A Lavish Affair

Last Saturday my Nayoke's (Supervisor) mother passed away. The first question I asked was " Did the Nayoke cry? was he sad? " and the person replied " No, she was old". On Monday , everyone from my office dressed in all black and went to the third day of the funeral - in Thai society a funeral usually goes on for Five days and on the 5th day the person is cremated. I have been to couple other funerals throughout my stay here in Thailand and every time, I cannot help but be in 'awe' of what is going on around me.

First, we get there around 8 pm and the place is so lavishly decorated. It seems like it's more about how beautiful, extravagant everything looks in a case to show off the wealth and status of the person organizing the funeral - not the person who passed away. People come in and out, show their respect for the person who passed and sit in chairs until the actually ceremony starts which consists of monks chanting/praying for a period of 40 minutes or so. Second, there is also a row of nicely decorated chairs for the Supervisor's guest of honor no not close relatives but people who make the Nayoke's status look even more ' cool '. Third, the whole event goes on without a single drop of tear and once everything is finished people go their own way by that I mean, some women are preparing/ cooking for tomorrow's funeral event, and the men are drinking, playing cards/gambling.

Here is my opinion, in a society that talks about the importance of family relations and respect for the elderly I am sitting at a funeral of my Supervisor's Mom who apparently lived alone most of her last couple years without any visits from her son - my supervisor. And the funeral is more of a lavish , show off your wealth, your status event than an actual ' pay respect for her life ' ceremony while the Nayoke sits with the 'cool' people , drinks, and gambles once the funeral is over. I feel like everyone who actually worked on making the funeral 'beautiful' will be happy once today is over (the day of her cremation) because of how tired they were; thus, completely seeing passed the fact that a life, once cherished and loved has passed.

I know there might be some generalization in my writing /observation. Also, it is the culture, the religion of Buddhism, the belief in reincarnation BUT still, once a life leaves us no matter how old, how unimportant, how sick that person was, someone should feel sad, someone should be hurt. A funeral should be more than, the black attire, the lavish decorations , the guests who show up... It's about honoring a person's life, accepting the reality of 'death' but also feeling the hurt of losing a person, and sharing every moment of this with your family.

Trust me, I would know....

Now What?

Everytime I remind myself to post a blog , I stop and think " wait, what do I write about?" I feel like I'm in Thailand and I should have everything and anything to write about but, sometimes that's just not the case. I feel the pressure (mainly from myself) to blog about something that all of you want to read about , not my pity complaints or mundane everyday life that's perhaps why I have not blogged in a while because in all honesty, I really do not have anything extraordinary happening around here.

After the Playground was finished, it got hit by the flood. It was sort of a big blow in the head but again, I feel like I have no rights to complain about a damn playground when peoples' houses got flooded for two weeks ; ie. they were living at the local temple or on the second floors of their houses. Again, we gota keep on moving. We helped for an entire week to cook food for about 1,200 people that- was fun, the children were playing (swimming) in the water and all the families got some fun out of riding boats to get from one place to another.





And in terms of work, I decided I deserved a break after that one, exhausting project (can you imagine we started the playground back in July !); a part of me almost said " Oh Zerina, You are DONE" but wait, 15 more months! My breaks somehow has been coinciding pretty well with my visits from the States as well. Right after the Playground/ during the flood, my Mom came to visit and then, just a week ago, I went on a two week trip with my friend Julia. I am so lucky to have been able to go to some amazing places during visit from family/friends. When Julia was here, we went to the North for the first time. It was so beautiful up there; I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace, happiness and calmness from being there - I am just going to assume it was because of the more than plentiful availability of Italian food (can Mozzarella Cheese boost your endorphins? ) Anyhow, it was beautiful! We went to Tiger Kingdom, visited couple museums, and Hill tribes. I personally enjoyed seeing tigers, penguins, koala bears and pandas all in one trip.. Very worth while (visit fb for pics)

I am back in my village now with my SO adorable puppy Spike. Last week out of pure " oh this looks cool " I bought a toaster oven. So maybe, I'll keep myself occupied by cooking for myself, and I also made rice for the first time in the rice cooker well, I was told that it wasn't quite ready /needed more water but there is always next time. I am learning to accept everything around me; sometimes, that acceptance gets a little harder. I remind myself that I should not think too much about " Why I am here, What I am doing?" and just enjoy it like I am supposed to... I am trying.

Till next time, Spike and I wish you a very safe, happy and fun holiday season!



<3 always - Zari