One more posting from Bombay before I backtrack to those sites and experiences I haven't written about yet....

Our last day in Bombay, we spent exploring the markets and getting some last minute souvenirs and gifts. Here are a few sights from that journey:

I always said that carrying things on your head is the way to go.... Most amazing!

the fruit market - look at those colors!

the peppers pose for their close-up

from inside our cab - walking really is the way to go....

on our way to the airport - these shacks lined the roads for miles

BOMBAY (aka. Mumbai)

After the wedding, most of the guests departed with the Bride and Groom for a 10 day site-seeing trip. However,due to time and money (and the fact that we'd scheduled to see Delhi, Agra and Jaipur - more updates on these to come - before the wedding) we decided to stay in Bombay and see a few things in the city.

Bombay, though not the political capital of India. Is definately it's cultural capital. Because it is a port city, it has been the center of trade activity for centuries. Consequently, it was also the hub of British activity during colonial times.

Much of the city is built up around coast. the south end of the city extends like fingers into the ocean and makes for some beautiful sites.

We found a guesthouse in the Fort area of town and spent one day walking in that area. The train station is really something to behold - one of the oldest, most ornate gothic buildings in the area. There are carved statues of animals, stained glass windows, gargoyles and flying buttresses.

A look at the central part of the station that houses the administrative offices. I had to sweet talk the guard into letting me in the gate to take a picture.

Later that day, we found the courthouse (mentioned in Lonely Planet, our tour guide book, as worth a visit) and had a quick look around. We were too timid to sit inside any of the court rooms, but the open hall ways, swinging "saloon" doors and crowds of people did bring to mind scenes from Shakespeare times and writings (as described in the Lonly Planet). Unfortunately cameras were not allowed.

Our second day in Bombay, we headed down to the "Gateway of India" - one of the main ports on one of the many fingers of the city. Here are a few pictures from that trip.

a sailor stands around at the port

Our first view of the Gateway of India

a closer view of the Gateway

It is a beautiful structure and constantly has a crowd around it.

Another thing we read in the Lonely Planet book was that Bollywood scouts looking for foreigners to be extras often look around this part of town. Determined to be picked, we spent several hours walking and waiting around here.

I don't think they wanted to be Bollywood extras, but they were also waiting for something near where we were sitting.

Unfortunately, our talents are yet undiscovered, though we hung around as long as we could. It was a great spot for people watching and we found some shade, so it wasn't too hot.

One extra special part of the wedding ceremony itself is where it was held. Some of the pre-wedding parties were in Bombay, but the actual ceremony and reception were held in Matheran, a hill station about an hour outside of the city. Not only was Matheran beautiful, but most amazingly no cars are allowed there. The break from the horns and street chaos of Indian cities was amazing. The bride's family rented cars to take us to the parking lot at the base of the hill station. From there you can walk, ride horseback or take a rickshaw up to the actual town and hotels at the top.

I rode horseback up - an easily slow ride. This was especially exciting because I haven't ridden a horse for two years, as there are very very few in Thailand. On the ride up I learned that horses could be rented for more exciting rides to viewpoints around the town.

So, the next day after the wedding ceremony and before the reception that evening, I decided to take a horse-back ride. Eric, another wedding guest, and I took the scenic trail together with a guide. The sites were indeed breathtaking.

Here are a couple of pictures from our ride:

Emily at the first lookout point

From the other side of the viewpoint

on the trail with Eric (taken by the guide on horseback)

from another viewpoint

It was great to ride again, though probably not the safest thing I've ever done. The saddles were a bit flimsy and not secured very well. The stirrups were narrow and not very supportive. Actually, my horse stumbled twice. The first time I was thrown sideways and nearly off, as the saddle turned about 90 degrees. However I held on and managed to righten myself despite the trotting pace of the horse, who generally refused to listen or respond to anyone but the guide.

The guide's response, "Wow. You have good balance!" HA!

