Ten Days of Christmas and a Happy New Year

Usually I sit down to update my blog only after I have spent at least a week working through all the details in my head, coming up with just the right way to talk about the experiences I’m having here. Ideas float through my mind and play themselves out in my dreams hundreds of times before I commit them to the semi-permanence this format entails. This one, however, hasn’t at all played along with my need to pre-plan, re-plan, think through, list, contemplate, evaluate, and over analyze every single detail of my life as a Peace Corps volunteer. Whenever I would sit down and write, “update blog,” on my list of things to accomplish I was frustrated at the lack of reaction this elicited; now I am certain that this is because there are no words that properly speak to the gift of spending time with one’s family.


My trip started out with another fun filled weekend with Brooke and Arnie at Perfect Place (I’m not making that up, it is truly the name of his housing development and couldn’t be closer to the truth). We sat around enjoying good company, cable T.V., and Brooke’s contagious energy. We saw a movie, ate great food, and went on nice walks and rides around the area. It was fun to be away from site for a while and live more like a westerner for a few days, but there was no containing the anticipation rolling around in my heart waiting for Monday morning when I would once again be reunited with my mom, dad, and brother.

Monday morning wasn’t just any Monday morning in my life; this particular Monday morning just so happened to mark my 24th birthday and brought with it my Krap-krua (family in Thai). They landed at the international airport in Bangkok around 11:30 a.m. and found their way to me about thirty minutes after that. I stood along with all the other anxious and excited greeters of family members, friends, and loved ones while I waited to spot one of them. There was more than one occasion during those thirty minutes, the longest of my life, when I wanted to reach out smack someone! I mean come on!!!! I am obviously vertically challenged and going out of my mind with eagerness and these fools have the nerve to stand in front of me and block my stinking view . . . but, I need not worry, because in the land of little people my dear brother, Cody, stood out like an aged tree in a pasture of seedlings. I saw that head full of curly hair, a full foot above anyone else, heading my way and I couldn’t help but do a little jig and throw myself into his arms. Cody has a lot of things I love about him – one of them is that he knows how to give a hug, so it was fitting that he should be the first to embrace me. My Mom was next in line and this time I didn’t do so much of a spastic dance, but I did notice some minor condensation collecting in my eyes (ok, so I might have spilled a tear or two . . . did you really expect anything less???). My Dad was the last of the three and as each one passed through the gate and into my arms it got more and more special . . . I couldn’t contain myself.

We set out for our hotel and spent the rest of the day and a large part of the next in Bangkok. Our first meal in Thailand was at an Egyptian restaurant, which might seem an odd choice, but the food was out of this world and Cody was able to enjoy a grape hookah while we ingested more food than an army probably should have. We wandered around and got to know the lay of the land for two days before we headed for the bus station and bus that would take us down south. Hailing a cab is never very hard to do in the city, but actually getting where you want to go without being driven in circles for an hour before hand is a far greater feat; on this particular day we got lucky. The cab driver recognized my limited ability to speak Thai and used it as an opportunity to chat with Cody and brush up on his English, while he quickly and efficiently got us there. This would be the first of many encounters where Cody captured the attention and enthusiasm of a Thai person. They all wanted to know what he did, how old he was, what kind of food he liked, if he had a girlfriend and regardless of the answer, if he wanted a Thai girlfriend; inevitably the conversation would end with them suggesting that he move to Thailand and start teaching immediately . . . I don’t know what it was, but they LOVED him.

We parted ways with the driver and loaded ourselves onto a double-decker bus. I was fully prepared for the journey upon which we were about to embark, but I’m not all together certain that I made it clear to my beloved family. It was an overnight bus that took us from central Thailand all the way down to the edge of the southern portion of the country and lasted twelve hours in all. Torture wasn’t my intention and there was a stop along the way, in my defense, but in retrospect it probably wasn’t the greatest plan after they had just been on a twenty-two hour trip around the world to get here . . . my bad.

Like I mentioned a second ago, the bus did make one stop to allow for the stretching of legs, the draining of bladders, and the filling of bellies. There is room for disagreement on that last point, however, as the culinary options were a bit limited, and by that I mean that they had tables set up with baskets covering food that may have been sitting out for multiple hours in the heat and consisted of pork balls (don’t ask, you don’t want to know) and pickled eggs, which are a grayish purple color. Again, I was fully prepared for this generous offer of a free meal, but didn’t really anticipate needing to intervene on behalf of the parentals. So, I stood by and watched their reactions as that basket was lifted from the plates of food, and laughed hysterically to myself as my Dad turned a bit green and obviously began to panic; pleadingly his eyes met my Mom’s, screaming “please Lona, please help me!!!! We cannot eat this . . . we can’t!!!” My Mom’s reaction was bit more of a surprise, since she generally likes all food and is always up for a new challenge . . . on this particular occasion, however, she wasn’t feeling it and also chose to decline. Instead we each sipped on an orange juice and my dad passionately relayed the story to Cody, who just returned from the restroom.

