the past few days...

The last few days… past and final…

SAWADEE KHA!

Theres been some really exciting stuff happen the last few days, im so excited to share my journey with everyone!

There has been so much going on- its kind of hard to remember it all… definitely learning a lesson on how important it is to keep up with my blog or journal! I don’t want to forget a single minute of this! So that being said, I am going to write this blog in a “recap” style using my pictures as references J

Last blog was on May 6^th, the day after I got here… it feels crazy that so much has happened since then! Back in America (A-me-de-kaaa!) a week could pass by and nothing too out of the ordinary or exciting really happens. Just normal life day to day. But here, its hard to remember all that’s happened! 

May 7, 2012

Thailand welcome ceremony

After another LONG day of teacher training, Thai language classes, and tons of coffee and snack breaks at orientation, we received a very special treat! Not the sweet treats we’ve been given with our coffee, but a special ceremony in our honor. All 85 of us were sent into a room where we sat and faced all of our leaders and coordinators. This inclided Philip, our go-to guy over here, and all the Thai teachers and coordinators who have been helping us all week. The Thai’s have a special ceremony called _________. Ill explain the process J Ajan Sotham (teacher sotham… Alex) explained to us that Thai people are so happy to have us in their country. They know how far we have traveled to get there, and they know we are young people who miss our families and friends, and they know we are here to do something amazing and help enrich their peoples lives by teaching English to the children so one day they can be successful. Ajan Sotham gave us a beautiful, very personal speech. It was very personal, and I feel better keeping it private, because by the time he was done, many of us had tears in our eyes because we felt so loved and appreciated, and welcomed. We went up by rows and were instructed to kneel in front of a coordinator. There, they tied white strings around our wrists that we were instructed to keep on for at least 3 days, and when we are ready to take them off we must have somebody we love who is important to us cut it off. I think I will wait for one of my students to do it, because it is a big honor. As the strings are being tied, the coordinator asks us where we are located. I told him I would be in Chachoengsao and he said I am very lucky! He told me to visit ****WAT ____* because it is a very famous old temple. He said prayers for me, and all of my new friends, most of whom are now my family. The whole thing was so special- once in a lifetime. Ok enough khumbyah stuff… on to the food! Chelsea and Janette and I were hungry. We went exploring and found a restaurant down the street. Picture a big patio, that half is covered by a “roof” the other half is open. In the middle where they cook there is all sorts of animal body parts hanging, waiting to be fried! (I saw a lung, kind of gross). We had spicy papaya salad, beef with basil, and green chicken with curry. I learned my lesson to carefully inspect my food before I eat it, also I shouldn’t let it touch my lips. Why? Because everything is soo damn spicy! Seriously, I don’t care how much hot sauce you can eat or how much you think you like spicy things- im here to tell you ,you have no clue what youre talking about. So so spicy! (prick prick! [spicy spicy!]

May 8, 2012

The Grand Palace and a puppet show…?

We visited the grand palace today! There is a ton of history here. Everything is so beautiful and all of the structures are totally man made. Many of them are covered in gold leaf and the tiles are all put on by hand, one at a time. It is the size of a small city! The kings throne is the most beautiful thing ever! So shiny J  speaking of the king- we visited the palace on a very special day because he was actually visiting that day! All the staff was working hard to clean everything- from the grass to the tiny light bulbs. They were also rolling out red carpets for him so he didn’t have to walk on the ground. I think its really cool how much Thais respect their king. It is actually highly illegal to speak negatively about him and the whole royal family (can be punishable by death). In America, we have freedom of speech. But with that comes a bad side. People talk horribly about our president, saying things like he is the devil and that he is stupid. Here- you might get your tongue cut out for saying something like that! I think that was pretty cool. That’s really all I can say about the palace- because the pictures speak for themselves! Enjoy!

Puppet show…..???

So tonight were going to dinner and to watch a puppet show… none of us seemed impressed or excited. Well that’s what we get for judging books by their cover, cause this was awesome! We pulled up to a mall/convention center type thing where we then went upstairs and had dinner. It was a very large dining room with a buffet, but we had our own private room, VIP J. A few minutes after we started eating, the show began. First Thai girls danced for us, then the puppets came out! It took 3 people to hold each puppet, one held it, and the other 2 each controlled a side of the doll. The dolls were BEAUTIFUL! There was a Thai princess, a Thai man who wanted her, and a deamon doll! But you couldn’t hate him cause he was so cute! I have a video and pictures- itll be easier to understand once you see them! Then the puppets and their masters went around the room as we were eating, sneaking up behind us, and giving us kisses! It was so fun!

