Dear Justin Bieber: Your #1 Fan Lives in The Land of Thai

It’s safe to say that rainy season in Nakhon has officially begun. This week, it rained for about two days straight. Today the clouds decided they would still like to hover overhead and hide the sun, but for the better part of the day, the rain stayed away. I cannot say officially how I feel about rainy season. I feel like I’ve only just gotten my feet wet (pun intended!) so the verdict’s still out.

I do know that Vitamin D is vital to my usually cheery disposition, and if I don’t get some sun, my mood can be shady too. I have to say though, that with the rain, it’s a little cooler and you don’t feel like you’re constantly perspiring. So, there’s that.

This week, I got a package in the mail for my students: Pen-pal letters! My 4^th grade teacher (who was also my 6^th grade teacher, and one of the teachers who chaperoned the trip to Egypt I took when I was 17) currently teaches sixth-graders, still at the same school. I’ve been talking about how great it would be to do some kind of pen-pal thing with students back in California with a school I used to sub regularly for, but the idea never really came to fruition. Finally, I guess my dad got tired of hearing me say how great it would be, and took matters into his own hands and contacted Mr. Johnson.

Can I say, it’s strange when you reach that point where you're no longer obliged to call your teacher Mr. or Mrs. And you realize, in fact, it’s preferred when you don’t call him or her that. Trying it out for the first couple of times feels so odd, like there's marbles in your mouth, or you really hesitate when typing their name in an email. It’s also strange to be thought of/think of yourself as that person’s peer rather than their pupil. We're both... teachers. . Just another reminder that somehow, I’ve grown up. (In case the first gray hair I found on my head- of course it had to be here Thailand- wasn’t enough.) Sort of. Because, in some ways, I still feel like such a child- that I have so much more growing to do and so much more to learn. Adulthood is funny. Just as funny as adolescence and childhood. I think maybe I like it.

Anyhow, I cannot tell you what a joy it was watching these kids pour over their letters from STUDENTS IN CALIFORNIA! I wasn’t sure when the letters would arrive, but I was just as excited as them, and scrapped this week’s lessons (it’s okay, it was a three-day week anyway) so that I could give them the opportunity to read and write back. We had mini-lessons on letter-writing format, paragraph structure, and California (specifically that particular area in California) and the kids went to town. I have been reading the things they’ve written, and not only am I impressed with their enthusiasm and ability to express themselves and relate to these other students halfway across the world, but I am also humored, touched, and about ten times more in love with them. So, I guess, this week has been another “Aha! This is why I love teaching!” kind of week.

So, I’d like to share with you some of the things they’ve written. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.

The Humorous

-       “My name is Mind. It means “Mind.”

-       “You know, at school I work really hard. The reason why I work hard is because I want to meet Justin Bieber. If I can speak English very well, then I can communicate with him or I can go to America and meet him. There is one thing that I would really like to tell you. It’s about “Justin Bieber”. He is my idol. I really love him! I know that he works in America, but he’s Canadian, right? I want to ask you some questions: Have you ever seen Justin Bieber? And do you like him? He is so cute. I want to be his girlfriend. If you know Justin Bieber and like him, please write me back about him.”

-       “My favorite color when I was you is ‘pink’.”

-       “Yes! People here have iPods! What you think?”

-       “Let me tell you about my face and my character.”

-       “Now, let’s talk more about Thailand, my country.”

The Honesty

-       “I live in the dorms even though my family live in Nakhon same city same as school because if I stay at home, I play games on the computer too much!”

-       “Oh! I forgot something and I have to tell, it’s true. My favorite animal is a dog.”

-       “In the past, I did breakdancing (B-boy). I have a lot of skills, now.”

-       “You said you have pets. In Thailand, dogs and cats don’t usually have owners because dogs and cats make problems. So they live by themselves. That’s why I don’t have pets in my house.”

The Sweetness

-       “My dreams? I don’t know too! My dad has been asking this for a while. It’s like my goals keep changing. Sometimes I want to be a principal, sometimes a designer. I don’t know! Also, I’m the only girl at home (well, except my mother). My brothers always bully me. I don’t know why, but it is unfair. It kind of hurts, but they are always caught by my parents so they get punished, so that pushes the bad feelings away. My elder brother is fat, my little brother is totally the opposite, me? I guess I’m in the middle, not too fat, not too thin.”

-       “Is your country peaceful or chaotic?”

