Katie and Nicole . . .Thailand 2007/2008

Colleen C. Barrett:

"When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers."

This is the second quote I read when I searched on Google to find a quotation about 'work.' I thought it was hilariously perfect for the work that we are currently doing at Pun Pun, and heh, the person quoted shares my last name. Fun fun fun. Quickly, I am learning that what the quotation says is true! Not only are bricklayers equally or more important than architects, but you can easily be both. The last couple weeks at Pun Pun have been so empowering, as we have been building and helping design a large meditation/ meeting hall. We are using earthen bricks, made from dried mud that we (and some other hired workers) dug from nearby pits. They become very hard and heavy and we have had many days of sweaty work getting the building up. We started by building the foundation around the edge of the building. We mixed cement, (the only yucky material) sand, rock and water to make the material and then used interesting techniques to spread the concrete around the border of the building. Katie just interrupted me to let me know that she wrote about all this stuff already so.....I'm not gonna go into all these crazy building details! Just read her blog called "Life is Good" When we return home, maybe we'll give a big, fat workshop and teach you everything in detail if you so desire! Basically, for me, I have had a wonderful time and now realize that truly, almost ANYONE can build their own home. You don't have to be a fancy genius, or a carpenter or whatnot. We can just do it!

So, the holidays are coming to a close as we approach the festivities of New Year's Eve tonight. We are excited for the costume party happening at the farm, but we are also a bit burnt out of huge group activities. Currently, we are in Chiang Mai where we have stayed for the last 2 nights to get a little break from the crowd. We do enjoy the other folks at the farm, but sometimes it can become a Western bubble, where we only speak English and rarely hang out with Thais. It is good to come to the city and be around Thais and be able to practice the language too. Katie and I are alike in that we both thrive in the country (rural setting) but appreciate the bustling fun of city life too. We head back in a few hours and will have to start sewing our banana-leaf outfits for tonight...? We don't know what to wear to the costume par-tay!

I just booked a gig at a NGO bar in Chiang Mai called Sudsanan where many Thais and a few farang hang out for later in January! It is so funny to think of playing a real gig here, where I am amplified and everything. It should be a blast, and I hope I sell a few cds! I plan on doing originals, but if I am pressured I will be willing to do some Carpenters, Eagles or Bob Marley. It's what they want!

My health is feeling much better, although I do not feel perfect. Thankfully, I think the bug from my food poisoning may be completely gone. I try to take it easy when I need to and take plenty of breaks while working. I am a bit afraid of chai yen (thai iced tea) now, but I hope to overcome my fears!

I wish I had more time to write and edit and all that jazz, but we've gotta go catch a truck to Pun Pun soon! Please keep in touch, comment on our blog, write us emails, whatever! We miss you all and think of you fondly.

Hope this coming year, 2008 if full of

adventure
hope
creativity
joy
learning
peace
fun
compassion
LOVE!!!!!!!!!

Many hugs and kisses! Chok dee! (Good luck)

nicole sangsuree

It has been about two weeks since my last entry (besides "happy holidays") and I find myself at that place again where I'm not exactly sure where to begin. If I could write daliy there might be more ease to this but I have neither the access or the desire to be on the computer quite that often. So here goes . . .

Life is good. The other day I found myself walking barefoot down the dirt path to the bathroom from the kitchen/community space. It seems like a simple enough task, walking to the bathroom, but it dawned on me suddenly as I was enjoying the feel of the soil under my feet and the warm sun on my skin, I am in Thailand. I am living in Thailand, in a farming community where I spend my mornings and afternoons building with the earth, tending to the many gardens, and building a new relationship with the land. It was a profound moment in which I felt deeply how blessed I am.

The work here continues to be rewarding and when I water the gardens in the evenings I am constantly amazed at how quickly things grow here. They have no lack of enery from the sun! The weather has been getting hotter and hotter by the day (although the nights remain quite cool) and as the main focus of our work has shifted from farming to building it has made for some HOT, tiring days of hard labor.

Our hard work, however, has proven to be worth it as we have seen how quickly one can build with adobe. With over 1000 bricks already made and dried in the sun we recently began constructing the walls of the meditation/community center we are building. In about 5 days we were able to lay a concrete foundation (nessesary only because of a termite problem in this area) and stack walls about 10 feet high. The construction of many vaulted windows slowed us down a bit, but proved to be a fun challenge. Once the walls are completed our next task will be to plaster and paint (using materials from the earth) which should be a nice change of pace. (Some folks have emailed with questions about adobe. Nicole and I both would love to chat with anyone about it when we get home, and I also encourage you to google it a bit-- there is a long history of adobe building in many places throughout the world. It's very interesting.) I try to spend some of my free time here reading and talking to folks about other methods for growing food crops and building and will be excited to continue exploring and expiermenting when we get back home and am always eager to share and exchange knowledge with others.

