Wang Gnai? Whats Up?

I have been a terrible blogger - but I have been so busy doing tons of different activities.  I hate to skimp on the details, but here's what's been going on since my last post.

- I spent a long weekend touring Siem Reap and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  The trip was incredible. One of the highlights?  Climbing to the top of a temple with Rita, Ben, and J at sunrise. We had the place to ourselves for the whole thing.  Please refer to Rita's blog for the whole story:  http://ritaafarrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/cambodia.html - and to Ben's for some great pictures: http://muskratgoestothailand.blogspot.com/2011/08/cambodia.html
- Many of my fellow volunteers helped lead an English Camp at Pla Pak Wit (where we had our orientation a year ago).  It was a blast!  It was also so much fun to bring an end to our time with giving back to the school that gave so much to our beginning. 
- I had my last few classes teaching at Kom Pawk.  It was bittersweet, and a lot of fun.  Some of my fifth and sixth graders can read English better than they can read Thai!
- End of Service conference with my group was productive and fun, as well as difficult good-byes
- Planning Orientation with the new field director, Haley, has been a blast.  A lot of work, a few stressful moments, but mostly a lot of fun.
- To reward ourselves (and to give ourselves an incentive to finish planning the sessions faster) we scored an awesome flight down to Phuket for a long weekend.  We headed straight to Koh Phi Phi (Thailand's posterchild and the location of filming for "The Beach") and had a few wonderful days of fun in the sun (and rain).  We made a number of good friends...and even brought a few back with us to NKP!
- I finally crossed the bridge to Laos.  I really only went for a visa run, and it was not a lot of fun, but now I have an extra stamp in my passport and the pretty Thai one too!

English Camp Activities!

Cambodia!

This is the temple we watched the sunrise from

Hard at work...or hard at cheating....

No smiles for Kru Malee

This is what happened to my leftover stickers at the end of the year...

Camera crazed kids...i miss those munchkins!

 

(This is a video of my 3rd graders playing a letter identification game during our last day together.  Watch what happens when "W" appears.  There's a famous Thai pop song entitled "Lovin' you too much" and they like to substitute the "W" in...every.time.)

Tonight I am off to Bangkok for the weekend to celebrate a number of milestones: my 24th birthday, my one year anniversary in Thailand, and to pick up the volunteers for the start of WorldTeach Thailand 2011-2012!

What The...?!?

If you were reading my last post and came along the line: "There are not enough words in the English language to express my deep love and respect for this woman, nor for the heartbreak I will feel when it comes time to leave Thailand and her behind (although we are hopeful that she will be able to get a Visa to come home with me for a few weeks in November)." and thought to yourself "What the...?!?" you are not alone.  That's right folks, my return to the US has been delayed from the end of September to the first week of November, and I couldn't be happier about it.

The stars all magically aligned to give me the opportunity to continue to work for WorldTeach through next years' Orientation.  This was a hope of mine from the very beginning, and started to look like a semi possibility when I started as Assistant Field Director. I didn't want to get my hopes up because X, Y, and Z all needed to happen to give me this opportunity.  I started to resign myself to going home in September and even bought the plane ticket to prove it.  I planned a Welcome/Birthday party for myself on the very day I left for Thailand one year prior.  While this event made going home a little more appealing (I really was looking forward to having all my friends and family together, gazing at the autumn foliage, enjoying fall-like temperatures, etc.) I was (and still am) beginning to dread the impending Goodbye to Thailand.

Staying for the next groups' orientation just feels right.  I've learned so much this past year - about myself, about Thailand, about other people, that I am really looking forward to teaching some of the new "krew" about what it means to be a volunteer here.  In the office, we've already begun planning for Orientation and making site placements for next year, so it would be a real disappointment to go home without seeing the fruits of my labor.  Not only that, I am so curious about the new group of volunteers, staying just to meet them makes it all worth it. NKP will always hold a special place in my heart, and I want to make sure the new krew are well enough prepared to take care of this wonderful place in my absence.

I'll see ya stateside November 4th.

