My afternoon with the monks, and other stories

Yesterday turned out to be a day of new experiences for me. The morning was normal enough--just a couple classes to teach.  They actually went well too.  Even my most difficult class (1.3) seemed to be understanding the material better than usual.  No paper airplanes today!

The real surprise came when Pee Neat invited me to go to the wat with her and the other English teachers.  It turns out that some monks were being ordained that afternoon and she was the sponsor of the ceremony (she contributed the money for it).  So we all set out to see the new monks.  We got to the temple and squeezed in.  This was difficult in the small space, but everyone found a spot.  Everyone giggled when the monks-to-be were presented: three of the seven were old!  This was a surprise, since most new monks are young--either boys or young men.  The giggling at these octogenerian monks continued throughout the ceremony.  At first it felt odd, but it actually was kind of amusing, particularly since some of the monks coordinating the ceremony would "baby" them--pull their robes into place, adjust their donation buckets, etc.  It was cute.

For those of you wondering about the "new" monks, it is very common for men to be monks at some point in their lives.  In speaking to teacher Jaran, he estimated that about 95% of the boys in his village were monks.  Most monks are ordained and live as a monk temporarily--a week, a month, 3 months, etc.  This often happens after high school, and pretty much always before marriage.  Hence the shock with 3 older monks.  The duration of monkhood varies, but it is seen as fulfilling your duty to your family and also preparing you for your life ahead.  Teacher Jaran told me that it is also believed that if a boy's parents die and he has been a monk, then he can escort their spirits to the afterlife.  So the time spent as a monk is very important in Thai society.  Teacher Jaran spent 1 month as a monk in his 20s, a few years before he got married.  Here is an interesting description of the life of a young monk.

The ceremony was quite long and my knees got tired...I am not used to sitting on the floor.  You also have to be careful to sit with your legs folded a certain way, since pointing your feet at Buddha is highly offensive.  Also, I didn't understand what was going on for most of it.  However, it turns out that nobody else did either--the ceremony is conducted in the ancient Bali language.  Regardless, it was enchanting to observe.

Outside the temple

The monks-to-be in their white clothes

Receiving their new orange robes

The abbot is in the center

Younger monks

The old monks

Collecting donations in the buckets

Teacher Jaran assisting the abbot

It was a beautiful ceremony and quite intriguing to watch.  I am so pleased that Pee Neat thought to include me--it was truly special.

The second experience of the afternoon was significantly less dignified.  So as I was walking to teach my 4/1 students about the scientific method, I saw a HUGE lizard on the wall.  I mean huge.  Apparently they call them geckos, and technically they are, but when I think of a gecko, I think of the little things that run over walls like in Florida (they have those too, by the way).  This thing was a freaking DINOSAUR by comparison.  Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a little bit...but it was big.  And me being me, I obviously had to try to catch it.  Which I did.  With all my students, Pee Mam, and Rhea watching.

VERY blurry pic--note the weird double-tail growth

The Tokay Gecko, the type I believe I encountered

Now since this was a big lizard, I wanted to go for behind the neck so I could pin the jaws--those suckers have strong jaws and bite pretty hard when given the chance.  Unfortunately it moved at the last second, I grabbed a bit behind the neck, and it wriggled out of my hands.  But not before activating its defense mechanism--detaching the tail.  Which left a large lizard tail thrashing and bleeding on the floor of the hallway.  And my students squealing.  And me just horrified.  Pee Mam kept saying "oh, it will grow back, don't worry."  This is true, but if the lizard encounters a real predator in the meantime, it will be totally screwed because it already lost it's tail to me!  I felt terrible about it...I just wanted to show it to my class.

The tail :(

Well, apparently most of my class saw me trying to catch it anyway.  It is so unusual for someone to do something like that...it seems that all the teachers think I am incredibly brave or something.  Rhea claims that most people around here are incredibly squeamish, the girls especially, so me going after the lizard like that was very unexpected.  I suspect everyone just thinks I am a freak job, but mai pen rai.  Regardless, it caused quite a stir at school.  As a walked around that afternoon, I was followed by chants of "gecko! Gecko!"  How embarrassing!  Hopefully it will die down after the vacation.

Anyway, that is all for now.  More adventures to follow, but hopefully no more humiliations for at least a few more days.  See you later!