Thailand Customs!

Greetings!!




It is evening and I am sitting in the main office (well, it's the only office) here at Wildflower. This is not a very common thing, as the office shuts down before 7 o'clock, but Elizabeth and Michael's (they are the founders of Wildflower and live on the property) children have homework to do on the internet, so it's still open--yay, lucky for me! Today, like every day, has been very full. Here are a few pictures of Wildflower property so that you can see where I live:

 My house that I share with Andre and Phu--the stairs on the right are the ones that lead to my room! The above rice field is to the right of my house and my window looks out to it :)The view from the second story balcony overlooking the ponds and the garden

Funny story about the children. They love to play in the sand and are always preparing some kind of meal with the various sand toys. Today was no different. I walked up to the 5 year old girl and the 3 year old boy (who wants to be a policeman) and asked them what they were making for me. Well, the little boy, in full policeman regalia (aka, with a stick in his pants--his "gun"--and a funny hat on his head made from what looks like an old plastic watering can) looks up at me as says: "Pizza!" This answer, while it may seem strange to you, is very common for these children. For some reason, this is their favorite and ONLY answer to the meal question. I'm not sure who told them what pizza is (I know for a fact that he hasn't eaten it before because his favorite ingredient to add to his pizza creation is "strawberry!"), but whoever did had no idea, I'm sure, how deeply it would leave its mark on these children!!

Okay, one more funny story before I brief you on Thai customs. The three year old boy (I'm sorry I don't put their names, but I am not allowed to put their names on the internet--I'll be sure and tell y'all when I get back) came up to me while I was swinging, promptly pointed his "gun" at me, and said, quite forcefully, "BOOM!"

"Ah, why did you shoot me?!" I replied to this assault. And with that same serious face that only he seems to have, he said: "I policeman." Now, he said this in a way that was like, "duh, I'm a policeman and that's what we do." I am officially scared for the Thai people once this little boy becomes a policeman... (not to mention that he also "slit" my throat several times that day with the exact same reply)

Now, Thai customs!! To understand the Thai people, it is very important to understand how they view the body. The head is the most sacred part of their body, and likewise, the feet are considered dirty and very common. So, before entering someone's house, you take off your shoes. It is less about cleanliness (what I thought before coming here) than it is about it being VERY rude to have shoes on indoors. That being said, you do not cross your legs because doing so could cause your foot to "point" at someone, which is considered very rude also. You do not step over people either. Basically, keep your feet on the ground at all times. So, feet: bad, head: good. NEVER touch another person's head. Period.

The Thai people are extremely polite. You never want anyone to lose face, or embarrass themselves in any way--hence the smiling. Thailand is known as the land of smiles. You smile at someone to let them know that everything is okay--"Mai pen rie" (not spelled correctly, of course) a very common statement here that means "no problem"--you use it to say thank you, but also as a way to shrug something off, make it no big deal--let's all just move on and pretend nothing happened.

Well, that's all for now!! I hope everyone is doing well and I miss y'all so much!