REN and Adnan traveling like Thais

Rachel and Rachel

Christmas in Uthai Thani. There was a festival for the king. Total coincedence that it was Dec 25th

happy holidays

Merry X-mas everyone. Hope all your holidays were fun and family filled. I woke up Christmas morning in a tent next to Rachel and Adnan at Huay Kah Kaeng National Wildlife preserve. Mostly we just saw lots of ants. All over our food. It was a chill camping experience. Lots of rest and story telling. The wildlife preserve is almost half of my province, about an hour to the west of where I live. It wasn't like my last camping experience where there were lots of other people camping. This isn't set up for lot of tourists. We had the place to ourselves practically. My friends Jeeda and Wendy drove us there and picked us up. Rachel and Adnan got two very Thai experiences, the first is riding in the back of a pick-up truck. The second is 'Thai Time,' as Jeeda was an hour and half late both times she came to pick us up.

When we got home we went kayaking on the river near my house and R and A got to see all the house boats in Uthai Thani. You can see right into the houses. Beds and TVs and all. That night we went to a big festival in the center of my town; R and A got some more taste of Thai food. Then the ultimate Thai experience: Kareoke!!! Jeeda, Wendy, Munglee, Rachel, Adnan, and I spent 2 hours in a private room singing English songs. Rachel and I had the microphones the whole time, only bc nobody else wanted to sing, and we chose 90% of the songs. It was a blast singing at the top of our lungs. "And YOUUUUUUUUU are the WIIIIIIIInnndd beneith my WINNNGGSSSS...." It was also Munglees birthday so we had cake to celebrate turning 4!

Yesterday after a visit to my schools where R and A were celebrities and helped teach English, and a yummy thai lunch, oh, and head massages for R and A, they took off for bangkok. Today they are taking a day trip to Ayyuthaya, the old Siam capital with gorgeous ruins. We will meet tomorrow morning at the airport to fly to phuket together.

It has been so fabulous having rachel and adnan here, as I said before. one of the nicest things is being around someone so like me. Most of my Thailand life is spent with Thais, which i love, don't get me wrong, they are the nicest, most generous people in the world. But, as much as I joke that because I live and speak so much like a thai I am one, I will never be one. I am an American. And even though I have many other American PC friends here, there is no one I am more like, or clearly who I have more history with, than Rachel Nisselson.

hostess w the mostess

Rachel and Adnan just lied down in the room next door. I got on the computer to finish up my grant proposal. I needed to tweek the budget for the AIDS workshops we're doing. Don't fret, I wasn't doing anything scandelous w the money, just adding specifics about where $ is coming from. I just sent it off to the peer reviewers. I think I am done with it all. I've said that 6 times before.

Although I'm getting over $1,500 for my town for HIv/AIDS workshops for the youth, which is a lot more money here in Thailand than it sounds, this whole process has been more of a hastle than it's worth.

Rachel, Adnan, and I have been going non-stop since their arrival in Thailand at 3am Wednesday. Yesterday we got to my town and I have to say I LOVE showing them the ins and outs of a sleepy thailand city. Rachel N is the kind of person who is always learning. She makes for a great guest because she really wants to know all about Thailand and about my life here. Becuase of the questions she asked, and then I asked the Thais, I learnt there are 18,000 people living in my town. It's 8.2 square kms. And they always start massages on the left side because it's better for your heart!

Yes, we got Thai massages today. We also hung out w the mayor. He called tonight at 8 to ask why I didn't go to the X-mas party at one of the schools. no one told me is why. I was really bummed that I didn't know and wasn't able to take Rachel and Adnan to the party which I'm sure was so hilariously Thai. Apparently there were songs, and even santa. Rachel and Adnan didn't seem to mind, as it resulted in the Mayor calling me, which they loved!

He made me promise we'll come back quickly on Sunday from our visit to the national park. He wants to take us around. EVERYONE wants to take us touring around. I'm glad Rachel and Adnan are getting a little taste of being famous in Thailand.

blah blah blah

Rachel's coming today!!! Tonight!!! Well, tomorrow really. Her flight is going to be about 4 hours late. Which means she gets in at 3AM. I am tired just thinking about it. Rachel will have been traveling for well over 24 hours.

I will leave my house in a few minutes, at 9:30. Then get a bus at 10:30 which will put me in Bangkok around 1am. And I'll get a cab to the airport and wait.

I am so excited to see Rachel and to meet Adnan.

I am so tired I can't think of anything to say. I wanted to add some pictures but I can't get the system to work, so I really have nothing to share.

Hope all is well with you.... i'm going to sign off rather than bore you any more.

life as usual

hi all,
I don't feel like I have a whole lot to share as life has been going pretty much as usual.

This is the second weekend in a row that I have been in town. After so much traveling in October and November it has been so nice to not go anywhere. But part of the reason I'm not itching to get out is I know I have a fabulous trip coming up. On Tuesday I go to pick up Rachel Nisselson and Adnan in Bangkok. I am SO excited to have such wonderful guests coming to visit. We will be in Bangkok for a few days, in my town for a few days, and down south for New YEars. We are going to Krabi and Phuket- two of the areas hit by the tsunami. I haven't been down there yet and am interested to see how things are going. I think a lot of the infrastructure has been rebuilt, but there is still lots of development to work on.

Peace Corps currently has about 12 crisis corps people down there. Crisis corps is for people who have already finished PC and is a 6 month service in places of 'crisis. ' Apparently PC sent some people to help in the wake of hurricane katrina in the first ever domestic service opportunity.

So all else is well in Uthai Thani. I am up past my bed time playing on the computer. I had time today to catch up on lots of email correspondances. I also made 2 fabulous thai dishes. I made a yummy veggie & Shrimp red curry. And also a fried tofu and beansprouts thai dish. mmmmm I have become really good at the different fried veggie dishes. bamboo w egg is my favorite, closely followed by pumpkin, which I am excited to see making a bigger showing at the market these days. I have also mastered the thai omlette. There is still much more to learn, as there are so many food here that I haven't ever seen at the thai restaurants in the states. But I am proud of my new found comfort in the kitchen, and the thai dishes I have under my belt.

I also went on a run today. Tomorrow is the 3 month mark leading to my marathon. My training is going really well. Friday I did a 20 mile run!!! It's the longest I've ever run by myself. Just me, my IPod, and lots of annoying dogs.... And in customary Thai form I was offered water by people I passed. The marathon is March 19th, but it starts at some ungodly hour like 4AM, which means it's March 18th in America. My birthday. So this will be my birthday marathon!!

In 2 days the trainers for the next group of volunteers arrive in my town. I'm excited. Most are Thai who will be language teachers. A few are Peace Corps staff that I know. And there will be 3 people who finished their volunteer service 2 months ago and are good friends of mine. It will be nice to have them right here in town. And I am SO excited for the new volunteers to arrive on Jan 12th.

Did I tell you before that lots and lots of people from my group plan to go to the aiport to welcome them all as they arrive? It was a welcome surprise to have a group of 40 people ethusiastically shouting at us as we arrived in Thailand after 24 hours of flying. It is a nice excuse to see lots of people from my group too.

There will be 7 of us meeting up down south for New YEars. With about 5 people visiting from the states. Rachel and Adnan included. This will be the 4th time in 5 years Rachel and I have counted down to the new years together.

Winter in Thailand

The weather is cooling off. It even smells a little like fall in New England. There is a nice crispness in the air. I pulled out flannel pants and a sweater to wear to work today. It's nice to pull out some of the warmer items that have been sitting in my closet unworn. Like old friends I haven't seen in a while. The kids are wearing big jackets in class over their uniforms. Yesterday I was able to leave my house at 4:30 PM for a run while usually it is way to hot to leave before 5:30.

It's officially winter in Thailand. But I have yet to see the thermometer get below 75.

Things are pretty much life as usual. I am really settled into my life here. Still working on my Thai. I go to my tutors for an hour and 15 mins about 4 times a week. She is really sweet. I call her P Folk. 'P' literally means older sibling, but everyone in Thailand is Family, so I call everyone w/in 20 years older than me 'P' then their name. If I don't know someones name, or am at a restaurant I just call them 'P'. If they are younger it's 'Nawng.'

P Folk was named after a car brand. Can you guess which one? Volkswagen. But the Thais pronounce the V like an F. Her younger sister is named after a Thai car brand, and her youngest sister is named "Naam Man," which means motor oil. P Folk lives w her mom and sister and they all run a large afterschool English and Math tutoring program. P Folk speaks amazing English as she lived in Australia for a year. She loves teaching and is very dedicated, although she started her career as a nurse.

P Folk is in her late 30s and quite single. She works very hard and doesn't have time for a boyfriend She has said she doesn't want one and doesn't plan on getting married. Yet sometimes she acts as if she does want one. Occationally we are in Bangkok at the same time and her mom always says we should meet up and I should find P Folk a boyfriend. She means a white one. But P Folk is in Bangkok to do research for her Thesis. She is writing about the eating habits of youth in our town and why we have more fat kids than before.