-       “I think be may you would like Thailand you come to Thailand, please tell me! I will be your good guide!”

-       “Do you know? That this letter is my first letter I write to students in other country! I think this is cool! I love T. Allison and T. Johnson. Both of them open the way for us to be friends each other. I think we can become good friends.”

And many of the students decorated their letters with drawings and designs (Thailand has SO many great artists and musicians! Their ability levels blow me away!) and included photos of themselves.

And the first thing they asked me when they got the letters was, “Teacher, can we be friends with them on Facebook? Or MSN? Or email?” Oh yeah… we live in the digital age…

Oh well. For now, it’s pen-pals. Good, old-fashioned letter-writing.

“WHEN YOU REALIZE HOW PERFECT EVERYTHING IS YOU WILL TILT YOUR HEAD BACK AND LAUGH AT THE SKY”

Our Beach @ the Resort in Koh Mook- yes, it was this empty :)

The first few months I was here, I bought a Lonely Planet guide to Thailand (LP, for short). I was at the Bangkok airport waiting for a friend from home to arrive. Our original plan to head to Samui was thwarted (my word of the day, apparently; I have used it three times thus far) by the floods that hit the southern part of Thailand in April, and we needed a new plan. But I planned nothing. Then, hours before her arrival, I thought I should plan something. Our trip ended up being pretty good, and LP proved to be pretty useful. Sometimes I love LP and sometimes I feel like LP really steers me in the wrong direction and I don’t like to take its advice. 

Anyhow, there’s a section of all color photos with short descriptions in the front. As I sat in the airport, flipping through the pages, I saw this photo of one of the contributing authors, sitting in crystal clear, aqua water. You could tell the sand beneath him was perfectly powdery white and behind him were these beautiful little islands, an archipelago of limestone rock jutting out of the sea. The sky was a perfect blue. It was perfect, it was beautiful, and I dog-eared the page. The Trang Islands. I looked it up on the map. Then, I promised myself I’d go there.

As my months remaining in Thailand are winding down- well, they’re pretty much done winding, as I have just over a month left- I’ve been really thinking about what I want to do and where I want to go before I leave. I’ve slowly been crossing things off my list, and last weekend, I crossed off that photo. 

The Andaman Coast of Thailand, where Trang is located, is just coming into its high season. So last weekend, when I went, it was practically deserted. And perfect. Although it didn’t exactly start out that way. 

As we sat on our broken-down “ferry” while it poured down rain, I asked my travel companion when she thought the real adventure this weekend began. “Hmm. I guess the minute we stepped into the mini-bus to come here?” I disagreed. “I feel like it was when we parked our motorbikes at City Hall, walked across the street to the van station, but it was the wrong van station, and so we had to hop on a teeny motorbike taxi and I almost fell off the back, and had to pay him to take us to the other van station.”

Our broken-down ferry wasn’t the only break-down issue. After we hopped on the motorbike in Nakhon, we went to the van station that took us to Trang. Then we had to stay the night in Trang and get another mini-bus the next day. Our mini-bus from Trang to the ferry terminal also had some issues. First, our driver was quite leisurely in his manner. There must have been some good sales (it WAS a holiday weekend), because we stopped at various stores along the way and he perused many a fine goods. We picked up some kind of water pump, some irrigation hosing at a different place (don’t forget we also stop to pick up/drop off various packages, as our mini-bus also functions as a postal service) and THEN we stopped because there was some kind of issue with the radiator. So he turned off the van and consequently the AC and we sat sweltering with it packed full of people and the door open just barely, while he tinkered with some water and the radiator cap.

At this point, I would like to point out that I don’t find this at all frustrating. It actually makes me smile to think about and it made me smile then. Because it is SO SO typically Thailand. You just kind of have to go with it. About a half hour and a chicken skewer or three for our driver later, he decided it really just needed more water after all, poured in an entire big bottle of it, and we were off again.

Winding through rubber trees and palms. And then we got to the “ferry” terminal. And it started POURING. Just torrential, typically Thai, rain. “I’m SO excited!” I said. And I was. And then the rain let up just a bit, the rickety old wooden glorified longtail boat that was our ferry arrived, and we piled in. Then it started thundering and lightning flashed every few seconds and it was pouring again. And then the boat engine wouldn’t start.

