I was finally able to go to Chaing Mai this weekend and it was fabulous! I had my counterpart take me to one of the other volunteer’s sites and we caught the bus from there. It took about 7 hours, but the busses are a bit nicer here than they are in the States (think nice tourist type busses & they even have “stewardess” that serve you snacks).
When we got into town, we grabbed a tuk-tuk (3-wheeled taxis) and headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Pagoda Inn which was a pretty nice guest house…it was cheap, but it was really cute. The rooms didn’t have a tv or ac, but they were clean for the most part (other than a slight bug problem which you find pretty much everywhere in Thailand). We then went to a little restaurant and we all ate “farang” food (I had a hamburger & fries) which was wonderful. Then we went back to the hotel and sat in the lobby and talked/drank. We went out that night to a few different bars...and listened to some bands & did some dancing (one of the bars had a few different bands play and one of those bands was one of the better cover bands that I have heard – nothing beats hearing a Thai band cover ABBA, Blink 182, and The Killers)! I ended up getting back to the hotel at like 2:30 in the morning, but some of the others stayed out quite late (I heard someone got home at 7:00).
The next day we got up and went to breakfast (I had French toast) and then went to Starbucks. We then went to the mall and did a bit of shopping and went to see Pirates...which was pretty good. After the movie, we went to a Falafel place to eat which was excellent! We spent some more time in the lobby drinking/talking and then a group went out to do some more drinking, but I went to bed as our bus left fairly early the next morning.
Chaing Mai was wonderful…I just find it a little ironic that most tourists go to Chaing Mai to experience Thailand and we went to Chaing Mai to get our “farang” fix…”normal” food, American movie, and people who speak English!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Speak English
So I just finished teaching my first English class and it went pretty well. We showed up a little before 2:00 and the kids were in music class but as soon as they saw the "farang" they ran out to look at me. A few were even courageous enough to give a tentative "Hello." Anyway, the teachers got the students settled in the classroom (I think I was teaching the entire school because they were actually doubled up on chairs and some of the students were sitting on the ground).
I started by introducing myself and telling them about my family. I then passed around pictures which they loved (Chad & Kim you are going to be famous in my village). I then told them about Montana and had a picture book that I showed them. I then made them each stand up and introduce themselves...which they hated, but they had their teacher telling them what to say ("My name is___. I am ___ years old.") We finished a bit before the hour was up so I let them ask me questions..."What Thai food do you like?" "Do you like spicy food?" "Will you sing a song?" That last one got me...so I ended up having to sing "If Your Happy and You Know It" to 50+ students. I finally got them to join me at the very end, but it was difficult.
It is the end of the day now and I am going to go home and get ready for Chaing Mai. I have to leave my house at 7:00am...which in the States would have been horrible but is not too bad here as I wake up at 6:00 every day because of the roosters! I just hope the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" is good...when the nearest movie theater is a 6 hour bus ride away you have to be selective!
I started by introducing myself and telling them about my family. I then passed around pictures which they loved (Chad & Kim you are going to be famous in my village). I then told them about Montana and had a picture book that I showed them. I then made them each stand up and introduce themselves...which they hated, but they had their teacher telling them what to say ("My name is___. I am ___ years old.") We finished a bit before the hour was up so I let them ask me questions..."What Thai food do you like?" "Do you like spicy food?" "Will you sing a song?" That last one got me...so I ended up having to sing "If Your Happy and You Know It" to 50+ students. I finally got them to join me at the very end, but it was difficult.
It is the end of the day now and I am going to go home and get ready for Chaing Mai. I have to leave my house at 7:00am...which in the States would have been horrible but is not too bad here as I wake up at 6:00 every day because of the roosters! I just hope the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" is good...when the nearest movie theater is a 6 hour bus ride away you have to be selective!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
So I have had a pretty eventful week so far. I am used to sitting around reading each issue of Newsweek 3 times so all of this excitement is a little much for me!
