tea diaries ~~~~~ groooooovy

PATHOM ASOKE (part 1)

Yes, this is going to have to be in installments. ;) So much has happened in the last few days that merely looking at this blank little blogger posting box makes my head swim. When are we gonna get those Matrix brain-download interfaces?

Well first, the run-down:
Pathom Asoke is a sustainable Buddhist organic farming community about an hour outside of Bangkok. Like Thailand generally, the flavor of Buddhism in Pathom Asoke is Theravada, but the monks there are actually considered a controversial sect which was effectively ex-communicated from the mainstream for its lifestyle and beliefs. The Asoke community takes the Buddhist precepts (similar to the Commandments of Christianity) very seriously, and as a result life a very simple, frugal, vegetarian lifestyle close to the land. They also participate in protests and political activism and actually have their own political party with delegates currently in government and one very powerful ally as the ex-governor of Bangkok. I was initially attracted to them because their lifestyle and activism (both environmental and social) is directly inspired by Buddhist values. They certainly didn't disappoint! Best parts of the trip were: an amazing interview with one of the original lay members of the community who spoke great English and reminded me of my 12th grade English teacher (awww), waking up with the sunrise, hanging out with the kids who live there at the community, teaching an impromptu English class one night~! (pictionary and hang-man bridge any language gap), and hunting for elusive herbs in the garden for our morning breakfast. Within 4 days, I felt like a member of the community. I'll never forget it.

These past few days have been like stepping in and out of a The Village sort of utopia. Without the lies of course, but everything on the outside just seems sort of surreal. Getting there was quite an adventure. After snaking through stalls of pirated CDs and Louis Vuitton knockoff purses we finally made it to the bus ... which was more like a death cab. Imagine a Greyhound barreling down a four lane highway, its driver LITERALLY honking the horn every ten seconds at every moped and little car in its way. We'd weave across three lanes just to get around a little spot of traffic, straddle two lanes block a car trying to pass - and the best part was this guy who stood next to the door, yelling at people on the street (presumably to get them on the bus) and who sometimes, for no apparent reason, left the bus entirely and tore off down the street, only to jump back onto the bus in the nick of time as it was rolling out. The bus deposited us in the center of Nakkhom Pathom, with only the name of our little community to guide us there. Not a problem. :)

After a short time we met a couple of moped drivers who offered to take us there for 70 baht on the back of their bikes. We arrived, hanging onto the back of those bikes for dear life and grinning. After a bit of humbly walking around huge open-to-the-sky temple areas and thatched huts that looked eerie in the growing dark, we mumbled a hello to someone who immediately got us settled into our sleeping spaces. No questions, just welcomes. The girls and guys sleep on separate sides of the community, so Jennifer and I waved goodbye and went off. My spot was on a roofed top deck of a building, on a tiled floor. That night I used absolutely all of my clothes as blankets, bed pallets and pillows. And although I had been warned that nobody at the community spoke English, I was delighted to make a friend immediately with one of the lay people there named Chalampon who blessedly helped me say a little more than "hello" and "thank you" in Thai.

And who should be sharing my deck but ... Gob from Arrested Development's twin brother from England!! Okay not really, but I mean, SPITTING image. This guy though was a trip, waking up and doing his karate KEEOOP yells next to my bedroll and explaining to me with large earnest eyes why he legally changed his name from Hyram Fairbanks to Towa Free-Spirit Fairbanks (yes, too funny to be true??). On top of all that he is currently dragging a half-deaf, illiterate 50 year old Portugese man with a speech impediment who doesn't know English -- to China. We did however have some great conversations about life, philosophy, travelling, and Buddhism over shelling garlic cloves and sweeping the grounds and whatnot.

Okay well that's all for tonight. Part two to come soon. We're still on farm-schedule and 9:30 is way past our bedtime. Yes, there were roosters and yes they woke me up at 5:30 on the dot. Hey - farm, right? Goodnight, send me emails and love? Miss you all.

(Giggling to Jennifer in the internet cafe: "this trip is just one long poop metaphor". I won't explain that statement. Okay, I will. Any of you other bloggers out there feel a post-poop satisfaction when you hit the publish button? Am I alone here?)