So, it was hot again...and now its cold again. BRRRRR!

Written March 29th

I have now been in Bangrakam for almost 1 week now…that is very hard to believe.  My new host family has a mom, dad, and brother.  Both my mom and dad work at one of the local schools, mom as a teacher, and dad as a coach and referee.  They are both very nice and super accommodating.  I was freaking out a little bit because I didn’t learn to wash my clothes by hand at my previous house and this was something that I would have to do here…well, that is no longer a problem.  My new mom is insisting on washing my clothes because school is on summer break and she has nothing to do.  Thank you!!!  Although I love having my clothes washed for me, I feel very strange giving her my underwear to wash.  I haven’t even let my real mom wash my underwear since I was at least 16, if not sooner.  I just have to suck it up and let it go I guess…ah, the hard things I must do. 

I was initially a little freaked out about moving into this new house because it is a wood home (more bugs) and it gets very cold and very hot.  But, my biggest thing I was worried about was the fact that there was a space about 8-10 inches between the walls and the ceiling where it is just air.  This means bugs galore, which in turn means mosquitoes…there are a lot of mosquitoes here.  (Side note: I’m feeling pretty lucky right now, because I got bitten multiple times by a mosquito the other day that had white stripes on its legs.  I haven’t gotten Dengue yet, so I am going to assume that had some other more horrible disease that I have gotten shots for – yay!)  Well, in the couple of weeks that I was gone from Bangrakam, my host family put in a false ceiling, screened all the windows, and the day after I moved in, they put in an air-conditioner (love them!).  I feel like I am living in high class at the moment.  Did I mention that I get to sit down on my toilet (it doesn’t flush though) and I get to stand under running water to take a shower (which is still massively cold on a freezing day like today – 64 degrees).  I am living the high life for the next month.  Can’t wait to see what I will be living in for the next 2 years.  I am willing to give up the western toilet and A/C for some additional privacy…yes, I would love to be able to come home from work and just chill out and not have to worry about anyone else.  And, on an even brighter note, I will be able to eat whenever I want.

Currently, I am sitting in my room, eating some super yummy papaya and mango wrapped in 3 blankets.  Earlier today, I was able to snag a real cup of coffee when my Ron Nayoke (in English, I guess you can consider this the person who holds a position right under the mayor) took me into town and I am content (forgetting the fact that I have a massive headache right now that I am attempting to ignore).  Before that, I was working on teaching myself to read Thai.  It is a crazy language to learn because there are 44 consonants and 28 vowels.  There is a lot to learn, but I think I am getting through it ok.  I was able to read one part of a sign today while we were driving; I would consider that a success since I have only been doing it for 3 days.  Go me!  I still need to work on my speaking skills.  Once it gets sunny again, which it will tomorrow I believe, I will be able to start going out and talking to the leaders in the communities and working on my speaking skills.  I checked out the weather for the next week or so, and I think we are going to have at least one day when we almost hit 100 degrees; won’t that be very different than the cool 64 I have going on now.  

The pictures are out of order, but oh well...

 This is the river at my new site.  You can see a house on stilts in the distance.  During the rainy season the rain will come up to and probably flood that home and others around it.

 Thai receptions for weddings are slightly different than American weddings.  You most likely would not find colorful, rotating lights at a wedding in the states.

 Ok, not my best pic, but it was a pool party.  We were able to find a pool at some guys house.  Only like 6 people went in the pool because it was freezing that day; and raining.

 My grandma and grandpa of Thailand.  My grandpa would ride his bike every morning and evening.  They were super cute.

 This was taken at my farewell party the day before I moved to site.  I am with my mom and little sister.  I am definitely considered tall in Thailand.

 These are all the people that lived in the same Tambon as me for training.  One last picture before we separated.

 Me and my new counterparts having dinner on a boat that was taking a 2 hour tour.

 Some of the ruins at night...love them!

Another picture of my new site.  Looking out into some of the rice fields.

The time has arrived...

Written March 17th

2am: Crash! What was that?  The wind is blowing unbelievably hard and I have to wonder if all of our dishes are crushed and strewn about in pieces on the ground outside the house.  The wind had been blowing all day and has only gotten worse throughout the night.

