At 10:00 one of the teachers asked me to go with them at 12:00 as Nong Pee one of our kindergarten kid's father had died.
At about 10:30 Sabrina a volunteer from Germany and Tom her boyfriend and I met with the headmaster to discuss a goat. Sabrina and Tom had found a goat that was trapped in the rocks about 3m above the ocean in Khao Lak. They had tried to get it help for a couple days and decided to see if the school could help and maybe then the school could keep the goat and if it all worked out... the kids might enjoy it and yay! goat milk. Really nice idea but we needed to figure out how to help the goat before any plans were made for housing a goat at the school.
Kru Yai (headmaster) contacted someone who worked for animal rescue and/or the police and made plans for Sabrina and Tom (and I - for help?) and a driver from the school would go and (1) make sure the goat was still there and (2) rescue it from it's rock prison. Uncle Jew was to drive us at 1:00pm the 1.5 hours to Khao Lak to help the goat.
At noon we loaded up and went to the funeral lunch for what turned out to be Nong Pee's grandfather - his dad is doing fine - thanks! In Thailand or at least the two funerals I've been to in this region of Thailand, the family invites everyone to a huge lunch and provides food for free. A casket with the deceased is in an area with flowers and candles and incense. Individuals or groups make donations to the family. In this case the donations were to go to the local monastery in Kapong. (Sometimes the donations go to the family). After we ate, the teachers and I made our way to the casket. We each lit an incense stick, and one by one knelt and gave a prayer. I'm not sure if there is a specific thing here - we just knelt, put our hands together for a moment and then put the incense into a large incense stick holder (don't know the proper names). Then we wished the family well, I hugged Nong Pee and then back to the school.
At 1:00 we left for Khao Lak to get the goat. It was at a beach south of Khao Lak. The day was pretty hot and the sand was NOT that pleasant! We walked to the end of the beach only to find that the goat was not there. Sabrina and Tom felt really bad. We walked back to see where Uncle Jew was and found him coming down the beach with the rescue people from the National Park in Khao Lak.
Sabrina decided to show them where the goat had been and while they were looking, they spotted the goat running around on the hill. Eventually he was caught and brought back to the truck to determine what to do next. (Turns out he was a male so no milk options there...)! The park people suggested that he be taken to the park where there was a female goat so we drove to Khao Lak Natl Park. Wait... nope - the goat isn't kept there - it's a pet of one of the employees. (Ongoing Thai communication goes like this - when you've understood something, it's really NOT what you understood)! So we chatted a bit and Sabrina called the headmaster to see if we could take the goat and give it to the school. At this point having the children care for the goat and all would not be that beneficial because of the work involved, etc.
The park employee said his place was no problem. He would be happy to have a male goat. Sabrina was worried they would kill it for food so I piped up and asked "No eat?" And when I got questioning looks I repeated "No eat?" and pointed at the goat. The employees started to laugh so hard and the woman I was speaking to laughed and confirmed... "No eat!" But for the next 10 minutes this was the big joke... "you no eat?"
For the trip back we stopped in Takuapa. Uncle Jew and I had talked that morning about getting pictures developed and he took us to Takuapa so I could get them done. One small detail... I was just asking questions... he thought I had the disc with me! So we drove an extra 30-60 min to get oh... a Thai newspaper. Since we were still in civilization though we had to make the necessary trip to 7-11. I needed the normal basics... yoghurt, cold cereal and milk and the extra special item... a SLURPEE! :-P
Back at the school Uncle Jew and I had a conversation about "no eat goat." I told him I'm not a good one on that topic because I eat meat and to be selective with one goat for me is a little hypocritical. I said if I didn't want to kill animals I would have to stop eating meat and really act on it. I asked for Sabrina because she has a bigger heart for this than I do. "Yes Eat" should be the t-shirt message I could wear! "Yes Eat Meat... " Although somehow I think that doesn't quite ring with the same meaning!
These are backwards... this is the goat in the back of the truck. Sabrina and Tom are on the right.
Getting the goat off the beach... Sabrina and Tom are on the left. I'm down in the water keeping my burnt feet cool!
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