Bababobo

All Alone.
Originally uploaded by Leo III

Bob Barker apparently never had time to come to Thailand. Stray cats and dogs roam the streets in hordes, running amok among the swerving cars as they spew exhaust into the already pollution-thick air. They appear everywhere, living in the dingy, dusty alleyways, drinking from puddles the color of brown sugar. It's sad, but often humor can be found in it, espeically when one rounds a corner, finding a sea of dogs humping each other. Little known fact: dogs get stuck after copulating. The concept has presented several very interesting conversations, particularly with application to humans. I honestly don't know why I'm trying to be politically correct right now; Dogs get stuck on each other after sex. It's hilarious. Martha continually tells of how her mother runs around, yelling "Saleet! Saleet!" while hitting the dogs with a newspaper trying to get them to stop from mounting each other. "Saleet" is not a Thai word; I think you can figure out what it is.

We only have one more week with our host families before we all move out and into the dorms. There seems to be a much deeper appreciation for family here in Thailand than in the US. A week ago, my Ajaan and the coordinator of our school came and visited my house, doing a routine checkup that they carry out with all of the families and students. They babbled in some Northern Thai, a dialect that I only know one word of (that word being "lum dee," or delicious), and I sat there and smiled politely, trying to understand the context of their conversation strictly from their expressions and gestures, failing miserably. Suddenly, tears started rolling down my mother's face, a small smile cracked as tears ran over its corners. Slightly alarmed, I asked my host brother what was up. "She think of you like her son, like a baby that can't speak Thai, and now that you can speak Thai it's like you're older and moving out of the house."

The photo attached to this blog post was a raggedy teddy bear I found on the side of the road when I went to go visit my host Aunt. I snapped it quickly, not realizing that my camera was still in black and white mode, and it turned out to be one of the most depressing photos ever. I kind of like it, though.