Yesterday we had a field trip from the farm where we visited 3 other projects in the area that have a focus on any or all of the following: sustainability, self-sufficiency, earthen building, organic farming, and healing. It was a wonderful, but busy, day where we were able to see a diversity of approaches to living on and with the land. The first project we stopped at was based on the King's philosophy of integrated agricultural management for economic self-sufficiency (The King in Thailand is very into sustainability and has done much to promote his philosophy and offer trainnings that people might become self-sufficent as well as build a more localized economy). This project showcased many ponds for rasing both fish and frogs, poultry, and pigs whose pens were linked to a tank that utilized thier manure for producing methane gas. This methane fuels burners for cooking. Amazingly enough, 3 pigs can produce enough methane gas to cook 3 meals a day for 10 people! Our second stop was a healing center. This project was started by a thai couple who had farmed the land for many years using pestisides and chemical fertilzers. Eventually the man collapsed in the fields as a result of prolong pesticide exposure and they realized they couldn't continue this way. At this point they converted to an organic farm using a beautiful canal system for irrigation. At this point they decided to grow food only for themselves (not for market). They proved sucessful and slowly grew into a healing center where people can now come for treatments or for trainings to be healers. It was an incredibly beautiful picture of alternative health care. Our third stop was an artist residence where folks come to stay for a month at a time to work on projects that culminate in a big show. This project included earthen buildings that used various methods including adobe, and earth bag construction as wells as unique artists' touches.

Today we are in Chiang Mai again for a short break and will be back to the farm for a New Years party. As always it is nice to take a quick jaunt to the city for a soft bed, warm shower, and a little internet time to catch up with folks . Today we were lucky enough to randomly come apon this huge breakdance battle. Yes, a breakdance battle and a pretty serious one at that-- prizes totaled over 10,000 baht (about 300 US dollars). Nicole urged me to sign up, but I didn't have the confidence and I wasn't sure if the novelty of being the only white person in the competition would be an advantage or a disadvantage . I did however think of Tyler who could have faired pretty well in the competition! Needless to say, it was a fun suprise. Much love to all . . .

Katie

The holidays found us missing home a bit, but the fun at PunPun was a welcome distraction. Christmas Eve was a mellow day spent relaxing and working on crafting our secret santa gifts. Nicole crafted beautiful bamboo cups painted with cherry blossoms for one of the other interns while Katie watercolored a childrens' book for one of the little ones at the farm (3 year old Tahn). Some of the interns worked on decorating the Sala (the outdoor covered community area where we eat our meals and relax). A christmas tree was created around one of the pillars using large banana leaves, and garlands were strung using red and green leaves collected from around the farm. The rest of us (including Katie) spent the afternoon at choir practice where our choir director (Nicole) taught us several christmas songs with 2 and 3 part harmonies-- we sounded amazing. (Nicole would also like to mention that she made the choir wear green and red only and they looked beatiful!) Katie was especially please that the set included a candlelit version of Silent Night followed by a booming rendition of Joy to the World (just like the Christmas Eve service at the church she grew up in). Nicole was a wonderful director and the other interns are now begging to continue choir practices even after the holidays.

All our practicing was in anticipation of our evening celebration. Pi Jeni, one of the men that lives at PunPun, invited all the folks from his nearby village to come celebrate with us on Christmas Eve (they are a Christian village). They arrived in the evening with the children in traditional hill tribe dress to sing to us. They sang beautifully and the children performed many songs with very cute choreography. When they had finished, we followed with our choir. It was a beautiful exchange. Afterwords, they returned to thier village for thier next performance, and we broke out the rice wine we had made about two weeks prior. It was tasty, and potent!--making for a great party. We can't wait to make some wine for you all when we get home (wine making skills are a must for self-sufficency

We awoke Christmas morning to a breakfast of cinnamon rolls prepared by one of the other interns. They were Sooooo delicous we stuffed ourselves sick! We frantically finished up our Secret Santa gifts and then got to the cooking! Many of the interns had signed up to make various dishes for Christmas dinner, and of course we were included! We prepared some stuffed pork pastry things (hard to explain, but so yummy)- we made dough from scratch and seasoned up some ground pork with fresh herbs from the garden...they were a hit! We enjoyed an evening spread of mashed potatoes, Irish nut loaf, mushroom gravy, stuffing, brown rice, mussaman curry, pumpkin casserole, phad thai, big salads and many desserts (gingerbread cookies, an adobe gingerbread house, brownies with banana ice cream and fruitcake). HOOWEE! We were living high on a hog, as Nicole's Grandpa Don would put it. We did a White Elephant Gift exchange which was fun but exhausting (30 people playing). Luckily, Nicole ended up with a nice scarf rather than one of the wacky gag gifts (Katie didn't play).