The second time the horse tripped he regained his step quickly and I thought the worst was over until a dog ran out barking at us, which spooked the horse and sent us flying at a pace which I imagine was similar to that of Paul Revere. "The British are coming! The British are coming!" I was scared and trying to reign him in with all my might. The looks of horror on the villagers faces as we passed did little to calm my fears. However, everyone ended up alive and soon there after the ride was over. Ah, adventure is rather unavoidable.

I'm still glad I went on the ride.

Here are some pictures from and descriptions of the rest of the ceremony:

Kanya Daan (Giving away the bride)
Hinduism maintains that the prime wealth of a Hindu household is the daughter (Kanya), who symbolizes the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. Kavita's parents place her hands in Christian's and pour holy water over them to finalize the gesture of gift giving (transfer of wealth). Kavita's father requests Christian to accept his daughter as an equal partner in all walks of life. It is noted in Vedic scriptures that there is no Daan (gift) greater than Kanya Daan (giving a daughter's hand in marriage). Christian promises to accept Kavita as his equal partner in life.

Jaya Home (Offerings)

Offerings are made into the sacred fire emphasizing the couple's joint responsibility in maintaining the love and dignity of their union.

Paani Graham (Accepting the Hand)
Christian holds Kavita's hand and both of them solemnly pledge before God that they have become one and will love and devote themselves to each other for the rest of their rlives.

Mangal Phera

Mayur (Kavita's brother) puts rice in the hands of Kavita and Christian as an offering to Agni to dispel darkness and ignorance and lead light and knowledge. The couple then walks around the sacred fire four times. Each circuit represents the four basic goals of human life under the Hindu tradition:

Dharma: Moral sense to lead a good life

Artha: Financial prosperity

Kama: Blessings for strong, virtuous children, adn to share the responsibilities of home

Moksha: Self-restraint and eternal physical, mental and spiritual strength

Together the four goals symbolize the couple's commitment to each other, the community and the cosmos. Kavita leads Christian for the first three rounds and Christian leads for the last.

Shila Rohan

A rock is placed in the north east corner of the mandap (stage). While Kavita places her right foot ont he piece of rock, Christian repeats the hymn, Ashma Bhava, after the priest. The statement encourages Kavita to be as stong as the rock, to be first towards any difficulties of life they may face together. Rice and flowers are sprinked on Kavita and Christian by her parents, relative, and friends.

Saptapadi (Seven Steps)

Christiana nd Kavita take seven steps forward together, symbolizing the beginning of their journey through life. These steps signify the guiding principles of life.
Each of these steps represents the vows made byt he couple:
1. Together we will love, cherish, and respect one another from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.
2. Together we will create a home full of joy and laughter, where we find serenity and strength.
3. Together we will share a steadily deepening love, which grows in understanding and unselfishness.
4. Together we will embrace each other's family as well as our own to come.
5. Let us have a measure of patience and forgive with grace.
6. Together we will develop a sense of value that we may care for people more than for possessions, for honor more than for honors, and for the dimensions of a home more than the details of a house.
7. Let us forever be best friends and partners, share each other's ideas and ideals.
The couple is now united and will pray for the blessings of God.

Sidhoor Daan
Christian puts Sindhoor (Red powder) in the parting of Kavita's hair and welcomes her into his life as his eternal partner. The newly wedded couple touches the feet of and takes blessings from the parents of both their families.

Akhand Subhagyavati
Married women come forward to wish Kavita happiness.

Aashirvaad
All the guests and relatives wish Kavita and Christian good luck, prosperity adn a long, happy married life together.

Here are the pictures that go with the descriptions from the last entry

Var Puja (Prayer for the Groom)

Christian is welcomed by the form of Vishnu, the preserver of life in the Hindu tradition. Kavita's parents wash is feet and offer him a mixure of honey, ghee, and milk.

Kanya Agaman (Arrival of the Bride)

Anterpat, a courtain, is held in front of Christian, as Kavita is guided to the Mandap and seated across from Christian after which the anterpat is drawn.

Jai Mala (Exchange of Garlands)

Kavita and Christian exchange garlands symbolizing their formal acceptance and respect for each other.