 My thought: Oh god!, is my bike ok??? – yes, these are the thoughts when this is now one of only a few worldly possessions that you have going into Peace Corps

3am: So cold.  How is it that a heavy blanket is not enough to keep me from being cold in Thailand.  It is so hot here that you would think that I would sleep without the blanket most of the time.  Brrrrrrrr!

My thought:  Can I sleep through the coldness? Do I have any warmer clothes? Eh, I can stick this out, it really can’t be thaaaat cold, right?

3:30: It’s that cold.  Thank you PC drivers for bringing over my 2^nd bag today containing my super comfortable pajama bottoms and zip-up sweatshirts.  You are my hero. 

My thought:  Why didn’t I put these on earlier…so comfortable... Heaven hath been reached.

6:30 Seriously, I have to get out of bed and bike to school in this?  It’s freakishly windy and it has started to rain.  And, I have to admit to my family that I am cold for the first time since coming to Thailand. 

My thought: Maybe I’m becoming a Thai…maybe next time it is really hot I won’t sweat…yeah right!

7:10 I start getting my bike ready to go.  My dad comes up to me and advises me that I shouldn’t need to go to school because its raining. (In Thailand, many things are cancelled or postponed according to rain – unfortunately, PC does not follow this philosophy – I have to go to school)

My thought: I wish my dad could call the school and tell them I wasn’t coming like they could when I was 6 years old…sad day

I don’t know if anyone in the states understands how unbelievably cold I have been today, including at this moment as I sit in my room.  My computer is my only heat source that the moment.  I definitely appreciate the heat that we have had more now, but I would be fine with the cold if I had a fire (or heater), blanket, and a warm up of coffee or hot chocolate – yum.

When I got to school this morning, I don’t know if I saw a single person walking around in short sleeved shirts.  Everyone had dug around in their bags to find the warmest items that they brought with them for this very day.  Our teachers, who are Thai, were bundled up in winter jackets shaking with cold chills.  One Ajaan advised me that it was 18 degrees out.  They said that this was a cold temperature even for the cold season (the cold season is over here).  Translated, 18 degrees is 64 degrees.  Yes, I know that you are probably laughing because this is definitely not considered such a cold temperature back in Washington, but it is FREEZING here.  Think of it being 93 degrees one day and 64 the next; this is a huge drop in temperature. 

(Pause: sorry, was warming my hands on the bottom of my computer for a second)

Now, I will tell you, I would be ok (not great, but ok) to be outside for short periods of time in this freezing weather and then enjoy the lovely warmth of being inside.  The issue with this is, is that training took place outside today.  I was outside from 6:30am-3:30pm.  It was freezing; goose-bumps and all were abound on everyone there today.  Now think about the fact that not only was it cold, but it was also windy and rainy at times.  No fun, I promise you.  It’s a little better indoors now; I get to avoid the wind for the most part and the rain, but there are no heaters here, and that is what I crave right now.  I guess I will have to settle for a pair of socks, 2 long sleeved shirts, and a pair of jeans, a blanket, and my computer to keep me warm…ah, the trials of Thailand.   J

In other news…

For those of you who may be curious and not yet know, I did pass my language test.  I was sure that it was not going to go well.  I felt like I was stumbling through the conversation and didn’t know how to answer questions.  Not only did I pass, but I exceeded the expected fluency level, reaching Intermediate-Mid.  YAY!  Go me.  I am super excited about that.  Now I want to start learning to read the language.  PC has given us some books to help us start to learn, so there is a good place to start.

On Monday I become a true Peace Corps volunteer.  The US ambassador for Thailand is coming, and all of our counterparts from our sites will be there.  After the swearing in, I can call myself a PCV.  Then, on Wednesday, I will be off to my site to start my 2 years of integrating into my Tambon and working on community development.  It is scary to think, that in just a few short days, I will be the only American for miles around living in a small town.  My PC peers will be spread out all over the country, and I will have to depend on myself and my new counterparts, to get me through each day, learn the language, and help the people that I am surrounded by.  In many ways, I believe that I am prepared, but I feel that there is more that I can do to be ready.

