I Think the Geckos Really Like Me

I think the geckos really like me.  I had my second one decide to jump off the ceiling onto my arm this last weekend.  He/She was super cute too.  This one was only about 2 inches long; a baby.  Luckily, I am starting to be able to control my outbursts at things that surprise/scare me and I didn’t scream, shout, squeak, or grunt when I felt the sting of its fall.  I think he was more surprised than me when his leap to the floor took two jumps instead of one.  The little guy’s ok though.  He scampered off as soon as he hit the ground.  Good luck little guy…there are a lot of things out there probably thinking you’re a good snack; I’m rooting for you.

I thought I was going to be playing volleyball this last weekend.  I was walking through the market on Thursday when I was asked if I would play volleyball on someones team on Saturday and Sunday.  Sounded like fun.  I told them that I would definitely play and asked them what time I should meet them and where.  This is where things got a little tricky.  See, we were speaking in Thai-glish.  I asked in Thai “gee moung ka” ‘What time’, and I would get a shrug “dton yen”.  OK, for those of you who don’t know, dton yen lasts from 4-6pm.  This is a very unspecific time.  Moving on.  “ len volleybon yuu tii nai” ‘Where are we going to play volleyball?’ ‘think dtalot ru bao wit’ “I think the market or bao wit (the school)’.  Hmm, ok.  So, I am going to be playing volleyball on Saturday and Sunday, and I am going to start playing sometime between 4 and 6pm and I will be playing at the school or somewhere near the market.  Awesome…yes, of course I will play volleyball.

On Friday, my balot asks me if I am aware of what is going on this weekend.  Me, being proud that I actually do know, tells him, of course, volleyball is going to be played in the afternoon, dton yen.  He gives me a funny look.  Yes, volleyball.  But, it is starting at noon and the nayok will open it at 11am.  Ok…things change, so instead I should be there at 11.  And, I figure, since the nayok is doing an opening, we must be having sports days this weekend, so there will be other sports to watch too.  Fun.

Saturday.  After watching a couple episodes of Buffy, I get up, lace up my newly washed tennis shoes, throw on some comfy exercise pants, and put on my bright yellow polo shirt.  Why the yellow polo shirt?  Well, on the last Sports Day, the Tessaban was yellow…I figured I would show everyone I was on top of things because I came prepared….Oops, I was wrong.  I biked around for the better part of an hour looking for the opening ceremonies and never found it.  Luckily, I was able to find the beginnings of the games, and I was ready to play…Oops (again), I was wrong.  I’m not playing volleyball…and I am definitely in the wrong shirt.  It was a men’s volleyball tournament.  I, well, I am not a man, any way that you put it, I would not be invited to play.  Maybe, in their broken English, I was not being asked to play volleyball, but instead, to watch them play volleyball.  Oh, well, it would be fun to watch…but wait, here I am in neon yellow, and the entire Tessaban is wearing purple.  2 strike-outs in one day.  Oops.  I could tell that a few of them understood what I had tried to do; unsuccessfully wear the ‘cool’ color of the day.  Guess playing volleyball is out. Sad…

I watched volleyball most of Saturday and decided to skip out of the Sunday games.  I almost wish I had gone because I think it was the finals of the tournament, but I was able to enjoy a nice low-key day which was just what I needed…and, I found out that my moo-stick lady has a stand by the 7-11 at noon every day, so, that means I can have deliciousness at noon and for dinner…yum.  I feel bad about going to this place instead of my other moo-stick place because they are super nice, but the meat is soo good…and I think she made a deal with the store across the street and I think she gets to keep her meat cold…bonus!

Being from Seattle, when you walk outside a good day is when you can see your shadow walking next to you down the street.  Sun beams down from the sky causing you to squint your eyes, wishing you had bought those sun glasses that you didn’t think you needed because you live in Seattle.  A cool breeze will cut through the warmth of the sun, and you don’t see a single cloud in the sky.

Today, I biked into work after taking a short ride through 5 of my communities.  Getting off my bike, I waved at the preschool teacher walking around with the 3-4 year olds.  They had decided to take a pit-stop at the side of a building at my Tessaban because the boys couldn’t seem to hold “it” any longer and needed to relieve themselves.  I started talking to the teacher, Kay, because I have been wanting to sit in on a morning and see what she does on a regular basis at the preschool.  So, I wanted to set up a time for when I get back from a 2 week Peace Corps training in another province.  When I walked up to her, red-faced from my bike ride, Kay lifted her hands in the air, smiled, and stated ‘Isn’t it a beautiful day.’  Six months ago, I would have laughed at this declaration.  No, it is not a beautiful day…but, today, after six months in a steaming hot country…yes, it is gorgeous out. 

