Friday morning I woke up at 5:15am in order to be ready to meet the palacios at 6am. Thankfully Bangkok is an hour behind Malaysia so it didn't feel quite so early.
"Early morning at the Adventist headquarters in Bangkok"
At 6am I met the Palacios and the women's ministry team in front of the Ekamai church where I was staying. The women's ministry was partnering with other women from four different Christian denominations to put on a health fair for a community on the outskirts of Bangkok. We were going to play violin for them and provide a nice atmosphere for the clinic.
I met Dr. Ruth, who was going to be in charge of me once the Palacios left and who had provided the opportunity for us to go to the cultural show at Siam Nirimat. She is a dentist and organizes and directs the music group at the Ekamai because she loves music and kids. I soon learned what a wonderful person she is. Dr. Ruth had made T shirts for the team that said "we love mothers" on the front in honor of Mother's Day, celebrated on the Queen's birthday, which had just passed. She gave me one and we headed out for the clinic. But not before the pastor had managed to give the Palacios 15 large boxes of wheat flakes to distribute in Khon Kaen. The back of their truck was packed! The wheat flakes became the brunt of all jokes the rest of the trip.
The site was a ways out of the city and Bangkok traffic didn't help. We arrived around 8:30am and bought some delicious, oily sticky rice with banana inside. Although it wasn't healthy it tasted good and made me feel better after the malaria meds which made me nauseous on an empty stomach.
"Health clinic in full swing"
We got out our instruments and Pastor Ricardo, Daniel (their youngest son) and I played hymns, Canon in D and praise songs by ear. Before the Palacios left I pulled out my book and played Adoration and Schindlers list for them. Around 11am the Palacios said their goodbyes and started the six hour drive back to Khon Kaen. Before they left they exchanged my US dollars with their Thai money because the bank wouldn't accept my beat up bills.
Later that morning I met Dr. Ruth's assistant, Redeem. She was an outgoing, friendly Filipino girl who had found the fountain of youth. She was twenty eight and looked eighteen! She was so nice to me and invited me to go visit her in the Philippines.
As the clinic wrapped up they brought out pat see yew and I ate it with chili, which made them happy, although it was like baby food compared to how they eat chilies. I always asked for one chili, which is how they gauge spiciness, and they eat anywhere from five to twenty chilies in one dish! It's incredible. For dessert I tried something called monkey apple dessert and yellow bean with coconut shreds.
By lunch I realized that hardly anyone spoke English fluently but most people understood at least a little bit of English. The Thai people are so polite that they are embarrassed if they don't speak English or even if they attempt to speak English but say something incorrectly. They are much more forgiving with others, praising any efforts that foreigners make to speak Thai.
The drive back in the van took a couple hours but it was nice getting to talk some more with Redeem. Eventually we both got so hot and tired that we fell asleep.
As we arrived at the school around 2pm Ajan Udom, who had taken the Palacios and I to the cultural show the night before, offered to take me home with her Friday night so I wouldn't have to worry about getting my own food.
I put everything for church in my little bag and drove to her house with a couple stops on the way. As we drove we talked about durian and the fact I liked it made her happy. She also thought that Americans throw grandparents in nursing homes and told me how impressed she was with a student of hers who took care of her grandparents even though she was American. How sad that we have that callous reputation.
We ate dinner at a place called Suki Yaki, it was very good. The waiters brought fresh vegetables to the table and we threw them in a boiling pot built into the table. It was both healthy and very filling!
Ajan Udom spent the entire meal grilling me on Thai words. I was so tired that I couldn't remember a thing and kept mixing up Thai words with Malay. I'm also a visual learner so it's near impossible for me to remember words if I only hear them. Once Udom spelled a word out and I remembered it so then she started spelling everything out which helped a lot.
After dinner we stopped by a Muslim couple selling durian by the road. I tried it and it was hard on the outside and soft inside and I loved it. The couple really appreciated it and asked Udom where I was from and how I had come to like durian. As she was translating she whispered "they are Muslim" in case I hadn't noticed the head scarf the wife wore. In the car she told me they were Thai Muslims which meant they were peaceful.
We made another stop by the fresh market by Udom's house and got a wonderful experience of Thai friendliness and anatomy of animals still squirming and being chopped alive. Thankfully I handled it much, much better than the wet market in KL.
When we got to her house she went upstairs to tidy up and got the wifi password from her neighbor for me to use. I was so excited to get the wifi. I hadn't had any contact with my family since I arrived in Thailand and I was anxious to talk with them. Just when I finished typing out my message the wifi cut out. I was so sad and homesick I started to tear up, which only made me mad at myself. I felt like such a kid!
After I got a grip I asked Udom if she could help me. She asked her other neighbor who was riding by on her bike for some help. The neighbor then preceded to invite me in to her house to use the wifi and some ice water. Although she couldn't speak a lot of English kept saying "please no worry, no worry, no problem". I was so touched by her kindness.
After I finished emailing and updating I went back to learn how to make Som Tum, green papaya salad from papaya straight from Udom's tree.
We then enjoyed a fruit feast from the fruit we had picked from the market. Durian, mangosteen, snake fruit, rambutan, we had it all. Something I learned with Udom is that everything I was hesitant to eat apparently cures cancer. For instance, the seeds of the mangosteen, which I had assumed you spit out like most seeds.
While we ate Udom said that she has seen God work through the missionaries and she believed that God wanted me in Thailand for a reason and maybe in the future to come back.
At the end of the night right before worship Udom asked if I had boyfriend. When I informed her that I didn't she immediately wanted to set me up with a violin teacher who she wants to become a Christian. We both enjoyed a good laugh especially when she immediately called him to invite him to church the next day.
Right when I was about to brush my teeth and jump in the shower I heard Udom holler "Tori!!!! A little surprise for you!" Her nephews and cousin had stopped by for a surprise visit. They were university students and I was embarrassed that I looked like a sweaty mess. The first thing she told them was I liked durian! When she told me to thank them in Thai I completely blanked. I just kept bowing and say "ka" after everything. As I went back upstairs I bowed and said "goodnight ka" which made them laugh.
It had been a great day and I although I had moments of homesickness, I wouldn't traded that day for anything. It was my second day and I was already amazed by Thai culture and hospitality.
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