Andaman Sea (West side- I live on the East) in the Land of Southern Thai.
Below Phuket by about 3-4 hours(ish). Stayed on Koh Mook, also
ventured over to Koh Kradan!

And guess who came to the rescue? Our trusty driver! And after about a half hour of tinkering, he finally decided he couldn’t fix it. And so another longtail came by, and our boat driver got them to tie us to their boat and they pulled us all the way to Koh Mook, one of the Trang Islands. It took about an hour and forty-five minutes, but we got there. And on the way, I read some Wuthering Heights and chatted with a travel-writer from Travelfish.org.

We expected to arrive on the island around 1pm, and got to our resort at 5:30pm. A little late. But we had a relaxing evening, watched a beautiful sunset, chatted and in the morning woke up to beautiful skies. At breakfast, a couple invited us to accompany them on their longtail boat that they would be taking through the islands for snorkeling and exploring. Of course, we hopped on and for 400 baht (about $13) we got to spend the day basking in the beauty of the Trang Islands! I really wanted to see Koh Kradan, as it’s supposed to be the most beautiful island there, and the Emerald Cave. I got to do both. And both were simply stunning.

Of course, I forgot my camera. It would have been great to have captured what the inside of the cave was like, and the secret beach that opened up to us after our swim through the cave. We had it all to ourselves for the better part of our time there. And the water was so crystal clear. And the photo from LP- I was there. I lived it. Almost 100% sure it was taken from the shore of Koh Kradan.

I want to post photos, but after scouring the web, I really cannot find one that does even one of these beautiful places justice. 

After snorkeling and the caves, we spent time on Koh Kradan. I sat in the sun and tried to absorb as much of the beauty and as much of the moment and as much of the sea and the warmth and everything about the present as I possibly could. This mini-adventure reminded me again and again that I only have a short time here left. Part of me wants to cram as much in as I possibly can- with school and my students and with traveling. But I also think that if I do that, I won’t be taking time to reflect and enjoy everything before I let go of this part of my life. It’s a delicate balance. Life always is, I guess. No point in trying to control it- just go with the gently ebbing and flowing waves. Ahhhh, I love my life. Thank you for letting me share it with you. 

My Obsession. And A Spelling Bee.

FACT: A group of crows is called a MURDER.

FACT: A group of owls is called a PARLIAMENT.

FACT: A group of cockroaches is called an INTRUSION.

(If you're interested in learning about what other groups of animals are called, click here, 

But read my blog first.)

Just in case you missed my second-to-last post about cockroaches because my incredibly long Land of Northern Thai post overshadowed it: La Cucaracha!

I am hoping you read it because 1) it’s good, and 2) it will help you understand in greater depth what’s happening with my relationship to these little creatures and this post.

Here's the latest update:

On Friday, I found COCKROACH EGGS in my desk. I was digging through my drawer at work, looking for an eraser. And I noticed these 2 things that looked like little coffee beans in my plastic paper clip container. I knew they couldn’t be coffee beans because that’s not something I’ve ever kept in my desk, believe it or not. I don’t drink coffee and even if I did, it’s this instant Nescafe stuff they give to teachers and faculty to use, so a whole bean wouldn’t ever even exist in school.

Cockroach Eggs:
The ones I found looked like American/Oriental.

The principal came in to my room to talk to me right after I made this little discovery, and so I interrupted his very important news about teachers, salaries, the city, and education to discuss my very important problem.

“What are these?” I asked.

“Hmm. They look like-“

“Are they COCKROACH EGGS???” I interrupted again.

He laughed. “Maybe.” And then he grabbed a pencil from my pencil jar and poked one and it shot out of the paper clip container and onto my desk.

“Blech!” I jumped out of my seat.

And he screamed. “Wow. That makes me feel like a man right there.”

Then he told me, “You know what they look like? Purses. Women’s purses- you know, the little clutch ones.”

“And you were worried about the previous outburst being unmanly?” I teased him.

I have never seen cockroach eggs before. I don’t know how cockroaches reproduce, where they do it, when, or how many little cockroaches/cockroach larvae or whatever come out of one cockroach egg . But I just felt like that’s what they were. And I had to hand it to Mama Cockroach. She chose a very safe place. I hardly ever use paperclips, and therefore never dig into that little container. I think cockroaches are smarter than we give them credit for.

