What I am trying not to channel.
I am a creeper. I watch without an ounce of shame the family across the khlong (English: canal) from our apartment building.
Behind our building there runs a khlong with a little sidewalk along one side that mopeds fly down and pedestrians walk along. This activity alone is fascinating.
Like neighborhoods in the states the sidewalks are in front of little houses and buildings surrounded by lush vegetation (what is lush vegetation Americans might ask…think SUPER green not from sprinklers). The major differences from the states are the level of activity in the front yards and the trash in the water below the khlong sidewalks. (Neighborhood committees in the states would have heads on spikes for the trash in the water.)
Take that neighborhood committee!
While, in the states most activity is in the backyard behind high fences this family carries out most of their daily living in the front yard. They wash dishes, clothes, eat and lounge about in their front yard.
Jay and I have an apartment on the fourth floor of our building. So, our apartment provides a birds eye view into the front yard of this family’s home. This is how I get to observe their daily comings and goings.
(Initiate Beth’s creeper mode)
Haaaaaaaw.
The monks come early in the morning for offerings, the little girl goes off to school in her uniform, the grandmother comes out to wash dishes in their water barrel, the little girl returns home from school with a gaggle of girls and the father returns home on his moped which he pulls directly into the house. The father then comes back outside with the baby that he walks along the khlong sidewalk with sweetly kissing and caressing all the while.
Meanwhile, I am in awe four floors up watching them. Beth, thy name is Creeper.
Derp.
I love watching this family. It’s creepy and kind of rude of me but they are just so sweet. I am comforting myself with the idea that I am learning more about Thai culture just by observing their daily life in the front yard of their small house. I am not simply creeping. I am learning.
I tried not watching one day but my desk is so perfectly situated by the window and so perfectly situated to observe them I couldn’t help it. It also didn’t help that this particular day the grandmother decided to put on a kind of fashion show. At one point she was wearing a skirt and a blouse. She then went inside and came out wearing the long skirt as a full-length dress. She brought clothes to a little basin where she allowed them to soak, scrubbed them and then took the wrung out clothes back into the house. Each time she came back outside in a new outfit. Fascinating and she has a really nice sense of fashion if I do say so myself. You go, Grandma!
All in all, I am sure by Thai standards this family is doing nothing unusal but by my Texan (no use saying, American…see previous blog) standards they are better than television. In respect, to the family I am not going to post a picture of their front yard as tempting as it may be. No need to make you all creepers, too. Tis for your own sake. You’re welcome.
So, this post proves how much I need a job. I never thought I’d say it but I miss Starbucks. WAIT, I TAKE THAT BACK! I miss my friends from Starbucks, of course. What I miss is not Starbucks though. I miss having a job to go to every day. Without a job I become a creep. How unflattering.
