Farang

The adventure continues. (I apologize, this is possibly the longest post ever, so hang tight, and I understand if you just can't make it through!)

After Ko Tao, we grabbed a hostel in Chumphon for the night, planning to meet our friend in the Peace Corps, Liz, and stay with some of her friends in a nearby village.

After a calm night where we ended up passing out at around 8 p.m. (Mr. Jet Lag just wouldn't leave us alone) we got up and met Liz at the (wrong) bus station, but it was soooooooo grand to see her and have someone lead us around who knows the language!! Liz is seriously the most generous person ever!

As are the rest of her PC buddies. We stayed with her friend Josh, outside of the village of Lang Suan (pronounced Longswan) right on the beautiful coast. The first day is a blur--Liz led us to Lang Suan, where biannual boat races were going on, and it was crazy crowds. So loud, so many people, so much color and smells. We stowed our packs in the police station and tried some of Liz's papaya salad (the jury's still out on that one) before meeting Josh and another PCV Leanne to watch some races.

Right about the time the downpour began, we hightailed it into the market tents, and that's the first time I noticed the stares.

Having spent most of our time in well-touristed (that probably isn't a word, but shush) areas, we hadn't had much experience being the animals-in-a-zoo foreigners, aka farangs.

The staring is blatant, little children will be nudged to get their view of the farangs wandering through the market, sampling all the food in sight (which sometimes completely backfires!!). Especially as we were in a group of farangs!

The staring, while obvious, was never what I would call rude. I had one experience in a small village in Peru where I felt totally unwelcome, but everyone here would point and gawk, but also smile.

I guess there's a reason Thailand is called the Land of Many Smiles! :)

It was great having Josh and Liz as tour guides, and urging us to try everything possible. The sweet sticky rice wrapped in some sort of leaf was delicious, as were the pomegranates and many other exotic types of fruit. The worst thing we tried (the worst thing we've tried this entire trip, in my opinion) ended up being eggs from a horseshoe crab. I can't even describe how awful they are, but YUCK. The taste wouldn't go away, even after some pink (insanely sweet strawberry) milk.

One thing I've discovered about Thailand--my sweet tooth has got nothing on theirs. Everything is drenched in sugar. Their chocolate milk is so sweet one sip makes me feel sick--and for those of you who know me and my insatiable sweet tooth, this is quite impressive.

After the market, we had a quiet evening eating Josh's homemade Thai food and wandering up to Lang Suan to visit the 7-11, which is, according to PCV here, Mecca. I didn't get the draw at first, but it does always have A/C and lots of fun little snacks.

Josh's place, in another little village outside of Lang Suan, is this adorable little cottage about three feet away from the beach. It was so nice and peaceful, and he was such a great host! All these people are making me and Court feel soooo welcome.

The next day was a true day of adventure.

Soon after waking up, we headed to this nearby island that apparently in hot season you can walk across the water too, but after the previous day's downpour, this was not an option.

We started the trek down, and were quickly picked up by, of all things, a truck full of crabs!! It was actually really fun, and I only got pinched once (why none of the other five crammed in the back got a pinch is beyond me, but that's just my luck).

It was also my first experience hitchhiking, and now it's one of my favorite ways of travel. I'm not sure if we'll do it without one of our Peace Corps buddies considering our grasp of the language pretty much stops at "pretty," "delicious," "hello," and "thank you." It's still a fun, acceptable mode of transport around here, and I like it!

The rest of the day passed quickly: we hitchhiked a boat to the little deserted island, hung out on the perfect deserted beach, showered, wandered into town for some internet love and delicious seafood fried rice, and planned for our departure the next day.

The next day, we made friends in Chumphon, including a cute old Thai guy named Charlie who showed us around, and a Brit by the name of Dean who was currently almost done with biking from the UK all the way to Singapore (yeah, WOW). We bid a sad farewell to Josh, and waited for our bus, killing time by watching the Joy Luck Club, a great movie that had us all missing our mamas!!

