Saving face

It’s been over a week again and I will do my best to tell you all what I have been up to (or through) for the past few days. Since I have uploaded the most recent pictures to facebook, there will be no pictures on this post (besides making sense, it also makes posting this in school more time-efficient). 

Things that have happened or that I have learned in the past week:

• Dee and I learned to take the yellow and red taxis to and from school! After spending all of Sunday with Dee and her family, I was really looking forward to going to school together—although I was still scared about taking the taxis. I was happy to have someone travel to school with me. We have learned that paying over 20 baht on a red taxi is rare, but drivers will take advantage of the fact that we are farongs (foreigners) and try to charge more; yellow taxis cost 16 baht (we get a stipend for transportation from ISDSI, which is quite helpful for us who have to travel every day). We have also learned that taxis are hard to catch—we have our off days. They will go wherever the people in them are going, so it’s always better, although not easier, to catch the empty ones. Traveling to and from school with Dee has definitely made it easier—she’s outspoken and confident when speaking Thai and I am, well, quite the opposite of those. At first I was happy to simply have someone to go to and from school with; now I am happy that Dee is that person. Dee and I have amazing saewng-tao (taxi, pronounced song-tao) conversations and now I seriously look forward to these every time. 
• Cad Luang, the market where we transfer from a yellow taxi to a red (or red to yellow on the way home) has become a cool place to buy fruit from friendly ladies (our families love when we bring fruit home for everyone; it lets them know we love them). We buy oranges almost every day from the same ladies; just at the beginning of this second week of school, Dee bought oranges while I went to 7-11…the ladies asked her for her friend who she’s always with. They recognize the farongs! We also buy strawberries from another lady down the street—we haven’t quite become regulars to her yet, but I’m sure we will. 

