gina matranga: The Mother Daughter Chronicles Part 1

April 9th marked the day my mother, Vicki Matranga, first stepped foot onto Asian soil after years of dreaming to visit. Saturday night her dreams came true, and for the next 20 days those dreams would continue to be a reality. I was so happy to share this time with my mom. It was truly special- a Christmas, birthday, Mother's Day present and then some all rolled into one. I am so grateful I have such an open-minded, enthusiastic, curious mother who wanted to come visit me so far away. I was very happy to see her walk down to the meeting point in the Bangkok International Airport (with many bags of course!) and give her a hug after 7 months of no hugs from mom.

We got home to Rayong late Saturday night and we got a ride from a fellow who is friends with a man I teach with. It was more pleasant to arrive home late and pay a little more than to stay the night in Bangkok and get up early to take a van or bus back to Rayong. We went to bed very late that night because we got home after midnight, and stayed up too late talking and exchanging gifts and things that she brought me from home. I gave her a little heart tree ornament to add to her collection that was made by a hilltribe member and a batik tablecloth, and she brought me my beloved skittles, some chako sandals to replace the ones that were lost to the flood, more bugspray, gatorade powder, bars, and other handy stuff. Thanks mom!

We stayed in Rayong until Tuesday morning and I showed her around town and took her to my usual spots. We went to Laemtong- my local mall, the Tesco where I buy all sorts of basic needs, we ate dinner at MK (a chain Thai restaurant where you order many different ingredients to cook your own soup- very tasty), walked around the night bazaar, got massages at my favorite spot, and visited a home store that's sort of a mix between Bed, Bath & beyond and Home Depot. She likes seeing these kinds of stores in other countries and was insistent I have a few household items like mats for my shower. Gotta love a visit from mom! She'll always remind you you're living like a barbarian. Just kiddin ma...

In Rayong she experienced her first song tao ride, my favorite dinner of chuchi and rice (fish with a curry paste that is specific to my local market), heard nothing but Thai, visited her first Thai Buddhist temple- my local temple of Wat Pa Pradoo, and saw Buddhist worship in action. She spied her first saffron-robed monks, heard the chimes on the temples, saw people zoom by on motor bikes, line up at all hours of the day and night to buy food from food vendors and sidewalk eateries, and taste her first nam keeng sai ("sweet ice") - thai dessert. She smelled all the smells of Thailand, saw all the many colors of Thailand and took in the various sounds that make up a day in Thailand. And the journey had just begun. Pretty mind-blowing stuff when you look back on it- to think how different one's daily sensory-stimulus intake is coming from the west.