The above were my mental notes on the evening. One of the older English teacher's mothers passed away this weekend (at the age of 91. Very old for Thailand!) so we went to the funeral tonight. According to Thai tradition as I understand it, funerals are held for five nights, each evening hosted by a different group of people. Tonight our school hosted, meaning they paid for the temple, monks and food that were served. The ceremony stays exactly the same each night, but those coming to pay their respect changes. Many of the attendees tonight were people affiliated with the school.
Just like everything else in Thailand (stay with me. I know I keep saying this but it proves true time and time and time again), it was so unexpected. At least this time I thought to myself, "okay, it's a funeral. get ready to see a rare and unusual perspective on their culture." But, the funeral itself not so different.
Quick version: tables set up outside a temple, monks chanting for maybe 10 minutes while we all wai-ed, served fanta (okay, that was a little weird) and water from a child's juicebox of sorts (fine, also a little weird), ate seafood soup and delicious fruits, giant rain drops dripping through roof splashing off table hitting us in the face, eyes, service over.
The kicker: At many temples there are several stray dogs. People abandon them there because they believe they will at least have food, but ultimately they end up forming packs and often become vicious. Tonight, as expected, there were several dogs in the area (I don't know, maybe 15 total). As the monks were chanting and we were politely praying, they started fighting. Seriously fighting. We heard growling, angry deathly growling. Most people didn't even acknowledge this. I let it happen for a little while, but it became increasingly obvious that these dogs were in attack mode from the noises they were making. I turn around to see several dogs jumping one (who was crying) viciously. They had him by the throat and by the face and gut. It was not a pretty sight. Truly, everything in me to keep from crying from what I had seen. Even after all this, the Thai attendees couldn't be bothered to even look in that direction.
My fellow farang teachers were noticeably affected, and I turned to ask a Thai what she thought. Her response was simply that it was "simple, common, very usual." She said no problem. I told her I was very sad and could not watch, and she seemed genuinely confused. These are a people who would move mountains for someone they don't even know, yet they have no problem beating dogs or allowing dogs to kill each other in front of them. Bothersome.
Afterwards these same dogs found their way into the seating area and wandered up to tables begging for food. From what I saw, they received no resistance from the Thai people. I was certainly not comfortable with them near me. I need to very quickly learn how these people live amongst wild pack dogs and manage to keep from getting bitten, chased, or even concerned by their presence.
PS- Upon leaving, our ride backed her brand new Toyota Highlander right into a tree. "Mai bel lai ka" she said. "No worries." BiZARRE (but great, as always) evening.
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