It is with a strong sense of irony that I now read over my old blog post-the one where I talk about the ills of dengue fever and warn everyone to wear bug spray all the time. I apparently did not follow my own advice because about 2 weeks after I posted that, I got the dreaded "kai leaud auk". I was in the hospital for 7 days- in on August 18th and released on August 26th, my 25th birthday.
So apparently I got some of my facts wrong before about the hemorrhagic variety of dengue and I want to set the record straight in case anyone is interested. So what happens is the virus eats your platelets and your white blood cells and then goes to work on your liver. It's almost as if your body has Hepatitis B and no immune system to help it. And also no platelets to allow your blood to clot if you have any internal (or external) bleeding.
So now almost a full week after being released from the hospital, I'm still on liver-bolstering meds, but other than that (and occasional dizziness and stomach upset), I'm fine. Slowly but surely getting back to normal. I don't know who's reading this, but if my Chiang Mai brethren are, THANK YOU SO MUCH for being so supportive and taking such good care of me. You're all wonderful.
That's all for now. More soon.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Film Festival
So I’ve been working on this AIDS Awareness Film Festival for the past year. It’s a small affair, featuring short (5 minutes) student-made films on the subject of AIDS Awareness. At the beginning of the year we had about 40 students. Over the course of the year, this number slowly dwindled and now we have about 15 who are actually involved in the filmmaking process, though if you count the kids acting in the films, it’s a lot more, which is good.
Assisting on (slash co-running) the project with me has been Mr. Vorapon (pictured here with two 12th graders filming and directing) from Deaf Ministries International. He’s a professional filmmaker, has worked on HIV prevention projects before, and has two kids who go to PRC, so all in all he is a great match for this project.
He’s actually letting the student filmmakers use his professional film-editing equipment and is having his staff assist them in the editing process at his film studio, which is where we are right now- at the Deaf Ministries International Chiang Mai office. Because the primary purpose of this organization is working with deaf people- promoting educational programs, teaching trade skills, etc- many of the staff are deaf. The staff assisting the students are not deaf, and neither is Mr. Vorapon, but the rest of the office is. I bet you didn’t know that Thai sign language is totally different from English sign language. But it doesn’t matter because all I ever knew how to say in sign language was “thank you” and “you look pretty”, and I don’t see that being very helpful right now anyway.
So I had to accompany the kids (pictured here during one day of filming) as the “official school chaperone,” but since I know nothing about film editing, even if the discussions were in English, I have nothing to add to the conversation. So I’ve set up my laptop in the middle of the office near where everyone seems to be having a meeting. They’re all deep in sign conversation and every few minutes everyone will burst out laughing. I feel like I’m being left out of the greatest joke in the world! I wonder how hard it would be to learn sign language…
Beside the fact that this whole filmmaking process has moved at a glacial pace, I’m really happy with this project because it is doing more than making the kids learn about AIDS: they are learning about writing (when they wrote the scripts for the film), learning about camera shots, about editing, about the whole process of filmmaking. Moreover, they are also learning about interacting with the deaf. Thailand can tend to be a very segregated society in terms of disabilities: one hardly ever sees disabled people in public places or employed in any kind of job. For wheelchair-bound people I can understand why this would be the case- NOTHING is handicapped friendly- not the sidewalks, not entrances to buildings, not public transportation or taxis (sawng taeos), etc. I honestly didn’t notice this until I broke my foot earlier this year and was on crutches for about 6 weeks. Because students don’t often see deaf/blind/wheelchair-bound people, I think they tend to forget that they are out there and that society often treats them in a way that is far from fair.
Many good life-lessons to be learned here. The films are to be shown in 2 weeks. At the Festival’s conclusion, I’m going to have all the participants write a short passage about what they thought of this project and tips for improvement in the future.
The films are in Thai, but I’ll try to post them on here when the kids are finished. If I feel especially industrious, I’ll try to put subtitles on them.
That’s all for now. I’m going to stare out the window and watch the monsoon rains shower the rice fields and banana trees outside. * Sigh * Ah, Chiang Mai.
Assisting on (slash co-running) the project with me has been Mr. Vorapon (pictured here with two 12th graders filming and directing) from Deaf Ministries International. He’s a professional filmmaker, has worked on HIV prevention projects before, and has two kids who go to PRC, so all in all he is a great match for this project.
He’s actually letting the student filmmakers use his professional film-editing equipment and is having his staff assist them in the editing process at his film studio, which is where we are right now- at the Deaf Ministries International Chiang Mai office. Because the primary purpose of this organization is working with deaf people- promoting educational programs, teaching trade skills, etc- many of the staff are deaf. The staff assisting the students are not deaf, and neither is Mr. Vorapon, but the rest of the office is. I bet you didn’t know that Thai sign language is totally different from English sign language. But it doesn’t matter because all I ever knew how to say in sign language was “thank you” and “you look pretty”, and I don’t see that being very helpful right now anyway.
