Rice Soup

The photo above was taken from our balcony one showery afternoon earlier this month. Wat Suan Dok has two temples where the Buddhas reside- a smaller older one and a massive structure that you saw behind the monks in an earlier blog. Both date back to the 1300s. There are also learning centers and classrooms, administrative buildings, dormitories- there are hundreds of monks living at the wat, and community centers. Like most other wats it is a cultural and social hub as well- there is a lot going on there!

Awhile back there was an event devoted to students young and old. For days before the monks were busy putting up displays and constructing bamboo and thatched roof huts for hands-on learning. On the day of the event the temple grounds was a sea of students- all dressed in colorful traditional tribal clothing- It was quite the spectacle! And along with the students and teachers came dozens of vendors selling everything from school supplies to arts and crafts, religious artifacts to rice soup.

The two young children- brother and sister I think, came with one of the food vendors, probably their mother, but just as possibly an auntie or older sister. Children are a shared responsibility and blessing in Thai culture. She had a small mobile stand and was selling something that looked like thick rice soup. Usually it's made with a base of chicken broth, fried garlic, spring onions, a parsley-like herb and assorted chicken parts. The Thais call it khao tom kai- boiled rice with chicken, and it's a morning staple much like oatmeal or cream of wheat might be for us properly raised New Englanders!

Occasionally khao tom kai has other ingredients as well- little grubs or worms! I think they are the same critters that found their way into the brown rice and wheat grain we used to store on our shelves in pickle jars. When we rinsed the rice most of them would float to the top to be skimmed off, and the few that made it through.. extra protein we liked to say.

But here rinsing may or may not happen, and some rice grains- the fat curly ones with little maggoty faces, can often be found mixed in with the rice soup! The adults just scarf them down- there are far worse things in the chicken, but it's obviously an acquired taste, and one these kids didn't have yet!

The little girl, older and wiser perhaps, started checking her bowl as soon as her mother gave it to her, but the boy found a place to sit and just started digging in. While she was checking her rice she kept looking over at her brother as he shoveled it in.. just have to wonder what she was thinking. Meanwhile the boy had stopped eating and started picking- not good!

They finally caught me taking pictures of them..

As Julia would say.. "Bon appetit" everyone!

Traditional Thai Massage- Duong's Class

Well I've put together a set of 20 pics to share- from Doung's massage class last October. Wanted to try something with more photos and less text and see how it looked and felt.

One unpleasant surprise with this blog was how the layout appears here. When I'm setting up a blog there is a "preview" tab where I can see what the finished products will look like on the blog page. For example this text I'm writing now appears to the left of the class picture. It is what I thought I would be seeing on the blog. But when I posted the blog- as you can see, the picture is centered and this text appears underneath. This happens in other parts of the blog too and the result is hanging words, split sentences, truncated paragraphs and different sized text. The Catholic school grammar part of me is less than pleased and aesthetically it looks sloppy now. But rather than mess with it forever I'm going to let it ride and try to get it better on the next one. Even with the glitches it is still exciting and very satisfying to be doing this!

I checked Wikipedia and asked Duong about Thai traditional massage.. It's said to have originated over 2500 years ago with Buddhas' physician, but as it's practiced today it's an 1800s blend of many healing traditions from India, China and other SE Asian cultures. The Thais call it nuat phaen boran or ancient manner massage.

Much of it involves deep massage and stretching- many yoga postures, and it works along meridians or "sen" lines which supposedly transfer energy. It is both highly specialized and greatly respected here- and the professional masseuses and masseurs are also held in high regard. As I mentioned in the last blog Duong's class was for three hours, five days a week for ten weeks- 150 hours just to get basic certification! And the training progresses from there.

There is so much press about the sex industry here and "Thai massage parlors" are of course a part of it. In many places what is available behind closed doors or drawn curtains is pretty much up to the person doing the "massage" and the customer- and some of these places openly cater to the tourists. But while the "falang" (foreign) sex tourists get all the attention- "Keep them coming" as they say in the business, the fact is that more than 95% of the sex trade is patronized by Thais and other Asians- they own it, control it, and overwhelmingly support it. Falangs are just convenient window dressing.

