Health Volunteer training

Today was day 2 of a great project we've been working on. The same woman that did that HIV prevention/ Life Skills workshops in January and I have planned a training for the health volunteers in my town. These 30 peeps (and 4 people living w HIV/AIDS) have come together to learn about HIV/AIDS, prevention techniques, and Life Skill games. They all know each other so it's a fun casual atmosphere and we're all having fun with the games especially.

Tomorrow is the most important day, in my eyes. Tomorrow we teach them the process for them to put on a small workshop in thier villages. We will lead them through the process of figuring out what is needed in their village, be it training on teeth care, to food preparation, to Sex Ed. We will help them plan the training and go through all the details of budgeting/funding, inviting participants, making a schedule.

I am so excited because if all goes well these volunteers will have the skills to put on workshops whenever they see a need in their community.


The group doing a pick-me up song and dance kinda like head, sholders, knees, and toes, but a lot more fun. It was an elimination game to get volunteers for a role-play. A team-building excercise 'The human-knot.'Testing to see if she 'has' HIV after a game of water sharing representing how HIV can be transfered.

more picts

A full 24 hours after wake-up call. What a day!!!
A much deserved burger and cold beer with Tara (and AJ) the day after on Khao San Rd, Bangkok

birthday party pictures

Chiquita turns 28!!!

Perfect cup!! So convinient.
The cake was REALLY good.
Can you see all the peeps who came out to celebrate?? We took over the pool area.

Dancing and Dancing and Dancing. Welcome to the bangkok club scene

Marathon pictures

On the bus!! Almost at the start!!! Been up since 2:30!! But really excited!!! Whew!! Just finished. I am dead. Sitting down feels so good. I'm never getting up.
"Rachel. Rachel Bobruff. They've been calling your name for 10 minutes. You placed!"
A much deserved ice cream! With Noah and Jon. My two best fans in the world!! They are eating much deserved ice cream too; they ran the last kilometer with me.

Finish line

Here are the profesional picts they took as I was finishing the race. Unfortunately my visor was doing a great job shading by face. My shirt says เรโชล สู๊สู๊ศู๊ (Rachel soo soo soo) which is the thai fight cheer. Jeeda and Wendy screened it onto my shirt. Note the jasmine prayer flowers Noah gave me for the last 100 meters.

IMing with Matt

I was just IMing with Matty (Candlepin) Bowling out there in Palo Alto, Cali. It's the promisings of anotherlazy day in Uthai Thani. Thank goodness for Summer Vacation....

Anyway, I was explaining to Matt how my friends in my town are Thai, and I realized that maybe I haven't been clear about the PC situation. PC, across the globe, places volunteers in separate towns or provinces. There is only one other volunteer in my entire provence, and she is about 35 kms from me, which is actually pretty close by PC standards. The next closest is a couple hours away. I live in my town with the Thais.

There may have been a confusion because, in a weird coincidence, PC just had their training of the new group of Volunteers in Uthai Thani. So there were 60 other americans here for 10 weeks. I LOVED having them here and being the 'big sister' to them all and helping with training and adjusting to thai life. Sadly they have gone. On friday they were swore in as volunteers (marking my one year anniversary) and have now dispersed across the country.

It is nice to have my town back to myself. But i also surely miss them. I feel really lucky that I got to know them all so well and made some great friends in the new group.

baseball and abortions

Yesterday was a fabulous lazy Thai Sunday.

-I had my first long(ish) run since the race and my legs felt strong.
-I made a yummy thai omlette and thai ice tea (time #2- this time less mess).
-Jeeda and I walked to the sunday morning market and got some fruit and browsed the shirts
-We made fried bananas- one of my favorite treats in thailand.
-I fell asleep on the bench (thai couch) in their kitchen and had a great nap w a fan on me.
-Had a long phone converstaion with a friend who just got to site.
-Jeeda, Wendy, Munglee and I went to the Sunday evening market. [I bought a moo-moo dress and a thai t-shirt that says in thai "Can I 'bang' you?" Which is not sexual at all, but a reference to blessing you with baby powder on your cheeks at the Thai new year]
-We came home and watched 'The Perfect Catch' (thai dubbed)

Do you know 'The Perfect Catch'? It's a romantic comedy where Drew Barrymore falls for this guy during the off season only to find out that during the baseball season he is a Red Sox fanatic. Can you blame the guy?