Clouds drape the sky in shades of white and gray.  The Thai flag waves to the passing cars and I feel the breeze tickling my face.  Right now, right this very second, the weather is perfect.  Now, it could rain later or the sun may break through the blanket of clouds and make our cool 89 degrees turn into a hundred, but yes, Kay is right…the weather is beautiful…It almost feels like Seattle.

I leave tomorrow afternoon to go to a National Park and then off to something called Reconnect for about 2 weeks.  I am going to Khao Yai National Park with about 10 people.  We are doing a day and a half tour of the park to see waterfalls, monkeys, birds, elephants, and to go swimming in lakes and pools below the falls.  We are going to watch bats fly out of a cave, and go hiking on the trails.  I am super excited to be getting out and exploring a new part of Thailand.  After we leave the park, I have Reconnect.  All 63 (3 people have left now) Group 123 volunteers are coming together after 3 months at site, 6 months in Thailand, for additional training; language training as well as training for our jobs.  Intermixed in that, we are going to be celebrating the 4^th of July with a fun dinner, and possibly visiting our old host families from training.  When reconnect is finished, I might be headed off to a friend’s site in central Thailand for a couple of days and then heading home.  Busy couple of weeks ahead…a set schedule – something I haven’t had in a while.

Bedtime Stories

Huh? What?

It’s still dark outside, middle of the night.  Why am I awake?  What is going on? So groggy…just want to sleep.  Wait!  What is that?  Oh, it must just be an ant on my leg.  It’s moving fast; calf, knee, thigh.  Is that what woke me up?  You’d think I would be used to it now.  Oh well…it tickles, time to brush it off so I can go back to sleep…so tired. 

I reach down to brush off the ant that so rudely woke me up in the middle of the night.  I hit the little sucker with a swipe of my hand…better…wait!?  Did my ants get bigger?  What the hell did I just knock off my leg?  I pause for a second.  It couldn’t have been more than a second before I heard clicking noises and feel something much larger than an ant scramble across my bed.  Holy Sh*t…please don’t let this be that huge spider I saw in my room a couple weeks ago.  I quickly grab my phone from the top of my computer and turn on the flashlight attached to it.  I look around my bed…nothing.  I look again. There it is!!! OMG what is that, it’s huge!! And it was on me…yuck!  Small yelp and I clamber out of bed, stretching my arm out to reach the light in the shortest time possible.  Flicker. Flicker. Flicker.  Come on light, just turn on!  Flicker. On!  I inch my way back to my bed.  Nothing.  Where did it go?  I slowly remove items from my bed.  Pillow, blanket, towel; each getting roughly shaken before I set them aside.  The only thing left on my bed is the blanket that sits atop the board that I sleep on.  Where did the creepy crawler go? 

Ok. I am going to slowly lift up the blanket to see if it somehow got under there. …I found it.  I found the thing that was crawling up my leg.  Why couldn’t I have just stayed asleep?  Life would be much simpler if I had.  Attached to the bottom of my blanket is a cockroach.  3 inches long with antennas just as long.  And, it was on me.  *shiver* Gross.  Ok, now that I see it, what am I going to do?  I would love to just toss it out of my room, but I’m not going to touch it and I have nothing prepared to entrap a cockroach.  Well, sorry little creepy guy, but you must prepare to die…or at least be hurt enough so I can get you out.  I lower the blanket memorizing where the roach is positioned.

I grab one of my chucks (All Star – Converse shoes).  I can’t hit him too hard, my host families room is right below me and they might hear and come running up.  But, I need to hit him hard enough to immobilize him.  Bam!  Bam! Bam!  I hit my bed hoping beyond hope that I got him.  I life up the covers again…he’s gone.  I missed.  I look under the bed, shake the blanket, lift up everything that he could have crawled under.  Apparently, my overly friendly cockroach is a fan of Houdini. 

