Why have a parade at 2pm?

Wednesday:

Why have a parade at 2pm when you can have a perfectly good one at 9 in the morning.  Do we not want to take the weather into consideration when we choose to have these things??? 

Yesterday my Tessaban delivered a 3 foot candle to the monks at the Wat to start off the celebration of the Buddhist lent (at least that’s what I think is going on).  I woke up still baring my headache from the previous day and was not in the mood to show up at work, let alone join in a parade, but alas, part of my job is ensuring that I am participating in these sorts of activities.

Going into work I was determined to be there until 10am then head home for a nap before the parade in hope of conquering my headache once and for all.  I get to work, say my good mornings, flip open my computer, and turn it on.  This morning is a good morning, because I know that my sister, Denise, is already online and waiting for me.  See, while I was away for 2 weeks, they moved my desk at work.  Instead of being in an office with 5 people, I am in an office with only my supervisor, who happens to be on vacation for the week, so I have the office to myself.  Skype on!  It was great to talk to Denise, and we ended up chatting for almost an hour.  When we get off, I look through my emails from Peace Corps and volunteers, and check out the news for the day.  Ten o’clock passes as I chat online with a fellow volunteer who is having similar problems at her site as I am having at mine on getting things moving and going.  Eleven a.m. rolls up and I am out the door.  I am stopped by my Nayok (think mayor) questioning where I am headed.  As soon as I say headache he understands I am going home to rest.  Whew! 

1:43pm my alarm goes off.  Time to get ready.  Purple shirt on (Its purple day, and I need to wear the right color for the parade).  As I bike into work I hear the rhythmic beat of drums.  Several men, decked out in fun colored shirts and scarves are warming up for our debut on the streets.  A truck is carrying our monstrously large candle and men and women of the Tessaban are huddled under the shaded cover of the overhang of the office.  I already can feel the usual trickle of sweat down my back and my brow displays beads of it demonstrating that I am hot.  Very hot.  Yet, as I look at the crowd of people waiting to leave, I notice the women, and some men, have put on sun protection sleeves, long sleeved shirts, and jackets.  This goes back to when dark skin was an indication of low class.  Thai people still believe the lighter your skin is, the more beautiful you are, but on a hot day like this…no way am I putting on a jacket…no way. 

The parade takes about 20 minutes to complete.  Men walk up and down the sides of the road as we pass through collecting money (merit) from the locals to donate to the Wat at the end of our journey.  As we enter the Wat, we remove our shoes (I happen to love this part of Thailand; it’s nice to be all dressed up yet barefoot most of the time) and sit down.  The Tessaban presents the candle to the monks and chanting begins.  Apparently, I happen to sit with the group that isn’t as into ceremony as some, and we begin to proceed to take pictures of ourselves flashing peace signs and making faces – I think I will try to sit with these people more often.  When the chanting ends, the candle is lit (and I think it is supposed to stay lit for all of lent) and we leave. 

Headache still present, I walk back to the office, jump on my bike, head home and straight to bed.  A successful interaction complete, now it’s time to get rid of the headache once and for all. 

(Side note: when I did wake up later that night, my headache was gone – YAY!)

Thursday:

My Nayok (remember, mayor of a city), comes into my office and sits down and starts talking to me in very fast Thai.  Of course, I am only understanding every 5^th word, but he seems so enthusiastic I smile and continue to nod my head like I understand…until he pauses and looks at me as though I need to respond to something.  *Crap*…ok, smile gone, ‘sorry, I don’t understand’ comes out of my mouth – in Thai, of course.  He attempts again…again, comprehension, no go.  Ok, he starts to talk slower, smaller sentences, but is still using many words I don’t understand, but he smiles and is happy when I repeat words back to him….again he gives me a questioning look.  Finally, he points to pictures of the king and queen and I begin to understand; we are talking about them.  Then he tells me, on Monday, July 18^th I am to go to his house at 7am and we will go to the Wat together.  To do what, I have no idea, but I am excited, and he is excited that we both understand the plan.   – Successful interaction

Sunday:

Have you ever felt trapped on a bench before?  Felt the weight of the world building in your head, forcing you to lie on the bench and not move?  Imprisoned in an open space.  You can smile at people, you can talk to people, and you can look up clearly at the sky through the leaves of the tree above you.  You can do all of this, but you can’t sit up, you can’t walk…you are trapped…imprisoned where you are, where you lay.

I was sitting on a shaded bench in the early afternoon reading a book.  I decided to start in on the Lord of the Rings series because I wanted to read some long books, and I had been thinking about the movies lately (currently, I am on book 2).  I felt a slight pressure in my forehead (crap, another headache coming on).  I looked up.  Everything went brighter for a second (think of suddenly turning up the brightness on your computer very quickly – all colors pale into a bright white) then the darkness started to close in.  The black circled around the outside of my vision threatening to fill in the still bright gaps. 

It’s happening again.  My ever so fun, almost, fainting spells.  Ok, I gotta lie down.  I lie down on the bench for 5 minutes and then slowly sit up.  Immediately everything goes black…back down again.  This time I wait 10 minutes (in the states, the entire period would be over in a 5-10 minute period) and try again.  Good…oh wait, nope…blackness.  And, I am down for the count…again.  I think I was laying down for a good 30 minutes before I could sit up and only feel the pressure in my head without any other side effects i.e. blacking out.  I grab my stuff, jump on my bike and head home.  Time for a glorious afternoon of TV shows and movies. 

Don’t worry.  I’m going to be emailing the doc tomorrow to ensure there is nothing going on.  He seemed pretty positive the first time that this is just some weird low blood pressure thing, but I’ll let him know anyways.

Monday:

6:23 am my alarm goes off…ugh.  Too early.  I reset my alarm for 6:37am.  Again it goes off…ok, I have to get up to be at my nayok’s house in time to go to the Wat.  I get dressed, run down stairs.  My host mother asks where I am going.  I explain to her, and she gives me a puzzled look (this should have been my first clue).  She shouts out to the woman across the street and asks what the Tessaban is up to today.  The lady says she can’t remember anything going on (2^nd clue).  I jump on my bike and ride over to my nayok’s house.  I get there and someone comes out of the house (also a store) asking me what I am looking for.  I explain I am looking for my Nayok.  They tell me that he is in the shower (3^rd clue) and can be out in a few minutes.

I wait.  A few minutes later he emerges, not in the colored shirt of the day (4^th clue), but in regular street clothes.  He asks me what I am doing.  Uh oh.  I reminded him of our conversation from Thursday.  His eyes narrow in question…he has no idea what I am talking about and tells me that there is nothing going on today.  Oh, ok…and I walk away puzzled myself.

Apparently, my successful conversation on Friday was not as fantastic as I thought it was…I wonder what we were really talking about????

Well, I was up anyways, so biked to the lake and enjoyed the cool air of the morning.  It is not often that I get to feel a cool breeze without the immediate following of rain.  I made a few calls to the states and continued reading my book.  Not the morning I thought I would have, but still a good one.