Cows Go Moooo

 Note: These events actually took place on February 2, however a tempermental Macbook kidnapped them from me until now. 

Today marked a big day for Plaboo. Heifer International, a non-governmental organization (NGO), was in town to present a donation of 41 cows to the village. The cows have finally arrived after many months of planning and determining which families will receive the cows. The ceremony took place at the old schoolhouse in Plaboo. Because there are a small number of children in Plaboo, the government pulled funding for the school and the kids are now sent to schools in neighboring village, much like my old stomping grounds, Reynolds Elementary School. When we arrived at the site, the first thing I noticed was a huge sign with a paragraph in Thai and numerous hearts drawn around the words. Lam informed us that it was the promise the farmers will make to sufficiently care for the cow they are given. Additionally, the farmer must raise the cow until it has a baby. At that point, the farmer must donate the baby to a farmer chosen by Lam and Heifer International as part of the next receiving group. Once they donate the baby cow, they are free to sell, keep, or eat the original cow. The system ensures that this one-time donation of 41 cows will continue to grow and sustain farmers in the future. The cows are important for the farmers, as they graze on the rice fields maintained by the farmers and provide the manure used to fertilize these fields.

As I turned the corner, I saw the large floral centerpiece made yesterday by the older women in the village. They created it by folding bamboo leaves in a certain fashion similar to cones, turning then upside down, and then sticking flowers in the top. It is placed on a gold cake stand and various items are placed around the floral piece. The items, including bananas, sticky rice, and money, are offerings to the God of Soil, in the hopes of receiving abundant grass to feed the cows over the next few years. After helping set up the tables and chairs for the ceremony, the representatives from Heifer International arrived with the two truckloads of cows. The main rep, who spoke English fairly well, was quite handsome. We immediately thought he was the perfect match for Lam, cute, smart, passionate about volunteering, and he had a killer vest on. Unfortunately, we found out later he is gay. Of course he is. So much for that. 

All the farmers arrived and gathered around the flower centerpiece and the offerings. They asked us to join them on the bamboo mats, while two of the religious leaders in town said various prayers. They also chanted together, calling out to the spirits of the cows and asking that the spirits become present and remain in Plaboo. They do this because of the extensive traveling the cows have done before arriving at Plaboo. The prayers lasted about 15 minutes, after which the each women farmer and the two religious leaders tied more strings around our wrists, wishing us health and happiness while we are here. With all the white strings tied around my wrist, it is beginning to look like I am healing from some sort of suicide attempt, when in reality, it is a much-appreciated bracelet of well wishes.  

The farmers chose numbers from a bucket that corresponded with each cow. The cows were then taken off the truck, with a few moments of breathtaking anticipation when a couple of the cows fell off the back of the truck. They immediately got back up and all the Thai people laughed, as they do for most situations. To be honest, I have yet to see a Thailander in a bad mood. The closest thing I have seen is someone being tired, but still they are not cranky. Maybe I should stop filtering the water here, and drink the real thing. The farmers finally received their cows and headed on home to start the bonding process. We cleaned up and headed back to Plaboo for lunch.

After more fish and rice, which we are getting a bit tired of, Toi, Om and Li asked us to teach them a card game. We settled on Gin and after a bit of explaining, they seemed to get the point. Our game was going great, until the kids from the neighboring village showed up for school. We weren’t sure if they were coming this week because of the cow ceremony, but we didn’t stress about it because things just sort of happen around here. This particular group of kids is great, they are really excited to learn English and have a lot of fun with our lessons. We taught them a lot of new vocabulary, which they always pick up on rather quickly, and then played our new Bingo game that we made ourselves. In place of the standard numbers, it has hand-drawn pictures of various vocabulary words we have been teaching. They absolutely loved it. We even got some cool pens and pencils to hand out to the winners. After the 2-hour English lesson, the class is split into three groups to learn other skills that they don’t get in the classroom, including farming & cooking, instruments, singing, and community games. This is all part of Lam’s vision to provide alternative education to the subjects learned in the classroom in the hopes of reconnecting the students with their roots.

We went to the market with Lam and ate some ice cream bars while we walked around. After picking up some dinner, more noodles and vegetables, we headed back to Plaboo. No one was around, which is rare, Stephanie, Lam and I ate dinner and spoke about the similarities and differences between the US government and the Thai government. It is interesting to hear opinions on US aid from a Thai perspective. Lam feels that while appreciative of aid from the US, the democracy in place here is much different than that in America. Because of this, it is difficult for the US to understand the way power works here and therefore hard to make the American model for democracy fit in Thailand. We also chatted about frivolous things as we frequently do, making Lam seem more and more like a friend and not just a boss.