We are Family

Here in Thailand I have a wonderful family who hold an incredibly special place in my heart.  Perhaps one of my favorite things about Thai culture is that almost immediately upon meeting someone, a family-like relation is established based on age.  We use the word "Pi" to indicate an older sibling, and the word "Nong" for a younger sibling.  The line between actual family and close friend is too blurry to differentiate between the two.  And the way Thai people take care of everyone, it seems as though the community as a whole is the family, which is a little confusing, but so amazing to see and experience.  I have more wonderful Pis in my life than I could ever ask for:  There's Pi Nok of the office who's 5 year old son calls me Na (Aunt) Malee, solely based on the fact that his mother and I have established the sibling relationship. There's Pi Pornchai, WorldTeach's liason to the school district, a wonderful man who will stop at nothing to make sure all of our needs are met. There's Pi Louis, a new friend who suggests fun evening activities and enjoys tagging along and introducing us to his friends (even more Pis and Nongs there!).  There's Pi Mem of my laundry shop who is just a pleasure to visit.  On my last laundry day, she gave me a bunch of bananas and offered me a ride on her motorcy to the center of town. When I picked up my laundry today, she asked for my phone number so she could invite me to have dinner with her family.

Last, but certainly not least, there's Pi Nok, my roommate and the greatest older sister in the world.  When my life turned upside down, she so graciously welcomed me into her home and her life without a moment's hesitation.  There are not enough words in the English language to express my deep love and respect for this woman, nor for the heartbreak I will feel when it comes time to leave Thailand and her behind (although we are hopeful that she will be able to get a Visa to come home with me for a few weeks in November). She is the epitome of "jai dee"  (good heart) and is so generous to all the people in her life.  She anticipates mine and others' needs and makes sure everyone is well cared for.  Not only that, but she can read people's feelings and emotions so well that it amazes me how she's got all the volunteers' down. She also tells the funniest stories of her embarrassing moments, but she has no shame at all.  We laugh together all the time as we are both "ding dongs" more often than we are geniuses (example: nearly blowing up our bathroom when we lit candles during a power outage). We have deep conversations about current topics in Thailand and about her past - despite the language barrier we truly understand each other.

About a month or so ago I traveled to Pi Nok's hometown of Chaiyapum with her and Rita.  She'd been looking forward to this trip all year and was so excited for us to see the home she's built and meet her extended family.  We toured her rice field and her village, and stopped at nearly every home to be introduced to yet another member of the "family."  Pi Nok is obviously the fun, cool aunt that everybody loves and looks forward to visits from. I don't know if I've ever seen Pi Nok so happy as she was in Chaiyapum and it was a joy to see.

Rita and I touring the orchid mountain with Pi Nok's family

With Tomtam, Pi Nok's niece

 Pi Nok!

Ain't No Gift Like the Present

Upon returning from our travels, I, along with most of the other volunteers, began to sense some anxiety in the air about returning home and ending our journey in Thailand.  It all started with the task of changing our return flights – a process that very literally brought me to tears - and it all spiraled from there.  Soon enough, weekend conversations were dominated with “What’s next?” instead of the usual, “What crazy/interesting/awesome thing happened in your village this week?” I too got swept up in thinking of what was coming next, and trust me, the whole thought of returning home is so anxiety ridden that it completely threw me for a loop.  It got to the point that I was thinking so much into the future that I entirely neglected everything that was happening in the present.  Sure its kind of exciting to get caught up in imagining what I’ll be doing after Thailand, but the truth is there’s still three whole months left to enjoy this experience.  It feels like forever and absolutely nothing at the same time. Why should I waste this precious time worrying about the future when I am in the midst of an incredible journey?  As time seems to just fly by, it’s now my goal to keep my thoughts on the wonderful moments that make my life in Thailand so special.  Here are some of my favorites:

-          Laughing with Pi Nok every day about how forgetful we both are about silly things like where we left our keys.  Or maybe not so silly things, like the time we almost blew up the house.

-          My students, particularly 3^rd grader Jet, who every single time I ask him anything, will giggle and squirm in his seat and respond with, “I am thank you!” It’s so adorable I almost don’t ever want to teach him the correct answers.

-          The woman at the market that I buy vegetables from each week.  Our interaction lasts all of 30 seconds, but I always look forward to seeing her smiling face.