On Monday, a couple of guys from the office asked me if I wanted to go with them. I had no idea where they were going, but I figured why not…it should be fun. They made me change into my pants (I wear pants into the office as I have to ride my bike then I change into a skirt) and told me that it was far into the hills. So we set out in the office truck and rode for about 10 miles in the direction of Nan and then we turned off onto a dirt road that led into the hills. Now this dirt road was very narrow…so narrow in fact that that driver would honk the horn at sharp turns and steep hills to warn possible oncoming traffic. We drove for about 25 minutes on this road before we got to our destination. It turns out that we were going to look at a bridge that had been washed away & needed to be replaced. The guys had to take a few measurements & talk to some people about the lumber. (I have no idea why our guys were the ones doing the work because there are much closer city offices than ours). I just sat back and enjoyed the scenery!
It was lunchtime when we got back so we all headed to the usual restaurant and when we got back, another guy asked me if I would like to go somewhere else (he told me where but I have a very hard time understanding him for some reason). He took me to one of the village’s community groups. Now a community group in Thailand is a little different than one in the States. The group that we went to visit was actually a group of women that make clothing (they are all spread out in their own homes). We went to one home where they spin thread from cotton then to a home where they weave the fabric (which was really neat & I got to spin some thread onto a spool that they use). Then we went to another home where they sew clothing. It was really interesting to see the entire process from start to finish!
Then on Tuesday, I showed up for work and some of the staff were wearing their military uniforms. As not everyone was wearing them (they all have them) I didn’t think anything of it. Then we went to lunch and I saw some kids out…which I did think odd as school had started again. So I asked one of my coworkers why the kids weren’t in school and she told me that school was canceled today because the Princess was coming! As soon as we got back from lunch, we headed off to a field where we sat in a U and waited for her to show up. We waited for 2 hours…sitting on the floor…with our legs to one side of our body…for 2 hours…my legs went numb…so numb that I couldn’t move my toes…seriously…I tried…repeatedly. Anyway, she finally showed up and walked around and looked at different displays that they had set up for her and then she walked around the U to talk to some people. Now somehow, I ended up in the front row on the inside of the U where the Princess was walking. And I was the only “farang” sitting there so she stopped and talked to me! She asked me where I was from and how long I would be in Thailand (I have a problem with the last question because when they ask in English it is usually “How long you be in Thailand?” and I can never tell if they are asking me how long I have been in Thailand or how long I will be in Thailand)…so I got stuck on that question for a second even though she asked in English (I’m such a dork!) Unfortunately I was unable to take pictures of the Princess (it was not the same one that attended our Swearing In Ceremony) but I did get some “while we were waiting” shots.
On Monday, a couple of guys from the office asked me if I wanted to go with them. I had no idea where they were going, but I figured why not…it should be fun. They made me change into my pants (I wear pants into the office as I have to ride my bike then I change into a skirt) and told me that it was far into the hills. So we set out in the office truck and rode for about 10 miles in the direction of Nan and then we turned off onto a dirt road that led into the hills. Now this dirt road was very narrow…so narrow in fact that that driver would honk the horn at sharp turns and steep hills to warn possible oncoming traffic. We drove for about 25 minutes on this road before we got to our destination. It turns out that we were going to look at a bridge that had been washed away & needed to be replaced. The guys had to take a few measurements & talk to some people about the lumber. (I have no idea why our guys were the ones doing the work because there are much closer city offices than ours). I just sat back and enjoyed the scenery!
It was lunchtime when we got back so we all headed to the usual restaurant and when we got back, another guy asked me if I would like to go somewhere else (he told me where but I have a very hard time understanding him for some reason). He took me to one of the village’s community groups. Now a community group in Thailand is a little different than one in the States. The group that we went to visit was actually a group of women that make clothing (they are all spread out in their own homes). We went to one home where they spin thread from cotton then to a home where they weave the fabric (which was really neat & I got to spin some thread onto a spool that they use). Then we went to another home where they sew clothing. It was really interesting to see the entire process from start to finish!
