"Life was movement..."

I am a creature of certain 'strange' habits. I like to keep journals wherever I am traveling, and more than anything else they're filled with pages of jumbled thoughts: ideas for traveling; non-profit project proposals; interesting websites I stumble upon; contact information of fascinating individuals I have met; reminders and to-do lists; drawings and sketches of inspiring sights; handouts or pamphlets I have been given by various hands; and quotable quotes that have moved me from the journals and novellas of other published travelers.

I found one of my older journals last night, buried into my winter clothing stock (which we unexpectedly dipped into!) and found some quotes that obviously moved me greatly at the time since the pages are filled with double-strikes and highlights...however, I cannot for the life of me remember where I first read these quotes. Against habit, I forgot to write the author's name or source.

At first, I was toying with the idea of doing a little bit of research, but decided against it...I like the mystery; I like enjoying the words for just what they are, and not feeling obliged to corner them into context, rhyme or reason from where I was physically, what I was reading, or what my state of mind was like at the time.

Enjoy.

"...She had come to understand what the solitary long-distance traveler learns after months on the road--that in the course of time a trip stops being an interlude of distractions and detours, pursuing sights, looking for pleasures, and becomes a series of disconnections, giving up comfort, abandoning or being abandoned by friends, passing the time in obscure places, inured to the concept of delay, since the trip itself is a succession of delays.

Solving problems, finding meals, buying new clothes and giving away old ones, getting laundry done, buying tickets, scavenging for cheap hotels, studying maps, being alone but not lonely. It was not about happiness but safety, finding serenity, making discoveries in all this locomotion and an equal serenity when she had a place to roost...

...Not a journey anymore, not an outing or an interlude, but seeing the world, not taking a trip, not travel with a start and a finish, but living her life. Life was movement.

How had it happened? She guessed that it had come about by being alone...By earning the money she'd needed and, oddly, by being exploited, like most working people on earth. By being disappointed, abandoned, taken for granted. She did not depend on anyone, surely not a man; she had become strong. The elephant was an example--chained because he was powerful, becoming more powerful because he was chained. Released from that chain, he would flap his ears and fly.

Her illness had given her heart...You fell sick, you got well, then healthier. You didn't go home or call Mom because you'd caught a cold. You paused and cured yourself and continued on your way, stronger than before.

This is my life, Alice thought on the train to Chennai, a good life of my own making, and all the decisions are mine. And here is my journey--a five dollar seat, a ten dollar hotel, a one dollar meal.

...She had enough money, the country was poor, the cost of living low. I'll be fine. She made a mental note to write a post card home--not a letter but just a few sentences, to say hello and to give no information, to show she did not need them.

This was what travel meant, another way of living your life and being free. "

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it's been 4 years since I've celebrated the holiday.

I've spent a long time away from my friends and family back home, and as the years continue to roll away from me I can't deny there is a small tug starting to pull my heart strings back 'West'.

However, I'm not ready to pack my bags just yet. I have some unfinished business to attend to here in Thailand, and that is not changing overnight.

I have many things to be thankful for this year; many of which surround the life-changing events that led me to being a full-time volunteer here at Baan Unrak. I have my arms filled with loving kids everyday, so I'm not feeling particularly lonely this year (I have in the past suffered some terribly lonely holidays while living overseas.) I am not short of food or money (yet!), and I have somehow kept a 'relatively' healthy body despite the virus that's been choosing its victims at random within the Children's Home the past few weeks!

Above all, I have, for the first time in a very long time, a true connection with myself. I wake up every morning with a clear knowledge of what I am doing today, where I am going with my life, and what goals I hope to achieve over the next few months. And every night I go to sleep knowing I lived my day exactly how I intended to...Fully.

I guess the biggest thanks I would like to give is to my family and best friends back home and abroad. I have finally found a 'true North'; a true direction in my life worth pursuing and it would not be possible for me to dedicate my time and energy to this community development project, nor to the good for the kids here at Baan Unrak if I didn't have such a strong and loving support system around me. I feel like I can fly these days, and I am not afraid of falling because I know once my ass hits the ground...you'll all be around to help pick me back up again.

I'm also thankful for the blessed opportunity Didi Devamala from the Baan Unrak Home is giving me this December. She has asked me to follow a group of 15 kids traveling with her to Singapore and Malaysia, where she has been invited to a special retreat. Some of her kids were lucky enough to receive Thai passports this year, and with a little bit of my help we will make a traveling yoga/dance troupe out of them and have them perform in various cities in an attempt to generate fundraising and awareness for our Home. Stay tuned, I'll be posting more about the performances in the next coming weeks!

What are you thankful for this year?

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!