-          Whenever I go to a fruit stand and ask what some mysterious fruit is, I always get offered a taste, and the owner grabs a piece and rips it open for me.  Most of the time its delicious, sometimes its durian.

-          The bike shop owners who one time chased me down the street so they could refill my bike’s tires.

-          Whenever I drop off clothes at the laundry shop, the woman always invites me inside for a glass of water and asks me questions a mile a minute.  Somehow, I can always understand her. I don’t even know her name, but she’s one of my favorite people here.

-          My fellow volunteers who have become family, and who always have the ability to make me laugh so hard tears stream down my face.

-          One of the office lady’s adorable little sons always walks slowly and nervously to my desk to show me whatever toy he has that day.  Never says a word to me, but he’ll let me drive his toy car over the side of my desk.

-          Pornchai asking about the intricacies of English to and from site visits.  On our last trip, he wanted to know the differences between see, saw, and seen. The end result was either “I haven’t seen you in a long time” or “It has been a long time since I last saw you.” I realize more and more each day how ridiculous the English language is.

-          Each week when I go to the Som Dtam shop, the woman automatically starts making it exactly how I like it.  While she’s mashing away, someone in the shop always remarks about how novel it is that I can eat Isan food. When I explain to them that it’s my favorite meal I’m always greeted with squeals of delight.

With wonderful moments like these, why would I even try to think of anything but today?

Expedition Thailand: Lessons Learned

Now that its been 2 months (oh my goodness, how time has flown!) since I've returned from my travels, I wanted to share all the life lessons that I learned while backpacking around this wonderful country:

1. When someone offers you the opportunity to do something crazy, fun, adventurous, etc. - Do It!  Had I backed out of unfamiliar circumstances, I probably never would have gone scuba diving, never seen the mosque in Pitsanulok, never met a number of wonderful people, never would have jumped into the back of a thai family's pickup to circle the city for Songkran, and never would have had many of the experiences that I did.
2. While sometimes incredibly confusing, cramped, and disgustingly hot, public transportation is the way to go.  Its cheaper, (sometimes) faster, and ALWAYS more entertaining.  I met a lot of enjoyable people on public transport - like the little boy that tried to bite my fingers off, the man that tried to match up the 3 American girls with the 3 German boys just because we all had white skin, and the old man who for 8 hours constantly narrated our entire trip in Thai, "We're turning left. We're 400 km from Nakhon Phanom. You can sit next to me, don't be afraid.  Now we're turning right. We're 399 km from Nakhon Phanom."
3. Learn a little bit of the local language.  Now, having been in Thailand for 5 months before heading out, we were all well ahead of the game of most travelers.  But here's the thing - hello, please, thank you, and excuse me, are enough to show the locals that you're invested in learning about their culture.  Knowing Thai probably saved me about $200 USD because I could get the "friend price" for nearly anything that cost money, it led to wonderful cultural exchanges, and it just made the whole journey so much easier.  We could travel off the beaten path more freely and truly experience a number of different places.
4. Before getting on a bus, calculate which side of the bus the sun will be on for the majority of the trip. Sit on the opposite side.
5. Don't be shy - talk to everyone you meet. Sure, you might get yourself stuck talking to someone who blabs on and on about nothing you care about, but you also just might make a great new friend.

To help you get a better idea of where in Thailand I traveled during my 5 weeks on the road, copy and paste this link into your browser:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=
201852724059212416675.0004a2fbd928fa9cd8fa8

This weekend should have been filmed and titled Hangover 2

Returning to NKP after 5 weeks on the road truly felt like going home, and it was so nice to be able to actually unpack and sleep in my own bed (even if that bed is not at all like my bed at American home).  I enjoyed getting back into the office and sharing stories with some of my co-workers.  Meeting Jes' husband, Abe, was also a joy as I'd heard so much about him over the year.  Abe moved to Thailand in March to be with Jes when she has their baby (any day now....c'mon baby!) and it was great to finally get to know him.

