My weekend run-down:
As plans usually change, they did, and I ended up going to Farmhouse Saturday night with the boys. I brought Ann and Kwan, my amazing students, to translate for me, and they got some cake out of the deal. Talk about sustainability, SIT should come to Bangkok and learn from these kids. They have a rice farm, grow all their own vegetables and fruits and live off the land. The excess they sell at their farm stand on the side of the road. The idea behind it was this: get the boys out of the city where they often fall prey to drug runners- out in the country all they have is the land and each other. It really is paradise.
I often ebb and flow between city girl and country girl and I have to say, being in the country was heaven. One of the older boys gave me a tour of their gardens; it was quite impressive, Joan and Beth would have been proud. Afterwards we had some cake to celebrate Duc-Dic’s birthday. He is my "brother from another mother", or the child my parents sponsor, and his birthday is just two days before mine. It was nice to be there and see where he lives. It’s funny how these things come full circle; I’ve been seeing his cards and pictures for years.
Sunday was an interesting day. I knew Jay and his girlfriend Laura would be here, so I planned to get a run in early. Saturday at Farmhouse Kwan had told me she was having music class at 9am Sunday, so I promised her I would come and hear her play for a bit. These kids are so talented! The wood xylophone (in Thai it’s called the ranat-ek) makes this surreal steel drum sound- I made sure to record a few songs on my phone. By the time I got running it was 10am and HOT. Between the heat and all the pollution, I looked like one hot mess. I ran from Mercy to the metro and then hopped over to Benjasiri park for another few laps and to use the machines. I felt awake and good, but it was a short-lived euphoria.
When I got home I realized I had a red ant infestation problem. Pui says it could be because of all the rain; they’re searching for higher ground. Well, higher ground meant my bed, my clothes, my computer- they were EVERYWHERE. These little guys are hard to spot they’re so small and have a big bite and it hurts. I was very unhappy to find them in my running clothes, leaving me covered in painful red bumps. I cleared everything out of my room, threw most of everything I could away and swept, mopped and bug sprayed the place down. Besides the fact that I don’t like the idea of bugs in my bed, I was even more bothered by the fact that I had probably slept with them the night before and that they are probably still in my clothes- which leads to unpleasant surprise bites during the day.
Not long after my mini freak out, I was off to meet Jay at The Four Seasons. I don’t know if it was my elevated frustration level or just the shear happiness of seeing a good friend in this foreign place, or both, but as soon as I saw him I started to cry. If you know me, you know I don’t like to cry in front of other people and I felt ridiculous. Either way, the sight of my dear friend brought me to tears.
After a day when you think “What am I doing? Why am I here?” and then almost immediately afterwards think, “Are you kidding me, you have it so easy compared to so many people- suck it up!” and this inner conflict of frustration and guilt takes place, a true friend is all you need. ((And maybe a bottle of wine, but due to Election Day, there was no alcohol to be bought anywhere.))
Dinner was delightful and I got to meet Laura, Jay’s girlfriend and travel companion. She’s wonderful and she and Jay looked so happy together. It made me think of the Mark Twain quote, “I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them” and I wondered how they would be fairing after one week in. They laughed over Thai food as they simultaneously shared stories of bats in restaurants and being stranded on the islands off of Phuket. It looks like they’ve had quite the whirlwind tour of Asia and they’re off to Cambodia today and then the Philippines. I lucked out that they had to use Bangkok as their home-base airport!
I love all the supportive emails and I noticed an interesting theme: embrace the loneliness. Every day gets a little bit easier, but I know there will still be nights, like last night, when I just need a release.
Thanks to all of you reading for being my release. Writing always seems to help.
And so today I will keep Faulkner (on writing) in mind:
Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good.
Allie, maybe one of these days you will have a cover to design ;)
Mercy often has donors visiting, Kiehl's sponsored an afternoon of singing and magic for the kids.
The boys show off their bags they got to decorate.
Farmhouse, you can see they are continuing to build out there, this is one of the half dozen houses out there for the kids.
There's a pond in the middle of their gardens.
One of the older boys took me on a tour of the grounds. He knew ALL of the plants.
More green.
It looks like heaven, right?
The boys reach out to pick berries, Duc-Dic is in the orange.
The common area, where the boys go for meals and play time.
My amazing students and translators for the afternoon, playing with the house cat.
From here on out I can thank Ann for her skilled picture taking. ((WE NEED MORE CAMERAS!!))
Some of the boys.
Cake time.
Duc-Dic and his buddies.
House dog- I just loved this picture, so it had to be included. Nice job Ann.
DucDic
Another action shot.
Hanging out with the boys.
Group picture for my mom and Aunt True :)
And dinner with the one-and-only Jay Greenberg.
PeaceLoveandIndependence,
ABA
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