Its 1am and I have a roach running loose in my room, ready to feel me up at any time.  Great.  How am I supposed to sleep now?  I’m not.  That is the simple answer.  I leave a light on in my room so I can inspect any sudden movement or noise and flip open my computer.  I just need a cute, funny movie to hold me over until I can sleep again…’Kate and Leopold’ it is.  Who doesn’t love a Hugh Jackman movie? 

An hour later…alas, sleep takes hold of me.

Some pictures from the last week:

Starbucks! Iced vanilla Latte and chocolate
muffin...yum!

The most comfortable bed in Thailand

We planted trees yesterday out by the lake.

Can you imagine wearing all of that when it is over 100 degrees out?

These guys really wanted me to take their picture

Group picture!!

This is my Balot (his nickname is Gop - Frog). He is my immediate supervisor

Is it just me?

 

Yesterday I came home from BKK after being there for 5 days. Although money was pouring out of my pockets the entire time I was there, it was a nice break from life, from reality. I had 4 days where I wasn't brushing ants off of my bed, 4 days where I didn't have to worry about mosquitos invading my room, and 4 days where I got to stand under a hot shower and sleep with a comfortable pillow (ok, the pillow thing only happened for 2 nights). I spoke English every day and didn't have to worry about peoples status' and wai'ing. At two of my hotels (yes, I stayed in a total of 3), the front desk got a kick out of speaking to me in Thai because I don't think they have met many farangs that can even come close to speaking Thai. We would go back and forth speaking in Thai-glish to each other. I believe I was definitely their favorite guest for the nights I stayed with them.

Yesterday, I was headed home. I planned to arrive in Phitsanulok (Pi'lok) sometime between 5-6 so I could catch the last bus to my site. I was pretty sure that I would arrive around 5 and have plenty of time. But, as things work in Thailand, my bus didn't leave on time. The bus was on "thai time". When I got on the bus in BKK, there were 4 guys and a professional video camera on the bus filming. From what I could tell, they were filming a documentary about the bus and how to load passengers on the bus…weird. Anyways, they spent the better part of an hour shooting themselves getting on and off the bus, explaining how the seating worked, and passing out our food. This is when I started to fear that we were going to be late…and yes, late we were. It was too much to hope that my final bus would be on Thai time too. We got to Pi'lok at about 6:15. The bus to Bangrakam had already left.

So here I am, stranded in Pi'lok, 30 minutes from my site wondering how I am going to get home. I almost decide to just grab a hotel for the night (more money lost) and a pizza ($$$$) and catch the first bus in the morning, but I call Ron Muay first to ask her if there is a song taow that might still be running now. After about 4 phone calls, I have a driver coming to pick me up (yup, you heard me…I have a driver, well, my Tessaban has a driver). I am so ready to be home. At this point, I had been traveling for about 6 hours and am ready for a shower, food, and sleep.

My driver comes, takes me home, and I greet my host family. Guess what? We have no running water in our house. Apparently, we haven't for a few days…no shower for me. Ok, food then bed. Ah, nice. I turned on my air conditioning, threw on a show (Firefly), and ginned some kaao (Thai-glish for 'ate food'). My trip to BKK is complete…until next time.

I'm not sure how this no water thing is supposed to work. I woke up this morning and someone from my family had dumped some water into a bucket in my bathroom. This is great so I can use the bathroom, but this will do nothing for brushing teeth, washing clothes, or cleaning dishes. The water is brown…I think they took it from the river. Ok…so I will not be cooking any food and I will be smelly once all of my clothes are dirty…or sooner considering I am not taking a shower in that either. I have been invited to Pi'lok this weekend with a friend. I was going to turn it down because I was just gone, but if we have no water…hmm.

 

I have been wondering if I am the only PC volunteer (from my group), that has gone online at some point and started researching jobs, colleges, housing, etc, back in the states. Over the last few weeks, I have spent part of my days looking at Master degree programs at various colleges, researched the GRE and GMAT, and looked into jobs. I even caught myself on craigslist once checking out apartments. It feels strange that I am only 6 months into PC and I am already searching out ideas and possibilities for my future. I found some great fellowship programs through Peace Corps in Colorado, Maryland and Washington D.C. There is even one for the University of WA that looks promising if I want to head back there. I am thinking of a Masters in Public Administration…I think. That is my current thoughts on it. I decided that I don't want to get my masters if I have to work full time while doing it. I am tired of going to school while working full time. I am fine with a part time job, and/or internship, but I don't think that I want to go back to work full time if I end up going to school…I'll think about it (I don't want a ton of debt either). But, anyways, back to the point. I have been wondering if I am the only person that has been researching my future, searching for my next step. Turns out that I am not. I have talked to many people in my group, and there are quite a few of us that have been doing this. Whew! Relief! People have been planning trips, college, jobs, etc…over these last few months just as I have.