Once I get to my site, I want to spend the first month getting to know the people in my community and learning the boundaries of my Tambon.  I will be learning about both the SAO and village governments and find out who are the key individuals in the community.  And who knows, maybe I will get in some dance aerobic or hoola-hooping with the elderly.  I’ve got to keep this newly acquired figure in check somehow (and maybe loose a few more pounds). J

Wish me luck!! This Saturday is our farewell party for our host families.  Ten of us will be singing a Thai song or two AND acting out/dancing to a Miley Cyrus song, Party in the USA…super funny mind you.  I will try to get my host family to take pictures.

Life is still good, just cold, and I am excited for the real journey to begin.

March 22^nd

It got hot again; very hot.  I kind of started to like throwing on a long sleeved shirt in the morning, but it was still much too cold at night and for the clothes that I brought, so I guess the hot weather will have to do. 

I am now an official Peace Corps Volunteer for Thailand.  We had our swearing in ceremony yesterday morning and received our pins shortly after.  I am sure that if anyone visited the Peace Corps website, they would find a picture of our group after it was all over with.  There are now 65 new volunteers that will be sent out into all parts of Thailand tomorrow afternoon to start our 2 year journey.  Scary.

Tonight is supposed to be a night of celebration, excitement, and sadness about leaving our new friends behind.  For me, it is a night of contemplation.  I was sitting with a crowd of PCers by the pool tonight at our hotel, ready to have a great farewell evening.  People were singing, dancing, and playing guitars.  Everyone was laughing, smiling, and having a great time, but I just could not get into it.  I keep thinking about these last 2.5 months and everything that we have gone through to get to this point.  We all have sat through hours of language trainings, cultural awareness seminars, integration lectures and lessons to learn how to do our jobs.  We came into Thailand not knowing what lay ahead of us, not knowing exactly what we were getting into, but that was ok, because we had 2 months to learn about it and experience it.  And now, the journey has begun.

March 24^th

I moved to my site yesterday.  It was a 4 hour car ride to get here (not bad compared to some people who had to drive 12-13 hours – yuck).  I got to my host families home and they had remodeled the room since the last time I was here.  It is no longer open air and they have screens on all the window.  Today they are putting in an air conditioning unit.  I made sure that they weren’t doing it for me, because I am hoping to be out of the home by the end of April, and they assured me it was for their daughter who will be coming home from college.  Whew! I would have felt horrible if they were doing it for me. 

Thai people love to eat.  Instead of saying “good morning” or “how are you” its “have you eaten yet today?”.  Last night, I was exhausted from everything. I just wanted to go to my room, close the door and have a few hours of “American” time.  But, alas, this was not going to happen.  First I took a tour of the village with my new host mother, that was fine, but then some of her friends asked me to eat with them.  I wasn’t hungry and proceeded to tell them, but they insisted, so I ate some chicken (it was very good).  When we went back to the house, my mom wanted to get me dinner; it took me 10 minutes to convince her to please not get me food.  I know that it can be considered rude to refuse food, but I also didn’t want to waste any.  Then, I went up to my room, put on some comfortable close and started to read…ah, fabulous.  “Megan!”…my mom comes up the stairs with my Ron Nayoke (dep. Mayor) and her daughter (so cute), and she asks me what I want to eat.  I tell her I am not hungry still.  I apologize, but she says that she understands.  Great!...back to reading.  Twenty minutes later…”Megan!”.  Now the tessaban’s secretary is coming up the stairs and asks me about dinner.  Again I have to apologize and advise her that I am still not hungry.  I felt so bad advising everyone of this, but I really wasn’t up for going out and getting anything.  I have been training and working for 10 weeks without any breaks or real weekends.  I just needed a little downtime to get used to the idea of what was going on.  Finally, I got to have some peace and quiet.

I have been at my site for less than 24 hours.  Already I have felt excited, lonely, scared, happy, inadequate, and charged, ready to go.  I am currently sitting in my office, working at my new desk wondering how these next two years are going to play out.  I am hopeful that I will be able to be everything that they are expecting me to be.  I am hoping that I can fill the shoes that they want me to, and bring them something that they were not expecting.  I don’t know how this will work out, but I know that I will probably be the one to learn the most throughout these next two years, not them.  This is what I cannot wait to do.

