Friday, May 11, 2012

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 6th, 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!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Oriental Orientation


Sawadee ka!!!!! greetings from the land of smiles, Thailand!

today was my first full day in Thailand.. and it sure was FULL! but before i go into what i did today, i should start from the beginning...

saying goodbye....
i feel like I've been saying goodbye forever.. slowly saying goodbye to friends and family members and slowly saying goodbye to american luxuries... normal toilets, mtv, starbucks, bacon... its been hard. but even harder than saying goodbye to starbucks, was saying goodbye to my parents, boyfriend, and best friend. my best friend of 10 years, sandra, had applied to CIEE with me and even got accepted to the program before i did (i never told you this but i was super jealous and bitter, but still very happy for you!) so when i got my acceptance to the program, i was ecstatic! however, due to some unfortunate circumstances, she couldn't join me. which meant i was going to be moving to the other side of the world completely alone. i was very sad :(   so saying goodbye was pretty tough. there were many tears and hugs but  between us going to different colleges for 5 years, and me being HORRIBLE with returning calls, we've managed to stay best friends for 10 years! I'm so thankful to have a friend like you sandra! i miss you lots and i have your picture with me!
and then there was the boyfriend... my Zachypooh.. the love of my life! saying goodbye to him felt like a train rolled over my heart! we have known each other for 8 years now. even in high school, when i hated his guts cause he was an obnoxious jock, i knew i would marry him (really, ask my friends, i said it!)! we have been together for almost a year.. and i JUST realized our 1 year anniversary is in a few weeks! i dreaded the day for a long time, and without giving away our private details and words we said to each other, i will say that it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. i love you muffin and miss you more than you know! 
my parents- i couldn't have done any of this without them! I'm so happy i got to spend the day in NYC with them the day before i left. it was a great day! however, once we got to Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant which i had been talking about going to for weeks- i was so nervous about getting on the plane, i could barely get down one bite of my amazing looking $40 steak. so sad! the way to the airport was filled with more hugs and tears, and when it came time to say goodbye, i didn't want to let go. luckily, i saw a girl from my program there, so that gave me a reason to me strong and stop crying like a baby. and from that moment- i knew something life changing was about to happen! 

from then on we kept meeting more people in the program, and all of a sudden I'm sitting at a table with 8 other girls gabbing like I've known them for years! heres a funny story- it was late at night in the airport and everything seemed to be closing, so Kate and i went looking for somewhere we could buy a bottle of water. no luck anywhere. so one guy told us to go upstairs to the british airways lounge where maybe they had water.. well the very nice man at the desk told us to go on in and grab a bottle of water "oh and grab a snack too if you want" he said. so we walk in the lounge and its all these business guys, and it was really nice! we noticed there were snacks everywhere so we grabbed a soda and a bag of chips.. then noticed the bar. although very tempted to just take the bottle of vodka sitting there, we settled on taking a few beers for all the girls to share before getting on the LONG flight. it was awesome! the flight was not as bad as i thought. i sat right behind a girl who is sure to be one of my new bff's and the plane- I'm sorry, JUMBO AIRCRAFT, had tv's with lots of selections! 
airplane food- normally i picture a bag of peanuts and a small cup of sprite.. not this flight! i was served chicken with rice, salmon with cucumber and yogurt, bread, coffee and ice cream! this was at like 2 in the morning. sleep a few hours. wake up, next meal! scrambled eggs, fruit, bread and coffee. yum!
finally we land in Hong Kong. this airport is INSANE! the shopping is better than 5th avenue in NYC. theres a Tiffanys! and pretty much every other high end store you could think of. we all had a couple hours in the airport before our next flight, which is where i realized i wasn't on the flight with all my new friends :( i was on a separate one by myself. but i sat next to an awesome chinese girl and we talked the whole way! even on this smaller 3 hour flight, we got served amazing breakfast! so cool :)  ok so now, I'm walking off the plane, then it hits me... the heat. I'm still inside, but suddenly its hard to breathe! It was like walking into an oven. to make it worse, I'm all alone, and all the signs are in Thai! i figured out that i had to get in the long line and go through customs, which turned out to be pretty easy, but i stood there shaking the whole time i was waiting. it was very scary being alone and not sure if everything is going to be okay and not being sure of where to go. after finding my bags i found my group.. i had never been so relieved to run into people i barely knew before! 
we pile into a van and make our way through Bangkok to our hotel.. what an experience! driving is crazy- i don't care how awful you think the drivers in your city are- you haven't seen anything until you've been to Thailand. and I'm from south florida. enough said. after checking in and getting to know my roommate a little, we explored the outside road for a few minutes where i got totally ripped off on a bag of mango by a 10 yr old who mimicked me the entire time i was talking to him and where we also saw dead skinned chickens hanging by their necks.... sorry little birdies, but you're tasty! especially with all the spicy sauce! my first official meal in thailand- chicken with rice and cucumber, mango with fish sauce (effing gross!), and soup in a bag. yum! we were lame-o that night and were in bed asleep by 830. 

