Chaing Mai - The Hmong Village

The Birthmark

This last week has been quite an adventure... I love these. In some ways I have difficulty knowing how to describe what has happened. But I will begin by telling you something new I have learned that makes me special, unique, even more weird than before. A story.

I have a birthmark on my right cheek (my face - just to clarify for some!) and it is hairy like my eyebrows (and I would assume like 'yours' too). Often times little children everywhere in the world are enthralled, enraptured, allured to the black dot on my face. The arrangement of questions that rise are, "What's that thing on your face?" "Is that make up?" "Why don't you have one on the other side?" This makes me smile and wonder why is it such a curious sight.

Well, switching really quick. A boy in my class, Rugchai, is always claiming that I must be very rich. What? Me? Rich? More like middle class to poor I always insisted to him. I mean look at me... I've got no fancy-smancy cell phone! Apparently however it came up in conversation with 'the boys' (Rugchai, Anapat and Pitcharee- girl-) that in the Thai culture birthmarks are revered because they are a symbol of wealth even better is a birthmark with long hair growing out of it because it shows that you are even wealthier!

Wow! Not only is my birthmark a thumb print of God... it is also an 'talisman' of wealth! Little did I know that Rugchai had reasoning behind his claims of this 'maam' being rich!

The Fence and English

The whole purpose in going on our mission trip to Chaing Mai (or Doi Indathon?) was to build a fence and teach children English at a goverment school and this is what we did. However, still being attatched to my culture (Westernization) I struggle with the lack of effiency and preplanning that occurs sometime/often here in Thailand. Our kids did teach English and they did build a fence but not at the speed that I expected them to. I forgot where these kids come from they are well to do high schoolers who have always had someone else cooking, cleaning, working for them and never had the oppertunity or blessing to experience such things themselves. So the fence building was slow and ineffiecent but it happened... The kids complained that the bricks were to heavy, they didn't know how to balance on the scaffolding, did know how to make cement, apply to whatever they were building. But when they tried I was impressed and proud of them! I can't totally blame them I mean.. consider this if you have never done it how can you know what to do? I certainly don't!

My personal favorite was English and playing with the kids. The first day (we only 'missioned' for two days) I took Ratanporn, Pitcharee and Napat to classrooms, Kindergarten, 3rd, 5th and 6th grade and then the second day (Napat, Pitcharee and Anapat). They were so great at leading out. They would ask me, "Ma'am what should we do now?" Would you like to sing songs? Do you want to teach them English? (What is that called the Socrates Method? - Responding to a question with a question) An they gave it some thought and they followed through. Songs like, Deep and Wide, Peace Like a River, My God Loves Me and then games like Heads Up - 7-up, London Bridges, and Guess the Animal! It again made me proud to see each of them lead out... definitely some potential future teachers!

For recess - the times that I didn't help out with construction or English in class, I played. I certainly am a 'player' but not in the sense that usually comes to mind. I would walk out onto the red dusted playground and join girls for hopscotch. I taught them how I played it in the United States, they played it differently having about 20 rectangles in which they jumped. I also drew pictures in the red earth and attempted to tell them stories about raindrops and then another one about Jesus. Lastly, I tried to teach them duck-duck-goose but this didn't work so well because all the kids would be in a circle and when I went to touch their shoulders they would run away before I could (they were scared but curious enough to stand around and watch this farang). My favorite time was when they attempted to teach me how to play some form of tag but before you get tagged if you put your finger to your mouth and then say 'bet' the one 'it' can't tag you. It was so confusing because I couldn't tell who was it and who wasn't. Well I'm beat so will attempt to be more poetic then I was today some other time.