• I have survived my first week of Thai classes. Monday through Wednesday of last week we were placed in groups of four (and one of five) and rotated ajaans (teachers) so they could see which teaching style better fit our learning style. I didn’t think this was a fair judgment of our learning styles, since each teacher only spent two hours with us teaching us material that was at different levels of difficulty. On those three days, we learned some letters of the alphabet, basic introductions, how to ask what things are, and some foods. On Thursday we began Thai lessons with our permanent teacher. I am in Ajaan Wilasanee’s class, which was a bit of a disappointment since I thought another ajaan’s style fit mine better—turns out Ajaan Wilasanee is quite perfect for my learning style. We have Thai class from 8 to 12 every day, and our big group is divided into three groups of four and one group of five for classes—these are permanent. It has been so hard! Not only is that a long time for a foreign language class, but there’s just so much to learn that I literally feel exhausted when class is over. This has happened every day. My brain has worked so hard to learn Thai. I will not lie, I am learning and am now able to ask more questions and say more things, but I am definitely not at a conversational level yet—which is fine, since it’s only been one week! 
• I survived the first week of orientation. In the afternoons, from 1 to 4, we have had talks about culture shock, a brief introduction about Thai culture (what to expect and such), and conversations about our host families. This week we started regular class in that time period, which I will talk about later on in this post.
• I got the first of two vaccines for Japanese encephalitis. All the farongs took a trip to a clinic on Thursday afternoon (instead of orientation) for our shots. There isn’t much more to that. 
• Our group has started CrossFit, our biweekly workout sessions for the six weeks that we’ll be in the city of Chiang Mai. After class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we get one hour of intense workouts that, when paired with the weather and how out of shape I am, are not fun. After our first workout on Tuesday, I was a little sore. Then came Thursday and I was even more sore; my legs and arms hurt. And after Friday, everything in my body ached. I will not lie to you, CrossFit is one of the physically hardest parts of the week. 
• On Friday, our group took the day off of school to go rock-climbing (sadly, my camera died soon after we got there, so there aren’t many pictures on facebook—you’ll have to wait until I can get ahold of Pi Jack’s pictures from that day). After CrossFit, I wasn’t sure I could handle hiking and climbing for that long, but it turns out that I was able to do well and enjoy myself. We started out by doing little ice-breaking games with the group, and were eventually split in two smaller groups to go through the activities for the day. My group started out by going to the caves! We climbed up and into really cool limestone caves and got to see the new and old rock formations that the water created—it really just made me be in awe of creation and its wonders. We got to zip-line inside a cave to a wall and transferred to a different rope to be lowered to the bottom of the cave. It was really scary, but we just had to trust that the equipment worked…so basically put our lives in the hands of ropes and bolts on a cave wall. It was such a cool experience. Hiking and exploring the caves took up half of our day and we went back down to the beginning for lunch time. We had a good lunch and moved on to the second part of our day: actually climbing the rocks! There were different levels of difficulty along a huge cave wall; I chose to do the easiest first since I had never rock climbed. There isn’t much to say about getting to the top (except that it was fun), but turning around at the top and soaking in the view was one of the best parts of the day. There is so much beauty in Thailand, so much to see! From my spot at the top, I could see forests, mountains, rice fields, water, and so much sky! I took my time at the top to soak it all in before going back down. I did another wall later, but I mostly spent my time watching others climb and cheering them on—I felt more like that was my area doing that. The day came and went by quite fast, but it was really fun.
• Friday also was Mae Nhi’s birthday, so they picked me from ISDSI after my trip and took my and Alice out for dinner. It was really fun, except I was exhausted—which, not surprisingly, made them think I wasn’t happy. I think I was very close to falling asleep at the dinner table! As usual, they made me eat a lot—no surprise there either. Mae Nhi saw how tired I was and said I could sleep in the next morning—score! They said they had a trip planned for when Paw Noi got back from work at 5, so I had the whole day to do as I wanted. I went to Dee’s house after showering and eating breakfast, returned for lunch with Mae Nhi, and did all my laundry before Paw got back. I even had time for a nap and to take pictures of the house! (check out my house on facebook!)
• Paw and Mae were being really secretive about the trip we were taking, so I stopped asking eventually (quite frankly, I have gotten used to being in the back of the car not knowing where I am or where I’m going—language barrier, go figure). We took remote, crappy roads to get to a beautiful lake! It was one of the most beautiful places I have seen in Chiang Mai. The sun was just setting (which explains why we were in a rush to leave home), which gave the sky a pink-ish orange color over the mountains. I was in awe. We attempted a family picture from across the road, which you can find on facebook. Know that my pictures don’t do justice to the beauty of the things I am seeing! 
• On Sunday, after much drama about what the plan for my day was—really quite a long story to tell on a blog—I went with half of our ISDSI group to the farm in which one of our friends lives. Josh’s mom called all of our moms to see who could come and planned the day accordingly. We were taken to the farm via Josh’s dad’s saewng-tao. The farm reminded me of La Torre, my grandparents’ farm in Guatemala. A riven ran through it (reference to the book, anyone?), leaving most of the farm inaccessible unless you walked across the river (no car, no bridge, no nothing). We didn’t get a chance to do that, since we were quite short on time. We did, however, have a delicious barbeque meal and learned to plant strawberries! We had such a good time with Josh’s family—we do expect to make a visit to the farm again! 
• On Sunday, too, I got to ride an elephant. There is no exclamation point at the end of that sentence because it was one of the saddest experiences I’ve ever had. Josh’s parents took us all to an elephant farm that looked kind of fishy… We checked out some elephants that were walking around and next thing we knew we were on one. Dee and I got on a momma elephant whose baby walked every step with her. This was cool for about one minute. We began to realize that some of the elephants had chains on their legs; that their “trainers” rode on their heads or necks, which is harmful to the elephants; that their “trainers” carried around bamboo sticks with huge, mean hooks on the end, which they used to hit the elephants on the head or poke them when they didn’t do as they wanted; and that our momma elephant was bleeding on some spots on her head. Dee and I both wanted to get out, but Josh’s mom had set this all up for us, so doing so would have greatly offended her. We went on the ride with everyone else, crossed a river on the elephants, and went back to where we started. We got to pet the elephants for a while and give them lots of love before they were sent away. It should have been fun, but instead, it was heart-breaking. I have hope that there are places in Thailand that train elephants in a much more humane way, and I look forward to visiting those places and supporting those places. 