So I had to accompany the kids (pictured here during one day of filming) as the “official school chaperone,” but since I know nothing about film editing, even if the discussions were in English, I have nothing to add to the conversation. So I’ve set up my laptop in the middle of the office near where everyone seems to be having a meeting. They’re all deep in sign conversation and every few minutes everyone will burst out laughing. I feel like I’m being left out of the greatest joke in the world! I wonder how hard it would be to learn sign language…Beside the fact that this whole filmmaking process has moved at a glacial pace, I’m really happy with this project because it is doing more than making the kids learn about AIDS: they are learning about writing (when they wrote the scripts for the film), learning about camera shots, about editing, about the whole process of filmmaking. Moreover, they are also learning about interacting with the deaf. Thailand can tend to be a very segregated society in terms of disabilities: one hardly ever sees disabled people in public places or employed in any kind of job. For wheelchair-bound people I can understand why this would be the case- NOTHING is handicapped friendly- not the sidewalks, not entrances to buildings, not public transportation or taxis (sawng taeos), etc. I honestly didn’t notice this until I broke my foot earlier this year and was on crutches for about 6 weeks. Because students don’t often see deaf/blind/wheelchair-bound people, I think they tend to forget that they are out there and that society often treats them in a way that is far from fair.
Many good life-lessons to be learned here. The films are to be shown in 2 weeks. At the Festival’s conclusion, I’m going to have all the participants write a short passage about what they thought of this project and tips for improvement in the future.
The films are in Thai, but I’ll try to post them on here when the kids are finished. If I feel especially industrious, I’ll try to put subtitles on them.
That’s all for now. I’m going to stare out the window and watch the monsoon rains shower the rice fields and banana trees outside. * Sigh * Ah, Chiang Mai.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Encouragement
Two of my former students came to see me today- Maprang and Khwan. Khwan is at Chulalongkorn University (the number 1 school in Thailand) in Bangkok and Maprang is heading to Boston University on a government scholarship. During their junior and senior years at PRC, I met with these girls almost every day for hours at a time preparing for the TOEFL, SATs, SAT II, college application essays, visa documents, etc etc etc.We used to meet at Bud's Ice Cream (a cute little American-style shop across the street from the school- pictured here! Maprang on the left, Khwan on the right, taking an SAT practice test) at 5 every day because it was nearby and air-conditioned. Plus the girls got to balance out the stress of deciphering SAT analogies with the joy of savoring scrumptiously large ice cream sundaes.
Seeing them was so great because it was a reminder of some of the work I'd done that I'd almost forgotten about. We had so much fun mulling over the idiosyncrasies of the English language. Oh and to prep for the lit section of the exam, I basically just retaught Dr. Slayton's senior English class- starting with escapist fiction using "The Most Dangerous Game" as an example, and then moving on to more serious stuff (Thanks, Dr. Slayton!).
It was also crazy to see them because it was a living reminder of the passage of time: I started teaching these girls when they were juniors in high school and now they are SOPHOMORES in COLLEGE! It made me feel really old and really like I have been here too long. Honestly- I set out with the intention of living here for a year... two years MAXIMUM... and now it has been almost three. And I'm going to be 25 in 15 days. Scary.
Time flies, man. Such is life, I suppose.
On the bright side, Mom and Dad sent me a care package with birthday presents that arrived today! It was a total surprise. I think I'll save them and open them on the actual day though. Still haven't decided exactly what I want to do to celebrate though... Suggestions?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
ระวัง! มันจะมา! (Look out... It's coming!)
So there's an epidemic of hemorrhagic dengue fever going around Chiang Mai and the epicenter seems to be at PRC! Four of my colleagues and over 10 students have come down with it. It's really scary- it's called ไข้เลือดออก (kai leuad auk) in Thai, or "the fever where blood comes out." From this description, I was expecting it to be some kind of ebola-esque nightmare where you start slowly bleeding out of your pores, and so it was with great trepidation that I went to visit my friend in the hospital. But she looked OK, except for some abnormally large bruises on her arms, and the fact that she was on oxygen and was too weak even to lift her head off the pillow.
She explained that the virus has actually mutated and now, instead of bleeding out of your pores, you hemorrhage internally. So you're at home and you come down with a fever and headache and you think that's it. But really what's happening is you are bleeding inside. This is how many people die of this disease. My friend actually ended up needing a blood transfusion on her 6th day in the hospital. (Now she's better, thank God).
The scariest thing is that the virus is transmitted by mosquitoes... Great, right? Now all you have to do to protect yourself is simply not get bitten by mosquitoes. But now, in the height of the rainy season, with puddles of standing water everywhere, that's about as helpful as suggesting that Bush avoid sounding like an idiot when he speaks- it's just not going to happen.
Mosquitoes are everywhere and most of the time you don't even notice when you get bitten.
So basically if you're reading this and you live in Chiang Mai, get some good lemongrass juice (น้ำตะไคร้-nam ta-krai- in Thai) and douse yourself from head to toe every day. Or, if you don't mind handling poison, you could also bathe in DEET bug spray.
Either way, be as careful as you can.
That's all for now. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
She explained that the virus has actually mutated and now, instead of bleeding out of your pores, you hemorrhage internally. So you're at home and you come down with a fever and headache and you think that's it. But really what's happening is you are bleeding inside. This is how many people die of this disease. My friend actually ended up needing a blood transfusion on her 6th day in the hospital. (Now she's better, thank God).