It was so great to see all the shots of Boston and Fenway Park and the Red Sox. And I loved sharing it all with Jeeda and Wendy.

There was one part the said couple had a little moment of relief that she wasn't pregnant. Jeeda was so suprised to learn that Americans get worried about being pregnant. I didn't understand why she would think this, but it's because I had just been telling her abortion is legal in America and you can go to the doctor to get one safetly. Unfortunately that's not at all the case in Thailand. It's illegal and I gather it's dangerous and expensive if you want to get one.

I have to say i reacted stronger than I should have at her assumption that Americans just hop over to get an abortion any time. But then I explained all the reasons that would be undesirable, and why it doesn't happen, and therefore, why Americans are nervous about getting pregnant.

misunderstood

The first question out of every Thais mouth about the marathon is 'Did you win.' It's kinda depressing to answer no, not because I was no where close to winning, but because this thing that means so much to me is so misunderstood. I never had any intention of winning and didn't train and run the marathon to try to win, of course.

But in a culture where, when out on a run, I often have someone pull up besides me and ask if I want a ride, I should know by now that the Thais don't get the running thing.

Thai Ice Tea

For my birthday Lindsey sent me all the fixins to make Thai Ice Tea: Chinese Tea, Condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar, and a sock like contraption used as a filter.

I just made my first batch and I have a newfound respect for the guys who make "Chaa Yen" on the corners. They whip up a glass (or bag for the take-away kind) in about 30 second.

It took me on the other hand over 20 minutes. I have tea bits all over my table, my floor was introduced to liquid tea, I managed to use every spoon I own, and I think my palms will be orange for at least 2 days.

But it sure is yummy....
For my birthday Lindsey sent me all the fixins to make Thai Ice Tea: Chinese Tea, Condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar, and a sock like contraption used as a filter.

I just made my first batch and I have a newfound respect for the guys who make "Chaa Yen" on the corners. They whip up a glass (or bag for the take-away kind) in about 30 second.

It took me on the other hand over 20 minutes. I have tea bits all over my table, my floor was introduced to liquid tea, I managed to use every spoon I own, and I think my palms will be orange for at least 2 days.

But it sure is yummy....
Here's a picture i grabbed off the internet. For my birthday Lindsey sent me all the fixins to make Thai Ice Tea: Chinese Tea, Condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar, and a sock like contraption used as a filter.

I just made my first batch and I have a newfound respect for the guys who make "Chaa Yen" on the corners. They whip up a glass (or bag for the take-away kind) in about 30 second.

It took me on the other hand over 20 minutes. I have tea bits all over my table, my floor was introduced to liquid tea, I managed to use every spoon I own, and I think my palms will be orange for at least 2 days.

But it sure is yummy....

Here's a picture of me making Ice Tea last year at training.

PC Club Med

You may think I am out of the star gossip scene while here in Thailand. I would have thought that joinng PC would mean I would come back to the US having missed 2 years of fasion changes, 2 years of movies and 2 years of star romance drama.

But now I have internet in my house again, and while I mostly use it for email and stalking people on Friendster type web sites I do occationally check Yahoo.com and read up on all the latest with Angelina and her growing belly.

Lindsey, one of my closest friends here, has a friend in PC East Timor. They are having trouble planning a roundevouz because Jessica has no internet access or phone access. And she can't get into her capital right now.

WOW. My life is so different in PC Thailand. I see more movies here than in the states because it's such a nice treat when I get into bkk. And because DVDs come out here before they are even in the theaters in the states sometimes. For $2.50! We all buy DVDs and mail them around to each other.

I love my PC thailand experience and wouldn't trade it for anything, but I don't think it's fair for those guys out in the middle of nowhere that I say i've done PC too. I am sure they love their experience too and I appreciate how lucky they are to be having an experience totally away from their American life.

Oh, and my fabulous mother is great about sending me People every once in a while...

A girls gotta keep up on her style.

Who's on First

At least about once a week I see one of my parents on MSN messanger and we IM for a little. It's a fun way to catch up. Well yesterday my dad somehow got onto a tangent of the Abbott and Costello routine of 'Who's on First.' But we could only get so far. I looked it up and want to share it bc it's one of those things that you laugh out loud reading.

