Dean~

The next day we headed back into Tap Pai village for another three days with our families. It was a blur of working and hanging out with our families.This time they seemed a lot happier to see us. They were up waiting for us when we arrived and wanted to hear about what we did. They first asked if we were hungry and if we needed to take a shower and then they just listened and we had a language lesson that went both ways. We would point to something and we would say it in English and then they would tell us how to say it in Thai and Khmer. It was a good few days. One day we had to do a two and a half hour English lesson with students from the local school. The last night we would be staying in the village we prepared for a feast and a good-bye ceremony. I had to help in the slaughtering of the chickens and the sat up of the feast. It was a very happy and sad time in the village.

Students in Tap Tai- photo by Bennett Haynes

When it came time for the good-bye ceremony every one was there, all the families were there, my Kung Fu boys, and the elder’s. The ceremony is called a Baisri ceremony and it’s a traditional Khmer ceremony that they celebrate everytime someone close is leaving. We were in the middle with the villagers surrounding us and two wise men and the village leader in front of us behind a pair of altars and holy water. The elders started chanting and we kept our heads down with our hands like in prayer. After they were done chanting, they flicked the holy water on us while chanting a blessing of good travels, and good fortune and the connection of our spirits with the villagers. Then came the tying of the strings of our wrists furthering the connection with the village and our families. It was an emotional event our families were crying while tying the strings to our arms and saying blessings and much they would miss us. I didn’t cry, but some of the team did. I was sad especially when my Kung Fu boys tied some of the string to my arm each saying Kung Fu while they did it. The village leader started really crying when she tied one to my wrist and she grabbed me and hugged and said she didn’t want me to go. I didn’t know what to say so I just squeezed her hard when she hugged me and I told her I would be back and not to cry. My ma was crying and she gave me a big hug, my pa just pated me on the back and squeezed my arm. It was the most emotional I ever saw in the village. After the Baisri ceremony we had the feast. Then it was time to get in the van and leave. This brought more tears from the villagers, the villager leader P’ Kon Yah and her husband were saying that they didn’t want me to leave but stay and be there son in law. It was hard time for Pangaea too becuase we had to say good-bye to Ah Jah Jon. He had been on the whole trip with us, but had to go back to work with CIEE. We said our good-byes and gave him a surprise group hug. He was always there us, always had a smile on his face, was a great teacher taking his time with us and never getting upset. He was a huge part of our journey but it was time for him to get back to his life teaching students from America. I got his e-mail and he asked me ” Your coming back right?” I said “yeah, you already know.” He said ” OK when you get back I’ll show you around.” I have to admit I’m really going to miss him, but I will be back soon of enough, so I’m not that sad. When we were getting into the van I had to pry P’ Kon Yah off of me so I could close the door. As we were driving away it hit me our trip is almost over and how much I’m going to mis this village and the honorable, kind, caring people here.

………

Savanah~

Savanah in Surin

A Visit to P’Pak Poom’s Organic Farm

After just getting up from a resless night’s sleep I gathered my few things for the day and headed over to P’Kanya’s house. So here I am, making sure everything is in order, “note pad: check; video camera and extra tapes: check; regular camera: check; and most importantly, BATTERIES…OMG, i forgot the batteries!” As I am walking to the nearby store, I look off into the field (one of many) and observe a water buffalo peacefully laying in a mud puddle and wish I could so the same. So, I got the batteries and we are off. We are on our way to P’Pak Pooms farm, to learn about sustainable agriculture, free from pesticides. On the bak of a weird tractor thing all of us Pangaeans are crammed, observing all of the rice paddies and the beauty that surrounds this gorgeous place, free and far from the city life.

“Sweet! This farm looks soooo cool.” I think silently to myself as Ajaan (teacher) John and P’Pak Poom get ready to start. Ajaan John is slowly translating what P’Pak Poom is saying. We all quiet down for an interesting story. P’Pak Poom is a local here in Don Laeng Tai village [Surin Province] and he makes a living off of the land that he has. He is explaining that the key to sustainable agriculture is “to grow what you can eat and eat what you grow, and don’t waste space.” The land he has here is beautiful and totally organic. There are two rice seasons in a year and in-between these seasons he plants beans to put the nitrogen back into the soil, because rice take all of it out. Aside from the rice, he is saying that he also grows fruits and vegetables, mostly for personal use. The fruits and veggies that he doesn’t use are sold. So the concept is basically not to buy anything, mostly live off of the land.