• I have realized that the hardest thing for me when it comes to food is not what I am eating (although that is a major cause for concern, too…lots of mystery meat), but how much I am eating. I am in no way worried about gaining weight, but it’s hard to eat so much for every meal. At breakfast, there is no such thing as cereal, toast, or eggs. Instead, it’s a huge plate of noodles, fried rice, soups and such—some days, it’s hard to tell whether I am eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner when I get up. For dinner, it’s anywhere from three to five different dishes, of which I am expected to eat a third or half of each. Since I am in Thailand and “saving face” is like a social norm, saying “no” to any of the food would be offensive—although host families are told that students will not eat everything and they shouldn’t be offended. Some parents are graceful and have pity on the farongs; other parents are just as offended as they would be with anyone else saying no to them.  The food is delicious; I am just not used to eating so much. But, as many things this semester, it is probably something that I will get used to. 
• This week we started our first class (other than Thai). This class will go for three weeks after this one and it’s called “Foundations.” We learn about Thai language, society, history, and politics. So far, so good. We’ve had two interesting guest speakers, both very interesting. Ajaan Supawadee, our teacher for the class, is very laid back and soft-spoken; I like that it’s her who is teaching the class. We do have quite a bit of reading each night, but it’s nothing compared to how much homework I would have on a regular night at Calvin. 
• On Wednesday we didn’t have class at all. For our Thai lesson, all students went to the market to buy ingredients for the meals that we would later be cooking. We were divided into different groups of four (and five) to get our ingredients and make our meal. We were taken to the market via saewng-tao and sent on our way to find the ingredients in our small groups—we were given 30 minutes. My group made its way into the market and began asking for ingredients; we went to a place to find noodles, next to get eggs. At the third place we went to, a couple helped us find three different vegetables that we didn’t know; and the fourth place provided us with all the oil and sauces we needed for our meal. At first we thought that 30 minutes were too short, but it ended up being more than enough time to find everything we needed. Once everyone was back, we headed back to ISDSI to begin making our meal. This was such a good experience. We got to work with an ajaan as our “meal supervisor,” and my group took the cooking time to get to know each other—somehow it’s always easier in small groups. At the end, we had practically a banquet’s worth of food…and it was all quite delicious. 
• For our Foundations period on Wednesday, we got to go on a scavenger hunt around the city of Chiang Mai. We were once again divided into different small groups and given six different destinations around Chiang Mai (along with money for transportation). My group mapped our route at ISDSI, while everyone else scattered out as soon as they were able. We decided to take our time at each place, and to do the activity not to win (yes, there will be a winner based on creativity and points given per picture), but to have fun. It was, yet again, a good time to get to know some of the other students in the group. We took a taxi to the market first, spend a good amount of time there, found what we needed, and headed to one of the gates of the old city. After that, we walked everywhere. Taxis are confined spaces; we wanted to walk to be able to see and experience the city more—this turned out to be a good choice. I really enjoyed my day with two different small groups. For someone like me, an introvert in disguise, it is always nice to have opportunities like these (small groups) to get to know others—the bigger the group, the more I lean into my introverted self. Wednesday was a success for many reasons.
• Time here is so different than in the U.S. For example, the first week of school went by so quickly already, and I can’t believe that we are already over halfway through our second week of school. At the same time, however, it feels like we’ve been in Thailand for much longer than 13 days. We have done so many things, that time hasn’t been a constant thought in my head—such a change from living in the U.S for so long. One day goes by so quickly for me. Dee and I leave our houses to take the saewng-tao at six-thirty. I’m in class from eight to 12, have one hour for lunch, which I usually spend chatting it up with people from the group, and then I go back to class from one to four—add an hour of CrossFit on Tuesdays and Thursdays. By the time I finally make it back home, it is between six-thirty and seven p.m., when I have to take a shower, have dinner, and do homework. Next thing I know I am ready to go to sleep at nine or nine-thirty. Dinner always takes a long time because it is my way of practicing and learning Thai. All that to say: days go by fast and slow at the same time—time is a confusing thing over here for me right now.
• Mae Nhi and Paw Noi love me. They spoil me (since I’m an only daughter) and make a feast for me every day for dinner. All their attention, naturally, is on me whenever I am home—I am technically their favorite. I shall not lie to you: I like it. Mae Nhi and Paw Noi, not surprisingly, laugh at me quite often. I am like a five-year-old when I am home: willing to do anything to have their attention and make them laugh. And, guess what, they think I am a funny farong. When I don’t know how to say a word or am teaching them a word in English that they don’t know—which is quite often—, I act it out very dramatically. Just picture me dramatizing things like: to trip, bored, opera, to be sore, crossfit exercises, skype, marathon, spicy…well, you get the picture (I hope, because there are no real pictures of that). Lately, Mae Nhi and I have taken to have laughing fits together. When we completely misunderstand each other, for example, we have no other choice but to laugh. And, of course, when words fail, we laugh. Just a few nights ago, for example, Mae Nhi put on my headlamp and we laughed for 15 minutes straight—that’s how funny she looked. I then contributed by putting on a pair of skiing goggles, which sent us for another 15 minutes of laughing. Needless to say, by the end of the whole thing, we were both practically crying. Mae Nhi and I joke around all the time—she’s just as sarcastic as I am…only in a different language.