This is a Buddha at a temple in Phitsanulok.  It is considered one of the most beautiful in the country

 This is a banana tree.  I thought this was just a huge flower at first.

This was on a field trip to a self-sustaining farm.  I am making Adobe bricks for homes.  Super fun, but very messy.

Rain, Thunder and Lighting

Written on March 8^th

It smelled like rain when I walked out of training for break today.  You know that smell?  Well, if you’re reading this and you’re from Washington than I am sure that you know that smell that goes along with an impending rain.  And guess what…I was right.  With a flash of lighting and crash of thunder the rain began to cascade out of the sky and pound the roof of the building that we were in.  This all started about an hour before we had to head home…on bikes. 

It looked as if the rain was going to let up a little bit; you could see a sliver of sky that looked as if the sun was about to break through.  Dom, Elle and I decided to give it 10 more minutes to see if the rain would let up a little bit before we headed home (mind you, we could have gotten a ride in a van – but what fun would that be).  When the rain didn’t let up, we decided that we just needed to go and get it over with.  We strapped on our helmets, threw our bags on our backs and in our baskets and hit the road.  Since we were thinking so clearly (not), we decided it would be a good idea to take the short-cut (i.e. the dirt road).  Things were fine at first.  We were laughing as rain pelted our faces and smiled at the people huddled in their homes as we road by. 

Little by little we all noticed we were having a few steering issues.  My back tire continued to slide out and attempt to make me fall.  Mud spun through my tires to shoot out and hit me in my legs and back, and slowly but surely I noticed it was getting harder and harder to peddle.  We are all still laughing at ourselves that we thought it would be a good idea to take a dirt road on a stormy day when we all come to a sudden halt almost running into each other.  Our bikes won’t move.  We can no longer peddle.  Our tires are coated an inch thick in mud and it is getting caught in the lines for our breaks.  We have maybe a kilometer to go before we reach cement and the bikes are not going anywhere.  After attempting to clean the mud off of the tires with our hands, we know our only chance is to carry our bikes.  J  Too funny.  I only wish I had a picture or video to show everyone.

First I just carried the front of the bike; dragging the back.  Then Dom got the idea to turn the bike backwards and carry it on her shoulder.  Not only did this leave a thick stripe of mud down her back and arm, but it looked hilarious.  So what did I do?  Well, I picked it up and carried mine the same way.  Unfortunately, I was not wearing Chaco’s.  Dom was.  I had on these cute light brown sandals I bought in the states that I wear ALL the time.  They are not made for mud.  By the time that we got out of the mud, I was still wearing my sandals, but they were situated on the side of my feet so I wasn’t actually walking in them; I was walking barefoot carrying a few pounds of mud along with me.  Luckily, by the time Dom and I caught up to Elle, she was already laughing and getting acquainted with a couple of men who happen to live just past the mud.  I am sure that they think we are the craziest, funniest Americans ever.  They see us pass them almost every day, but this is our first close encounter.  They are so nice though, and they help us remove half of the dirt from our bikes.  In this process, I manage to actually break both of my sandals and I am officially shoeless and will have to ride barefoot home.  All I have to say is: Thank you nice men for helping us! 

Now that our bikes are “clean” (i.e. still covered in mud) and I am a mess (no shoes, muddy hands, muddy backpack, arms, legs, pants and shirt), I hike myself back onto the bike, get the handlebars thoroughly dirty with my mud-caked hands and step on the peddles for my torturous ride home.  If you ever have the chance to ride a bike barefoot, I don’t highly recommend it…it kinda hurt.  But, I made it…home safe and sound just in time for my 6 o’clock curfew.

I ride in, smiling and laughing at myself because of what I went through to get home, and then I here my dad and mom in the house “ohhhh!!”.  They come out of the house and burst into laughter.  They got a phone call advising them I had the option to take a ride home and I chose not to and could not believe the state that I was in.  All I could say was “kii jak-aa-yaan gap fon-tuk, sanook!!!” Biking in the rain is fun!.  That brought about another round of laughter.  I think I just gave them a good story to tell people for years about the farong that stayed with them that one time. 

