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.

SAO Event

Last week, my work (aka the SAO) put on a little party. They had been setting up a stage for days & they told me to be there at 7:00am on Tuesday. I knew that they were "lying" to me & showed up at 9:00...things didn't start until 11:30.

They had a parade at 11:30. They usually make me walk in the parades, but I wore the wrong color shirt so I wasn't allowed this time.

These ladies were standing at the entrance to greet everyone with flowers.

The guy in the yellow jacket is our nayoke...he's the head guy in our office. A bit like a mayor.

The lady with the smile is Pee Nuch...she "takes care of me."

After the parade, the nayoke went onto the stage & lit candles & incense for Buddha.

Then the kids that led the parade, put on a little dance.

Then we all went back to work as the real party didn't start until 6:00 that evening. (I still don't understand why they told me to be there at 7:00)!

Throughout the day, they made me get on stage with them so that they could take pictures. I don't know if I've told you, but Thai people LOVE to take pictures...it gets a little ridiculous sometimes. Here's a random sample (keep in mind there were a LOT more)...

I got there at 6:30...nothing was going on so I sat and talked to one of my co-worker's daughter. She was so proud to tell me "I am 5!" She was a little doll.

As soon as I took her picture, she grabbed my camera & took one of her mom & I. It would have been really good, but the flash didn't go off so it was blurry.

The main stuff started around 7:00. I didn't take any pictures as I didn't have a very good seat. I had seen all of the dances before (at other events) & was getting stared at by quite a few people in the audience so I went & "hid" in a corner. I was going to sneak out at 9:30...try to get out there before all the drunk guys got on their motorcycles, but it started POURING at 9:15. I did take video of that just so you could appreciate it!

I was stuck there for a good 30 minutes as I had ridden my bike & forgot my rain jacket. The rain finally let up & so I headed home. And remember my plan to head out before the drunk guys?!? Well, Pee Nuch didn't want me to ride my bike alone in the dark so she sent one of them to ride his motorcycle along side of me! (This same guy couldn't stand upright at 6:30 he was so drunk). I made it home safely...barely, I was so paranoid that I kept looking over my shoulder & almost crashed my bike a few times. It was a fun time...but I could have done without the rain!

Thai Food

I remember when I first found out that I was going to Thailand...way back in the day. When I told people where I was going, their usual comment was "I love Thai food." I do too (for the most part), but I have to say, Thai food in America is completely different than Thai food in Thailand.

Take this little guy for example...

Looks fairly harmless right?!? Like something you would find in your back yard. You would never dream of eating this...right?!? Wrong. The Thais love this little snack and were very eager to share it with me. Little did I know what I was getting into when I stuck it in my mouth...I think it has to have been the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten! Seriously! I don't know what was inside it, but whatever it was, was soaked in vinegar and tasted horrible. And of course I couldn't spit it out because they were all watching me. I managed (barely) to choke it down without getting sick and when I told them that it was "not delicious" they all laughed at me.

But on the other side of the spectrum, they serve meals like this:

And inside the banana leaf is this goodness:Sticky rice, pork, and nam prick (chili paste). You don't use any utensils when you eat this...only your hands. You break off little balls of the rice & dip it into the nam prick or grab a piece of the pork (but you only want a little nam prick at a time because it is SPICY). I actually ate this for lunch yesterday & they gave me another one (with a different type of nam prick) for dinner...and it was yummy! I'll miss meals like this when I get back to the States!

English Camps

One of the things every Peace Corps volunteer here in Thailand "gets" to help with is an English Camp. I've helped with so many of these things I've lost count (and I've even put one on myself). They're a bit like those sports camps you would go to when you were a kid, but instead of sports drills, you would play English games. Here are a few...

Can you guess the letter?

Here we are playing "market relay." They have to get dressed up like they're going to the market (which means shirt, pacine (Thai skirt), gloves, shoes, hat, umbrella, and powder) & then ask (in English) for the supplies needed to make a certain dish.

The other kids help them get "dressed."It can get messy!And here they are making some English posters.

And of course the volunteers have to make idiots out of themselves! (I make sure I stay BEHIND the camera during times like these)!

And it wouldn't be a camp without the mob for autographs...The kids have a lot of fun & sometimes we have fun :-)