Some Earl Impressions

by Peggy Wheeler

 

July 5, 2003 evening: 

            They are burning the rice stubble today and it is smoky.  The weather already muggy from the humidity takes no pleasure from the extra smoke.  We are getting used to our new quarters; the noises at certain times of day are notable. There must be a wat (or temple) nearby because we hear chanting in the evening and the first night there was music drifting across the same field that the smoke now drifts over.  We were told that was a funeral.  It was very clearly traditional Thai instruments and rhythms. I guess it could have been taped.   I am looking forward to bicycling around the nearby countryside.  We are told we can see rice in any stage of development.  The people are proud of their Jasime (Yasmeen) rice.  They know it is the best kind.

 

 It is something to take showers without hot water and find them refreshing.  One does not towel off because in this humidity it is hard to launder and dry towels.  Better to wrap up in a sarong and let the water evaporate on its own.  The food is extraordinary and the living situation is not to be believed, a complete modern 2-story Thai apartment house with every need considered and met.

 

            Our meals are provided by a kind and friendly head cook whose name is Mrs. Boon Lom.  The first day we met “A” who speaks good English and he interpreted for the cook.  Their concern was that our dietary needs be fulfilled. I wonder who is paying for this and then I remember Thai food is relatively inexpensive. Keith mentioned he was on a diet for his heart and they got the “diet” part, (thinking weight loss) and they are conscious to keep eggs and fried foods to a minimum.  There were issues about spiciness to which they try to strike a compromise.  We tried to tell them we’d like to try a variety of traditional Thai foods.   The fruits are plentiful and the green vegetables are incredibly succulent and pretty.  Lunch the second day was a gorgeous whole garlic crusted fish that took the whole plate.  They seemed justifiably proud.  We will eat in town on week ends. 

 

            We’re still trying to figure out how to operate the natural ventilation of the house and when to use the air conditioner. There are wooden shutters on all the windows which are strategically opened at appropriate times to allow the natural breezes to blow through, we just haven’t figured out the strategy yet. 

 

There is a resident bird (or some critter) whom I have not seen, but he/she seems to nest in the pile of sticks at the utility connection just outside our bedroom window, and his call is every bit that of a goat followed by a repeated “ah-choo” type of sneeze (Keith swears he is saying “perky”).    It calls mainly at dusk, early evening, and at dawn.  The house is full of shy little beige gekkos who appear transparent approaching anemic.

 

The campus is about a mile from a main road which follows the river.  We are out amid the rice and sugar cane fields.  Palm and other tall trees mark the roads and demark the fields.  Water lilies grow in the drainage canals and bougainvillea among mimosa add their own special beauty. The campus is surrounded by a white concrete wall and our house is at the back far edge yet we cannot see over - it must be some 3 meters high.  I think perhaps the wall also serves as a fire break if a rice field fire gets away, or maybe it is for security (but we feel safe with or without the wall).

 

            Trying to learn to drive the Honda.  It’s a little awkward because of the gas handle instead of a gas pedal.  Driving on the left side of the road will also take some getting used to.

 

I still worry about providing good English instruction, but am reminded often that this is less about teaching and more about exposing them to native speakers.  It is just that I have expectations of myself that I can construct useful lessons for their needs and levels – I just have no clue what their levels are because no one seems to understand anything I say.  There are always songs.  

 

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