had a great deal of difficulty in standing up. I ate myself into a state where I gagged many times because my body was having a hard time trying to process such an unhealthy amount of western food. It was just possibly one of the best nights of my life. Although I know that I’m going to miss Thanksgiving in America, my early Thanksgiving celebration in Thailand was more than enough to make me feel thankful for all that I have in my life, and I was surrounded by plenty of people who I have grown to love in the span of 3 months. I couldn’t have asked for anything else.
Not surprisingly, I am leaving tomorrow to begin my final project. I am working with Kati, Tommy, and Brodie to investigate the effect that the electrical transmission line has on households in Thailand. We are going to make and compile case studies and then make human rights reports through an ESCR lens. Our project is going to be slightly insane because we have never studied this specific issue before, and we don’t even know where the households that have been affected by the transmission line are located. We only know the whereabouts of one family that was physically threatened, had their house destroyed, and their signatures faked on a legal agreement by EGAT, the company that constructed the transmission line. Therefore, we will be going in a van simply following the transmission line looking for households near the line that we can hopefully interview. It is going to an adventure, and I can’t wait to begin the search!
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