Through Their Eyes… is an ongoing series of articles and videos showcasing the unique experience each volunteer has at their site through a visitors’ eyes.
Kayla Kawalec, 134 YinD
Volunteer Visited
Dito Montaña, 134 YinD
Volunteer’s Site
Lom Sak, Petchabun
Why did you visit?
For the long Ashana Bucha/Wan Khao Phansa holiday weekend!
What did you do in their community while visiting?
We honestly didn’t really plan much for this trip ahead of time, and instead we opted to go Thai “choose-your-own adventure” style! For the most part it worked out in our favor, and we got to be spontaneous. I did really want to go to the famous Wat Pha Sorn Kaew in Khao Kho, and while we tried to finagle our way into getting a ride, there was just too much traffic to make the trip because of the holiday. I’m determined to go back to see it in the future, though, and luckily got a great view of the wat through the mist in the mountains on the bus ride into Lom Sak from Phitsanulok.
The first night was a perfect introduction to Dito’s community. We got off the bus in Lom Sak (the largest town near Dito’s site) and walked right around the corner to the giant Saturday walking street. There’s nothing close to the size of it anywhere near my site and on par with walking streets and markets I’ve been to in big cities like Chiang Mai. However, unlike in a big city, we immediately ran into people Dito knew: his coworkers, neighbors, and friends while we were there, which made it feel hometown-y. Everyone exuded that signature Thai hospitality we’ve come to know and appreciate, either offering us a ride home or insisting we stop by while I was in town. His host brother and girlfriend ended up picking us up and taking us to dinner afterwards at a cool bar/restaurant with live music in Lom Sak. Overall, it was a long first day, but it was great to meet so many people that I’d heard about before right off the bat.
The next day, we did some house-keeping activities in the morning at Dito’s new apartment (See below for more of a description of where he lives). After a morning of doing laundry and relaxing at his former host family’s house, we grabbed lunch at the little restaurant next to Dito’s awbawtaw (local government office). It was clear that Dito’s a regular there based on his interactions with the sweet owner who made some really incredible food. The restaurant owner next door came over to chat with us too, and I could tell they think of Dito like a son more than a customer.
As is the way with “Thai planning”, we then got a call that Dito’s host brother and his girlfriend were going to pick us up, and take us to “second lunch” at a goy tiao (noodle) restaurant with the most amazing views of the mountains and Khao Kho.
We gave it a solid 9/10 for delicious noodles and incredible views (always leaving room for improvement) and didn’t stop there, continuing on to a 9/10 café down the road in the jungle! There are so many cute little coffee shops around Dito’s site, and I’m so jealous!
We stopped at a coworker, P’Gop’s, house for dinner where Dito showed off his culinary skills and whipped up some of his “world famous” scrambled eggs while P’Gop (she has amazing “fun aunt” vibes), critiqued his method and we laughed a lot. We spent hours there just chatting with her and she filled in the blanks for our plans the next day by offering to take us to Nam Nao National Park!
In the morning, we biked to three out of the nine (!) total schools that Dito will go to over two semesters and even though school wasn’t in session it was still fun to get a sense of what his schedule is like. P’Gop picked us up in her car and took us to four more on our way to Nam Nao. Some of Dito’s schools are REALLY far and practically into the mountains so he hadn’t even seen some of the places he’ll go to next semester yet. Luckily, he won’t have to bike the long distance up the steep and winding highway to all of them.
After Nam Nao, (read on for the story of that, which was the most memorable part of the trip) we were all slightly dazed and exhausted but we weren’t finished yet! P’Gop helped us round out our tour de Dito’s schools and we visited the last two before stopping at a date farm on the way home to handpick some of the largest FRESH dates I’ve ever seen. They even let me cut down the bunch! P’Gop gifted us each a bundle and my coworkers loved them when I brought them back to my site.
Even though they’d just gotten back from their own holiday trip, Dito’s host family invited us over for dinner that night. His paw spent about 15 minutes showing me candids he’d taken of Dito and bragging on him, and it was sweet to see them all interacting like a real family. They tried to help me figure out how to get home the next day which turned out to be much more difficult than expected because of, you guessed it: the holiday. His host brother and girlfriend even drove me to the bus stop early the next morning, bought me presents to gift to my community, and waited with me until I boarded. Throughout the whole trip, but at that moment especially, I truly felt welcomed into their family too.
Overall, we did a TON considering we’d planned exactly nothing and it was a great first trip to visit a friend at site!
Describe their community.
I saw elements in Dito’s community similar to those that I love in my own and in other small, rural Thai towns. Everyone seems to know everyone else, even the 7-11 employees are intimately familiar with their customers – they’re neighbors after all – and there’s a sense that you could stop at virtually any restaurant, store or home and instantly be invited in for a visit. The daily fresh market is centrally located, and every time we passed by it was flush with people and activity. The closeness of the mountains surrounding Dito’s community wraps them in, making it feel all the more intimate.