I recently heard that Thailand is well above 50% women. I'm not sure why the men are dying off sooner as I assume it's close to 50-50 at birth. There hasn't been a big war recently. The only thing i can think of is accidents. This country isn't safety proofed the way America is, partially because there aren't lots of lawsuits. It would make sense that there are lots of accidents bc there is so much drinking. Thailand is one of the top 5 countries for alchohol consumption per capita. And certainly there are more men drinking than women. Anyway, i do see a lot of single women or women who share their husband w another woman. Lots of fatherless kids.

P Folk was one of those kids. Her father died when she was young. He was a lawyer and apparently he pissed someone off. One day he took P Folk and her sisters for a drive to a city about 45 mins from here and while they were at a red light a man walked up to the car and put a gun to her fathers head and killed him. P Folk is the only one that remembers it. She had to lean over and turn off the car. She was 8.

Apparenly there is the same gender split in nearby Laos. To try to increase the population of the country the government is encouraging every man to have 7 wives. I don't have any idea if it's happening or not, but probably there are lots of people who have a couple. It's the same in Thailand. The women don't really like it, but it's seen as a sign of prestige. If a man can support both wives than it's socially acceptable. I hardly see men w multiple wives.

Father's Day

Monday was the King's Birthday. He turned 78. And because it's his birthday it's also Fathers day (similarly the Queens b-day is Mother's day). The monarch is so important here that we stand up for 3 minutes at the beginning of movies to show respect while they play a film on his life. Never never step on a money bill as it has the kings picture on it. And every room in this country has a picture of the king. He's an important guy. You can be put in jail for speaking badly of him.

But on Monday he gave a really interesting speach, basically asking people to feel free to disagree with him. He was acknowledging that he is only human and can make mistakes and it's ok for people to constructively criticize his practices. I think it's a good step for Thailand.

In our town we had a nice candle ceremony at school. Then we went across the street to clean our temple (most schools here are connected w a temple).

Then I went home to eat Glue-ay Tawd. It is my new favorite habit. I stop at a stall on the side of the road and order a 10 Baht (25 cents) bag of fried bananas and go home to sit in front of the fan and play sudoko. My friend Tara, a PC Volunteer in the North East recently admitted she can spend an hour at a time working on crossword puzzles. Well I am just as addicted to Sudoko. It's the 9x9 square logic puzzle where you have to fill in the missing numbers 1-9 in each row, column, and square.

The pictures up above are from Fathers day at school. All the teachers. And the 5th grade class.

India revisited

As promised, more info on India...

My overall impression is that it is a dirty country and some people live in deep poverty. I will always remember the people who came up to our car every time we stopped and would tap on the windows begging for money. Being white we were a magnet for the beggers, and there were a lot. I was warned that people would try to take advantage of us, but it didn't make it any less of a shock to the system. But expect for overpaying for a few things and having my mom's wallet w very little in it stolen everything went smoothly.

In fact I don't think i have lived nicer at any point in my life. We stayed in the nicest hotels I have ever been in. Living in luxury was a weird dichotomy from the poverty we were seeing, but it was a treat from my Peace Corps living style. One hotel particulary stands out in my mind. It was the Kings summer palace in Udapur. And it was smack dab in the middle of a big lake. Not on an island- the palace looked like it was floating on water. All made of marble w turrets and courtyards. They even had a man playing the flute that echoed around the gardens.

home sweet home

I am back sitting in my teek rocking chair in my 90 degree room with my fan on me. I got home last night after almost 3 weeks away from my town. I am just a little afraid to motivate and go outside. I still want to be on vacation. My parents left from Bangkok 2 nights ago and I have mostly been speaking English for the 3 weeks they were here, I fear i have forgotten all my Thai.

I had been looking forward to the visit from my parents for such a long time. I loved showing my town, my friends, my daily routines, my market, my thai language skills- basically my Thailand life to them. And they were appropriately impressed! I have integrated into my Thai life so much that it was fun to take a step back and look at my life the way my visiting parents must be seeing it. It's always nice to have visitors to see an outside perspective.

After the visit to my town we went up to Northern Thailand to visit some of the hill tribes. People there living in bamboo huts the way people have been living for 100s of year. The people were so kind and welcoming. My parents really enjoyed seeing that way of life. It is always a hard balance for me between being really curious about that lifestyle and wanting to see how people live, but not wanting to treat them like a museum exhibit, or zoo animals. I don't want their lives to be for the entertainment of people who are just there behind a camera. It is hard to see that there lives have already been influences by the tourist industry. Seeing the little kids begging for candy or school pens. Seeing the Satelite in the house of the man who gets tips from the tourists, while the other men are doing back breaking labor for the equivalent of $25 for 3 days. And that opportunity only comes up every few weeks.

We visited a Lisu hilltribe village where the lineage is origionally from China and Tibet and Burma. Many left because of the poor treatment of people in Burma. They have been in Thailand for 1-2 generations. But they only know a few Thai words, mostly they speak the Lisu language. The village head spoke Thai so he translated for me, but it was generally difficult to communicate. Still I stayed up after dinner by candle light while they sat around drinking and chatting and joined in on the festivities.

After the hill tribe we went to the large city in the North, Chiang Mai, where there were huge festivals for the Thai Holiday, Loy Gratong. This is a festival to the gods for the use of water during the year. Many Thai holidays have the same preparations, weeks before hand are set aside to prepare for a parade w floats, a beauty contest, possibly an aerobics competition, and often dressing up in traditional Thai wear, Loy Gratong is no exception. All of the country schools were canceled to plan dance routines and parades. With Loy Gratong people also prepare hat sized floats made of folded bamboo leaves and candles to be floated down the river. It is absolutely beautiful.

After Chiang Mai we flew to Northern India for 11 days in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Udaphur. Visiting the Taj Majal on day 2 was certainly a highlight. My dad kept saying it is something that is so talked up that you go with such high expectations, but it still does not disapoint. It is impressive from afar and up close w all it's intricate marble inlay work.

After the Taj was built the king had the architects hands cut off so he could never make anything so fabulous for another person. So the man taught the craft to the boy who fed him every day. The secrets of the craft have been passed down in that boys family for generations and now they make beautiful inlay marble tables, boxes, etc. The secret formula for the glue used to keep the precious stones in place for 100s of years in the Taj is still not publicly known.

I will have to finish my India explination later. I am going to motivate outside to get to my tutors on time. Got to get back in the swing of speaking Thai...

Forward from Allie

You ask the questions... I give the answers.... Here's me in a nutshell...

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:45
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? honestly can't remember,it's been too long. It could have been That Tom Cruise one w Dakota Fawning. War??I walked out. I didn't know it was about Aliens.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Sex and the City. Watch on DVDs at my computer.
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Lately cereal and box milk.
6. What is your middle name? Mildred (grandmother's name)
7. Favorite food? gang som cha-om tawt (sweat and sour curry w veggies), somtam (sweet papaya salad)
8. What foods do you dislike? ba-lah (fermented fish)
9. What is your favorite chip flavor? squid- I swear they have it inThailand
10.What is your favorite CD at the moment? Crystal Skulls (not nearly as hard -core as they sound) or usually just IPOD shuffle
11. What kind of car do you drive? a bicycle
12. Favorite sandwich? Oh how I wish I could eat sandwiches. Here's one I fantasize about: Turkey wrap on whole wheat roll-up with crisp lettuce,roasted red peppers and honey mustard...
13. What characteristic do you detest? indecicevness. uh, wait, on secondthought...
14. Favorite item of clothing? none, as in nakedness
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would yougo? Headed to India in 10 days!!
16. What color is your bathroom? orangish
17. Favorite brand of clothing? the 199 Baht stall at the market ( 5 USD,but you can bargain down)
18. Where would you retire to? San Francisco
19. What was your most memorable birthday? The last one- it ended w a few of us getting driven to bangkok to meet w the director of PC Thailand to receive a warning.
20. Favorite sport to watch? Skiing21. Furthest place you are sending this? America!!
22. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Allie bc she already sent it to me.
23. Person you expect to send it back first? go on, surprise me...
24. Goal you have for yourself? Marathon #4 March 18, 2006
25. When is your birthday? March 18 Every year!!
26. When is your Anniversary? i'll get back to you.
27. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
28. What is your shoe size? 6.5
29. Pets? lots of stray dogs
30. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? My parents arecoming to visit in less than 35 hours!!! I haven't seen them in 10 months.
31. What did you want to be when you were little? a lawyer actress
32. What are you today? Peace Corps Volunteer doing development work in schools and on HIV prevention
33. What is your favorite candy? knome crook (a coconut milk custard)
34. What is your favorite flower? orchids and lotus flowers
35. What is a date on the calendar you are looking forward to? Spring 2006and being back in the USA

site development

Spent the day with my Peace Corps program manager. I am in a Teacher Collaboration and Community Outreach program as a volunteer, and the woman who is my PC suppervisor's name is Khun Siweporn. She invited me to check out a town where they may send a volunteer next year. Someone was in my town last year doing the same thing checking out if my town is suitable for a volunteer. This morning we went to the Educational office for the province. All the big wigs met us in the confrence room where we chatted and did a power point on what it's like to have a volunteer and what is expected of the host community before heading out to visit the schools.

