Ko Kret, Mon Culture, and Jit's Dad

Jit's dad is planting many seedlings in the garden. There are rows of palm seedlings in the mud. He is building new land with bags of coconut shells covered in canal mud. Today he even pulled down an old dead tree with a rope.

In Thailand there is beauty and ugliness. The morning light is beautiful, but there is also much ugliness, especially trash around people's homes, in the canals, and along the road. Near stores there are also piles of trash. In Bangkok they are pretty strict about littering and it is pretty clean, but there are not many trash barrels so I end up carrying stuff with me, hoping to find a trash barrel. Usually you can find one by a 7-11. Outside of Bangkok people throw trash anywhere. I see people through garbage from the bus. After a weekend in the park there is trash in the lake and on the lawn. People do not seem to care about littering. It was that way in the United States before they started pushing anti-littering.

I saw a green snake yesterday, my first live snake in Thailand. There was also a squirrel on the telephone line. I also saw a bird with bright blue beautiful wings

Sometimes I do not realize what I saw until the next day. On our temple trip there were three young men sleeping by the curb. There was also a man who helped direct people into parking spots. People paid him a small fee. The young men were in pretty bad shape. two of them were almost making love by the curb. I think that if we did not pay the old man to help with parking the car could have been in some danger for vandalism.

Children's day is coming next week. I was told that it would be another very loud party. I am not talking about just sound, I am talking about hurting your hearing loud. Somebody has a very large sound mixer and some very large speakers. Somehow it get all fit together with a boom box to create an experience. Anyway we will be gone so I will "miss" the experience

Kennon's brother helps us a lot. He drove us at 3 in the moring to the Phra Pradaeng market. Today I saw his leg. It looked like it was badly burned from the scars, but it was from a traffic accident. There were deep scars and you could see where the grafts were. It looked like it was an agonizing injury. Surprisingly he plays goalie for the community soccer team and he still drives without caution.

By Wat Bangabua there are four ball fields, they play a game called, I think, Petong. People roll a small ball to the other end of the field. The game might be a cousin of shuffle board, or even bocce ball. The fields are not large, maybe 20 X 30 feet. When ever we go by the Wat on weekends or in the evening people are playing.

In Bangkok there is a Thai-Belgian bridge, just a curious observation.

I just realized, from the logo, that Johnny Walker is sponsoring the Drink Don't Drive sign on Bayoke tower. Duh!

I am craving a bagel with cream cheese, as I write this I still am. Odd!

Oy was kidding Nuck about having a dark skin. In Thailand light skin is a beauty advantage. There are even skin whitening stores or salons. Sort of like tanning salons in the United States. A couple cultural puzzles, why is nine popular in Thailand, nine monks, nine temples, nine rings of a bell. In the United States I think we are fixated on three. Also in Thailand people value white skin and in the United States people value tan skin. Similarities and differences.

Ever since I went to Ko Kret I wanted to introduce Jit's dad to the Abbot of the Wat. Jit's dad is Mon and the people of Ko Kret are also Mon.

We took two taxis to Ko Kret, Seven of us went, Kan, Tan, Star Jit, Jit's Father and Mother and of course me. The taxis came to two different entrances but with the cell phone and following different back roads we all got together

When we got to Ko Kret we had to get Jit's mom across on the boat. It was a little risky, we had to hold the wheel chair on the front deck of the boat, and then carry here off and on. There are no accomodations for people with disability. We succeded, but it was risky and a little tense.

We rented bikes for Stay, Kan, and Tan to explore the island. We also rented a bike for the Taxi driver who spent the day with us.

There are old brick pottery kilns that look beautiful in color and form. There was a women bathing on a ramp going in the river, it was very relaxed. I had noodle soup. Every noodle soup is a little different. This one had fried pork skin pieces in it. It was good, but not what I was expecting.

Jit's dad visited a store that sold Mon healing salves and drugs. Jit's dad, who was a doctor for the military, stopped and talked for a long time. We also got a book on the Mon language. Jit's dad who is almost 80 does not speak the Mon language, his father did though. It was over 200 years ago when the Thai King granted land to the Mon people because of there help during a war with Myanmar.

There was loud speaker playing music and announcements near the Wat we were going to, it was a main tourist area. There was distortion and static. One song sounded like it was from the 40's, sort of a nostalgic big band sound with women singing. I asked Jit and she said it was about Happy New Year, she remembered it when she was young. She said the singers were dead. It was a song from the 40's or 50's!

We saw a man with a T-Shirt with the same design as Jit's dad's tattoos. I think it is a Mon design. Jit's dad talked with the man for awhile. The man also had tattoos. We went to the Wat and waited to see the Abbott. He recognized me and then we introduced Jit's dad. The Abbott had to go eat with the other Monks and to have the morning ceremony. We waited and eventually Jit's dad and the Abbott spent some time talking. There was a discussion of Mon culture and history. Jit's mom needed to go, so we left a little early. Jit's dad said he would come back. He was happy to visit. There was also a museum of Mon culture and pottery and Jit's dad visited there and talked also. The man in the museum recognized Jit's dad from the amulet market. Upstairs there is a museum about Rama V. I took some photographs.

I did not take pictures of the Abbott, he has poor teeth and I felt that he was uncomfortable with the camera. Nothing was said, I just sensed a self-consciousness from the Abbott. He is such a dynamic and energized man. Just being around him is fun, watching his mannerisms and his actions.

At the temple there was a young man, around 30, I would guess, who was visiting from the United States. He was smoking a cigar. His method of smoking was so intense it was scary. Puff, puff, puff, puff, deep inhales without a pause. It was sort of mesmerizing to watch him. There was also a middle age women with two kids that just kept smiling at me. One of her kids asked if I could speak Thai. Jit thought she was trying to capture me!

We got Jit's mom across the river in the boat, split into two groups, and went home.

I helped Nik and Nuk with their computer, the phone line was bad. We got their connection to the internet working. I also think they have a virus. When I put in the memory card they were using in the camera I got a virus warning. I need to check their computer tonight. Nuk wanted to instant message with MSN, but it said they had the wrong version. I can not update it since their operating system is from Pantip Palace. I told her about Yahoo Messenger so she set up an account. I also sent her a Gmail invitation. I do not know where to get the cheap legal version of Windows XP. What I read about in the United States, and what I experience in Thailand, do not match. When I come back to Thailand I need to get a tool kit of software and tools to use while I am here.

I have, according to my computer, taken about 10,000 pictures so far during my sabbatical. Assuming that 200 are excellent, what do I do with them? What do I do with the almost excellent pictures? I know for the blog that I will archive it when I get home. I have been experimenting with Everynote. I think I can capture the blog for each month with Evernote and then convert it to a web page in chronological order and with the pictures illustrating the blog entries. When I get back to Alaska I will have time to reflect on and organize my experiences.

Tomorrow we go to STOU. It is going to be a very busy two weeks with many trips. If I am not posting it is because I am traveling. I will be taking notes and photographs an will post when I can.

Not much happening at STOU today, just getting orientated. This weekend is going to be very busy. We came back through Phra Pradaeng to get Jit's glasses fixed. We stopped at one of my favorite restaurants in Phra Pradaeng. It is almost like a 50's ice cream shop. We got spaghetti and macaroni. It is a real restaurant that serves floats, sundaes and banana splits. On the wall were posters about the Mon language. There is a Mon cultural center in Phra Pradaeng. They are trying to preserve the language. There were posters that were in Mon and Thai. It reminded me of Alaska. The Mon culture is still active and alive in Myanmar. Interesting echos of cultural preservation in Alaska.