I have lived in Bangkok for about a month now. Which means I have been busy learning about and adjusting to life in the big city. In case you were wondering, Bangkok has a population of over 9 million, or 12 million including the metro area. Chiang Mai is less than 1 million. So it has been quite the transition. Bangkok is a bit strange because there is no true center of the city. Instead, it is very spread out with several distinct areas. My university, Thammasat (the second oldest in Thailand), is in the heart of the oldest part of the city. It is a mere 10 minutes walk from the Grand Palace and some of the most important temples in the city. There are around 30,000 students, although because I am in the Thai Studies program, my classes are only with other international students. We do have Thai professors, though, who are all extremely smart. I am taking four classes: Social and Economic Development in Thailand, Thai Politics, Thai Cuisine, and Thai Language. I must admit, it has been beyond painful to sit inside classrooms and listen to 3 hour lectures, but I am grateful to be learning even more about this country. The campus is right on the river, which means that in order to get to school everyday...I take a boat. It's really just a ferry that crosses directly to the other side, but it is always a fun part of the day, especially as it gets hotter and hotter outside. From the ferry, I live about a 15 minute walk away. I am in an apartment building with a ton of other international students which is great because all of my friends are here. The building is brand new and is definitely nicer than my place in Chiang Mai. It's simple, but it's big and bright and air-conditioned. The biggest bummer, in my opinion, is that not much is going on within walking distance of our building. Good thing I am becoming a pro at Bangkok public transportation.
I have almost, but not quite yet, taken all forms of transportation in Bangkok-- and there are many. Aside from the cross river ferries, which cost a whopping 3 baht (a dime), there are also boats with routes up and down the river. Those are really great, except when they are stuffed to the brim with tourists. You can also hire boats to take you down the many canals that meander through the city. On the roads, the city is filled with taxis in bright, goofy colors-- often pink. They may be expensive relative to other options here but by American standards, they are cheap. I rarely pay more than a couple of dollars. Cabs are abundant, convenient, and air-conditioned, with only one major downfall. Traffic. Traveling any significant distance during rush hour (which is more like 3 hours, twice daily) is basically torture, so I avoid that as much as possible. Tuk-tuks also function like taxis, although once you get over the novelty of them, you realize that they are loud, dirty, and have a knack for ripping off foreigners. I have been working on figuring out the buses, since I'm not sure which ones go where. Most are not air-conditioned, have wooden floors, and will pick people up without coming to a full stop. But I love them because they are cheap (20 cents) and convenient. Bangkok also has motorcycle taxis which I have yet to try. You can recognize them by the bright orange, numbered vests that the drivers wear. They are typically used for short trips or for navigating through thick traffic. And they are CRAZY. For motorcycles in general, it is not uncommon to find them driving on the wrong side of the road, or on the sidewalk, or between cars with only an inch of room to spare. And just because they have an innocent passenger on the back does not at all mean they will go easy. It truly is a test of courage. One excellent way to avoid traffic altogether is the Skytrain, or BTS. It's similar to Denver's lightrail or Chicago's El, and is very modern and nice. Plus, most trips are less than a dollar. The problem is, however, the lines are limited and there is no stop anywhere near my apartment or school. Bummer. The last component of public transit is the mysterious subway which supposedly exists but I have never even see and doesn't seem to go anywhere worthwhile. So as you can see, just getting around in this town often turns into quite the adventure.
Another characteristic trait about Bangkok is the food, or rather the incredible availability of food. You cannot walk two blocks without coming across an opportunity to buy food. Restaurants come in all shapes and sizes, but most commonly are small with a couple of tables and stools and serve only Thai food. But then, even more common are the street vendors. They are everywhere. Sometimes they form a sort of market, lining sidewalks with countless carts and leaving little room for all the people to squeeze by. Other times, there will simply be a random vendor or two occupying a random spot. One thing is for sure, it is impossible to go hungry. Especially considering the, again, absurdly low prices. They sell everything from fresh fruit to fruit shakes, from fried meats with sticky rice to every kind of meat on a stick, from nuts to roti, from noodles to rice dishes, from mystery no-crust white bread sandwiches to mystery gelatin sweets. And of course, there is fried anything-you-can-possibly-think-of including bananas, fish cakes, spring rolls, dough, squid, and plenty of other mystery treats. But what's so great is that, aside from a few outliers, streetfood is often the best and cheapest food you can find. Cheap, easy, authentic, and delicious-- does it get much better? And no, I have yet to get sick at all from the food.
Another interesting aspect of Bangkok is the current political situation. Apparently the next 60 days have the potential to bring about MAJOR change to Thailand. Then again, they could bring about nothing new. But it is quite tense around here none-the-less. There is a supreme court ruling due out on February 26th that will decide whether or not to confiscate some 2 billion US dollars of the former Prime Minister's, Thaksin's, assets. In the case of an unfavorable outcome, Thaksin's supporters are expected to stage one the largest protests ever (and that means BIG). There are a couple of other court rulings that carry alot of weight regarding current politics. Even more exciting, though, are some of the rumors floating around. Thailand is known for its coups, which seem to happen on a regular basis but are almost always peaceful and bloodless. The last successful coup was in 2006 and ousted the Prime Minister Thaksin. Well, there have been plenty of rumors lately about a coup against the current Prime Minister Abhisit. Apparently there was some top secret coup attempt just two weeks ago but it was unsuccessful and not publicized. This week, the head of the military is visiting the United States, leaving a different man in charge. A man who many believe would be the one to stage a coup if it were to happen. What makes this even more interesting is the status of the King, Rama IX. Thailand is a Constitutional Monarchy and the King remains a beloved and important part of Thai life. He is however, 83 years old and has been in the hospital for several months now. In the past, confirmation of a successful coup came from the King and whether or not the coup leaders were granted an audience with His Majesty. Currently, though, it does not seem as though King Rama IX is in a position to do this and no one is quite sure what that means. The exact state of the King is not known to the public. Furthermore, as a matter of culture, Thais do not generally think or talk about the future of the King, who has ruled for over 60 years. Essentially, they go about believing he will live forever. So no one is prepared for life without Rama IX. Replying to the question, "what do you think will happen to the Thai political situation if the King were to pass away?" a guest lecturer in my Thai politics class and former deputy Prime Minister said with a straight face, "All hell will break loose".
