One of the coolest cultural experiences I've had

was being invited to my friends' father's Mecca party last weekend.

Dah and New are my massueses in the moo baan where i live. They happen to be Thai Muslim, which is not very common in the Land of Smiles, where 98% of the people are Buddhist. They not only invited me to their father's party on Sunday, but they invited me to come to spend the night with them on Saturday night before the party. I was a little bit apprehensive, but for the most part, just curious. I admit I know nothing of the Muslim religion, other than they worship Allah and they have some of the same Biblical characters thanks to Sarah and Hagar. I figure my life here is to experience things that I would never experience at home, experiences to stretch me and push me out of my comfort area....

I arrived on Saturday night with my camera and my backpack and immediately met her family. Her mother and father have had 9 children, spanning quite the age range, so there are many grandchildren and family members running around. I helped the women on the big, flat bamboo porch, sitting criss cross cutting massive amounts of vegetables for the various stews and curries for the next day. I chatted as much as I could in Thai, as no one really spoke English, but one of her uncles. I smoked a Hookah pipe, don't worry, it was just a flavored tobacco product, a sour apple flavor, but it's like a cigar, you just puff it but don't inhale...(hmmm i sound like a former president....) This is what a Hookah pipe looks like.



The men at this time were stoking up about 5 huge fires to put extremely large cast iron pots on to cook the various stews and curries. It smelled wonderful and it cooked all through the night.

Speaking of night, that night I slept in the "great room" with everyone else. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and then it was New, Me Dah and her father. I still don't know where her mother was this whole time. But everyone just slept on the floor on huge rugs. I was actually quite comfortable and had a good night's sleep.

The next day we had a very fun time, we were the only white people there, and we ate very delicious food. I am proud to say I helped chop the carrots and onions for some different stews and the Massiman curry was the best Massiman curry I've ever had!

Here are some pictures from my adventure in Min Buri with Dah and New's wonderful family:








This is our little trek over the rice fields....my friend Heidi and her two kiddos Parker and Bella.


One final picture of Dah and New's guests from Moo Baan Summakorn. It was a wonderful day!