The scariest thing is that the virus is transmitted by mosquitoes... Great, right? Now all you have to do to protect yourself is simply not get bitten by mosquitoes. But now, in the height of the rainy season, with puddles of standing water everywhere, that's about as helpful as suggesting that Bush avoid sounding like an idiot when he speaks- it's just not going to happen.
Mosquitoes are everywhere and most of the time you don't even notice when you get bitten.
So basically if you're reading this and you live in Chiang Mai, get some good lemongrass juice (น้ำตะไคร้-nam ta-krai- in Thai) and douse yourself from head to toe every day. Or, if you don't mind handling poison, you could also bathe in DEET bug spray.
Either way, be as careful as you can.
That's all for now. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
more catching up
So Katie and I left my parents and sister and Rachel and went up to Northern Greece for a few days, then took an overnight ferry across the Adriatic Sea to Brindisi, Italy. In Italy we did a slight variation of the standard tourist loop: Pompeii, Naples, Rome, Umbria, Tuscany, Venice, Verona, Milan. It was great but really expensive. We befriended a nun on the train to Assissi who invited us to stay at her convent... We decided we didn't have time but now I really wish we had done that. My favorite part of Italy was meeting up with Tom and Emily, renting a car for 25 Euros and driving around the Chianti region of Tuscany. We ended up stumbling upon a "Medieval Festival" where they had turned a small hilltop town that was really still nothing more than a large castle into a real-life medieval market, complete with a shoemaker and a village idiot. They had performances that demonstrated the various battles that had been fought at that castle, etc. It was really quite an experience.
From Milan we flew to Sevilla where I went on a hunt for all my favorite places I'd frequented when I studied abroad there. I was also able to relive old times by meeting up with Carlos and Roberto and going to a festival on Calle Betis. During the day the city was like an oven so we didn't do much- the last Harry Potter had just come out so we hung out in the hostel, reading and relaxing.
From Sevilla we went on to Lagos, Portugal. Back when I studied abroad in Sevilla in 2004, Bill, Adriana, Katie, Kristin, and I had rented a car and driven through Portugal. We'd stayed a night in Lagos, but it was February then and Lagos, like most beach towns, really only comes alive in the summer. Katie and I really enjoyed the beach and sun time and made some great new friends at the very friendly hostel where we stayed. The owner, unofficially dubbed "Mama", personally made crepes and lemon tea for all hostel guests every morning. It was great.
Back to Sevilla for a few days where we spent most of our time experiencing first-hand the wonders of socialized medicine- Katie got really sick and we were in and out of the emergency room until she was finally diagnosed with "una enfermedad del verano" (a summer sickness). We got the diagnosis just in time to go from the hospital to the airport and board the plane for Dublin.
After two days in Dublin, Katie was much better. Sometimes cool, rainy weather and bland food are just what you need, I suppose. So we rented a car and hit every spot in the country, met some really interesting people in roadside pubs and small towns, and spent time trying to take in the beauty of the place. My favorite parts were: the James Joyce walking tour in Dublin where they take you to several of the places Joyce mentions in the Dubliners stories; SCUBA diving at Castlegregory on the Dingle Peninsula- making my way through the kelp forests and trying not let the iciness of the water seep into my bones; walking along the beaches in County Sligo- you can really understand why WB Yeats' poems are so wonderful after being there; and the Slieve League cliffs in County Donegal- standing on the edge of the cliffs in a field of purple heather, suppressing a barely controllable urge to leap off and fly out over the ocean.
Then on August 20th, 2007, the long journey was over. I went back to the US for one month, spent time visiting friends and compiling the data I had collected from my interviews in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
I came back to Chiang Mai, back to the Prince Royal's College, in September and hit the ground running. I started two programs- Peer Mediator and an AIDS Awareness Film Festival, featuring student-made films. I also took a second job as an intern for the ACE EducationUSA center where I work as a consultant for students who want to study in the US, helping match the students up with the right schools, prepare them for entrance tests, and locate scholarships for them.
From September 2007 until now, not much has changed. I'm still working at PRC and still interning at EducationUSA. Last year, three of my advisees got scholarships to US universities and are about to start their freshman year. I'm really proud of them!
Oh! In February we also put on a great performance of "That Takes Ovaries" and raised around 70,000 baht for Zonta, a women's charity. It was exhausting- we worked on it from November to February- but it was so much fun.
Other than that, things have been rocking along slowly. I'm still studying Thai, and have decided to take a Spanish grammar review course. I'm also studying French, just for fun- I've always wanted to learn and I don't know when else I'll be able to get private lessons for less that $10 per hour.
So now you're all caught up with me.
The next post will be much more interesting. I'll try to add pictures to these last ones too.
From Milan we flew to Sevilla where I went on a hunt for all my favorite places I'd frequented when I studied abroad there. I was also able to relive old times by meeting up with Carlos and Roberto and going to a festival on Calle Betis. During the day the city was like an oven so we didn't do much- the last Harry Potter had just come out so we hung out in the hostel, reading and relaxing.