Another night bus (rapidly becoming a main mode of transportation, which are not at all thrilling like the hitchhiking) and we ended up in Bangkok. There, we bid Leanne, and Megan, another PCV, goodbye, and wandered the city for the day. I had some articles to finish up for Outside Bozeman (and somehow, I finished them, even though writing about ice climbing with Boy Scouts while hanging out in an alley sweltering in approximately 100 percent humidity was surreal) and Liz had to visit the Peace Corps Lounge.

The day was nice, we took the Sky Train around which was fun, these boat taxis that I LOVED, I accidentally brushed against a monk and did not get thrown in the water, (and neither did he!) and we had ice cream and visited the giant Chinatown in Bangkok.

That night, we hopped on another bus to Liz's village, which is just outside of Phrae, in northern Thailand.

There, we continued to experience the weird feeling of being farangs, but again, everyone was so friendly about it! We stayed in Liz's house which, despite the bucket shower (yes, you pour the bucket over yourself a few times, and that's it) and the squat toilet is pretty and cute.

We visited the rice paddies, corn fields, and teak forests, visited many of her neighbors and were constantly being given food and smiles and compliments. I had my first Pad Thai which I am now ADDICTED to, got called a doll more than once, and met the students I will be helping out with in a few weeks!

THEY ARE SO CUTE. I CAN'T WAIT.

We also met one of Liz's co-teachers--the Peace Corps policy is to have the volunteers help out another teacher, as that is more sustainable than them just coming in, teaching, and leaving. Her co-teacher, Ba Pat, is this adorable little lady who gave us our first experience with "Thai-napping." Thai-napping is when you hop in a car or bus or whatnot and end up going a million more places than bargained for.

For example, Ba Pat kindly agreed to take us into Phrae to shop (which, being obsessed with all things Thai, we could hardly refuse). Before that though, we ended up sightseeing at this nearby cave which has recently been remodeled to look sort of like a discotheque.

The cave was beautiful, but it was quite interesting to see all the work that had been done--very different from the US, where all the caves I've been to have been about leaving-no-trace, not filling it with neon lights to attract tourists.

The end of the cave also had a lovely shrine to Buddha, just like most of the country, so we paid our respects and played a fortune-telling game included in the shrine.

My fortune was...terrible. Ba Pat, amusedly, told me I should just put that one back and forget it. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be true, because my life certainly does NOT suck!

Courtney, of course, got a lovely fortune, just like she got the lovely Thai nickname, and gets the lovely pictures taken of her...and no, I'm not bitter at all :). It's kind of funny how, when Thais learn her name, they say, "awww..." (her name is Fondow, which means falling star) and when they hear mine, they laugh. Mine, on the other hand, is pomegranate, or Macgaw (I can barely pronounce it, much less spell it!!).

I do like pomegranates, and they're especially delicious here, and it's better than my first two nicknames, which were Bendy (guess where that came from) and Kanom, which means snack. I also like that Macgaw is in the northern dialect of Thai...taptim is pomegranate in Central Thai, fyi...and for some reasons it sends people into hysterics when they hear Macgaw. Maybe that's just my face, though. :) So far, I have been called beautiful many times, which I'm told is mostly because I'm white, but hey, I ain't gonna fight that. I also have been told I look like a doll (can't decide if that's a good thing), that I'm fat (don't worry, I don't take it to heart--they are TINY here) and also that my nose should be used as a model for plastic surgeons. Suffice to say, I LOVE the Thai people!

Anywho, after the cave, we went a little crazy shopping and eating Pad Thai with Ba Pat and her sister. It was quite the day!!!

Whew, I made it through the first two weeks. Now, Court and I are doing a wee bit of traveling on our own, renewing our visa in Laos, so we can stay in the country longer and volunteer in Liz's school and see Loi Krathong, the lantern festival!



I hope you at least smiled if you have made it this far, cause I sure am!!! :) More to come, if you have the stamina to continue!

xxx




p.s. You can find my cousin Courtney's accounts of our travels here!