After it was over, Courtney, perrine, and I went to the Siam night market (ive heard it pronounced sy-am but really its sea-ahm) where we got to practice our bargaining skills! We bought so much stuff, all for “special price” lol. I highly recommend coming here, so fun!

May 9, 2012

Khao San Road

After another long day at orientation, I FINALLY got my Thai massage! I have been wanting one since the minute I got off the plane! My WONDERFUL AMAZING roommate, Chelsea, and I walked down the street and found a salon. We walked in and took our shoes off (as is customary here… feet are seen as dirty and the lowest part of the body) and ordered an hour Thai massage. 2 older Thai women walked us into the back where we changed into scrubs, and told us to soak our feet in these big wooden bowls. After a few minutes we laid on our back on a bed. From there, this woman went to work on my body! Starting from my toes, which she cracked individually- and went all the way up to the top of my head. They aren’t like our regular massages that are relaxing and slow.. this woman was pulling my limbs and digging her elbow onto my butt! At one point, she was sitting on the bed with me pulling my leg by my ankle while using her foot to push into my inner thigh to stretch it. IT HURT SO GOOD! She put us into crazy positions and basically crawled all over us. I felt high after! After we got our clothes back on we went back out to the waiting room where she had ginger tea and ice water waiting for us. Oh! Heres something cool- twice a day, every day, they play their national anthem over the radio and on tv. Everyone is supposed to stop what theyre doing and be still and listen. Kind of like when we say the pledge of allegiance in school. But we got to see it on tv and we stood and watched. It made me feel like a local J

After our amazing massage we went downtown to Khao San Road… ok if you ever come to Thailand, I would recommend coming here but only to see touristy stuff. But in my opinion, there were WAY too many falangs (westerners) there and everyone is trying to sell you something. It reminded me of NYC. But as long as you know “mai ow” (don’t want) youll be fine. But when you say it it sounds like “meow” and the men laugh and say “you not kitty cat, meow!” its kind of funny. Some pros to visiting here- if youre homesick you will definitely run into Americans. If you want to eat a cricket or a cockroach, you can get them by the bag here! We actually saw 3 American guys buying some and talked with them, all us girls freaking out a little thay they were about to eat crickets. They offered us some, I didn’t eat it.. im chicken! But Chelsea and sarah did! The 2 girls and 3 guys all said “cheers” and down they went! Their faces were hilarious- again, the pictures say it all! On Khao San, theres also the infamous sex shows… I wont be going into detail, but its quite naughty!!! (but I guess if you really want details, ask me privately! Hehehehe!) also, you can get a Thai pedicure- stick your feet in a tank type thing, while little fish eat all the dead skin off them! I cant wait! So after the crickets, sex shows, and pedicures, we visited a muay Thai boxing match which we took our first tuk-tuk to. THAT was an experience! Imagine you and 3 friends on a large covered very fast moped. I took a video, very cool! Ok so muay Thai- its in a concrete stadium type thing. I was with my roommate Chelsea, and 2 other girls from the trip… you know how in “wheres waldo?” its usually pretty hard to spot him? Well we were waldo, except this time waldo has huge flashing lights on him saying “HERE I AM!” I wouldn’t say we were the only Americans, but the only other ones were there to fight or were part of it. We were however, the only group of American girls. We stuck out big time! Muay Thai is really cool, I am looking forward to learning! Its not like wrestling or any boxing ive seen on tv. Its very slow and they kind of dance with each other. I found myself asking when the real ass kicking begins. Well the older guys fought, then at the end they had the younger group go, they were about 13/14… the most RIPPED guys ever! These kids have abs that put David Beckham to SHAME! And  they were the most violent and action packed.

One last thing- all ive had this week is legit Thai food. The hotels and everywhere serve spicy pork salad and green curry chicken for breakfast. So im a little Thai fooded out at this point. Well since Khao San is such a tourist trap of course theres a McDonalds, which I knew I needed (sorry mom). So we ducked in, grabbed some fries and a cheeseburger, and… it made me sick! I think its funny that all this foreign food and dangerous water ive heard so much about hasn’t affected my stomach at all, but the one time I eat Falang food, I wanna barf. At least that craving is over J