Enjoy. Here's a place you can download the audio. http://www.phoenix5.org/humor/WhoOnFirst.html


Abbott: Well Costello, I'm going to New York with you. You know Bucky Harris, the Yankee's manager, gave me a job as coach for as long as you're on the team.
Costello: Look Abbott, if you're the coach, you must know all the players.
Abbott: I certainly do.
Costello: Well you know I've never met the guys. So you'll have to tell me their names, and then I'll know who's playing on the team.
Abbott: Oh, I'll tell you their names, but you know it seems to me they give these ball players now-a-days very peculiar names.
Costello: You mean funny names?
Abbott: Strange names, pet names...like Dizzy Dean...
Costello: His brother Daffy.
Abbott: Daffy Dean...
Costello: And their French cousin.
Abbott: French?
Costello: Goofè.
Abbott: Goofè Dean. Well, let's see, we have on the bags, Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third...
Costello: That's what I want to find out.
Abbott: I say Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third.
Costello: Are you the manager?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: You gonna be the coach too?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: And you don't know the fellows' names?
Abbott: Well I should.
Costello: Well then who's on first?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: I mean the fellow's name.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy on first.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The first baseman.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy playing...
Abbott: Who is on first!
Costello: I'm asking YOU who's on first.
Abbott: That's the man's name.
Costello: That's who's name?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: Well go ahead and tell me.
Abbott: That's it.
Costello: That's who?
Abbott: Yes.
PAUSE
Costello: Look, you gotta first baseman?
Abbott: Certainly.
Costello: Who's playing first?
Abbott: That's right.
Costello: When you pay off the first baseman every month, who gets the money?
Abbott: Every dollar of it.
Costello: All I'm trying to find out is the fellow's name on first base.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy that gets...
Abbott: That's it.
Costello: Who gets the money...
Abbott: He does, every dollar. Sometimes his wife comes down and collects it.
Costello: Whose wife?
Abbott: Yes.
PAUSE
Abbott: What's wrong with that?
Costello: Look, all I wanna know is when you sign up the first baseman, how does he sign his name?
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: How does he sign...
Abbott: That's how he signs it.
Costello: Who?
Abbott: Yes.
PAUSE
Costello: All I'm trying to find out is what's the guy's name on first base.
Abbott: No. What is on second base.
Costello: I'm not asking you who's on second.
Abbott: Who's on first.
Costello: One base at a time!
Abbott: Well, don't change the players around.
Costello: I'm not changing nobody!
Abbott: Take it easy, buddy.
Costello: I'm only asking you, who's the guy on first base?
Abbott: That's right.
Costello: Ok.
Abbott: All right.
PAUSE
Costello: What's the guy's name on first base?
Abbott: No. What is on second.
Costello: I'm not asking you who's on second.
Abbott: Who's on first.
Costello: I don't know.
Abbott: He's on third, we're not talking about him.
Costello: Now how did I get on third base?
Abbott: Why you mentioned his name.
Costello: If I mentioned the third baseman's name, who did I say is playing third?
Abbott: No. Who's playing first.
Costello: What's on first?
Abbott: What's on second.
Costello: I don't know.
Abbott: He's on third.
Costello: There I go, back on third again!
PAUSE
Costello: Would you just stay on third base and don't go off it.
Abbott: All right, what do you want to know?
Costello: Now who's playing third base?
Abbott: Why do you insist on putting Who on third base?
Costello: What am I putting on third.
Abbott: No. What is on second.
Costello: You don't want who on second?
Abbott: Who is on first.
Costello: I don't know.
Abbott & Costello Together:Third base!
PAUSE
Costello: Look, you gotta outfield?
Abbott: Sure.
Costello: The left fielder's name?
Abbott: Why.
Costello: I just thought I'd ask you.
Abbott: Well, I just thought I'd tell ya.
Costello: Then tell me who's playing left field.
Abbott: Who's playing first.
Costello: I'm not... stay out of the infield! I want to know what's the guy's name in left field?
Abbott: No, What is on second.
Costello: I'm not asking you who's on second.
Abbott: Who's on first!
Costello: I don't know.
Abbott & Costello Together: Third base!
PAUSE
Costello: The left fielder's name?
Abbott: Why.
Costello: Because!
Abbott: Oh, he's centerfield.
PAUSE
Costello: Look, You gotta pitcher on this team?
Abbott: Sure.
Costello: The pitcher's name?
Abbott: Tomorrow.
Costello: You don't want to tell me today?
Abbott: I'm telling you now.
Costello: Then go ahead.
Abbott: Tomorrow!
Costello: What time?
Abbott: What time what?
Costello: What time tomorrow are you gonna tell me who's pitching?
Abbott: Now listen. Who is not pitching.
Costello: I'll break your arm, you say who's on first! I want to know what's the pitcher's name?
Abbott: What's on second.
Costello: I don't know.
Abbott & Costello Together: Third base!
PAUSE
Costello: Gotta a catcher?
Abbott: Certainly.
Costello: The catcher's name?
Abbott: Today.
Costello: Today, and tomorrow's pitching.
Abbott: Now you've got it.
Costello: All we got is a couple of days on the team.
PAUSE
Costello: You know I'm a catcher too.
Abbott: So they tell me.
Costello: I get behind the plate to do some fancy catching, Tomorrow's pitching on my team and a heavy hitter gets up. Now the heavy hitter bunts the ball. When he bunts the ball, me, being a good catcher, I'm gonna throw the guy out at first base. So I pick up the ball and throw it to who?
Abbott: Now that's the first thing you've said right.
Costello: I don't even know what I'm talking about!
PAUSE
Abbott: That's all you have to do.
Costello: Is to throw the ball to first base.
Abbott: Yes!
Costello: Now who's got it?
Abbott: Naturally.
PAUSE
Costello: Look, if I throw the ball to first base, somebody's gotta get it. Now who has it?
Abbott: Naturally.
Costello: Who?
Abbott: Naturally.
Costello: Naturally?
Abbott: Naturally.
Costello: So I pick up the ball and I throw it to Naturally.
Abbott: No you don't, you throw the ball to Who.
Costello: Naturally.
Abbott: That's different.
Costello: That's what I said.
Abbott: You're not saying it...
Costello: I throw the ball to Naturally.
Abbott: You throw it to Who.
Costello: Naturally.
Abbott: That's it.
Costello: That's what I said!
Abbott: You ask me.
Costello: I throw the ball to who?
Abbott: Naturally.
Costello: Now you ask me.
Abbott: You throw the ball to Who?
Costello: Naturally.
Abbott: That's it.
Costello: Same as you! Same as YOU! I throw the ball to who. Whoever it is drops the ball and the guy runs to second. Who picks up the ball and throws it to What. What throws it to I Don't Know. I Don't Know throws it back to Tomorrow, Triple play. Another guy gets up and hits a long fly ball to Because. Why? I don't know! He's on third and I don't give a darn!
Abbott: What?
Costello: I said I don't give a darn!
Abbott: Oh, that's our shortstop.