That is all I have to share for now. Thank you all for sticking through the whole thing and for keeping me in your thoughts. Thailand is beautiful and I am soaking in all its beauty for all of you to tell you about it . I am so grateful for this opportunity and I am doing all I can to make it the best.

Hello, everyone!

            It’s been over a week since my first post, so here goes another one filled with details of the past few days.

Monday, January 2^nd

My family and I drove to Chicago. It was a slow ride due to the weather; scary if you ask me. Refer to picture number 1 to see how little visibility we had as we drove. This made me that much happier that I wouldn’t have to deal with snow and cold weather for quite a while after that—but my heart also hurt for those of you who will! After hanging out with family friends, I decided to stay up for as long as I could to start myself on the Thailand schedule (which is exactly 12 hours ahead of Michigan).

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Tuesday, January 3^rd

My flight left at 11.30 a.m. Since I didn’t make it through Monday night awake but slept the bare minimum, I was very sleepy on the plane and, after one movie I fell asleep for a good hour before realizing that I was too uncomfortable to sleep. I think I only slept one more hour later for the rest of the 14-hour flight. It turns out that 14 hours on a plane are bearable, although very very long. At one point in the flight, I could not remember what it was like not to be on the plane—that means that I got used to the crappy middle seat with people sleeping comfortably at each of my sides. Refer to picture number 2 for a view of Russia from my crappy middle seat.

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Wednesday, January 4^th

            Needless to say, we made it to Korea safely! It was about 4.45 p.m. when we arrived (yes, we lost 14 hours to time difference), so we waited for our shuttle bus to the hotel and proceeded to check in and go out for dinner. Our hotel rooms were really nice; everything felt super fancy (the lights for the whole room could be operated from the TV remote, the shower was a glass cage with steamers all around it, there was a Jacuzzi next to the glass shower, the toilet would wash your butt for you, we had a sterilizer box next to the TV, and we each had our own pair of slippers to walk around the room). Anyway, so we familiarized ourselves with our rooms and asked the hotel workers for a good place to have dinner. You know how I said that I was happy that I wouldn’t have to deal with the snow and the cold for a while? When we walked to the restaurant, I realized that this wouldn’t be the case in Korea. Although there was barely any snow on the ground, it was very cold outside—bitter cold, actually. So we get to restaurant and realize that it is a make-it-yourself Korean barbecue. I knew we were in trouble then. We were seated at a table with two places to grill our meat (refer to picture number 3).

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         After much debate about what each thing on the menu meant and the help of a waitress with little knowledge of English, we put our order in. It turns out that, among other things, knowingly or unknowingly (we still don’t know at this point), we ordered pig skin. If it’s hard to get your mind around that, simply picture leather…but cooked to eat. We figured we had to eat it, so we cooked it like we were cooking everything else. Once it was done, we tried it. Let me just say that, first of all, it tasted awful and, second, it was like chewing on rubber—except this was grease. No one else in our group liked it. But the rest of the meal was quite delicious, although it would have been better if we had known what everything was in order to enjoy it more. Refer to picture 4 for what my area of the table looked like. While on our Korean-barbecue experience, we were quite the sight to see. Here is this pack of foreign kids trying to eat like everyone else. We stood out, no doubt, and we were quite funny to the tables surrounding us, who probably were wondering what the heck we were doing most of the time. As you will probably read in my next blog posts, this will be common for us this semester.

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             We only walked around for a little bit after dinner because of the cold and headed back to our hotel rooms (not before buying ice cream and snacks). We hung out for a while, but needed to get on the sleeping schedule for this side of the world, so we decided to get to bed.

Thursday, January 5^th

            At noon, we headed back to the airport for our 5.30 p.m. flight. We had lunch at a restaurant that gave us the wrong order of noodles, so we all ended up with a plate of stir-fry noodles with seafood. Because of my “allergy” to seafood, I only ate a few noodles, but I must have had some pieces of seafood or just the fact that they touched the noodles because I ended up sick on the plane. After lunch, we kept ourselves entertained until it was time to check in. As we were walking toward our gate, we spotted a group of Korean students who seemed to be going on a mission trip somewhere. Tanner decided to ask them to take a picture with him. When he asked, he directed his question at 4 girls…it was incredible to see how the whole group surrounded him and began posing for the picture. Then they called the rest of us to the picture, and this is when you refer to picture 5. Even closer to our gate, a group of children waved at us like we were celebrities (refer to picture 6). We made some friends that day.

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            Except for nerves building up, and the realization that we were, in fact, on our way to Thailand, our flight there was quite uneventful. When we arrived in Thailand (at around 9:30 p.m., their time—we lost another 2 hours to time difference), we met with some people from ISDSI (International Sustainable Development Studies Institute, where we will be studying), who took us to a guest house in town for the night. We got to ride in a cool little taxi that looks like an ambulance (refer to picture number 7). After checking into our rooms, some of the girls and I decided to go find ourselves some food; it was almost midnight at this point, so our choices were limited. We ended up buying snacks from 7-eleven, which was about two blocks away. It was nice to be out so late at night and 1) not be in any real danger, and 2) not be cold. We returned to the guest house and hung out in the garden to the sound of the wind and frogs on the trees around us.