But the other side of the massage profession- the one that Duong's class is part of, gets little attention because it isn't sensationalized. No press will ever be given to the hundreds of Thais doing foot massage on the Sunday walking street, doing traditional massage in their homes or working in the many small spas around Chiang Mai.. yet these are the ones most familiar to the majority of average Thais.

There were no falangs, only Thais in Duong's class, mostly women, maybe eight men, and the students' ages ranged from the early twenties and up- one woman may have been in her sixties. A few seemed to be therapists, nurses or other healers but others looked as if they could have been students, employees, or parents. Some, like Duong, had good paying jobs when they were younger, but married, had children, were now recently divorced or separated- and trying to find ways to support themselves and their families. Most, I think, were there because they wanted to learn a skill to help them generate more income- so much of the work in Thailand is low paying, menial or mind-numbing.

But even with the skill, certification, and the good fortune to be able to find employment, most might be able to earn 400-500Bt a day at best. When she was doing foot massage at the walking street on Sundays, Duong might get to do three maybe four massages- either one half hour, one hour or rarely, a two hour Thai massage, in a twelve hour day. She got half of what the customer paid (120Bt/hour) or 60Bt. So a good day might be 4-5 hours of actual work- about 240-300Bt, the equivalent of $8-$10.

A two hour traditional massage usually starts starts at the feet with a lot of attention given to the soles of the foot and toes. The work then progress north, first one leg and then the other- ankles, calves and shins, then the muscles of the upper legs and buttocks (Another reason for being here- you haven't lived until you've had your back and butt kneaded and walked on for ten sinful minutes!). From the back and shoulders the work progresses down the arms- plenty of time on each one, wrists and hands- which also get a lot of attention. Back and neck twists are optional.. I still don't feel comfortable having anyone wrenching my spine first one way and then the other! Finally the neck, head and face get their due- a mixed blessing because I never want these things to end!

The one hour massages focus more on the legs and much less so on the upper body. Unless I knew the masseuse I always opted for the one hour. My legs liked the attention because of running, hiking and biking, and if the person was good then I would return for two hours the next time. This was pre-Duong of course!

During her community class it was interesting to see how the different students adjusted both the focus and strength of their massages for different people. Duong has very strong hands and can really dig with her fingers but with older people she did a lot more stroking. Others used their elbows, forearms and especially their feet to apply more pressure, especially if the person was heavily muscled or stocky. It feels like they are working on just muscles but underlying traditional massage is an awareness of meridians or energy lines flowing through the body- and it is along these lines, clearing knots and blocks as it goes, that the massage progresses.

Sometimes when Duong is working on me I'm not sure if the pain is worth the gain. Moving around the massage area I saw that I wasn't the only one. There were more than a few grunts and grimaces but I never saw anyone actually stop what was being done. The body language was always pretty clear and the students quick to respond. Usually someone would say easier, or harder, or that feels great or "There!"

When I was living in Bangkok I just dropped into a place one time and they assigned an older woman to me. She was very strong and very thorough- "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" but she sang to me- Thai love songs we assume, for the entire hour! I crawled out of there but I was smiling!

And it wasn't only hands and feet that

held my attention. I'm not sure if it

was because of the connections that

were being made, or maybe just the

specialness of the day, but there were

so many beautiful faces- men and women

alike, that I had to keep from staring-

very rude in Thai culture.

Because the area was so "busy"- distracting backgrounds, lots of movement, backlighting that made good exposures difficult (I've yet to get flash to consistently work for me), other things too.. many of the shots didn't take that well.

But some I am so pleased with..

I like this shot of Duong.. carrying a conversation with her friend while doing footwork on the man. When I asked her about it her only comment was "He was very strong."

It was such a wonderful gathering of people- the village elders- many with canes or walkers, the young and out of control, Duong's beautiful massage class, the professionals who did medical checkups, community people who brought food and set up the site, the many others who just came to watch and socialize.