It was really interesting to see the volunteer cycle, from before the volunteer arrives. Peace Corps only spends a day in each town, and about an hour at each school before deciding to send a volunteer. And the sponsors have so many misconceptions about what having a volunteer means. My friend who went on a site development had a woman tell her she was very lonely and hoped to get a male volunteer!

Generally they are really excited to have a volunteer in the town. It is easy to see why so many of my friends got to site and their co-teachers didn't actually want to do any work w them, they just wanted to have a whitey in town. It's a status symble.

Chiquita Banana meets Bangkok

Halloween 2005

Just got back from the most fabulous of weekends in Bangkok. A group of about 30 PC Volunteers were finishing their service, so a big gaggle of us got together to see them off. We all stayed at Suk 11 Guesthouse, a place we often stay when we are in Bangkok. It is down a side street and has a lot of character. Open air wooden reception area w big wooden tables and lots of plants. Upstairs is a room w couches, a big TV, and about 300 movies to choose from. Anyway, it is like our home in Bangkok, and it is so much fun to sort of take over the place with 30 friends. Whenever you're up, people are around. We spontaniously get 20 people sitting around to watch a movie or play cards.

So, as Bangkok always is, it was a weekend of good food and lots of spending. The food highlight was a turkey sandwich at Subway! I went Saturday with a group of friends after a basketball tournament that the guys organize with out PC doctor every few months. The other food highlight was a club sandwich at a bar where we had a private room Saturday night at the going away pub crawl.

So Halloween was on Saturday night for us and the theme was togas. Bangkok knows about Halloween, and they weren't too shocked to see 30 of us walking down the street in costumes, but they don't know about togas and didn't know why most of us were wearing bed sheets. I was going to be Chiquita Banana toga, but I scrapped the toga part and just went w Chiquita banana. You may remember I got this totally cheesy outfit last April at the Songran festival, one that reminded me of Chiquita Banana- yellow ruffles and all. Well I wrapped my head up, and pinned some fake fruit in- presto chango- Chiquita Banana!!

So I said good bye to some good friends, and in about 5 months another group leaves and my group will be the oldest. The next new group comes mid January. Remember how I came and spent 10 weeks in Training before we all left to our own sites? Well this year they moved the training city to be in my town! In all of Thailand, there will be 60 new Americans training about 3 kms from my house. In my town!

I am actually really really excited. It means I will get to know them pretty well. And whenever other volunteers come to help with training I'll get to hang out with them. When we were training at the beginning of the year, we had a place we would all go hang out at the end of the day, before heading to our host families houses. We called it 'the hut.' I'm hoping my house is the new 'hut.'

Call me

It costs about 18 cents a minute for me to call the states. It's a great price, but somewhat hard on a $5/day salary. I realize that a whole 9 months has passed and I haven't talked w many of my friends as much as I would have liked. I am going to plan some more short conversations, just to keep in touch better.

Lately my parents and I have been talking over the internet for FREE! There is a great program called Skype at www.skype.com It's really easy to become a member, and if two members are online at the same time they can talk for FREE. All you need is a microphone.

So go log on and add me as a contact. My contact name is Rachel.Bobruff

Go. Now....

Public speaking

Last week was a huge festival in my town of Uthai Thani, Thailand.Thousands of people from all over the country came to commemorate the day Buddha came down to Earth. We watched 500 orange robed monks walk down the one hill we have representing the decent from heaven. My town asked me to give a speech in English about the meaning of the day to these thousands of people. Normally I would freak out. I mean I'm the kinda girl who rehearses voicemail messages before I leave them (sometimes! Only sometimes... really). But I was cool as the underside of a pillow (oh I crack me up!). ((Do you think I use parenthesis too much?)). Anyway, I was smooth, charismatic, charming, beautiful... and if I wasn't, well, only about 5 of those people had any idea what I was saying anyway.

squat toilets

On their return from a Asia trip, I remember my parents telling me about signs in front of the toilets saying not to squat on western toilets. And i remember being impressed that there were people so removed that they did not know to sit on a toilet. After being in Asia for a year, I realize the signs are really for people like me. When I come across a public toilet I often contemplate standing on it so I don't have to actually touch the seat...

SWquatting is the way to go, and I remember thinking if I ever made a house in the U.S. I'd put squat toilets in. A squat toilet is basically a porceline hole on the floor. Roll up your pants, so not to splash (it can spray all the way to your face if you're not careful), and squat down. The talented squatters can keep their heels down too.

Toilet paper is everywhere in Thailand. Except in bathrooms. They have this great trick of taking the cardboard out of the roll and starting to pull from the inside of the roll. That's what you get for napkins at every restauranttable. But water is what is used to clean in the bathroom. Every squatter is next to a water basin that has a small handle bucket. Scoop w the right hand, pour a little into your left hand, and then wipe.... Takes time to master.

Camping trip

Two pictures from our camping trip a few weeks back. This is at Khao Yai ("Big Mountain") Nat'l park in the NE of Thailand. On the left we are crossing one of the more stable bridges along our hikes. The waterfall on the right is the one that Leo D. jumped off of in The Beaches movie, filmed mostly down south in Thailand.

October is Bit Term (bit means off), which translates to VACATION!! No school in October. I started the month meeting up w peace corps friends in Bangkok for a little GAD (Gender and Development) meeting. We get together once a quarter to discuss gender in Thailand. Where to begin... The culture of gender is quite different than in the states. I could write a book about it, but in a desire not to bore you, I will simply tell you one story that was mentioned at the meeting. A man had given his wife HIV after contrcating it from visiting a prostitute. Her response: "I am sorry I didn't satisfy you and you had to go to a prositute." Don't read any sarcasm in that, because she meant none. I told this story to some other Peace Corps volunteers who have been in the country about 9 months. Unfortunately none were surprised by her response. This story is representative because a) it is common and acceptable for men to visit prostitutes, b)condom use and HIV prevention is LOW c)women are often second class citizens.

After the GAD meeting, at which I became an offical board member and now will be planning a confrence for other PC Volunteers on Life Skills development, I took a train up north w Tara. Most of the way we had the train alll to ourselves, untill HUNDREDS of teenage girls packed in on their way to a girls scout trip. They great thing about traveling in Thailand is hardly anyone can understand English, so we could go on with our conversation as if in total private.

Tara and I were headed to the NE of Thailand to meet up w 20 other volunteers, each with a counterpart from their local community. The focus of the confrence was HIV/AIDS development. There was lots of activities focusing on AIDS facts and sharing information, and lots of time to work on developing projects back at our sites.

My counterpart Khun Siweporn and I planned a confrence in which we'd like to train 30 local health volunteers to go back to their communities and do HIV prevention workshops. It is a big project, but should be great if we can get it done.

After this HIV/AIDS confrence I headed to Khao Yai national park with Kevin, Dana, Chris, Dave, and Tom. It is a really great National Park with all sorts of wildlife. We went on a 4 hour hike where the guide brought a machete because the train was so overgrown. At one point we saw a family of 5 or 6 monkeys playing in the trees right by us for a while. We saw some big spiders. No Elephants, but some tracks and droppings. And we saw billions of leeches. Not the big thick kind, but little squirmy guys that like to suck your blood. We wore these big sock booties that tie at your knees to stop the leeches. Mostly it just have us time to flick them off before they made their way to skin. They move fast.

FINALLY

I am home!!!!!

Over the last month I have been home for a total of 4 days. I am leaving again for the weekend in 2 days, but while I am here it is so nice to sit in my wooden rocking chair, laptop on my lap, and fan blowing on me.

Even tho I just got back from a nice relaxing time at the beach. 7 friends and I met up at Ko Chang (elephant island) to play in the blue water, eat western food, and speak English!!

We stayed in these cute bungalows right on the waters edge at a cute guesthouse called 'The Treehouse.' Up above is a picture of me in the main area relaxing during a little rain storm. It was gorgeous to hang out there most of the day and evening and watch the sun set over the water. We made friends w some other travelers, but mostly hung out and chatted in between visits to the water. One day we hiked to a great waterfall. Transportation on the island is pretty bad, so we wouldn't go anywhere at night. Just hang out and play cards with the oceans warm breeze on us. They had a great bbq and it was such a treat to have western food like baked potatoes and tuna sandwiches. mmmm. Even though it was expensive for us, it was worth the spurge. I even went so far as to pay $5 (a 100% mark-up from my town) for an hour massage. But it was right on the waters edge. And I was sore from my 16 mile run (!!!!) so I deserved it!!

off

Tomorrow I head off for a couple weeks of travel. Really I have 3 meetings back to back in different parts of the country. Saturday is a meeting in Bangkok for Gender and Development. It will be casual and it's a good excuse to meet up with friends and go out dancing for the night. I also want to buy some new shoes, and will buy tickets for my trip to India in November w my parents.

Then I head to the NorthEast for a 4 day confrence with 15 other volunteers, each of whom is bringing 2 people from their town. It's a confrence on AIDS development. We will talk a lot about how to do AIDS work in our towns. I am going with the woman who is planning the AIDS prevention workshops for the teenagers in my town with me.