From Sevilla we went on to Lagos, Portugal. Back when I studied abroad in Sevilla in 2004, Bill, Adriana, Katie, Kristin, and I had rented a car and driven through Portugal. We'd stayed a night in Lagos, but it was February then and Lagos, like most beach towns, really only comes alive in the summer. Katie and I really enjoyed the beach and sun time and made some great new friends at the very friendly hostel where we stayed. The owner, unofficially dubbed "Mama", personally made crepes and lemon tea for all hostel guests every morning. It was great.
Back to Sevilla for a few days where we spent most of our time experiencing first-hand the wonders of socialized medicine- Katie got really sick and we were in and out of the emergency room until she was finally diagnosed with "una enfermedad del verano" (a summer sickness). We got the diagnosis just in time to go from the hospital to the airport and board the plane for Dublin.
After two days in Dublin, Katie was much better. Sometimes cool, rainy weather and bland food are just what you need, I suppose. So we rented a car and hit every spot in the country, met some really interesting people in roadside pubs and small towns, and spent time trying to take in the beauty of the place. My favorite parts were: the James Joyce walking tour in Dublin where they take you to several of the places Joyce mentions in the Dubliners stories; SCUBA diving at Castlegregory on the Dingle Peninsula- making my way through the kelp forests and trying not let the iciness of the water seep into my bones; walking along the beaches in County Sligo- you can really understand why WB Yeats' poems are so wonderful after being there; and the Slieve League cliffs in County Donegal- standing on the edge of the cliffs in a field of purple heather, suppressing a barely controllable urge to leap off and fly out over the ocean.
Then on August 20th, 2007, the long journey was over. I went back to the US for one month, spent time visiting friends and compiling the data I had collected from my interviews in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
I came back to Chiang Mai, back to the Prince Royal's College, in September and hit the ground running. I started two programs- Peer Mediator and an AIDS Awareness Film Festival, featuring student-made films. I also took a second job as an intern for the ACE EducationUSA center where I work as a consultant for students who want to study in the US, helping match the students up with the right schools, prepare them for entrance tests, and locate scholarships for them.
From September 2007 until now, not much has changed. I'm still working at PRC and still interning at EducationUSA. Last year, three of my advisees got scholarships to US universities and are about to start their freshman year. I'm really proud of them!
Oh! In February we also put on a great performance of "That Takes Ovaries" and raised around 70,000 baht for Zonta, a women's charity. It was exhausting- we worked on it from November to February- but it was so much fun.
Other than that, things have been rocking along slowly. I'm still studying Thai, and have decided to take a Spanish grammar review course. I'm also studying French, just for fun- I've always wanted to learn and I don't know when else I'll be able to get private lessons for less that $10 per hour.
So now you're all caught up with me.
The next post will be much more interesting. I'll try to add pictures to these last ones too.
I caved.
Crazy that it's been almost three years now that I've been in Thailand. People have been bugging me this whole time to start a blog. I never have because... well, there seems something so- how can I say this politely?- something so self-serving about a blog. You're just sitting here writing about your own thoughts and presuming that people actually want to read about this stuff... It seems somehow presumptuous and arrogant.
No offense to everyone who has blogs- because in the end this is exactly why I have caved: if, in the end, I like reading everyone else's stuff, then why shouldn't I be able to share my own goings on?
So here I am. In my office in Administration Building 2 in the Lower Matayom at the Prince Royal's College in Chiang Mai, Thailand, blogging away. For those people with whom I have been out of touch for a very long time, I will provide an overview of the past three years:
I graduated from Yale in May of 2005 and moved home to Charleston, South Carolina for a summer of fun, friendship, and frivolities. I lived at home and worked as a runner at the Buist, Moore, Smythe, and McGee law firm downtown. Then in August I packed up and went to Australia for two weeks to visit Bill, Adriana, Renee, Jane, and Wendy in Melbourne and Adelaide. From there I flew on up to Chiang Mai where I immediately began taking Thai classes and Payap University.
After a few months of professional uncertainty, I started teaching high school at the Prince Royal's College and volunteering at the MPlus Group doing HIV prevention and gay and transgendered rights work. I was still studying Thai all this time. In February I went to visit David (Lau) in Hong Kong. Then in March of 2006 Laura, Elaine, Dasha and I put on Thailand's first ever production of the Vagina Monologues and we raised 20,000 baht for the Burmese Women's Union.
Then my dad came to visit (and is to date the only member of my family to come see me. on the other hand, every single on of my friends who has said they would come see me has come!! thanks, guys! I think the count is at 24 people... :-)). We traveled around and saw beautiful things. Then I went to visit Elona in Vientianne (Laos) in April.
Things get a bit blurry in here as I'm trying to pull all this off the top of my head, but I think after Dad's visit and experiencing my first Songkran ever, I went home for a few weeks. Songkran, by the way, is the Southeast Asian New Years, known aptly as the "Water Festival." It is every year at the hight of the hot, dry season. It's celebrated in Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Traditional celebration includes a trip home to see family, attending a service at the local temple, the ritualistic "washing" of the monks, gift exchange, and a large meal with extended family and friends. In Chiang Mai, however, Songkran means ridiculous, insane rave-style foam parties in the middle of the day, being doused with icy water dredged from the bottom of the moat where it's been stagnating in the hot sun since the previous rainy season, and eating lots of hang-lay curry and sticky rice. It's awesome, but completely overwhelming and exhausting.
