Street Market

Every first Tuesday of the month the river street in my community closes down and bamboo tables line the sidewalk. The lazy street becomes Dtalot Lim Nam, a riverside market illuminated with paper lanterns, bustling with vendors and shoppers, backtracked by the local rock band, and scented with grill fire. There at least seven weekly markets around my community, but this one is by far my favorite. Dtalot Lim Nam is less about buying a new pair of slides and groceries for the week, and more about spending time in community. Most vendors are locals who have prepared meals, snacks, and beverages to be enjoyed at bamboo tables while looking over the Nan River. Kids run around while their parents, vendors and shoppers, chit chat.

If you have been out to eat with me before, you know that I always order water and the server has to fill my glass every time they pass by. You will also know that my first question about the menu is,

"Are your egg rolls vegetarian?"

That has not changed at all since living in Thailand, except now I say,

"Bah-be-at ni bpen mong-saway-rat mai?"

What's special about Thailand and what's special about Dtalot Lim Nam is that I only have to ask once.

The first month I experienced this market, I asked the bah-be-at (egg roll) vendor if she had any vegetarian egg rolls. Every month since she flags me down to tell me she has vegetarian egg rolls. Among the hundreds of pork and chicken egg rolls she has prepared to be fried fresh on site, there are five vegetarian ones made just for me.

I sit down on the banks of the river to enjoy my egg rolls and reflect on how special it is to be welcomed into this beautiful community.

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