Friday after school, I was hoping to swing by the post office—before it closes at 4:30pm—to send correspondence to my exuberantly awesome friend Emma in Montana. Alas, MaReam informed me we had a “teacher meeting”. I love how these meetings are always unannounced and without given purpose.
We drove about 45 seconds away from school (because our gas-guzzling truck is air-conditioned?) and did what we usually do at an official teacher gathering…sit around, graze on fruit, and drink; this time at a random student’s farmhouse at a large picnic table. After I met the 10 neighbors passing by and did my cute “nice to meet you” talk in Thai for their entertainment, we got down to business.
Or rather, we (the teachers) started walking through the dirt roads/farms adjacent to Sanamklee School. We even passed by Nhaca’s house, and I was wondering how she managed to avoid this haphazard trek. I asked what we were doing and MaReam replied “school need money”. So with the cute white girl in tow, my co-workers asked the impoverished parents of our students, shack by shack, for donations while I smiled and “kop khun ka”—ed(thank you—ed) everyone. I asked what the money was for, and after some initial communication issues, figured out we were trying to fund the paving our dirt/pot-hole ridden rode at Sanamklee School. It is a legitimate concern, seeing as our young students are constantly tripping and muddying themselves on the rocky path. Apparently the cost to build this road is over 800,000 Baht, or about $25,000 USD. That seems insane to me! Does a quarter-mile pave job really cost that much money? I guess labor and materials are cheaper in America? It just seems so strange to me that we were fundraising and asking people already living week to week for their change. We elicited about 500 Baht after an hour. This should take a while, unless the teachers expand their donation base into other villages or the barely-there businesses about 15 minutes away.
Random-also learned to cook Thai food on Friday night with Aunt O!On the topic of funding, Nhaca and I were pleased that “Sport Day” was canceled last week. We were supposed to have no class on Wednesday and Thursday, meaning we’d each miss about 8 classes. Because there is no money “until August 12th” , the event was cancelled. I think this is when the Thai government allocates more funds for education, but I’m not sure. I found it odd that there is no money for a road or sports, but the teachers can enjoy lax schedules and social events. For example, Nhaca and I were invited to a riverside going-away lunch in Phitsanulok on Saturday. We joked that we were the reason why there was no money for “Sport Day”, but that might be a reality.
Saturday, the fam and I did our usual early rise and drove to Phitsanulok at 8am, dropping off PaChub for a meeting at the bank, Fun off at her physics/science class, and Film off at extra English class. MaReam and I waited on the side of the road to be picked up by a fellow teacher chauffeuring us to the teacher farewell lunch. I observed many young people arriving on motorcycles for tutoring or extra class. It’s bizarre to think that these teens commit 9-4pm on Saturday and Sunday for extra learning. I watched through a glass window of a biology class for kids probably about 17 or 18 years old. At least 50 students sat at neat rows looking at a single teacher writing on a projector that projected onto 2 TV screens: “Metabolism: Anabolism and Catabolism”. When students entered the building, there was a SUPER COOL high-tech finger-print scanner! I noticed some kids scanning and then leaving, backpacks in tow—skipping class! After an hour drive, we arrived at waterfalls! It was only 10am and the lunch was at noon, so MaReam and I walked alongside the brown rapids and waited around for everyone. I got 13 mosquito bites in 30 minutes!
Teacher LoveThe lunch was not top-3 meals-of-my-life worthy as the last one was. However, I did try deer, frog, and lizard. Frog and Lizard were exactly like deep-fried chicken. The rest of the food was not too great, lots of pork and liver things. I had 3 noi-na (an amazing Thai fruit) instead and felt stuffed. The teacher entertained us with Thai karaoke, complete with hyper-active music videos and crazy-on-ice-cubed-beer MaReam, who turns out to be quite the seductive singer. Then Nhaca escaped the madness with her Pa (another teacher) while I was toted off to the next karaoke fest at a chicken farm another 35 minutes away. It was hot and the speakers were blasting so loudly that I’m sure I lost hearing. After that, MaReam and I were dropped off in Phitsanulok at PaChub’s bank. I joined Fun and some friends for coconut shakes while the rest of my family went to the hospital! Film developed a pea-sized cyst in her arm and after a day’s discomfort, underwent surgery. I was really confused because cyst kept sounding like “sis” and I was like “I know she’s my sister, what’s wrong with her!?”
One of Fun’s friends drove us (quite well, especially in the Thai world of driving that ignores traffic signals and uses horns instead) to a going-away party for one of Fun’s friends going to America. This extremely loud teen is heading to do her senior year of high school in Kansas. The party was lavish, at a restaurant where you put raw meat into a boiling pot and make your own soup. Many of Fun’s friends spoke excellent English and asked me questions about the yet-to-be-released season 2 of Gossip Girl, Super Junior (a Korean boy-band which I was completely unfamiliar with until Thailand), the joys of Prom, and other “American” teenager things. 2 of the girls had been on a 3 week exchange in Minnesota. Interesting places they send these Thai kids! I haven’t even been West of Kentucky, myself!
Noshing!Sunday we went to Phitsanulok again, this time at 7am because PaChub had an 8 am meeting. He honestly works more than anyone I know in the US. MaReam and Fun (Film stayed home to recover from surgery—read: watch TV!) and I had a rice breakfast in the city before Fun began tutoring at 9am. Then MaReam and I went to Big C (the incredible Thai megastore) and I bought so many cooking ingredients for the big Thai dinner I’m planning at home. Next we picked up PaChub early and went to an amazing expo on Thailand tourism. I got the usual breathing mask and hand sanitizer before entering a giant room with many regional crafts, foods, and stage performances. I watched Thai fighters gut it out, but apparently missed the transvestite show that Nhaca went to on Saturday at this same weekend event. We shopped and sampled Thai specialties and I did lots of shopping that I can’t go into detail about ;). After picking up Fun we headed home and I enjoyed packing and chilling with the fam for my last weekend in Bangkratum.
3 more days of teaching and then beaches, Bangkok, Seoul, and New York on August 12th!
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