Volunteer experience - Visiting TT's Village - OpenmindProjects Community:OC

When arriving in TTดs village we are welcomed by his sister with infant baby. Her husband, TTดs brother is off in Korea to make money for the family, and hasn’t yet seen his little son. On the other hand the sister has been able to make some substantial improvements on the house, including installing a washing machine, witch is quiet a luxury I guess. The mother and father though are not around, they are out fishing on the nearby lake, and will not be back until next morning.

Anyhow, we are all hungry so we volunteer to help, as best as we can, with the cooking. Thai cooking is very elaborate, with so many different ingredients, spices and herbs, always ending up in a variety of delicious dishes – aroi maak maak! I really enjoy this, as we sit squatting on the floor mats, trying to find a comfortable position, unused as we are to eat sitting on the floor.

The night in the village is very quiet and dark, and we leave the house for a while to explore the wonders of the night sky. Can I find the Big Dipper? Where is the North Star? Here Sven drifts off in the company of Einstein, trying to discuss relativity theory with Tt, who is so much more down to earth, questioning the meaning and use of all this crap.
Well, well, along with philosophical discussions often comes the booze. So of course we must have some local Thai whisky from the little shop Ttดs sister runs at the front of the house. Though I must admit that we did have a hard time to even consume half of the small bottle, in spite of Ttดs attempt to add some extra flavor with the help of assorted herbs. Instead we ended up sharing the one bottle of beer Sven had brought along, between the five of us. Anyhow, by now we where all pretty exhausted and looked forward to a good nights sleep. That is if you call it a good night’s sleep, sleeping next to two snoring persons….
Alas, I woke up early. Only me, the sister and her young baby where up at six, except of course for the mandatory rooster and dogs. Well, I saw my chance to go for a walk! Passing the awakening houses along the village road, I found everything so quiet and peaceful. Only me and a lonely Monk in his orange robe out on his “food round”. Sooner than expected I found myself out among the rice fields, which with the sun still low in the far distance seems so unbelievably green and lush. A walk in solitude like this will always be kept in memory.
Back at the house I take my book and wait for the others to wake up. One by one they reappear from their sleep, as do the parents from their nightlong expedition with their catch. Two buckets full of small fish, the size of herring. Some are eaten fresh, some are left to ferment for later use. My brother says that some of them are actually the same as the ones we buy in the pet shops back home!…
An hour or two later, when we are all gathered, we go for a tour to the salt marches, outside the village, and leave Tt behind for a privet moment with his family, before we all say good bye and head back ”home” to the Openmind house in Nong Khai, enriched with a precious memory. Kap kun kaa, TT!!

Written by Thaweesilp L.
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Visiting TT's Village Off we are, on bumpy country roads in the dark Thai night. Itดs the five of us, three Openmind volunteers being invited to come along with Sven and Tt to visit Tt village. With meeting cars on the same side of the road, jumping toads all over and centipedes crossing the road under our headlights. This is a totally different and amazing world! When arriving in TTดs village we are welcomed by his sister with infant baby. Her husband, TTดs brother is off in Korea to make money for the family, and hasn’t yet seen his little son. On the other hand the sister has been able to make some substantial improvements on the house, including installing a washing machine, witch is quiet a luxury I guess. The mother and father though are not around, they are out fishing on the nearby lake, and will not be back until next morning. Anyhow, we are all hungry so we volunteer to help, as best as we can, with the cooking. Thai cooking is very elaborate, with so many different ingredients, spices and herbs, always ending up in a variety of delicious dishes – aroi maak maak! I really enjoy this, as we sit squatting on the floor mats, trying to find a comfortable position, unused as we are to eat sitting on the floor. The night in the village is very quiet and dark, and we leave the house for a while to explore the wonders of the night sky. Can I find the Big Dipper? Where is the North Star? Here Sven drifts off in the company of Einstein, trying to discuss relativity theory with Tt, who is so much more down to earth, questioning the meaning and use of all this crap. Well, well, along with philosophical discussions often comes the booze. So of course we must have some local Thai whisky from the little shop Ttดs sister runs at the front of the house. Though I must admit that we did have a hard time to even consume half of the small bottle, in spite of Ttดs attempt to add some extra flavor with the help of assorted herbs. Instead we ended up sharing the one bottle of beer Sven had brought along, between the five of us. Anyhow, by now we where all pretty exhausted and looked forward to a good nights sleep. That is if you call it a good night’s sleep, sleeping next to two snoring persons…. Alas, I woke up early. Only me, the sister and her young baby where up at six, except of course for the mandatory rooster and dogs. Well, I saw my chance to go for a walk! Passing the awakening houses along the village road, I found everything so quiet and peaceful. Only me and a lonely Monk in his orange robe out on his “food round”. Sooner than expected I found myself out among the rice fields, which with the sun still low in the far distance seems so unbelievably green and lush. A walk in solitude like this will always be kept in memory. Back at the house I take my book and wait for the others to wake up. One by one they reappear from their sleep, as do the parents from their nightlong expedition with their catch. Two buckets full of small fish, the size of herring. Some are eaten fresh, some are left to ferment for later use. My brother says that some of them are actually the same as the ones we buy in the pet shops back home!… An hour or two later, when we are all gathered, we go for a tour to the salt marches, outside the village, and leave Tt behind for a privet moment with his family, before we all say good bye and head back ”home” to the Openmind house in Nong Khai, enriched with a precious memory. Kap kun kaa, TT!! Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 86 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry 0 Comments Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 March 2008 )