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.