This confrence is really near the largest national park in Thailand and a few of us are hoping to go camping for the weekend before the workshop we have in the East. This workshop will be about how to put together local workshops and then we will actually give a workshop for highschool students on AIDS Awareness.

Lots of exciting things, but I am sad to be away from home for so long. It will be nice to see friends and more of the country though.

Won't have much time on the internet, so probably won't be writting here for a while.

Tootles...

school web site

My second school has a web site up. It's in Thai, but there are lots of pictures. http://www.tammasopit.com/

Look up College in the dictionary and it'll say Amherst

Today was a nice lazy day. Got up early and hopped on my bike to the morning market- 1.5 kms away. First I went over to my friend who makes Papaya Salad's stall (pictured left). I hung out on the bench behind her stall for about an hour. As soon as I showed up she gave me food, and made sure there was food next to me the whole time, as a good Thai host does. Yummy deep fried battered bananas for breakfast. mmmm.

Part of the time I was there I pulled out the Sudoku puzzles my mom sent me. I am addicted now.

After that I went over to my other friends who sell noodles all day, every day. They have a nice little community of friends. They just sit and cook and chat and eat and sell all day long. They are always there whenever I am around.

It is the American in me that wants to ask them, "What did you do today?" or "Any plans for the weekend?" But I restrain myself from asking because what I see when I am there is what they are always doing. I have trained myself to say the Thai conversation filler equivalent, "Have you eaten yet?"

After hanging out there, doing some more puzzles, and eating lots of food I headed home. I stopped on the way out of the market at a fruit stand and got three juicy mangos for 70 cents.

At home I cleaned up as I was having Jeeda and Wendy over to eat some western food. I made them grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. We had bite size PB&J sandwiches to start.

As I was going through some old magazines to throw away I started reading a speech about one of the founders of my college, a man who thought it would be a good idea to write a book listing every word in the English language along side it's definition and origin, Mr. Noah Webster.

It's hard to say whether the dictionary helped define some values in America, or whether the dictionary was written in response to those existing goals, but either way the dictionary seems so very American to me especially in contrast to Thai culture.

In America the purpose of conversation is often to convey information, and as accurately as possible. In Thailand a conversation is not for relaying information, but for interacting with others. Thais have exceptional abilities in predicting they way conversations will play out.

Noah Webster said he wrote the dictionary as a way to level the fields of all people. He wanted words to create a commonality that would not betray "class or religion." Websters vision was that the dictionary would attack predjudices and be a catalyst for democracy.

America is a non-hierarchical society, especially in contrast to Thailand.

Thais focus a lot of energy on class and social standing. There are certain words to use when addressing those older or socially higher, like the mayor or school Principal. In place of "I" when speaking to elders I say "Noo" which means 'mouse,' a small insignificant creature. Men say "Pom" instead of "I." "Pom" is the same word for hair, and again is a small little thing.

Thais have a whole set of words one uses only with Monks. The monks have their own language to set them apart from the general population. And the King also has his entire own language. Noah Webster wouldn't find this practice very class-blind.

Age is an extremely important factor in respect. Thais don't have a single word to say 'brother' there is only a way to say 'older brother' or 'younger brother.' Likewise with sister. In Thailand everyone is considered a part of your family so everyone calls me 'Pee Rachel' [older sister Rachel] if they are younger than I, or "Nong Rachel" if I am older.

When I come back to visit in 30 years everyone will call me "Khun Maa" which literally means 'you mother.'

Call me

Just downloaded Skype. Add me to your contacts as Rachel.Bobruff

Don't have any idea what I'm talking about?

Skype.com is a site which allows people to place calls over the internet at great rates. And if both people are on the internet talking is FREE!!!

To call my cell phone using Skype it will cost you eleven and a half cents per minute.

Download and call today 011-66-9-672-7262 !! Or better yet, email me (LadyRachel2000@hotmail.com) and set up a time to meet me on the internet.

romances in Thailand

A friend just told me about the courtship of his Thai friends. They were married about 15 years ago, and while thier romance isn't typical for everyone in Thailand, it's sounds spot on for most people who are over 30 and married.

It started with the two of them sitting across the outside table from each other and talking every evening. When it got dark they lit a candle, as there was no electrcity in their town then. They would politely ask things like "How was your day?" "What did you do?"The whole time her mom would be resting in a hammock nearby. Always a chaperone! After a while they eventually got to handholding. And then came the wedding.

My coteacher once read that the average westerner kisses about 70 people before getting married and she asked me if this was true. I asked her how many people Thais kiss before they kiss the person they'll marry. Her response: none. Most Thais marry the first person they kiss.

Times are certainly changing now, partially due to western influences. My friends middleschool 'little brother' from his Thai family was caught kissing a girl. Big trouble for him!!!

The Thais view of romance and sexuality is so so different from Americans, I can't fit it all in one blog, but I will leave you with another story.

The same man above who courted his wife over a candle met a PC volunteer (a friend of the one that lives in his town) at a party and told my friend he really liked her. This married Thai man started texting this fellow volunteer in a modern day courtship. He did not try to hide the fact he was romantically interested in her, and even got the American in his town to help write to her.

Infidelity is pretty rampid in Thailand now. It is widely accepted and even a sign of machism. Visiting prostitutes is one piece of this. As well is polygamy.

Lesson Plan

What did I teach today? I brought my laptop to school, connected it to a TV, and showed pictures of America to the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. We talked a lot about culture. I have lots of pictures from Weddings so I explained to them the whole concept of a wedding ring. Like how you can tell if someone is married by a ring, or lack thereof, on their ring finger. There is no obvious factor like that for Thais. Thats why one of the first questions I get from new aquaintances is "Are you married?"

They were REALLY interested in pictures of snow. Thais pretty much think it snows all over America year round. It's really hard to explain the size of America to people from a country the size of Texas. They certainly don't believe that it doesn't snow everywhere. Even with Walmat and McDonalds everywhere there are a lot of differences across america.

When I get asked what Americans think on a certain subject it is so hard to answer because there are so many different views on subjects.

Recently two friends at totally different times asked why/if all white Americans hate black Americans? It was hard to impress upon them that truly some whites hate blacks, but not everyone by ANY means. They got this impression of USA from two sources. One being that there is a Volunteer in our Peace Corps group who is not the most pleasant of souls to be around. He is really opinionated, long-winded, and does not even stop to listen to the opinion of others. He also happens to be about 20 years older than the average aged person in our group, and does not have many common interests with most people in our group. There are certainly a few people in our group of 50 who do not mesh with our group, for one reason or another; it hardly matters as we no longer interacte with our PC Group except out of our own motivation, since we are all at our seperate towns, often hours away from each other. Anyway, this one person in particular stands out as he has black skin.

So since most of us as a group don't hang out w this one person the Thais who have come with me to some group events, assumed all whites hate all blacks. It is frustrating since I clearly don't want to give this impression of the States, and one of our other Volunteers who is right in the thick of everything is also black.

Anyway, the question from my Thai friend also came up because she was watching the news about Hurricane Katrina and the theory that help was slow in coming because due to racism.

After I tried to explain the racial views of All Americans with my limited Thai skills [regretfully 'stereotype' is not part of my thai vocabulary- but I had a dictionary on hand], I was asked how are blacks and whites different. Wow.

Of course I started to say, we're all the same. No difference. But what they were asking about wasn't totally about innate differences, but rather about differences of life style in America. And unarguably the general population of White in America does not live the same was as the general population of blacks in America.

So hard to explain. I want to give an honest explination of Americans. But I also want that description to be positive. It's not always one and the same. This is a subject matter I don't feel comfortable being the American authority on.

Picts

1)With my school cook who is teaching me how to make a Thai dish.
2)After my race w my neighbor and my trophy!
3)Steps leading up to the famous Temple in my town.

Shout outs

As promised...

Shout out to Allie, the bride to be. Let it be known that Allie has been a consistent commenter along with my Dad and brother, David.

This is a case of my bad habit of taking family and best friends for granted.

I know you're out there

Shout out to Josh for commenting on my blog.

I know there are others of you reading. It's nice to know you're out there and I want to hear your thoughts. I recently read my friend Becky's blog and she had about 3 comments on every entry. And she writes more than I do!

I know the first time may take a little effort to sign up. But come on people. Motivate.

You too can have a personal shout out on my blog.

toto, where are we??

There are 4 students in the room cleaning as I work on the internet. I realized it had been really quiet for about a minute when I turned around and saw all four of them behind my chair stareing at the screen. I laughed, they laughed, then kept on staring. I guess it would bother me if they could understand what I was writting, but I get such a kick when that happens. Even better when they pull up a chair! They love when I write Thailand. THAILAND THAILAND THAILAND.

In other, "you're not in the US" news today my co-teacher, a 40 year old woman who majored in English in college and I had this conversation (in Thai).

Me: Do you have a pencil?
Her: Yes. Do you want a pencil or a pen?
Me: Pencil.
Her: Do you know what a pencil is?
Me: ...???[very confused. Thinking I must have misunderstood some Thai.]
Her: Do you have pencils in America?
Me: Yes.
Her: Oh, I thought you didn't have pencils in America. I thought they were only in Thailand.

