Wednesday, February 27, 2002

From: Meg Thomsen meginchina@yahoo.com
Subject: From Paradise to Sichuan

Sawadee-khaa, friends and family!

I've just returned from Thailand, the most Festive Place in the World, with visions of parrotfish darting in the coral reefs and the taste of a pineapple-mango shake still in my mouth.

What could I tell you about Thailand? I could tell you about the feeling of salt spray hitting the boat as it hops from island to island in the Andaman Sea. I could tell you about the search for the perfect pad thai truck, or about the sound that coconut milk makes as it slides through your straw. I could tell you about the sunset hitting the karst shape of an island as you watch enthralled. I will tell you about none of these things. Instead, I will tell you about my friends.

Peace Corps is essentially a lonely experience for most. We fight and rage against that loneliness, and yet it is always there. That is not to say that I don't have friends in Dengguan, because I do. There is Yu Lan, the dumpling maestro that runs the local restaurant and slathers Chinese medicine on my cut-up legs. There is Li Yi, who opens her family's home to me to share their meals, their laughter and their nine-hour mah-jongg tournaments. There are Xie Sui and Han Lu, who brought me sunflower seeds and cake on my birthday. All of them are friends. But at the end of the day, I go home alone. At 2 AM, all of them are asleep with their families or roommates, and I'm picking out the chords to "Peace Train" on the guitar. This perhaps is how Peace Corps is meant to be. When I'm in Dengguan, my identity not so much that of a Peace Corps volunteer. I'm just Tang Mali, the only foreign teacher in Dengguan.

Naturally, this makes gatherings with friends that much more precious. Thailand is perfect, but it's not so much Thailand that I remember. It's being with friends, sharing that deep down belly laughter that I seldom have in Dengguan.

Our group got larger and smaller throughout our journey. We started out with Ashley, Rachel, Heidi, Julie and I. The Choco and Connie joined up with us, we met up with Esteban at some point, picked up a random Aussie named Gavin on the bus. Then James came barreling down from Laos on the two-night bus as soon as he heard Julie was in town. The most of the group took off to Hat Rin in search of the infamous moon party while Julie and I sailed over to Phuket to meet James, and then Rachel and Josh on their way in from America.

Rachel and Josh. Julie and James. Can I tell you what a beautiful thing it is to see old friends and new friends together? We laughed, we drank fancy drinks out of sand pails, we talked the DJ at the beach into playing Boston music for us (the new Jabe CD, thank you very much Dan!). It's been a lonely winter. This was balm to my soul.

And now I'm back in Dengguan. It's nighttime, and Dengguan is snuffing all of its candles and sleepily shuffling off to bed. I saw Yu Lan and her husband sitting for a quiet moment after the dumpling rush was over. Han Lu and Xie Sui are closing their books and climbing into bed with their seven roommates. Li Yi is giving the table a final wipe before going to sleep. And I've got some chords to work out on "Uncle John's Band."

"It's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one he know.
Like the morning sun you come, and like the wind you blow."

Sweet dreams.

Meg