Back to Chiang Mai for the new school year. Continued volunteering at MPlus (which entailed things like doing outreach with sex workers in bars, organizing informational meetings with school groups, and teaching a free English class for the community- the vocab list for this class was really funny...), teaching at PRC, and added college adviser to my duties as several of my 12th graders were interested in going to college in the US. We spent countless hours prepping for the SATs and TOEFL, and it was all worth it in the end. (Right, Maprang?)
Really busy times then. Not much out of the ordinary except I took a trip to Vietnam over a 4-day weekend in July. Flew into Hanoi, trained up to Sapa on the Chinese border, hiked around the rice fields and swam in the most beautiful lake I've ever seen, did Vietnamese karaoke on the train with some French/Vietnamese guys on the train ride back to Hanoi. Befriended by a crotchety old American ex-pat who ceaselessly referred to Hanoi as a cesspool, even though he had chosen to live there for the last 15 years of his life. Oh and did you know there is a photo of Jane Fonda in the Hanoi Women's Museum?
Other than that it was business as usual. For the semester break in October, I spent a week in Beijing with the PIAs (thanks for being such great hosts!) and about 10 days (...right?) with Ben Shell in Mongolia. Saw all the sights in Beijing and accidentally got dropped off by a local bus in the middle of a cornfield two hours outside of Beijing on my way to the Great Wall. Used my pigeon Chinese to negotiate with a passerby to take me to the Wall and then to the nearest bus station. China is a crazy place.
Took the Transiberian Rail to Ulaan Baatar and was met by Ben at the train station. He was working for a microfinance bank in Ulaan Baatar but took a few days off when I came. We got a guide and a drive and took a bouncy ride in an old Russian van to stay with a nomadic Buriat family in the most beautiful valley in the world in the middle of nowhere in Mongolian Siberia about 30 miles from the Russian border. Words of advice- don't get in snowball fights or go on blizzard hikes with Mongolians.
Back to Chiang Mai in November 2006. More teaching, helping a student get his high school diploma from the US (that's you, Pui), only to be later adopted by his mother as "the daughter she never had". Again, details are all blurry here. People were coming and going and work was very busy.
The next thing I remember for sure is Rachel coming in March of 2007. She quit her job at PWC and I was about to take a break from PRC and we were going to travel around the world. We started with Cambodia- we somehow managed to finagle an invitation to (slash crash) a wedding in Phnom Penh that was hosted by an extremely wealthy family. The Cambodians were amazing hosts and answered our incessant questions about the country and culture and took us everywhere we wanted to go. From Phnom Penh we went up the majestic Angkor Wat (I'm sorry to use this hackneyed adjective but really nothing else described it) with Allan, the most amazing guide ever. If you are going to Angkor Wat, please tell me and I'll give you her contact info.
From Cambodia back to Chiang Mai to tie up loose ends (i.e.- getting approval to write and implement a new HIV prevention curriculum in the middle school at PRC. I was to spend the next 6 months traveling and researching this topic). Then on to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. We had decided long before that we wanted to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in SE Asia, and had timed it perfectly so we'd be climbing it during the full moon as the last part of the climb takes place in the hours before dawn. In typical fashion, we had not, however, bothered to check that you need to make reservations way in advance to climb this mountain as the Malay national parks system only allows a certain number of people on the mountain per day (as it should be). We managed it though- 14,000 feet. Watching the sun rise over Borneo was probably one of the highlights of my life to date. Back in Kota Kinabalu city, we SCUBA dived, ate awesome fish with our hands at local markets, and almost got pulled into a gambling ring by the local mafia. Sometimes I'm too friendly, I think...
From there we went on to Kuala Lumpur where we met with local educators and talked about the shortcomings of the "abstinence-only" education system allowed by the Muslim government and the subtle ways to get around it. From KL on to Singapore where we were put up at the wonderful Anglo-Chinese Independent School, connection courtesy of Mike Hock. All we had to do in exchange for free accommodation for 3 days was give a one-hour talk about Yale and Ivy League admissions and be available to the students for email consultation. Loved the Singapore Night Safari and our hosts at ACSI!
From there down to Darwin, Australia to be yelled at the customs official for forgetting to eat my banana on the plane. Whoops. Went camping in Kakadu National Park where we say GIANT salt water crocodiles in the Adelaide River that would literally jump all the way out of the water. Saw aboriginal cave drawings and some crazy didgeridoo playing. Swam in the clearest waterfalls I've ever seen.
On to Perth where we stayed with Xia and Menno and hung out with very cool Australian med students. I had some really great interviews with med students and NGO reps. Loved Rottnest (sp?) Island where Rach and I rented bikes and picnicked. Fremantle is also a very cool little town.
