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.