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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Happy Holidays and Big Changes in Thailand

Been a while since I've posted, and I don't wanna get too far behind so here we go!

1. Christmas. I spent a wonderful weekend at Rita's with my WorldTeach fam, sharing old traditions and making some wonderful memories.  90 degrees and fried rice for dinner, but Christmas spirit was all around! The best description of our holiday comes from our word-smith, Peter: http://peterinpeterout.blogspot.com/2010/12/dada-x-mas.html



you can also see videos of our Christmas at
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=worldteach+thailand&aq=f   The first one is of wandering around our party, and the second one is from a really special moment later in the evening when we lit candles, sang carols, and set off fireworks!


2. Big Changes! After Christmas, I ended up leaving Kut Chim and moving in with my field director, Jes, and her roommate Pi Nok in Nakhom Phanom due to some "interesting" circumstances.  Details are still being worked out, but I know it was the right thing to do.  There are now many interesting opportunities for me that I'm very excited about. 

3. Happy New Year! Sawatdee Bpee Mai!  I rang in the new year with some fellow volunteers atop a plateau called Phu Kradueng.  What an interesting hike!  First off, we'd read that it would take anywhere from 3-8 hours to climb as well as a random smattering of descriptions about how strenuous the hike would be.  Like anything in Thailand, we went with an open mind and zero expectations.  Looking around at the people who would be hiking that day, it would seem as though we were just taking a walk down a city street.  Not quite...It was a 5.5 km hike UP.  There were portions with stairs, ladders, and railings, but it was steep.  Then once atop the mountain it was another 3 km to the area where everyone camps.  Phu Kradueng is a rite of passage among Thai young adults, and apparently a popular spot for new years' eve.  There must have been about 8000 people hiking the trail that day. It was hard to get a groove because you were always being stopped be people and porters getting in your way.  The whole thing took us about 4 hours, and we had a lot of fun laughing at the crazy outfits people were wearing, trying to talk to the people that we passed, etc.  Once at the campsite it was a tent city.  There was a big field covered in tents as well as an area that resembled a typical city night market where you could buy dinner and souvenirs.  It certainly was not the wilderness experience we were hoping for, but fun nonetheless. As the clock struck 2011 we hugged in our tent shivering. Lies, we actually spent the first few minutes of the new year negotiating with Peter for the extra sleeping bag (aka snagging it from him) and taking a trip to the bathroom. After freezing our butts off the first night there, we decided to head down a day early and pamper ourselves by splurging ($8) on a nice hotel in a city between the mountain and NKP.  Hot shower! AC! Comfy bed! soooo nice!

Here's Peter, me, Rita, and Sarah atop a waterfall a short hike from the top of the plateau. 

And that's me at the top of Phu Kradeung!

Happy New Year! Here's to many exciting experiences and to making wonderful memories!

1 comment:

  1. Looks like fun! Glad the Holidays went well for the most part! Update again soon!

    ReplyDelete