BIZARRE!!!

Did I ever tell you the one with my other co-teacher, another 40 year old woman who I think has her Masters in English.

Her: I think Judaism isn't a religion.

I enjoyed that. It took a lot of work to convince her that indeed it is a religion. She didn't believe me when I explained that Judaism is a lot older than Christianity, and in fact Jesus was Jewish. I think I just confused her more.

She wanted to know what Judaism is about? What is our equivalent of crossing ourselves? I can't even explain all this in English!!! But I told her about how Judaism, for me, is about passing on the traditions of the religion to the next generation. That it's not so much about going to temple or praying to God as spending time with your family.

As my Thai is pretty limited, I basically ended up saying Judaism is about telling your children about famous Jewish people. To which she replied "Oh, you tell your children about Albert Einstein."

This will teach us not to send missionaries!!

THAILAND THAILAND THAILAND

running update

For those of you who have been following my running life, there is an update to share. I was training for the Bangkok marathon November 27th. But a few months ago a friend told me she ran it last year and that it's a miserable marathon. Mostly because it's on pavement over the hot city for most of the way, with no fans or port-a-potties.

I kept training up to the 17 mile point, but have finally decided not to continue. I don't want to waste my knees on a sucky run. And I will be traveling, partly in India, w momma and pappa Bobruff for the month leading up to the run.

All along I was hoping to find out about a marathon I heard of that crosses the Friendship bridge to Laos for part of the run. Laos has a special place in my heart so I would love to run a race there and Thailand. But I just found out the marathon was canceled for this year.

Looks like I'll be aiming for a March 19th Marathon near Bangkok. With some little races before then.

It's been a year

I just read an email from my mom exactly a year ago. She wrote it after she dropped me off at the airport to fly to San Francisco on my way to Thailand. Apparently we were both a little cranky that morning. I don't remember, but am not surprised as (knowing my packing style) I had probably only had a few hours of sleep, and was very unsure of all that lay ahead of me.

I can not believe it's been a year since I embarked on my across the world adventure. The fall was it's own experience- traveling and meeting people around South East Asia. And since January it's been another chapter. I can't believe I've been in the Peace Corps for 8 months now. It seems much shorter which is reassuring as I am looking forward to being back in the states, and know it will certainly be less than 8 months away.

Life has really settled into a routine here, which is very nice. I remember how much I longed for a permanent place on a shelf to put my moisterizer for so long. But the learning curve has started to plateu. I am not learning fascinating new things about Thai culture and how to manuver though it every day. I do love the comfort and ease with which things are coming now, but I, as always, am also looking ahead to what is next.

pictures

I just uploaded a bunch of pictures to Snapfish. Check out my local scenery....
http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=28540715/t_=3661338

I wish I could post more for you here, but my internet is so slow, it takes forever. Enjoy.

high heels

Just got back from a great weekend. It is always fun when a bunch of Peace Corps Volunteers get together. About 20 of us met up in a city in the Northeast of Thailand. It's a big city, but with so many of us, wherever we went we sort of took over the place. Saturday a bunch of the guys had planned a 2-on-2 basketball tournement. It started downpouring about 15 minutes after they started, but since it was still so warm we all played in the pouring rain. We had a 4-on-4 game; no dribbling, and 2 steps maximum when you have possesion. So much fun to play in the rain. I even got a basket! We also hit up a few 'farang' [western] restaurants and discoteques in the town. Sometimes, after lots of time in my conservative town only speaking Thai, there is nothing that makes me happier than to put on my high heels and hit the dancefloor. Even if it means I have to travel 12 hours each way to get there!!


On my way to meet up w everyone I spent a night with an American friend in Bangkok. It was amazing just to have TV. I stayed up way to late watching news about Katrina and Agassi playing in the Open. I was on 7th heaven as I sank into a real couch and had a comforter to pull up over me. The feeling of sinking into a comfy couch should not be taken for granted. Most 'couches' in Thailand are wood benches with no padding.

School web site

http://www.amarrit.com/

One of my schools just finished a web site!! It's all in Thai, but there are some pictures to see.

FAQ

After a little garbing w my favorite newly engaged couple in San Fran (Laura and Dana) I realized that there are a few things basic things I should answer.

Q: I miss your voice, Rachel, can I call you?
A: Yes. I have a cell phone and can be reached anytime you like. I am 11 hours ahead of the East Coast. One cheap way to call is get an account on www.pincity.com. It costs around 10 cents a minute. International calling cards in another easy way. Call me at 011-66-9-672-7262

Q: Will you be home for the holidays?
A: Probably not. I am planning a fun New Years in the islands and would love you to come join. Rachel Nisselson is investigating tickets this very instant.

Q: What is your typical day like?
A: I am usually at one of my two schools by 8:30am. I co-teach English classes to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders till about 2:30 [with the goal of teaching student centered learning to my co-teachers]. From 3:00-4:30 I have Thai lessons either at my house, or my tutors house. Then I often head to the pool, take a run, or head to my friend Jeeda and Wendy's house to chill. Often I help Wendy's mom cook dinner and eat over there. When the night market is in town we often head over there for a little, and I'm home by 9ish. Most evenings I chat for a little on the phone with fellow Volunteers.

"Leechel gang"

That's my name when spoken by a Thai, or some variation of that. Leechel. Raycheel. Meechel. Leechen.... I answer to it all. And the 'gang' isn't refering to my evening activities, but rather it's a thai word meaning "great." So "Rachel gang" means something like "Rachel does that really well," depending on the situation.

Now I'm not just telling you this to teach you how to compliment me in Thai (feel free to anyway), but to introduce you to the Thai culture of compliments.

Thais love to compliment, even if it means exagurating the truth, or when everyone knows you are just saying what is expected to be said. But even when someone say's "Isn't Rachel beautiful." and I know the person HAS to say, "Yes, Rachel's beatiful." I love hearing it.

And I know in reality they are complimenting me for the forsight to be born with white skin- which is regarded as such a beautiful thing here that 90% of beauty products (including deotorant) have 'skin whitening' properties.

But it's really interesting what I get complimented for. I hear a lot that I ride a bike well- or they are terribly impressed that I can ride w a skirt. Even more popular than that is that I drink water well. REALLY. I often get told I drink water well! I am told I have really white skin. Interestingly I get more compliments that I write thai letters beautifully, than people noticing that I'm ACTUALLY writing in thai.

Happy University David and Jen!!!

Do you know what you were doing a year ago, I mean to the minute? Well, all weekend I've been doing the "A year ago, exactly, I was...." thing. Right now, you ask? Just about now I was hitting the gym for one last work out so I could slip into my bridesmades dress for DAVID AND JENS WEDDING!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!

PS. If you scroll WAY down on my blog- to one of my first entries last september you can see a picture of me at the gorgeous wedding site.

Take Care

There are a surprising number of words from the English Language that the Thais have adopted into their language. The following is a list of "Top-sawps," or words that mean the same thing in English and Thai. This does not mean a person from America can come here and say these words and be understood. Occationally I am corrected for saying these words wrong because the Thais have adopted their own inflection (and they occationally change sounds that are too hard to pronounce- like 'football' is 'footban').

They also occationally make words or phrases that are very close to English, yet I have never hear or used in America. Everyone seems to know them. One is 'Freshy' which means refreshing. Another is "Free Sex" which means pre-marital sex, or sex outside a marriage.

Ok, here's the list:
Take care, freshy, free sex, hello, bye-bye, America, motorcyle, pick-up, bus, brake, gear, tour, passport, free, free-style, TV, computer, monitor, mouse, keyboard, print, supermarket, mini-mart, 7-11, salad, sauce, ice-cream, soup, macaroni, spaghetti, french-fries, pizza, hamburger, ping-pong, football, baseball, basketball, ball, boxing, team, tag-team, goal, game, shopping, fashion, cinema, poster, program...

There are more, but I can't think of them right now.

headless buddahs

I never uploaded any pictures from Ayuttaya, the old capital of Siam. That's where we had a two week training in July. Here's a picture of me at one of the temple ruins. The city is covered in temples that are hundreds and hundreds of years old. Most are in a state of near ruins.

The Thais blame the Burmese for sansacking the temple grounds in the mid 1900s. In many places the stone buddah images have all their heads cut off. Some people now blame the Thais for taking the heads off these sacred monuments so that the Burmese could not get to them.

Cravin' a Long Trail Ale

I'm reading a book called I'm a Stranger here Myselfby Bill Bryson. It's a compilation of commentaries on American Culture. The cool thing is the author lives in Hanover New Hampsire and repeatedly makes reference to things in the area. Hanover is home to Dartmouth College where I went to school for a summer, and the town is 20 minutes away from a house we've had for over 20 years. So I know the area and all the shops he mentions very well.

It's so nice to read about all the familiar places, personalities, and activities. When he discusses movie theaters in America and mentions the one in Lebanon NH I can picture the place down to the bathroom stalls.