On to Adelaide for a few days- dinner with Renee, Jane, and Wendy, took a random road trip with Fidelma, our new Irish friend. Celebrated Anzac Day with some intoxicated sailors. All-in-all a good time. Then on to Melbourne to stay with Adriana and Bill AND spend time with Leigh and Jon! Also a nice breakfast with Dr. Chris. Rachel and I saw our first Australian Rules Football (footie) game (Carleton vs. Brisbane Lions). Carleton is apparently a traditionally Jewish neighborhood in Melbourne. There was a row of Orthodox Jewish teenagers behind us who had had a bit too much to drink and were very excited about the fact that Jon was Jewish. Jon said it was the first time he'd ever been "high-fived" for his religion.
From Melbourne on to Sydney which is, I'm convinced, the cleanest, most beautiful city in the world. LOVED it. Went surfing for a day at Bondi beach, walked around the cliffs and beaches of different neighborhoods, stood and gazed in awe at the Opera House.
From Sydney on to Tasmania. We rented a car and drove around the entire island in 3 days. Did some hiking, stayed on some really neat sheep farms, ate great organic food, and tried to avoid hitting wombats and Tasmanian devils at night. Though we really didn't do that much driving at night as almost every town on the island shuts down at 6PM.
From Hobart we flew to Auckland where we were met at the airport by Jonny the wonderful. We stayed at her place and took full advantage of the stocked kitchen, internet, and TIVO. The next day, Rachel's dad and Ciara came in so Rach and I went our separate ways. Ciara and I rented a car and drove to Raglan where we stayed at an amazing seaside hostel and went surfing. Ciara was a natural. From Raglan we went on to Taupo and Rotorua where we bathed in sulfuric mud and water. Our skin was much the better for it, though we smelled like... yuckiness... for days. Taupo on to Wellington where we stayed at a fun hostel and decided to do a night on the town.
Bad idea as we had to be on the ferry for the South Island at 6 AM. Ciara got terribly sea sick as I enjoyed the breathtaking scenery of the Marlborough Straights. Stayed the night at kindly old woman's B&B who brought Ciara tea in bed to calm her stomach. Drove southward through wineries to Kaikoura where we swam with hundreds of wild dolphins, geared up in wetsuits more than an inch thick to guard against the Arctic water. Being in the water surrounded by hundreds of dolphins with the snow capped mountains behind me and the crystal blue water yawning beneath me is another life-time highlight.
Kaikoura on to I think Franz Joseph where we hiked on the glacier. Amazing to be on top of a massive chunk of solid ice wearing shorts and a tshirt. From there down to Queenstown where we took it easy. Then back to Auckland. Ciara went back to the US and I went out to the Great Barrier Island to work at a bed and breakfast (in exchange for room and board) for a few days. Sitting on the beach on the east side of the island looking out at the ocean was crazy- it's the longest stretch of ocean in the world (about 7,000 miles).
Back to Jonny's for a few days, then met Rachel at the airport for two 12 hour flights back to back- Auckland-Hong Kong, Hong Kong- London. Then London-Edinburgh where we met Caitrin and Katie. We got lost trying to find out hotel and were escorted to our hostel by two elderly gentlemen dressed in tweed from head to toe and carrying walking sticks who kept using the word "wee". It was truly Scotland.
We did Edinburgh for a few days, then one night on Loch Lomond, just because I had always wanted to see it. Then London for a few days which was great with Caitrin, the world's foremost expert on English history.
Then we all flew to Athens to meet Mom and Dad. Stayed at nice places, didn't have to worry about planning. It was great. Did Athens, Delphi, and the isles Naxos, Paros, and Santorini. Highlights include Dad's giant plate of baby goat spaghetti on Paros, the restaurant owner in Santorini who spoke no English who was so proud of her tomatoes, and the pirate ship cruise- swimming in the crystal clear Agean Sea after hiking up to the top of the volcano in the million degree heat.
This first post is turning into a book... I'll sum up the rest in a few sentences and go back and add details later. No one is going to read this whole thing anyway. So after the isles, Mom, Dad, Caitrin, and Rachel went back to the States and Katie and I continued on. Did Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland before flying home to the States. I was in the States for a month and then back to Thailand and the Prince Royal's College to start my curriculum. Long story short, I am still here, working on the same thing.
More details soon!
No offense to everyone who has blogs- because in the end this is exactly why I have caved: if, in the end, I like reading everyone else's stuff, then why shouldn't I be able to share my own goings on?
So here I am. In my office in Administration Building 2 in the Lower Matayom at the Prince Royal's College in Chiang Mai, Thailand, blogging away. For those people with whom I have been out of touch for a very long time, I will provide an overview of the past three years:
I graduated from Yale in May of 2005 and moved home to Charleston, South Carolina for a summer of fun, friendship, and frivolities. I lived at home and worked as a runner at the Buist, Moore, Smythe, and McGee law firm downtown. Then in August I packed up and went to Australia for two weeks to visit Bill, Adriana, Renee, Jane, and Wendy in Melbourne and Adelaide. From there I flew on up to Chiang Mai where I immediately began taking Thai classes and Payap University.
