Word from Thailand

From an entertaining letter my friend writes:

Sawadi ka!
Bangsai Village was pretty darn cool!  It is everything one would dream a village to be.  It was quaint, green, guardedly friendly with visitors, and serene.  When I arrived, Urai-my host and I rode bikes to the local Buddhist temple.  As I was concentrating on keeping as close to the edge of the narrow road as possible without trying so hard I fall into the surrounding greenery, I was marveling at the lotuses doing their best to pretty up a mucky pond, the expanses of rice paddies swaying in the wind, and the canopy of trees giving a brief but welcome respite from the sun.  I kept thinking to myself, "I love this!  I should be wearing one of those bamboo triangle hats!"  As much as Urai is a typically diminuitive Thai female, she is just as generous in her hospitality, kindness, curiosity, and industriousness.  Man, could that girl work!  In fact, that's pretty much what she would do from 5-6 in the morning until about 6-7 at night.  And she's a young-un ( or at least what I would like to think as young at 30 years old)!  Her mother could probably kick my ass at 78!  She pretty much has the same schedule as Urai but wakes up a little earlier to make food for the monks who come rowing down the river at about 6:30 every morning.  Thai food is made completely from scratch-none of that pre-made preservative crap that we/I eat.  I made green curry and tom yam/yum soup and I had to scrape and squeeqe fresh coconut until my fingers were raw and sweat was nearly dripping into the fruits of my labor.  I also helped to feed a monk one morning-but don't worry I didn't give the venerable elder my food-it was Urai's mother's cooking.  Buddhism is closely tied to the culture and is an integral part of one's socialization and socializing in Thailand, especially in small close-knit villages that are somewhat the equivalent to the American version of Cheers.  The only unpleasant, unidyllic part of my stay in Bangsai was the Thai massage.  I didn't know that an 86 year old women with a gummy smile could have such powerful hands and feet! Yes, feet!  For those of you who picture a relaxing massage given by a young petite Thai beauty with a tropical flower tucked neatly behind her ear, well, think again!  This great grandmother stepped all over my body, including along my more intimate seams.  I was worried I would be made infertile, but Urai informed me that she's been giving massages along with delivering babies for 60 years, so I guess she knew what she was doing, and I was the fragile foreigner who kept repeating "bow-wow!" which means gentle in Thai ( but I wish it meant could you please just stop because this is really painful and I'd rather be at the gyno than lying here with your footprints all over me).  Ok, I know by now you're dying to hear about porn, prostitutes, and Pattaya, but that'll have to wait till my next update because I'm sure I've lost your attention after green curry-if you're anything like the students I'm teaching anyway!  More about that later, too!
La-konn, Sawadi,

Y/L