The Holiday Season
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. First, let me apologize for being slow in updating the blog. I take full responsibility, and I promise that this behavior will persist in the future. In fact, it was rather reassuring to get complaints concerning the infrequency of my posting, as it reminded me that people actually do read what I write on this blog. So let us begin by rewinding a month.
Last I wrote, I was at the beginning of what was to be a week long fast, drinking only a concoction of water, honey, lemon juice, and ground red pepper. With a couple weeks off from work and not much to do around town, I decided it might be a good time to try fasting and see if it brought the cleansing results that others have described. At the start of the fast, I enjoyed the drink, but one might imagine how a diet consisting only of the aforementioned ingredients could become tedious. Surprisingly, the fasting was not difficult from a hunger standpoint. Instead, one of the more difficult aspects of fasting dealt with culture.
Thai people are friendly. When you go to a Thai person’s home, you will almost always receive glass of water, even if you say you’re not thirsty. You will likely be treated to a khanom, a Thai snack or dessert. As is often the case across cultural lines, eating carries a weighty significance in relating to people. If you are offered food, it’s usually best to eat it and make them happy. Due to a reluctance to offend my Thai friends, the first two days of my fast were not in strict adherence to the term. People put food in front of me. I ate.
Explaining my fasting would have undoubtedly been a challenge to my language abilities, and should I succeed in communicating what I was doing, there was little likelihood that these people would comprehend why I was choosing not to eat. I did not eat much, maybe a little fruit or some crackers. But, as I understand it, in order to reap the benefits of fasting, one should more or less shut down the digestive process. Maintaining my capitulation to cultural pressure concerning snack consumption would prevent me from experiencing my fast as I had hoped, so I needed to think of a way to explain my fasting to the Thai folk. I decided that the best way to do so would be to invent a holiday, so I did: Solstice Fast.
Solstice Fast takes place twice a year, during the winter and summer solstices. The solstice is celebrated by fasting for a week. The fast, as explained to the Thai folk, involves eating one small meal in the morning and then abstaining from solid food for the duration of the day. Solstice Fast is not a major American holiday and is observed by only a small fraction of the population.
I refrained entirely from eating solid food, but I told them I ate food in the mornings so as to abate any concerns for my health. I did not feel great about misrepresenting American culture, especially given my role as a small-scale cultural ambassador, but I hedged my guilt with the belief that there must be some people in America who celebrate something resembling Solstice Fast. Right?
The invention of Solstice Fast certainly saved me a number of protracted explanations as to why I was not eating for a week. My Thai friends and co-workers were understanding when I told them I was not eating in observance of an American holiday. For those who wanted to know about the holiday, I explained Solstice Fast and told them that I was observing it in October because I had free time and the month marked the turn of the cold season in Thailand. Only in a few cases did questions require me to go into further false detail, and those dubious explanations induced increased guilt surrounding my ruse.
After four or five days of my fast, I grew weary of my lack of energy and the resulting limits of my activities, so I decided to give up my fast. Bid term afforded me an abundance of free time during the day, but my depleted energy kept me from making the most of it. Finishing my fast early created an interesting problem for me: my Thai friends still thought I had a few days left to go before I could start eating normally again. So for the last days of Solstice Fast, I was forced to eat clandestinely in the confines of my house.
The weekend following Solstice Fast, I was invited to spend the weekend at my Pee Tay’s house (her name is pronounced ‘Die’, but she spells it this way). Pee Tay lives near the city of Chiang Rai, and her village was having a festival that Saturday. Here is a brief chronology:
Monks showed up. People prayed. Monks left. People drank beer. Music was played at an inappropriate volume. The old ladies got drunk. The old ladies danced. The old ladies went to bed. The music continued to play at an inappropriate volume. Everyone else got drunk. Everyone else danced. Some people did not go to bed.
On Sunday I met up with my Peace Corps language teacher, Uxica (Laser Eyes). Uxica is a photographer and was in Chiang Rai taking photos for a Thai travel magazine. It was good to see her and tag along with her for the day. We visited a museum featuring Lanna (Northern Thai) culture.
On Tuesday of the following week, the schools re-opened and my schedule became busy once again. The blur of the workweek set in. I now forget details.
I went to Chiang Mai one weekend to get some pictures developed.
I travelled to Bangkok to see the doctor. Diagnosis: filiculitis. Jordan’s diagnosis: Dengue Fever.
(Please don’t ask me why filiculitis is not capitalized but Dengue Fever is. It just works that way.)
Yes, my friend Jordan came down with Dengue while I was in Bangkok. This occurrence turned out to be less than pleasant for her, but fortunately I was able to make the most of it. Apparently, when one has Dengue, food is not too appealing. Despite her limited appetite, Jordan continued to receive surprisingly good hospital meals, which I in turn ate. Thank you, Jordan. Thank you, Dengue.
At the time of this writing, I am in Bangkok again for the weekend and from here head to Khorat for an HIV/AIDS Conference hosted by Peace Corps. On Saturday, we celebrated Thanksgiving at our Country Director’s home. The food was great. Of particular note was the pumpkin cheesecake made by some of the volunteers. Saturday night was spent with Merissa, wandering and pushing our way through Klong Thom Market in Chinatown. This market was a pleasant break from the monotony of tourist trap markets to which I have become accustomed. Klong Thom is basically a flea market that winds its way through the alleys and sidewalks of a large city block. Merissa and I spent a couple hours there and probably saw about half of the entire thing. The goods ranged from junk to beautiful antiques to bootlegged DVD’s, and perusing was as unpredictable as it was enjoyable.
I hope that all of you have had your fill of turkey sandwiches and other leftovers. It’s strange to imagine that the holiday season is upon us, but I hope it treats you well.
The coming weeks promise to be eventful, with this week being spent in Khorat, Josh and Ryan coming for a weekend of fun in Chiang Rai, and plans to meet up with Eli and his family in Laos. I’ll keep you informed.
P.S. - My previous request for mac and cheese has been fulfilled due primarily to Shawn’s comically generous contribution of 15 boxes. Thank you, Shawn!