Problem is, it makes me a little homesick too. I just read about the fall foliage and colors in the autumn trees of New England. The author just breifly mentioned hiking up Killington Mountain. Not only have I done that hike, and skied that moutain, but I know the exact route he took on that 50 minute drive.

So today I've had a slight craving for Long Trail Ale, a beer only sold in Vermont. Its more the experience of sitting at the brewery with a friend on a hot summer day, or heading to the bar with sore legs after a day of skiing that I miss.

I decided recently that when I get home I want to have time to spend a week hiking the Long Trail in Vermont. Anyone have time to join me?

3rd place finish!!

Today there was a big race in my town. There was a 3.5 Km, a 10km, and a 21.1 Km (which is a half marathon). I ran the half marathon, with some fabulous success!!!

The race start was much like many race starts I've been to before. There were lots of feindly people in good spirits, sign ups, and a big start line. But different is so many ways too. People weren't streching. There was no big clock, or chips on our shoes; just a gun shot and we were off.

Actually before we were off we all grouped together at the start line. There were about 200 runners so I was able to get pretty close to the start. I was chatting w people (all Thais, except one guy foreigner who I never talked to, so I don't know his deal) about where people were from and how much they had run before. Many people were from my Province or nearby ones. A handful of people were from Bangkok. As I was chatting I spotted a bunch of my students along the barrier fence. Many of them were running the 3.5 K. I tried to get them to chant my name, but they didn't really get it. So I settled for a starting line sholder and arm massage from all the kids.

We started at 5:30 in the dark, but it was still really hot. I was sweating a lot by the 2nd km. The startline faced a huge staircase leading up a hill to the most famous Temple in my town. And we ran to another huge, gorgeous temple. Then we turned around. The course was flat! and we went through the town center and out by lots of rice fields and forested areas. We even went by my house where I had a little cheering squad!

There were not many cheerers along the course. When we went by houses or shops people sort of stared at us not really knowing what was going on. So I was a one-man cheering squad. I was passed by the fastest 10km runners (who had a later start time) so I was able to clap and encourage them. And since it was a turn around course I was able to cheer for people once they, and then I, turned around. It was all well recieved.

A little before the half way point I stopped doing my walk breaks and picked up the pace. I started passing people too. With about 3 km left I passed a women who immdiatly picked it up and passed me and stayed about 30 feet in front of me untill we had a half km left and I was able to pass her again. I felt like I was sprinting those last 3 kilometers. And to say I wasn't a little naseous would be a lie.

Anyway, I was able to come in ahead of her which, unbenounsed to me, put me in 3rd place for women 18-29 years old. I was brought up to the stage, given a nice tropy, and 500 Baht (the equivalent of 2 days paycheck). But of course I couldn't take the money because it is against Peace Corp policy.

Unfortunatly I didn't have my camera to take any pictures of all of this. But I met some friends at the finish, and made some friends too. My new friends took lots of pictures so I will publish them soon. For now I have added a picture of the famous temple in my town. The starting line faced the stairs (after which we took a sharp right).

Oh, and the other cool thing. By total coincidence I beat my time of my last half marathon by 6 seconds!!! I ran the whole thing in 2 hours 10 minutes and 20 seconds. That puts my mile average at under 10 minutes (by a hair).

Best friends

I realized I don't have a picture of my best friends up yet. This is Wendy and Jeeda, with Jeeda's son, Munglee. We are at a really nice
aqarium.

Jeeda and Wendy are two fabulous Thai women who run a silk screening shop. It's a small operation out of their house. They have a few employees and just leased a machine for high tech embroydering.

Most days I spend a couple hours over there. Just chilling and chatting as they work. Often I help out. Or cook w their mom, or play w Munglee.

Wendy and Jeeda actually speak English so well we take turns- one day we speak in English so they can learn, and one day we speak in Thai so I can learn. But usually it just reverts to me speaking in Thai and them speaking in English, with a scrambling in both languages when we don't understand something. They are so welcoming and loving. I know they would like nothing better than if I packed up and moved over to their cramped little house that already has 5 people. They have invited me to do so many times.

I had to tell them I like to sleep naked as an explination for why I didn't want to move in with them or why I don't want to sleep over on their wood bench in the kitchen/living room/ bedroom of their mother/workshop area. This is what we call "saving face." It is a HUGE part of Thai culture. A friend of mine was actually told by Thais that he doesn't lie well enough and that his time in Thailand will be better if he learns to lie better.

Jeeda and Wendy are SO generous and loving. I love going over there. I have taken to eating dinner there lots. Wendy's mom is a good cook. They eat 'Jaye' style. Which is vegetarian, but also excludes garlic, and onions.

One of the most fabulous things about Thailand is that every household is live TV families of the 50s. People don't call ahead or plan a visit, you just show up. And there are kids from the neighborhood running throughout the houses and street. Everyone looks out for everyone.

So I just head over to their house when I have time, and just walk in. I know I am welcome. Wendy's mom can't get around too easily and usually she is lying on her bed in front of the TV in what is the common room/hallway to the back, etc. And the first thing she always says to me is 'eat.'

There is always about 4 dishes of food out on the little table by the rice cooker. Thais are not extrodinarily concerned w refrigeration. But at least the food has little baskets over it to keep the bugs away. Last night there was a stir fried veggie dish, some battered mushrooms,"cha-ome tawd" which is a veggie w a little egg fried up, there is always fresh veggies w a paste that tastes too fishy for my liking, and there was even hard boiled eggs last night- but I don't usually see that in Thailand. Nothing makes the mom happier than if I grab a plate, fork, spoon, and some rice then sit down and lift up the baskets to see what's under them that day.

About the second word I learnt in Thai (after 'eat'), was ''delicious.' Many hours of conversation revolve around wheither something is 'Arroy' or not. Thai's love to eat. And they love food. And why shouldn't they? Damn it's yummy.

Chilled out travels on "Thai-time"

So I didn't write about a trip I had a couple weeks ago. Did I? Well this picture is from way up north. I am standing in a field of replanted rice. Planting rice is such a labor intensive process, and it's probably the number one profession in Thailand. Well, that's misleading because most people who rice farm also have another job. But things sort of shut down in rural areas for about 2 months at the beginning of the rainy season so rice can be planted (and replanted for optimal growth). Then again at the end of rainy season for havesting. Those months in between the whole country is lush and green. I LOVE the sight of rice fields. Otherwise the fields are pretty brown and dry.

Not only is the process labor intensive, it's not very lucrative. Most people grow rice just for their family, not to sell. And if you work in the fields as a farm-hand you get the equivalent of about $3 a day. Thailand is cheap, but it's still pretty hard to live on only $3 a day.

My travels home from this trip make for a great story that gives a sense of Thai culture. Basically I got stranded. Oh, how dramatic that sounds. Ok, maybe I didn't get stranded, but I didn't get home as was planned.

I left early in the morning. Planned to flag down a bus as it passed on the way to the big city. Unless one is in a main city you have to do just that- flag down a passing bus. It makes for lots of stops once you are on the bus.

I got to Udon and there were a few busses going to Khon Khen, some with Air Con, some w fans attached to the ceiling. The fan busses are usually a fine temperature, because windows are down, and I don't like cold anyway. The fan busses are also usually cheaper. But they stop more and usually are not as comfortable seats.

Long story short, by the time I got to Kkon Khen at 2pm the last bus had already left to Nakon Sawan. There was no way of me knowing this ahead of time, because there is no public disemination of bus schedules. There usually are schedules, but they are not even perfectly reliable.

So I was in Khon Khen, not even half way home after 6 hours of travel. But one of the fabulous parts of being in Peace Corps is that I have friends spread all over the country, and two of my buddies live w/in 40 minutes of Khon Khen. So I was able to call them up, and we had a nice evening in the city and I had a nice bed to stay in.

The other nice thing about Thailand is that the people here are SO chill. So I just called up my co-teacher and told her I missed the last bus and wouldn't be in school the next day. No problem!!! God I love the people in this country.

I am hoping some of this chillness rubs off on me and I carry it back to the US. Actually, I have noticed that I have relaxed in SO many ways. And some PC friends have even commented on it too.

Partly I have to be chill because I don't know what's going on around me.
"Oh, we're going somewhere? Where?" (in Thai)
"ThaiThaiThaiThaiRacheldoesn'tunderstand."
"Ok! Sounds great, let's go."

Partly the Thai culture has rubbed off on me. For Thais, it is so much more important to get along, then to get anything produced. Smiling and having fun is the goal of most things. Makes things laid back and chill in this fabulous country.

all in a name

Even tho I was terribly tired this morning, the day turned out to be a fabulous one. After 5 months of asking for help finding a tutor to learn thai my coteacher brought me to a woman who I think will be a great match. She currently teaches English to children and speaks amazing English, as she lived in Australia for a year. Get this, her name is Volkswagen!!! Her little sister is named after another car manufacturer, and her youngest is named the Thai word for oil (as in gasoline). Thais are funny w names. They make them up a lot. My principals name is “Tongsook” which means Gold Happy, so she will be rich and happy!!