Prarthna Mantra (Prayer)

The Gayatri mantra is chanted by the priest to invoke the blessings of Ganesh, the Hindu god of wisdom and remover of obstacles.

Agni Pradipan

The priest kindles the sacred fire. The wedding is solemnized before Agni (fire), the symbol of knoledge, power and purity. Agni serves as the principle witness at the ceremony.

Here is some more information about the Hindu wedding ceremonies (from the booklet the bride's family gave all the foreign guests) as well as additional pictures from the wedding:
(The pictures aren't working....will post this now and try the pictures again tomorrow)

An Arya Samaji Wedding
An Arya Samaji wedding is conductd as per Vedic rites. The ceremony is performed wiht Fire and other Elements serving as the witnesses. The wedding mantras chanted are translated from the Sanskrit into a language the couple can understand - in this case English - so that the couple may relate to the meaning and significance of the wedding mantras. Simplicity is the essence of an Arya Samaji wedding. The wedding ceremony lasts for an hour.

Baraat or Jaan (Welcoming of the Groom)
Christian (the groom) arrives for the wedding with his family and friends, seated on a horse, in a festive, music-filled procession. On arrival of the Jaan, Kavita's (the bride) mother welcomes Christian. She places an earthen pot at the entrance that symbolizes the bitter sweet experiences of life. Christian shatters the pot with his foot demonstrating his commitment to overcoming obstacles in the life he has planned for kavita and himself. (see pic from last entry)

Var Puja (Prayer for the Groom)
Christian is welcomed by the form of Vishnu, the preserver of life in the Hindu tradition. Kavita's parents wash is feet and offer him a mixure of honey, ghee, and milk.

Kanya Agaman (Arrival of the Bride)
Anterpat, a courtain, is held in front of Christian, as Kavita is guided to the Mandap and seated across from Christian after which the anterpat is drawn.

Jai Mala (Exchange of Garlands)
Kavita and Christian exchange garlands symbolizing their formal acceptance and respect for each other.

Prarthna Mantra (Prayer)
The Gayatri mantra is chanted by the priest to invoke the blessings of Ganesh, the Hindu god of wisdom and remover of obstacles.

Madhupak (Offerings)
Kavita offers a mixture of honey and yogurt to Christian. Honey symbolizes the sweetness of eternal love and yogurt is offered for his good health.

Agni Pradipan
The priest kindles the sacred fire. The wedding is solemnized before Agni (fire), the symbol of knoledge, power and purity. Agni serves as the principle witness at the ceremony.

I haven't been able to blog quite as regularly as I had intended to at the outset of this trip. So, I will have to play catch-up when I return to Thailand on Thursday.

I have now finished two of the three parts of this amazing trip to India. We completed the golden triangle in the north - Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal) and Jaipur (way too much shopping) before flying down to Bombay.

The last 5.5 dfays have been spent attending wedding celebrations for one of Kristina's college roomates, Kavita. She married an American, so the wedding guests were very international. I was so honored to be included.

Indian weddings are really something and last anywhere from 3-5 days. I will outline each day later. For todays post, here are some pictures from the wedding ceremony itself which took place two days ago. (More explanations on specifics later). For now - a few pictures:

Some of the girls (with henna-ed hands)

some of the guys (the groom is center)

the brother (front) and sister (in pink) the the bride go out to meet the groom

the groom arrives on a white horse with friends and family dancing around him

the groom crushes a small clay pot to leave the bad behind

I am writing from Agra - home of the Taj Mahal. It is a town about 3 hours by train from New Delhi. The tourists here are more concentrated, so the locals are much more ruthless about hassling. But, we've learned some coping mechanisms and are getting along just fine.

