New Site

It’s getting on to the hot season here in Thailand as I finish out my first week at my new site. Each day is about as hot as the hottest days of summer I can remember from Indiana. It’s the kind of heat that makes everything quiet. Not even the wind wants to blow. Everybody, and everything, comes to a standstill in the afternoon. Dogs quit chasing every last vehicle that goes by. People lift their heads slightly from a sleeping position as I bicycle past. Usually, if they catch a glimpse of me they’ll switch to a full sitting position to get a look at the “farang” or foreigner. If I smile and say hello in Thai I’m almost always guaranteed the same in return. Thailand is known for its smiles, and I have definitely experienced enough of them to attest to this. April should be the hottest of the year, but it is also hot pretty much every other month also. People joke that Thailand has one season, the hot season. Cheesy, but I have to admit it is easy to say in Thai, and Thai people always get a laugh out of it, especially when a foreigner is saying it.

My town is a small village in the province of Chaiyaphum, which is located on the very western border of the region known as Isan. I am very centrally located with only about a four-hour bus ride to Bangkok, an eight-hour bus to Chang Mai and an hour bus to Khorat. These, I think, are the three biggest cities in Thailand. The region of Isan is in the northeast of the country and is generally known to be the hottest and driest region. The landscape where I am is relatively flat, with a mountain range in the far distance (someone told me they are about 60 kilometers away). The highways are like country highways in Indiana, curvy with a lot of agriculture right off the road. Here, two of the main crops are sugar cane and rice. Also, there are tons of coconut trees dotted everywhere. If you haven’t already, some day try drinking milk from a fresh coconut. It’s amazing. Then, you get to eat the meat from inside…mmmm. Kind of wish I had a coconut right now. I wonder what everyone would think if I went outside and climbed the nearest tree?

Each town in Thailand usually has its own wat, or temple. This is a picture of the temple from my town. Thailand is 95 percent Buddhist, and there are events and festivals that run according to the lunar cycle. Each morning, monks will travel around the town collecting food as alms from people. I have yet to offer alms, but I would like to some day. All of the monks I have seen in Thailand wear orange robes and sandals. I have seen monks traveling everywhere, including on buses to and from Bangkok. It is known here that woman are not to touch monks, so if a monk is sitting on a bus he will always be sitting with another monk, alone or with a man. Funerals, holidays and even parties can take place at the temple. I think it is generally viewed as a place of worship, but also as a public place to meet. I have never seen a temple that was built on water, but I think this temple is beautiful.