Anyhow, I knew not what these little coffee bean-like things were, so I did what I do best and researched extensively on Google. And now, all those things I didn’t know before about cockroaches, I now know. Sometimes, when you are scared of something, it’s usually because it’s foreign and unknown. Humans are terrified of that which they know nothing about, like what happens after you die, or the possibility of a plane crashing while you’re flying, for example. And sometimes the best thing to do is to learn more about it. When you learn that more people die in car crashes than plane crashes, and that a car crash is wayyyyy more likely than a plane crash, and all the other little facts, it doesn’t seem quite as scary. 

Well, this is NOT what happened for me when I learned more about cockroaches. I just got more squeamish. I don’t know why they are consuming my free thoughts. I do know that anything in large groups freaks me out after a while. One ant is okay, but them swarming all over a crumb is disgusting. One cockroach in my classroom can be a fluke, but seeing at least 2 a day and then finding eggs?!? This is excruciating for me. I began having these visions of them hatching in my desk, crawling all over my scissors, my stapler, my sunglasses… these little white baby cockroaches.  This, my friends, is one thing I will not miss about Thailand. Yes, it’s true, we have cockroaches in California. But unless you’re on a dirty street in China Town in San Francisco or digging through a dumptser outside a restaurant, or staying in the dorms at Claremont-McKenna (I did once for leadership), you aren’t likely to see one. Then, when you do, that’s just it- it’s only one. Only one spider in the corner. Only one snake slithering across a wall (yes, this has happened- it was green and beautiful and not at all scary.) Only one macacque in the jungle. It’s when there’s a large gathering- I can’t take it. 

And listen, I know people around the world have it much worse than me. And for these people, cockroaches are probably the least of their concerns. I understand that and appreciate it. But it doesn’t change my feelings.

So, I cleaned my desk. I placed them (without touching them) on this paper that I was planning to take to the toilet and then flush. And then, do you know what happened?! I accidentally hit the paper with a ruler and the little disgusting eggs went FLYING OFF MY DESK. And onto the floor. And the floor is black and white speckled. And I couldn’t find them to save my life. And then my visions of them hatching inside my classrooms returned. And then the principal found one and smashed it with his shoe. And it made this disgusting crunching noise- it sounded wet. Ugh. And then I had baby cockroach egg guts all over my floor.

Sometimes, you just can’t win. I am just so glad I have only ever had one cockroach in my apartment- and I found him because he had climbed onto my lint roller and got stuck. Sucker. And a friend happened to be visiting and he took care of it. I spray regularly, and keep it clean. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will be enough until I leave.

On another note, I have had an excellent, productive, well-rested weekend. We had a dinner party on Friday and I made the main dish, and people loved it, which made me feel good. And I learned a new dinner-party game: Telenary? A cross between pictionary and telephone. We laughed so hard, and it was so good.

It had a billboard like a red-carpet
event. Clearly, we took full
advantage of this.

 I said a while back that I would post photos from the spelling be that I officiated, so here they are. It was recorded and will be shown on Thai TV sometime soon- I want to say November 1^st. But I’m not sure. And the editor of the English magazine that coordinated and sponsored the event at Wailalak University also asked if I would be interested in either editing or writing pieces for his Bangkok-based publication, which was flattering and an exciting prospect. I just heard back from him about this, but everything will be taking place after the new year, when I will be back in the states. Still, it has made me start thinking about other avenues I could explore. 

The peace sign. 

Student contestants saw and asked to take photos
with us. WE were the celebrities
at this red-carpet event.

I made this larger so you could see T. Meaghan and I posing. We were professional, but fun.
And well-received by all.

Officiant White

Nicky, our Operations Manager
and Director of the Primary School

Officiant Paquette

Obviously, we made others we saw pose
on the carpet too.

The Land of Northern Thai... and I

The Countryside just outside of Pai, Mae Hong Son Province

I don’t know how to start this post off other than to say that I LOVE THE LAND OF NORTHERN THAI. I love it. I can’t believe I have lived in this country for over 10 months and this past holiday was my first visit to this beautiful place. I got up to Chiang Mai after a long morning and afternoon of travels. The easiest/quickest way to get up there from where I am is to take a mini-bus three hours south and then fly from Hat Yai directly to Chiang Mai, which is a two hour flight. Since I only had 9 days and wanted to make the most of them, flying was the only option. Plus,  although I wasn’t aware of the severity at the time, bus and train routes to Chiang Mai shut down around that time due to all the flooding. Anyhow, the method of transportation to and from Northern Thailand was just about all the planning I had done for this trip, aside from jotting down a few things into my journal regarding what I wanted to do/see based on word of mouth. I was so excited! 