Then on Tuesday, I showed up for work and some of the staff were wearing their military uniforms. As not everyone was wearing them (they all have them) I didn’t think anything of it. Then we went to lunch and I saw some kids out…which I did think odd as school had started again. So I asked one of my coworkers why the kids weren’t in school and she told me that school was canceled today because the Princess was coming! As soon as we got back from lunch, we headed off to a field where we sat in a U and waited for her to show up. We waited for 2 hours…sitting on the floor…with our legs to one side of our body…for 2 hours…my legs went numb…so numb that I couldn’t move my toes…seriously…I tried…repeatedly. Anyway, she finally showed up and walked around and looked at different displays that they had set up for her and then she walked around the U to talk to some people. Now somehow, I ended up in the front row on the inside of the U where the Princess was walking. And I was the only “farang” sitting there so she stopped and talked to me! She asked me where I was from and how long I would be in Thailand (I have a problem with the last question because when they ask in English it is usually “How long you be in Thailand?” and I can never tell if they are asking me how long I have been in Thailand or how long I will be in Thailand)…so I got stuck on that question for a second even though she asked in English (I’m such a dork!) Unfortunately I was unable to take pictures of the Princess (it was not the same one that attended our Swearing In Ceremony) but I did get some “while we were waiting” shots.
In some other news, I told you that they had asked me to teach English on Thursdays in the primary school, well, they then changed that to 3 days a week because there are 3 schools in the village. I don’t know my schedule yet, but I have a feeling I am going to be pretty busy! I am also very excited because I get to go to Chaing Mai this weekend for some R&R…we are going to see “Pirates of the Caribean” and eat some “American” food and do some shopping so I am sure that I will have a lot more to tell you in a couple of days!
Friday, May 18, 2007
I knew it was coming...
So I knew that it was coming, I just kinda hoped that it wouldn't...They asked me to teach English at one of the schools. I actually have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, technically I am not here to teach English...that's what the TCCO group is here to do (the group of Peace Corps volunteers that are here to teach English). And I have no training whatsoever in teaching (although I do have 27 years experience in the subject matter).
I guess I am ok with doing for now because it gives me something to do 1 day a week (I'll be teaching 50 students on Thursday afternoons). And it also gives me an "in" with the community. So wish me luck and I am sure that you will be reading all sorts of stupid things that Kellie did in front of her English class!
I guess I am ok with doing for now because it gives me something to do 1 day a week (I'll be teaching 50 students on Thursday afternoons). And it also gives me an "in" with the community. So wish me luck and I am sure that you will be reading all sorts of stupid things that Kellie did in front of her English class!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Land Swing!
So we had an earthquake yesterday. Apparently it was in Laos, but it was felt all the way in Bangkok. I happen to be close to the Laos border and it was quite strong. At first I couldn't figure out what was happening...they were training the new firefighters in front of the office and had just started the firetruck up so I thought that it may be vibrations from the truck. And then I looked around and saw that the walls were wiggling (which made me a little nauseous actually). It lasted for about 15 seconds - which seemed like forever!
After, I went outside and one of my coworkers showed me where the brand new office building was now cracked! Another coworker was trying to translate earthquake into English and came up with "land swing" (the sad thing is that as soon as she said it I knew exactly what she was talking about).
I hope you are all doing well...me I am glad that the ground is no longer shaking. (I found out today that the earthquake rated a 6.1 on the Richter scale!)
After, I went outside and one of my coworkers showed me where the brand new office building was now cracked! Another coworker was trying to translate earthquake into English and came up with "land swing" (the sad thing is that as soon as she said it I knew exactly what she was talking about).
I hope you are all doing well...me I am glad that the ground is no longer shaking. (I found out today that the earthquake rated a 6.1 on the Richter scale!)
Heaven!
I can’t wait to get home and take a shower! Why, you may ask…No I did not trip and fall into a puddle of mud…my hot water heater got installed today!!!!!!!!!!!!
I actually bought the thing on Friday, but after looking at the directions decided that it was too complex for me (it’s electric and I didn’t want to be electrocuted). So as much as it pained me to do, I set it aside to ask for some help.