How To: Khao Lam, Grill Sticky Rice in Bamboo

I should start by saying that this is probably one of the most important blog posts I have written in a long time...I take my food seriously and when it comes to sticky rice, my favorite of favorite dishes, this is EXTREMELY serious business. I have spent hours, carefully considering the recipe for this post so please, savor it if you will!

In Thailand, glutinous rice is known as sticky rice which the locals call 'khao neow.' Sticky rice is a staple food for the people of Central, Northern, and Northeastern Thailand and can be eaten 3 times a day with any meal. It is a type of short-grained rice that becomes extra sticky when cooked, and it has been cultivated throughout Asia for more than 1,000 years.

Fun Fact: It is commonly rumored that sticky rice was used to make the mortar when constructing the Great Wall of China.

So, how to eat sticky rice like a local? Mostly sticky rice is served in a small, woven bamboo basket and accompanies any dish: fried or grilled meats, steamed vegetables, curries and soups. The local technique includes gathering a small amount in your forefingers, and rolling the rice tightly into a small ball (the size of a golf ball.) Then the rice is dipped into sauces or eaten alone to bring down the spice level of any dish.

[After studious care and attention over the years, I have discovered a 2:1 ratio with many of my friends...2 bites of meats or veggies, to 1 bite of sticky rice...and so on, and so on, and so on...But of course, 'alai ga dai' up to you!]

Saturday evening one of the big boys from the Baan Unrak Home put the idea in my head that we should, correction HAD TO, make 'khao lam' sticky rice grilled in bamboo. COOL. I've only seen this dish cooked once before, years ago, high up on a mountain during one of the many trekking trips I used to lead in the Northern mountain ranges outside of Chiang Mai. The cook that time, well she didn't have a clear idea of what she was doing, so the rice was more runny than sticky...not correct my friend!

But alas, a real teacher...allow me to introduce you to Taraka Nat. As the shirt implies this kid is real trouble. He's a sweet talker, a charmer, and overall one overly-confident 20 year old constantly looking for trouble...and somehow he always convinces me to go along for the ride.

OK. Jokes aside Taraka Nat, aka Baby, is a great role model for the boys here; he is one of the special kids from the Baan Unrak Home eligible to study at a university in the capital Bangkok city. Schools across the country have been closed temporarily due to the floods, so he's spent a lot of time around the Home lately looking for entertainment. He's found it, in annoying the heck out of me day in and day out... every morning he gets these whimsical ideas, "let's do this today!", "let's do that!", and sometimes I entertain them...this one however, I have to give it to him, was GENIUS!

How to make 'Khao Lam':

Step 1: Go to the jungle.

Serious. I piled 7 boys into the back of a pick up truck and drove outside Sangkhlaburi village to the mountains surrounding Songkalia River, just a stone's throw from the Burmese border. From there it was a steep climb to the top, to many tops in fact since we got lost and confused about which mountain we were supposed to be climbing!

We were on the hunt for white bamboo, chosen for its size, strength, and extra fragrant insides for the cooking of our rice. Hunting for this bamboo was like hunting for some critically rare species, a mythical beast; it was a journey that lasted hours walking up and down, up and down, up and down through the dense forest....the moment we found our bamboo we posed for a group photo, like pioneers savoring our conquest all wide smiles and crazy eyes: 'This land we discovered on our own!'

Step 2: Chop bamboo into small pipes, each one roughly measuring 1/2 meter long. The trick is to cut the bamboo at an angle, where the knobs meet, so that you can fill each pipe with water and have it not fall out the bottom.

Step 3: Create rice mixture. In one large bowl mix one part sticky rice, two parts coconut milk, and add sugar and salt to taste. The milk should cover the rice completely, and the mixture should be sweet, very sweet, in fact because the cooking process will make the rice more savory and because the children convinced me that in Thailand there was no such thing as tooth decay. 'Only myth!'

Please note: sticky rice must soak for a few hours, preferably overnight, in cold water prior to cooking preparation.

Once the mixture is set, carefully spoon the contents into the bamboo pipes and pack the tops with banana leaves to keep in the steam and heat while cooking.

Step 4: Man makes fire.

A small fire is best for this kind of grilling. Lay the bamboo gently against a rail or fixture. Leave it alone for a while, it can take from 1.5-2 hours of cooking until the rice is ready (depends on the size of the bamboo.)

Step 5: Eat.

Gently peel the bamboo open at the top to check its contents. If the mix is runny, and milk is obvious from the top it is not yet ready. If you don't see any water, and the rice appears solid you're good!

The best part of the whole cooking process is the moment you can take your bamboo and slice it open to reveal the sweet contents inside. This time our khao lam was extra, extra sweet and a perfect midnight snack!

