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!!