Bangkla: Thunderstorm, Sticky Rice, and 80 Years

After my day exploring the Chachoengsoa I find Granddaddy and John Mark at the hospital. With the work day over we make our way back to our apartment and plan on eating dinner with Gai and Ift, her sister who also works in the hospital. While we wait for dinner a light rain turns into a thunderstorm and begins shaking the house. John Mark and I quickly unplug our computers, as to avoid a power surge. We hear Granddaddy speaking in Thai to someone downstairs and decide to see who it is.

We make our way down stair and see food on our table. Due to in inclement weather Gai has picked dinner up and brought it to us. We eat the delicious food and when we are almost full I recall the sticky rice that Gai purchased for us earlier in the day. I retrieve the three bamboo shoots that contain the dessert and we soon discover three different types of rice; one with a purple fruit (actually I learned later that it was not a fruit but kidney beans), another with tapioca, and a third with something we are unsure about. We break each open and pass them around the table until we have eaten most of the dessert.

With our stomachs full and the possibility of an outing canceled by the rain, we retire to the bedroom John Mark and I sleep in. While sitting on the beds and laughing our way through conversation, John Mark asks our grandfather to tell us his life story. I second the idea and with some hesitation he agrees, under one condition. In order to hear his story John Mark and I promise that we will tell him our life stories (thus far) as well. The night progress and Harlan Willis tells the story of his 80 years of life, while his two oldest grandsons eagerly listen at his feet. After several hours we each go to bed feeling closer to the others.

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