The whiteys showed up in my town about 4 days ago. Whiteys whiteys everywhere!
The new volunteers are training in my town for the next 10 weeks. I have been over to their training 'hub' a few times to help out. Yesterday they had a session teaching them how to set up mosquito nets, how to use squat toilets, how to shower in Thailand, since today they head off to their homestays.
I was in their seats a year ago. I too was freaking out about not having toilet paper and worrying I was going to insult my family by where I put my feet. After I helped demonstrate the proper way to kneel at dinner and preached the benefits of the Diva cup I went out to dinner w some trainers and volunteers.
I love having all these new excited volunteers in town for the next 10 weeks. One reason is it makes the town feel more like my town. As we were walking in a big group out last night the lady I buy fruit from asked me why are all these whiteys here? Everyone keeps asking me what's going on??
Having all these whities fresh off the plane makes it so obvious for me to see how much has changed in my life in the last year. Remembering myself last year I can see how much i've grown. I have chilled out so much. Part of that is because Peace Corps doesn't feel like "real life," that it doesn't count or something. But part of it is because Thailand is Soooo chill. It is just fabulous to see that I've really made a life for myself in this little Thai town. That I live (mostly) like a Thai. That I have been welcomed into their community.
On the 10 minute walk home from dinner to where everyone is staying I ran into 3 groups of people I knew. It's nice to know people and be known. With the last group I ended up sitting down on the chairs outside their place and chatting for 30 or 40 minutes. Every time a group of newbies walked by I was able to think what it must have looked like from their eyes, and I was impressed w myself. If I do say so!
The wide-eyes have a million questions about manuvering in Thailand and dealing w Peace Corps. I love being able to help them figure everything out from cell phones in Thailand to Peace Corps obsession w straps on the back of shoes.
1 comment:
Rach,
Good for you! Sounds like you've really come a long way! I can't wait to visit and get a glimpse of Thailand, your life, and your town. You've sounded really happy in your last few posts, and that makes me happy!
Of course, when I read the line of your blog, 'Whiteys whiteys everywhere!' I thought you were talking about something else. It was news in Boston earlier this week:
FBI asks Thailand to watch for Bulger
By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff | January 18, 2006
Fugitive South Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger may not be big news in Thailand, but the elusive gangster did make headlines yesterday in the Bangkok Post.
The newspaper reported that the FBI has asked Thai police to be on the lookout for Bulger, one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted, who has been on the run since January 1995 and is wanted in Boston in 19 killings.
A spokesman for the Royal Thai Police said the agency has asked the FBI for its latest photographs of the 76-year-old Bulger so it can forward them to police throughout the country, according to the Bangkok Post.
The police spokesman acknowledged, however, that there was no confirmed sighting of Bulger in Thailand, according to the newspaper.
Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Boston, declined to comment yesterday on whether Bulger had been spotted in Thailand recently. But she said the Bulger Task Force routinely disseminates information about Bulger to law enforcement agencies around the world.
So expect a call from the FBI.
Love,
D
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