My mom was amazing though, she brought down my shower stuff from my room while I washed up a little bit outside and they let me jump in the shower right away.  Best shower ever!  A bucket shower never felt so good.  And, while I was in the shower, my little brother was so nice.  He actually cleaned my bike so it looks amazing.  Thank you little brother!  Overall, it was a good ride home.  My first: I stupidly decided dirt roads were good to ride on in the rain, got stuck, carried my bike, broke my shoes, came home muddy experience…I’m sure I will have a few more.  Love it!

March 10th

FYI - I totally love the rain, thunder and lightning here in Thailand.  It rained again last night as I was going to sleep.  Sounded awesome!

The simple life

I wake up at 6am and chill in bed enjoying the "cool" air of my fan and listen to the day begin outside my window.  I hear my mom and dad yelling to one another across the yard and my little brother getting ready for school.  At about 6:15 you hear the drone of a man's voice escaping his truck through a loud speaker announcing the produce that he is carrying today.  If I get up early enough, I can see my village descending upon this said truck as he stops in front of my house.  Dogs bark, motorcycles drive noisily by, and the morning has officially begun.  I have grown to love the simpleness of my village, my tambon, my second family.  I have a routine that gives me the freedom to relax and take a moment to myself.  The pressure that America forces on you is not here. I took a moment yesterday as I was biking home to just stop on the side of the road next to the rice patties.  I closed my eyes and just took a breath and listened.  Water was flowing down the river, birds wings flapped as the skimmed the tops of the plants, and the smell of the wildlife, plants, and flowers was calming and surreal.  This is my life. 

In just a few short weeks (2), I will be thrown out of this new life, into another one that I have to create again from scratch.  A new family, new friends (none of them American), and a new job.  I will no longer be a trainee; I will be working for the SAO office of my tessaban to help better the community.  I will admit, when I first heard of where I was headed, I was not happy.  There really is not much to do out in Bangrakam within biking distance or a simple Song Taow ride.  I visited my new home this last week, and it turns out that I was right.  But, I didn't take into account of what I am really here for and the new people that I will meet.  The people that I will be working with seem amazing.  They took me on a tour of the tambon (in an air-conditioned van - yay!) and my new mom has already told EVERYONE that I am her new daughter.  I am excited to see where my new permanent home will be in the future, but my next home stay looks like it will be a lot of fun.  There are a few people in the village that speak pretty good English, including some of my counterparts, and I met a few women around my age that seem like they will be a lot of fun to hang out with.

So, each morning I was there, my mom dropped me off at the pre-school.  The kids are absolutely adorable!  Each morning they are responsible for rolling up their bed roll and hanging up their pajamas to teach them about cleanliness and responsibility.  Then, they line up and hand the teacher between 5-10 baht.  The pre-schoolers are learning to save money.  The teachers hold onto the money until the end of the term and then they give some of it back to help the students purchase new uniforms.  At schools in Thailand, the students all line up outside at the beginning of the morning and sing the National Anthem and do prayers.  They also do morning exercises.  I have been involved in this once (I looked hilarious - I will try to find a picture) and got to watch the pre=schoolers do their morning routine. CUTE!  I will see if maybe I can video tape it sometime.

Since coming home from my trip (first to Bangkok - so fun, then to visit another volunteer - super cool, and then my new site), I have been absolutely exhausted.  I cannot get enough sleep to save my life.  Next Saturday I have my official language test, so language classes are grueling and I think that the idea that training is almost over just has let me realize how tired I really am all of the time.  I am hoping to get a few days at my new site where I can just relax and catch up on some zzz's.  Its getting to be the hot season though, so we will see how that goes.  Showers will be taken often.


I have discovered that Thai people really don't like to walk.  Maybe its because of the heat, but I am not sure.  It seems like they want to jump in a car or on a motorcycle to go somewhere that would be a 2 minute walk.  I find it strange, but it occurs all over the country.  Just thought I would throw that out there - that is my Thai culture for the day.

Anyways, life is still good.  One more week of training, then a week of prepping for site and I'm starting my new job...crazy.  I have been in Thailand for 2 months know.  Sometimes I feel like I have been here much longer, sometimes, it feels like I got here yesterday.  Day to day my experience and the people show me something new and exciting (sometimes gross or scary) and I feel lucky to finally have been able to make it into PC after 2 years of waiting.