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| Fried chicken butt anyone? |
My first trip to this market was the afternoon that we flew into Udon from Bangkok. We had just spent the previous day touring Bangkok and now everyone was meeting at Base for training week. A group of about twenty of us walked down to the market to check things out and buy some local food. I'll be honest, I was still in the phase where you are super aware you are in a third world country, and just to play it safe you avoid all food that isn't prepackaged. The smells emanating from the stalls as we approached did not help matters. I walked around looking at all of the vivid colors; vegetables, exotic fruits I had never seen, fish still swimming in buckets waiting for slaughter, and of course pig heads. Yes, the whole head. And of course there were tons of fried snacks of the creepy-crawly variety available. My fellow RP staffers were buying everything- fresh fruit smoothies, crepes, tea, and bugs. I didn't eat a thing. There was no way I was going to start out my trip in Thailand with e coli from some weird food.
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| Rambutan. |
Luckily for me, when we returned to base, my friend Kinga made me try one of the strange little green "cakes" she had purchased. She swore they were safe (she had tried them the previous year) and that they were delicious. I hesitantly popped one into my mouth, and despite its green color, it was amazing! Instead of taking another when she offered, I hunkered down in my bedroom to wait for the inevitable vomiting. After 24 hours of no vomit, I decided that maybe some of the food was OK to eat. And so, on our weekly Thursday afternoon trips to the market with students, I bee-lined to booth with the little green cakes.
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| Don't be fooled by their slimy, green exterior...they are delightful! |
By about the fourth purchase, the lady who cooks the green cakes began to recognize me and smile when I approached her cart. It was exciting to "know someone" outside of the company, especially a random Thai villager. I began to practice all two of the Thai phrases I had learned (Hello and thank you) with her, and even though I couldn't communicate with her beyond that, I looked forward to our weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) meetings. I remember there was one week that we didn't go to the market because of heavy rain. I was so bummed. When we returned the next week, there was cake lady with a huge smile on her face! She came around the cart and started spitting out Thai words at lightning speed. Luckily a Thai staff member was with me and translated. She had asked, "Why did you not come last week?" And so it went for the next 8 weeks. I'm pretty sure I was single handedly keeping my new friend in business, and she was keeping me a few pounds over my normal weight!
After the students left and we transitioned into the fall work season, the market visits became less regular, but I would still walk down occasionally with my co English teacher. Eventually I left to lead trips, and when I came back the whole market had been torn down and relocated to a field further down the street. It wasn't just a short walk away anymore.
Today after quite a hiatus I decided I would make a trip down to the new market. I was lucky to have a Thai friend drive me on the motorbike, which saved time and me from getting sweaty. At first I didn't see the cart. I started to panic at the thought of not getting my green cakes, because let's be honest, that's really the only reason I had come. The bananas I purchased were just my cover story and attempt to not be a fatty. To my great relief, I rounded a corner and there she was! I gave her a wai (bow-like gesture) and said "Sawatdee ka, sabai dee mai?" (Hello, how are you?) and we went about our usual exchange. Again she started talking to me in way more Thai than I knew, and so my friend began to translate. She asked where I had been, and that I had not come in one or two months to see her. She had wondered where I was.
I melted a little inside.
I realized that over time, our interactions had somehow transformed into a relationship of sorts. This was the first Thai person in the village that had reciprocated my attempts at making friends. Trying to warm your way into a community as the foreigner can definitely be daunting, and some days you have to ignore the stares and the giggles at your attempt to speak the language. You just have to say to yourself, So what if I'm different. I live here now and I need to make the effort to know my neighbors. It's so easy to keep to yourself and just shyly hand the money over and quickly walk away with your purchase. But that's no way to learn to live in a new culture, and it certainly makes you feel like the outsider you are. In hindsight, I wish I had tried harder in these past 5 months to get to know more of the locals outside of the company. This is going to be my home, and it would be nice to have friends or at least acquaintances in the village. One friend is good place to start.
Cake lady will probably never know how much her gesture today meant to me. But in that moment- in the middle of a busy afternoon market, being stared at by countless Thai shoppers - I forgot I wasn't Thai and I felt at home. Even with my limited Thai, I felt like, OK I can do this. I can live here. It was a nice feeling.
**EDIT 10/29: I returned to the market this evening and told the cake lady that I am leaving in one week. She asked if I will come back next year and I told her yes, and that I would come to see her when I get back. She was happy to take a picture with me! :)
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| Cake lady!!!! |
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