After that, we had a long period of exchanging our Secret Santa gifts. All was fun until it was realized that some people who had agreed to participate ended up not making gifts so two people were totally left out. One was Pe Yao (a Thai woman) and dammit, one was Katie. Nicole is writing this chunk and she wants to let everyone know that Katie handled it all so wonderfully and maturely, it was very impressive. At the end of the exchange, the energy kind of fizzled as it was realized that Katie, who had spent hours crafting her gift, was offered nothing. What a crock. It isn't that we are greedy and materialistic. It is that everyone else had been thinking of someone special for the weeks leading up, crafting and leaving nic-nacs. And it is sad to realize that no one was thinking and scheming for you. Later, one of the interns, Tai, snuck in our house and left her a wrapped fancy bar of soap so that was kind. Also, the next day, we came up to our building site and realized that some mystery person had written a huge message on the land with adobe bricks that spelled out "WE LOVE KATIE!" That made her feel better as well. My advice to those who run Secret Santa games: Make sure everyone who signs up understands what they're doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We still enjoyed Christmas nonetheless and hope that everyone at home was able to spend quality time with loved ones. Have a safe a lovely New Year's Eve! We'll be thinking of you all as we step into the next wonder-filled and exciting year of our lives.

Loads of Love and Good Cheer,
Katie and Nicole

I already told you all about the work aspect of Pun Pun so far, but I haven't mentioned much about the social aspect of living communally. Let me just say that nothing is better than the SINGING!!!!!! There are many other folks here who play instruments and love music, but there are a few who LOVE to sing sing sing. We sing while we're gardening, sing while we're hiking, sing late at night by candlelight, sing after breakfast...We teach each other simple folk songs and rounds and truly have such a blast sharing in the music. I think I want to start getting up really early with a group of folks and sing at the sunrise (meditation is OK for me, but music really gets me that kind of a state easiest). One night, after we threw a dance party for one of the intern's bdays, I invited everyone back to our mudhouse for singing and candlelight. We had a beautiful evening of singing and sharing and harmonizing and passing the guitar around until 2 am when all the candles had burnt out. Those moments are to me, heavenly.

There are ten other interns at Pun Pun and about ten other folks who are permanent or semi-permanent (Thai and farang (foreigner)) around the farm. It is so wonderful to have people who are of a variety of ages. There are three young boys who currently live there, and it fun playing with them and trying to discipline them in our limited Thai. Each person at Pun Pun has so much to offer, and we've already set up a system of giving workshops on random skills that we have. There are many aspects of this place that make it feel like an Adult Summer Camp (in a good way, I LOVED camp). We've had many evenings filled with random games that we have made up, my favorites being Blind Contour Drawing (drawing people without looking at your paper or picking up your pen)

and 5-Line Poetry (where 5 different people write 1 line each to a poem). I am a game freak and doing all these artsy things with all these creative people is so much fun! Katie and I packed plenty of art supplies (and have bought some) so we are always prepared to express ourselves.

Somehow, even though we have a 2+ hour break every day, I don't seem to have enough time to do everything I want. Doing laundry, sweeping our house or taking naps often fills up our breaks. And of course, we are often sucked into interesting conversations that we find difficulty pulling ourselves from. There is a reservoir close to Pun Pun, and Katie and I have only gone swimming ONCE!! It was so refreshing, and I wish we prioritized doing it every day. On the walk back from the reservoir, there is a freezing and extremely powerful little waterfall. Some other interns have been going quite frequently to it and practicing a little primal scream therapy (you can scream and yell under the flow of the waterfall and no one can hear you very well, including yourself). I went in for awhile and enjoyed the intense pulse of the water on my body. I felt so alive and rejuvenated, although my shorts and tanktop were pushed almost completely off me by the water! ha

My Thai is getting better! Yay! We have a lesson every morning and are learning valuable conversational skills. I mostly practice it with the Thai folks on the farm or when I'm in the city (ordering food and such). I am so happy to be here speaking with and living with Thai people. I'm no expert yet, but I am definitely getting better every day. Katie is very diligent at practicing and is improving all the time.

So, Christmas is coming up in just a few days although I often forget this fact. We did a Secret Santa drawing a few days back and are each going to make a present for a fellow community member. We are going to have a big celebration for Christmas and neighboring villagers (some are Christian) are going to come by in their traditional clothing and sing to us. It should be a sweet time and hopefully will keep us all from getting too homesick. I love holidays for the good mood-giving-lovey-dovey-music side of it all, but I am also disgusted and overwhelmed by the greed, stress and consumerism that has infested it all. Therefore, I am both happy and sad to be away from home at the moment. I miss the caroling and the mashed potatoes, but I don't miss reading about people getting stomped to death at Walmart while trying to get the last DVD player on sale. Ew.