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Friday, January 6th

            Waking up in Chiang Mai was one of the best mornings yet. I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside and cars bustling around. I liked this a lot because it sounded just like waking up in Guatemala—the beauty of nature combined with the beauty of a busy place. Refer to picture number 8 for the view that I got from my room. 

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             During the morning we walked around Chiang Mai looking for a bank. Once we found it, we exchanged some money and headed back to pack our bags to leave the guest house. We were then taken to the mall for a couple of hours—I was not looking forward to this. After walking around for a bit, we found a place to buy cellphones. We got a good deal, so we all bought the same phone. We are such a family, that all of our numbers are the same except for the last two digits. The mall in Chiang Mai wasn’t much different from a market in Guatemala. There isn’t really much more to say about the mall because the most exciting thing that I find was a cellphone. Refer to picture number 9 and 10 for views of the mall (outside and inside).

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            After the mall, we headed to ISDSI for orientation. Our orientation consisted of meeting some of the teachers and workers at the institute. We met Pi Kristen and Pi Jack, who work in the office and did this semester a few years ago; Pi Pooh, who also works in the main office; Ajann Wilasawee, who is one of the Thai teachers; and Ajann Mark, who is the program coordinator and in charge of admissions along with his wife (who we haven’t met yet). Because age is very important in Thailand, a differentiation is made between the young and the older. If someone is your elder, no matter how much older (it could even be a day or a few hours), you refer to them as Pi (pronounced pee). Knowing who is older than you matters because, when you say hello to someone, the younger person (the Nong) shows respect to the older by doing the wai first. The wai is a symbol of respect and reverence that is done by putting one’s hands together at chest level, with elbows close to the body, and bending forward as one says “Soari ca” (or “Soari crop” if the person doing the wai is male). The older person then returns the wai saying the same thing. We learned to do this in our orientation along with what-not-to-dos to get us started for the weekend.

            In Thailand, the head is regarded as the highest and cleanest point in the body; therefore it is the most respected. You may never touch anyone’s head or shoulders, even if they are your Nongs. It is for this reason that tank-tops are not common in Thailand, because Thais prefer to cover one’s shoulders (although some of the younger Thai and the vast majority of foreigners chose not to follow this). The feet are regarded as the lowest point of the body and, therefore, the dirtiest. Showing the bottom of your feet is taboo and a sign of disrespect. Your shoes are even dirtier than your feet, which is why they never make it inside the house. 

            Besides these cultural things, we learned to say “my name is,” “what is your name?” and “what is his/her name?” Ajann Wilasawee thought this would be enough to get us through the weekend with our host families before beginning our Thai classes. She was wrong.

            After some free time anxiously waiting for our host families, it finally got to be time. All the students sat where we’ll be having lunch every day in school, with our bags in neat piles at the entrance, and Ajann Wilasawee and Pi Pooh waited closer to the parking lot for our families. One by one, the families started coming and we got to see other students wai their parents to greet them. When families started showing up, I was excited to meet mine. By the time mine got there, I was very nervous—I had had lots of time to imagine what the weekend would be like. I walked over to meet them, did the wai, and all of a sudden I was very sure that I was not going to make it through the weekend without a melt-down. I was wrong J. Mae Nhi (mama Nhi) and Paw Noi (papa Noi) were both wearing masks on their nose/mouth because they are both sick. This, to me, was not a surprise. In Korea, I noticed lots of people wearing masks in public place, and I figured the reason was no different than what I had read about Thailand: wearing a mask is a blatant act of selflessness so as to not get others sick. We got my bags and headed to the car. And just like that I was off to figure my own way into conversation, outings, meals, and…life. It was before dinner time, so we drove off from ISDS for about 20 minutes and got to a restaurant. One thing that you need to know when coming to Thailand is that host families will feed you well. No joke, they made me eat so much at dinner, I almost cried from feeling so full. They ordered for me, chicken fried rice and soup. Once I finished that, a plate of noodles came out of nowhere. So I ate them. Then they asked me if I wanted ice cream. Did I want it? Yes. Could I eat it? Probably not. Saying “no,” however, is not the respectful thing to do. So I said yes, and two minutes later, a strawberry sundae (the biggest one I’ve ever had) was set before me…so I ate it. When we got home, I asked myself if the pain of being so full was worth the meal. I decided that it was…so, so worth it; even though I was sure that I had never been this full in my life. During the meal, Mae Nhi and Paw Noi kept teaching me little things in Thai. They taught me how to say “water” because they noticed I drink water all the time. Mae Nhi said “water: naan.” I said “water: agua” and they both burst out laughing. They said this would be a fun weekend filled with English, Spanish, and Thai; I said I was okay with that. Mae Nhi speaks very very little English. Paw Noi knows little phrases. Me? I knew about three words in Thai at this point. But I felt really willing to learn. Mae Nhi told me that she feared that I would get lonely at home (their daughter is about 30 years old and lives in New Zealand—I think that’s what she told me, her sentence was a mixture of Thai and English), but she wanted me to be happy. This is the land of smiles (truth), so being happy is very important. Paw Noi told me that my nickname is Mai, because they met me in Chiang Mai J. So now, when they call my name, they say “Mai?” and I respond “ca?” I like that they call me Mai (it’s a sign of endearment when someone gives you a nickname).