NOW- my first full day in Thailand!
woke up at 7 and was downstairs having breakfast with the group by 8. breakfast buffet looked more like dinner with the food selections. Thai's eat rice with everything and everything is spicy.. so everything looks like dinner! my first day of orientation was so inspiring! ***i hadn't even been here 24 hours but suddenly i knew i was home. it made all the tears seem kind of silly*** I'm already sad about the thought of leaving in a year :( we went over lots of info then had a coffee break. cups are served on a tray that is about a foot long, and on the other side of the tray is 2 tiny sweets. they <3 sweets here. then we were split into 3 groups where we had an intro to teaching course, then a coffee break. the sweets this time were shaped like hearts, and looked like jello with small black rice mixed in. it was better than it sounds. then came the crash course in Thai language.. uhhh.... this is gonna be tough. "sawadee ka!" how are you. "chen cheu lauren ka" my name is lauren. "prick" spicy. "gohok" liar. "sabaadi mai" how are you.... just a few off the top of my head. Thai is really difficult because there are  5 tones. which means the word "mai" (sounds like eye, with an M) can be said in 5 different ways, all with different meanings. there are also 44 consonants and 32 vowels, and the letters look like a 4 year old scribbled on paper!!! lucky for me, i pick up pretty quick on language, and thai people get very excited when you just try to speak their language so they are more than happy to help you (just like deaf people!) 
so where was i? 
okay- after language lesson, was yet ANOTHER coffee break! then time for Q&A with our CIEE bangkok liaison and a past participant. i was exhausted at this point but when i heard Steve (past participant) say he taught at a school in Chachoengsao, called Benchamaratrangsarit 1 school, i immediately perked up! thats my school! its a bigger city than i thought- 600K people! he said many people speak a little english. wonderful! and everything you need is in walking distance. i can't wait to get there! 
once orientation was done we were able to go check into our rooms (oh yeah we moved hotels this morning). i was so excited i had the same roommate! we hung out and relaxed for a bit then went back downstairs to explore a little. we ran into 2 other girls then the 4 of us went on a quest for some street food! we sat down at a table and tried to tell the woman what we wanted, and in the middle she just walked away. "okayyy...." we though. but then she came around the corner smiling with 2 other people she found who could help translate. seriously, everyone is so helpful and genuinely nice. they always want you to be safe and comfortable. they treat you how they want to be treated. plus they know we will be teachers, so they are extremely respectful. 
the few interactions I've had so far with Thais, makes me think of home in America. i wish my country could be more collective, and care more about their neighbor. Thai people don't help you because they think you will return the favor, they help you because they care about you even if they have never met you. people should stop being so selfish and greedy. there are better things in the world other than money and things... Zach- that doesn't mean im giving up my wish for that ring though! :) but seriously, its really nice to be treated so warm! when we were in the language course, Fiat (yes like the car) told us that  Thai people will always help you with the language and be happy you are even attempting it. i thought of how this situation would play out in America... living in south floida and looking like i could perhaps be spanish, people come up to me all the time speaking in spanish, not knowing english. my first reaction in my head is "ugh, if you're not going to learn english, get the F out". i automatically felt so gross about myself for thinking that way. so rude! ATTENTION AMERICANS:::::: WE ARE NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! i know, you're shocked, try to bear with me as i drop some knowledge on you- people think we are spoiled babies. i saw a billboard yesterday advertising a new neighborhood. the picture had a nice house on it,  one you might see in weston. nothing crazy, just nice. well the name of said neighborhood was "Privilege" and under it said "the American style of living". while every other living facility in Bangkok is a small apartment where they dry their clothes on a string on their porch while the kids play with a ball in the street barefoot. it made me feel really small, and very icky. but someone pointed out- we shouldn't feel ashamed, we should be grateful for the luxuries we have, and maybe i can help my fellow americans see the beauty in life and in the world... and not in THINGS. if i had a crystal ball, i think it would tell me that is the biggest lesson i will walk away with in a year. 
but i don't want to be a Debbie Downer! just want to share a little of my new perspective! 
its 1030 now, most of my friends are waking up in America, but I'm hittin the hay! another long day tomorrow!
i love you all (whoever was nice enough to read all the way through!) and i miss everyone so much! but i want everyone to know i am already having an AMAZING time and making AMAZING lifelong friends! i don't want anyone to worry about me- in fact, you should be jealous :)  
once again, thanks for reading :) more to come soon!

SAWADEE KA!!!!!