A LONG BORING BLABBING ABOUT THE MARATHON

Marathon update: FINISHED

Where to begin??? Ok, well I woke up saturday March 18th to lots of birthday wishes. I packed and then walked next door to one of the many hair places in my town and treated myself to a hair wash which is really an excuse to get cool water on my head and a 20 minute fabulous head massage. For 50 cents it's not too much of a splurge, but simply a nice way to start your birthday.

Then biked over to the van stop. Locked up my bike (Jeeda and Wendy had the key and picked it up later) and got on the van to bkk. After about 20 minutes I realized I had to pee pretty badly, but wouldn't get a stop for another hour and a half. I managed a pit stop when we luckily stopped for something else, but after another hour I was seriously worried I'd pee myself before the next stop in 30 mins. I didn't. But damn was it painful. No one can say I wasn't hydrating well!!

Made it to bkk and treated myself to a taxi ride- another birthday/pre-marathon splurge. The hotel was the Amari Watergate and it's SO nice. Even by American standards. MUCH nicer than the $4 guesthouses I usually stay in on my PC salary.

Kate, a good PC friend, was with me and we chilled out then went to a really nice mall to relax in some A/C and distract ourselves from the big run the next day (kate ran the half marathon) at 'Broke Back Mountain.' Unfortunately the web had listed the wrong time, so we ended up walking around the mall AMAZING american like grocery store. Kate was on a mission to get Green food dye so we could celebrate ST. Patty's day after the marathon (both of us had been dry for a while leading up to the race). We also went crazy on lots of food that looked good that we were going to get for after the marathon. Treats we NEVER get in our town like salsa and tortila chips, Praline chocolate, organic sea salt chips, and Pepridge farm Chessman cookies. Man were we having fun looking at all this food we love and never get to see. But I think we wenta little crazy because we somehow decided it would be a GRAND idea to get brownie mix for the next day. No oven? No problem. We wanted to eat it raw anyway.