I wish I could describe what it is like to walk down the street in India. The cars whiz by honking their horns and assume that you will jump out of the way. However, in making that jump, one must be careful to avoid the poop - cow, dog or otherwise - puddles of unknown origin, dogs and cows resting on and around the roads and small drainage/sewer gutters on the sides of the road. There are so many more people here and they have so much less money, so everything is dirtier than Thailand. We bought some popcorn on the street two nights ago and were almost deterred from eating it when we saw the state of the seller's hands as he scooped the popcorn into the small "bag" made from newspaper (of course scooping with his bare hand). Traffic lanes are unnecessary as nobody abides by their 'suggestion' anyway. Consequently, we have been doing much careful stepping, jumping and leaping to avoid losing a limb to passing vehicles. (Of course it doesn't help that cows are sacred, so the drivers would rather hit me than them!)

If you get past the traffic, you have to deal with the people selling things. I think we were swarmed several different times by about 30 children (all together) selling...I kid you not... Taj Mahal snow globes. Postcards, jewelry, carvings and more kitsch than you can imagine were constantly shoved in our faces. In Delhi, if we said 'NO', they generally listened and went away. Here, they know that if they follow you for 20 minutes talking the whole time that most people will give in. (It did not help that Kristine actually WANTED a snow globe.) Then, when you do manage to extract yourself from the mob of blossoming capitalists (I say this in jest, for although they are smart, they are also very very poor and desperate to make some sort of a sale. But, I think the stock market was mentioned to us at one point to remind us of our "gazillion" dollars we had at home in the bank.) you immediately find yourself followed/accompanied by rickshaw drivers. They are determined to take you somewhere, of your liking of theirs, where ever that may be.

We decided today to take the day to walk around the see the town and do some shopping. (We are doing the Taj Mahal tomorrow - going at 6am, to see the sun rise there and have the best light for picture taking.) At one point, as we were walking away from one of the Taj gates, a bicycle rickshaw stayed beside us as we walked for at least 15 minutes. We kept telling him no, but he was riding beside us quoting lower and lower prices. Finally, reinforcing this behavior, we climbed in and asked him to take us to the old market. Initially we were trying to squeeze all of our 3 rears into a seat built for 2. This wasn't working very well, so I eventually got out and held onto the back. I had great fun helping to push when we went uphill and occasionally running beside the bike to lighten his load, but I did fear that the vehicles behind me were not having a very pleasant drive - having to stare at my rear end! I do think, however, that I offered a great deal of entertainmet to much of the town who were much amused by the white girl jumping on and off the back of the rickshaw! We didn't end up anywhere near where we wanted to be, but we had a nice tour of the outskirts of the city and I got some good exercise after the train ride from Delhi.

Tonight we saw on the roof of our guesthouse, ate stuffed nan and watched the sun set (though it's a little overcast, so there wasn't a colorful one) near the Taj Mahal. It is so beautiful and we can't wait to visit tomorrow. I can't believe that I am actually here. I am at THE Taj Mahal!

Off to bed now. It is freezing. The paper said that it was 11 C yesterday. Brrr! Was trying to upload a few more pictures from Delhi, but it's not working. So, next time, pictures from the Taj!

India day 1- Delhi

Last night I slept in my sweater and socks! It's cold here - actually cold. I had a scarf wrapped around my head all day and it was wondeful! I am so glad I brought my sweater/jacket with me. Kristina thought it would be warmer than it is and is regretting her wardrobe. Lucky for us, there are tons of beautiful shawls and pashminas to buy on every corner!

We decided to take a group tour today because we have a very short time in the city and wanted to see as much as possible. This morning we headed over to the train station to try and find the Delhi tourism train station office mentioned in our guide book. The crowded streets of last night were pretty empty at 8:30am when we started our day. After dodging several scam artists

"Follow me to buy tickets...." (we were warned about them in our books)

We found our way to the actual tour and spent the day on and off the bus seeing sites around the city. Our tour guide was loud, in-your-face and always rushing.

"Now we are SO MUCH late. Hurry. Hurry!"

But I've learned that I've come to appreciate these qualities in the last 2 years.

Here are a few pictures from my time in India so far... more to come.

