Top 5's

So my computer has crashed (damn Microsoft updates) & I cannot access my pictures...which means I can't post them on here. (I'm not even letting myself think that they may be lost forever). So it's time for something a little different. I finished reading "High Fidelity" a month or so ago & just borrowed the movie from another volunteer. So with that & our upcoming Close of Service Conference at the end of the month here are a few Top 5's...

(And like the movie, these are in no particular order)

TOP 5 THING I'LL MISS ABOUT THAILAND
1. The food! I've become addicted to spicy food! If it's not spicy, it's just blah. Not to mention sticky rice. Luckily I was able to take a cooking class & I'm going to ask Pee Nuch to teach me how to make some other dishes (including sticky rice).
2. The people! Thai people are so kind & generous. They will go out of their way to help you & make sure that you are ok. I don't know how many times I've run into a casual acquaintance & they've completely dropped all of their plans to take me somewhere. Their kindness will be missed!
3. The fruit! Mangoes, papayas, mangosteen, lynchee, pineapple, guava...it's all delicious! And so cheap! I just bought a papaya for 6 baht (about 2 cents)...you could never find that in America!
4. The beaches! Islands, sun, sand...what could be better?!?
5. The scenery! I've seen the most amazing landscapes & the most beautiful flowers in this country...I'll miss the colors!

TOP 5 THINGS I WILL NOT MISS ABOUT THAILAND
1. Hand-washing my clothes! Enough said.
2. The roosters/rabid-werewolf-dogs/loudspeaker announcements that wake me up at all hours of the night & morning.
3. The Thai's general lack of planning. I don't know anywhere else where a Dairy Queen will run out of ice cream or a planned meeting will start 5 hours late or a deli will run out of bread!
4. Bus rides/songtao rides! No more 10 hour bus rides to get anywhere!
5. The bugs/scorpions/birds in my home.

TOP 5 BEST MOMENTS IN THAILAND
1. Swearing In! The Princess was there...pretty special!
2. Time on the beach!
3. Songkran in Chaing Mai! City-wide water fight...what's not to love?!?
4. Family/friend's visit!
5. Superbowl at the Patterson's. Pj's, Doritos, beer, and the Superbowl at 5am.

TOP 5 WORST MOMENTS IN THAILAND
1. Getting stung by a scorpion!
2. Waiting to meet my host-family! I've never been so nervous in my life. They were wonderful, but waiting to meet them was the worst!
3. First bike ride in Sakao! Many of you remember that email...an hour & a half of pure torture! I don't think I could sit properly for a week (which was unfortunate as I had to get back on the bike for that same ride the next day)!
4. 3rd Class Train Ride! Hot, crowded, wooden benches, and 16 hours long!
5. Nong Om's Wedding. I just wrote about that one.

TOP 5 FAVORITE PLACES IN THAILAND
1. Pagoda Inn/Chaing Mai
2. Kho Phi Phi
3. Kanchanaburi
4. Nan Market
5. Peace Corps lounge

TOP 5 THINGS I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IN AMERICA
1. Hug my family & friends!
2. Take a hot bath!
3. Do laundry the "normal" way.
4. Eat "real" pizza. I don't want corn, seafood, mayo, green beans, or cabbage on my pizza!
5. Drink real milk. No more boxed stuff that doesn't expire for a year & tastes like crap!

Here's to hoping that my computer is fixable & that I haven't lost all of my files! And if you haven't seen/read "High Fidelity" I would definitely recommend it...Nick Hornby is on my "Top 5 Favorite Authors" list.

Another Wedding

I was sitting at home reading on Saturday, when I got a call from Oye. She said that there was a party at Ron Pat's house & that they would pick me up in 10 minutes. As it was Saturday, I was in a tank-top & fisherman pants (the Thai version of sweats) & had no makeup on, so I quickly changed & was off to the party.

It turned out Ron Pat's daughter had gotten married the day before & Saturday was (as the Thais call it) the "wedding party." I knew I was in for a treat because a loud cheer went up as soon as I stepped out of the vehicle. I could tell that there had been some pretty heavy drinking going on. I have told the everyone at my site that I wont drink whiskey, but that I'll drink beer (self-preservation). I didn't see any beer there, so they poured me a glass of whiskey & soda water & I sipped that all night (just adding ice when it got low).

I started to feel a bit uncomfortable when the bride & groom came over. The made the groom sit next to me because he could speak English. But he sat a bit too close...you see, in Thailand, it's not appropriate for men to touch women who are not in their family. You get used to it...even shaking hands with a man is taboo (they wai). His legs were plastered to mine and his hands were all over me...the bride started out sitting on his other side, but soon moved to sit between us...but he wouldn't make room! Eventually, he got up to use the restroom & I saw the bride stop him on the way back. Someone eventually stopped by to tell me that the groom was too drunk & they made him go inside to lay down.

