I just returned today from my friend Lucy's village about an hour or so drive up toward the hills from here. Her family is Akha, which is one of many different tribes that live in Thailand and all over Southeast Asia. Each tribe has their own language that they speak, as well as Thai. I have friends that are Akha, Lisu, Karen, and there is also Hmong and Lahu, to name a few. I think those are the big ones. In addition to speaking their own tribal language, they also have special trades and ways of dressing that are unique to their tribe. The Akha people, in my opinion, are the most decorated. Often in the night bazaars you will see these old ladies with ornate head dresses selling various wares, but I skeptically thought that they only wear these for show. It was really nice to spend a few days in an authentic Akha village, away from any trace of tourism, and see that the old women and men would wear these headdresses there, as well. Some babies would wear the traditional clothing, but most of the children and young adults didn't bother wearing the traditional clothing on a normal day.
One interesting thing I noticed about this village was the simplicity of the lifestyles. Many Akhas come from Burma or Tibet as refugees and don't even have rights as Thai citizens, so they are left to farming and handicrafts as a means of income. Lucy's parents are some of the hardest working people I've met, getting up at 3am to go to work, farming, and not returning until about 6pm. Their skin is leathered from years of working outside, and they look older than they probably are. For as hard as they work, though, the pay is meagre. I didn't ask how much they make, but whatever it is, they get by along with some help from supporters for their 3 children. Sombat, Lucy's 19-year-old brother, and his dad built the house they are living in by themselves, and Meh and Pa (I don't even know their names, hehe) had to hike far into the hills to fetch bamboo materials. If they want to cut down bamboo near their home, they have to pay a good amount for it, and if they are caught cutting it down without paying then Pa gets sent to jail.
Cooking is fascinating to watch: they don't have a stove, so they cook over a wood fire in the back of the house (which isn't a big problem since the floors are made of dirt). There are small chairs consisting of 3 pieces of wood nailed together, sitting maybe 4 inches off the ground, perfect for using the ground as the countertop to prepare the food. These guys are far better cooks than me, and with their limited resources they managed to whip up amazing meals for us to eat, and repeatedly told me to "geen yuh yuh" (eat lots!!). I felt so honored to be a guest in their home.
I did get to try some unique foods while I was staying there. The first night wasn't unusual: Tdom Ka Gai (chicken ginger soup) with some other spicy stuff. Thankfully I'm well acclimated to spicy foods now, so nothing really poses a problem. The next day we had some green beans and rice which my friend prepared, along with some soup made out of canned fish that the cats had gotten into, hehe. Everything was delicious! After that, we took a trip to the zoo where I was cussed out by a bird (no joke!). We had ourselves a good laugh, and then we went to get some food at the local restaurant and rent some movies. Upon our return trip home, we stopped at the river we have to cross along the road to get to the village, and some village friends were catching fish. They showed us their plunder, and it was a bunch of fish, anywhere from probably one to three inches long. They were having a great time catching them, and when they were finished, they decided to barbeque them at the nearby sala (grass hut). They cut stalks of (I think) the middle of bamboo leaves right down the middle, lined up the fish in a neat row, and tied the end together to hold in the fish. They then barbequed them to perfection, and when all was finished, we feasted! They even brought sticky rice and spicy dip to complete the ensemble. Apparently, you can eat these things whole, but I wasn't too keen on eating the head or the tail. Everything in between was good, especially dipped in the chili powder/salt mixture, with a side of sticky rice!
The rest of the day was pretty lazy for the most part. Sombat, Lucy's brother, went into town for soccer and the rest of us (Lucy, her sister Hannah, and myself) lazed around, napped and watched a movie or two. When Sombat returned that evening, he brought me a special treat: fried crickets! I was a bit taken aback at the sight of them, and realized that my avoidance of this delicacy ended tonight. I flashed him a questioning look and then went for it; it was actually quite delicious! Salty, crunchy, fried... what more could you ask for? As long as the legs didn't get stuck in my teeth I was doing alright with the whole deal. When it got down to the bottom, though, with pieces of legs and heads shifting around in the bottom of the bag, I was done. Oh but that's not all! Soon after that, dinner was ready: soup and fried dog! hehe. This was interestingly enough not as difficult to eat as I would have imagined, say, a year ago. I wasn't a huge fan of it, as it was dehydrated, rehydrated, and then fried, still pretty tough to eat. You really had to work at each piece, but the flavor was pretty good. There's this Thai wives' tale that eating dog in the winter time keeps you warm inside. I know it's just a wives' tale and all, but I really did feel pretty warm inside that night as I went to bed, and the nights are really getting cool now!
The next morning, this morning actually, Lucy's parents cooked up such a feast for us, and everything was so so good! There was a bowl of sliced fruit mixed with salt, peppers, and sugar, and maybe some other things, some more small fish, bamboo with spicy dip, a really good bamboo dish, bone soup (I didn't realize until the end that I'm actually supposed to eat the bone itself. Instead, I ate the meat off of the bones and slipped the rest to the dog), and a cauliflower/unidentified meat dish. Everything was so good, and I think they were quite pleased that I enjoyed their authentic Akha food, too.
We mozied our way on over to church and it was a wonderful service, complete with singing from the kids, a time for anyone in the congregation to read or sing a song, and there were several farongs (foreigners) visiting and we all went up and shared what we were doing in Thailand, etc. After we returned from church, Lucy's father told me how glad they were to have me, invited me back again when harvest time is over so I could go fishing with him, and gave me one of his home made cups that he carved out of bamboo. It is a beautiful piece of art and I am going to treasure it (and use it) for a long time to come, I imagine.
If you think of it, please pray for this family that is now dear to my heart. Every 3-5 years they have to build a new house, as the bamboo only lasts so long. They are getting older and weaker and I know the trek into the forest to collect bamboo isn't as easy as it has been in the past. Please pray that the Lord would provide a means for them to build a more lasting home for their family. Also, Hannah, the 17-year-old sister, just left for a job in Bangkok today, where she will be working as a nanny for 6 months. Pray that she would be wise and the Lord would keep her safe during that time.
If you want to support this family in any way, let me know and we'll figure something out!
Thanks for reading,
Steph
