2 Weeks Away from Site

Friday: BKK…yes, I went to Bangkok yet again.  It’s not like I love the city or anything, but it is a great central place to meet up with everyone and there are places to go out to at night…and, I had to go to BKK before heading off to Issan to enjoy a three day weekend in Khao Yai National Park.  The first national park of Thailand.  We stayed at our usual hotel…you know, the one that only cost 450 baht a night and you cram 5-7 people in a room.  Apparently, some other PC peeps had discovered a farang bar the last time we were out there, so we decided to hit that up for the night…it was just like being back in America.  It was a good ol’ dive bar.  There we met some people from New Zealand, Australia, UK, and Kenya….I guess everyone had figured out where to go…the only Thai’s there were ones that were brought by other farangs…drinking, dancing and friends.  Good times.

The next morning we packed up to head out to our intended destination.  I am used to all sorts of bus’ in Thailand…there are fabulous ones and dingy ones, but this bus was the all-time worst that I have been on so far.  Luckily our trip was only 3 hours.  The bus gets underway, each of us has our own set of seats so we can sprawl out and get some sleep because we hadn’t gotten much the night before.  I have been dozing for about 15 min when I feel something fall on me.  I open my eyes, look down, and see a black speck on my chest.  I wipe it off and close my eyes again. 

15 min later:  I feel something again…open my eyes.  This time, there are 4 or 5 specks of black.  Again I brush them off.  I just want to go to sleep.

10 min later: Again…

5 min later: AGAIN…ok, this is getting ridiculous…I look around; there are no seats to switch too.  The bus is getting hotter as we move toward noon and I am stuck in a seat that is raining black stuff on me…for another 2 hours

10 min later:  Ouch!!!  What the… I look down.  A screw.  Yes, a screw fell on me.  The bus was shaking so violently, that it unscrewed the screw causing it to fall onto me…so much for sleeping; now I have to keep watch for the killer screws that want to gouge out my eyes.

For another hour I continuously am wiping black specs off of me and am vigilantly watching for additional screws that may attempt to attack me.  Finally!!! Finally, a seat opens in the back.  I move to in.  Immediately sweat starts pouring down me.  This seat is situated in the sun and it sits right on top of the engine.  But, on the bright side, there are no falling screws…score one for Megan.  I attempt to sleep again as the bottom of my seat slides out from under me with each vibration of the bus.

Finally, we arrive…

Our first day in Khao Yai we took a half day tour through an underground cave, watched 2 million bats fly out of a cave for their nightly hunt, and swam in a beautiful mineral pool after dark.  The underground caves were full of bats, spiders, and other bugs and living things.  We were shown each and every one of them and were given the chance to hold all except the spider and bats. 

Above ground, watching the bats leave their cave was amazing.  We ate fresh pineapple and watched the bats swirl out of the cave in spirals as they headed into the night.  As the wind shifted the spirals would swoop in a new direction.

All the black things on the ceiling are bats

I'm holding a spider that has evolved into more of a crab...the front legs have pinchers

Who doesn't love holding snakes

I think the ears are adorable

Bats weaving through the sky

I don’t know if any of us really knew what we were getting into when we set out on our second tour.  We thought we were going to have a few short walks in the jungle to see different viewing points then head back to our song taew for a drive to the next point.  Well, we were partially right.  Our song taew was our main source of transportation, but we had a 3-4 hour trek into the jungle ahead of us…and it was raining.  I am so glad I remembered my rain jacket.

Erin and I had just congratulated ourselves on making it so far into the jungle without falling a single time.  It was at this point that we looked ahead of us and saw a trail of people climbing a muddy path up a hill making it more treacherous with every step that they took.  With my first step up, I knew I was a goner.  One, two, three, four steps.  Five ste- bam – I hit the ground. Ugh!  And, down I slide.  I get up again.  Make it three more steps, and then I slide again, right in between Erin’s legs.  We are laughing so hard there was no way I was going to be able to get up.  The tour guide had to come down and grab my hand to help me stand up again.  I think it ended up taking about 10 minutes to get up this little hill because I could not stop laughing at myself.

And, that was just the beginning.  After that point, the trail only seemed to get slipperier.  I may not be a graceful walker, but I am a graceful faller because I came out of this with no serious injuries and I feel 50+ times (no exaggeration implied).  The park was beautiful though.  You could hear the birds calling to one another, monkeys jumping through the trees, and you could see bugs and spiders inching their ways up vines and across the ground.  We ate lunch in a small building on stilts looking over the park before heading on to find more wild life.

Leech socks.  We had to put them on before we started trekking
into the jungle

After falling all over the place - leech socks are officially brown now

A leech got me - twice actually

After a fun filled weekend at Khao Yai National Park, we moved back to central Thailand to Suponburi for Reconnect.  This included a 3 day conference with our counterparts and then a little over a week of additional training in speaking, reading, and writing Thai along with other skills to assist us at site. 

The counterpart conference was great.  I learned more about my community than I had learned in 3 months, and I got more specific details about what they would like me to do while at site.  I am going to be spending the next couple of months talking to people and doing research on fish and aqua-culture, to see if I can implement some of my supervisor’s ideas.

We were all excited that the fourth of July occurred while we were at the conference.  This was the first real American holiday that we were going to be able to celebrate together, and all 63 of us from group 123 were going to be there.   The US Embassy helped us out a lot by providing us with hamburger from the states and other supplies from a store at the embassy.  Some fellow PCer’s cooked our burgers, while others made potato salad.  ****I ate my first homemade chocolate chip cookie in 6 months, and it was amazing!!!! – Thank you Frank for using American products and a New York recipe…it was delicious.

Of course, it’s not only the food that makes for a great fourth of July…We spent the previous day creating costumes for our parade that we were putting on for the PC staff and our Thai teachers.  Almost all volunteers were part of the parade depicting characters from the Mayflower, immigrants, the industrial revolution, space travel, etc…  I must say…we put on a pretty kick ass parade if I do say so myself.

Then came our firework…yes, I did mean to say that singularly…it was a single firework put on just for us and our celebration.  Sparklers were handed out as well and we danced and laughed around the parking lot remembering times when we used to do this with our friends back home.

Winners of the contest

And, finally, who can have a fourth of July in Thailand without a costume contest…Ok, it was more of a way to introduce ourselves to the new director, but we put on a show to include all the volunteers and we had a best t-shirt contest hosted by 2 fabulous volunteers and judged by our new director.  I didn’t win, or place…but I thought by outfit was pretty good…oh well….after it all, we danced, drank and sang…until we all finally dropped into beds until our 8am meeting.  Overall, good Fourth of July.

I learned to read/write Thai much better at the meeting and I am slowly able to decipher sentences and figure out where one word starts and another finishes.  I am super excited to keep learning at site. 

After Reconnect, I spent a couple more nights in BKK before heading back to site.  At Mo Chit (the bus station in Bangkok) 3 women from my village recognized me – I didn’t recognize them, oops, and had me get off the bus early and head back to Bangrakam by truck…yes! 1 hour was cut off of my bus time and I got home early.  I got home, took my first cold shower in 2 weeks, ginned some kaao (Thai-glish for ate some food) and was asleep by 7pm. 

I arrived at work this morning to discover that my desk had been moved to my supervisor’s office, a package had arrived for me while I was gone, and my house is still in the process of being built.  Such is life – jai yen yen.

I soon will be leaving my office to head home and start my 2 week’s worth of laundry.  Fun times!!! But, I had a blast and that is what really matters.

Whew!  Tired maak maak…sleep will be coming soon too, I am guessing.

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