For the record, 9 days to explore all one would like to explore in Northern Thailand just isn’t enough. There are three provinces I really wanted to see: Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, and Chiang Rai- all three border Burma and they are supposed to be some of the most breathtaking places in Thailand. I only made it to two of them- Chiang Mai, where I stayed in Chiang Mai proper, and Mae Hong Son, where I stayed in a little bohemian town up a windy, windy, windy road up in the mountains called Pai. From these two bases, we explored many other parts of the provinces.

Literally, as soon as I got to the actual city of Chiang Mai from the airport, I was blown away by the place. Everything about the north was breathtakingly beautiful- everywhere I went, every place I explored, I was in love. The skies, the landscape- terraced rice fields, lush mountains, jungle giving way to a more temperate terrain as the elevation increases- and the people are different. I can’t really say what it is exactly. Walking down the streets, exploring the jungle, mountains, and countryside,  meeting people- there’s simply a different energy than down here in the south.

So what I did was write down my “List of things to do in the Land of Northern Thai” verbatim, and then below each one, I commented on the experience (or lack thereof, as there just wasn’t enough time to get to everything and I added a few other things on the way.)

1.    Take a Thai cooking class.

      DID IT! And I loved it. I was trying to decide whether to do a course in Chiang Mai or in Pai, and eventually went with Pai. I’m glad I did- there were only four people total with one chef who was just lovely. First, we went to the evening market for a little lesson on essential fresh ingredients- galanga, ginger, tamarind, mushrooms, shallots, onions, garlic, chili peppers- how much, what kinds, etc. Then, the cooking began. I made Som Tam, Red Curry (even the curry paste- people complain about it, but I thought it was fun), Tom Kha Gai, and Cashew Chicken. Obviously, it was all amazing, because I cooked it. I learned a lot, laughed, and ate. Perfect.

At the Market

I made Som Tam! Yum!

Making Red Curry Paste

Me and My Tom Kha Gai

Red Curry and Cashew Chicken!

2.    See the tigers and hug one.

DIDN’T DO IT. I couldn’t- or wouldn’t- after the elephant experience. I just didn’t have it in me. I would love to touch and be around tigers for a day. But not at their expense. Life is full of double standards, I know, and this is one, because I do other things that are not animal friendly, like eat them (not tigers, but other animals, clearly.)

3.    Ride and elephant.

My Sweet Elephant. Mein.

DID IT. I was really excited about it, and it’s something my mom had me promise her I’d do. It sounds exotic and  unforgettable, and like hugging an orangutan or having a macacque attack you, or getting stung by a jellyfish, it’s something fun to tell people about. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all it cracked up to be. I had been warned about this by a couple people- that people who run these elephant businesses are in it for pure profit and have no regard for the well-being of the animal. I was told to the Elephant Nature Park or Thai Elephant Home were more humane options, as these places are more sanctuaries/reserves for the elephants. But, I didn’t listen. I think it was something I needed to experience for myself. I don’t want to go into it in detail, but my heart hurt for this animal, and I actually got a little teary-eyed afterward. Leaving ethical reasons out of it- it was an experience being atop this giant animal. But I got the same feeling just standing next to her, touching her trunk, and feeding her. They are magnificent animals. And, riding her was rather uncomfortable as we rode bare-back. Actually, it was incredibly uncomfortable unless I was sitting close to her neck. My rump was pretty sore the next day from the spine. Knowing what I know now, I would have just spent the day with one or more on a reserve. I think it would have been a better experience all around. So I did it, but am not proud of it. To anyone thinking about doing it- go to the reserves instead. Sorry mom!

Had to make this photo big so you could see the look of sheer enjoyment on my face. Poor Mein. 

4.    Go to Pai and get my portrait done by the guy on the street

Looks just like me! HA!

DID IT! And loved it. Two teachers came back from Pai with these quirky little portraits they’d had done while in Pai, and I was on a mission to get mine . The second night there, we found him, and for 50 baht, he drew me in his quirky little way. I’m pretty proud of it. Pai was such a great town. I could have stayed there for many more days. I’ve never been any place quite like it, but in some ways, it reminded me of the little towns up on the coast of Northern California by where we have a family house- Inverness, Point Reyes, Bolinas. Very bohemian, very friendly, and when I left, people I’d met were coming out of their shops and waving, like we were old friends. It was a good feeling.

