Back in Ubon

Yesterday was super beautiful. I woke up in the large living room with my Thai family all sleeping around me, Paw Som Boon, Maa Jittawe, their grand kids and my little brothers luk ger and neung niu.

Neung Neo and I in the car

There is something different about waking up here, there is something in the actions and rituals. Pi toe always gets up and starts steaming rice, while Maa is always in the garden, and paw is wearing his rubber boots going to their rubber tree plantation. The kids are covered in powder after their shower and I just sit and watch on the bamboo sala as the observer. I am the guest, the weird foreign son who now has a beard and has been agreed upon that he should shave so as to not scare little kids away and look like a robber.

This morning neung niu is going to school; luk ger isn’t because of ‘Kai Wan 2009’ (H1N1). We all sit on the bamboo table and share breakfast. I ate on this table with them for 2 years nearly every meal. I missed the flavors, the chatting, sitting cross-legged, their sticky rice, and the pets that are around. Right now there are three dogs and one duck. My family has gone through 6 dogs since I first came here, a dog a year. It’s not that they don’t take good care of them but they let them just run loose and snakes and cars have been the main killer.

Luk Ger and I in the ricefields trying to find my friend

This morning Maa and Pi Toe take me to pay respect to an 84-year-old monk who lives by himself in a temple. The temple is beautiful but small and covered with donations, the typical orange buckets filled with toiletries, drinks, instant noodles, and candles, blankets, weaved pillows, strings for blessings, and fruit all being overlooked by the Buddha and the beautiful Bodhi mural on the wall. He is very interested in why I am there and I listen has they talk to about me for about 5 minutes before moving on. I don’t need to say anything because it is easier for Maa and Pi Toe to talk for me plus they know everything about me, it is a good feeling.

After that I had luk ger take me over to his great grandmothers house. She now sits on a sala in the front yard. She used to sit in a sala in the backyard but it is too hot there now. She also can watch the rode from her new seat and see who comes and goes. She can’t really walk anymore; she is the same as age as the monk. I pay respect to her has she smiles and barks Isan at me, I have always had a hard time understanding her but not listening to Isan for over a year and half makes it even tougher. I concentrate and understand that she is asking about my mom and dad, if I am married, talking about why she moved to the front and that she is getting older and her mouth hurts and she can’t really walk. She is old, but still very much with it. Sitting, watching, knowing more what is going on than the people who are actually doing the going on.

For lunch, we (Pi Dtung, Pi Noot, Pi Ba, Luk Ger, Neung Niu, Neung Neo) go to Had Ku Dua, my favorite place in Ubon. It is floating bamboo rafts on the Mun River, which is incredibly high this time of year. We have lunch for 4 hours and neung niu, luk ger and I go for a swim. I am able to treat everyone to lunch. It is a nice feeling.

In the River with Neung Niu and Luk Ger

In the evening, I biked to my old house that I stayed in for Peace Corps and here the common yells of ‘ahh, Noo-aw.’ Besides seeing my neighbors, the best thing is seeing the climbing yellow flowers that I planted on the dead tree in the front yard. When I planted it was so small and barely started climbing the tree. Now you can’t even see the dead tree it is covered in flowers and green leaves and the neighbors say they often talk about me and the tree. It is a nice feeling.

Neung Neo and Pi Toe (my Thai Sister)

The most common things I get asked are when did you come back? Are you married? Why not? How are your mom and dad and why do you have a beard? Normally in that order, and by at least 20 people (not kidding). It is sort of a nice feeling.

I then go over and see Neung Faa and Pi Dtao. Pi Dtao is HIV positive but her daughter Neung Faa is not. They both give me huge hugs, which are rare in Thailand, since normally affection is shown threw food. Pi Dtao elaborates to me about how great her job is in Bangkok (making about $200 a month) but is mixed because she has to leave Neung Faa by herself. However, the job pays for Neung Faa’s schooling and with some other help from friends we make it work. Pi Dtao also tells me how much healthier her she is and you can totally see it. The doctor’s told her the other day that they could barely detect the virus in her blood. She has been HIV+ for over 12 years. It is a nice feeling.

I can’t describe the feeling of being back. It is so beautiful and so wonderful to be reminded of normal life. It also feels good to see and feel that the time that I remember still exists and that I am still a part of it, just as much as it is a part of me.

The village street in the morning