An exorcism

As I'm approaching my last few weeks here, my daily routine has changed slightly. In a last minute switch-up, I was asked to teach English to our interns. Approximately once a year, my NGO runs a six-month internship program for young women from the migrant communities and refugee camps in Thailand. The current group of interns are 16 to 25 years old, from all different ethnic groups in Burma and are learning about women's issues, human rights, the history of Burma and computer skills. And now I'm helping them learn English as well. I've never taught before (aside from the tutoring I've been doing here for my colleagues) and so I was admittedly overwhelmed when I first sat down to plan a lesson. It's been two weeks now, Monday through Friday in the morning, and I like to think my classes are going...okay. I'm enjoying it at least! 

One of my favorite parts is eating lunch with the girls after class. We have nice chats about my home, their homes, cultural differences, how we're both finding Thailand and so on. Earlier this week a few of the girls brought up the topic of ghosts with me because the night before some of them had felt a ghost in the house. They laughed about how silly the idea was, but the stories were spooky nonetheless. "Do you believe it?" they kept asking me. I gave it some serious consideration. "I'm not sure I believe in ghosts, but I do know that they still scare me." 

At the end of yesterday's class I was reminding the girls to prepare for their presentations, which they were supposed to give this morning. "Oh no, no class tomorrow" one of them said, and they all looked at me. "Ummm, yes...tomorrow is Friday"

"No, tomorrow we will bring in the monks for the house and the ghosts. Will you come?"

A Buddhist exorcism you say? Why yes, of course I'll be there! 

I should clarify that our Western idea of ghosts is quite different from what they believe over here, for the most part. The images of pallid people floating around in tattered clothes, trying to scare or kill us and letting out moans that make you shiver is Hollywood. Here they believe in spirits - dead people who do not necessarily wish to do harm to us living people, but want to be acknowledged by us and for us to share our good fortune with them.  

So this morning I arrived at the intern house and everyone was gathered there. The main room was cleared out and there were mats laid across the floor. A little table, about a foot high, sat at one side of the room and on it were the offerings for the monks - new robes, laundry detergent, coffee, toothpaste, money, etc. Monks aren't allowed to ask for anything, including food, so everything that they own or consume must be given to them by the community. Three monks arrived, each one wearing a different shade of the saffron robe, and took their places sitting behind the table. The rest of us, about 15 woman and one man, knelt down on the floor facing the table. Everyone began chanting in unison, their palms touching up near their faces, bowing their heads down to the floor in front of them and back up. The chanting is in a language called Pali, which sounds very similar to Burmese. There is a chant you say at the beginning and the end of each ceremony, basically asking for forgiveness from everyone in your life whom you may have crossed or hurt. Almost everyone in the organization is Buddhist, so they all knew the chant. However, I was happily sat next to the two Catholic girls and so together we knelt quietly as everyone else chanted and bowed. I found it really nice to close my eyes and listen to the low hum of the chant.

The lead monk then asked one of my friends if we wanted the spirits in the house. She said no. He asked her twice more and she said no each time. Then the monks led everyone in a chant explaining to the spirits that they were not welcome here and that they should find another place to stay. The monk and the man with us took a bowl of water with a lotus flower inside and sprinkled us and the house by flicking the water off the flower onto all of us and throughout the whole house. After presenting the monks with the offerings and reciting the closing chant, they fed the monks. We sat at watched as the monks ate and engaged their audience in conversation. They were Burmese themselves and so it was later relayed to me that everyone spoke briefly about the idea of going back to Burma. The monks returned to their monastery and we all ate lunch and continued to giggle nervously about the ghosts. 

As we were returning to the office, my friend asked me "So what did you think?" with a grin on her face. 

"Very interesting, I'm glad I got to see that" I replied. Learning about Buddhist beliefs and practices has been really interesting, and I especially treasure every opportunity I get to participate in activities outside of work with these wonderful women I've gotten to know.

We kept walking in silence and then I just had to ask, "what are you guys going to do if the interns hear the ghosts again this weekend?" She smiled at me and then we both cracked up. Starting Friday off with an exorcism - I think it's going to be a great weekend!

PS: The monk's Blackberry rang twice during the ceremony...

One week in Cambodia

My first visa run was to Laos. My second was to Cambodia, Kampucha as the Thais call it. I was excited because my good friends Karissa, Christian and I managed to coordinate our schedules and pull off a very last minute trip. Unfortunately, because of time constraints from work and visas, our trip was limited to visiting Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) and Phnom Penh over six days. When I returned to Chiang Mai, my friends kept asking me how I found Cambodia. "Cambodia was intense" seemed to be the only words I could find. Yes, that's not a winning endorsement, I understand. But let me explain.

