Thailand continued-getting to Nayao

Now I know it's been quite some time since I've worked on my tales of Thailand (hm, that's catchy), but have some time today and wanted to continue on. I've organized my pictures, and find this task to be much less daunting now.

So, we left off at Chachengsao. Directly after this was more driving to an increasingly rural world. Here is my very first view of the village that would be my home for the next three weeks.

Doesn't look like much, but it was actually really neat. Everything just moved slowly, and everyone stared at us all the time. We are so different than anything they encounter on even a yearly basis. While at the weekly farmer's market later that week, a lady came up and touched my arm-smiling and saying something in Thai. The translation was that I was the first American she had ever seen.



After a brief stop, we drive straight to the school, not far from the main village.














The main sign, I'm assuming, says that it is the Nayao High School built by the Princess. Next to that is a great view of the primary building. Upon arrival, we were given a tour of the grounds, and then a more extensive one the next morning. I'll combine that here.

We were greeted with a sign on our door that translates into "We love our King" and a welcoming party! All the teachers were there for the occasion. There was a ton of food, and a very excited atmosphere. When I asked what all this was for, they replied that it was a special day because we had arrived. I feel very lucky that we were placed in this school. I will never forget the first taste of traditional food and the karaoke. We even got up and sang an Elvis Presley song. They stayed up long after we did, singing into the night with the dogs howling along with them.

As I may have mentioned, this school is completely self-sustainable, and grows it's own food for the students that are there. They sell any surplus for profit to benefit the school. There are rice fields, fish ponds, water reservoirs and a botanical garden. These are all in place to follow the New Theory of the King. Look for the "natural principle" under that link for more information.

This is a picture of the sketch that hangs just outside the house we COULD have stayed in (with AC, and newly built) but chose to live with the other teachers instead. I'm glad we did things the way we did. It was very welcoming to stay where all the other women are, and to see what it is like for them everyday. In a way, it almost feels like my situation teaching at camp, where I live with many of the people that I teach with each day, and keep active with them at night as well. I felt I could relate.




The rice field grows much faster than I would have imagined. Here is a before and after shot. The first week we were there, it was being plowed and prepared, and the final week, it already looked like this!
















I found the chicken coop and the vegetable garden to be rather nice.














My personal favorite look is the chicken in back center. And note the woman working in the background of the garden. I can't imagine how overheated she must have been. I know I was just walking around.

All of these things are in place because the King believes that using your natural resources in a respectful way is the right way to go. And also because the Principal of the school is a huge advocate for these practices. He even follows them at his own home. Who is this great man?

The Principal, that is, not the king. What is his real name? I don't know, and even my translator didn't know after three years. We just called him Principal or Big Teacher. Here is a true hero of local proportions, but maybe he should be recognized world wide. This is a man who was once a border patrolman between Thailand and Burma. This area was so dangerous, that average teachers were not safe in the schools, so police, like our Principal here, were hired on to be armed teachers in the area. Now he must have done a pretty damn amazing job, because he was later recognized by the Princess herself while she was building his school, and was given the honor of being the Principal of Nayao. How do you turn something like that down? You don't, when Royalty asks you. It has been a great sacrafice since for the last ten years, he has been away from his wife, who lives on the border still in Kanchanaburi, 7 long hours away. Fortunately, his daughter is a teacher at the school and he gets back to see her often enough. More to come on this beautiful city, since we were invited to go on a weekend. We can all learn something from the dedication and hard work of this man.

The tour will be continued, along with more stories of the teaching and the weekend fun!