Sports Day and Practicum Week

Josh and I are, once again, at the internet cafe in Bang Rachan after a rowdy morning of Thai sports at a local wat. For some reason, Peace Corps thinks it's a brilliant idea to get all volunteers up and at 'em by 8 am on every Saturday morning (so far, we're surviving). Last week, we had Thai day, during which we presented the Electric Slide, Cotton Eye Joe, and a slew of music and accompanying dances from the 50s through the 2000s; watched a presentation of Thai dancing by our aa-jaans, learned a little bit of drumming and instrumentation (gongs, symbols, etc); presented Thai foods and desserts and how to make them; tasted a few Thai foods and desserts; ate lunch (at around 11), and then sang, danced and watched more of our aa-jaans demonstrate a less, shall we say, customary form of Thai dancing. All before noon.

This week, we met at a wat, got into teams and created cheers (yeah, not kidding), and then played three games:  Dta-graw (like volleyball meets hackey sack), Chair ball (like something you would play in your basement until someone got hurt), and petang (bocce ball). Those of you who know us may or may not be surprised to learn that Josh's team cheer was far more enthusiastic and well-put together than mine. (School spirit anyone?)

After that, we had a relay race, including a four legged race, a game where you tie an oblong object to a string around your waist, hang it between your legs, and try to push a round object across the floor. In my case, I had a Chinese eggplant hanging from a string between my legs and I had to roll a lime about 10 feet. I SUCKED! But I did get a good ab work out from laughing. Really, really hard. Then there was, feed a banana to a blindfolded person, chug a coke and eat a kanom (dessert), transfer a ping pong ball with chopsticks, and then run blindfolded with a bamboo stick to a box that you have to smack. Not kidding. Really. And I was the way weak link with the eggplant and the lime. Seriously people, picture it.

Then we had lunch. And ICE CREAM! (All by 11). Then an hour of dilly-dallying, then bike maintenance, and now, in the market at the internet cafe that's become our Saturday go-to spot. Later, we will partake in iced-sweetened green tea and beer.

It is ridiculous here, in the best and most incredible sense of the word.

Last night, at the wat that's less than a quarter mile from where Josh and I live, there was a huge.... party. It was like a combination of a county fair, and... um... something else that might be sponsored by red bull? I only say that because this was sponsored by the Thai version of red bull, some energy drink whose name I can't yet read or pronounce. At any rate, there was a huge stage, the loudest speakers I've ever heard in my life, and about 100 people sitting in plastic chairs watching some pretty decent Karaoke. The thing with this Karaoke is, anyone going up to sing was automatically made really, really cool because there were four dancing girls (maybe not all girls, but that will be another post), wearing some Vegas style clothes and dancing their asses off. They were pretty talented, I must say, and they made those singers look good. Within about 10 minutes of showing up with some other volunteers (Josh wasn't back from his afternoon sessions yet), Nick and I were pulled into the front of the crowd by my neighbors. We were pushed into the front to dance and pretty soon, the rest of the volunteers that live in our dtambon (district?) were up there dancing, too. Not long after that, my pa-a (host father), showed up and took my back pack home with him so I didn't have to dance with it. Then Josh appeared, and disappeared, because it was too loud (it was really loud). And then, Nick's host mom and Amanda's host mom, and various other women, kept feeding us som dtam and kanoms.... Plus there were vendors selling food, knick knacks, and also carnival games (darts/balloons, win a stuffed animal kind of stuff).

The truth is, I don't even know how to tell this story. I will try to upload pictures soon, because it is just too ridiculous. The Thais absolutely love to have fun, and they do it in ways that I never could have imagined.

More on this when I'm able to post pictures. But for now, I'll leave you with the parting thought that makes the whole scene the strangest: This was taking place in the courtyard of a wat, which roughly translated, is a Buddhist temple.

The monk who came to speak with us last week, however, let us know that the goal and purpose of the wat is to serve and to be a part of the community. So that's totally natural. Just don't try it at church.