Smell of a Memory I am not a tourist, but marely a traveller ...

There I was, in a very small Thai village... I was having a quarrel with myself : yes, I did consider an 'out-of-the beaten path' experience, but what exactly should I expect ?! I got only 1 day left - did I make the right choice ?! At some point, I realised a little woman was standing in front of me, reading all my thoughts all over my face. She smiled... Waved to me as to follow .. I did as if I was hypnotised. No questions asked. She showed me the rooms of her house, one by one. My eyes were covering every inch of the room in hunger for learning more about her house and way of life. In fact, I did step into her life without knowing...

Outside the house, on the terrace, a little girl was waiting for us. She felt happy to see me and took my hand. She did not understand English, nor did I understand her words, and yet communication was perfect. The both stopped next to what appeared to be an open-air kitchen. There were all kind of ingredients, some known by me and some not. There was so much colour in front of me as before a painting.

I was just about day-dreaming of what my lunch would look like when the woman invited me, with her eyes, very firmly and yet tender, to start cooking ! There MUST be a mistake ! I can hardly fry an egg !!! She was gentle, took my hand and made me touch each ingredient whispering the local name. It was music to my years... A whole symphony was about to happen...

While I was introduced to the mystery of mixing the raw ingredients, the little one was watching the 'show', making funny faces or clapping from time to time. Little did I know that she was my best fan ! Through the cooking process, I did get to taste, smell and take a close look at each ingredient, but more than this - I got to experience the respect the Thai people have for food, fish, plants.

A month had passed.... tsunami came ...Through tears, I called my local friends to lunch ... I cooked Thai food and the smell brought back sweet & sour memories... closer to them..