Terry's Journal
Terry here once again, roving reporter from Ayuthaya Thailand 15 Mar 200 1630.
I successfully hooked up with the rest of our crew on Sat the 13th right on schedule. David, Bud, Robyn and Patty are my co volunteers here they had arrived in Bangkok between 24 and 73 hrs earlier. They are all as eager as I to start our program. We were met by a wonderful lady and our country hostess, Mamee, along with a contingent of four saffron robed monks. They are wonderfully charming people, replete with smiles and bright shining souls. We all boarded our minivan for a two hour trip to our residence for the next week.
Mamee's home is just outside of the city of Ayuthaya, ( the second ancient capital of Thailand). The home is actually several smaller corrugated tin buildings surrounded by rice paddies and canals, no electricity and no running water. We have been welcomed so completely into Mamee's family, that all of us are "At Home" ourselves despite the obvious differences in our lifestyles prior to our arrival here. Mamee and her family of two daughters, Pi Toon and Pi Jam along with her husband had everything prepared for us which helped our transition immeasurably. Mamee has hosted volunteers for several years now and seems to know just the right thing for us newbies. We have between 4 and 8 monks here all of whom are in their early twenties, most are still students at the local Buddhist University located nearby. They all have a command of the English language which they are eager to continue to improve with with all of us.
Saturday was an Orientation sort of day for us at home and we were generally told what to expect in a very nicely prepared schedule for our week here. Mamees daughters are great cooks and keep feeding us all sorts of great Thai food. Sunday we all piled into a truck and cruised the city of Ayuthaya checking out some spectacular temples and other shrines the King Summer Palace and the ancient capital ruins. Was incredibly hot and humid but we made through the day with out any casualties. Monday we got to to see our project area at the Suan Kean foundation which I will tell all more about later.
Aloha! I am on my own again and have been since Saturday morning. My last week, from the 13th to the 20th was an incredible experience. I lived in a Thai rural home surrounded by canals and rice paddies, slept on the floor on a mat covered by a mosquito net the whole time. I really got to know the Thai style of living in the country there is no doubt about that. The family, I and the other four volunteers lived with were so wonderful. The matriarch of the family was a lady appropriately named Mamee. We were given Thai names on first night there. I was Pi Mek (sky), Pi Yim (smiley) for David, Pi Ying for Robyn, Pi Dao (Star) for Patti and Pi Chai for Bud. We kept those and answered to the name the whole time there. Mamee and her two daughters fed us did our laundry and generally did everything for us as well as seven to 10 monks who spent their days with us before returning to the monastery and their studies at night. These guys were all between 22 and 24 and were not what I expected at all. They were fairly normal guys with the exception of their robes and many rules regarding how to live. But all of them were charming, funny, eager to learn and to teach. They even liked rap music believe it or not. My week in Mamee's house was one of going to shrines, temples, the National Buddhist Office and of course the Suan Kaow Foundation where we all did volunteer work with the kids. We spent time at a monastery school where even younger kids, boys 12-19 were "Novices" studying to to be full fledged monks at 20 yrs old. We taught English grammar and had a great time learning about their lives before this school. Most came from simple rural rice farming families all over the country. Becoming novices was the best way for them to get out and learn so much more.
On Friday the 19th, we volunteers got to cook a home style US type meal for everyone. I made my mashed potatoes with wasabi, and corn on the cob. The others made fried chicken, chili, a vegan delight and a wonderful dessert plate of fruits. It was a great day in itself but then we played Thai games with the monks ( Kinda stretching their rules a bit) and it was totally a blast. The evening was a complete surprise to us all as the Monks prepared a "show" for us. They gave us Banners (like Miss America kind) with names like Angel for Patti, Thai girl, for Robyn ( who is Philappina American), the Producer for me ( Da video guy), Superstar for David (An Actor) and the Wanderer for Bud ( A world traveler). Then we were treated to a traditional Thai dance (in full gorgeous costume by Mamee's granddaughter Ba. After her dance she played a traditional Thai instrument called a Kim, similar to a zither. All of this was at night lit by candles we had made the day before. Then the monk made hot air balloons with candle and we let them fly into the night sky. Again... an incredible evening