The rice, when properly cooked, should be chewy. It should fold into your fingers easily and be sweet enough to eat alone (and served with fresh fruit if available!) We feasted. Each of us had 2 or 3 pipes that night and stumbled into our beds with swollen bellies and light hearts. A campfire, a feast and good company...what else can you ask for in life?

...I know...MARSHMALLOWS! Mom, Dad? If you're reading this, please include marshmallows in your next care package. The kids (the biggest of which is of course, me) would FLIP for those! Until next time, adieu.

Loy Kratong Weekend at Baan Unrak

'Loy Kratong' has come and gone again here in Thailand. The festival of lights and 'floating flowers' takes place every November, the night of the full moon, and is celebrated to show gratitude to the Goddess of the River. Small boats are fashioned from banana leaves and folded into beautiful shapes, then decorated with flowers, candles, incense and coins before released into the river streams. Before releasing the boats, one prays to the Goddess to remove sorrow and asks her to bring joy and happiness again this coming new year.

This time last year I was dodging smoke bombs and fire crackers on the back of a friend's motorbike, zipping in and out of tourist traffic along the canal roads of bustling, Chiang Mai city. I remember having to fight my way through crowds to get to the Ping river's waterfront...This year's Loy Kratong was a remarkably different experience, as I chose to spend it with a different kind of crowd; I celebrated with the kids at Baan Unrak in the small, quiet village we call HOME.

Our celebrations started well before the night of the full moon. On Wednesday night I suddenly had the urge to make a huge bonfire in the middle of the football field. I bought corn, bananas and taro from the local market while the boys prepared the wood collection; after evening meditation we made a big show of lighting the fire and had a king's feast of roasted goodies. The little kids were dutifully tucked into bed before midnight, but some of the older teens insisted on bringing out their mats and blankets to spend the night 'camping' under the stars. I tended the fire for them, pulled the blankets up tight round their chins and said my 'good-nights' despite their tired moans asking me to stay with them. I told them I was too old to be sleeping on the dirt floor in the freezing cold, and indeed I was looking forward to a quick shower, warm blankets and a comfy bed. I remember laughing at them as I walked away, imagining their bony bodies shivering throughout the night...

...I should have remembered to ask the guard to keep the gates unlocked...by 1 am I forfeited; confirmed that I was indeed locked out of the main house and forced to walk back, tail between my legs, and tuck in with the kids on the ground sharing a flimsy blanket between 6 of us! I didn't sleep a wink...I was kicked and nudged from every direction, sandwiched between a snorer and an enthusiastic farter, and helplessly watched the hours roll away on my cell phone. When dawn finally broke I was up and out of there, running for the doors just as the care mothers woke up to start their day's work!

The next day, tired and grumpy from lack of sleep was FUN. Some of the older girls asked if we could make the 'kratongs' together and I could hardly say no to that! So, we tucked onto a motorbike (3 teens + 1 farang) and went hunting for fresh banana tree stalks and leaves from a neighbor's garden, and decorations from the local market.

An hour later, this is the mess we made:

Here the kids start making 'kratong', cutting banana leaves and folding them into intricate designs like lotus flowers and cones decorated with flowers and ferns.

I feel sorry for whoever was left behind to clean this up!

Once our kratongs were completed we traveled to the main square for some entertainment. All weekend long the kids enjoyed local markets, music performances and carnival-like festivals in the village square, and everyone (myself included) stuffed their faces with limitless sweets.

Finally, late night came and it was time to release our boats into the lake. Here the kids release the kratong into the lake and pray for another good year to come.

Happy Loy Kratong, and I hope next year I will be lucky enough to find myself in another beautiful setting like this again. I'll be posting videos of some of the performances from the main square soon, stay tuned!

Baan Unrak Flood Relief Campaign

The children of Sangkhlaburi held performances this weekend to raise money for the flood victims throughout Thailand. We are so proud of the Baan Unrak kids for their hard work and their desire to share what they do have with those in crisis. They raised over 20,000 Baht!

With the funds we have been raising, the children's organizations in Sangkhlaburi will join together to bring relief and recovery supplies directly to the flood victims in need.

If you would like to aid in our recovery efforts please donate through our website: http://www.baanunrak.org/DonataPP.html.

The weekend's campaign included: a children's parade of poi twirlers and local school marching bands; traditional and modern dance performances; performances by the Baan Unrak yoga troupe; rock performances from the Baan Dada Children's Home; and the children manned tables selling sweet drinks and donations as a fund raising effort for relief supplies.

Enjoy some of my favorite snapshots from the weekend!

Want to see more? Check out the rest of my photos on my Baan Unrak Flood Relief Picasa Web Album.