I <3 Khao San 

May 10, 2012

Dinner Cruise

Ever seen or heard of the movie “the bridge over the river Kwai”? I never had either. But we went there! This bridge was built by Japanese POW’s during WW2.. it’s a very very sad story and many people died working on it. However, it is so beautiful! It was hard to imagine anything so awful could happen here. We got to walk across the bridge, over the river (and through the woods… J ) to a beautiful Japanese garden with an amazing statue (see pictures!) and views of the river. We only had an hour or so to walk around and take pictures until we had to be at dinner. Dinner tonight was on.. hm, how do I explain? Ok imagine a huge floating dance floor… or a trailer with no walls, only a floor and a roof, with side railings to keep you from falling out. We walked onto it, and thought we would be having dinner on this floating dock enjoying the view and the restaurant atmosphere. Until we took off! Suddenly we were moving being pulled by another little boat! Dinner cruise! We ate Thai food and enjoyed the sunset… the dj kept playing these sappy songs which made me think “geezeeee! Can I please get a song that doesn’t make me miss the crap out of my boyfriend???” after our amazing dinner the DJ kicked it up a bit and the cruise turned into a floating club! Blaring music, strobe lights, everything! EVERYONE was dancing like crazy people- even me! Im talking- we looked like we were all wasted dancing our asses off! BUT- the amazing thing about this… nobody had one drop of alcohol. We were stone cold sober. By the end all of us were covered in sweat, guys had ripped their clothes, and everyone had so much love for each other- it was the most fun id ever had, and everyone else agreed. I feel so lucky to be here, every day im counting my blessings!

May 11, 2012

And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment we’ve all been waiting for….

ELEPHANTS!!!!!!!

The most magical day ever! We had to wake up and be in the lobby pretty early then took off to Tawachee (spelling?) elephant camp! I literally almost peed myself I was so excited! We got to take pictures and pet them and feel them babanas then we were split into groups. My group first watched the show, where they were dunking basketballs and doing tricks. Then they had some of us come lay down while the elephant put its GIANT foot  on our butts and then they started slapping our backs with their trunks. It was so funny! Next it was time to ride them! We got on in pairs- I was with a lovely girl named Laura! We ride around then they took us down to the river where the elephants got in the water with us on their back! Our guide took my camera and got awesome shots of us! After that we said goodbye to our elephant, Pissah, cause it was time for bamboo rafting! About 6 of us got on the bamboo raft with our Thai guide who spoke no English. We floated down the river- it was so beautiful. Then in his BEST English he said “jump” and we all got in!  it was one of the most adventurous things ive done- not thinking twice about jumping in a river where there could be leaches, snakes, lions tigers and bears! (ok probably not the last 3 but still…) I bought a picture of Laura and I on our elephant and the frame is made out of… poo! Eww! But it feels like paper. Very cool!

And now the sad part….

After our long day of elephant riding and our long bus ride back to the hotel, we were told our coordinators were already there waiting for us. When we pulled up people were being ripped away left and right. It was kind of frantic and really emotional. Especially for me. See, I have this amazing group of friends, “the girls” and I am so thankful for them cause these ladies saved my life! But then we went to different colleges and moved to different places and although we are still best friends, we rarely get to see each other. Since meeting them, good friends have been very hard to come by and I think I settled on the fact that I am just better off with only a few friends. But then I was thrown into a group of 80 people where I fell in love with all of them. At lunch, I could sit at any table and be able to talk like we had been friends for years. Everyone says when youre a freshman in college everyones in the same boat and itll be easy to make friends. But I didn’t find that true at all. Here, that was the real case. Everyone wanted to be liked and everyone wanted to like everyone! I guess its kind of like my brothers experience at sleep away camp (not mine). You spend 24/7 with these people and they become your family. So having to say goodbye to my family last week was hard enough, now my new teach in Thailand family was saying goodbye! I NEVER thought I could have such deep relationships so quickly… if any of you are reading my blog- I just want to say thank you for accepting me and making me feel loved. You have no clue what you’ve done for me and I hope I was able to be there for you too! I hope youre all loving your new homes and NEW families. I cant wait to meet up again for visits, Cambodia trips, full moon parties, beach weekends, monkey festivals, and everything else Thailand has to offer! I love you all so much and I miss you already!

Our ride to Chachoengsao-

5 people were there to pick us up- and let me tell you… bunch of comedians! The ride was full of laughing and singing! They were singing to us the whole time I love them! They took us out to dinner and then drove us by our school which is BEAUTIFUL! In walking distance from my apartment! My apartment is awesome and I love my roommate!

Okay well im tired of writing for now but I promise more to come! I love you all and miss you so much!

Sawadee ka!