There's this really funny story the ladies at my
Tessaban, office, tell me during lunch at least once a week. It's hilarious.
Ready? Here it is:
One time Shelby cooked lunch for us. She made vegetable stir-fry. She put all the different kinds of vegetables in it. The end.
First you should know, Shelby is my Peace Corps predecessor. She served in my village, Takhob from 2010-2011. And then you should know how much the Tessaban raconteurs love this story. They can't spit it all out before breaking into raucous laughter. It's apparently comical and a little scandalous. And though I can't tell you definitively why this is a funny, much less scandalous story, I will say outside-of-the-box cooking is not a thing here. Adding all the vegetables, unheard of. Ergo hilarious?
What strikes me most about Vegetablegate, is that it's Shelby's Takhob legacy. This is how she is remembered. Shelby herself told me she worked on water buffalo diary, solid water disposal, and environmental education. But what does our community remember? The time she cooked pak tuk yang, all the vegetables.
This has got me thinking of my own Peace Corps legacy. I'm approaching the one-year mark and "How will they remember me?" is the burning question. I like to think I'll be remembered for my ground-breaking community development projects. But if no one remembers Shelby's cool projects, the chances they'll remember my composting efforts are remote.
Still, I'm sure when I'm gone they will still mention their second favorite farang from time to time. The only clue I have, as to how I will be remembered by my T-ban, is the "stories" they currently share about me with the same raucous laughter. Here are some candidates for my legacy:
This is our farang, El. She puts a whole spoon of chili peppers in her noodle soup.
El's parents send chocolate for American holidays. Oh man, we love that chocolate.
El wears her shoes in the house. She is such a silly farang.
The farang made spaghetti one time. It was not spicy.
Our farang is beautiful like a Thai person, she has many Thai shirts. But her hair is not like a Thai person's.
El has a weird purse she got in Cambodia made out of trash. I bet it only cost one baht.
Look what happened to El when she was at the beach! She is much uglier now that her skin is black.
El loves to have fun. She smiles a lot too.
I hope it's the last one. If I can't be remembered for my work as a volunteer, maybe I can be remembered for being nice.
This Thanksgiving I am thankful for Loi Krathong, a different holiday. Actually thinking about Thanksgiving is a little more than I can handle, especially considering last year's outpouring of love from my family. So I'm taking solace in the next best thing, Thailand's festival of lights, laterns, and beauty contests.