Buddhist Temple, Kuraburi - July 15-16

I am really late with this post, but my time was up and I had to travel and meet Dave. Then we have been nonstop ever since. But... backtracking a bit... Thursday and Friday were spent at the Buddhist temple.

I have had such good fortune in my experiences. The temple only hosts students for a three-day camp where the high schoolers receive formal Buddhism training and I was there to see it! Not much work today; I had some more roof tiles in the morning, but then just sat in on the teachings the rest of the day. It was so interesting. The monks teach the kids how to sit and stand (different for boys and girls), say thank you, greet monks properly in passing, pray properly, and lots more. They teach serious stuff using humor and do really well at keeping the students’ attention engaged. This monk and the abbot are very charismatic and very good public speakers. I could tell by the student's and Tui's reactions. I was enthralled and I couldn’t even understand the language. However, there was a lot of demonstrating, so I could grasp the meaning through context. I also had Tui with me to translate when I wasn’t wandering and taking photos.

I am so pleased with this trip. What a great learning opportunity it has been. I have done and seen so many things in four quick weeks. I have seen more of the Thai culture than most would in a year! I have been invited back by so many of the villagers. It is truly heart-warming. Every time I walk down the street in Kuraburi now, there is at least one person who greets me (usually more, though). Even our landlady who never spoke to any of us in the beginning greets me every day now with a smile and “Sa wat dee ka.” I still have not learned much Thai, but I am trying to learn some important basics. It will help Dave and I out a lot during our trip, especially how to order food.

I think I have taken around 3,000 photos! How can I possibly pick out only 30 or so to put in a photo album on FB? I think I can pick a few favorites to print in a large format to decorate our walls. I want the best quality and most dramatic for those.

Thursday and Friday were spent at the temple. The kids were learning how to be good people, how to change for the better, how to attract the right kind of person, and how to make good decisions. They learned that parents have three levels of sadness: one to never be able to have kids, two to lose a child, and three to have a bad child that chooses the wrong path in life. The latter, the kids were told, causes parents to be sad for their entire life. How to attract the right kind of person requires you to take a look at yourself. A jealous shrew is not attractive. Change the flaws in your personality and be concerned with your hygiene and presentation. Then when you do attract the person you want, you may find that they were not the right person if you had to change for them. Who liked you before you changed? Such teachings were done with movies and cartoons that were entertaining and made light of the situations. Since I couldn’t understand and Tui could only translate so much, I am sure I missed a lot. This picture is how to properly 'wai' a monk when you pass one.

On Friday Andrew and I had to speak in front of the school group. The monks asked us questions and some really put us on the spot – like what Andrew thought of Thai women and what I thought of Thai men. One flamboyant boy asked what Americans thought of transvestites or lady boys. So I told about whole communities of gay people in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans… Andrew was asked if he had a girlfriend. All the girls giggled every time he spoke. He is only two years older than some of the kids.

Friday night, we had a going away dinner for Andrew, Alison, and I. Friday was Alison’s last day, too. She volunteered at the Thai primary school in Kuraburi. I barely saw he before her two weeks were already up. The dinner was a potluck at Bodhi’s house and I think it went really well. Afterwards we went to the bar and had a few more beers and Bodhi and Lucy (volunteer at the Burmese Learning Center from UK) got up and sang and played for us. It was a lot of fun and a nice send off.