18th August
My Thai ex-army friend turned up at my house yesterday evening to take me to the café. We had one beer there and then went to his brother's place outside the village. His house was a veritable museum crammed with very valuable collectables; Pepsi and Cola advertising signs form the 1940s and '50s, original Cola bottles, antique clocks, a very old BSA motorbike and the list goes on.
The brother's son was lying immobile in a hospital bed under a huge blue mosquito net. He's 31 years old and paralysed from the waist down. Mr P. (my Thai friend) said that he'd just come home after three months in hospital. Mr P. also said that he'd had an operation on his stomach - I don't see any connection between that and paralysis!
I'm supposed to go and visit Mr P. this evening. I'm calling my friend Mr P. because I can't remember his name - it's something like Pipiwatchi. Anyway, it's Friday and the end of week four.
The upstairs classrooms are out of use today because the floors are being retiled. So, there was nowhere for my 10.10am class - tried to do the less outside, but it was impossible so I left them after about fifteen minutes. I've got one more lesson today (12.40 - 13.30) and then I'm free for the weekend. I haven't got any plans at the moment - might stay in the village and do nothing; except my laundry of course!
This afternoon's lessons were cancelled - another evaluation!!!
I'm sitting in my garden; it's 1.45pm and I've just seen a very strange creature in the grass - half lizard and half snake. It was long, thin and brown; had two front legs, but no back ones - odd - was moving very fast.
19th August
Had a nice evening yesterday with Mr P. and his wife; we sat in his garden for dinner and beer. I got the truth about his nephew's 'illness' and it's nothing to do with a stomach problem. He was very drunk one evening, tried to drive home on his motorbike and had a crash. I assume he had/has spinal injuries hence the paralysis. Maybe his parents were embarrassed to tell me the real cause of his being bedridden and so gave the stomach ailment tale.
I've decided to go to the town today and try to open a bank account.. The Siam Bank branch in Richards Shopping Centre is open and they have always been friendly when I've been in the change money.
When I got to the bank, there was a power cut so the computers were down. Spent a couple of hours wandering in the shopping centre; splashed out on a tin of baked beans and some processed cheese - not very cheap, but what the hell.
When the power was restored, I returned to the bank and a very polite, young lady opened me a savings account. Had to pay 500 Baht, 300 of which was for an ATM card. Probably don't really need the card, but you never know.
When I left the shopping centre, I somehow got lost and ended up at the train station, which is the opposite of town to where I should have been! Got a motorbike taxi to the bus stop where a bus was just leaving so I didn't have to wait around.
Slight concern as I'm down to just over a thousand Baht and two weeks until I get paid. Will email my bank account details to the agency tomorrow. In theory they should pay me now for the last week of July, but I don't suppose they will; they'll probably include it with August's salary. If it comes to the worst, I can borrow some cash from Mr P.
When I got home from town, I found the cheese had virtually melted - tasted lovely though with the baked beans.
20th August
Four weeks since I arrived in the village. Need to wash clothes today as I've got nothing clean to wear. No other plans.
It's 10am and I've just finished the laundry - washed just about all the clothes that I own .... so that didn't take too long! I've got six t-shirts, 4 pairs of trousers, half a dozen pairs of socks and some underwear; enough for my needs.
Earlier two Thai men (farmers?) came and cut all the grass and weeds near my house and took it all away in a cart attached to the rear of their motorbike. I assume they use the greenery to feed their animals.
I think there is something happening at school either today or tomorrow. Quite a few people are coming and going - some male teachers were here earlier and transporting large, potted plants from the pond near my house towards the school. Hope this 'event' isn't today because it's only quarter past ten; I've already had two bottles of beer and am now on my third - can't do hand washing completely sober!
It was beautifully sunny, blue sky and clear when I started the laundry, but now it's totally overcast. Need to go to the shop to buy cigarettes, but what / who will I pass as I go through the school grounds? I can hear activity - it's Sunday and I don't want to get dragged into some extracurricular activity.
It's 1pm and I've cycled quite a long way to another village. I'm sitting in a place that I thought was a café, but now I'm wondering if it's a family's home! There are a few tables under a wood and straw roof. When I came in, I sat down and asked for a beer - the people looked surprised, but I assumed that was because I am a foreigner - maybe because I've walked into a private family garden!!!
Well, a young man has brought me a glass and a bottle of beer - what will happen when I ask for the bill? There's a very elderly man sitting cross-legged in a brick shack; I can see him through the open door. He's wearing only a towel round his waist and he's talking to himself.
Sitting at the table next to me are four people; three men and a woman. They are mid thirties and the men look military - short cropped hair and with an authoritarian bearing. One of them is wearing camouflage trousers. The lady looks very uninterested in the whole conversation and is not saying anything. There are no gates or flags to indicate that this is a military place; surely if it were private, they would have indicated as such. I'd better keep a clear head - one in case I'm somewhere I shouldn't be and two because I've got to cycle back to the village!
I'm safe - it is a café. Some more people have just come in and are obviously customers - note the sigh of relief. The old man has now moved outside the shack and he is laboriously sawing through a log of wood; at the rate he's going, he might finish by Christmas!
Another farmer came over and spoke to me briefly - claimed to be a local political leader, a teak farmer and learned his English in India. Who am I to disbelieve him?
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