The following photos were taken by Bennett Haynes.

Savanah~

The Surin homestay was amazing. I learned so much about the people and the culture. The first night I arrived was really dark and I couldnt really see much but it was like camping out in a cool-ass fort on stilts. The next morning my “mae” (mom) was up at the crack of dawn cooking breakfast. Lunch and dinner was rice and eggs, veggies, and hot chili fish sauce. At first I got tired of having the same thing every day. But as soon as my mae found out through awkward conversation that I liked fried eggs she made them all the time, and I still love them. I ate 7 eggs a day! The reason that the meals were kind of plain is because my family and most of the community are self-sustainable farmers; they grow what they eat and they eat what they grow. It is amazing to learn and be a part of that.

I will never forget the bucket showers. The first bucket of water is always the coldest everytime. From the moment you get up until you fall asleep wet from bucket showers, even in front of a fan you sweat. I grew really close with my family. The whole family was my mae, “paw” (dad), and my little sister, Gem. They are such peaceful people and work so hard. Paw mostly stayed in the field and brought the cows out to eat before he left for the fields. Mae cooked, as well as my sister, and fed the ducks, chickens, dogs, cat, and now, one pig. We used to have two pigs but they needed the other one two kill and sell at the market for extra money. We ate dinner all together and shared great stories through a non-scripted sharades style. They thought it was hilarious that i was terrified of the abnormally huge spiders and laughed every time I screamed, which was funny and I had to start laughing because it’s contageous. I made sounds of every animal I could and they loved it, which in turn they taught me how to say in Thai. Their favorite story was how I got head-butted by a cow.

My family worked so hard to keep everything going smoothly on the farm and were so caring. It was by far the most I have ever learned in such a short amount of time. At times, communication was a challenge, but paper and pencils never cease to amaze me! We grew so close together so fast. We would all stay up and sit together watching the famous Thai soap operas using Q-tips that I brought from home. Funny.

The whole community is unbelievable; so warm and caring and loving. I would not want to go through life not being able to experience this.

Nemo~

When our homestays were picked and we spent the night getting to know our families, I felt a little overwhelmed. Suddenly I was just surrounded by people that I didn’t know. In fact, I was actually a little scared. But as they talked to me, I clamed down and was able to get used to it. That helped me alot with future experiences with families. One of the things next year’s group must see is the Surin village homestay which i thought was completely awesome. Unlike all of the other homestays, this was for two weeks and you experience the reallife of Thai families. You experience so many things that you honestly can get a little overloaded, but it is a good feeling and not a bad one. The warmth and community that I felt in the village was nothing like I ever expereinced before and it literally changes you and makes you want to change yourself more. Also, the friends and family that you make while you are there lasts forever. You’ll miss them until you ever get a chance to see them again. I know that I will miss my family alot and especially miss my cousin, Game. Me and him got along right fromthe very start until the end. I’ll miss him the most.

Jo Jo~

But honestly, I can remember the first day I saw my family around 7:30 or 8:30 pm. It was really really dark, but I see a small cute house with one light and a group of five smiling faces sitting under cover while the rain was just pouring down. I was beat so i went to sleep, woke up and had an amazing day with the family. I can remember when we got blessed during the ceremony. All the tears shed. It was really depressing. It made you want to cry, and some did, but i just can’t. I don’t know how to cry. It’s too hard to cry when I am around alot of people, and then cry on my own, but even that didn’t happen. It came and went like passover. No harm done to the leaver, but to the leavee (if that makes sense), and I miss them and love them and always will. They are a second family in Thailand.

Laurel~

Our very last journey was our homestay in the village of Tap Thai. It is a community of fair trade rice farmers near Surin. It was pitch black as we bumped along on a windy dirt road and pulled up in front of a, barely visible, cute little house with a knee high fence. The families welcomed us with smiling faces around 10pm, which is late for a hard working farmer. They had dinner ready for us and we were very excited to get to know eachother.

The next few days were all about living the village life and adjusting to the lack of stimulation. The llifestyle was very calm and relaxed. They work hard and play hard. I grew closer to my family and connected on a deeper level with the children and elders of the community. I was amazed by the strength of the people and their strong leaders. A woman named P. Kanya was particularly inspiring for me. She is the main leader and organizes the community. I observed her as she worked all day every day to help her fellow villagers. She organized groups for the children to learn about farming and the benefits of sustainable agriculture. She met with villagers and was their for moral support. She raised chickens, cows, pigs, and grew food to benefit the community. She often donated animals to other families to sell at the market if they needed the extra money. She is a very unselfish and humble person. She is the heart of the community and is very well respected. I learned so much and am so glad to have met her.

The day we left, I sat on the concrete floor of the community center in Tap Thai (the village I stayed in near Surin) surrounded by my fellow Pangaea team mates. We gathered on P. Kanya’s land (the leader and a role model for the villagers there) to celebrate our time together before leaving. Our homestay families huddled close to us and the air grew thick with emotions. A monk sat in front of the crowd chanting to wish us luck on our journeys to come. Two flower displays and a small dish had been placed before him and we were soon sprinkled with water that felt good on my forehead. As soon as I noticed others heads bowed around me I did the same and “y’d” the monk to show appreciation. I turned and looked over at my Ma whose hand rested on my thigh. Her eyes were wells of tears and seamed to express her fear of never seeing me again. The chanting continued and no words were exchanged, but our eyes were mirrors into eachothers minds. Both of us dreaded parting, but my mind eased a little when I remembered my promise to return.

“Chop Thailand!” I told my family, whose faces turned from anxious to smiling and pleased. “Chop Thailand!” I said even louder, and we all laughed at my poor Thai accent.

Goodbye Ceremony

“You come back?” my Ma asked using the little English she knows. “You come back?” she asked again. All I could do was smile and wipe the tear from my cheak because I knew all our lives had been changed in the short time I had spent in the village.

“Yes!” I said, nodding my head. “Yes …I come to Tap Thai!”

Once the chanting died down, I found myself surrounded by all the villagers, who proceeded to tie little strings around my wrists to symbolize our connection. I was sad to be leaving, but it felt good to be taking a piece of their spirit back to Portland with me. I had grown so close to the villagers in such little time and they touched me on such a deep level that I don’t know haw to begin to express through words. I will say that I can’t even look back on my experiences in the village without tearing up. The people showed me a new lifestyle that impacted me and has already begun to change my own life and my perception of the world.

My experiences with Pangaea have truly changed my life. I gained a global perspective that I could not have gotten anywhere else. Before the program, I was not aware of many issues globally. We looked at social justice and learned how people and communities are organizing to fight for their rights. I had the chance to experience being part of a community and feeling the support of the people. I have a better sense of where my food comes from and the farming process. Not only did I gain knowledge of these issues, but I found inspiration in the trip. More than anything, the people have impacted me on a very powerful level. Living and working together with strong leaders has been an intense learning experience that I would not trade for anything. I’ve discovered a lot about myself and am thankful for the chance to experience new realities and ways of living. I am so greatful for the experience and am inspired to spend the rest of my life traveling to world. I see that there are so many people to learn from and I want to find them all.