Friday January 8, 2010

Today we woke up bright and early just to play the waiting game once again. I think eight or nine of us plus a bunch of supplies went into the Blue Truck – I was in the back with David and two other guys that work for Nayok Satiyen. After sitting uncomfortably for a while we decided to stand up holding onto the bar back there. That turned out to be good fun. We traversed some of the worse roads I've ever experienced, going deep into the mountains. The village we went to was so secluded there weren't even power lines going to it. The people relied on solar power and satellite dishes. We stayed in a big house owned by nice people. I slept alongside some bro and Mae on pads on the floor. It was roofed, and walled, but semi open-air. It reminded me of the Sleeping Porch. There were a couple other bros sleeping in there. That afternoon we took motorbikes to the smaller yet more secluded hilltribe village where we were to build a rice bank for those peeps. We “worked” for a few hours, not really accomplishing much. The guys doing the actual building of the structure had rather primitive tools, and just trying to get the vertical supports straight took forever. I carried a total of four pieces of wood from atop this other hill where they cut the tree down. Returned home just before nightfall, where I took a chilly bucket shower (thought the water pressure was effed in the regular shower, which wasn't heated anyway). After dinner I went over to a camp fire with my bottle spirits, sharing it with the men, and having a jolly good show. And then out came the buffalo skin. I'm not talking anything like fried pork skin with is just the ticket. This stuff is completely different, and frankly not delicious. They grilled slabs of buffalo skin, still with the hair on it, I kid you not, on the open fire, and then when it was ready, scraped the hair off, and then smashed it with a hammer to “tenderize” it. This did not work, for the stuff was still chewy as tire rubber, a bit crunchy, and prone to getting stuck tight between my teeth. I actually had to chase it with rum. Of course, I didn't just eat one piece, I ate maybe three or four, pretending to love it with all my heart, thereby pleasing my hosts greatly. I thought it was cute funny when the little girl maybe three years old munched pieces down with delight. I'm a pussy. Once the rum was all gone, one guy brought out some homedistill, which was pretty harsh, but again, drank with my ceaseless shit-eating grin. I slept like a rock.