The bus dropped us off in Krabi, where we booked tickets for the ferry that was to take us out to Koh Phi Phi (the island on which the movie “The Beach” was filmed). The man who sold us the boat tickets was about my size (average for a Thai individual) and, like they all did, became enamored with Cody. We took advantage of the chance for a good photo-op to show just how big he seemed around all these tiny people. Finally, after about 14 hours of travel, we landed in paradise. The resort we stayed in was quite the find. We stayed in a villa all our own, which consisted of three separate bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms, a communal area, hammocks, and sun bathing beds. It was huge, luxurious, beautiful, and felt like an enchanted tree house, with actual tree trunks coming up from the center of the floor in various locations, small twinkling lights, magnificent art, and a picturesque view of the ocean from the living space. It was unbelievable. The next five days were spent lounging around a beach, drinking fruity drinks, eating great meals, and people watching during the day; wandering through the little island town, finding dinner, shopping, and more people watching at night. We stayed on Koh Phi Phi through Christmas and simply enjoyed being together, having the chance to catch up, and sharing lots and lots of hugs. The next day we took a snorkeling trip out to a small island which houses a large population of monkeys and then to the actual beach on which the movie was filmed (it has since been turned into a national park and is absolutely beautiful).

When it was time to say goodbye to the life of ease we had been living, no one was particularly thrilled – but everyone at my site was eager to meet them so was set off anyway. Opting out of another twelve hour bus ride and finding travel extremely cheap once in country, we flew back to Bangkok and then took a two hour cab ride to my site. I lost my phone on the plane and wasn’t able to contact anyone on the way back and it was late, so I dropped my Mom and Dad off at the hotel and Cody and I headed to my house to call my counterpart from my computer to let her know I was there and lost my phone. As we walked into my house I was greeted by a musty smell and started searching for the source – I found my kitchen, laundry/storage room, and bedroom sitting in an inch of stagnant water. A pipe in my kitchen burst while I was away and my house flooded. Not exactly a fun thing to come home to, but my family was around and I wasn’t going to let it get to me.

The next morning, their first in Ban Chang, my counterpart, Tip, and my friend Tu came to the hotel and took us to my house. We spent the whole morning and afternoon cleaning up the mess and drying things out. It wasn’t exactly the most fun thing that could happen on a vacation, but it was nice to have them here. Tip went back to school, I got a new cell phone, and my fam headed back to the hotel to rest up before we went on an adventure that night. Tip, Tu, Tip’s daughters and husband, and two other teachers I regularly interact with all came together and took us to a sunflower field – they don’t really understand that we have them at home, so we smiled for the pictures and acted like it was the coolest thing we have ever seen. Then it was off to the beach for a seafood feast . . . and feast we did. They ordered at least fifteen different dishes and just kept shoveling the food on to plates . . . it may have been a bit overwhelming, but it was certainly delicious.

The following day was one of my favorites because I took them to go see my elementary school. The students were awe-struck with the sudden invasion of foreigners and were so excited to have them there that they did a dance in their honor. It was out of this world cute. After the show they all gravitated towards Cody and sat checking out this giant that just showed up; they could not understand how we were related and kept talking about how big he was and how small I am. They are all still talking about it (like I haven’t put up with midget jokes my whole life, now I’m getting it here too) and they think it is hilarious to tell me that I am the only Thai person in my family because the rest of them are too tall to fit in. My students weren’t the only excited people that day, my counterpart Took was beside herself with pride that I would bring my family to meet them and my principal took the opportunity to sit my Mom, Dad, and Cody down and explain to them all that they were taking good care of me and that under no circumstance was he going to let me go home early . . . it was a really special day.

That night we met back up with the gang from the night before and went on a tour of temples and had another huge meal, only this time it was home made. I was excited that my family was able to see where Tip lived and what a traditional Thai house looks like. We had BBQ chicken, shrimp, fried rice, soup, fruit, chips of various flavors, french fries, and probably a few other things that I’m forgetting. When it was all said and done we ate for well over two hours and none of us could have fit one single morsel more into our ever expanding waist bands. Thai people are superstar hosts and they were at their very best for this visit. I was proud of my community and overjoyed that my family could be a part of what I am doing here for a brief moment.

It was back to Bangkok for the New Year and then they were off. We spent the New Year close to the hotel in a bar filled with prostitutes and old foreign men. It wasn’t as dirty as I make it sound, but I’m jaded so I can’t help it. Everyone was really excited and the energy was light hearted and fun and all the x-rated junk was saved for a more private venue. So, it ended up being a fun time – we brought the New Year in together, as a family, and then headed back to the hotel. The next day we had to say goodbye again and I’m not going to write about that because I’m still not over it and probably won’t ever be – so, enough said.

It’s rare to get to have an experience like am having and even more unusual to have the opportunity to share it with the people you love most in the world. My life is nothing but a blessing and it’s full of precious gifts, but nothing in it is as important as the time I am given with those who have molded me into the creature I am today. I’m the luckiest person I know, I was born not only into a loving, generous, and supportive family, but into my three best friends. It was the ten best days of Christmas and the happiest New Year of my life.