Looking down on Main Bazar road from our rooftop restaurant last night

a shop keeper who let me take his picture

at the Baha'i lotus house of worship

some children asking for "ONE RUPEE PLEASE MADAME" outside the bus window

Qutub Minar - Afghan architecture, twelfth century

Just a quick post from INDIA! We made it to new Delhi safe and sound this afternoon. The flight was good and we met several interesting Indian people coming from Thailand: a lady who is living in Thailand and married to a Thai man, a man who has been working in Bangkok for business in two month intervals for the last year and a Indian man who is technically "Thai" because he was born and raised in Thailand. This man was coming home for his wedding...Tomorrow! We told him that he was cutting it short, but he insisted that he was in time! :) Additionally, he does not know the agenda of his four day wedding - was going to be "debriefed" tonight. We laughed a lot and told him that he had to put his wife before his work. His response, 'Well, I'm not married yet!" But actually, I think he's a really nice guy. We traded numbers and plan to get together once he's back in Bangkok with his wife.

Kristina's friend Kristine ( confusing, huh?) picked met us at the airport with the taxi from the guesthouse. This was nice, so we didn't have to worry about getting scammed. The ride was really long and the traffic crazy. I didn't see quite as many cows as last year when I first arrived in Chennai, but maybe I just expected them this time.

Our guesthouse is in a really neat part of Delhi on a street called "Main Bazaar". There are shops and stalls everywhere. The hustle, bustle and noise of India are totally different from Thailand and I just love it! I already bought one outfit to wear to the wedding next week and I plan to buy more. We walked around for a while and then ate dinner on the rooftop of a restaurant. Nothing beats Indian food. The breeze and temperature were actually cold on the roof. What a wonderful change. I'm heading to bed now because I'm exhausted, but I'm looking forward to every minute of this trip!

More updates and pictures to come.

A trip to the maternity ward

During my time in Thailand, I have done some work at the local hospital - HIV/AIDS meetings as well as some work in the labor, delivery and maternity wards. Because I plan to study midwifery after my time in Peace Corps, I am especially interested in observing and helping with day to day activities in the maternity ward and labor room.

I don't have any pictures of the labor room, but essentially, the women lay in beds in a room that has about 10 beds, until they are fully dilated and ready to push. At this point, they move her into the delivery room. I won't go into gory details for those of you uninterested in this process, but I'll suffice it to say that I have been surprised by the impersonal treatment women receive. No family members (even the mother) are allowed into the ward. Usually there are a few family members that sit and picnic (as nothing here is complete without food) in the hallway outside the door to the maternity ward while they wait. I get the impression that most women labor for quite some time at home before going to the hospital, so I don't think that the families have to wait very long.

After the baby is born and the mother and baby have been tended to, they are taken down to the maternity ward (on the floor beneath the labor room). This room is similar to the labor room in that there are about 10 beds side by side where the mothers stay.


Generally mothers stay here for about 2 days before they are discharged and are frequently visited by other family members. They learn to bathe the baby (if it is their first) and are given a (very short) reminder talk about nutrition and health for themselves and their child.

Babies with special conditions (Jaundice shown here) stay with their mothers in another room that has physical walls surrounding it.
Nurses tend to these patients daily, as they are staffed in this ward around the clock. They stay in the nursing station (below) most of the time and make their rounds to check on all the mothers and newborns.

In this same ward, is the pediatric unit.

A similar set up, but with bigger children. I wish they had more stickers and balloons to brighten the children's days, but at least they usually have at least one family member with them at all times.

The major surprise for me was that the pediatric unit was right next to the maternity ward

divided only by a quarter wall and curtains. It seems to me that this could be quite dangerous for the newborns. However, the Thais don't seem to give it a second thought. Interesting!

Entertainment update!

Ok, it is time for another post concerning "What is Emily reading and watching". I've really been enjoying my recent reading, so I wanted to share...

This past weekend, when I was in Bangkok for Thanksgiving dinner (which was not as good as last year, but a nice gathering all the same) some girlfriends and I went to see the New James Bond movie, Casino Royale. Though I didn't find Daniel Craig all that attractive, I thought he was a GREAT James Bond. I have never enjoyed James Bond movies because I found them far too chauvinistic for me. I agree with the reviewers that call Craig the coldest, but also most emotional James Bond yet. I think it is worth a watch. (Disclaimer - I really had issues with the torture scene - it was a little much for me, especially in light of the Guantanimo torture issues of the past couple of years.)