Last week I was feeling really bad that I don’t know the names of my students at school. I have over 100 students, most of which I see for only 2 hours a week. And it is so hard for me to remember all their names, ones like Siwaporn, and Boonum. They all seem to be 3 sylables and begin w an S or R. So I decided to give them all American names. I had a blast doing it and they LOVE having American names. So now I have classes w Rebecca, Sam, etc. I started out trying to give names that sounded something like their Thai names, but quickly ran out of ones I could think of, as I mentioned, all Thai names are sort of similar. Then I started naming kids after friends and family in the states, or names that would be easy to remember. Like one girl has a shaved head, so I named her Tracy, after Tracy Chapman; that is until I realized that name was too hard for her to say. Thais have a lot of trouble w R’s. It was fun. Can’t wait to call on Ringo in class.

The other highlight of the day was that my principle already set up a meeting for us to work on a sex education project. Let me back track...

My main objective in Thailand w the Peace Corps is to train teachers on student centered learning; and I do that by co-teaching w English Teachers at two elementary schools. But I also here to help out in the community in any way they need me. I am supposed to help them find a need or strength, then help them fix or strengthen it. For example I have a friend up north in a rice farming community and they want to get better fertilizers. He doesn’t have to know anything about rice farming or fertilizing to help them, but he can get people together and help them realize their resources. Help them find the person who can train them on rice farming.

Last week I was at a fabulous conference on gender and health in Thailand. There were about 15 fellow volunteers, each of whom brought 1-2 counterparts from their town. I brought my co-teacher, and my principal. The whole conference was run in Thai, with occational translations, but mostly I sat at the back with some volunteers and one of the translator who would whisper what was being said. The speakers were all Thais. The first day of the conference we had speakers talking w us about domestic violence, breast cancer, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and workplace gender roles in Thailand. By the end of the 2 and a half days we had all developed projects that were needed in our individual communities. So I asked my counterparts what was needed in Uthai Thani, and they said we need sex education on all these issues for the adults and students in our town. So we schetched out a way to do sex ed for adults, and students in Uthai!!! Yeah. Now we are meeting w the head of health in the town hall and getting things going.
Other highlights of the day were getting to the swimming pool; talking to my bro, David, about his birthday party; and, as I do most days, hanging out at my friend Jeeda and Wendy’s house. Tonight their 3 year old son, Munglee, was really opening up to me. Chatting w me, and wanting me to play w him, and even letting me spoon feed him his cereal (he was having trouble getting the last of it). Part of the reason he was so open was because we all spent all day together yesterday.

Yesterday my two best friends, Wendy, and Jeeda, along w their son, and 3 friends took a trip. We went to this fabulous zoo. The zoos here are a lot like what I always pictured old zoos to look like. Big vertical bars where you can get right up close to the animals. Some you could even pet through the bars. There was a really fabulous bird sanctuary we walked through and I saw a bird called Lady Amherst Pelican!!

After the zoo we went to Karaoke!!! A favorite Thai past time. But it’s not at a bar w a group of strangers watching. At most every mall there is a Karaoke area where you rent a room by the hour or by the song. The place we went was a really nice room w a huge couch, comfy chairs, a big screen TV, and a huge window looking out onto the fancy bowling lanes. It was the perfect setting to introduce the Thais to my fabulous rendition of‘I will survive.’

always being watched

hi,
I wrote a long blog to put up, but am having trouble getting internet at home now. It will be up soon. I am at school, about to head to my tutoring soon. But I had to share.

When I on a computer at school everyone LOVES to stare at the screen and see what I am doing. A few moments ago a few kids came in the room to ask the teacher a question and one of the students walked in and marched right up to my side to see what I'm doing. He's been here a few minutes now. He actually grabbed a chair and is sitting at my side as I write this. How fabulous.

He has no idea what I am saying, obviously. That's one thing I will surely miss about Thailand, being able to have really personal conversations in English in very public places without anyone knowing what is being said.

More to come soon.

chillin out

After many weekends of travel and teaching till 8pm every night for the past few weeks. I have not left the house farther than 40 feet all day. It has been fabulous to organize, check email, and read. Of course, I did have my mayor friend and his family come over for lunch. in a little bit I'm going to go out to get a shake. I found a little shop that makes amazing pinapple shakes, w a little bit of lemon. Mmm. I'm getting hungry. Then I'll head over to my friends, Jeeda and Wendy's house to hang out. Of course then I need to come home and pack because tomorrow I go to Bangkok for a 3 day confrence w Peace Corps on Gender Development. I'm going w a co-teacher and Principle and hope to inspire them to do some female empowerment stuff w the girls at our school. After Bangkok I'm going way up North (almost to Laos) to meet up w some Volunteers and see my friends town.

Things have been busy in town lately which is good... I have been spending my evenings at english classes for nurses. It is good to be helping, but it doesn't do much good for my reputation that I am seen as an English Book. That is, people see me as a tool to learn English. While that is well and good, and I am certainly doing a lot of that, I want to do other things as well. I want to work on some projects that are sustainable after I leave. The US Govt just gave PC Thailand a huge amount of money, so I have up to $3000 USD to do a project having to do w AIDS/HIV. I am talking w some nurses and we are thinking we will do some training to help people living w AIDS learn an income generating skill, or we will do some AIDS prevention training.

Are you a runner?

In San Francisco when I was training for my first marathon my running group had a discussion over one of our long runs whether we were "a runner." I didn't consider myself one then, but do now. Not so much because It's a year and a half later, and I've been running at least 3 times a week since, or that I've run 3 marathons since, but rather because when I started Peace Corps I was running and so the other volunteers and the people in my town see me as a runner.

Running in Thailand has taken me to some gorgeous places. Going for a run is a wonderful excuse to get a little off the beaten path, or a little out of town. My runs take me down random lanes where kids are playing, or through rice fields.

I am currenly training for a marathon in Bangkok on Nov 27th. I recently did a 13.5 mile training run, and next week I do a 15 mile training run. Then it's decision time: Do I keep training or not. My friend did the marathon last year and said it's not a good one. So I'm looking into other in Thailand. I really want to do one while I'm here.

Thais aren't very into excersize. It's part of the reason obesity is becoming more of a problem here (that and the western influence of food and food attitudes). There are at least 4 places in my town where people gather in the evenings for aerobics. That is a lot of fun. And one guy I met was so proud to tell me he bikes about 20K every morning. But mostly they don't understand my running. For some reason EVERYONE who hears I run thinks I run every day. Even people I have already told I don't run everyday.

They also think I'm crazy for running by myself. Mind you, this isn't because I shouldn't run by myself, thais just don't do anything by themselves. My coteacher asked to go running w me so I met her after school and since it was the first time she had ever been running in her life we took it really slow. A few days later at school she asked if I was going running that evening, and I said I had already run in the morning. She was crushed. Turns out she recruited another teacher to go w her. It's nice to know my presence here is having at least some positive influence....

One friend is disapointed to hear I run alone because he things it's not safe (don't worry mom, it's perfectly safe). He wants me to run in road in front of my house, going no more than 500 yards away. It is impossiblbe to explain that I am NOT going to do laps in front of my house for
my 23 mile training run....

The biggest threat to my running in Thailand is the dogs. There are so many stray dogs here because as buddists they don't even kill stray ants. I'm not sure exactly why they don't neuter their pets, but I think it's a buddist thing too, and not a common practice. But there are enough strays to keep the stray population going.

As you may remember I was bit by a dog about 3 months ago, so I'm pretty afraid of them. The dogs here aren't used to runners either so they like to chase me. I've realized it's the chase they like, so if I stop I'm ok. Problem is I'm going for a RUN! Stopping is sort of anti-productive, wouldn't you say? I carry a stick when I run bc the dogs are used to getting beat and they don't like having a stick waved at them. But I really don't like to piss them off too much. Usually between the dogs barking and me yelling "Bye, Bye" (this isn't me being cute this is how you say "Go Away" in Thai) a Thai person comes to my rescue and gets the dogs to leave me alone.

And on the longstanding theme of Thais being the nicest people in the world, when I am out for a run, I often get random people offering me water. They will either offer me a bottle or motion to come have a glass. And occationally I run by a group of guys sitting outside who want me to come join their whiskey drinking.

Next time you are about to hit the gym and you grab your running bottle, running shoes, and running music, think of me in the rice fields w my running stick.

When's the last time you were in a phone booth?

There are a fair number of phone booths around Thailand. Outside the school. Beside the local corner store. At the edge of a rice field. I even saw one in a remote hill tribe village I visited on my trip up North. Here's a picture from the hilltribe. These are Akha people who invited us into their house. Anyway, I was talking about phones...

Almost as many people in Thailand have cell phones as in the states. It's pretty amazing. I talk on the phone w Peace Corps Volunteers every day. Usually send a few text messages a day too.

Phone ettiquette in Thailand is a little different from in the states. First of all, they often don't say goodbye. They just hang-up when it's clear the conversation is over. It's hard to get used to. I usually say goodbye to whomever I'm talking to, so they will say it back.

Second difference is they often don't use their phone. Yesterday morning my friend showed up in my class at school to tell me she had to change the plans we had later in the day. It's really not very efficient, but it's a lot more personal. Sometimes, as an American, it can be frustrating driving around lost when the driver won't just call and ask their friend where the meeting is.