Anyway, Jes and I were out to lunch with the office the day before she and Abe left for Bangkok (where she is living now in the last few weeks of her pregnancy) and we were told about an office field trip to Bangkok and Kanchanaburi.  Naturally, we were invited to go too.  Normally, this is an invitation I would refuse, as sometime I feel alienated in the company of only Thai people after a few hours. However, because I would be in the office alone during Jes' maternity leave, I wanted to take the time to bond with the rest of the office staff without her. Kanchanaburi was also one of the places I wanted to hit while traveling but wasn't able to, so I figured it was a good idea to go.

So, at 7 am the next morning I boarded Crazy Bus Thailand (seriously, that's what the bus company was called) and knew I was in for a great trip - especially when all the men broke out their boxes of wine (where did they find wine?!?) Sure enough, the blaring karaoke began as soon as we left the office driveway...and lasted the entirety of the 14 hour drive to Bangkok (as well as any time we spent on the bus - a total of about 40 hours).  I did notice the laser stage lighting that the bus was equipped with and was grateful they opted not to turn that on - until they did on our journey back. Just wait for the video at the bottom of this post :)They tried soooo hard to get me to participate in the karaoke, but I refused.  However, they also know that I'll say "ok" to pretty much anything I don't understand (usually I won't have much of a choice anyway).  So while I had my headphones in attempting to drown out karaoke, someone asked me a question in Lao, not understanding I just said "ok" and immediately the mic was passed to me.  Thankfully there weren't any songs in English, but man those Thai people are tricksters!

We arrived in Bangkok in time for the Educational Directors Conference to begin, which was the reason for this outing.  I was told to wake up at 6 am...even though we wouldn't be leaving until 10? No worries, I was able to find a LIVE Sox game on TV.  Epic. There was a lot of just wandering around the conference center and meeting people.  The Director of the office I work in (I'll refer to him as my boss, but he's not) tried to find me a husband so that I wouldn't have to leave Thailand. I only found this out after the 5th young man brought to meet me could speak enough English and explained my boss' plan. Awkward.

Basically throughout the conference I was dragged in a million directions, because no one knew what to do. There was a redeeming moment though - one of the presenters was from America and was giving a presentation about teacher collaboration and observations.  Perfect!  Taking over the Field Director position I was tasked with site observations and leading a few volunteer conferences, so this guy's presentation was very timely. Of course Pornchai (the liaison between WT and the district office - my closest collaborator) dragged me up to the podium to meet him, and as soon as I turned to introduce Pornchai, he disappeared.  His excuse was that he had to go the bathroom. Yeah, right.

A lot of the confusion surrounding the conference was due to the fact that it was being held at the same venue as the finale of Thailand's version of American Idol. Seriously. Screaming teenagers filled the streets around the center. And the next day the Prime Minister of Education was slated to speak. You could have fooled me...I sort of thought it was a magic show.  It was held in the Royal Jubilee Ballroom and it featured mysterious music, fireworks, and a smoke machine. Seriously.

Then we were off to Kanchanaburi, the site of the Bridge over River Kwai (actually pronounced like "square" minus the s and a little bit of the r). We had about 15 minutes to look at the bridge and take a million pictures and then we were off on our dinner cruise on the river. I would have liked to explore the museums and actually learn something, but there was no time for that apparently. The beauty there was indescribable, and I was even able to enjoy it for about an hour before the karaoke began again! After the dinner cruise we went back to the hotel and were off first thing in the morning for the trip back to NKP.

In all seriousness though, I am so happy I went on this trip.  While I laughed to myself pretty much the whole time about what I was experiencing, I enjoyed every minute of it (ok, not the karaoke so much). I loved getting to know the office folk and even trying to learn their names (eh, I still only know 3). I loved their generosity and their interest in teaching me new things.  My boss would teach me the Thai and Lao words for just about everything we were surrounded by like umbrella, fingernail, sidewalk, etc. - of which I remember not one word.  Because of the gender roles in Thailand, the men and women were distinctly separated, and the women were given the task to care for me even though Pornchai is my main contact in the office.  Pornchai would still sneak over and make sure everything was ok though.  Nok, (not Pi Nok) the woman who invited me, certainly made sure I never got lost - I couldn't even go to the bathroom by myself! I could tell that among the women, though, there was a sort of "you invited her, now you have to make sure we don't lose her" attitude about me.  All of which I still find hilarious. 