Yesterday, a guy from my work came to my house to install my water heater. This actually made me a little nervous as other volunteers told us that as a female I would not be left alone with a man…at all. A couple of ladies came with him, but they only stayed for about an hour as they had work to do. So I had to open all of my windows and doors so that people could look in and make sure that things were ok (hopefully my reputation is not damaged too much…one volunteer had a teen come up to her and ask her how much it cost to sleep with her after she had a male friend come and visit her). We were there for most of the day yesterday and when 4:30 rolled around he still wasn’t finished so had came back this morning to finish and I now have a working (I hope) water heater! And you don’t know how much crap the people at my office have been giving me for buying a water heater! “You don’t like cold showers every day?” Um…no. “Does everyone in Montana take a hot shower?” Everyone in the US takes a hot shower. And it went on and on…I think that they like to pick on me a bit.
I am going to go off on a slight tangent here (you will see why soon) and explain to you about the farang males (western males) in Thailand. If you are a single male and you come to Thailand to visit, be expected to be asked if you like Thai women (meaning do you want a Thai wife) and don’t be too surprised if you receive a few marriage proposals. I think that it started with the Vietnam War when the soldiers would come to Thailand on their brake and ended up marrying a Thai woman. Today you walk down the street in any large city and you will see an old, fat, balding, gross man walking hand-in-hand with a gorgeous Thai woman. Quite a few farang men come to Thailand and live like kings because their pension, while modest in their home country, is very large here in Thailand. So you see these old men with these beautiful wives have these huge houses that they only use two weeks out of the year when they come back to visit. And the Thai women get someone with a lot of money that will take care of their family. It is quite sad actually. So I was planning on warning all the men that come to visit to expect the question “Do you want Thai wife?”
But I wasn’t expecting to have to explain this to my little sister. You see, I brought a photo album with me to show my coworkers pics of my family. And apparently, the young guy that installed my water heater has a slight crush on my sis. He asked me about her all day today…”When is she coming to visit?” In December. “Does she have a boyfriend?” No, I don’t think so. “What is she studying in school?” I tried to explain that she was done with school but is thinking about going back, but I’m not sure if he understood. “What kind of books does she like to read?” I don’t think I could have answered this one even if he understood English (this entire conversation took place in Thai). So little sis, if you are reading this, don’t be surprised if you receive a marriage proposal (or two) when you come to visit!
So now, I am going to go home (with my damaged reputation) and take my first hot shower in two months. I may even “trip” in a puddle of mud and get myself nice and dirty to make it even more enjoyable!
I actually bought the thing on Friday, but after looking at the directions decided that it was too complex for me (it’s electric and I didn’t want to be electrocuted). So as much as it pained me to do, I set it aside to ask for some help.
Yesterday, a guy from my work came to my house to install my water heater. This actually made me a little nervous as other volunteers told us that as a female I would not be left alone with a man…at all. A couple of ladies came with him, but they only stayed for about an hour as they had work to do. So I had to open all of my windows and doors so that people could look in and make sure that things were ok (hopefully my reputation is not damaged too much…one volunteer had a teen come up to her and ask her how much it cost to sleep with her after she had a male friend come and visit her). We were there for most of the day yesterday and when 4:30 rolled around he still wasn’t finished so had came back this morning to finish and I now have a working (I hope) water heater! And you don’t know how much crap the people at my office have been giving me for buying a water heater! “You don’t like cold showers every day?” Um…no. “Does everyone in Montana take a hot shower?” Everyone in the US takes a hot shower. And it went on and on…I think that they like to pick on me a bit.
I am going to go off on a slight tangent here (you will see why soon) and explain to you about the farang males (western males) in Thailand. If you are a single male and you come to Thailand to visit, be expected to be asked if you like Thai women (meaning do you want a Thai wife) and don’t be too surprised if you receive a few marriage proposals. I think that it started with the Vietnam War when the soldiers would come to Thailand on their brake and ended up marrying a Thai woman. Today you walk down the street in any large city and you will see an old, fat, balding, gross man walking hand-in-hand with a gorgeous Thai woman. Quite a few farang men come to Thailand and live like kings because their pension, while modest in their home country, is very large here in Thailand. So you see these old men with these beautiful wives have these huge houses that they only use two weeks out of the year when they come back to visit. And the Thai women get someone with a lot of money that will take care of their family. It is quite sad actually. So I was planning on warning all the men that come to visit to expect the question “Do you want Thai wife?”
