Last Day in Sa Kaeo

My last day in Sa Kaeo was a busy one. Not only did I have to say good bye to the family I lived with for 10 weeks but I also had my Language Proficiency Test with the Peace Corps in the morning and the Thank You Party at night. For the Thank You party, I was in charge of the slide show and I was involved with the Isan traditional dance. Somehow, I also got asked to be one of the flag bearers for the Northern traditional dance! Needless to say, it was a long day. But it was a memorable one as well!

The day started off with some people from my community coming over to my house. I wasn't sure what was going on and I thought they were all over for some sort of festival (there's always a festival going on in Thailand.) As I was packing my stuff, I noticed that they were all just sitting around and all seemed to be waiting. After a while, I realized that they were waiting for me to stop packing so they could say goodbye! So I finished up pretty quickly and soon, I had everyone in the house coming over and tying pieces of string around my wrist. I'm not sure what they are called exactly but I like to think of them as "blessing" strings. As each person ties the string, they give you words of well wishes. It was all done in Thai so I didn't fully understand but I could pick up on a few words. Despite the lack of communication, it was very touching. I was glad that Ahm, my little buddy from the village (whose face is always powdered white), was present to tie a string on my wrist as well (though after a few minutes, his grandmother had to help him out with the knot.)

I gave a little thank you speech in Thai that they all enjoyed--more for the funny accent than for the content--and I was off to the hubsite for my language exam. My exam was actually not till 10:00 AM so I got to check in the hotel early and enjoy the AC and a nice shower! I was hoping to do some final review but ended up hanging around and talking with a couple of trainees.

Surprisingly, when the time came for my interview, I wasn't nervous at all. The lady interviewing me was very nice and before I knew it, my 30 minutes were up! I took that as a good sign though I did butcher a part of the interview when, in a lack of concentration, I answered "yes" to the question, "do you help around the house?" Answering "yes" led to more follow up questions on the subject and with my limited Thai vocabulary, I ended up saying I helped cook meals during my stay with the host family. Of course, she asked me what exactly I could cook so I just blurted out one of my favorite dishes--Tom Yum (Thai soup) And of course she asked me to explain the process of making Tom Yum. I probably would have pulled it off had I not forgotten the word for "boil." To make things worse, in a desperate attempt to explain the process, I started making bubbling noises with my mouth while using my fingers to give a visual representation of what boiling water looks like. Not a good idea. But ey, the rest of the interview went well and, as an affirmation that the world we live in is indeed very, very small, I found out that my interviewer was actually the debate team trainer of a friend of mine from Thailand who I met 6 years ago in Japan! And we found all these out while speaking in Thai! Craziness!

After the interview, the Isan dancers had a final run through of our presentation. We had a few drinks for lunch (it was St. Patrick's day after all) and that made the practice pretty entertaining. It was also the first beer I had in about a month because of all the medication I was taking for my asthma. Frank-the-Tank had it so right when he said, "It tastes so good! The moment it touches your lips, it tastes so good!"

The party that night was held in the provincial hall which felt strange because that was the very first building we set foot on in Sa Kaeo. It was also where we met our host families for the first time so there was a definitely a bittersweet feel to the party. We were all excited to be moving on to the next phase of our journey but at the same time, there was a sadness about syaing goodbye to our "home" in Thailand. Nevertheless, we all had a good time and, believe it or not, the Isan dancers did a GREAT job! I know the Northern dancers and the American dancers won't believe me but a couple of staff came up to say they enjoyed the Isan dance the most. I just won't name names :-)

After all the ceremonies--which included a couple of speeches from some trainess (in Thai!), a dance train, and a lot of certificates--it was time for our final good byes. I don't ever recall seeing emotion from my host parents (or from any Thai person for that matter) but as she said goodbye, my mom just grabbed me and started bawling! It was actually the first hug I have ever seen aThai person give or receive (Thai people don't even shake hands--they wai) and it caught me by surprise. My dad wasn't doing much better as he had tears in his eyes. The sudden outburst of emotion startled me and I'll admit I got choked up a bit. But such is life and as I walked them to their car and said thank you for everything, I found myself in a good place emotionally and mentally. I was sad, yes... but at the same time I was also very excited about everything that I had just accomplished. It's not easy living with a family you just met for 10 weeks (especially if you don't speak the language) but somehow, with alot of patience and A LOT of openmindedness, I survived...thrived even. It was a very enriching experience and definitely one of the best aspects of pre-service training. The whole experience was something I doubt I will ever forget.

On a funny note: my host parents have called me every other day since I have left Sa Kaeo. Our conversations always revolve around the same things--whether I have eaten yet (and if so, what did I have to eat) and if I feel hot.

Khrup khrua kong pom