As far as reading, I am currently making my way though the book Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. Krakatoa, as you may know, was a island/volcano in Indonesia. Just over 100 years ago, the volcano exploded - the greatest natural disaster in modern history (though having a death count less than the 2004 tsunami). The eruption occurred gradually, but when it finally happened, the sound could be heard thousands of miles away. It erupted with such force that the island was totally destroyed and the dust and ash in the air prevented sunlight from reaching the nearby islands for a couple of days. Furthermore, the air waves it created traveled around the world, not once, but seven times. Winchester is obsessed with detail. He researched not only the explosion itself, but all the history surrounding it as well as many many topics linked to the geographical location and historical times. It is taking me a while to get through, but I am really enjoying all the information it offers.

Yesterday, during my travel home from Bangkok, I was consumes (and read in its entirety) the fiction book Midwives by Chris Bohjalian. Liesbeth found it for me in the Peace Corps library. I began it when I got on the bus leaving Bangkok and finished the last 50 pages in bed last night. Though I often read during travel here, it is unusual that I will read non-stop for the six hours it takes to get from Bangkok to my house. Yesterday I did. This is an intense novel which tells a fictional story of a midwife (told by her daughter) who made an error. There is a neat feeling painted about midwives as well as some of the resistance to midwifery and home birth present in the medical community. The story is wonderful and gripping. I'm sure I'd feel the same even if I wasn't planning to become a midwife, though that is why Liesbeth brought me the book.

A couple of weeks ago, I read, Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. This book was passed to me (and recommended) by Kristina, a volunteer who lives near me. It is a very interesting book that explores everyday questions using theories of economics. Kristina (and Christina - who are both more analytical than I) felt that there was not enough data to support some of the books points. However, the absence of these charts and graphs makes the book more readable. None of us doubted that Levitt has the data - as he is a well known and respected economist in the United States. At the very least, this book makes you ask some very interesting questions and possibly look at the world just a little bit differently.

Lastly, this post would not be complete without sharing with you my new favorite movie: Bride and Prejudice. This is a Bollywood style take-off of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice". As a lover of musicals, I am prone to enjoy movies with fun, often silly, song and dance. But, this really takes the cake. It is so much fun with the sights, sounds and movements of India that I've already watched it six times.... And we're just getting started! (And they couldn't have found a more beautiful leading lady or gorgeous guy - Martin Henderson, I'm in love!)

English Drama Camp

Last weekend, I traveled with a few other volunteers to Buri Ram province to help lead an English Drama camp there. We were working with the English teachers from a very large school (about 3,000 students 7-12 grade) near the small town where a volunteer lives. The school was trying to start up an English drama program, so they invited us to do a camp with their students and some students from a few other schools. The teachers were supposed to be watching the activities and taking notes so that they could bring the ideas back to their own schools.

Though only very few of the teachers participated and benefited from the camp, the students had a great time and surprised us with their English, creativity and acting abilities. The students were mainly 10-12 grade and most spoke English quite well.

We started out with some songs, games and team building activities

Here the students are crossing the "chocolate river" by jumping from "marshmallow" (piece of paper) to "marshmallow". They challenge was to get all 12 team members across with only 6 "marshmallows" - it was great fun and involved a lot of laughing, falling and holding on!

Next we started teaching some acting. One group stood in a line up front. The last person in line was told some sort of noun or verb (here liesbeth whispers the word) and they must pass the word, one person at a time, to the front of the line. It is called group charades and only one person can pass with one person watching at at time. Those watching have a great laugh seeing how the action morphs as it travels up to the front. The person to last receive the action must try to guess what it is. Usually their answer is quite different from the word originally whispered.

After some games, each group of students was given a shortened version of a play (about 1 page long). Next, the groups of students traveled to five rotations: acting (body), acting (voice), make-up, costumes and pronunciation. They learned acting techniques and practiced their scripts throughout the rotations.