After a few months of professional uncertainty, I started teaching high school at the Prince Royal's College and volunteering at the MPlus Group doing HIV prevention and gay and transgendered rights work. I was still studying Thai all this time. In February I went to visit David (Lau) in Hong Kong. Then in March of 2006 Laura, Elaine, Dasha and I put on Thailand's first ever production of the Vagina Monologues and we raised 20,000 baht for the Burmese Women's Union.
Then my dad came to visit (and is to date the only member of my family to come see me. on the other hand, every single on of my friends who has said they would come see me has come!! thanks, guys! I think the count is at 24 people... :-)). We traveled around and saw beautiful things. Then I went to visit Elona in Vientianne (Laos) in April.
Things get a bit blurry in here as I'm trying to pull all this off the top of my head, but I think after Dad's visit and experiencing my first Songkran ever, I went home for a few weeks. Songkran, by the way, is the Southeast Asian New Years, known aptly as the "Water Festival." It is every year at the hight of the hot, dry season. It's celebrated in Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Traditional celebration includes a trip home to see family, attending a service at the local temple, the ritualistic "washing" of the monks, gift exchange, and a large meal with extended family and friends. In Chiang Mai, however, Songkran means ridiculous, insane rave-style foam parties in the middle of the day, being doused with icy water dredged from the bottom of the moat where it's been stagnating in the hot sun since the previous rainy season, and eating lots of hang-lay curry and sticky rice. It's awesome, but completely overwhelming and exhausting.
Back to Chiang Mai for the new school year. Continued volunteering at MPlus (which entailed things like doing outreach with sex workers in bars, organizing informational meetings with school groups, and teaching a free English class for the community- the vocab list for this class was really funny...), teaching at PRC, and added college adviser to my duties as several of my 12th graders were interested in going to college in the US. We spent countless hours prepping for the SATs and TOEFL, and it was all worth it in the end. (Right, Maprang?)
Really busy times then. Not much out of the ordinary except I took a trip to Vietnam over a 4-day weekend in July. Flew into Hanoi, trained up to Sapa on the Chinese border, hiked around the rice fields and swam in the most beautiful lake I've ever seen, did Vietnamese karaoke on the train with some French/Vietnamese guys on the train ride back to Hanoi. Befriended by a crotchety old American ex-pat who ceaselessly referred to Hanoi as a cesspool, even though he had chosen to live there for the last 15 years of his life. Oh and did you know there is a photo of Jane Fonda in the Hanoi Women's Museum?
Other than that it was business as usual. For the semester break in October, I spent a week in Beijing with the PIAs (thanks for being such great hosts!) and about 10 days (...right?) with Ben Shell in Mongolia. Saw all the sights in Beijing and accidentally got dropped off by a local bus in the middle of a cornfield two hours outside of Beijing on my way to the Great Wall. Used my pigeon Chinese to negotiate with a passerby to take me to the Wall and then to the nearest bus station. China is a crazy place.
Took the Transiberian Rail to Ulaan Baatar and was met by Ben at the train station. He was working for a microfinance bank in Ulaan Baatar but took a few days off when I came. We got a guide and a drive and took a bouncy ride in an old Russian van to stay with a nomadic Buriat family in the most beautiful valley in the world in the middle of nowhere in Mongolian Siberia about 30 miles from the Russian border. Words of advice- don't get in snowball fights or go on blizzard hikes with Mongolians.
Back to Chiang Mai in November 2006. More teaching, helping a student get his high school diploma from the US (that's you, Pui), only to be later adopted by his mother as "the daughter she never had". Again, details are all blurry here. People were coming and going and work was very busy.
The next thing I remember for sure is Rachel coming in March of 2007. She quit her job at PWC and I was about to take a break from PRC and we were going to travel around the world. We started with Cambodia- we somehow managed to finagle an invitation to (slash crash) a wedding in Phnom Penh that was hosted by an extremely wealthy family. The Cambodians were amazing hosts and answered our incessant questions about the country and culture and took us everywhere we wanted to go. From Phnom Penh we went up the majestic Angkor Wat (I'm sorry to use this hackneyed adjective but really nothing else described it) with Allan, the most amazing guide ever. If you are going to Angkor Wat, please tell me and I'll give you her contact info.
From Cambodia back to Chiang Mai to tie up loose ends (i.e.- getting approval to write and implement a new HIV prevention curriculum in the middle school at PRC. I was to spend the next 6 months traveling and researching this topic). Then on to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. We had decided long before that we wanted to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in SE Asia, and had timed it perfectly so we'd be climbing it during the full moon as the last part of the climb takes place in the hours before dawn. In typical fashion, we had not, however, bothered to check that you need to make reservations way in advance to climb this mountain as the Malay national parks system only allows a certain number of people on the mountain per day (as it should be). We managed it though- 14,000 feet. Watching the sun rise over Borneo was probably one of the highlights of my life to date. Back in Kota Kinabalu city, we SCUBA dived, ate awesome fish with our hands at local markets, and almost got pulled into a gambling ring by the local mafia. Sometimes I'm too friendly, I think...
From there we went on to Kuala Lumpur where we met with local educators and talked about the shortcomings of the "abstinence-only" education system allowed by the Muslim government and the subtle ways to get around it. From KL on to Singapore where we were put up at the wonderful Anglo-Chinese Independent School, connection courtesy of Mike Hock. All we had to do in exchange for free accommodation for 3 days was give a one-hour talk about Yale and Ivy League admissions and be available to the students for email consultation. Loved the Singapore Night Safari and our hosts at ACSI!