THEN (on the way to the bathroom-again) I saw the most gorgeous cakes in display cases. I picked out a praline mouse cake w HUGE strawberries on top. And had a great time joking with the ladies about what to write on top. I decided on ทารา เรเชล which is Tara and Rachel in Thai. Tara is one of my best friends in Thailand and by some kismic connection we have the same b-day.

Since we had a DVD player in our room at the swanky hotel we decided to go the plaza that has EVERY imaginable DVD for 100 baht. Another cab ride.... I was living in style last weekend!! We got 'Broke Back Mountain' then decided we just wantd something cheezy and fun so we got the chick flick where Sarah Jessica Parker is an uptight woman meeting the hippy family of her boy. Bedtime was 8 pm.

Moments later the alarm went off at 2:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On the bus by 3:15. At the marathon sight by 4:40. Last minute 'good luck' phone calls. Pee. Stretch. There was a ceremony where the monks were doing blessings, but we just sort of watched from a distance. I saw a woman wearing Loomis Chaifee shorts so we chatted w her for a while.

By 5:25 I was pouring glasses of ice water on myself to try to start w a cool temp and save my body energy from sweating. I really wasn't too nervous. I expected to be chatting w more people at the start line, but only a few little comments here and there. I was asking some thais if they were nervous. They did have a monk religiously spraying us with water for blessing. It was a nice start before the gong! And GO!!!

It was tough to hold myself back and watch what seemed like everyone pass me.... But as I checked my gage watch I was going faster than I felt. I had to really restrain myself to hold back.

It was still total darkness when we left the temple grounds through the huge glittery gate. After 200 yards the fans were gone. Altho about 10 times throughout the course there were groups of people sitting on the road or in a pavilion on the side playing thai music on traditional instraments. One house even had thai puppetry set up for us as we ran by. So the runner became fans for each other. Except the thais aren't big on cheering. But I usually got a response when I yelled out "Gang Mak" or "Yeaum."

I had Jeeda and Wendy print เรโชล สู๊สู๊สู๊ which best translates to 'Rachel Fight Fight Fight' and is the sporting cheer of choice. And on the back we wrote เรโชล ไปไหน which means 'Rachel, where are you going?" But in Thailand it's the greeting most often used and translates best as 'What's up?' A couple times I heard people reading my shirt from behind and would respond with the thai for 'I'm going running.' Never got anyone to cheer outright for me. In fact they had a little trouble saying my name at all. It was a little bit of an inside joke with myself because when I go out for a run I always get people asking me where I'm going and it took me a while not to think the Thais were crazy for asking me this.

So the forcast was for 100% humidity the first few hours of my marathon with a 'Realfeel' feel of 114 for the day. So I was pouring water on myself as much as possible to stay cool. Icecubes in the sportsbra too! I think this certainly helped my core temp, but it did a bad number on my shoe pace monitor.

By 4.81 miles it died. I wish I could convey to you the true misery of this situation. I have been using this mechanism to pace myself on runs for more than the past 2 years. A marathon is all about pace. Holding back energy at the beginning and knowing when to start releasing it so you'l have enough power to get to the end. Well, I was sort of running blindly. I have been so relyant on this watch that I don't have a personal gauge for my speed.

Well it died and I spent 10 minutes being pissed. Thinking what miserable timing. Thinking about all the things I should have done, but didn't, to prevent this from happening. I was not happy.

Then I thought: Rachel, you're not going to make a personal record on this marathon, you knew that from the beginning, so what are you going to be proud of at the end? Your mental strenth. You need to change your attitude, accept the adverse condition, and enjoy this run in the beautiful Thailand countryside.

And I am utmostly proud to say 'I did just that!'

I gave myself an attitde check and started enjoying the gorgeous coconut trees and rice fields i was running through. Started thanking the officals by the side of the road. Cheering for other runners. Asking if they were tired, etc. I had fun listening to the 2gb Ipod Mike lent me because it was so light. But once the Cake song "She's going the distance... She's going for speed...." came on I pretty much had that on repeat.

