5.1.08 - Thursday - Chiang Mai

Today was great. I am getting familiar with the lay of the land and getting better at the two-seater bike with Michelle. This morning I woke up from a dream about an old music teacher named Dr. P, Ryan, and Nerdrum. I’ve been dreaming a lot lately – I guess that’s pretty normal when in a new place. For breakfast I ate a mangosteen, the second to last piece of rye bread, and a couple Pringles - and then got to work preparing for drawing classes.

Monday I had the kids draw their Thai names into the drawing pads we hauled over from the Hiawatha Target. (I’ll be glad not to travel with those anymore!). After they thoroughly decorated that page, I had each class draw a friend. Yesterday I had the kids draw animals. I made 4-step instructions, starting with a circle or square and ending with a dog, butterfly, lizard, elephant, etc. – making sure they look somewhat Thai and not so American or African.

That worked pretty well, so today I had them draw cartoons. They included Mickey, Nemo, Pikachu, Batman and this funny character named Ultraman. This little dude was the print on the curtains of our Ton Sai bungalow – which were, no doubt, cut from kids’ bed sheets. I had never heard of him, but the kids knew him. And he only consisted of a few ovals, so he was easy to draw. The final image and the four steps below it were drawn on flimsy graph paper. I was pretty worried that the kids would tear them to shreds, the way any rowdy 10 year-old might handle something, but I was lucky to remember the clear plastic sheets that Michelle and I kept our important documents in. 10 sheets… perfect! I’ll reorganize those documents later.

It was pretty interesting seeing the different ways the kids handled the assignment. Some traced the final image into their drawing pads, some asked for help, and some plugged away through every step. Some smiled when I congratulated them and some played too cool (or didn’t understand me!) Some drew all 10 of the cartoons and some only a couple.



During the second half of each class, while the rest of the kids continue with the “lesson”, I draw a couple of the kids’ portraits. The kids are surprisingly patient for this and sit quite still. By now I’ve noticed some pretty characteristically Thai features, which makes it easier to complete the portraits in time. But one of the greatest things for me, is realizing that I see the kids so much differently after having completed their portraits. What was once (three days ago) a sea of (ok maybe getting politically incorrect) identical, storyless, little Thai kids, is now a group of fantastically unique children. I guess this might happen with any stranger you stare at for 20 minutes. Come to think of it, I recommend anyone give that a try (at their own risk, I suppose).



After class I hung out with some younger boys. Some were eating a snack of rambutans. It was amazing how fast they peeled and ate those spiny and pity things. After we played this game with little plastic chains – it was like jax. Then we did piggyback rides for a while.

After Michelle and I finished our 25 minute bike ride to the apartment and took a shower, we walked over to the neighborhood restaurant. Yesterday I had a great coconut cream red curry there and Michelle had Pud Thai. Today Michelle had green curry spaghetti (pronounced by the server as “sa-pa-ge-he-ti”) and I ordered a soup with vegetables. I didn’t recognize most of the veggies, but I noticed it had “green peppers”. Well, they weren’t American “green peppers” and it took about 40 minutes and an extra “bea leo” (beer) to finish it – it was so spicy.

After dinner we biked to the Supermarket about a mile or two away to get candy and breakfast. Michelle stayed with the bike outside because we had been told of a lot of bike theft. I think Michelle mostly wanted to stay outside to continue watching a most bizarre scene of about fifteen adults JAZZERCIZING in the parking lot! So, I went in to get the goods. First was some more rambutans, but then I spotted a big dragonfruit; next an Apple that was at least twice the size of a big Cub apple. I got some funny Thai candy all for about 50 cents- Yupi gummies, green tea flavored hard candy, and coffee candy. It’s almost impossible to find any real coffee here and I was craving the taste. When I got to the register, the woman rang everything up accept the produce. She gave me a frustrated laugh and pointed towards the produce. My confusion eventually turned into realization that there is a separate person for pricing produce! So there and back again I went, before I could finish my purchase.

Across from the grocery store was a little movie rental place. I wasn’t sure if last week’s Lost had finished loading (even after 44 hours!) so I bought a (no doubt) ripped Thai version of Balls of Fury for 45 baht (about $1.36) in the discount bin. Hey, there’s only so much reading a guy can do before he needs to experience some REAL literature!! And Christopher Walken is one of the greatest actors of our time – so what the heck.
Well, we got home to find that after 54 hours, the “little engine that could” - wireless connection we found, successfully downloaded the “Lost” episode.

After watching that brilliant masterpiece of a show, Michelle fell asleep and I decided to write a blog entry. Now I’m beginning to think of tomorrow’s class. What should I have the kid’s draw? More cartoons? I think I might have them draw each other again, but this time, without looking down at their paper. That should provide some laughs. I wonder if I can communicate the idea to the kids?

It’s about 1am, so my thoughts are becoming more weighty. I wonder about how to interact with the children. I wonder how much steering and “correcting” is helpful for them. While anytime I teach kids there are showers of praise – I wonder if here, I should limit my actions to that. It’s hard to try to think long term with these kids. Most of them look quite healthy, but every 5 minutes or so the phrase “these kids have HIV” races through my mind.

For years this orphanage could see 2-3 deaths in a week. Then in 2004 the Thai government released an almost magic potion called AIV. Before this, 5 years was considered old – now they have a 16 year old. These kids take the vaccine twice a day – 7am and 7pm. Any missed doses could prove to be detrimental, as the virus would overcome. The three hard working nurses have done a brilliant job keeping everyone vaccinated, but they are concerned. For in two years the kids will become adults and they will not be forced to live there any longer. One of the most important missions of the orphanage is to engrain in the kids’ minds and muscle memory the importance of this vaccination. While the thought of the kids turning 18 is a great worry of many, it is also an extraordinary dream.

A couple days ago one of the founders was recalling the time before 2004, “it was an incredible way to live – a funeral in the morning and a birthday party in the afternoon”. I could tell she had said that phrase a thousand times before to other family, friends, and volunteers, but it was still poignant.

So I wonder. Without many thoughts that I can write – I wonder about teaching and training, and helping and loving these children.



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Well, those last few paragraphs took a half an hour to write – so I guess I’m slowing down. Maybe time to go to bed. All the best to anyone reading, and we’d love to hear from you. Talk to you soon.

Luke