Found in Translation

Saturday night we picked up Chris’s friend Bao and drove north to have dinner with a couple of old Peace Corps friends. I’m not sure how to describe their home except to say that it felt like some kind of idyllic family camp. Set deep in the rainforest, the family and extended family live in small bungalow homes made from twisted red mangrove wood, with pointy palm-thatched roofs. Some of the rooms are just platforms with a low roof, totally exposed to the elements but connected by covered walkways with ornate banisters. When we first arrived, a couple of elderly relatives were gathered on colorful pillows on one such covered platform watching a movie. The rest of the family sat outside in chairs around a fire. The kitchen is simply a large open room with a roof, a fridge, cutting surface and sink. It was as though there was no distinction between the “inside” buildings and the “outside” forest. The true living room was just an open clearing in the rainforest under a starry sky.

Rainforest home with the family sign

Chris immediately started laughing when stepped out of the truck to find his friend sitting in a chair, being groomed by his 14-year old daughter. She curled his bangs with a pink roller brush as he greeted us enthusiastically. He smiled widely as she smeared white lotion on his face and explained that it was “beauty shop night”. His charming wife came out to greet us, her wet hair wrapped in a towel. It was now her turn to partake in beauty shop night. We could hear the hairdryer whining in the background as we sat around a table over cold beers.







Top: Beauty shop night
Bottom: Nam with her friendly cat

It was an evening full of contradictions: appliances in the open rainforest, dogs snuggling with cats, and Muslims eating with Buddhists. Bao is Muslim and was new to this secluded Buddhist retreat. For one thing, Muslims are not fond of dogs. They believe dogs are dirty animals and avoid touching them at all costs. (I have yet to see a dog in my village, though cats are everywhere!) Poor Bao was a little overwhelmed by the six dogs swarming around and under the table. I feel a little guilty to admit that I found humor in seeing this large muscle-bound man shriek and recoil every time one of the little mutts approached him. Conversation continued through the night and I tried to follow at least the subject, based on my limited Thai vocabulary. I know at one point the Buddhists (environmental educators and subsistence organic farmers by trade) got going on the topic of the interconnectedness of nature and reincarnation. At this point Bao went off to snooze peacefully in a nearby hammock. Chris and his friend took out their guitars and sang beautiful Thai folk songs as fish smoked over a pinewood fire. The daughter was finishing up “beauty shop night” with another relative and their laughter sounded softly behind us between guitar chords. I had barely been able to communicate a single sentence all night, and yet I felt so at peace and welcome with this family in their forest home.

Thai folk songs