But the uncomfortableness didn't end there. There was karaoke at this event too & they told me since I "couldn't" sing a Thai song, that I had to get up and dance. No one else was dancing!!!! So I'm standing on the "stage" dancing all by myself! Pretty soon, some VERY drunk old guys get up to dance with me & again put their hands all over me & try hugging me! Just to give you a perspective, I haven't been touched by a Thai man since I've been here & now I'm getting grabbed by all of these drunk strangers. It was pretty uncomfortable & I snuck out as soon as I possibly could (luckily the house was really close to mine so I didn't need to have anyone drive me).

Here's the happy couple. The bride is absolutely beautiful!

A Thai Going Away Party

One of the guys in my office is moving to a new SAO, so last Friday, we had a going away party for him. We all went to this restaurant on a reservoir for dinner & karaoke (and of course beer).

It started out innocently enough...

There were even little kids there (although they left early).

Then the singing starts (notice they're all still in their seats)...

Here they are presenting gifts to the Pee Aroon (the guy leaving).


Then the drinking starts...

And they're up...


Then the dancing!

Now they're up on chairs!


It was a fun night...and I have to say it's pretty "interesting" dancing to Thai karaoke!

Elections

It's been an interesting experience, living in another country during this year's election season. It's harder to stay informed & to lend a hand (if you are so inclined) & even to vote (I sent in my ballot a while ago, but a quite a few volunteers never received theirs), but on the positive side, you miss all of the campaign adds.

What's been interesting though, is the reactions of the Thai people. They are surprisingly knowledgeable about American politics & eager to talk about it. I have been approached by a number of people asking me who I was going to vote for. When I asked them they would smile & say "Obama! I like Obama!" I was talking to one lady the other day, and she asked me if some Americans didn't like Obama because of his dark skin (skin color is a pretty big deal over here). I told her that there were some people who didn't like him because of his skin color, but that to most people it didn't matter.

I came into the SAO today to check the election results online & I was immediately mobbed. It seemed like the entire office wanted to know who won & when I told them Obama a cheer went up in the office. They stayed around my computer for a while, intently studying the results map (you know that map colored red or blue indicating who the State voted for)...they found it fascinating.

I hope you all (if you were over 18 & lived in the USA) went out and voted! And I hope that you are as happy with the results as I am...a much needed change is coming!

UPDATE: After I posted this, I went to see my landlord to pay my rent. She asked how I was doing & I told her that I was happy because Obama won. She laughed and said (and I quote): "Yes, maybe I think now America can be good again."

So last Tuesday, Pee Nuch came to pick me up at my house, and we headed over to the temple (it's just down the street). I was a bit overwhelmed when we entered the temple grounds. There were people everywhere & there were tables set up with donations to the monks on them.

We went into the temple & made our donation to the monk. He offered a blessing to us, and then we went outside to look around. Here's a look into the temple.


Here's some pictures of all the different baskets.

The "younger" girl in the middle works with me.
Here are some guys sitting on the steps of one of the buildings (this is not the main temple).
Here are a couple of monks accepting donations & offering blessings.
And a group of monks coming out of their "dorm."
I found out that they brought in all of the monks from Santisuk. I would guess that there were about 100 monks. And they were busy!
Here's a video of a monk offering a blessing.

After some of the people made their donations, they had a prayer. As not everyone could fit into the temple (there were about 1000 people) they had loudspeakers.

I think there's something very peaceful about the chanting. Here's a panoramic view.

We stuck around for a little while after the prayer. In all, we were there for about 2 hours. As soon as we stepped out of the temple gates, we were grabbed by a lady & dragged to her home across the street to eat noodles.

Old photos

Here are some old photos from my training. I don't think they were ever posted on here, but I may have emailed them to some of you. (I didn't have this blog going at the time so I was emailing updates to everyone).

This was the house I lived in during training.

My host mom & sister.

Here is the squat toilet that I had to use. After you finished "doing your business," you would use that teal scooper to pour water into the toilet to flush.

And the bucket shower. You would dip the pink bowl into the water & pour it over yourself to get wet, lather up, then use the pink bowl to rinse off. Unfortunately bucket showers are not heated & we had some very cold mornings...which made for a painful shower!

The neighbor with her 10 month old son. Motorcycles are family vehicles here & they think nothing of riding with a baby or piling 5 people on a motorcycle.

AIDS Camp

I've actually had a busy couple of weeks. Last Tuesday, we had that event at the SAO, then on Wednesday, Sarah (another volunteer in Nan) called me. She was panicked because she was having an HIV/AIDS camp at her site that weekend & another volunteer (with her students) was supposed to come up & help. The problem??? A group of corn farmers are protesting & have blockaded all roads into Nan province (I've heard rumors that they're upset that they can't sell their corn so they dumped it all in the middle of the road). So Sarah's "help" couldn't make it up. Luckily I was already in Nan, so I was able to make it up to help.

It was a lot of fun...we got to make kids play with condoms!

And made ourselves look like idiots (which is not hard to do I can tell you that)!

Here's the whole group.

I got back Monday afternoon. Later that evening Pee Nuch called me to tell me that she would pick me up at 8:30 the next day. I asked her where we were going & she said to the temple in my village (but more on that later).

P.S. If you want more info on the strike, check out: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/10/23/national/national_30086675.php

Apparently they're having problems getting gas into the province due to the protesters.