Describe where Dito lives and his host family.
Dito just moved to his own place at site following the mandatory three-month stay with a host family to help with site integration. He lives in a two-story, row-style apartment that he’s having fun decorating. I got to help with that while I was visiting, and it was fun to see him take a completely empty space and start to make it his own with photos of his family and pictures drawn by his students. I especially love his front area where we sat and enjoyed some snacks and bevvies, watched the local teens race their motorcycles down the street, and played with the two-week old stray kittens that hang around.
Dito still lives less than a 10-minute bike ride away from his former host family’s gorgeous Thai traditional house, and they invite him over often for meals, to use their washing machine, joke around with his host brothers, and play with their dogs who absolutely adore him. When we went there in the morning to do laundry his host brother cut down some coconuts from the family’s tree while we waited to take our clothes out to dry, and the whole scene was very idyllic.
Describe Dito’s schools, teachers, and students.
Even though I got to visit all of Dito’s schools on this trip they were all closed for the holiday so I didn’t really get to meet his students or many of his co-teachers. Of course, we saw many of his students around town, playing at the schools in their free time and on the soccer field across the street from Dito’s apartment where he co-coaches soccer. The kids would call out for “Pii Ma-khaam” (Dito’s nickname means tamarind, which Petchabun is known for growing) to come play. Dito’s host sister-in-law jokes that he’s known for doing everything at his site and that he wears many hats: Pii Ma-khaam, Coach Ma-khaam, Ma-khaam’s Bicycle Repair, Ma-khaam’s Restaurant, and so on. It was so indicative of how involved and loved he is there.
What were some highlights from your trip?
The highlight of my trip was actually a rather crazy experience, and as soon as it happened we all agreed that it would be the defining moment of the trip hands-down. We decided to go on a hike while visiting Nam Nao with P’Gop. It was a drizzly, cloudy day typical of the Thai rainy season. Looking back, the atmosphere was as ominous and obvious a warning as the virtually empty trail as we began our easy 1k walk. Originally, Dito and I wanted to take the longer route, but P’Gop insisted a kilometer was enough. We’d end up being eternally grateful to be overruled. The final warning of what was to await us came as a physical sign, one that we laughed off as we entered the forest.
We started off at a leisurely pace, joking about the solitary elephant we were supposed to be looking out for, stopping and reading the signs in Thai, taking videos and practically strolling. All of a sudden, the other warning on the signs made itself known as Dito nervously announced that he’d found a leech clinging to his sneaker that he was unable to shake off. I looked down at my sandaled feet to find them COVERED in miniature worm-like, jet-black ALIENS. I quickly realized three things: (1) leeches are stealthy; I hadn’t felt them latch on to my feet until it was too late; (2) they’re tenacious and almost impossible to remove; and (3) they have the hunting instincts of a hound, speedily zeroing into the spaces between my uncovered, fleshy toes. I never imagined that my Chacos would betray me so viciously. I picked off about seven of them and then transformed into Sigourney Weaver in Alien, abandoning all reservations I normally have about killing animals or bugs of any kind, manically decapitating and smashing each one into a slimy pulp before they could latch on to my fingers instead, but I soon realized I was playing a losing game.
It was at this point that the three of us collectively decided running for our lives was the best decision. I took off and looked back to see P’Gop not only running but also continuing her documentation of the whole affair for YouTube. We ran for what felt like ages, finally returning to the start of the trail where we met a family who’d just started off on their hike before immediately turning back realizing they should take the warning sign seriously much quicker than we had.
All told, only two leeches had managed to truly latch on to my mostly bare feet and start harvesting my sweet, farang (foreigner) blood. We were sweating, in shock, and in hysterics at the absurdity of the whole thing. I left Nam Nao with a little less blood and the newfound knowledge to never go hiking in Chacos during the rainy season again.
What surprised you about Dito’s community?
How fast the teens in his town ride their motorcycles down the road. Those kids FLY.
Explain the similarities and differences between your site and Dito’s site.
Really the biggest difference between Dito’s site and my site wasn’t really about the physical site at all. Visiting a male volunteer I was able to get a peek into how we’re treated differently based on our gender at our sites. Things like me biking the 3km path home by myself after dark on a well-lit, not busy road, that are such an ordeal at my site, aren’t really a concern for him. When I mentioned this difference to some people in his community they were as passionate as the people in mine that the standards were different for Dito as a boy and me as a girl. Essentially, if it were me in Lom Sak they’d worry the same and insist I get escorted too. I imagine if our sites were reversed my community would treat Dito the same here as in Lom Sak as well. At the end of the day, I feel very loved and taken care of in my overprotective community, but it was fun to “live like a boy” at Dito’s site a little bit, and experience the thrill of unchaperoned biking in all its glory.
Sticky Rice 