Zombie Pigs and Other Language Laughs

There's a punchline to this story, but I need to set up a few things first.

One is that you need to know that Hot Springs is now in possession of two small pigs, females, that I am told are for breeding not eating.  This is a pet project of Dtu.  (And as a side note, I am constantly in awe of the husbandry skills of these people who are able to productively use as much of the property as possible toward self sustenance.)

Another thing you need to know is that the Thai word for ghost is pronounced peeee, with an elongated e sound.  Also, it is most common in Thai that ending consonants are 'unreleased', meaning the ending sound often stays in your mouth.  What we would say as hat, with the t clearly heard at the end, comes out like 'ha'.  Keep that in mind.

Okay, the story.

I was told about the pigs upon my arrival, but by Thursday I still hadn't gone down the path toward the chicken house to meet them.  At breakfast Yupa mentioned that Dtu was eager to show me her little oinky charges and that I would likely be invited to the pig pen at one point in the day.  This registered with me, but I most certainly didn't plan anything around it as there is rarely a time set for anything.  My normal morning routine for this visit is that after breakfast I sit outside at my 'office' here at Hot Springs, and prepare for the evening's ESL and Bible lesson.

It so happens that the lesson for Thursday night was from Luke 8 and the story of Jesus healing the man with the "Legion" of demons.  While it may not seem like a children's story to Western minds, Thai's in general have a genuine fear of ghosts, the product of generations of a Buddhist/animist mix that seems to foster a thought that deceased people need lots of appeasing.  This is why there is at least one 'spirit house' on every property, with many in public places as well.  These come complete with food and drink offered in hopes of keeping family members, and others who have passed on to the afterlife, satisfied.  Otherwise they may torment you.

I can offer only superficial observations, having done only a little bit of reading, and then seeing for myself how this plays out among the people here.  Whatever the bigger story of this faith system is, I do know that most Thais live in fear of ghosts in a way most of us at home would find naive and perhaps even childish.

That's why the story of Jesus' authority over "Legion" is an important one to tell.  And that is the story I was just finishing up when Deborah ran over with something important to tell me.

Okay, pause for a moment to provide a bit more information.

 Deborah is the 14 year old daughter of Pastor Jaroen and Dtu, staff members at Hot Springs who brought their family to live and serve here immediately following Bee's death in August of 2016.  We had already been talking about adding staff, and the crisis sped up the process by a couple of months only.  Deborah is on the autistic scale, but highly functioning, and a delightful part of this family.  Frankly, I'm not sure of a better place to grow up for Deborah in this country and culture than right here at Hot Springs.  Again, the belief system would say that Deborah is the way she is because of the sins of her past lives.  That's not a paradigm that makes for a whole lot of compassion.

I could tell Deborah had important information because of the unusual excitement on her usually unresponsive face.  Her eyes were wide as she hurried toward me.

"Ahjahn Rut.  Peeeee!"  she said emphatically.

Deborah has a vivid imagination and has in the past claimed to be talking with ghosts.

With the story of "Legion" still completely in mind, I reassured her in Thai, "Mai glooa peeee.  PraJesu kemkrang!"  "Don't be afraid of ghosts.  Jesus is stronger!"

Deborah paused, looking confused.  Then she repeated herself more urgently, "Mai chai!  Peeee!" 

I put my hand on her shoulder calmly and said again in what I hoped to be a most confident, soothing tone, "Deborah.  Mai glooa peee.  PraJesus kemkrang.  Rao Prajao ying yai!"  Our God is big.

Another confused pause.  Then she made a sound of frustration, and turned and ran back to the dining shelter where she had come from.  Yupa and Dtu were there.

I went back to tidying up all the supplies I would need for the evening's lesson, but Deborah was back again.  This time she said, "Ahjahn Rut.  Moo-o?"

Moo-o?  That's the Thai word for pig, with the rising tone at the end.  She was saying 'pig', only this tine in Thai.  Her first attempt was English.  Pig, said with an e sound instead of an i and without the ending consonant, sounds remarkable like the Thai word for ghost.

"Oh, sweetheart!  You want me to come and see the pigs!!!"

Her face lit up in a brilliant smile.  We had made contact!  And I was now off to meet the pigs who were not ghosts at all.
 

I make these mistakes all the time.  And this one everyone found quite hilarious, and I retold the story that night during the lesson, where we laughed again.  It's already become something of an affectionate joke between Deborah and myself.  In this way I am treated with so much patience.  But sometimes the lack of ability to communicate is just truly frustrating, and confusing, and problematic.

And sometimes I wonder at the craziness of attempting to learn another language starting at age 50 and still pushing to create new neurons here at 61.  I can only hope to manage some conversational skills between now and when all these brain cells start to die off.  Let's face it.

But I'm stubborn as well as crazy, I guess.  And moments with Deborah, and with Yupa and with others, where I get it, I understand, and I am understood for important things, I suppose it makes it worth while.

And the best news is that there are no zombie pigs here in Thailand.  At least not that I've met so far.  Although I did come close one day.  But that's another blog, I think
 "The Day Ahjahn Rut Was Chased By A Wild Boar".  True story.

Meanwhile, if you're so inclined, prayers for some supernatural ability to keep learning this intricate, beautiful, complex language would be most appreciated.

Sawadi, ka.