An Evening Shot of Pai

5.    Ziplining through the rainforest.

DID IT! And loved it. It was so much fun, and the views were just spectacular. It was about 1 ½ hours outside of Chiang Mai and we climbed high up into the mountains. Seeing the jungle from above instead of down below presents quite a contrast. I never once felt scared- I think as long as I’m attached to something. I am fine. The guides were thorough with safety and were also incredibly funny and fun.  We did the B course, which had more ziplines, drops, and canopy walks. I loved the getup they put us in also. Definitely recommend it and this company- Jungle Flight.

The Hot Spring @ the National Park

6.    Go to the “Cave Place” where they send you trekking and draw the map for you by hand and you explore alone. (yes, Kevin, after all that work you did for me, this is all I wrote down.)

DIDN’T DO IT. There just wasn’t enough time, and it made me really sad. The Cave Lodge is the name of this place, and I asked about it when we were in Pai. Alec (our guide for the hill tribes and longneck village) knew a lot about it and was pleased that I wanted to go there. I hope I get to someday.

7.    Go trekking/hiking

DID IT… sort of. It was a mix of driving and mild hiking. We went to 2 of the national parks and walked to the hot springs, walked to the villages, and  I explored a lot of Chiang Mai on foot, especially the first day I was there. Once again, it was all about time. This is why I wish I had more of it- another week, and I think that would have been enough.

There were also things that we did that were NOT on my list- as we got to know the area and more about what it had to offer. One of my travel buddies took a massage course. I took one day and dedicated it to exploring Chiang Mai for food (big surprise, right?) since the city is probably one of the more health-conscious parts of Thailand and a lot of the country’s produce and grains come from that area (plus I had a great guide who had lived in Chiang Mai previously!) We also spent one day traveling through the Mae Hong Son province while we were visiting Pai.

One of the most memomarble parts of my trip was not on my list- it was planned while we were staying in Pai. On our second day there is when we decided to take a trek through the Mae Hong Son Province. I think our experience was different than most (or I would like to think that, anyhow), in that it was much more intimate and personal. Our guide, Alec, originally tried to sell us this one-day tour, where you stopped about 7 times, did something like the Chinese fire drill in/around some sight with about 10 other tourists, and then piled back into the car to trek to the next tourist place, stopping at shops along the way. We didn’t bite at the offer, and I could tell he was a bit frustrated- most tourists just book a tour and want to pack as much in as possible. As we talked with him more, he learned we were teachers, that we were living here in Thailand, and he got very enthusiastic. So enthusiastic that he told us HE wanted to be our guide, and he would take us to the Longneck Karen village and to the Lisu village, and then see what else we had time for. “I just get very tired,” he told us, “So I have to make sure I have lots of coffee and be home by six, otherwise I will fall asleep while driving.” Hmm. Okay. Comforting thought. He said that he was friends with the people there and that we would have a good time. He was right.

At the Primary School in the Lisu Village

Alec had asked us to bring biscuits for the children (not because they are starving, just because everyone likes cookies!) that we would be seeing in the villages, so we stopped along the way and bought huge tins of cookies. We stopped at the Lisu village first, and almost immediately went to see their school, where we met the children and the teacher and got to hang out and play. Then after about an hour there, Alec took us to see his friend’s wife, who was sick in bed. She had been for over a month, and Alec said no one could explain what was wrong with her, but that she was paranoid and the spirits kept telling her things and giving her warnings about her and her family. So she was refusing to leave her house. When we met her, she was smiling and came to sit outside a bit with us. My diagnosis: she wasn’t crazy- she was depressed. In rural village terms, she was tormented by spirits. In Californian “there’s a diagnosis for everything” terms, she just seemed like she was unhappy in her life and was depressed. After spending some time with her (she gladly took some cookies as well, by the way), we explored the rest of the village, kids in tow. They followed us everywhere, pointing things out, playing with us, and grabbing our hands. They were all so sweet.

This little girl followed me everywhere- we had a
connection <3

Lisu Children- such Sweethearts!

