Living an Isaan (Part 3)

The Inquisitor now has a unique opportunity to follow the average life of a small Isaan family. Sweetheart's brother. A typical Isaan life, the ups and downs, probably with the main issue: how to build a life in this underprivileged region? Time for a sequel, The Inquisitor takes you to the past, in a modern age, in what calls itself a modern country.

An Isan life

Taai sits in that typical squat to clean rice by hand. On the floor there is a large flat bamboo bowl on which she regularly scoops a few handfuls of rice from an old plastic paint bucket, which in turn is replenished from a large plastic bag. It contained the rice supplied by Poa Mu, he manages the rice stocks of the village, he knows who can have how many kilograms. And this time Taai received some sacks of rice from a rare mechanical harvest. That rice is full of small, dark stones. Nobody here likes that, they prefer the hand-harvested rice that can be used immediately.

Taai and Piak have concerns. Little Pi Pi is sick. For a week or two. He still walks around, even goes to school now and then, but often he has no energy, he is out of breath too quickly. And a lot of coughing, running nose. They took it to the local clinic, where they received medicines for a week, all for thirty baht. But it does not work. And they would actually be better off going to a private hospital, but there is no money for that.

Pi Pi has got something on his lungs after a simple cold. Not well cared for in the beginning, but living conditions and climate are also responsible for it. When Pi Pi smells only water, he goes over to play. But in the morning and in the evening it is still fresh. It regularly drops below twenty degrees. Not conducive to fiddling with water extensively. And their house is full of crevices and drafts, at night it can be quite cold even though there are not many extra blankets. And also the daily shower, cold water because they don't have a boiler. The fact that Pi Pi could shower with nice and warm water during the coldest week at De Inquisitor did not help much.

This is also in Piak's head, because the nice money earned on the charcoal is long gone. Without the family allowing itself excesses, but occasionally the daily menu needs to be supplemented with something nutritious. Pork, chicken, fish. They don't buy beef, four hundred baht per kilogram, that's too expensive for them. A neighbor's chicken costs between XNUMX and XNUMX baht, depending on the weight of the animal. So occasionally chicken, good for Pi Pi too because he loves it. And very occasionally fish, one hundred baht per kilogram on the market, but Taai knows her colleagues very well and often it is barter: fish for chicken legs.

So The Inquisitor's wife comes out of her good heart. And handles them little boy-sweetly handy. He regularly proposes to to eat in the well-known restaurant in the town. But you might as well pick up. Pork, lots of vegetables, shellfish, in short, tasty and nutritious ingredients. Let De Inquisitor convince himself, after a phone call from the lover to order, to pick up the stuff. When he is handed the sacks he is surprised at the amount, the price he does not notice as a wealthy westerner - at least in the eyes of his fellow villagers. Do the three of us really eat that much?

Of course not. Liefje-lief has ordered for five people. And let The Inquisitor also add another kilogram , steak, pick up - because that's what makes the even more delicious? This simple meal is a feast for everyone. All inclusive it comes down to two hundred baht per person, unaffordable for Piak and Taai, for us something ordinary for a nice meal. The youngsters eat themselves to death, not out of greed, just because it tastes so good, and also because it is nutritious. And Pi Pi? Who ate like a big one, especially steak, was his preference.

The following days, Piak can earn some money again. In the next village there is a kind of felling company. Legally, because they buy up eucalyptus forests. They make an offer, and if the owner agrees, he immediately receives money. They then cut down the trees, saw them into nice smooth trunks and sell them in turn. They are smart, because they only buy a forest when they already have an order themselves, so they know their profit in advance. Now there was a very large order with time pressure, so they drum up day laborers.

The cows have to be taken away by Taai because they leave before sunrise. Direction Nong Khai, a hundred kilometers further. They even sleep there until the entire forest has been cleared, two nights. Piak has to bring money with him because the message is to provide food yourself, unlike when you work on the rice fields as a day laborer, the client will provide food. So borrow from the sister again, three hundred baht. How Piak can eat and drink from that was a mystery to De Inquisitor at first, very little anyway, one hundred baht a day. Afterwards he realizes that they gather most of their food in the woods. But because of this they also earn more, Piak gets four hundred baht per working day.

Taai is very busy right now. The cows, her son, provide food, maintain her vegetable garden. Moreover, it is just the big market day in the town, which is held every fortnight, and she and her family can earn very well from the chicken stand. Pi Pi has to come along. A whole day. The stall is open, no roof tarpaulin against the sun, just a decrepit parasol. Pi Pi sits under the table, he has to keep busy between the gas bottles, which of course gets boring after a few hours. At that moment De Inquisitor arrives, he likes to wander about this market, a great variety in offer, many people on their feet, very cozy.

Taai doesn't dare to ask anything, but her eyes speak volumes. Pi Pi feels very uncomfortable and that is the worst thing that can happen to you in Isaan. OK then, The Inquisitor opens his heart and takes Pi Pi on a wander. Which he regrets a little later because Pi Pi is much too lively, he often disappears from sight, hides between the stalls, asks for an ice cream, a little later for a snack, a little later he wants coke. Then he is tired and wants to be carried. Hell anyway. Then to the car and home where he leaves Pi Pi to the care of sweetheart.
Isaan, that is taking care of each other. And don't whine.

To be continued