It was more than a fine day..

..it was a Thai blessing.

Two favorites of Duong..

Thai blessings everyone!

More about Duong

On Sunday afternoon and evenings Chiang Mai closes off a section of the inner city to vehicles and provides space- at a price of course, for vendors to set up stalls and sell local crafts, food and just about everything else you can think of. It's interesting, colorful and bustling, and by sunset is crowded with both Thais and tourists. It's a great way to spend a few hours rubbing shoulders, finding a bargain or two, listening to street music and doing some serious people watching!

One Sunday afternoon last August I rode my bike into town to have a look around

the walking street. We had done a long run in the mountains the day before, and

when I saw an area set up under a canopy for Thai massage, the opportunity to ease

back into a soft lounger and have my sore legs worked on was too good to pass up.

There are maybe a half dozen massage areas scattered around the walking street. You can opt for a "traditional Thai massage", foot massage, or just have your head and shoulders worked on. All of it feels wonderful! The prices are standardized- at 50Baht (about $1.50) for a half hour or 100Baht for an hour. Lay back, put your feet up, inhale the scent of the oil as it soaks in, watch the crowds as they parade by or close your eyes.. it's hard to go wrong.

So I went over, said I was interested in a one hour foot massage, and the person in charge pointed me to a lounger and sent.. Duong over! Well she was very good, easy to talk with, and very easy to watch. She told me that she did massage from 10 A.M. to 11 P.M. every Sunday, that she was 49, that she had been separated from her husband for two years and that she had a son "Um" who was in his first year at Chiang Mai University. At the end of the hour I asked her if I could call her, and later I did something I hadn't done in years.. after lots of stalling I actually called her! We met a few days later for lunch, spent another afternoon wandering around the gardens at the Chiang Mai Horticultural Center, did some hiking in the mountains nearby.. and have been pretty much together since.

At the time I met her she was also taking a ten week course- evenings five days a week from six to nine, to become certified in Traditional Thai massage. She is very skilled, just seems to know where to go and what to do, and by the end of the course she was co-teaching it with the instructor! And yes, it was a burden to always have to help her with her "homework!"

At the end of the ten weeks her classes' graduation took the form of a free all day massage event on the town green in a rural village. Duong asked me if I would like to go and I brought my camera along. When we got there at 8 A.M. villagers were already putting up food tables, and others were busy setting up the massage area- laying down the mats and headrests. I had met a few of her class-mates before but I was still surprised when so many of them come over to me to say "Sawadee" or introduce themselves. I was surprised also to see a few men in the class.

In addition to the class, a team of nurses had set up a station to take villagers' blood pressure and to do checkups. It was obviously a well planned and important community event- especially for the elderly. I was the only "farang" (foreigner) there but everyone was friendly or receptive even when I was taking pictures- Duong is on the right in the one above. I was able to move around and took lots of shots but of course I was mostly interested in Duong. It was the first time I had actually seen her working with people and it was amazing to see the connection she established with them- and how she adjusted to different body types and ages.

And I found myself watching her hands- much like that first time I met her. She was working with an old woman wearing a denim shirt favored by many of the rural Thais, and while one hand was massaging or probing the other would be resting reassuringly on the woman's hip or back or shoulder. It was beautiful to see.

The entire day turned out to be very special. After awhile I stopped taking pics and just moved around so I could watch other students at work. Most of them, including Duong, probably did three to six massages- 1-2 hours each. Many of them were also skilled at making a "connection"- either through eye contact or touch, or both. I loved seeing the old men and women come in and be fussed over and comforted and respected- Thais have that down pretty well!

And for an entire day, in a small Thai village far from Vermont or Cape Cod, I was "Duong's boyfriend." Who would have ever thought!

So I'm still working at getting the pics where I want them and getting the text to wrap where I want it.. I'm not sure how it will go if I try to upload any more pics from the massage class, so I'll save them for the next blurb and see how more pics and fewer words works.

Hugs all! Bob