Lisu Boy

After the Lisu village, we piled back into Alec’s truck and continued another few hours to the original longneck village, stopping for noodles for lunch on the way at a place where Alec is a regular. And he’s a bit older and forgetful, and he forgot to pay them. So on the way back, we stopped again. Getting to the longneck village was rather perilous. It's deep in the jungle, beautfully set but hard to get to. If it rains too much, there’s no way in or out, as you have to cross this river with no bridge- just drive right through the water. If it gets too high, then you’re out of luck. And the roads are dirt/mud and rocky and it’s very easy to get stuck. But we made it. Alec doesn’t really have any teeth, so he was taking a really long time to eat his lunch and told us to go in without him, and to ask for his friend, Maloot, and to give her some lunch, and he handed me a bag of noodles for her. The three of us walked down the dirt road and into the village, which was quite small, maybe a tenth of a mile long? Right away, we found Maloot, a beautiful young and pregnant woman who spoke English impeccably well. She walked us around the village, introducing us to her mother and grandmother and telling us a bit about the history of her village and family.

Maloot's mother

Maloot doesn’t wear the coils around her neck. In fact, most people in the tribe don’t anymore. They are beginning to embrace this change/evolution in their culture. She took her coils off when she was 16, after having them on for about 12 years. Her neck is scarred from infections the heavy decoration caused. It was hard for her mother to accept, but she eventually did.

We came when school was in session, and Maloot took us to the village school. It seriously blew me away. It was in a raised bamboo hut that was divided into classrooms by partitions. The walls left about a two to three foot gap between them and the ceiling, and desks and chairs were fashioned from logs that sat on the floor in a couple of the classrooms. But what was being learned in these classrooms- these children are learning FOUR languages. They study math in English, Geography in Thai, and then they learn their village language and Burmese as well.

Maloot's little cousin who
followed us everywhere

Other members of the village augment
their ears instead of their necks

I probably should have said this previously, but the Thai government does not recognize these people as citizens of their country. Instead, they are deemed refugees, even though their village has been around for generations. As such, they are confined to their village since they do not have Thai ID cards. They cannot get jobs, they cannot leave and go anywhere else (although due to U.N. aid, this is changing). They survive off tourism. And they hadn’t received a donation in over 5 months. You see that they are living on, in spite of the increasingly modernized, westernized world around them, but you also see they are beginning to fade. It isn’t just loss of tradition (there was only one girl of about 30-40 who was wearing the coils on her neck, which, by the way are incredibly heavy. Sometimes, they get up to 15 kilos!)- I really think it’s just that there’s no place for them. And they’re starting to see and know and be educated about the world around them and they want a piece of it. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I was shocked at how the children are getting a rather good education despite circumstances. Members of the community leave and go to the refugee camp for a few years, and there they receive education and knowledge about the world from U.N. workers and volunteers and then come back to their village to teach.

The School from the Outside

Math Class

Typical Classroom Setup

Another Shot of the Karen Village

I loved sitting and listening, observing the students, and chatting a little bit with the teachers in their “lounge”. No electricity. Nothing on the walls. No books other than workbooks. Yet learning, meaningful learning was taking place.

The wat next to our guesthouse

Blind Musicians at the Night Bazaar

After being in the Mae Hong Son province for a few days, we went back to Chiang Mai. We attended night markets and bazaars, ate delicious food from around the world, and perused many a bookstores. There’s all kinds of great art and this one man sells these great postcards- fabric on cardboard, with little quotes and watercolor paintings on them. I was sad when I reached my last night in Chiang Mai. We went out to Mexican food (SO SO delicious- it was almost like being back in California, no joke, I ate there twice) and had a chili martini at a posh little bar near the university. 

At another Wat during the Street Fair

I really fell in love a little bit with the place.

Longneck Karen Heading Home

La Cucaracha!