Currently, I am in Chiang Mai where I have been for 4 nights. We got a three day vacation so we decided to come into the "big" city, but we ended up having a four day vacation instead, if you can call it that. The trip began amazingly. We had a restful first evening and great food. Then the next day, we enjoyed ourselves for many hours at a spa and sauna where we frolicked around in mud masks and sarongs, drinking tea and sweating off our dirt. It was so relaxing. I LOVE to feeling of being in a hot, hot sauna breathing in lemongrass and other herbs, and I think it helps my allergies. Yay! Afterwards, we went to a clinic that is all blind masseuses and had some rubdowns (my first Thai massage since I've been here-good, but she could have been a little rougher!) The next day is where the problem began. It stared off fine enough, Katie and I wandered around shopping and things and then we went to The Chiang Mai University Art Museum to see the exhibits. The photos and paintings we saw were breathtaking, but I couldn't shake the feeling of a slightly rotten stomach. Finally, after a few hours I couldn't take it anymore and began to have intense symptoms of food poisoning. We were at the ballet school (connected to the art museum) and I spent quite a bit of time throwing up in the bathroom, hoping the little ballerinas wouldn't hear me while they were changing into their leotards! Finally, I was OK enough to jump back on a truck to our guesthouse where I spent the next day and a half being sick and sleeping when I could. Thank God Katie was patient enough to take care of me in my sick-zombie-like state. What a gem! We had shared all the same food, except for a stupid CHAI YEN (Thai iced tea) that I got at a market. It must have been the culprit, because a Thai lady told me that sometimes they leave the tea sitting out too long. wah. I have never had such a terrible experience with my tummy. I am feeling much better today, although achy, and am almost ready to eat solid foods again! Yippeee. Sorry if it's too much information for some of you, but that's life, eh?

We're heading back to the farm in a few hours and am not sure when we'll write again. I hope you are all enjoying your holidays, and not getting too stressed! I am thinking of you all and wish you a happy winter solstice, merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that Jazz! Remember that you can always send us letters (or care packages-wink wink) for the next month at Pun Pun PO Box 5 Mae Taeng, Chian Mai 50150 Thailand
Also, if you're still looking for gifts for anyone, I think the latest CD by Sangsuree is a good option.
heh heh---always marketing for myself... (But really, you can get my new cd at www.cdbaby.com).

Above is a pic of Katie and I on a big holiday recently: The King's 80th Birthday! We wore shirts in his honor. My mom better be proud!

I miss you so much and hope everyone is healthy and well. Eat some thumbprint cookies for me.

Healing and Happy,
Nicole

This weekend marks the end of both our third week at Pun Pun and our 1st month in Thailand. After a month away I am truly beginning to miss family and friends at home-- especially Tyler (for anyone who doesn't know he's my twin). Somehow my daily adventure's here remind me of our adventures together as kids: all the exploring, creating, building . . . all the mud. He would love it here!

During our 3rd week at Pun Pun we continued our work in the fields while we increased our time in the kitchen. We had an amazing Thai cooking class where we learned how to make curry from scratch, Tom Kha soup, and a desert made with coconut milk and pumpkin. Delicious! Cooking is a much needed new skill for me (my previous specialties include fried eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and cream tuna on toast . . . bad). We also had a lesson on food products where we learned how to make soymilk and tofu. So fun and easy. . . can't wait to teach you.

Other highlights of the week: making more bricks (playing in the mud), thai massage lesson, learning about natural medicine, Nicole cutting my hair (it was getting way too hot during the day to have that mop in my face and I kept sweeping my bangs to the side like a bad comb over), swimming at the reservoir ( it is a 10 minute walk from the farm), Dance party for one of the interns birthdays. . . . . . . .

Currently we are on a 3 day break from our internship and are spending time in Chiang Mai. Yesterday we had the luxury of spending a day at this amazing spa. 10 of us interns went together to get a package deal that included a 4 hour private session at the spa with 2 herbal steam saunas, amazing exfoliating scrubs, facial masks, fresh fruit, and tea. We spent the day in and out of the sauna applying scrubs and masks and relaxing. After the spa several of us had 1 hour thai massages. Ooh wee. After spending the last three weeks farming and making bricks from mud with only pond water to bathe with, I felt like I had never been cleaner! Speaking of cleanliness . . . Three weeks of hand washing my clothes has helped me disprove my previous underwear theory: the more the better. It turns out that it is much easier to do small frequent batches of laundry rather than wash and hang dry 20 pairs of underwear. I stand corrected.

It has been such a joy to be in Thailand with Nicole: to see bits and pieces of her roots, to learn about her history, to know her better. She is so brave and brilliant when speaking to Thai people. She has been such a wonderful leader; getting us around, ordering food, finding us places to stay. . . It has also been amazing for us to be at Pun Pun together. We have this oppourtunity to learn so much that we can take back home with us to strengthen our lives as individuals and together as partners. We are so blessed to be here . . . we are so blessed to have eachother.