Korat-Days 5-6
I think I can actually finish covering Korat this blog! Yea!!:)
Wednesday morning, Jan. 2, we rose early to be ready for a full meal at 7:30. This is the meal for which all the food prep was taking place.
View of the house from the road
View of tables set up in front of the house
It seems quite a few elderly people were invited, and they were the first to show up. Anita and I had fun chatting with them while we waited for the meal to be served.
One lady particularly attached herself to Anita, and one to me. We ended up eating with our adopted mothers/grandmothers.:)
The lady in the photo below runs a beauty salon in the village. She came a bit late, but ended up sitting at my table.
Once everyone had eaten, the tables were cleared, the monk arrived, and the merit-making ceremony/speech began. But before the actual program started, I took this picture of the monk having a look at a globe.:)
Tawan was the moderator welcoming everyone and introducing her father and older sister.
Her father then made an extended speech which I couldn't follow.:)
And somewhere in that speech he presented the principal of the local school with a package (presumably containing the generous donation).
Almost immediately after the ceremony was completed, people began leaving for home. The two ladies who latched themselves onto Anita and I insisted that we come visit their homes. So off we went!:) At the first home, the lady's daughter, friend, and children were there, so we sat on a mat on the floor and visited for quite some time.
Finally, we decided we needed to get going if we were to stop at "my" lady's home. She told me to call her Mother Im. So off we went in the opposite direction. When we arrived at her home, she instructed us to sit down on the large square matted bench??? I don't really know what to call it, but it was quite comfortable.
Before Anita and I knew what was happening, Mother Im had motioned another even older woman in her 90's to stop by. This woman then performed a string-tying ceremony for Anita and I and our "mom". I felt a bit uncomfortable, knowing that it is a Buddhist ritual, but not really knowing what it is about. And we really didn't have any say in the matter.:) Our God is big enough to protect us from the unknown, right?:)
We ended up walking to the home of the third lady to visit just a bit before we felt we needed to return home. Mother Im accompanied us the whole way and stayed to help us with some remaining cleanup duties before walking back to her house.
I almost forget what else we did that day, but I believe cleanup took a while, and I took an afternoon nap. The family kept a few of the chairs and tables for a remnant who ate with them for the evening meal. The farang folks in this picture are from Denmark. Tawan's oldest sister is married to a man from Denmark and has lived there for at least 10 years now. So some of her husband's friends had also come to visit Thailand. Anita and I had quite an interesting conversation about religion with the one guy. He called himself a "provoker" and is an atheist. But we were able to talk in good humor without getting upset.:) Even though I am not an intellectual arguer, I find I thrive on being a part of such conversations, I suppose with the hope that God will use me in spite of myself to shed His light, love, and truth in some way.
Tawan "sent" us to bed early that night, telling us we had gotten up too early in the morning and needed our sleep. So we went to our room and chatted for quite some time before falling asleep.
The next day while Tawan's family worked out details of a spontaneous vacation at Rayong, where her one brother lives, Anita and I crossed the street to chat one last time with our somtam-making friends: two sisters who look quite almost like twins.
Sometime after 1:00, the family had finalized their vacation plans, and we set off in two vehicles, one going straight to Rayong, the other going to Bangkok (that would be the car I was in:). We truly had a wonderful time with Tawan and her family and friends. I am becoming ever more convinced that there is no out-doing Thai hospitality.