Not to say it was all a piece of cake. Turns out I didn't pace perfectly and was dragging my feet with about 5 miles to go. I had been reading about mantra to get yourself though the tough parts of running. Here's what i did: I looked at the fake tatoo of a tiger on my inner fore-arm and would grrrr because I'm such a bad-ass (hehe). I told myself I am doing something less than 1% of 1% of people have done. "This is it. This is your marathon. This is what you've trained for. You're here. ENJOY" "I trained ALL by myself with out friends to run with, without other runner around to motivate, I got out there on the roads and did those long runs by myself. I was 100% my own motivation. It all came from within me. That's amazing." and at the end when I was desperate I imagined giants of my dad and brother and their hands were pushing be from behind. My mom was blowing cool air on the back of my neck and Jen was telling me how proud of me she is.

David thinks I was hallucinating....

At about the 35km mark (7 to go) I realized everyone was walking. But I wouldn't let myself do it. Even tho I was shuffling my feet. I was only going to walk on my designated walk breaks- every 6th minute. I ran strong and kept passing people. I guess they had trouble pacing too. Slowly I passed people. And at the 1km mark I was saying those mantras and convinced I was going finish strong when I heard cheering.

There standing on the side of the road were Jon and Noah!!! Two FABULOUS friends from Peace Corps. They had gotten up an an upgodly hour and sat on a miserable local bus that stopped all the time for over 2 hours to cheer me on!! They had on their running shoes and they got on either side of me and race along side of me. What amazing friends they are. Noah even had thai prayer jasmine flowers to give me.

The race was really well organized and they had great water stands every 2.5 km. And at the end they had much appreciated signs counting down 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m. FINISH LINE. Sweet victory...

Kate was there snapping picts. And they all took me over to the shade. Kate fielded lots of congrats calls from our friends. They helped me unlace. ...massaged me and didn't even complain about how sweaty I was. Untill I saw the free massages and went over to let the professionals deal with my sweatyness.

I was chatting away with the people massaging me as they were locals and filling me in on local stuff, when Jon came over saying "Rachel Bobruff... Rachel Bobruff. They're calling your name over there. You placed!" Turns out I came in 4th for women 20-29!!!

So after my stage acceptance I did photos, but was too tired for autographs... I ate a much derserved ice cream and we slowly made our way to the bus and back to the hotel. I sat on a bag of ice the whole way.

Jon, Noah, Kate and I had a pizza party by the pool. And just chilled till friends started tricking in...Loads of people were in town for a training so we ended up with 30 or 40 or people hanging out by the pool. Kate got to make her green beer...I got to drink out of my trophy. We ate the yummy cake. We ordered more pizza. We ate the chips and salsa. We swam. We did head stand contests. We made sycronized swimming routines. We played chicken.

We motivated to dancing and someone in my head convinced me it would be a good idea to join. In my heels. That person must have been drunk. hehe. We had a blast. A great way to end a fabulous marathon/birthday/ st.paddys celebration. Of course I wore my metal too.

Kate and I got home by 2 and decided we should make it a full 24 hours... Finally we watched 'Broke Back mountain' (or at least the first 10 mins of it).

WOW. A full-on, life-filled day.

Thank you SO much for all your love and support on my marathon and the months leading up to it. Thinking about all my fabulous friends was certainly motivating on my marathon. I felt like such a lucky girl.

ignoring the birthday

Yes, yes, my birthday will be here in about a milisecond. And yes, I can no longer kid myself about being in my 'mid-twentys' I am offically in my 'late-twentys.' Maybe this year I'll learn how to spell twentys. Is this correct? Anyone? Twenties?

Well I have hardly given the day a moments thought this year and there will absolutely be no partying of any kind on March 18th. In fact if I'm not in bed by 7:45 pm I am in big trouble.
No, I don't think I'm turning old and grey and want to just ignore the big turning of the clock. I just have bigger and better things to worry about.

March 19th I have a little 26.2 mile jaunt (or 42 kms if you would rather- whichever sounds more impressive). And since we are in Thailand where the high is supposed to reach a 'realfeel' temp of 114 degrees I will be getting on a bus at 3am to get to the start line.

So the real party will begin about 10:30 am on March 19th (still my birthday in the US for those of you keeping track).

