Appreciate

Today was so simple, yet so incredible.

Thailand is indescribable.

For most of the morning at work I was zonked, so really all I did was stare at the materials in front of me and yawn. Fortunately, Moi came today because it's a big Buddhist holiday and school is cancelled. She entertained me with Lady Gaga karaoke and that infectious laugh of hers.

A little before noon, Yai came in and said she was going with Prawit (dad) and Bua to get materials to build a parking lot. I wasn't doing anything else, so I tagged along. Yai let me sit in the front because I have long legs and as we were driving down the road she dangled the seatbelt in front of me and said, "Seatbelt. Not for health, for police!" I complied because I didn't want to get a ticket, but honestly that seatbelt couldn't save a life if it wanted to.

After our trip to get materials (in which I wandered around the shop checking out screws and measuring-tapes and exciting things like that) we came back and had lunch in "the office." The office is the little house by the hut that sometimes gets used as a shelter for people who have no where else to go. Yai, Prawit, Bua and I all sat in a circle around the food (as usual) and then I grimaced as Yai sucked snails out of their shells and tried to convince me they tasted good. My eye. Every time she slurped one out I would inadvertently make a face, and everyone would laugh. It was fun.

Afterward, I picked up a good old guitar and strummed away until it was time to go back out and get to "work."

Work consisted of making a bracelet and earrings that matched, and then another bracelet for Moi that ended up being too small anyway.

Moi asked me in her limited English, "What...crocodile...pig?" At first I thought she was asking if we have crocodiles in the U.S., and then I thought she was asking if crocodiles eat pigs, so I said, "I don't know." Then Yai translated and said, "Why don't crocodiles eat pigs?" I was so confused and I kept trying to tell them that I didn't know.

Apparently it was a joke, and the punchline was, "Because they are Islam!" Bahaha

Later I was informed that I wouldn't be able to go to the children's home today, so Moi asked me (through Yai) to take a walk with her through her village instead. The whole way I was trying to get her to speak English, but I soon discovered that most of the words she knew were useless nouns like coconut, cow, and chicken. What the heck? Who's teaching these kids English? When are they ever going to need to use the word coconut in basic conversation!?

Realizing this problem, I tried to introduce the concept of "mine" and "yours" to her, which I don't think really registered. Oh well.

As we were walking down the road, we stopped by Umpaa's house because she was feeling sick today. We stayed for a little while, during which Moi kept on saying, "Umpaa house, Moi house," over and over again. I wasn't sure if she wanted to go home or what, but then Yai showed up and translated. I guess Moi wanted me to go with her to her house. Go figure.

When we got there I said sawadeeka to her mom and these three guys chillin in front of the house and then sat with Moi on the porch and tried to get some information from her about her family. From what I gathered, those three guys were her uncles and she also has one little brother. As I looked around I felt sad. Moi is awesome. She's only twelve, but she's so pretty and so sweet. But she's living in poverty. She wouldn't even let me go inside her house, which to me could hardly be called a house.

Sitting next to her on the porch, I couldn't help but think of her future and be worried for her. I truly truly wish the best for her. I hope that she will understand the importance of work and education so that she can lift herself and her family out of poverty. For now, she seems to be doing just fine despite her struggles, but I worry about what will happen when she becomes a teenager.

Moi. Can't get over her.

When we left Moi's we stopped by Umpaa's again. Umpaa gave me a piece of coconut to try and said that she wanted to make me some later (I'm not exactly sure what "some" is). And then I was just chillin in the middle of a group of Thai women who were sayings things I couldn't understand, and I felt like I completely belonged. I LOVE these people. I love this place. And the feeling is so powerful--I can seriously feel my heart expanding to envelope them. On the way home, in the back of my parent's good old truck, I was just so happy. I was thinking about all the people here who I care about and who care about me.

And then the travel bug hit--I want to go EVERYWHERE. Just think--every country in the world has something unique and beautiful to offer, and so few people take the opportunity to soak it up! Even tourists don't get the real thing. I see these huge silver double-decker buses every day driving around with dozens of white people inside, looking down at Thailand whizzing by.

You can't do that. You can't look down at it. You have to live down in it.
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*Confession of the day:
Bua caught a fish for us to bring home, which I had the privilege of sitting next to in the back of the truck. I noticed that the plastic bag it was in was really tight over its mouth, so I moved the bag a little bit so it could breathe.
Then I realized,
1. Fish don't breathe air through their mouths; they have gills
2. Fish don't breathe air
3. This fish was food