A Whole New World

This may be one of the most overused quotes in history, but...Todo, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore! And I guess it's used so much because baby, it's true.
Thailand is (apparently I'm quoting old movies) a whole new world, and while we were on the island, we discovered a world within that world. In other words, scuba diving!!!
We stayed at Black Tip Resort, which sounds way fancier than it was, but besides the non-flush toilets and the ants that took over our bungalow on the last night, we still had a bungalow, a perfect view, and a very nice pool that made the heat a little more bearable.
Ko Tao, the island we stayed on, which means Turtle Island, isn't very big, but we managed to find a deserted spot, Tanote Bay, and it was the perfect place to unwind after the chaos and terror (I might be overdramatic, but seriously, it was insane) of Bangkok.

















And, to make it even better, I finished my open water certification there!! In the Gulf of Thailand. Hello dreamland.
However, I did learn that conquering my fear of diving in a pool was nothing compared to diving in the ocean. Except for my (most likely irrational) fears about getting the bends, I felt quite comfortable at the bottom of the ocean. So much to SEE! So much completely foreign beautiful stuff to see! It was amazing and one of the best ways possible to start off our trip.
The first day, it was me and my dive master, as I had (another) swim test to ace and a bunch of skills I'd already done in the pool to do under the ocean. Some of them were easy--who knew all those hours in Girl Scouts wandering around meadows with a compass would actually make me semi-proficient--and some, like the mask clearing, were a little more stressful. I had the most trouble with equalizing my ears, which, they don't bother to tell you in the diving books, will likely hurt the first few times no matter what you do. And, my dive master, a fine old gent named John from Britain, informed me that women have more trouble equalizing than men.
Go figure.
Even with the tasks, it was exhilirating and relaxing! I found these awesome little worms, Christmas tree worms, that absolutely delighted me with their colors and their quick retreat when you wave a hand over them (the first time I almost got a heart attack, which sent John into spasms of hilarity).























Day Two, we woke up after a restless night in fear of the encroaching ant army to stormy skies and lightning over the ocean (which for some reason I never knew was possible!!) but the go ahead to dive anyway. My cousin, who's awesome and had already completed her open water certification, came along with us today, and we explored my tantalizing mistress, the sea, further. The day went smoothly, with a small bout of seasickness for my cuz and some further equalization issues for me, but it was just...so...FUN! Even despite the fact that for a week after I was convinced I had the bends. (Yes, I'm a hypochondriac, and yes, I know it's ridiculous, but I had to have ONE flaw, right? ;) ).
I was sad to leave our little island paradise for the rest of the terrifying country...but more adventures awaited us after our last ferry ride:) Which means, you better be at the edge of your seat for more stories!!!! :)
XOXO

Into the Sweaty Fist

To begin...

WHEW!!!!

Thailand truly has been an adventure so far. After an epic (ahem, not so much) 32-hour long trip, including 13 hours in the Seoul airport and one brief, fuzzy trip to a Buddhist temple in Seoul, we arrived in Bangkok at around 10 p.m. on Friday, October 22nd. And into the sweaty fist indeed...it was a lovely 85 degrees when we landed, with more humidity than I have ever felt. My hair has been one wild ride and I don't anticipate that changing.

The first night was rather terrifying, landing among 8 million people, about 4 million of them partying in the tourist district of Bangkok, but we found a decent hostal (with A/C--and we proceeded to shiver all night) and got about 4 hours of rest thanks to jet lag.

The next day...we were off! We ran errands, got a bus ticket to get out of that city--a joint ticket, including a boat to the island Ko Tao--and began to discover how FRIENDLY everyone is here. A kid on the street led us to the tourist office, everyone wanted to discuss Schwartenegger's impact on California with my cousin, and a random teacher put us on a tuk-tuk to see the reclining Buddha, and, inexplicably, a sapphire export company. The Buddha was completely incredible, and we caught our first sights of the Thai Buddhist monks in their head-to-toe orange outfits. We also learned that they are not allowed to touch women...I'm not exactly clear what happens if they are to accidentally brush against one, but they even have spots on buses and boats to avoid this situation.

The next day, after a loooooooong overnight bus ride and a morning ferry ride (which included a stop over in Chumphon and the viewing of a truly terrifying horror movie--Orphan) we arrived at the paradise of Ko Tao Island, in the Gulf of Thailand.

For all of you lucky enough to get postcards, prepare to get realllllly jealous!