In lue of presents please send any and all your positive energy and COLD thoughts my way from 5:30pm- about 10:30pm March 18th Eastern Time.

dinner conversation

last night i made the best dinner. part american, part thai. I am really lucky in that I have a market in my town that sells food every day. and good food too. Yesterday i went over after I finished my thai language lesson and wandered around a bit. Ran into someone I recognise, but can't remember from where and chatted a bit. Saw all the ladies at their stalls, selling coconut ice cream, garlic, or ducks, or whatever. Stopped and chatted for a while. I went to my 'usuals' and got some lettuce, red pepper, corn, chicken, and some dried tamarinds. Oh and I got some special noodles that my best friends son likes.

So I made a yummy american salad w carrot and cukes and the works. Then I pan fried some chicken thai style- w garlic, onions and oyster sauce and threw it on top!! mmmmm.

As I was making it Munglee, the 4 yr old who lives next door was running around through my kitchen. And he invited me to eat over at his house. Which I do pretty often anyway.

As I was chatting w Jeeda over dinner I asked her if there is anything she wanted from America, since David and Jen are coming soon. She said she didn't want anything, then jokingly changed her answer to 'snow.' I'd like some too, especially since it's getting over 100 these days.

Later Jeeda asked me who the president of the US is and I told her. She was checking that it wasn't Bill Clinton.

But here's the kicker of the evening. Munglee has all these DVDs that are bits and pieces of walt disney cartoons with explinations and songs etc. It is supposed to teach him English. He has about 30 DVDs, 15 pop up books and 15 interactive computer games. I asked how much this all cost and they are paying about $35 every month for 33 months or something crazylike that. I don't remember the details, but it came out to over $1000 US dollars. THAT'S CRAZY. They could get a round trip ticket to the states for that.

Jeeda asked me if I watched those movies as a kid and I think she was disapointd to learn I watched the origional of a lot of those, but not the teaching DVDs they have. And when she pointed to the publisher she expected me to know them. Apparently the sales person told her every child in the US learns w this company. Oh the lore of the USA.

I think my friends were taken. For some reason Jeeda assumed that if she gave birth in the US the child would automatically speak English, even if she only spoke Thai w it. I explained how I think learning a language needs to be a two way street, not just listening, but speaking and interacting and learning from cues and mistakes. After that she picked up a book and began reciting some words to Munglee in English.

email

below is an email I sent to a college senior from the states who was requesting info on the PC. I thought it gave some good general info about my life. So here it is


Hi Nori,

Great to hear from you. Yes, I'd be happy to email w you and answer questions. I am in PC in Thailand which is sort of unique in that PC has been here for over 40 years and Thailand is a very developed country. PC was planning on leaving but Thailand begged them to stay basically. So I'm not living in a mud hut or anything. I am emailing you from my computer in my 4 story townhouse actually- not that it's the same as a town house would be in the states.

ok. anyway. I do love PC. I love being a volunteer. I love living my life like a Thai. It is sometimes frustrating bc I want to get a lot 'accomplished' here, but by the American definition of that word I don't always feel like I'm doing so. The cool thing I guess is that by the Thai cultural definition of that word I am getting lots done. i'm spending time w the Thais and having fun w them. That's what's important here. That being said I have done a few projects that I think have been helpful and hope I have made a difference in the teaching styles of the teachers I co-teach with.

Dealing with Peace Corps itself was not really what I expected. But every country is different. I expected a lot of emotional support during my training and thought them to be really unsupportive. But now that I have shifted my expectations I am happy w peace corps. I have to say I am a little afraid of them as an entity, but my personal interactions with staff are always so pleasant. They are a great group of people- individually, out of the PC context.

I also have made great friends with other volunteers and get to see some friends at least once a month. That may be unique to Thailand, as I said it's a very developed country. But we have lots of workshops and meetings around the country. And there is lots of opportunity to collaborate on projects at each other's sites.

