Villager for a Week: Part 3

Phew! I think this is the last installment of my village homestay saga. Thanks for sticking with me. Okay, so for our last full day in Baan Mae Bon (the village - I finally looked up the name!) I woke up to the smell of frying bananas. If you've never had them, get yourself to a state fair ASAP because they are so dang tasty. I needed the energy too because in the morning we headed back out to the rice fields to plant. The bundles from Wednesday were tossed into each waterlogged paddy and then we waded in to separate each bundle into several smaller bunches to stick in the mud. I ended up going barefoot into the paddy because the thick mud would otherwise suck up my flip flops, but many others were sporting some kind of nifty water-resistant knee socks!

We were super grateful for the overcast weather because it made the work a little easier and I would have most definitely gotten sunburned otherwise. To show his gratitude, the landowner provided a variety of rice-based snacks afterwards. After lunch I took an afternoon nap (as was my habit in the village, then we hung around in the main temple area until we could hitch a ride to the nearby Friday market. Although not nearly as extensive as the markets in Chiang Mai, this market featured a beloved treat: doughnuts. All the doughnut-deprived Americans descended upon the booth like ravenous wolves and snapped up the 5-baht treats like they were the last deep-fried pastries in the world (I include myself in this group - never before has cream filling tasted so good!).

Unfortunately, our market excursion was cut short by sudden (although not surprising) rainstorm. We took shelter in a booth selling a variety of simple household goods until the storm let up enough to pile back into the pickup and head for the village. At six o'clock the group met up at Carmen's and my house to do a money tree parade down to the temple. The money tree is exactly what it sounds like: a small tree was ornamented with offerings and another tree-like object was constructed tucked with 20-baht notes and topped with a 20-baht sprouting parasol.

I love this picture because it includes a candid shot of my host mom in the foreground, who had just finished an impromptu dance with Ajan Gai to music provided by a drum, small gong, and cymbals (my host dad played in this small band, too!). We processed down to the temple along the main road, causing a bit of a traffic jam with the passing trucks full of people returning home from the rice fields. Once we arrived at the temple, we paused outside the main entry and five young girls (including my host sister) dressed in traditional long black skirts and white wrap tops did a beautiful Thai dance. We circled the temple once with the money tree before entering for the offering prayers.

Next came a ceremony where all of the visitors sat in an oval (we were too many for a circle) and a man sang while the villagers tied white strings around our wrists. It was a blessing for safe travels and a good life, and indicated that we were now neighbors of the village and welcome back anytime. It was a little sad because although we would only be returning to Chiang Mai, I wasn't sure if we would ever get the chance to return to the village. I certainly hope so.

The atmosphere quickly turned to one of celebration, though, when we were called outside to see another more modern dance by the girls, now wearing orange skirts and t-shirts. I was surprised when we were invited to sit back down on the temple floor and enjoy a special party treat (and breakfast food?), french fries and ketchup!

The grand finale of the evening was literally a dream come true: we got to light the floating lanterns and release them into the night sky! Although they were not as numerous as they will be at the lantern festival in November, it was still an unbelievable sight to behold. I thought that the lanterns would be small, but each one took three to four people to hold and light, so it was a great way to have a final bonding activity with the host families. Once a trail of lanterns had been released there was no way that photographs could do it justice, so here are a couple moments I managed to capture, one of which features my totally adorable host sister Mai. 

We headed back to the house for a late dinner and one more surprise: the arrival of my older host brother, Mac. I remember Mey saying something about him coming home from college in Chiang Mai for the weekend, but I was still mildly alarmed to see an unfamiliar face emerging from the bathroom on my way to the kitchen!

The next morning we went back down to the temple to load up the vans and say a final goodbye. I was sad to leave my awesome host family and the beautiful village of Baan Mae Bon, but I know that my place is at the university and there are many more amazing adventures to be had. Wish me luck on my first day of classes tomorrow! I am so excited to start my studies and my service work for the next few months.