            After dinner, we drove home. One of the things that I was concerned about was how far I’d live from ISDSI. Because I don’t know much Thai, I figured getting around on public transportation would be a challenge, so I was hoping to live nearby. Well, the drive lasted quite a while, and although I didn’t time it, I was pretty sure we lived more than 20 minutes away (I was right: we live about 30 minutes away on car, but I’m sure on taxi it will take about an hour or longer to get to and from ISDSI every day). When we made it home, I noticed a little altar near the driveway; Paw and Mae both went to it and called me over, they told me to do the wai, so I did it with them. I felt exhausted when we got inside the house (half of that was simply because I was so full). It was about 7 p.m. Mae Nhi and Paw Noi showed me every single cool detail about my room: my dresser, all the windows (which cover one and a half walls) and curtains, my bed with each blanket, my desk lamp, the drawers, my slippers. It all seemed so nice. Then they called me over to look closely at the desk: the pictures of my family that I sent with my introduction letter had been printed and pasted on my desk. Mae Nhi said “you no cry now.” Like I said, being happy is very important in Thai culture, and my parents are doing everything they can to keep me happy. As I unpacked, I saw something move across one of the walls. I turned to see a gecko. “Welcome home!” I thought to myself. Mae and Paw let me unpack my things a little bit, then Mae Nhi came in and said: “you shower now.” I had no choice. In Thailand, it is common to shower twice a day; once in the morning when you wake up, and again at night before or after dinner (to relax). I knew that I would be told to shower—frankly, I prefer that than doing it when it is not appropriate. Being “rip roi” (appropriate) is a major concern for Thais (and is, therefore, the probable reason why being from the United States has a negative connotation: “Americans are not rip roi”).

            I showered and headed back to my room to continue unpacking. I found the placemats that I brought for my family and brought them to Mae Nhi. She was so excited. The placemats even match her tablecloth, which is a bonus. I explained that they were from Guatemala and I’m sure she liked them even more then. She called Paw Noi and showed him. I’m sure they said thank you about three times each. The next morning, I found the table set with the placemats for breakfast (refer to picture number 11).

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           After I gave her the placemats, Mae Nhi walked away to give me a gift: a beautiful sarong (wraparound skirt). Paw Noi brought me a little wooden box for jewelry and a little leather wallet. They sent me to bed after that J. Because they are my elders and my parents, I say hello and goodbye to them with a wai. This is only done twice a day, when I first see them in the morning, and when I go to bed. I did the wai and Paw Noi began babbling in Thai and gesturing to me to stand up straighter and raise my hands higher on my chest (this isn’t something that I understood then, I figured it out the next night, when the same thing happened). After a few tries, they called it good for the day and let me go to sleep. As I pulled the cover off of my bed, a spider a little bit smaller than a dime scurried across the blanket. I think my heart stopped. I attempted to kill it, but failed. So now, I share my room with a spider, a gecko, and quite possibly many more bugs and critters that I don’t know about. Feels like home to me.

Saturday, January 7th

            I woke up at 7 a.m. and got ready to go out. We had breakfast at the beautifully-arranged table. They made me eat a lot, which, by now, I have come to expect of every meal. They taught me the names of the things I was eating and how to say “cup of water,” but I can’t remember anything by now. I am pretty sure that Mae Nhi told me what we would be doing that day, but I understood about two words: “uniform” and “shopping.” When we were getting done with our breakfast, one of Mae’s friends came over and I was introduced to her. They talked about me for a while. She told me that Danielle (a girl from the program) was staying with her, and I was really happy to find that out. They noticed how happy I was and I’m pretty sure they plan to have play-dates for us. I was told by Mae’s friend that Danielle and I will be going to school together, which was very good news considering the fact that we’ll have to walk to the road, flag a “rot luong” (yellow taxi) to take us closer to ISDSI and then find a “rot daeng” (red taxi) to get us to ISDSI. Having someone to do this with makes it easier (hopefully!). On our ride to the mall, I taught them that, in Spanish, they were “mami Nhi” and “papi Noi.” They seemed to really like that J. I thought we were at the mall when we first stopped the car, but we were actually going to the hospital to see Paw Noi’s sister. I don’t really know what happened to her (it’s possible that I didn’t understand when Mae Nhi told me), but she seemed really glad that we were there. After that we went somewhere else to pick someone up. My parents have been host parents to three other U.S students. Alice, the girl we were picking up, is their daughter from this past fall. They introduced her to me and she said she was going shopping with us. I was glad she was there, but I also think that they called her because I didn’t understand anything that they were saying to me since the night before (very true!). Alice speaks good Thai, which gave me hope that I might actually learn a little (although sometimes I’d ask her what was going on and she had no clue). (Mae Nhi keeps saying “one week!” until I can speak well. I don’t really believe her.)

