Thailand: part III

Here is a beetle nut tree. People chew the nuts off of it, it turns your mouth black, and gives you a buzz...a lot of the old timers in Thailand chew it. Teet grew it for his mother, (Mem's grandmother)

These are two of Mem's cousins. I can't remember what their names are, but the boy in the green shirt was so quiet. He barely said boo to anyone. Well, it was his birthday, so we took him to the store and told him he could pick whatever he wanted. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. He chose a bag full of apples and some dried squid. It was definitely a learning moment for me. This is what these children who live a poor, third world life think of when they think of presents. Food that they normally never get to eat. We took him to the toy section and made him choose a toy. At first he chose a small battery powered truck, and then Mem's dad made him get the biggest one. He was so excited. You should have seen his face. I don't think he ever expected anything like that in his wildest dreams. I almost cried. Here I am complaining that I don't have enough money for a brand new camera, and here is a little Thai boy who thinks the best birthday present is a bag of apples and dried squid, not even beginning to imagine owning a $20 toy truck. It was a very humbling experience.

This is Mem's grandmother's friend. I didn't want to be disrespectful, so I was trying to take a picture without her knowing. When I go back to Thailand, I'm going to learn how to say "can I take your picture, please" in Thai, then I won't feel like I'm being rude.

This is the back yard and kitchen area...Those are also our clothes hanging in the background. There is no washer and dryer!

This is Mem, as I follow her to the real backyard.

Mem's dad and her Uncle Teet were building an irrigation line so that Teet could start a garden. There is pond near the back of the property that they were going to pump water from.

This is the spirit house of the first owners of the property. You always leave the spirit houses on the property, they are never removed.

Here is Mem's mom and Hero. That dog was so cute.

This is the bamboo grove. It makes the coolest knocking sound in the wind..

The pond...Makes you want to go for a swim, right?

This is a Tamarind tree. The pods, have beans that are wrapped in this gooey, fruity stuff. It's like nature's own fruit rollup! It was very good.

Coconut tree in Tia's part of the yard...

Papaya tree! Mmmmm....Som Tam....best stuff ever... (green papaya salad)

Mem's dad and Teet figuring out the water...

Tia going to cut us down some coconuts...

Chopping open the green coconuts, for some refreshing coconut water...

Mmmmm....

After you are done drinking the liquid, you scoop the coconut flesh out of the shell. At this stage it's a coconut flavored jelly. Sounds weird, but it's really good. I guess there are three different stages. The first stage (like what we had), second stage, (which is like a tan color inside), the third stage (my favorite. Still soft, but more coconutty), and then the final hard coconut.

This is Fang doing his trick. He thought it was hilarious, but couldn't understand why us with our Western noses, couldn't do it.

This is the Albino Hedgehog. Someone bought it and then gave it to Mem's family. Teet made it a house out of the coconut husk. It was so weird looking. It escaped one night, and we thought that something ate it. Well, a few days before I came home, a neighbor from up the street brought it back! It had escaped alright, and made a break for it. It was dirty, thirsty, and starving. So funny!