My friend and fellow YES Abroad student, Chloe, came to visit me in Nang Rong in November. Our first day together was spent preparing for Thanksgiving! Loy Krathong, a Thai holiday, was the same day as Thanksgiving, so we decided to celebrate a day early. We wanted to share the American Thanksgiving experience with my host family, and they decided to invite some friends for the occasion. We were told that there would be approximately 20 people in attendance, and what we expected to be a quaint meal suddenly turned into a large gathering. We made a trip to the grocery store, and we were able to find ingredients to make apple pie, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and gravy. However, because we needed to serve such a large group, we decided to also make chocolate chip cookies, pancakes, and pasta (at Jom’s request). We also subbed the turkey for a chicken, because turkeys are hard to come by in Thailand. Our trip to the grocery led to some time-consuming obstacles, leaving us with just under 3 hours to completely prepare our feast. We managed to scrape out all of our dishes in time, which was truly impressive considering we only had one stove burner and a miniature toaster oven to work with. Only about 10 people ended up coming to the dinner, so we had way more food than we needed, but they made for good leftovers, and we were able to share some with my friends at school. In true Thanksgiving fashion, we stuffed ourselves with potatoes and pie until we declared we wouldn’t eat for the rest of the week. It wasn’t as hard as I expected, spending time away from my family on Thanksgiving, because I was able to video call briefly, and it helped having a friend to celebrate with. Overall, it was a very successful holiday.
The next day was Loy Krathong, a Thai holiday that takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar. The holiday is an opportunity to cleanse yourself of your sins for the past year, and to make wishes and bring good fortune for the new year. Krathongs are made from banana trunks, banana leaves, and flowers, and they are released into the river at night. Some teachers taught Chloe and I how to make our Krathongs at school, and at night, we headed to the festival. Everybody from the community gathered around lake, where traditional Thai music was playing, dancers were performing, and vendors lined the streets. Chloe and I lit the candles on our Krathongs, kneeled on the dock, made our wishes, and watched as they floated away. Later, we walked around the festival, buying matching bracelets and coconut smoothies, which we drank on the bank as we watched the Krathongs float.
The rest of the time with Chloe was spent going to school, touring every coffee shop in town, and exploring different markets. There was a Chinese festival for 3 days, and on the first night, we sat in the pouring rain and ate a traditional Chinese meal. We tasted some new dishes, and avoided many others, although Chloe had the misfortune of sampling an unknown dish that I would later determine to be chicken’s foot. Yum. We watched fireworks as we shivered, and silently willed for my host mother to abandon the remaining 5 courses. But in true Thai fashion, most families stuck around, ours included, waiting for each course with their tupperware at the ready. The festival continued for a few more days, so Chloe and I walked along the streets, sampling different Chinese snacks and meals. We each forked over 20 baht in exchange for ceramic figurines, which we painted in the dark while sitting on toddler-sized chairs, unable to see what we were painting, but enjoying it nonetheless. Throughout the rest of the trip, we visited some Cambodian ruins, walked the lake while sipping bubble tea, binged Designated Survivor, and made frequent trips to 7 eleven. P Mae taught us how to cook some standard Thai dishes, including Pad Thai, Khao Pat (fried rice), Som Tam (papaya salad), and Ga Pow Gai (basil chicken). Now that I’m a master Thai chef, I’m prepared to wow all of you back home with my superb cooking skills.
Chloe stayed for about 2.5 weeks, and we were only apart for about 2 weeks before I went to visit her in Bangkok. I’ll have a few posts about Bangkok up soon, hopefully before I leave for Chiang Mai on the 20th. Thank you for reading! I miss you all!
