Thursday April 25th

We woke up at 5:30 this morning got ready to go to the funeral for her son's wife's brother. I got dressed nice and even put long pants on. First time since I have been here. Ate a quick bowl of cereal at the restaurant and got ready to go when Phai's daughter came over from the house and said the funeral is tomorrow, not today. Oh well, I get to do it again tomorrow.

Yesterday about 8:00 pm it suddenly got very windy. Then the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees and just a few minutes later the rain started. I don't know if you have ever been in a building with nothing but a tin roof between you and a torrential downpour but I can tell you it is very loud. As soon as the winds started we grabbed anything that was loose and and put it inside. The bikes and motorcycle were quickly moved into the restaurant. Finally about 9:30 we took a couple of umbrellas and went over to the house for the night. Of course with all the low hanging stuff my umbrella got in a fight with a wire overhead and got pulled apart. When I fell asleep about 10 pm it was still pouring. 

Okay, this morning you would hardly know it had rained. No standing water anywhere. Seems to drain very fast. I am anxious to see if there is any rise in the river at my farm. 

I am trying a new experiment today and updating the blog as the day progresses. Normally I wait until the evening and type everything in. This might give you a better feel for what a typical day is like for (if there is such a thing). For example, I could hear Phai pounding something behind the restaurant so I went to take a look. She was cutting some bamboo into thin stops about 12" long and said that yesterday the monk told her to make a special offering to Buddha to help protect her 13 year granddaughter from whatever bad luck he claims is headed her way. It is really unbelievable how much superstition is mixed in with the Buddhism here. They strongly believe in ghosts and in fact when all the dogs start howling at night the villagers believe the dogs are seeing a ghost move through the village. This is a nightly occurrence and often several times a night. I am so used to it I don;t even hear them anymore. Kind of like living close a railroad track and getting used to the sounds of the trains. I could write a whole section on Thai superstitions. If fact I think I will over the coming days.

This morning a truck loaded with plastic goods stopped in front of the restaurant and Phai and Ning went out to shop. We bought a vary large "bucket to take to the farm to fill with water from the well for showers and Ning bought two storage racks. It was fun watching the guy demo the goods by stomping on one of the plastic wash basins and then having it go right back into shape. This is true "Home Shopping". Phai explained this is a quality company on par with "Tupperware" back home. She showed me that you cannot trust the paper labels on the items but must look for the image of a Cobra Snake imbedded in the plastic.

As I was typing this the reclining chair I was sitting in collapsed. I fell backward but had a pillow under my head so I was okay with the exception my chin broke the fall of my MacBook Pro. Better a little pain for my chin than to have my computer hit the hard floor. Sometimes products in Thailand are cheaper for a reason. They fall apart. 

It is an interesting day and it is only noon. I had breakfast at 6 am, lunch at 10 am and now it is noon and I am getting hungry again. Probably about time for a bowl of Ning's Thai Soup. It is kind of nice basically living in a restaurant because I will never starve. However I think after 5 months of eating soup at least once a day I may be ready for something else. The nearest McDonalds is 1½ hours from here by car so I will have to wait. 

Well, Phai has cleared the trip to Bangkok with the Monk. She had to do a few offerings to Buddha to override the potential bad luck for her granddaughter so we are all set. Tomorrow I will book a hotel in Bangkok. I looked today and rates are definitely higher than 5 years ago but still a bargain compared to anywhere in the States. Ning has gone to the market on her motorcycle to buy supplies (fresh veggies, noodles, etc.) which she does each evening. Last night she brought me back chicken to eat and tonight will be Pad Thai. 

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Hard for me to resist photographing her

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Phai and check out the merchandise. Nice to shop in your own front yard.

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This tractor pulling the farm workers stops to get some food.
The workers in the truck check out the Falang (foreigner). 

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