So, what's it like to be a volunteer? Well, I don't feel like a volunteer anymore. I just feel like a gal living in Uthai Thani, Thailand. Living my life. Going to the market for my veggies every day and eating rice w my neighbors every night. Checking out the festivals when they happen in town and working in the schools during the day. In many ways I feel like a superstar. The Thais LOVE America and anything American, so by association they love me. I really love the friends I have made in Uthai Thani and already know I will be so homesick for this place when I leave. Social interactions are quite different here than in the states and it was a little bit of a culture shock adjusting, but I fear going back to the states will be even worse.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have other questions, Rachel

Rachel M. Bobruff Baan ScreenTambon Uthai MaiAmphur MuangUthai Thani61000Thailand011-669-672-7262http://rachelinthailand.blogspot.com/

From: Nori Kasting To: ladyrachel2000@hotmail.comSubject: questions about the Peace CorpsDate: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:44:16 -0600

Hi Rachel,My name is Nori and I am thinking of going into the Peace Corps after I graduate from Vanderbilt in May. I'm a friend of Rachel Nisselson, and she told me she knew a few people who had done or were currently in the Peace Corps. She said you probably wouldn't mind if I contacted you to ask you a few questions. I was just wondering how you liked being in the Peace Corps, if it's what you expected and what it's like to be a volunteer. If you have a minute, I would really appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks so much :).Nori

playing on the computer

I am supposed to be writting a grant to get some funding for a workshop we're running. But I am procrastinatin.... Instead I'm buying plane tix for when Jen and David come in April. I'm googling how broken in is 'broken in' shoes for the marathon. I made a yummy thai omlette a little bit ago. I went next door and chatted w Jeeda and Wendy a bit. I am debating taking shower #2 of today. Basically I'm sitting in my chair in front of the fan w my computer on my lap.

Later today there is supposed to be a parade in town. Today is the start of a huge festival. It's a Red Cross sponsored event. There will be lots of music groups at night. And in the day there will be stalls selling local products from all over Thailand.

scavenger hunt

Some pictures from the scavenger hunt- read on.....





I mentioned that there are almost 60 trainees in my town w the Peace Corps, right?

It has been so much fun having them here and getting to know them. I've had lots of time to hang out w them. And lots of the volunteers who I arrived with have come to visit to teach sessions to the trainees, so I''ve gotten to see lots of friends. Fun.

A couple weeks ago the trainees had the sunday free so Meagan and Julia planned a 'digital camera scavenger hunt. We had to take pictures of a whole list of things- or as many as we could in an hour. Most things were pretty common, other kinda hard to find.

Here's a few things from the list:
-someone hand washing clothes
-a rice field
- a western toilet
-a toilet you have to pay to use
-a hamburger
-someone giving a thumbs up
-someone picking their nose [ more common than the last]
-public display of affection between man and woman
-public display of affection between man and man [more common than the last]
-a dog w big balls
- a dog w big breast
-noodles
- popcorn
- an OTOP product (locally made product)
-someone singing
- a mullet
-really bad English translation
-an elephant
- snacks made from squid

Marathon countdown

My marathon, the Thailand Temple Run, is 11 days away, on March 19th....

Two weeks ago I did my longest run ever- 27.5 miles. I took it nice and slow, as a training run. But I did it!! All by myself too. Wow. I should be ready for this marathon... I initially wanted to beat my best marathon time, 4:28. But lately I have reajusted my goal time to 4:45. I may have to reajust again, as we have hit the HOT season. It's officially here. And in a country where it's in the upper 80s during the COLD season, the hot season is not a pretty site. I just checked the weather and today it should reach a 'RealFeel' temp of 120. The predicted temp for my marathon site and day is 'partially sunny, very hot and humid' with a 'RealFeel' temp high of 113.

OH MY BUDDHA.

The 18th is my birthday. It's also two of my close friends birthdays- Tara and Natalie. My other close volunteer friend, Lindsey, has her b-day the 17th. So it is party time in Bangkok. Unfortunately I will not be partying on the 18th. I plan to get a morning bus to bangkok from Uthai. On the 18th I plan to go see a movie and have a great meal. In Bkk movies are about $3. But you can get VIP seats for closer to $8. For the extra $5 you get chairs that practically turn into beds, w blankets, and waitress service. I don't know all the details, bc I've never done it, but I plan to on my b-day. With my girls next to me. Then I hope to hit the hay at my fabulous fancy hotel by 8pm. It will be a 3am departure time for me. GULP.

Sunday is the marathon!! Starts at 5:30am, when hopefully it will only be in the low 90s. I am thinking of renting a van to get lots of my friends to come watch. The actual race site is about 85 kms from bangkok in a small province. The course winds by lots of temples and some rice fields. Should be gorgeous. Can't wait....

After the race everyone (loads of volunteers are coming in for the weekend) will come over to my nice hotel for pool time. Then yummy food. Then party time!!! I plan to be in heels and dancing till dawn.