To the Defense

I’ve had a lot of fun writing this blog. It’s been a great way to keep those of you back home updated as to what’s going on with my life and what I have experienced here in Thailand. I’ve even met some new people because of it. Now granted, it hasn’t all been easy…there was a period where I couldn’t get the language setting changed from Thai & the Thai government had blocked Blogspot blogs for a while & it hasn’t always been easy loading pictures with the slow internet connection (that’s why it sometimes takes me a while to get things posted).

I’ve also really enjoyed the comments I receive from all of you. I do read them even if I don’t respond to them (if you log on, I will get a name but I don’t get email address so I can’t reply). (By the way, congratulations Cory…you’re going to have your hands full with 3)! Very recently, I received some comments that lead me to believe that I have offended some people…which I am very sorry about. It has NEVER been my intention to offend anyone. But apparently some people are upset with me, so let me take this time to explain my comments.

The blog at issue was one I posted back in June where I talked about what I did for my birthday. I had asked my mom to send some cake mix & frosting so that I could make cupcakes. I had problems finding vegetable oil at the store & had issues with my power because I had to bake the cupcakes in my toaster oven.

Now let me explain my situation. I live in a very small village in Northern Thailand. I am a 45 minute songtao ride from the nearest city. Peace Corps will not let us drive so I have very limited access to transportation. The city that is 45 minutes away from my village is 11 hours from Bangkok. When I wrote the blog, I had been to the grocery store maybe 3 times. I have since found the “farang” section in the grocery store and yes, they do have cake mix. But they DO NOT have frosting. They also DO NOT have vegetable oil. These things can be found in Bangkok (apparently) but Bangkok is not an easy trip for me.

Yes, they have ovens in Thailand. But the average Thai household in the average Thai village DOES NOT HAVE AN OVEN!!!! A month ago, I was invited to a woman’s house in my village & she was proud to show-off her oven. It was the first & is the only oven that I have seen in a Thai house. Now I’m not speaking for houses in Bangkok or Chaing Mai (that are quite a bit more expensive than the houses in my village), and I’m not speaking for bakeries or other businesses…I have not been to a kitchen in Bangkok so I cannot tell you if your average home in Bangkok has an oven. But I can tell you that the average home in my village does not have an oven.

I am a Peace Corps Volunteer. I live on a budget of 10,000 baht a month (about $300). This includes 2,500 baht for rent…which leaves 7,500 baht (which is about $225) for living expenses (which includes food). This is the same budget that the average household in my village lives on. This is not enough money to travel to Bangkok and buy expensive cake mix and frosting! This is not enough money to buy an outrageously expensive oven! This is why the woman in my village felt the need to show-off her oven. It is a luxury item that the average household cannot afford!

It has never been my intention to lie or offend anyone through this blog & it makes me sad when people post comments that imply otherwise. I don’t know how they even found my blog (do people actually go around Googling cupcakes?).