Now we are going to get a tour of the farm. The first things I am noticing are the chickens. Everyone has chickens and they love red nail polish! We are taking a short little walk over to the beginning of the farm and P’Pak Poom points out the beans he uses and they are no ordinary beans. They are huge, man! Everyone looks so tired and hot and sweaty. We continue around some other plants and one funny looking thing is standing out. It is bright-ass green with funny leaves and he says you can only eat the shoots because the rest is gross. I really dont think that translates right. So Ajaan John curiously asks what the name of the plant is and P’Pak Poom replies and says its a “farang” plant. We continue on our journey and there are ants everywhere and I am in freaking flip flops! I am slowly walking around a few plants inspecting them for ants and P’Pak Poom says something in Thai and Ahaan John quicly translates what he says and all I hear out of the whole sentence is RED ANT’S NEST and the word EAT. So now my attention is scattered because I dont want these damn things to eat me. In Thai culture they eat the red ant’s eggs in certain dishes and its pretty sour. No Thanks! I’ll stick to the scorpions.

Up next are the not-so-famous but amazing pommegranate trees and the taste is so amazingly sweet and foreign in flavor. We are coming to the end of our little tour through the ant infested path by the trees and now are stopped at a bunch of bundles of hay. While we are here P’Pak Poom and Ajaan John are explaining how P’Pak Poom used the broadcasting method of planting rice instead of transplanting. From what I understand, broadcasting is an easier method of planting because you throw the seeds over the dirt evenly and let nature take its course.

So now its time to explore his rice paddies. While we are walking through the narrow pathway, just a foot-wide path in between the water-soaked rice, I notice the path is only getting narrower and narrower and lower to the water so much that the dirt has now turned into mud. “I can’t do this,” I say outloud, “I’m gonna loose my shoe!” P’Pk Poom, Eric, Ajaan John, Trevor, and Dean make the leap from soggie clay mud and touch down. They make it. I tried but it was unsuccessful. I lost my damn shoe. P’Pak Poom explained more about the rice and atarted to head back. I said outloud that I wanted to go another way back and there’s no way I could do that again. Ajaan John coaxed me into it though. He reached out his hand and said, “Everything’s OK, you’re gonna make it.” I proceeded to jump and crashed and burned and almost took him with me. Up to my knees in mud, I continue to fight my way out and lost my damn shoes again! Now I know why the Thai people don’t mess around, it’s too damn hot to wear shoes and you call into some weird stuff!

Once we reached back to the front of the farm and eat lunch, P’Pak Poom is starting to tell us about the effects that chemicals have on the land and on people. He says that he has used chemicals in the past for a two year period and it changed him. He says people that use chemicals get head aches and get sick more often, which in turn they get less work done. He is talking about this guy who came to his village that works with people who use chemicals and he told P’Pak Poom that he knew a guy that went crazy from using them. It started out with the guy being really jealous of his wife and getting paranoid about everything and it gradually became full-on Crazy Chicken Man. He would walk around just eating raw chickens. You know it’s bad when you can’t wait to get your hands on an unsanitary nasty raw chicken to eat for a snack. P’Pak Poom is explaining that the reason for this is because of the Green Revolution, when Western agriculture corporations promoted chemical fertilizers and pesticides and non-traditional seed varieties. The corporations said, “If you grow this you will make more profit.” So farmers DID and got deathly ill. Because they were given no limit on how much to use or protective gear to prevent illness further. This in turn depleated the soil, destroyed neighboring organic farms, and ruined lives. P’Pak Poom realized the effects that chemics have and switched back to organize growing. Now he is a grassroots leader in his community and an advocate to keep traditional culture alive, keep the lifestyle, and support a better environment. He now works with villagers to do the same and push out that kind of growing.

Then we went home to Tap Tai Village.