From there down to Darwin, Australia to be yelled at the customs official for forgetting to eat my banana on the plane. Whoops. Went camping in Kakadu National Park where we say GIANT salt water crocodiles in the Adelaide River that would literally jump all the way out of the water. Saw aboriginal cave drawings and some crazy didgeridoo playing. Swam in the clearest waterfalls I've ever seen.
On to Perth where we stayed with Xia and Menno and hung out with very cool Australian med students. I had some really great interviews with med students and NGO reps. Loved Rottnest (sp?) Island where Rach and I rented bikes and picnicked. Fremantle is also a very cool little town.
On to Adelaide for a few days- dinner with Renee, Jane, and Wendy, took a random road trip with Fidelma, our new Irish friend. Celebrated Anzac Day with some intoxicated sailors. All-in-all a good time. Then on to Melbourne to stay with Adriana and Bill AND spend time with Leigh and Jon! Also a nice breakfast with Dr. Chris. Rachel and I saw our first Australian Rules Football (footie) game (Carleton vs. Brisbane Lions). Carleton is apparently a traditionally Jewish neighborhood in Melbourne. There was a row of Orthodox Jewish teenagers behind us who had had a bit too much to drink and were very excited about the fact that Jon was Jewish. Jon said it was the first time he'd ever been "high-fived" for his religion.
From Melbourne on to Sydney which is, I'm convinced, the cleanest, most beautiful city in the world. LOVED it. Went surfing for a day at Bondi beach, walked around the cliffs and beaches of different neighborhoods, stood and gazed in awe at the Opera House.
From Sydney on to Tasmania. We rented a car and drove around the entire island in 3 days. Did some hiking, stayed on some really neat sheep farms, ate great organic food, and tried to avoid hitting wombats and Tasmanian devils at night. Though we really didn't do that much driving at night as almost every town on the island shuts down at 6PM.
From Hobart we flew to Auckland where we were met at the airport by Jonny the wonderful. We stayed at her place and took full advantage of the stocked kitchen, internet, and TIVO. The next day, Rachel's dad and Ciara came in so Rach and I went our separate ways. Ciara and I rented a car and drove to Raglan where we stayed at an amazing seaside hostel and went surfing. Ciara was a natural. From Raglan we went on to Taupo and Rotorua where we bathed in sulfuric mud and water. Our skin was much the better for it, though we smelled like... yuckiness... for days. Taupo on to Wellington where we stayed at a fun hostel and decided to do a night on the town.
Bad idea as we had to be on the ferry for the South Island at 6 AM. Ciara got terribly sea sick as I enjoyed the breathtaking scenery of the Marlborough Straights. Stayed the night at kindly old woman's B&B who brought Ciara tea in bed to calm her stomach. Drove southward through wineries to Kaikoura where we swam with hundreds of wild dolphins, geared up in wetsuits more than an inch thick to guard against the Arctic water. Being in the water surrounded by hundreds of dolphins with the snow capped mountains behind me and the crystal blue water yawning beneath me is another life-time highlight.
Kaikoura on to I think Franz Joseph where we hiked on the glacier. Amazing to be on top of a massive chunk of solid ice wearing shorts and a tshirt. From there down to Queenstown where we took it easy. Then back to Auckland. Ciara went back to the US and I went out to the Great Barrier Island to work at a bed and breakfast (in exchange for room and board) for a few days. Sitting on the beach on the east side of the island looking out at the ocean was crazy- it's the longest stretch of ocean in the world (about 7,000 miles).
Back to Jonny's for a few days, then met Rachel at the airport for two 12 hour flights back to back- Auckland-Hong Kong, Hong Kong- London. Then London-Edinburgh where we met Caitrin and Katie. We got lost trying to find out hotel and were escorted to our hostel by two elderly gentlemen dressed in tweed from head to toe and carrying walking sticks who kept using the word "wee". It was truly Scotland.
We did Edinburgh for a few days, then one night on Loch Lomond, just because I had always wanted to see it. Then London for a few days which was great with Caitrin, the world's foremost expert on English history.
Then we all flew to Athens to meet Mom and Dad. Stayed at nice places, didn't have to worry about planning. It was great. Did Athens, Delphi, and the isles Naxos, Paros, and Santorini. Highlights include Dad's giant plate of baby goat spaghetti on Paros, the restaurant owner in Santorini who spoke no English who was so proud of her tomatoes, and the pirate ship cruise- swimming in the crystal clear Agean Sea after hiking up to the top of the volcano in the million degree heat.
This first post is turning into a book... I'll sum up the rest in a few sentences and go back and add details later. No one is going to read this whole thing anyway. So after the isles, Mom, Dad, Caitrin, and Rachel went back to the States and Katie and I continued on. Did Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland before flying home to the States. I was in the States for a month and then back to Thailand and the Prince Royal's College to start my curriculum. Long story short, I am still here, working on the same thing.
More details soon!
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