The question is why? Why do we do this? Are we not happy? Are we already ready to move on? Or, are we just your typical Americans that are always looking into the future? I think it is a mix of a few things. I think that some of the volunteers are confused. Thailand is a developing country. There are areas of the country, like BKK, that almost make you feel like you are back in the states (foreign food, movies, malls, various languages, etc), but when you move away from the cities, you are met with a variety of different levels of lives. Some people live in shacks with gaping holes in walls, have their homes flooded every year, others live in cement homes protected from the weather. Almost every part of Thailand has electricity and running water of some sort. For many of us, it comes down to our particular schools or government offices that we work in on how needed we feel. I have heard that some teachers speak great English and run very well put together English classes already, therefore, why were they put there to assist? What are they supposed to do for 2 years? Some SAO or Tessaban offices already run programs to help the elderly, reduce the dog issues, and promote health in their villages. Volunteers had many ideas of what they were going to do to help their tambon before they arrived only to find out the tambon is moving forward and upward on their own. Why were they placed here?

Thailand is in a strange position. They have many developed areas or soon to be developed areas surrounded by areas of poverty. It is a hard country to be a PC volunteer in because you have to find out where exactly your area is at, and find a way to work from there. You may not be working in an area as impoverished as you thought you would. That completely changes you frame of mind on how you were going to help out. It is difficult to do that. It is difficult to see how you can help the community when you see them doing so well by themselves. Peace Corps is re-evaluated how they can assist Thailand right now and I think that many of us see why. I think that Thailand can still use Peace Corps, we need change the program to fit the direction that Thailand is headed.

Thai people don't really believe in thinking about their future. They think in the now. It is a strange concept to them that Americans spend time mapping out how they want their future to go. We plot our lives ahead of time, searching for goals to reach. Thai people don't spend too much time on the future, because they want to focus on the now. What is happening now? What can we do about this now? What am I feeling now? I wonder if American's should take a note of this. Yes, I still believe that we need to look into the future, there does need to be some planning, but I also believe that American's need to take a moment to live in the now. Experience life instead of planning what is going to happen next. Now, even with this realization, I am not going to stop looking at colleges or programs, in the next few months I will probably start studying for my GRE, and I will still wonder 'what comes next', but I am going to try to experience Thailand instead of just letting this opportunity fly by. Jai-yen-yen

Laundry, Food, and BKK

 

Written June 2^nd

I found out today that it is much more pleasant to do my laundry at 7:30 in the morning rather than waiting for the splintering hot sun to warm up my oven of a room to begin at 10. But, who really wants to leave their cozy room at 730 on a Saturday. Today was different though, because I didn't do laundry last weekend and I am slowly, but surely running down on my clothes supply. Since I am leaving for Bangkok early tomorrow morning, I knew I wouldn't get another chance. So, on a good note, I did my laundry, hung it up to dry and was off to work and was only a few minutes late. Lateness doesn't matter as much here as it did in the states. At my previous job, if you were 6 minutes late, you could be written up, get a warning, or maybe fired if it happened often enough. Here, you get a greeting of 'Hello', "you are getting so skinning', and today, '…pom…'. OK, so there was something about my hair today, but I didn't understand it. My hair is in its normal, low ponytail (its got to fit under my helmet), that it is always in, so I don't know what is so different…maybe they finally realized that it just doesn't look very good, even on a fair skinned, blue-eyed girl. Yes, my hair can do with a good blow-dry and curling iron or straightener and it would be fabulous, but alas, I have neither, and if I did have them, my hair would be a loss the minute I stepped outside of my room. Now, back to laundry, as soon as I hung my dripping clothes up to dry (its good to leave a good amount of moisture in so there are less wrinkles – I tend to burn my clothes when I use an iron here), I start to hear a rhythmic beat in my room. Normally, I would just think that the pigeons were having their usual races across my roof, but today, with no sun blaring down into my eyes, and a cool draft coming through the windows, I knew that this drumming was rain. Great! I finally decide to wash my clothes and it is raining. Normally, I wouldn't care, I would just let my clothes hang outside for another day, but I am leaving tomorrow…all I can do is hope for the best. Good luck clothes…do me proud and be dry when I get home tonight.