            Mae Nhi, Alice, and I looked for a skirt. No lie: I bought the first one I tried on. I think that’s how they figured out that malls aren’t my thing. Alice and I were sent away while Mae and Paw ran some errands. I ran some of my own, too. It was nice having Alice to help me with certain things and she was very willing to answer some of my questions—and therefore, calm some of my anxieties. After the mall, we headed to lunch, where I felt even fuller than the night before. It was then that I learned that, if I finish the food on my plate, they will assume I want more. At home, it is simply polite to finish what you are given; here, it is a sign of being hungry. Because the previous night at dinner I had liked the fried rice with chicken, I was given a similar meal this time, too. After that came a plate of noodles and beef and a little bowl of soup. It was all delicious. Since I finished the noodles, Mae Nhi bought me snacks for the ride (once again, assuming I was still hungry). Those snacks are still sitting on my dresser.

            We drove back home for “a break,” Mae Nhi said. They sent me to sleep for a couple of hours until we’d go out again. What a beautiful nap I tookJ. “Mai, get up,” was what Mae Nhi said to me from outside my window (they don’t come in my room, even if they door is open—especially Paw). Alice knocked on my door shortly after and delivered a map with step-by-step instructions on how to get home from ISDSI. What a life-saver! Once I was ready, we headed to a market about 45 minutes away. The market was a beautiful place, full of vendors everywhere. It was very much like weekend markets in Guatemala, except for this one was clean. Refer to pictures 12, 13, and 14 for some sights of the market. 

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          The smells, sights, and sounds were overwhelming, yet delightful. Mae and Paw kept buying little snacks here and there and feeding Alice and I. Needless to say, by the time we made it to dinner, I wasn’t so hungry. Mae and Paw let me pick my food this time, and I ordered pork in curry, which turned out to be really spicy…but it was so delicious! After dinner we dropped Alice off—I was so thankful that she had been with us because I’m sure it would have been much harder to feel like I had had a fun day if I hadn’t understood at least 10% of what was being said. Alice was very helpful. We exchanged phone numbers and she told me I could call her any time—she is here until February 4^th—and that was very reassuring to me. I fell asleep on the way home, which Mae and Paw thought was funny because they were laughing at me when I got out of the car all groggy. When I was walking up the steps to get inside, Paw Noi called my name and said “Are you happy?” I said yes and asked Mae Nhi how to say “I am very happy” and she proceeded to respond with a long sentence that I repeated almost perfectly. They both clapped for me and smiled so wide I could count their teeth. What a moment! Mae Nhi told me that, on Sunday, I could get up whenever I wanted to.

As I sat in my room after my shower, the events and words that I had learned on that day ran around my head over and over. It was just as overwhelming as living them. Getting to the point where I am able to understand a conversation in Thai and responding with confidence is something that I cannot wrap my mind around.

Sunday, January 8^th

            I called home the previous night from my tiny cellphone. It was good to talk to my parents and Lui. I went to bed later than expected because of it. I was woken up by Mae Nhi (calling outside my window: “Mai, get up”) at 9:30; so much for sleeping in. She seemed in a hurry, and in broken English and perfect Thai, I thought she told me something about going to Danielle’s house. I didn’t really know what was going on. I asked her if I could shower and she said no, so I changed and was sitting down for breakfast when she said “you go now!” I grabbed some fruit and ran out the door. We walked over to Danielle’s house and sat down at the table to discuss our adventure taking the taxi to school. Dee explained to me what her sister had explained to her about taking the taxis, but I knew most of it because of what Alice had explained to me. After talking for a while, Mae Nhi left me at Danielle’s and said something about seeing me later. Oh, well, there I was left to figure things out on my own again. Dee and I talked for a while, getting to know each other—we had only met for about 10 minutes at the guest house. It was very nice talking to her and I found myself suddenly looking forward to the rest of the day—although neither of us really knew much about what was happening.

            Mae Noi (Dee’s mom), Paw Nung (Dee’s dad), Nong Viu (Dee’s sister, pronounced “View”), Dee and I drove to Dee’s grandpa’s house for a little celebration. The house with the guests was next door to grandpa’s house, but Dee’s aunt lived on the other side, so we were invited to that house. Dee’s aunt is married to Ed, a guy from the U.S who was very kind to Dee and I. We hung out at their house for most of the day, going to the neighbor’s house only when we were called for lunch and before we went to the temple.