We had a perfect little bungalow over looking the beach, and it was so perfect we could even forgive the toilet, the bucket-flush kind (which is the norm here!) and the jet lag slowly began to recede.

That's it for now, folks, but stayed tuned for my REAL OCEAN diving adventures coming soon!

I MISS YOU ALL! xoxo

Diving

Diving is one of those things I've always wanted to do...and I'm learning that a lot of those things I've always wanted to do actually terrify me on some level. I actually didn't think I would be that terrified until I started the class. Reading about all the horrible things that can happen, the scary things, while under water trusting your lungs to a fake tank of compressed air strapped onto your back, well, freaked me out.

But, as someone wise told me this week, just because you're afraid of something doesn't mean you can't do it. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't do it because of my fear--I guess that means I do have a small kernel of bravery wrapped up in my worry.

Anyway, the first class was, well, to be redundant, quite scary. I didn't expect to be so afraid and uncomfortable and panicky under that water! As a competitive swimmer for a big chunk of my life, as well as a certified lifeguard, so I'm confident in most water situations, and the fact that I wasn't expecting to be scared made it even worse.

The first day also included a lot of information, and a lot of tests. Tests on paper and underwater. My least favorite was when the instructor came by, as we were all seated underwater watching him, and took our regulator (that contraption you stick in your mouth to enable you to get air) out of our mouths and threw it behind us. Of course, it's attached to the air tank, so it's not that hard to retrieve, but I kept freaking out and inhaling water. I finally got all of the skills, including the one where our masks were ripped off (have to thank my

horrible genetic eyesight for forcing me to keep my eyes squeezed closed as I groped around for the allotted minute, to keep my contacts intact) and where we had to use our buddy's regulators.

I was fairly exhausted and scared and not sure that this was the sport for me, until the next day! It was a million times more comfortable. I was, again, surprised at how much more fun it was! The equipment wasn't as terrifying, or as awkward, and I passed all of the tests without panicking once, and I was giddy the entire time, and wished our next class wasn't a week away.

So, the moral of this story is, fear can be a guidepost. It's one of those tricky things we need to master during life: either to follow your fearful instincts or to defy them. Sometimes fear is the best warning system, sometimes it holds us back. Just another part that works so much better if it's balanced.

This small little lesson about fear has oddly helped prepare me for me trip, too. For someone who loves to travel and who is a fairly experienced traveller, I am usually quite apprehensive and anxious and well, terrified before anything trip like this. I guess it's the fear of the unknown--and for me, the lovely little hypochondriac tendencies my psyche leans toward.

I'm afraid of leaving my boyfriend, my dogs, my family, my friends, my doctors, my therapists, my JOBS, the pretty great rhythm I have here. I'm afraid of coming back and having everything be heartbreakingly different. I'm afraid of not coming back. I'm afraid of my plane pulling a 'Lost' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and getting stuck on an island with polar bears and smoke monsters and people-snatchers (although I wouldn't be too upset if I ended up with a handsome doctor and a hot con-man fighting over me). You probably get it--I'm afraid.

But hey, it's just like strapping on a tank and submerging in the ocean--doesn't mean I won't do it. And you know what? There's a 99% chance it will be completely, totally worth it (and that 1% chance probably holds a lesson I really need to learn, even if it plain sucks).

We never know what's next, we never know when our hourglass will empty, but it truly is beautiful on

the other side

of the unknown (even at the bottom of an old pool likely filled with the pee of kids and the sweat of old men).

REVAMPED

You may notice as you peruse that I've done some major housecleaning and rearranging and adding to my little-blog-that-could. All of the pictures on the edges of the blog posts link to something now: "Inspiration Point" links to my favorite blogs I look to for inspiration or fun reading; The picture of me in the yoga pose links to all of my blogs with the label "just because;" the picture of footprints in the sand leads to my flickr (online photos) account, and so on and so forth. I hope, if you get a chance, you have as much fun exploring as I did creating!

That's it for now...have a happy day! :)

Bit of Happy

I found this image...a balloon festival. Made me smile!

