Bangkla: The Search, Bird Seed Donuts, and Supachai

I have never actually met Peter Butcher. My mother’s childhood friend, and her partner in crime, I couldn’t recognize in a lineup of two. Having never met him, I know, surprisingly, quite a bit about his childhood. The time he and mom got stuck on a tree limb when they tried to make a pulley system elevator for their tree house, without a pulley, may be my favorite story. I have come to realize that the people you get in trouble with as a child, are also the people who witnessed your greatest childhood moments, for my mother that was Peter Butcher.

On Tuesday morning I participate in my usual routine of reading with my grandfather, morning chapel, and skype calls home. I then begin my search. My mother has told me of a tree where her and Peter Butcher’s initials are carved. I have Granddaddy draw me a crude map on a paper towel, change into shorts and a t-shirt, put on my sunglasses, grab my camera bag, and head out into the city. It took me a bit of time but I finally located my mother’s old house. I walk into the yard and set off the Thailand Home Security System, otherwise known as a dog. I search the yard and the yards of both the houses close by but have little success in finding the tree or even one old enough to have been around when my mom grew up in Thailand. After twenty minutes I come to the conclusion that the tree my mother’s name is on has been cut down.

Instead of returning to the hospital I decide to walk around a bit more and end up at the floating market. I wonder around, moving from stall to stall to see if there is anything worth purchasing. When I come to a vendor making what looks like donuts, I stop and take a few minutes to watch the process. The man cooking the food takes, what looks like birdseed dough, dips it in a liquid batter and puts the whole thing into a fryer. When I ask about the food I am given a sample. The flavor is similar to a deep fried whole grain granola bar, it is delicious and I purchase a small bag of the donuts.

When I return to the hospital campus and to the apartment, we take a few hours to rest before Supachai, and old family friend picks us up for dinner. Supachai was nineteen when he began working in the hospital office. Overtime he became the hospital administrator, and he is now the mayor of Bangkla. When it is time for dinner two black vehicles pull in front of the apartment, a Toyota Fortunner (no it is not a typo there is a toyota vehicle in Asia called a Fortunner) with the Bangkla city seal on side, and a sedan who’s make and model I did not catch. John Mark and I are introduced to Supachai, his wife, and their daughter, and everyone climbs into the vehicles. We drive fifteen minutes to Chacheangsao and to a Chinese restaurant. When we are lead to an enclose air-conditioned room I am surprise, it is the first time I have eaten in a restaurant that is inside and air-conditioned since the Banana Leaf, my first day in the country. As I look around, I notice the restaurant is strangely empty. I ask my grandfather why this is and after a few minutes we determine that the restaurant may have been rented out for us. As we sit and enjoy our meal, I hear stories about my mother, and how I am loud like she is. At the end of our meal a large plate of multi-colored sticky rice and mangos appears and we enjoy the dessert thoroughly. It is a pleasant evening and I am honored to finally have met Supachai, a man I have heard about for several years. We return to the apartment, say good by to new (old) friends and we retire to mine and John Mark’s bedroom where I tell my grandfather and my cousin about my life. It is a great night.





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