Here two students help each other apply make-up. They are creating character make-up based on some techniques they learned in their rotations.

On day two, the students are ready to perform their plays. Most of the students had memorized their lines quite well and stunned us with their wonderful performance, which included: Cinderella, How the Frog got to Heaven, Snow White, the Wizard of Oz and Three Little Pigs.

The Scarecrow and the Corn in "The Wizard of Oz".

The Wicked Stepmother and stepsisters mock Cinderella as she cleans the floor in "Cinderella".

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving day, 2006.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and though I spent most of the day trying to teach the story of Thanksgiving to five classes of Thai students who were only mildly interested, I had time for reflection on the many blessings in my life and time to spend with people I enjoy having fun and giving thanks together!

Thanksgiving seems to be an interesting concept for Thai students. The literal translation from Thai wan krup khun prajao is day of thanks to God. Though this is appropriate, I feel it only partially describes what the day stands for. I tried, with some help from my co-teachers, to tell the story of the Pilgrims and Indians and the first Thanksgiving. Next, I described typical activities for Thanksgiving day: gathering together of family members, watching the parade, cooking, eating, watching football, eating, playing football, sleeping, sitting, talking, eating and more eating. A day of rest and a day of thanks. Most of the students found the concept quite wonderful.

We talked about turkeys. They don't really exist here. Some students had seen them... In the ZOO! Ha! We talked about pies. Not a single person I talked to had ever seen, much less tasted, one. We talked about fall - a season that does not exist in Thailand. In fact, Thai people are fascinated by the concept of four seasons, as they have only three: hot, rainy and cold (or, as I call them: hot, hotter and hottest - "cold" season is lucky to see temperatures in the 70s F). I described how the leaves turn all sorts of beautiful colors and fall off the trees. "Real" cold weather, makes leaves die, but they give a beautiful show first. I think the students thought this was pretty neat too.

Finally, I had the students create a fall leaf of their own. I had some picture examples with shapes and colors, but they had to draw their own and color it themselves. Then, they had to write the sentence, "I am thankful for..." and write as many things as they could think of. Some students came up things such as "for being the daughter of my mother" or "for the breath of life". However, I was very very surprised that most of the students sat there and stared at me (this in and of itself not unusual) like they had no idea what I meant. We encouraged them to come up with some things in Thai and then let us help them translate. Still they stared blankly. Apparently, the concept of giving thanks is not one that they are used to contemplating.

I'm not sure exactly why this is. Though the focus is on the present moment in Buddhism, maybe prayers center around future events, such as harvest or health or maybe even future lives. I'm not entirely sure, but I was really astounded that so many students seemed to be at a loss for anything at all to give thanks for.

As for me, I spent a great deal of time this week thinking about all I am grateful for. During my time here I have learned to be thankful for so many things I took for granted before. Here is a short list of some things I deeply appreciate:

* sincere friendship
* freedom of thought and expression
* friends and family
* expressions of love across the miles (or right at home)
* critical thinking
* smiles from the heart
* toes in the grass
* cheese, baguettes and wine at a picnic
* dark chocolate
* the technology that allows people with much to help people with little

I will continue to give thanks for things here and at home that touch my life and help this world to be a better place.

Something I was very thankful for yesterday was the impromptu thanksgiving dinner I had with my Thai "family". I spend time with this family many evenings a week and really feel like a member of the family. Yesterday afternoon, I went to their house and told them not to cook dinner because it was American Thanksgiving and I wanted to make dinner for us.

I made garlic mashed potatoes, carrots and beans, creamed corn and cranberry sauce (from Bangkok) and a pumpkin pie. We bought grilled chicken in place of turkey. It was a great feast and I think they enjoyed the little taste of America. Here are some pictures:

I put the food in tupperwear and piled it on P Noot's motorcycle to take to her house.

The feast

Neuhy and Nan are excited to eat!

Yummy! Pumpkin pie!

Eating with the family