 

Written June 6^th

I have been in BKK since Friday. I came in for a simple appointment with a doctor on Saturday and ended up with a procedure done (ugh), so I've been chilling in hotels for the last few days to be sure that I am good to head back to site. I talked to the PC doc this morning and he cleared me to head back tomorrow…7 hour bus ride here we come! Tonight, (Monday night), I have splurged on a nice hotel to stay in. Satalite TV, King size bed, free wifi, bathtub, and rain shower…ah, now this is the life. I am spending way more than I should, but I am super excited to check in later today. I was supposed to have wifi in the hotel that I stayed in last night, but that place did not live up to the expectations that it gave me last night; hence, I am spending a little more money tonight. Oh well. I'm sure it will be nice and relaxing before I head back to cold showers, heat, and work. **To family and friends in the states – I promise, I am fine. The doctor sucked, but nothing is wrong with me…promise.

Anyways, I have to tell you about this hospital. Now, from what I understand, it is the best hospital in Asia, but I was told this weekend, that it is actually the best hospital in the world…lucky me living so close to it. Now, this place is GORGOUS! I just wanted to sit in it for hours and people watch (not a polite thing to do in a hospital), lounge in the chairs and sit at one of the many Starbucks that were throughout it (it was almost like being back in Seattle). From what I am told, the rooms (if you have to stay overnight) have flat screen tvs and you will get a keyboard so you can use the tv as a computer if you want to go on the internet. Yup, if I need to stay in a hospital, this is the place to go.

Now, before this weekend, I hadn't had any Starbucks coffee since coming to Thailand. I have had gross 3 in 1 coffee, and when I can find it, coffee from stands that use beans, but not good ol' reliable Starbucks. I'll admit, its not the best coffee in the world, but it is more of my comfort drink. Well, this weekend, so far, I have now had 3 drinks from there (one of which I am drinking right now – Iced Vanilla latte). I would be online right now, but they want to charge me 150 baht for the internet, where I could have (and should have) gone to the café I went to yesterday and gotten wifi for free…but I would not have had the double chocolate muffin that I just finished eating. YUM!

So what did I eat this weekend you might ask: Salami Pizza (which I wasn't supposed to eat), double cheeseburger and cheesy fries (McD) 2x, ham and cheese sandwich, ice cream (The real stuff that you scoop), coffee, bagels, a bite of a delicious cheesy baked potato (I might have that for lunch today), pasta carbonara (sp?)…and some other stuff, but I can't remember.

***20 minutes after writing post: Ok, had my baked potato with cheese and bacon bits…yummmmmm

Oh, and I went and saw Hangover 2. So, I didn't like the first movie at all. Maybe it was because of all the hype behind it, but I went to see this one because 1) I haven't seen a movie since being in the states and 2) because this one was based in Thailand. Every person I went with said it was a disappointment, but me, because I had such low expectations, I actually thought it was funny and laughed throughout. Now, this is not to say I want to see it again, but it was worth the $4.50 to see it. And, the seats were super comfortable (better than many places in the states). The difference is, that in the states, before the movie starts, you don't stand up to give tribute to the president or for the national anthem. In Thailand, before every movie starts, you stand up and give tribute to the king. They play a slideshow/movie of him while a song plays, then you sit down and watch the movie. Strange, but kinda cool at the same time.

So, that is my life at the moment. I am roaming around BKK until it is time to check into my hotel. I can jump right onto the BTS and be there in minutes when check in time arrives (BTS is like the monorail/lightrail – takes you around the city so you can avoid cabs, tuk tuks, and traffic). Getting to my hotel was a nightmare yesterday; I kept going in the wrong direction and ended up walking through many streets of BKK (mostly residential) before I finally gave up and took a tuk tuk. I negotiated the price down though, so it wasn't too bad. I will give one thing to the hotel from last night…man! That bed was amazing and comfortable. That is probably the only prop I can give it though. When you still have chairs wrapped in plastic lining the halls and horrible lighting in your room, it doesn't look that nice. My tv ended up sucking, and the wifi didn't work. Well, I guess one other good thing was one of the front desk ladies. She got such a kick out of the fact that I know some Thai that she was very accommodating. I really liked her. If the place was nicer, I probably would have just stayed there tonight too…oh well.