To the Village

Before school began I had the opportunity to see life in a quieter Thai village, as well as participate in donating food to monks and paying respect to the dead through a Buddist ritual.

Busaba, who you may feel like your getting to know, invited me to join her in going to her hometown, a small village near the Sisaket, an 1 ½ or so drive from Ubon.

The night before I had been invited over for dinner where I helped make pad thai and curry!!

First we went to the market and picked out all the fresh foods to cook with. 

 A little different than home, with all kinds of raw meat and fish for sale.

 Busaba hard at work buying pad thai ingredients. 

 Yum Yumm!!

 Nui and Busaba cooking away!!

Yet another delicious meal!!

The following day we left Ubon around eight in the morning and drove towards Sisaket.  We arrived at the temple early and began preparing the foods that would be eaten by the monks. Slowly more people came with different foods, and we continued to prepare a very nice meal for the monks. I also had the privilege of meeting all but one of Busaba’s sisters.

After the meal we went to the temple and paid respect to Busaba’s family who had passed away. 

Once the ceremony was completed.  We went to the village, to were Busaba’s parents had once lived.  We shared a meal together, of course delicious since Busaba prepared it all herself. 

Then I got a tour. I was shown her parents home, the barns, with cows and chickens.  The gardens with herbs and banana trees. Then we relaxed, made flowers from banana leaves and cut bamboo to use to cook later.

The home Busaba's parents used to live in. 

 I kept hearing the song, "Do your ears hang low, do they wobble to and fro, can your tie them in a knot, can you tie them in a bow." as I snapped pictures of the cows.

 Bamboo for cooking rice inside. 

Banana Leaves. 

Then we headed back to Ubon. 

Busaba's car which sports a well worn I love Vermont sticker. 

On the way home we stopped at an Pagoda ruins. 

My trip to the village was lovely and I saw the relaxed pace of life in one of the villages of Thailand, as well as seeing some history and more aspects of the culture.

Farang Princess Eats Frog

No this is not the story of the princess and the frog.  This is the story of a foreigner “princess” eating frog.

Well the story begins with me, and American foreigner arriving in Thailand to teach for the year.  Being a foreigner, especially a woman in Thailand is not common, and especially Ubon, as compared to Bangkok or other cities with more English.

Thai people are always very happy to meet me, and quite truthfully one of the most frequent comments or conversations I have include some saying ‘suay’ or ‘beautiful’.  The comment comes form both men and woman, although most frequently older women love fussing over me.  It is as though I have suddenly become a celebrity, half the time in Thailand I feel like some special foreigner princess.  Hence the “farang”, foreigner, princess.

At times it is a bit embarrassing, but overall it’s rather fun to receive such a friendly and flattering welcome. 

As a farang, one of the kind welcomes I received was from my fellow teacher Busaba.  She kindly took me out to eat, invited me to her home, as well as her second home in Phibun.

 I had already visited Phibun once and really enjoyed myself, but I was soon invited again and with promises to be shown how to make pad thai and fresh spring rolls, I could hardly decline. 

The second visit, I stayed over.  I even had my very own cottage! It was lovely, I felt very pampered.  We spent much of the day cooking, but it was fun! 

 Preparing rice to cook in bambo.

 My first spring roll.

 Busaba loves to cook!!

 Rice cooking in the bamboo stalks.

 Roll them.

 Fry them.

 Eat them. The spring rolls surely did not disappoint. 

And neither did the joyous meal. 

 That evening we shared all the wonderful foods with neighbors, and then they returned the favor by inviting us to dinner at their home tomorrow.  One of the sons also asked if I had eaten frog!  He said they would be sure to catch some in the field tomorrow!!! Eeek!

The following day after class with the students we also made Gratong's which are made out of banana leaves. 

 Banana tree 

My Gratong!

 Then floating the Gratong and making wishes. 

Alright now back to the frog that I'm sure you are curious about. For those of you that know me.  I am not a big fan of dead things. Dead fish, disgusting. Road kill, so gross it often sends a shiver down my spine.  I like the taste of meat, and don’t normally have to see dead animals or them being killed, so it’s not too much of a problem.  But when food has eyes and legs….. little different.

The next day though with a smile on my face I learn a Thai phrase, can now say “Wan nee, Chan ja gin gin gop” “Today I will eat frog".

 Yup it's a frog.

Here goes nothing little guy!

And so I ate frog! Luckily being kindly invited to meals, and cheerfully welcomed into a new culture though helps a lot when you are offered a very strange food.  I wanted to thank my hosts, as well as have this unlikely experience, so I ate the frog even as it little eyes looked at me.  As it turns out you can eat all of a frog, and they don’t really taste too bad, especially the legs.  Still though I think one frog is enough for me, but there you have it the famous farang princess ate frog. 

Phibun

I had a week before school begins to settle into my apartment and explore around the city, including getting myself lost.  I was also kindly invited to another teacher’s second home in the town of Phibun, just a bit outside of Ubon.  I graciously accepted glad to have something to do, and the opportunity to see more places in Thailand. 

My first visit to Phibun I was happily greeted by lush green rice fields.  It is harvest time now.  I also loved Busaba and Tao’s lovely home.  Busuba affectionately calls it her palace, and is planning to retire here within a few years. 

She has also opened an English center where she teaches a few classes of young students each week.  I helped teach and really enjoyed myself.  It got me excited for my first week of teaching at Assumption. 

The students wrote my name in Thai for me. 

After a morning of teaching, we drove towards the border of Laos to where the Mekong River and Moon River meet. 

It is especially beautiful because you can see both Laos and Thailand, and the two rivers come together with different colors.  The Mekong being red-brown meeting the bluer, clearer waters of the Moon River.  

Do you see the two colors meeting??

I think our smiles say it all!  

We also visited the temple. 

 I paid my respect to the monk, and made wishes for the future. 

We then headed home, but not without stopping to get Sala Pow, delicious dumplings that are famous in Phibun.