NUI

Nui is the coolest 13 year-old I know. He was the boy that I lived with. One night we were having family dinner. Our kitchen table was outside. Most of the homes in the village are small wooden shacks on stilts. There is not much privacy. A couple that lived across the street had started arguing. I think the whole neighborhood could hear their yelling. After a few awkward silent moments, Nui looks up with a smile on his face and says "talk show!". Nui only knows a few words in English. He made me laugh when of all things he recognized a Maury Povich moment.

One day when I was sick, I was upstairs sleeping. I heard the floor boards creek and it woke me up. It was Nui. He was peeking through my mosquito net and motioned to ask me if I was hungry. I was trying to explain to him that I wasn't, but we weren't understanding each other. Finally I said yes, to settle the confusion. I thought maybe Mae had sent him upstairs to ask if I wanted lunch.

When I finally made it downstairs I realized it was just the 2 of us. Nui made me lunch. Nobody put him up to it. He mixed up some egg to make me an omelet. Eggs are the last thing someone who is nauseous wants to eat. But my heart was so touched by sweet little Nui that I couldn't refuse.

As he poured the egg into the wok, I looked in wonder as to what he had added with the egg. The egg was speckled. I peeked my head in a little closer to see that my egg was being fried with an army of Ants. Nui didn't wash the wok before he cooked. Trying to fight ants in rural Thailand is a constant losing battle. Ants are just a part of home life that you have to get used to. Normally when whoever is cooking, the wok always gets washed first. This was the first and last time that I ever saw Nui cook in the month that I lived with the family.

Not only was I nauseous and trying to get the courage up to eat the egg in the first place. I was to now try and pick around my ant flavored omelet. It was so sweet of Nui to think of me. He was just looking after me. His intentions were so innocent that I didn't even care. Bless his little heart. I did the best I could in trying to eat a few bites and when Nui went back inside I fed the rest to Bok (our dog).