There are a plethora of stories I can tell about my time here in Thailand thus far; I actually have a list of titles for five stories that I want to tell, but before I do anything, I need to talk about my Yii. 

Yii means grandmother in Thai (it may also mean about 3 other things depending on what tone you use but that’s a complaint for another day…) My Yii is the best, which isn’t surprising at all because I’ve been blessed with some amazing grandmothers in my lifetime. Describing my grandmothers as strong, confident, trailblazing, opinionated individuals who have shaped me into the woman I am today, is the understatement of the century. Some how, I got on a plane, moved to the other side of the world and God did it again. 

I'm a baby here in Thailand. I have the speaking skills of a first grader, my host family holds my hand when we cross the street (literally), they’ve had to teach me how to do basic household chores the ‘Thai’ way, and more-- I've never felt more dependent on a group of people in my lifetime as an adult and it's taking some getting used to. My Yii hasn’t been at the center of all of this grooming, she was more off to the side. My host mother fusses over me and asks me the right questions and my Yii is always there, observing and waiting.

My first few weeks in Thailand I went out of my way to avoid her.

She’s older, has a thick accent and it was/is still at times really difficult to understand her. Additionally, Thailand has a hierarchy structure that I'm still trying to get used to-- because of this, I walked around with a pit in my stomach for weeks worried I would insult her. 

A few weeks ago my meé (host mom) went on a business trip and I was left alone with my Yii for 2 days. I was nervous and planned to spend as little time with her as possible. Our first day together, I skipped breakfast and went straight to school. Or at least I tried to; she caught me going down the driveway and shoved some food in my backpack before I could protest. The following morning around 6:30 am I heard rustling outside of my shower. See here’s the thing about my bathroom, it's open. Thats a bad way to explain it... because it's so hot in Thailand and the humidity is horrendous, a lot of houses have a sort of breathable bathroom. There’s a 2 inch gap between the ceiling and the roof and about 4 slats all around the top of the wall.

Because there is no dry area in Thai bathrooms the whole floor gets wet; this sort of “open concept” allows for water and dampness to escape. Well around 6:30am the second day alone with my Yii, I heard some rustling and it was her!! More specifically, it was her, walking around the outside of my bathroom calling my name while I was in the shower. Once I was sure she couldn’t see me and the shock of being in the shower wore off, I started to have a conversation with her. It was my first one without a translator and the longest one we had since I moved in. She asked me if I was showering, if I was eating breakfast and what time she should expect me in the kitchen. As I heard her shuffling away, I smiled. 

This woman I met weeks prior cared about me.

It was time to do some self reflecting and I realized I was being a terrible guest but an even worse grand daughter. I started to think about all the little ways she had been accepting me into her home without me even realizing, and it warmed my heart. Every day I come home from school my Yii has fruit and a kanom (sweet treat) on the table for me, she watches me while I eat to see if I enjoy my meal and will cook it 3 more times just for me and no one else if I do, she brings me all the food she can to make sure that I'm full, she points the fan a little extra in my direction when she sees me sweating and she didn’t kick me out of her house when I forgot to take my shoes off or broke a Thai hierarchy rule. 

We talk now, me with my terrible broken Thai and her with her thick accent. Usually about the weather or if the food I’m eating is good. She wants to teach me how to make her spicy fried fish because I love it so much. From the outside looking in it may look normal or minuscule, but it took us a month to get to this place of familiarity and comfortability.

My entire life I've been surround by grandmothers who love me, teach me, care for me and protect me; its only right that I’ve found another on this side of the globe.

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