This past weekend I traveled to Surin Province, a small rural village in the Northeast region of Thailand. This area is known for its primitive environment, and the people, who speak a different dialect than the universally spoken "Bangkok" Thai language, are unique in lifestyle and culture. Most ostensibly, the major difference is the rural countryside these people inhabit. Surin is a village community, and the village I visited, one of the larger ones in the province, has a population of 973 people. I was invited by a family who owns and operates a small "Esan"(moniker for NE Thailand) restaurant near my apartment. These people feed me 4-5 nights a week for a very modest price, and I try to help them learn English with mundane chit chat(although I must say it is difficult to have successful small talk between people who do not speak the same language). Nevertheless, they are my friends. When they asked me to go with them to Surin, I jumped at the chance. What could be more rugged or adventurous than to travel with a Thai family to a strange place in the middle of nowhere? Answer: not many things. It was one of those trips that I thought would be good to have in the books, to talk about later on down the road when I'm back home sitting comfortably in my living room talking with family members. In other words, my chief motivation was to secure yet another story to tell. I wanted to be able to say "Yeah, I did that...I hopped in a car on Friday and took the train back on Sunday...I slept in a cottage with 7 people on the floor...I rode water buffaloes across the pond to the rice fields...I ate "Indian style" for 4 straight meals and felt bona fide...etc., etc., etc..." I did in fact do some of these things, but that is not the point. What I missed is something I often miss, as I often get caught up in the selfish thrill of an extemporaneous experience(side note: while I had 3-4 weeks notice of this trip, I tried not to think about it so that I could approach the weekend as a spur of the moment decision). One of the best mottoes in life that I fail to adhere to is to live outside yourself; that is, to consistently think of the thoughts and feelings of others around you so as to achieve a heightened sense of fulfilment and/or gratitude. I am usually so preoccupied with my own convenience and comfort that I miss the essential beauty of the experience: the people. A common theme I have written about in this blog is the kindness and generosity of the Thai people. Now, I once again return to it. The family I met and stayed with for 24 hours in Surin accepted me warmly into their home, and while we were unable to communicate verbally, there was a kindness, a feeling of love even, that I will keep with me for the rest of my life and remember always.
Sometimes I find myself most comfortable in unfamiliar environments, in places where I have never been and will most likely never return. These fleeting experiences have a certain romantic appeal. As I said, this appeal is related to a certain spirit of spontaneity, a lack of adequate planning and a complete absence of expectation. However I build it up in my mind beforehand, or even perceive the experience as it is happening, the memory takes on a life of its own. This may seem like an obscure idea, but, to me, there are three time-related aspects of experience: a) build up/expectation(or lack thereof), b) the actual experience, and c) the memory. Sometimes I cannot fully appreciate something until it has passed and all that remains are fragmented thoughts and feelings that enter my mind at random moments in my life. Although it has only been three days since I walked the dirt roads of Surin, the memory has already taken form and is getting stronger by the minute. I have had some experiences that, at the time, were profoundly distressing. But now, looking back as a different person, I cherish everything that has happened in my life, good and bad. I feel lucky now to be able to continue accumulating new life experiences and even luckier to have found some of the most beautiful people in the world. Streams of heart water overflow in the land of smiles.
* The Thai word for "kindness" translates literally in English as "heart water"
