An Important Milestone

Well, after almost six weeks it's finally happened-- the girls are letting me help in the kitchen. For anyone that has lived with a family in a foreign country you know that this is a big deal. When I first got here, I couldn't enter the kitchen without the students tripping over themselves to discover what I so deperatly required that would actually bring me from my palace at the top of the hill to their dusty domain. Now when I enter, they barely look at me. I go to take over a chore and they hand over the spoon or the knife without comment and, more importantly, with out objection.

It's not easy helping in the kitchen-- you have to develop a sort of sixth sense and a great memory. You have to remember that after the pot is removed from the stove they need a big bowl for that dish and a small plate for this dish... that for some of the food, they need two dishes-- one to go on the table and another to be stashed on the shelves behind you. I am sure it would be a lot easier if I could understand their Thai mumblings but I have finally gotten to the point where I can join their dance without totally fucking things up.

Working in the kitchen really brings out the fact that this community of about 20 kids between the ages of 17-21 basically rule themselves. There is one adult (Rosy's aunt) who lives on the campus (I guess I should count myself in that count, since I am a ripe 31) who, as far as I can tell, has very little need to govern the community. Students take turns waking up at 6AM to make breakfast, sweep the campus, and take care of the various spirits that reside here. This is before they attend classes (for the most part I have a perfect record), do their homework, and contact with their families back in refugee camps and villages. Most of the absences that occur are because people had to go back home, not because they decided they needed a day out in Mae Hong Son. In addition, as far as I know there had never been a major fight between two students-- and if there are any ongoing conflicts then they are well hidden.

At Scattergood we had a disciplinary committee, a group that was trained to deal in conflict management, weekly meetings, advisers, and countless other things that were needed for the school to run smoothly and prevent conflict. Here those things aren't needed... they just happen because they need to happen for everyone to be happy. It's really incredible.