But I wasn’t expecting to have to explain this to my little sister. You see, I brought a photo album with me to show my coworkers pics of my family. And apparently, the young guy that installed my water heater has a slight crush on my sis. He asked me about her all day today…”When is she coming to visit?” In December. “Does she have a boyfriend?” No, I don’t think so. “What is she studying in school?” I tried to explain that she was done with school but is thinking about going back, but I’m not sure if he understood. “What kind of books does she like to read?” I don’t think I could have answered this one even if he understood English (this entire conversation took place in Thai). So little sis, if you are reading this, don’t be surprised if you receive a marriage proposal (or two) when you come to visit!
So now, I am going to go home (with my damaged reputation) and take my first hot shower in two months. I may even “trip” in a puddle of mud and get myself nice and dirty to make it even more enjoyable!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Creepy Crawly Things
When I signed up for the Peace Corps I don’t know if I completely understood all of the ramifications. You see, along with learning a new language, meeting new people, eating new foods, and learning about a new culture, I also get to learn about new and interesting creepy crawly things.
During the first couple of weeks at my new house I would walk into my bathroom and see a ginormous spider (think tarantula size…seriously). Now I have gotten pretty immune to the bugs and generally take the approach of “if they don’t hurt me I won’t hurt them,” but this spider was just too big for that. So I grabbed the nearest shoe with every intention of smashing it, but as soon as I neared it ran away. I would encounter this spider about once a week and every time I neared it with a shoe in hand it would run away…the thing was really smart & that made me even more determined to kill it because in my mind, a smart spider is much worse that a dumb spider. Then it just stopped showing up. I assumed that it was killed, but I always kept my eyes open for it in case it decided to drop from the ceiling and attack me. But I would let the other bugs go on their way…and there were some interesting bugs…big huge beetles, weird bee-like bugs (that one of my coworkers just told me are good to eat), large and small moths, and ugly cockroaches (I did buy traps for the cockroaches because whenever I saw them I couldn’t help but think of “Men in Black”).
So I would like to say that we had a truce of sorts…I wouldn’t kill them (or most of them) and they wouldn’t bite/sting me. That is until I was stung by the scorpion. After that, it was war. Especially after looking up scorpions in a book about Thailand and glancing at the paragraph right above about beetles that cause rashes. Yep that’s right…the beetles here cause rashes. When they get scared they excrete a toxin that causes rashes (I guess a bit like stink-bugs), but the rash occurs a few hours later so people rarely think that it was the beetle that caused it. The book recommended that if you wake up with a beetle crawling on you that you gently blow it off so as not to scare it (that is the last thing I think of doing when there is a strange bug crawling on me). So I bought a can of Raid with every intention of spraying every insect I encountered.
That is until they started to kill themselves. I think that it must be a part of their life cycle or something, but the other day I was on the phone and all of a sudden I was surrounded by a hoard of moths. They were flying into the light bulb and there were wings everywhere. I just figured that the lizards were eating the moths & just didn’t like the wings (I don’t think I would either…I would think that they would get stuck in your throat…so I didn’t blame them for spitting them out). That is what I THOUGHT was happening…until the next day when I was laying in bed reading a book and I heard this little “plop, plop, plop.” I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from until I looked at the floor really closely and noticed that the bodies of the “moths” were falling to the floor & were crawling away.
Now I don’t know why these bugs are doing this, I just know that despite Thai custom where you take off your shoes before entering the house, I have to wear my shoes inside for fear that I will step on some strange bug & get stung (I think just stepping on a strange bug is bad enough). I also “get” to sweep up piles of dead insects (and their wings) every day...