This week back from our nine-day holiday has been a killer! With one T. Meaghan back in the states on holiday and the new science teacher being held hostage in Malaysia by the Thai embassy regarding his non-B visa (have I mentioned I hate the Thai visa process?),  the rest of us have been scurrying from class to class to cover PE, Science, Values, and Clubs for the 7^th and 8^th grade. Two days this week, I taught every single period from 7:35 until 3:30 (not complaining, just stating J) including giving up my lunch and break to do detentions (complaining this time).  I loathe being the detention… monitor?... facilitator?... I absolutely loathe it. No one wants to be in that room, and it is miserable. Plus, I am already the most firm/austere/stringent teacher at our school, so adding detention to my repertoire of duties only makes me that much more school-marmish. I’d rather be handing out ice creams at lunch or something to kind of balance my strictness out. Anyhow, on Monday, I was at school from 6:30 until 9:00. THAT is wrong. Needless to say, I have seen some goings on with cockroaches in our building at these late/early hours, and this is why I came home to write my blog instead of staying there in my classroom. I think it’s the weather lately, but these little creatures have been coming out in full force. And by “full-force”, I mean I have seen one in the bottom drawer of my desk, one in the auditorium, and one or two scuttle across the hall every morning when I arrive and at night when I leave. This is more than enough for me. More than enough. I really dislike them. My feelings weren’t this bad when I first got here.  Now, they make my skin crawl and I freak out when I see them. A couple of weeks ago, I came into the auditorium because kids were screaming their heads off, and there was a coffee mug FULL, FULL of cockroaches. Why?!? Why did approximately ten 2-inch long cockroaches all decide to crawl into this coffee mug like it was their own personal Jacuzzi?! I’ve had enough. But they’re all I can think about- I think I see them everywhere.

In detention, sometimes students have to write essays of the detention… we’ll just go with monitor… monitor’s choice. Yesterday, I had the students in detention write essays on cockroaches. A couple of them looked at me with the “Is she kidding?!” face because they’re usually asked to write about changing the world and future goals. But when I said, “Ready, go!” with arched eyebrows and tight lips, they knew I meant business. And I got some pretty good essays from it. One student referred to them as having “bodies like little monsters that are dirty and full of bacteria” (agree!) and another told me if I needed one to be “taken care of” that he would do it (thanks!) Most students expressed the same sentiments as me regarding these beastly little creatures, except their stories are much, much worse. My favorite though, was one student who seemed very concerned about whether or not cockroaches had noses: "I don't know it have a nose or not but I know one thing: I never seen the nose of a cockroach before". He spent a good two paragraphs explaining why he was on the fence about it.

Anyhow, the week is almost over and I am so happy tomorrow is Friday. TGIF.

(And I promise, either tonight or tomorrow- my tonight or tomorrow- a blog entry will be up about my lovely 9-day holiday)

What's a synonym for marvel?

I have a word document on my desktop entitled “Homeward Bound!” with an itinerary that begins with my departure from Phuket on December 12^th. Three days after the semester ends, I will be leaving Thailand to begin what I am optimistically thinking of as a new adventure for myself, one that will be both a finale to my time here in Thailand and the catalyst for resuming my life back home. My new adventure will be taking me back to Bali (I vowed to go back someday- who knew it would be six months after my first visit!?) and then to Australia, and that's as far as I've booked as of now. Exciting, right? Maybe, what I might be doing is trying to make my leaving here as exciting as possible so that the shock of such a big change is lessened to something more along the lines of just a little zap in the tangled electric cord that is my life (ahhh, metaphors.) As I’ve previously stated, I like change, but it’s definitely difficult for me. Leaving here seems so… definitive. I really can’t think of another word to describe it.

As with all big choices I make in my life, I obsess over what I am letting go of by leaving here. Sometimes it seems like not much at all. Sometimes it seems like I’m wiping out everything. But I know that’s not the case. It’s dramatic to think of it that way though, and yes, I sometimes have a flair for the dramatic. Everything from being abroad, and everything from before being abroad- that can’t possibly be erased. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a clean slate. I remember telling this to a friend I met while here. He had been traveling around the world for a year, and was on his way home, back to the U.S. “When I get back, it will be a fresh start.” I told him there’s no such thing. No do-overs. No fresh start. You either pick up pieces or break them apart. Either way, you hold on to something from the past and move forward. I don’t think a fresh start is what anyone should want- why would you want to do that, when your experiences have made you who you are today? You learn and evolve from your past experiences and adventures. This is how it should be, ideally, anyway. Now that he’s back, he jokes about how he’s regressing. I don’t think that’s possible either.  No going backward. Digressing, yes. Regressing… no. Digression has its pros and cons, I think.

I’m digressing right now, because I should be A) grading, B) writing about how wonderful I found The Land of Northern Thai to be, or C) getting some much needed sleep. But for some reason, I’d rather be writing this, occasionally stopping to stare out my window at the green field with the humped cow grazing and the white egrets that follow it everywhere under the wet, grey sky. Thinking about All of This. It’s…. something else.

Hanging Baskets, Lisu Village, Mae Hong Son Province, The Land of Northern Thai