Chilled out travels on "Thai-time"

So I didn't write about a trip I had a couple weeks ago. Did I? Well this picture is from way up north. I am standing in a field of replanted rice. Planting rice is such a labor intensive process, and it's probably the number one profession in Thailand. Well, that's misleading because most people who rice farm also have another job. But things sort of shut down in rural areas for about 2 months at the beginning of the rainy season so rice can be planted (and replanted for optimal growth). Then again at the end of rainy season for havesting. Those months in between the whole country is lush and green. I LOVE the sight of rice fields. Otherwise the fields are pretty brown and dry.

Not only is the process labor intensive, it's not very lucrative. Most people grow rice just for their family, not to sell. And if you work in the fields as a farm-hand you get the equivalent of about $3 a day. Thailand is cheap, but it's still pretty hard to live on only $3 a day.

My travels home from this trip make for a great story that gives a sense of Thai culture. Basically I got stranded. Oh, how dramatic that sounds. Ok, maybe I didn't get stranded, but I didn't get home as was planned.

I left early in the morning. Planned to flag down a bus as it passed on the way to the big city. Unless one is in a main city you have to do just that- flag down a passing bus. It makes for lots of stops once you are on the bus.

I got to Udon and there were a few busses going to Khon Khen, some with Air Con, some w fans attached to the ceiling. The fan busses are usually a fine temperature, because windows are down, and I don't like cold anyway. The fan busses are also usually cheaper. But they stop more and usually are not as comfortable seats.

Long story short, by the time I got to Kkon Khen at 2pm the last bus had already left to Nakon Sawan. There was no way of me knowing this ahead of time, because there is no public disemination of bus schedules. There usually are schedules, but they are not even perfectly reliable.

So I was in Khon Khen, not even half way home after 6 hours of travel. But one of the fabulous parts of being in Peace Corps is that I have friends spread all over the country, and two of my buddies live w/in 40 minutes of Khon Khen. So I was able to call them up, and we had a nice evening in the city and I had a nice bed to stay in.

The other nice thing about Thailand is that the people here are SO chill. So I just called up my co-teacher and told her I missed the last bus and wouldn't be in school the next day. No problem!!! God I love the people in this country.

I am hoping some of this chillness rubs off on me and I carry it back to the US. Actually, I have noticed that I have relaxed in SO many ways. And some PC friends have even commented on it too.

Partly I have to be chill because I don't know what's going on around me.
"Oh, we're going somewhere? Where?" (in Thai)
"ThaiThaiThaiThaiRacheldoesn'tunderstand."
"Ok! Sounds great, let's go."

Partly the Thai culture has rubbed off on me. For Thais, it is so much more important to get along, then to get anything produced. Smiling and having fun is the goal of most things. Makes things laid back and chill in this fabulous country.