The normal things

At the end of my first day I reflected on normal daily life around Owerrrouse. I have been in Thamuang for over a year and have slowly collected some memorable experiences and images on almost all aspects of life in the village. My understanding about how the community interacts is beginning to be more mature and not just built on first impressions. During this short holiday I was to discover more about family values and to learn how to have fun - Thai style. But right now Bung wanted to go fishing, and he was determined he would empty the pond and gather up the remaining fish before the rains start to be more frequent. Everybody, well almost everybody, joined in.

He rigged up the water pump and soon the pond was becoming empty. Bung's young son is called Tao and is the same age as Yo, Khamma's son, but unlike Yo, he loves to get muddy . Tao was relishing every moment of catching fish in the squishy warm mud and was joined by two of his real cousins larking around. Yo meanwhile had caught a bird for the fun of it.

In the space of a couple hours about sixty fish had been caught with a couple of sizable ones taking the top prizes.

Tao with the pick of the catch

As usual the women folk prepared supper and the surplus fish sent to neighbours to enjoy. There is no concept of keeping the fish in freezer for another day because the freshness will have gone and they will not taste the same. With vegetables and spicy hot sauces with a choice of sticky rice and steamed rice, we had yet another feast. The whiskey on ice with soda was good, but not as good as the Leo beer.

We talked into the night with friends dropping by to see what was going on. The insect life is a little daunting, especially if like me, you are not used to it. Flies can be everywhere and the lizards, geckos and other things of the night are close by. There was one night where we had to shut all the lights in the house because a plague of freshly hatched mayfly type flies swarmed in on anything giving out light. The next morning the floors inside and out were littered with wings, but the bodies were nowhere to be seen.

Schooling is very important to everybody as it is seen as a way to improve the chances of earning better money and therefore not spending a life in the rice fields struggling to make ends meet. Khamma and I are committed to make sure Pel and Yo have the best educational opportunities going for them. Pel is currently in her second year at Ubon University and is enjoying some work experience as part of her course. She is working in the filing department at one of Ubon's police stations, and whilst she finds it a little tedious she is learning and trying to impress. Yo is about to start his 'big' school and will go through that painful experience of leaving the village school where he was a big fish in a small pond, to the high school where he will be a small fish amongst 3,000 other students! He will have Tao for company which is a blessing.

Yo and Tao in their new class room

I wanted to see the new school so we drove to Trakan about ten miles away and Yo proudly gave me a tour round. He doesn't officially start until 4 May, but he is required to attend several Saturdays as orientation days, and Khamma is required to attend with him as well. I am not sure any learning goes on but they do get to know how the school operates and they have to queue to buy the uniforms and books and stationery necessary for a term's work. It is also a good way to get the family integrated into the school and to manage expectations. The teachers work hard on this part of their job and the families join in appreciatively.

Every school has its big kids

The is some building work going on to make new classrooms, but I was intrigued to work out how the school could accommodate 3,000 and with the average class size being 45, this means they need about 60 or 70 classrooms! Most of the rooms are open sided because of the heat, and building cost, and I can imagine the noise and an environment that isn't particularly conducive to learning. But we have every confidence. This is Thailand!

In the class room the desks and chairs have obviously seen a lot of service and the graffiti etched into them probably goes back to when Khamma was a school girl, but they do the job well enough. The rooms are swept clean but being semi-outdoors you can see a lick of fresh paint wouldn't be a miss. The posters on the wall were also quite old and depicted the Royal family, and others explained different religions for example Islam, Christainity and Judism. Nothing was disfigured and even though it looked scruffy it is obviously treated with respect. There is emphasis on sport with football pitches, basketball and volleyball.

A very interesting morning and I wish Yo 'chok dee' for the five or six years he will spend there.