It was hot and dusty. The traffic in Phnom Penh was lethal to the point that I strongly believe that cycling on the streets there is the most dangerous thing I will do for a long while to come. Furthermore, I didn't know how to say the simple phrases that I have learned to say in Thai, which really help on a daily basis and so that was frustrating.

But one thing really struck me about Cambodia - I'm sure anyone who has been there can agree with this - and that is that the people are so warm and kind. From laid back and touristy Siem Reap, to the hectic streets of Phnom Penh, the people I encountered in Cambodia always had a smile on their face. Yes, as a traveler you can become annoyed by the fact that you can't walk for more than three minutes without a man offering you a tuk-tuk, or a child asking you to buy a postcard or souvenir. It can be hard not to snap back sometimes (because clearly if you saw me say no to those three taxi's down the street, I have not likely changed my mind in the past ten seconds!!) however just when you think you're going to, someone throws you a wide smile and you can't help but smile back. After that, it feels tasteless and petty to get mad.

I'll never forget our last day at the temples in Angkor. A little girl was hanging around us, asking us to buy her postcards. She wouldn't stop and we clearly weren't interested in buying anything. I felt bad just driving away from this little girl, but I honestly do not believe that buying a $1 souvenir from a child (who should be in school, mind you) is doing her a favor at the end of the day. Who knows where (to whom) that money goes. "Please, $1, ten postcards, please" she pleaded with us. "No thank you, no thank you" we kept repeating as she was standing next to our tuk-tuk and we were ready to pull away. Finally, she must have realized it was a fruitless effort and so she perked up, puts the widest grin on her face and says "Thank you! Bye bye!" and skips off. We were all floored by this kindness and pure happiness she showed, despite our brushing her off a little bit.

Bayon - my favorite temple

Siem Reap was our first stop to see the temples of Angkor. It was a 20 hour bus journey from Chiang Mai, but we arrived, found a nice hostel and rented bicycles. The next day we woke up and rode out to the park where the temples are. It was a long day, but I'm really glad we opted for bikes. Cycling through the park allowed us to move slow enough to observe the non-tourist scenery. For example, I didn't realize this, but many people actually live in this park, so every few kilometers you'll come across a little cluster of houses, a school or farm and you see people sitting around, going about their daily lives in the middle of one of the wonders of the world. The temples were beautiful. They are all from around the 10th to 12th century and are a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu architecture and influence, depending on the kingdom and the time period. We covered a decent amount of ground, saving the three main temples for the second day.

The second day we woke up at 4am, hired a taxi and went to see the sun rise behind Angkor Wat, for which the entire park in named. Angkor Wat is impressive. It's massive and has a moat around it and a reflecting pool in front of it. The inside is extensive and has carvings and long walkways. Karissa and I were trying to imagine what it looked like when it was actually used as a temple. We pictured a lot of seductive goddesses in dim candlelight...

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

From Siem Reap, Christian and I went on to Phnom Penh to get our visas. PP is a big, congested city but I found its redeeming qualities to be the elegant French colonial buildings, baguettes and pastries galore, quiet little side streets and a nice boardwalk along the Mekong River. After dropping off our passports with a travel agent, we rented bikes and road out to the Killing Fields. The ride was awful - my eyes, nose and mouth were full of dirt, I was terrified of the traffic and it was so hot. But we made it. The Killing Fields are an interesting site. The land and museum were leased to a Japanese company by the Cambodian government a few years back. It's a weird feeling to walk around the area and realizing that some company in Japan is profiting off of it. The idea was that they would fix it up and make it a more profitable and compelling museum...unfortunately, it feels neglected and hastily constructed. We were both bothered by the fact that this company had not done more.

As a traveler and outside observer, I tried to keep in mind the effect that the events surrounding the Khmer Rouge might have had on the Cambodia I was experiencing. It was so recent in the country's history, after all. I thought about the fact that everyone I saw on the street who looked in their 40's and over had lived through that horrible time and survived. I longed to ask someone what it was like, but obviously that felt inappropriate and like I was overstepping my boundaries. I wish I had gotten the chance to see more of Cambodia - to visit the less-traveled east, see the beaches in the south, stay for a little longer in one place and get the chance to learn some phrases and talk to people. I guess I'll have to go back...