Overall though, it really helped me bond with the other people in my office.  Everyday a few people come up to my desk and have a conversation with me.  The cute little old man reads from an English conversation book to me each morning. Nok's sons call me Na Malee (Aunt Malee) and give me hugs when they come to the office after school. And I was even invited to the nearby high school's pool with some of the women. It was a great trip, and the memories of it still make me laugh to this day.

The River Kwai at sunset

The Royal Jubilee Ballroom in BKK - where the magic happens

Me and Nok at the bridge

the bridge

Autumn in New England?...nope. Thailand in the hot season! Who knew?

Houses on the river

"Dump," the karaoke station on our dinner boat...at least they got that part right"

rainbow!

 

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...Karaoke with Laser Stage Lighting. (Please turn the volume all the way up to get the true taste of 40 hours on a bus is like)

Expedition Thailand Part 5: Last Legs...Chiang Mai

We arrived in Chiang Mai on the Eve of the Eve of Songkran...which in Thai time means that it had already started.  From the bus station we snagged a saawng tao and made our way to Rita and Michelle's guest house where we'd meet up with Rita's parents.  Along the way we realized that the water fights had already begun as children with water guns attacked. We ran into Rita's parents outside their guest house and immediately took cover.  I repacked my valuables into a dry bag, and headed out on a search for the hostel I would be sharing with 8 other WT volunteers and friends they met along their travels.

Just a little background info about Songkran.  It is traditionally the Thai New Year Celebration, although Thailand has adopted the western tradition of changing the calendar on January 1. Thailand has held onto its numbering system as it is currently the year 2554 here in Thailand (hello from the future!). Anyway, Songkran involves washing the Buddha's and it is considered a way of rinsing away any sins from the previous year.  The festival has since evolved into a country-wide water fight, with Chiang Mai as the center of the party.

I made my way to the guesthouse and met up with the friends I hadn't seen in about a month.  We shared some travel stories and enjoyed each other's company.   Another one of our first stops was to arm ourselves with watery weapons.  There were choices galore from tiny guns outfitted with umbrellas, water guns with tank backpacks, water rockets, and buckets. We stocked up on a variety of weapons and readied ourselves for the next day.

We went out on the Eve of Songkran (the festival still hadn't officially started yet!) and all around the moat surrounding the Old City were people on sidewalks spraying anyone that came close.  We decided to scope out the situation from the quieter side of the street.  As we watched the revelers across the moat, I spotted a familiar face. Who could it be?  It was Martin, one of the friends we met in Railey!  I called across the moat, and he ran over, joining our crew for the remainder of the week.  Once we knew what was going on, we joined in on the water fight and were quickly soaked to the bone - including everything that was in my "dry" bag (everyone's phones, my camera, my bus ticket home, etc).  Unusually chilly during Thailand's hot season, we were actually freezing and decided to call it a night early to place all our items in a bag of rice...which was surprisingly difficult to find. (No worries, everyone's phones, and even my camera, all made a successful recovery eventually).

The next few days carried on much the same way, a blur of water.  Knowing Thai allowed us to take part in a more exciting part of Songran.  Thai people load up their trucks with water buckets and ice and stereos and drive around the moats.  We had researched how we might charter a truck for the day, but we soon realized with the slow traffic and knowing Thai, we could easily just hop on any truck that had some friendly people. It was great to see the entire city and tourists from the world over take part.  People young and old reveled together in the watery streets.

I did take one day to explore the surrounding area.  I met back up with Michelle, Rita, and her parents for a day of trekking.  We started off bamboo rafting down a river, took an elephant ride through the jungle, hiked through hill tribe villages, and swam in a waterfall.  It was a wonderful break from crazy Chiang Mai, and we really enjoyed getting to know our bamboo raft and elephant guides (again, thanks to knowing Thai). 

It was a great way to end 5 weeks of traveling around.  And man was I grateful to be finally home in NKP.  But little did I know, my travels wouldn't officially end there...

Friendly family who's truck we hopped on

Insanity

the moat surrounding the Old City