Sweet Summertime

AND about six weeks later...I'm baaaack!! Now, I am OFFICIALLY a COLLEGE GRADUATE!! As in, I have a bachelor of arts in English from Montana State University! Sounds so official. Somehow I survived my last class, despite an unfortunate professor, with flying colors, and even learned something and managed to have some fun! I did learn that it's definitely true: just because you speak a language doesn't mean you can teach it! Sure got me thinkin' about my possible career teaching English as a second language.

After a successful finish, I went off to Washington state for a fabulous, well-deserved vacation! It was truly incredible. One day, my boyfriend and I made a long trip to Victoria, Canada on Vancouver Island, and it was one of the best days of my life!! A little dramatic, but it still feels that way almost a month later. I flew over with my friend Hannah, who was visiting her boyfriend working for NAV-C in Seattle, and it was GREAT flying with someone!! I usually fly alone or with my dad, who mostly zones out to his music or sleeps, and isn't exactly as entertained or full of interesting gossip as my old friend Hannah T :).

Unfortunately before I left, I found out that I had a kidney infection--oodles and oodles of fun--so the first day or two was a little calmer than we had planned. But on Saturday, my boyfriend's dad had his 50th birthday party, and we wandered around Olympia, and spent Sunday with his family and just resting.

Mooonndddaaaaay it was off to oh CANADAAAA! Victoria was incredible, so beautiful, I loved it so much I'm considering going to graduate school there!

But before we even got there, an old dream of mine came true--we saw some orca whales on the ferry ride across the sound! I was so happy I literally cried.

Perfect beginning to a perfect day.

We landed, wandered around the little area, avoided the rain, and had a delectable English tea, complete with a silver tray!

After our delicious tea, we took a long bus ride up the island to visit...the Butchart Gardens!! They were incredible and I almost broke my camera taking pictures of practically every flower. Here are some of my favorites!! :) Also, just click on the photo for a larger view--especially the flower ones, as you can see every drop of rain! Not even rain could deter from these Gardens.

The rest of the day--including the drive back to Olympia through the Olympic National Park, which was surprisingly rural--was also so fun!!

So was the rest of the trip! We hung out on the Sound, and in Seattle visiting Hannah and her boyfriend, and our friends Lindsay, Gordon, Casey, Chris Sjoberg, and we even ran into my brother, who was visiting the area for a wedding. We also went to the BEACH, my main true love, and had Thai food and sushi and just a wonderful wonderful time!

It was the best vacation, completely worth the wait. Here a few more pictures:

Nowadays, I'm working at the Chronicle,studying for the GRE--October 1st!--and being a slave at the law office, and I just recently got hired for Express Professionals, a temp agency. I'm planning my trip to Thailand like a fiend, unlike Peru, I might actually be prepared, complete with the perfect, thoroughly researched travel sandals and my own mini-pharmacy. My shots are up-to-date, my travel book is dog-eared, my lists are made and keep getting longer...I am an expert planner.

I'm also beginning to apply to GRAD SCHOOOOooooL! I still have applied to both AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, and I have a few leads on journalism jobs, so I have a million options and a million choices.

School started for pretty much everyone I know this week, which got me thinking about my future. Grad school is very exciting right now--I'm looking at the University of Victoria, Portland State, University of South Carolina, Missoula, Trinity College Dublin, and a gazillion more. Grad schools are intense!!!!!

BUT REALLY, this blog is about my exploration of the world and life, which is continuing in OCTOBER!! I'm so excited! The first few weeks, our friend in the Peace Corps, Liz, has time off, so we're landing and heading to the beach.

To prepare, my dad and I are taking long-awaited scuba lessons right here in Bozeman! So hopefully I'll get a chance to do that at one of the best places in the world for it...if I pass the class, that is!

It will be sooooo nice--especially after the cool summer Bozeman has had!!

I'm also looking at options for when I return. I'm still considering teaching English abroad, although I love writing more every day. Also, next summer, I'm looking at GeoVisions, a way to teach conversational English to a family in exchange for room and board. Always looking to the future and planning...

I hope all of you, my many many avid readers, are having a wonderful August! Happy SEPTEMBER, tomorrow! Eek