Do you know the price of rice?

In a strange way I feel like the goodbyes have already begun and that my time in Thailand is already winding down. It is strange because I have only just passed the halfway mark. On Friday I said goodbye to a student and good friend of mine. She has left for the US. She is taking a course in Washington and will be staying there until August. It is a wonderful opportunity for her and I am so proud of her. I will miss her very much though. Si Jie has decided to leave at the beginning at June and I have this feeling that it will come quickly. In a little over a month, my mom and sister will be arriving and the time after they leave will be spent travelling. I have this sense that it is time to take full advantage of every experience and look for opportunities to have meaningful experience with the children and staff at Mercy.

A few of the highlights of the last couple of days include cooking Saheo Cake with our friends in the Hospice, treating ourselves to Pizza, Beer, ice cream and a movie and experiencing the anticipated visit of American Ambassador and his wife.

The pizza, beer and ice cream was the best thing to happen to us this week. We left Mercy exhausted from a long week. On the way home, we decided to pick up some pizza. After being wooed by the very attractive Thai pizza man, we left the pizza store with a two large pizza, a pint of ice cream and a 6 month membership to the Pizza Company. We have plans to return next Friday. It could be dangerous if pizza man is there.

The American Ambassador’s visit lasted a whole hour but the anticipation started a day early. I’m still not sure why such a big deal was made but all of Mercy was transformed for his visit. All of the security guards were in attendance wearing all black. The black BMW displaying an American flag arrived accompanied by 2 Thai police officers in the in front of the car and behind and the show began. For the next 60 minutes Eric and his wife were shown around Mercy accompanied by a big following of Mercy PR and embassy staff. I’m sure you are all wondering “what does the ambassador do?” I asked myself the same question and found out that he works at the American Embassy and is in contact with Washington. His focus is Thailand and US relations. He visit to Mercy doesn’t really mean that much except for the press that his visit brings. When I left I was thinking…..that was a lot of hype for nothing. Anyways, it was interesting experience. The best part of it was seeing all the staff dressed up.

Today while we were doing our laundry, Si Jie saw two of the boys in an interesting exchange. Si Jie was sitting and talking to one of the boys in the sleeping room. Two of the boys entered the room, walked over to their bed. One of them reached under his pillow and grabbed his favourite toy. The other boy reached into his pocket, pulled out 50 baht and they exchanged the money and toy. Funny to think that at this age they already know about the importance of trade and the value of money and goods. Questions like, where did the one little boy get the money or what will the other boy do with the money, probably will never be answered but it is funny to contemplate.

Other story that made me laugh when I heard it was a story about some kindergartens and their discussion of rice. Everyone here in Asian is aware and is concerned about the increasing price of rice and that does exclude young children. Si Jie overheard two children discussing the increasing price of rice the other day at the kindergarten.
“Do you know that the price has gone up?”
“Yeah I head it was 80 baht per kilo”
“No, its 90 baht per kilo”
Then one of them said to Si Jie, “Your plate is not clean, you have to eat all of it because the price has gone up”

Imagine it, a few 4 and 5 years old discussing inflation and the increase of goods. Why wouldn’t they? It affects them everyday. Rice is a critical element to the Thai and Asian diet. The increasing price of rice and oil is an ongoing problem for this developing country. During our time, we have seen numerous price increases such as our daily transportation and local street vendor food prices. We have seen and experienced the effects of the global market on the poor of Thailand.

On Saturday evening we went to the World Music Festival to see some of the Mercy girls perform a Thai dance. Five of the eight girls were students of ours. Lek, Boong, Dew, Cherie and Rose performed a traditional Thai dance for the festival. They looked beautiful and I was so proud of them. During their performance it began raining and they kept smiling though it all. Although, it was only a bit of rain, their smiling faces reminded me of how resilient these girls are. I know that each one of those girls has a story where they have faced unimaginable challenges and yet they have pressed on. Their strength and beauty filled that smile. They are so young and so full of life. They have dreams for the future and although I don’t know the exact details of their past I can say without a doubt that these girls are strong and resilient and that can achieve great things if they put their mind to it.

Sending love from Thailand,

Misty