I can’t believe it, but yes, I deleted a whole day of pictures……a traveling mishap of the worst kind…..good thing it wasn’t the whole Thailand trip! Nee offered to take us around to relive the lost day, but I knew the kids would never agree to repeat our travels and stage our photo shoots…..Pictures lost, but not the memories.
We had pictures of the following highlights, that I can not replicate:
· Picking out fabric for Zach’s first suit
· Silk making at local village
· Dying of silk thread
· The tiniest kitten in the world
· Thai Thai climbing in the doorway
· Tin Tin doing the splits
Regardless of loosing the pictures, it was fun being introduced to Surin by Cookie and her mom. They are great at making things happen and planning all the arrangements that make traveling so challenging for a visitor.
We all drove to this place in the countryside where they produce some of the nicest silk in the world. Nice enough to supply Bill Gates and his new home on Lake Washington. Here, they but the silk thread from local village people. They dye it in big boiling pots, using different natural vegetation for color source. They have large covered floors where women work eight hours a day passing thread through the loom to make a pattern. In eight hours, they produce a few inches of silk fabric. Nee had the boys each pick out a tie and Molly and I picked out a scarf. We will enjoy these gifts from Surin.
The country roads are so fun to drive around on. You can see how other families live and the feel the flavor of the culture. Dogs wander around, lay in the streets, under cars, in the shade…..chickens graze freely on whatever is near and occasionally dart across the roads with their babies. Once in awhile, you can spot an elephant in a field, a local man transporting some pile of something on their very small motorbike, truckloads of Buddhist monks, water buffalo and strange, long eared cow are everywhere, sometimes coming up out of a ditch. Temples too, lots of temples.
The Thais drive crazy, a t least by my standards. First, they are on the WRONG side of the road. Second, dividing lines mean nothing. If there is room to pass between oncoming traffic, it is done. Mopeds, tuk tuks and walkers often line the sides of the roads. There is a lot of honking going on. The honking here is more a quick warning than a byproduct of a short temper. I was shocked at Cookie’s aggressive behavior on the roads, as her personality is so calm and patient.
Nee likes to cook and is an expert at it. Extended family tend to drop by around the dinner hour. For dinner we had curries, rice, stir fries and fruit. We drink fruit juices, coconut milk (if you want) and lots of water. Nobody in the family drinks alcohol, coffee or soda. We Americans have a lot of vices.
