Paper Flowers and Tiny Feet

Wednesday, we went to the annual funeral ceremony at the Bang Khae Home for the Aged. I believe the bodies are preserved until this day, when they are all cremated in a communal ceremony. A monk spoke first about each of the diseased and about how the home is a place for people to live and be cared for in their old age when their families can no longer care for them (or so I was told, the whole ceremony was in Thai). Then we were treated to a traditional Thai dance. After the dancing, we were all given paper flower arrangements that we placed on the "alter" near the coffins out of respect for the dead.

At one point, Foon motioned to me that someone wanted to speak to me. It was a woman who lived at the home and spoke perfect English. She was in her eighties and asked where I was from and why I was there and shared some stories about herself. She was a boyscout leader and a royal staff member. She traveled to 10 different countries in the region working on children's issues. She asked me to come back to visit her. I hope to have some time either this week or next to stop in to say hello.

After the funeral, we went to a local Thai boxing camp. Instead of taking us to a match, something anyone can do, CCS took us to a local camp where kids from the neighborhood can come to train. Often, if a family doesn't have a lot of money, they will send their sons to box for money. The kids we saw there all seemed to really enjoy it and obviously looked up to the older fighters. The camp was in the middle of a lower-class Thai village, with closely spaced houses, no bigger than a room and interlaced with canals and bridges. Following our guide through this maze, we arrived at the camp, which was a large covered area with a boxing ring in the middle and an area to the side with mats and punching bags. There were three older fighters and about 12 young boys about 8 - 10.

First they treated us to a "fake" match, which was still pretty rough. Thai boxing is unlike US boxing in that there is much more use of the legs. If you don't watch out, you can get a brutal kick to the head. Before the match, the boxers perform some sort of dancing routine, which was very foreign to me as boxing in the States is such a "manly" sport. After their dances, they fought three short rounds, with a lot of staged falls. The young boys really enjoyed it and shouted out encouragement when things got rough. After that match, the youngest champion fighter came out and sparred with an older man (using pads for him to punch and kick). This little guy probably weighed no more than 50 pounds and his legs were about the size of my arms, but I wouldn't want to cross him! Afterwards, they showed us how to do some of the moves and we took a picture with the kids. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, but the other volunteers got pictures and will post then within the next few weeks.