doctor visit and a funeral - no, not my funeral

I have had a sinus infection for over a week and today they decided I should see the doctor, so off to the clinic in my village. No waiting as the doctor was ready to see me and Caesar had to translate for me....Well, I ended up with medications....moxocilin (not sure of spelling but I think you can figure it out....if I could write in Thai I would tell you in Thai, something like Claritin, a cough syrup that looks like it was made out of some roots or something strange....the taste is terrible, and finally some pills I was told to suck on for my cough.....oh, they are bad!!! BUT, they are working. I feel better this afternoon.....the docctor visit and all the medicines were less than $10.

Did some teaching this morning and this afternoon I was asked if I wanted to go to a funeral for a teacher who had died. She was 55 years old and taught in a neighboring elementary school. Several hundred people were there at a covered outdoor building and the crematory building. There was a ceremony and prayers from the monks. All of the people then file past the casket and place a paper flower on the casket. After the people leave, the body is placed in the crematory for burning. The remains are then given to family members the next day. The ceremony was over in less than one hour. Similar to a funeral in the USA, there were displays of flowers from friends and relatives, someone reads a history of the person's life, and prayers. Yet there were great differences as virtually the whole village turns out for the funeral, there is no direct meeting or visiting with family members, and no food at the funeral. At the end of the ceremony people pass by the casket and then leave quickly. I was told that close friends go to the persons home where the monks will come and pray with the family. It was interesting and I am glad I had the opportunity to attend.

This evening there will be a small party at the school for some of the teachers I have worked with the past week. Most of the teachers I knew from two years ago, so this will be a nice event to talk with them. Some can speak a little English and others help to translate when I don't understand the Thai. I will not see Judy or Russ until tomorrow afternoon when we leave for Chiang Mai and the mountains of Northwest Thailand for the weekend.

Finally, I need to comment about spelling!!!! I have little time to write and do not proofread my posts, so I am sorry for the spelling and grammar errors....When I talked with Tam on the phone, she keeps telling me that I should read my work before posting it....sorry everyone!!!

Fred