A Mini Concert

This past Wednesday,the Healing Family Foundation, where I volunteer, had a mini concert. The morning was spent preparing. We had dress rehearsal, and then a few of us (volunteers and artists) walked to a house down the street (that belonged to the uncle of one of the artists, also a performer in the concert) to get sound equipment.
After lunch, we got the artists ready for the show. We helped them with their hair and makeup.. and costumes in some cases.







We set up the room and waited for guests to arrive.





The concert started with introductions by the MCs for the day and then two dance numbers--the Wondergirls and the Wonderboys. For the past several weeks, each group had prepared a dance to perform for the concert. The first was to the popular song "Nobody", and the second was to "I See You". Several of the artists did their own dances--based on traditional Thai dances that they either saw on tv or live and then taught themselves.

Near the middle of the concert, some of the workers (not artists, but people with physical disabilities who also work at the foundation) joined with some of the artists to perform a lipsynch act. The act was about someone being invited for dinner--or not really. When the man who was invited to eat tried to eat, the bowl was always taken from him and excuses were given. There was not enough food for everyone. The dog had to be fed! At the end, though, the man finally gets to eat his fill, and he finishes the skit with a satisfied burp.

The second half of the concert was musical performances. There were several singers. Artists and volunteers (some from the audience that day) sang along with a guitarist. A man performed on harmonica, and then another volunteer and I performed. I played a flute, and she played keyboard. Then the concert was over, and as a conclusion, we all danced together.

Observation Exercise--Youth Hostel/Orphanage

On Valentines Day, several of the Thai Studies students, as well as several other Payap students, took a trip to a hostel/orphanage for children in Chiang Mai. I thought this was a very interesting place to observe, especially because it is a Christian organization.

We left Payap around 8 in the morning. Although there were several cute little dogs running around, just like most places we have visited, I think the first main difference I noticed when we arrived at the building was that instead of pictures of the King, which are prominently displayed all over the city, or pictures of Buddha, which we have seen very regularly at temples, there was a large picture of Jesus above our heads. This was a bit of a shock to me, but what was more of a shock was when we then were lead to sing a song about how Jesus loves us. I don't have a problem with people praising who they worship, but since I am Jewish, it would have been nice to know that religion would be strongly involved in our activities before I arrived. I thought the difference in religion also seemed obvious by the fact that the man who ran the hostel had both a "Christian" name and a Thai name.



Anyway, we sang a few songs, incorporating hand gestures along with the singing to get everyone involved and to mix the kids with the college students. The kids then sang a song to welcome us, and we played games.







First, we sat in circles of about 8. On the count of one, everyone touched his or her own ear. On two, everyone touched the ear of the person to the right of him or herself. On three, everyone threw his or her hand into the middle of the circle. The person whose hand ended up on top lost. He or she had to move to a different circle. Every time people moved, we all introduced ourselves to each other. We also played duck duck goose. Although it seemed rather dangerous to be playing on a concrete floor in a gigantic circle with several geese rather than just one, it was a fun experience. I couldn't help but wonder, though, if the Thai students were bothered at all when some of the geese would tap their heads rather than their shoulders. Back in the states, I would never question messing someone's hair or tapping a friend on the head, but on one of the first days here, we were warned that touching the head was considered disrespectful, so I couldn't help but wonder if it was upsetting people during the game.
After games, we painted plants with the kids. This was fun, and some of the kids were amazing artists. Several asked how to spell "Jesus" so they could paint it on to their plants, like "Jesus loves you".



After painting, the kids went to change. The older kids put on traditional clothing and performed two dances for us. The dances seemed a bit challenging--especially the second, where the boys and girls would clap their feet together.





Before we ate lunch, we each gave one kid a gift (somewhat in the spirit of Valentines). We had pulled names earlier in the week to find out the gender and age of the kid we would get a gift for, and we were told to be somewhat practical about the gifts. I got the girl whose name I pulled several notebooks, pens and pencils, and a tin of cookies (it was Valentines, I had to put in some sort of treat!). Most of the gifts were similar--some were backpacks or shirts. Then, after lunch, we had a bit of time to tour their home and say goodbye.

The building they live in is split in half by gender. Their bedrooms and showers are upstairs. We did not see what was inside downstairs, although I have a feeling that it was probably where they have class or church. They also have a little living room area on each side upstairs. It was a nice arrangement, though it is sad to think that so many children must live just together and not with their families. I'm sure it must be extremely difficult.

Observation Exercise--Mae Chaem

Around meal time (breakfast and dinner) each day during our stay in Mae Chaem, Laura and I would sit on the porch of our house and observe our surroundings. On Saturday morning, the activities were especially interesting.



Our Ma would sit with us while we ate, and she would ask us questions. Generally, the conversation consisted of questions like, "Are you cold?" and "Do you like the food?", though on occasion she would try to talk to us about something else. On this morning, Laura had gone back inside for a moment, and our Ma was trying to talk to me about the stay. I was having a very difficult time understanding her. As had happened several other times during the stay, though, another woman who lived in another part of the house came over to help. This woman (maybe 10 years younger than my Ma) repeated my Ma's question, and I could understand what she said. I think our Ma must have a very strong accent because we could always understand what was being said after someone else repeated it but not when she said it.

The woman who had helped me understand my Ma sat down with us. She pointed to my leg and said "white", then she pointed to herself and said "dark". This was the second time this had happened during our trip. A few nights before, Laura and I sat inside the house with our Ma and sister and watched a Thai soap opera. Just as I had been thinking about how "white" the Thai people in the show looked, our Ma pointed to Laura's arm and said "white" and then pointed to her own skin and said "dark" (in Thai, of course). I found it strange that there was such an emphasis on our having white skin and not on us looking different in other ways.

On occasion, our host sister sat with us while we ate. Our Ma would have her serve us our rice, and sometimes she would make our sister eat a bit of food, but she never ate nearly the same portion that we were given.

As usual, we saw our Pa for about.. 10 minutes. He never spoke to us other than an introduction on the day we arrived. He would sit in front of the kitchen and sip coffee in the morning, and we would not see him again until the next morning. Apparently both of our parents worked on a farm, though our Ma seemed to be around the house all of the time--this could still make sense as there were roosters and chickens all over the yard that needed tending to. She also is a weaver--making skirts in her spare time. She told us the skirts cost about 1000 baht each.



A couple of boys who lived in the neighborhood would be around the porch while we were eating breakfast. On Saturday morning, though, they were chasing roosters. After watching them chase around roosters for about 10 minutes, I finally saw them catch one. One of the boys held the rooster and pet it for a while while the other boy ran around chasing another. Once both boys had roosters, it was time for them to fight. We watched as the boys shoved the roosters toward each other, forcing them to kick at each other. They had been very calm animals, and it did not seem as though they wanted to be attacking each other, but after some coaxing, the birds attacked each other, and the boys immediately separated them and locked one away. The boys walked around with the rooster that was not locked up, and they then found another rooster to carry around as well, but it seemed that the fighting was done, at least for the time being.



It was then time to go to the temple and head back to Chiang Mai. We grabbed our bags from our room (which our Ma then took from us to carry to the temple), and headed across the street. As we were leaving our little neighborhood, our Ma grabbed the hand of a little girl (I'm not sure I'd ever seen her before) and took her with us to the temple. She even posed in a picture with our Ma and us. We never had an explanation of how she knew the family, but I thought it was a good example of how close the community is. There always seemed to be people coming and going from the house, and we could never tell if they were occupants of the house or friends or relatives.