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(13.11.2009)
For Americans, Thanksgiving is a sacred tradition where people gorge
on turkey, trimmings, stuffing, pie and Rolaids. We Redemptorists, Thai,
Vietnamese and Americans will continue that tradition over here at our
annual November meeting. We are having special meetings Thanksgiving week to
prepare to become an independent Province. It will be one more year (2010)
before the task is completed.
The new school year has started, and the older kids spent their
weekends harvesting rice. The younger ones haul the bundles to be tied and
then they load the bundles on trucks to be taken to the threshing area. When
the kernels are deemed sufficiently dry, a little thresher mounted on a pick
up frame chugs in to thresh. The straw is saved for our animals, and the
rice is stored in our granary, to be milled and eaten. We also planted a lot
of regular rice (in comparison to sticky rice, which northeasterners usually
eat). The older girls demand this, because they claim fat people like old
Uncle Mike eat sticky rice. Regular rice, they say, keeps them slim and
trim. I have news for them. “Thunder thighs and hippo-hips” are passwords of
the day for them and almost all of my staff.
Saturday October 31, we held All Souls Day Mass in the Don Wai
cemetery. Loads of people came from all around to honor their dead, even
some Buddhist families who have some teenagers buried there. Sarnelli House
has five children buried in a fenced off area of the cemetery. People bring
food, rice, fruit and soft drinks to eat after the Mass is finished and the
graves are individually blessed. I was trying to chase my drooling flock of
165 (even babies like Maggie and Kaen came) but the villagers told me to sit
them down, since they made plenty of food. It is always a nice get-together,
since relatives come from afar as Bangkok.
That evening, we had our annual Halloween party, which starts with
skits and costume parades, and then a pizza and ice cream supper. Then, the
kids head out to the cemetery to try to gross out the little ones and then
march down a deserted lane to our 9 rai orchard. They return to sing, dance
and scarf down more food, pop and candy before heading home. Sunday Nov. 1
was the Mass in the Viengkhuk cemetery.
A few days ago, a lady doctor and some nurses and workers came to give
us a lovely 12 year old girl named “Mae”, who has TB of the lymph glands and
AIDS. It was great to see the love and concern these women gave her; keeping
her in the hospital for 6 weeks, so that relatives intent on getting her
land and house (everyone died from AIDS in the family). We are on the
lookout if these dirtballs show up.
The children, Catholic, Buddhist and Animist, pray for you at evening
prayer every night at Sarnelli House. Again, thank you so much for your
interest and great generosity towards these kids.
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