I got back last night from my four day stay in a Lahu village in Northern Thailand. I was really excited to get away from the schoolwork, but I had no idea what I was about to encounter. First off, we arrived and immediately got placed in homestay families. We were in groups of two, so it really wasn't very intimidating, although we couldn't communicate at all with our family because they speak Lahu, not Thai. Our house was very humble but our host family gave us everything we needed and more, constantly watching for opportunities to give to us. The bathroom situation was...very different. There were squatty potties...but wait, it gets better: the "shower" consisted of a bucket of cold water that you poured over your head while squatting down to make sure that no one from outside could see you through the 4 inch crack inbetween the ceiling and the wall (Thai people are much shorter). To make it even better: all of this was done by light of a candle. Needless to say, I only took one shower while I was there.
The first full day that we were there, Friday, was spent planting banana trees at the top of a mountain near their water system. Apparently banana trees produce water, so by planting them at the top of the mountain, it will ensure that the village never runs out of water. While we were hiking through the jungle on our way to plant said banana trees we decided to also try out some grub. So yes - I have eaten live maggots. Two maggots, actually. They're rather tasty, although a little more tasty when they're fried. (side note: so far I've eaten live maggots, fried maggots, fried crickets, and fried worms.)
After our hike we went back to our homes, ate dinner that they prepared for us, and began the nightly festivities: playing with/fending off the hoards of village children. We learned that tickling breaks all language barriers and creates instant connections. Friday night was especially horrifying for some of us: I'm pretty sure the kids got together beforehand and came up with this plan, because it was brilliant. They would ALL (and by "all" i mean at least 20) swarm one person, climb on them, tackle them to the ground, tickle them incessantly, until someone took pity on them and tried to rescue them. Then all the children would immediately leave their victim and turn on the bleeding heart and carry on the same punishment out on them. This pattern ensued for some time. I'm not sure when it ended because I was hiding in the outhouse. No, just kidding...
On Saturday we spent the day at the orphanage farther up the mountain. There are about 50 kids at the orphanage, some of whose parents are still living but cannot afford to keep them. We all split up and did different things: some painted nails, others played ball, and still others painted faces (me). This is the place where we handed out the toys/toothbrushes/coloring books/gloves, etc that we brought for them. Thank you to everyone who donated gloves for me to bring - believe me, they're going to good use. It is absolutely freezing up there at night! After we played for a while we all went inside and had a "song exchange." The kids sat on one side of the room and we sat on the other, and we performed songs for eachother. They had intricate songs and dances planned for us, and we sang songs like "Father Abraham," which they actually loved and made us do a second time. Ajaan Mike also presented the orphanage with a sizable sum of money that will provide lunch for evey child for the next year. In past years they have not had the funds to feed the children 3 meals every day so they only have breakfast and dinner, but now they will have lunch as well!
Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend. Ajaan Ann's birthday is coming up so they had a huge surprise birthday celebration for her. They had us all sit in a circle around a huge bonfire while the men and women of the village came out in a line dressed in their traditional Lahu outfits, playing weird instruments and doing their tribal dances. They even presented Ajaan Ann with what we think was a rice cake (more to come on that subject). They presented each of us with a handmade Lahu bag, which is sooo neat! And they made us get up and they taught us some of their dances. This was the point at which I realized that my pictures that I took that night belonged on the front page of National Geographic magazine.
Oh, and the rice cakes: The Lahus have a saying that if you can make pretty rice cakes, you will also make pretty children. So we decided to have some fun with that. The women of the village helped us make the rice cake dough (as in: they made it and we pretended to help but really got in the way) and we had a contest to see who could make the perfect rice cake. They end up looking like pinkish brown hamburger patties so none of them looked especially beautiful, but they were delicious!
Sunday was a very interesting day - we were asked to pray over a girl from the village who was very sick. She's 18 years old and was training as a nurse when she was diagnosed with a blood disease. The doctors said that she couldn't be cured, so they sent her back to the village to die. We met her and prayed over her, and the whole situation hit me really hard. I think it's because if she were in America, she would be given every available treatment to help her, but here that's not even an option. There is no hope for a cure through medicine - only through God. If you've taken the time to read this, I also ask you to please pray for her and her mother. As I hear more about her condition I will put it on the blog.
Also on Sunday morning we ate our rice cakes with breakfast, and had a processing group where we talked through some of the things that happened that weekend. The major thing that struck everyone was the idea of hospitality. The villagers said over and over to us that they had nothing to thank us with for coming and helping them with their water project. But they did so much for us: opened their homes, cooked for us, made us individual handmade bags, and let us in on some of their awesome traditions. And let's be serious: they could have planted those banana trees in half the time that it took us silly Americans. They were so grateful to us and looked for any opportunity to serve us, when in reality we didn't do anything to deserve it. My friend Tiffany described the weekend as a good slap in the face from God - showing us what we ought be like.