But that's when you just sit back and say, "I'm in Thailand. Life is good. No worries." or in phonetic thai: "Mai pen Rai, Dude!!!"

Thai wedding

Went to a thai wedding. I've been to a few, but this was the nicest. They are huge affairs with up around 7 or 800 people. I didn't know the couple. i wasn't even invited! But that doesn't matter. They plan for about 100 misc. people to come. All the teachers in my town were invited, so I went with them. It was a big shot wedding as it was the little sister of the town mayor.

There's no dancing at Thai weddings. Just lots and lots of round tables where people sit around and eat and drink. And there is always a big stage where people come up and do Kareoke, and there are girls doing dance routines. These are usually outside with neon lights hanging from trees.

From L-R: Highschooler (one of the girls performing), she used to go to our school; my co-teacher, 'Pee Arisa'; me; another teacher at my school

Burma

I went up North for a little trip w friends. We were right up next to Burma. The guesthouse was on the river that divides the two countries, so we were about 20 feet away. It was cool to watch the people wade across the river to avoid customs. We never went across because it would have been a one way ticket to the states if PEace Corps ever found out, even though it would be a really easy process to go in for the day.

Here is a picture of me w Burma over my sholder. I just discovered how to upload picts in a much easier way, so more to come.

training

Well it has been a while since I’ve updated so hold on to your seats, I think I’ll just spew a lot of thoughts at you.

I was gone for almost 3 weeks at Peace Corps Training. I was hoping I would come away with a more positive attitude about Peace Corps then I left my initial training. I did. In fact staff was apologetic about how badly we were treated during our first training (if you recall there was a lot of spying on volunteers to gain negative information and lots of threats to kick people out of Peace Corps). Mostly I got to hang out with some staff (both Thais and Americans) in a more casual way, and think of them more as friends, than people out to find a way to kick us out of Peace Corps.

This second training we were put up in a really nice hotel in the old capital of Siam, so on time off we were able to check out the centuries old ruins. Amazing history in this country. But it was also a treat just to stay in some air conditioning and watch MTV! We didn’t have a lot of free time though, our days were fill from 8 to 5 or 6 or 8…. The best part of the training was being back with all my friends that I got to know so well the 1st three months of training, but who have been scattered across the country since April. We certainly checked out the nightlife in Ayuttaya too.

We had a lot of language classes. We did some team building activities. One guy game and gave us a interesting lecture on the history of Thailand. We talked about cultural issues in Thailand. We did workshops on student centered learning. We learned a lot about the AIDS situation in Thailand.

AIDS patients in Thailand was growing faster than most other countries in the early 90s and the government threw a lot of money into the situation. And things got a lot lot better. But since the economic crash in 97 there hasn’t been an increase in funds. My group took a trip to a temple that is a hospice for AIDS patients. Many are healthy and functioning well, but can’t go home because they are shunned in their communities. People are afraid of being near them and catching AIDS.

The activities I enjoyed the best were the reflective or group building ones. We did one where all 50 of us were stranding in a circle holding a rope. We were blindfolded and had to then get the circle into a complete square. What would you do?

fat calling

During our training we had a session about communication with Thai people from our towns. In very general terms we talked a lot about how Americans are so direct and Thais are so indirect. There is a term in thai called “Grang Ji” which I have had hours of conversation with fellow PC volunteers trying to translate and understand. It is not a easy concept, but important as its the basis of the ways Thais speak. It is a way of being gracious, of not imposing, of looking out for the other person. The best translation I can give, is that ‘Grang Ji’-ing is saying what you think the other person wants to hear. It is a neutral word. Neither always a good thing, or always a bad thing, although more often it is a good thing because in Thailand it’s seen as good to be generous and giving.

A good example is escaping me, but for instance if a Thai said he was going on a trip tomorrow, he would immediately follow it by, do you want to go too? And this gets into a tricky situation, because I can not yet (maybe never will) be able to tell when they sincerely want me to do something or are just ‘Grang-Ji’-ing (offering to be nice). Very often they really do want you to sit in last empty seat on the bus, or finish the food you are sharing, or take the present they are offering. The Thais are just that way.

Although, in a confusing twist of things they love to talk about things that we deem as “sensitive” to talk about. Weight is the number one example. They LOVE to say people are fat. “He’s Fat.” “The fat student.” “I’m fat,” but the kicker is they love to say “You’re fat.” Or “You’ve gained weight.” It does not have the negative meanings it does in the states, but I have yet to wrap my mind around it. I am pretty sure being fat is a negative thing here. It certainly is becoming more so, as I hear anorexia is on the rise w all the western pop images they see, and people talk about wanting to lose weight. It’s hard to not look at the Fat calling through my own perceptions of calling someone “Fat,” but I don’t think it’s as negative here. Part of the fat calling is that it’s a way to say you are close enough friends w a person to call them fat. I really don’t get it.

off to training

Tomorrow I head off to the big city of Groong-Tiep ('Bangkok' spoken like a Thai) then to Ayyuthai, which is the old capital of Siam. We have training for 10 days so I will be w all my fellow PC volunteers. FUN!! It promises to be a very busy time, so I don't know how much I'll get to my blog or to email. Be back soon....

Instant celebrity (just add water)

My friend says being in Thailand is like being the millionth customer- every day. I think it's more like being a celebrity. Thais just want to be near white people. They are gracious to everyone, but overwhelmingly so to foreigners.

Last week I spent a day at the city hall. I have learnt quickly Thais are much more interested in how you do something than what you do or the end product. Therefore so much of what I am doing these first few months in town is hanging out, getting to know people, being gracious, making jokes. Peace Corps calls it "Intentional Relationship Building." Basically it's making friends. In Thailand just sitting next to a person without talking means so much. Like I said they like to just be near whites.

So last week at city hall I hung out w the assitant mayor. Altho I just met him, numerous times throughout the day he told me if I am ever hungry to come by and he will take me out to lunch, if I ever want to go anywhere he can take me and my friends, and when my parents come in a few months they can stay at his house! But the kicker was that when he saw me eating a Thai Guava he asked if I liked them and immeduately took a 45 minute trip to his friends farm to get me a bagful of the fruit!

http://www.jobpredictor.com/

Rachel Bobruff, Your ideal job is a drag queen.

Somehow they must know I'm in Thailand. Dressing in drag is HUGE here. A huge portion of the gay male community dress as women all the time. There is a reason Bangkok does more sex change operations than anywhere else in the world.

Bangkok weekend

I just got back from a weekend in Bangkok. I find myself there every 3 weeks-ish. That's where I go for doctors appointments and I am currently having a little hip problem. Everything should be fine with a little rest, heat, and streching.

So to get to bangkok I go to a van stop in my town and when the van is full it leaves. That's the schedule. It usually takes about 3 hours (but can be up to an hour or more with traffic). I really look forward to the trip to relax with my IPOD and whatever book I'm on. The bangkok stop is at a pretty central location so depending where I'm staying I can get right on the sky train, or get a bus. I am pretty proud to say I have mastered both modes of transportation in Bangkok and often get random phone calls from friends who are in bangkok and need help with travel.

Bangkok is bigger than any city I have ever been in. Or at least it feels that way. It has about 6-9 million people, depending how you count. And it has the longest name of any city in the world. It is around 70 words long. The short version that Thais call it is "Greung Tep." It is a crowded, smoggy, humid, smelly city with a huge traffic problem. You can find almost anything you want or could need in Bangkok, but finding where and getting there could take forever. And after living in a rural area, Bangkok is pretty expensive too. But partly I spend more money there because I want to get my fix of western food. I love to get sushi, or go to Subway for a turkey sandwich, or to get a western salad somewhere.

And I have yet to do all the touristy stuff in Bangkok because when I'm there I usually spend some time shopping for things I can't get where I live and often I head to the movies at some point. Usually I head dancing with friends at some point. We have a couple clubs we frequent. One is in the backpakers strip and is full of foreigners. That area is called Khao San Road. A really fun atmosphere. Lots of tourists from all over the world on a road that is practically, but not officially, cut off to traffic because so many people are walking there. Loads of shirt, jewelery, books, Thai crafts, beauty salons, email shops, open air restraunts, copied CDs, and nock off sneakers, jeans, and sunglasses. Oh, and loads of little carts selling noodles, egg rolls, orange juice, fruit, fried rice.... There are always people walking around selling some wear too. People carry hammocks, maps, balloons, and there are people in hill tribe wear selling jewlery from Northern Thailand. I love to get a street side seat on Khao San and watch it all go by.

addendum to being a superstar

Yesterday I was asked for my autograph about 40 times. I'm totally serious!

US Government's dime

I hear the US Government spends more money on uniforms for the Army's marching band than on the Peace Corps worldwide.

Rainy Season

I was really looking forward to the rainy season in Thailand as that meant the end of the hot season. But what I have realized is that the rainy season means it rains most days for an hour or two in the late afternoon AND it's damn hot.

In reality Thailand has three seasons. Hot, Hotter, and Hottest.