1st Week in Thailand "The Hmong Village"

Blogified Life
My return to Thailand… I was born on a refugee camp in Nong Kai, Thailand. I was 2 months old when my family left to live in Syracuse, NY U.S.A.

Here are my some of my goals:

· Find Paj Huam and Kwv Txhiaj (Traditional Hmong Poetry) artists within the villages and interview them.
· Find Hmong artists, musicians and interview them.
· Find Hmong Paj Ntaub artists and interview them.
· Explore the Hmong way of life in Thailand.
· Find and purchase a Da Jim CD. A Thai Hip Hop recording Artist that I dig.
· Find Thai B-boys (Breakdancing) dancing in action.
· Learn Kwv Txhiaj poems from my Aunt Joua.
· Write poetry and lyrics inspired by my experience.

Xiongpao Lee drove me and my grandma to the airport in Minneapolis. Thanks XP!

The flight was not too bad from MN to Tokyo, Japan to Bangkok, Thailand. It was a long flight but I had things to do and listen to. The Bangkok airport was frustrating because there was a lot of misunderstanding and we had to change our flight to Chiang Rai to be earlier. At the Bangkok Airport, I went to a music store and charged my computer, they did not sell any Thai Hip Hop, Da Jim CDs at the stores there but the people at the counter knew who he was. They said his CDs are sold in Bangkok. They also identified that I was a Hilltribe person after the Thai lady at the counter saw my business card from The Center for “Hmong” Arts and Talent. Her name is “Nat,” she is also a fan of Hip Hop and grew up in Chiang Rai.

Our first meal in Thailand was at the airport. We had Mango, sticky rice with coconut milk and Chicken Laab (grounded and spiced up meat). The Mango dish was recommended by my homey from Thailand now living in the U.S., Logan Moua AKA Low Low. It was deliciously appetizing. The mangos in Thailand are much juicier and soft.

When we landed in Chiang Rai we were picked up in a Toyota truck by a friend of the family that lived a few houses down from Aunt Joua. My grandma Youa Chang was reunited with her oldest daughter after 20 something years. I met my Aunt Joua, her middle son of 3, and two daughters for the first time ever. The drive from Chiang Rai to the village was an incredible sight. We drove on the left side of the road, with motorcycles, palm trees and Thai national flags everywhere. Drivers can pass by other vehicles by going into the oncoming traffic’s lane. We did that a lot. The village is almost an hour away from Chiang Rai. We drove up about 10 minutes to the mountain to the Hmong village. The road twisted and turned like a rollercoaster. The scenery was fantastic but I became dizzy.

There are dogs, chicken and cattle that are all around the Hmong people living in wooden and sometimes cement built houses. I didn’t understand if these animals were up for grabs or belonged to someone so I asked my cousin Pha. Pha replied that all of these chickens, dogs and cattle belonged to a family at each of these houses. All the animals can roam all over the place but they all know their home and come back to it at night.

I have been having trouble sleeping. It’s actually kind of cold up in the mountains and the time zone switch has been difficult to adjust to. Every morning we are woken up by roosters, but people learn to sleep through the crows. When a family is doing a Shamanic ceremony it is heard throughout that section of the village.

To take baths they have to boil the water first. The water comes from a fresh body of water near by. The bathroom is a whole section that I won’t get into now… it’s too intense and all cement .
The village leader makes announcements on a loud speaker at 6 in the morning and sometimes at night about changes with how they will get water, throw out trash and other things that may concern villagers. He also makes advertisements by playing music and announcing events.
We wake up early around 6am but go to sleep early when it gets dark around 7pm, 8pm.
This is not a vacation, it’s an exploration…

In the remote Hilltribe villages of Thailand, they do know what hamburgers are but they do not like to eat them at all and know how unhealthy they are. My brief take on the Burger King commercial that had Hill Tribe villagers trying Burgers for the first time is that yes it is exploitation and made the tribal folks out to not know too much but it was also seeing Hmong people on national television in such a way that I hope peeks the interest of young Hmong Americans to explore how we lived as Hill Tribes in the mountains and how much our people have struggled and are still in those conditions…

Just to clarify… the Thai electric outlets have been updated to be compatible with American plugs from my experience at the Thailand airport and at my relative’s home in the Hmong village.

I understand how important it is and a part of Hmong culture to eat together at the table. There are about 2-3 meals a day and consisted of a lot of green vegetables, a little meat (pork, chicken, beef) here and there. We eat consciously, in the sense of she was able to explain what each food does for our health and well being. She breaks down what every food we eat does to our health such as this vegetable improves this part of the body, this drink helps with stress and condition.

My aunt is the most powerful Drug Dealer in the village – to clarify a medicine woman. Since we arrived people were coming up to her door for medication of many types of ailments. Aunt Joua was a nurse in Laos that was mentored by a well known Hmong Medical Practitioner that was assassinated by evil spirits sent by people that were jealous because he was just too good at what he did. Most people in the village come to her for their health issues that range from stomach problems to depression. She uses natural plants, medication from Thai stores and spiritual healing.



Por Vue, the older brother is an overachiever that is dedicated to his education and works hard to pay for it although he cannot speak Hmong well any more since being immersed into Thai and now English languages. The middle brother does not care much for school at all, he stays at home, but he speaks Hmong very well and knows many aspects of Hmong culture, manners and way of life. Por attends a University near Bangkok that he works to pay for. Fresh Traditions (me and my grandma’s poetry performance collaboration) raises money and sends it to help pay for his education. We are looking for more gigs when we get back. Fresh Traditions in Hmong is: “Kev Cai Heev Tsiab”

Hmong Hill Tribe students have to pay for middle school and high school levels and many drop out because the family can’t afford it. Those that are able to graduate have to be top students and pay even more in college. They cannot depend on money from family so they have to work their way through college.

BRIEF BREAKDOWN OF MY EXPERIENCE

· Houses in the villages were built by the people that live there.
· Internet and (international) phone access are extremely limited and difficult to get going. So I cannot call and e-mail much… but I understand have become patient about it.
· High Waters are not a fashion statement here, it’s a necessity. I understand why. (High Waters – When pant legs are rolled up to the calves.)
· Most of the people in the village do not know Hip Hop and are not exposed it to. The most Hip Hop influence is in Bangkok.
· Most of the people in the village have seen B-boys (Breakdancing) but they c all it something different. It is pronounced “ca-lo-li” They do not have much access to it, just a glance on TV of Thai Breakers. So there are no Hmong Bboys or Bgirls in the village… yet.
· I learned how to hand wash my own clothes.
· My Hmong language is improving, but for some reason I am starting to speak broken English.
· The Hmong Culture is very romantic and most topics of conversation are about love, finding love, losing love, and being in love.
· It is true that there are a few Tribal homes in the village with Satellite dishes.

Life is simple. Not too much stress. Not much bills to pay and they only work to make money during a section of the year when they garden and harvest to sell to Thai people and other ethnic tribal people in Thailand. They live off of the money made during that season for the rest of the year. They make a little money during other parts of the year with restaurants, convenient stores, sewing story cloth and selling medicine.
So far so Fresh….

NEXT Blog.... meeting the artists of The Hmong villages in Thailand

Sorry I'm still getting used to doing this blog this and some of the instructions are in Thai... arrgh.