            Dee carries around a notebook, in which she writes all the new words she learns with the help of her sister. I carried a piece of paper that Dee gave me. We were writing new words throughout the whole day! There is so much to learn!

            We went to the neighbor’s house when we were called for lunch. Before us was a plate of noodles soaked in an orange-ish broth with reddish-brown squares in it. Refer to picture 15 for what our meal looked like. 

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           Dee and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and started eating. After just the first spoonful, we both realized it was the spiciest thing EVER. We had a few more bites and our eyes were watering and our noses running. Nong Viu told us there was pizza if we couldn’t eat it. For a second, I wanted Dee to say “okay!”…but that didn’t happen. Dee and I decided to go through with our meal. I told her that we could have a sweet if we both finished our meal. We shook on it. Needless to say, we suffered through our meal and finished it! This is when you should all be proud of me. Like…really proud. Because we were told that the reddish-brown chunks were chicken blood. Yes, you read that correctly. Not only was this meal the spiciest we had ever had, but this was also the first time we had both had chicken blood. What a day.

            After that, we headed back to the other house until we were called again. To kill time, we watched some TV, talked, learned Thai phrases, and talked to Ed. We ended up getting into a very good conversation with Ed concerning sustainability, Bangkok as the capital, the city of Chiang Mai, development, permaculture (look it up and be a nerd like Dee), among other things. It was such a good conversation. He is such a nice man; we had a good time talking with him. We exchanged email address to keep in touch. Refer to picture 16 for a picture of Dee and I with Ed.

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            Ed also let us make some French fries (definitely a commodity) in his kitchen. Refer to picture number 17 to see Nong Viu, Dee, and I cooking J. Dee’s family took us to a lake afterward. Refer to picture number 18 for a view of the lake and I!

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            Then it got to be time to go to the temple. Refer to picture number 19 to see what the march to the temple looked like. This was really fun, lots of music and singing and laughing. It was such a good walk. Refer to picture number 20 to see what the temple looked like.

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            Being in the temple was the most exciting thing I have done here, yet the most peaceful. To see such devout people and to be surrounded by them was amazing—there was such community there! For part of the ceremony, people had to touch each other in order for the blessings to transfer (one person would go to the front and touch something that was being offered, and a chain of touch would be formed throughout the temple). It was such a good experience.          

The strange thing is that, although I feel lost when it comes to the language, everything else in Thailand makes me feel at home. 

So close!

   For those of you who are new to my Thailand trip, here is how I ended up choosing to go. My International Development major (which I am completing at the same time as my Social Work major) requires a semester abroad; the choices are Ghana, Honduras, and Thailand. Although the cultural part of Ghana seemed intriguing and very appealing to me, that semester doesn't include home-stays (and students don't learn a new language). I immediately ruled out the Honduras semester because it was too close to home without actually going home; I already knew the language, the culture, and the country, so I didn't think the experience would be as life-changing (not that that is always what I am searching for). The Thailand semester, compared to the other two options, included home-stays, learning Thai, traveling all over the country, meeting other students from across the U.S, and a focus on sustainability and environmental studies. For many reasons, The Thailand semester seemed like a better fit with what I want to do in the future and with what I hope to gain from my college experience. So...I chose Thailand. And now, I am three days away from leaving the country until May.
   So, here I am, sitting in my living room with my cousins as they watch Star Wars. So far, it's been a funny evening (seems to be always the case with my cousins). Tonight, I finished packing my bags. My suitcase, in which I was hoping to leave some room, is full, as is my carry-on bag. There is so much to bring! In reality, I probably don't need all of the things I am bringing, but I have never been good at packing lightly. Or.. I still don't have enough and will be forced to deal with it once I get there. I guess we will see, huh? Actually, YOU won't see...but I will. And I will let you know :)
   I have two full days left in my house and three four days left in the country...and I feel ready to go. I am ready for this new chapter in my life. I am ready for the experiences I'll live through and the people I will meet along the way. I am ready to begin learning Thai. I am ready to meet my host family and the rest of the students from other colleges. Those are the general things I can be ready for; there is so much I don't even know how to begin getting ready for (not knowing Thai, not liking some food, cultural differences, being away from my family, and other things, I'm sure) except for praying for patience and an open mind.
  So, for those of you out there reading this, prayer is all I am asking for. There will be many obstacles in my way and perhaps patience is not my best trait.
  Thank you already for reading my blog (follow it, it'll get more exciting than this, with pictures and all!) and for praying for me (I know you will!).
~ Lourdes.