In other news, the rainy season has officially started & I don’t think that I have ever seen it rain this much. It has rained every day for the past two weeks and sometimes it rains all day. (It started raining at 3:00pm on Thursday and did not stop until 10:00pm on Friday). So over the three day weekend (we had another holiday) I got to discover every place my roof leaks, most of which are in the kitchen which I am not too worried about because I have a cement floor. But I am worried about the one in the main part of the house that is right over my bed! (It seems to only leak when it really pours or when it has been raining for a long period of time & I don’t want to move my bed because then I will have to re-hang my mosquito net & that is a pain…so I haven’t decided what I am going to do yet). I hope you all have sweet dreams…may they be nice and dry!
Speed limit…we don’t have no speed limit!
My house
Pic from the wedding I went to last weekend.
During the first couple of weeks at my new house I would walk into my bathroom and see a ginormous spider (think tarantula size…seriously). Now I have gotten pretty immune to the bugs and generally take the approach of “if they don’t hurt me I won’t hurt them,” but this spider was just too big for that. So I grabbed the nearest shoe with every intention of smashing it, but as soon as I neared it ran away. I would encounter this spider about once a week and every time I neared it with a shoe in hand it would run away…the thing was really smart & that made me even more determined to kill it because in my mind, a smart spider is much worse that a dumb spider. Then it just stopped showing up. I assumed that it was killed, but I always kept my eyes open for it in case it decided to drop from the ceiling and attack me. But I would let the other bugs go on their way…and there were some interesting bugs…big huge beetles, weird bee-like bugs (that one of my coworkers just told me are good to eat), large and small moths, and ugly cockroaches (I did buy traps for the cockroaches because whenever I saw them I couldn’t help but think of “Men in Black”).
So I would like to say that we had a truce of sorts…I wouldn’t kill them (or most of them) and they wouldn’t bite/sting me. That is until I was stung by the scorpion. After that, it was war. Especially after looking up scorpions in a book about Thailand and glancing at the paragraph right above about beetles that cause rashes. Yep that’s right…the beetles here cause rashes. When they get scared they excrete a toxin that causes rashes (I guess a bit like stink-bugs), but the rash occurs a few hours later so people rarely think that it was the beetle that caused it. The book recommended that if you wake up with a beetle crawling on you that you gently blow it off so as not to scare it (that is the last thing I think of doing when there is a strange bug crawling on me). So I bought a can of Raid with every intention of spraying every insect I encountered.
That is until they started to kill themselves. I think that it must be a part of their life cycle or something, but the other day I was on the phone and all of a sudden I was surrounded by a hoard of moths. They were flying into the light bulb and there were wings everywhere. I just figured that the lizards were eating the moths & just didn’t like the wings (I don’t think I would either…I would think that they would get stuck in your throat…so I didn’t blame them for spitting them out). That is what I THOUGHT was happening…until the next day when I was laying in bed reading a book and I heard this little “plop, plop, plop.” I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from until I looked at the floor really closely and noticed that the bodies of the “moths” were falling to the floor & were crawling away.
Now I don’t know why these bugs are doing this, I just know that despite Thai custom where you take off your shoes before entering the house, I have to wear my shoes inside for fear that I will step on some strange bug & get stung (I think just stepping on a strange bug is bad enough). I also “get” to sweep up piles of dead insects (and their wings) every day...
In other news, the rainy season has officially started & I don’t think that I have ever seen it rain this much. It has rained every day for the past two weeks and sometimes it rains all day. (It started raining at 3:00pm on Thursday and did not stop until 10:00pm on Friday). So over the three day weekend (we had another holiday) I got to discover every place my roof leaks, most of which are in the kitchen which I am not too worried about because I have a cement floor. But I am worried about the one in the main part of the house that is right over my bed! (It seems to only leak when it really pours or when it has been raining for a long period of time & I don’t want to move my bed because then I will have to re-hang my mosquito net & that is a pain…so I haven’t decided what I am going to do yet). I hope you all have sweet dreams…may they be nice and dry!
Speed limit…we don’t have no speed limit!
My house
Pic from the wedding I went to last weekend.
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