Rainy days in Isan (2)

And the other chores are piling up: mowing the lawn. Clipping hedges. Weeding. Remove algae from driveways and garden paths. Because just about everything a farang does includes power tools… .

After a few days of idleness, De Inquisitor goes for a walk through the drizzle. He is tired of the laptop and the cell phone. He walks through the village and the nearby fields, wherever there is movement.

At Sak's house he hears a heavy cough, not normal. It's Sak's wife. He is sick from the rains. For days she worked in the rice fields, moreover she had a bonus because a somewhat wealthier neighbor had asked her to remove the growing grass between his rice. Wet all day. And she also does her chores at home: washing and peeing as they say. She doesn't have a washing machine, so hand wash. Tough job with a family of four. And that laundry was hung inside the house, because it doesn't dry outside, they can't as De Inquisitor kindly helps: he simply places a large fan under the roof of the pump house and after an hour and a half everything is dry ... .
The moisture level is also extremely high inside her home and this has caused her to contract an infection on her respiratory tract. But she can't stop her duties and money has to be made, however little it usually is. A word of encouragement and the promise of free herbal tea is all The Inquisitor can do.

Further in the village there is shouting in Keim's house. A large family, six young children, one every year. The youngest member is a few months old, the oldest eight years old. Bengels who are bored. Because a wooden house, open ground floor where family life takes place between a pile of rubbish, a mountain of waste and an open kitchen, well, kitchen … . The children are not at school, not even the eight-year-old. Because money for the school bus is not there and through the rains with the moped is not everything, in addition, that little eight-year-old already has to take responsibility, he has a duty to watch his younger brothers and sisters a bit. And they have to get out of bed from half past six in the morning, then Keim's wife's day job starts. Cooking rice for the day ahead. It is not possible to leave children of that age alone on the upper floor.
But even down there they can't do much, they don't have any toys. Too much stuff that poses a danger, because also an old moped, parts of a tractor and a lot of sacks of rice. So, as soon as they see the chance, they walk into the garden. And get full of mud. They walk back, they grab things that then also get full of mud. Plates and drinking cups that have just been washed are drying next to the barrel of water. Freshly washed clothes that hang up get dirty again.

Well, a person would shoot out of his shell for less, but what are those children supposed to do now?

On the south side of the village, the houses are situated in lower land. The canals on the sides of the road are overflowing, they cannot handle the amount of water. They are also the poorest villagers who live here. This is because the fields that lie there often flood, the rice yield is the lowest of all. They don't have cars here, but with the moped or it is almost impossible to do. Because no paved streets, only red earth. Now that are pure mud roads, they look like the ones you often see in African countries during the rainy season. You can only get through it with a four-wheel drive. Adults and children don't see brown, they see red. Because of that mud that they have to go through without exception to do anything. A few fires are burning, they make smoke to drive away the mosquitoes. They just sit there, waiting for the rains to stop it seems. The Inquisitor, also now full of mud, shuffles to one of the houses where people are calling for him.

Who, despite their poverty, still want to offer something, no, thank you, there is no need, but there is no escape. A daughter is summoned, she has to go to the shop in the village. No, you don't have to! Well, she's already gone. In a different way she grunts through the mud ruts. And comes back with a bottle of .. lao kao. Oh dear.
The Inquisitor thinks he can't refuse now, that would be rude. Shudder at the drink, drink plenty of water immediately afterwards.

Difficult conversation because they speak Isan, little Thai. Then use hands and feet, but see, salvation comes from a quick lady who does speak Thai and also some English. The young men of this hamlet are all gone, working elsewhere in the country. Only the elders and the ladies take care of the meager rice fields and they grow some vegetables for their own use. No, they don't have buffaloes or cows, that's not possible here, too humid in the rainy season, too many insects. Strong because the village is less than a kilometer away and they do it there. The Inquisitor can glimpse the inside of the house when someone leaves the door open. Even there is no concrete or floor, only tamped earth. It is also quite dark, they keep everything closed against the insects as much as possible. Mei Nuch notices that The Inquisitor is peeping and invites him inside. Well, a big bare hut, otherwise he can't name it. There is, lying and hanging a lot of stuff, old and worn out. No household goods.
It is quite low and especially dark. Up the stairs, again just a single room, large. Here are a lot of thin mattresses with blankets, clothes hang up because there are no cupboards. Plastic bags with personal items. Lighting is a single bulb in the middle of the ceiling. Oh yes, and a television. Which doesn't work, notes Mei Nuch. The small satellite dish had already spotted The Inquisitor below, heavily dented.

The Inquisitor stalls before he has to drink more drinks, works his way through the mud, reaches the paved street and rinses legs and feet at a tap. And walks home. In his mind he notes to come back again, but not empty-handed. Some tea and coffee, a bottle of lao too.

And thinks how good he actually has it. Hardly bothered by the rains because he doesn't need anything. A wonderful bathroom, with hot water from a rain shower head. Floors, properly lockable windows and doors with mosquito nets. Nice curtains, some paintings on the wall. Closets, storage spaces, no clutter anywhere. Television, laptop, telephone. Fans and air conditioners. A car and a motorcycle, well insured.
The bad feeling he got from the continuous rains is gone. How lucky we are!