So it is an exciting time to be in Thailand, especially in Bangkok. And of course the city also offers lots to do. I've been trying to get out and explore when I'm not in school. Last Friday I spent the afternoon in China town, which isn't far from campus. We just walked around, among the stores selling mounds of plastic stuff and restaurants selling sharkfin soup. There is also a GIANT flower market on the edge of China town where you can find a dozen roses for a dollar. Seriously. I've visited some of the local temples which act like oases in a sea of otherwise ugly and poorly designed concrete monsters. I also went with some friends to spend a day at a private cooking school where we shopped at a local market and then learned how to make 5 traditional Thai dishes all from scratch. We made: Chicken galangal coconut soup, chicken with cashew nut stir-fry, spicy glass noodle salad, red curry with chicken, and fried fish cakes. It was all delicious (okay, except the fish cakes) and easy and quick to make. And the shopping opportunities are endless here. You can go to some of the most high-class malls with all of the biggest designer names, or you can go to the weekend market which is an crowded tangle of outdoor stalls selling everything you could possibly imagine and would take you about a month to look through everything. The same goes for the nightlife. You can go to expensive, upscale clubs with dress codes or you can find small local joints as well as everything in between.
So that's kindof what I've been up to in the city. There's alot to do, so hopefully I'll stay busy exploring it all. But I also appreciate all of the precious opportunities to get out of the pollution and traffic. Which I will update you on very soon...
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Vacation
I'm sure that many of you reading this have already heard about this trip from my parents. But I thought I would write about a few of the highlights anyway. So here goes:
Chiang Mai: Our trip started off here, where my parents met me at my apartment. Even though we had a guide with us, it was pretty fun to be able to show my parents the things that I had already seen and done. We visited some of the most significant temples within the old city, which my host parents had taken me to several months ago. We went up to Doi Suthep, the temple on a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai, which I had been to with school and with my host parents. We went to Kad Luang, a giant market complete with clothing, shoes, baskets, dried fruit, nuts, bamboo worms, fresh fruit and veggies, live fish, raw meat, dried fish, and so much more-- where I often went to shop or walk around. We even bought some worms for my parents to check 'eating a bug' off their list but you can give them a hard time because they chickened out and never tried it. One night in Chiang Mai, we met my host family and went out for dinner with them. It was pretty hysterical. My sisters were as energetic and crazy as ever, running about the restaurant. My host dad was severely limping with a soccer injury. And my host mom struggled to find food that my dad's hyper-sensitive-to-spice mouth could handle. I had a great time and was so glad that they could all finally meet each other. We also took one morning to drive to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. We took a little walk through the jungle, enjoyed the scenery, and saw a great waterfall.
We also spent one full day with...elephants. Upon arrival at the Mae Sa elephant camp, we first watched their elephant show which included some soccer, some darts, some painting, some log stacking, and other various tricks. But after the show, we became elephant trainers for the day. The people at the camp spent about 3 minutes going over how to ride an elephant before hoisting each of us up onto our own animal. And then there we were, walking down a trail sitting on the necks of the giant yet gentle elephants; no saddle, no bench, no nothing-- just us and the elephants. Granted, the elephants' real trainers (the only ones the animals would really listen to) walked beside us to keep the big guys in line, but still, I did some steering... We rode them over to these villages were many of the trainers live with their families. They are hilltribe people transplanted into this tourist site which basically puts them on display everyday. So it was a little bit weird but also an opportunity to see some of the traditional housing, dress, and even the long-neck padong women. We then rode back to the camp where we bathed the elephants in the river before lunch. After lunch came what was probably my favorite part of the day. Painting. How cool! The elephant will paint anything you want it to. You simply dip the brush in the color paint you want, stick the brush in his trunk, and then trace the paper with your finger where you want the elephant to paint. He will then remember and retrace that line with the brush! Dad made a cubs logo, Mom made a flower, and I made a portrait of an elephant. Overall, it was an incredible day. To be able to interact that closely with these charismatic and intelligent animals was really unbelievable.
Chiang Dao: We drove a couple of hours from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao for only one night. We checked out this ridiculously huge cave. Monks used to live and meditate in there, until tourists started invading. So there are alot of Buddha images and shrines inside the cave. We walked and walked but still didn't even see half of what is down there. That night was Christmas Eve and we stayed in a little bungalow at this small place which threw their very Christmas party. Dinner was a big buffet and BBQ, which also featured some performances by local kids while we ate. It was the first Christmas Eve that I have ever slept through the night. The next morning, though we were greeted with small stockings and Merry Christmas wishes, hardly felt like December 25th. Instead of spending the day in front of a Christmas tree, tearing off wrapping paper, eating roast beef, and being with family, we visited a serene forest temple, walked through beautiful royal gardens, and were served a whole fried fish on a plate. It was a Christmas to remember, to say the least.
The Golden Triangle: Our next few days were spent in a quite luxurious resort where from our balcony you could see both Burma and Laos. But not only see them, you were literally on the border. All it would take is a couple minutes to walk to the river and a few more to swim across. On our way to this spot, we crossed over the border into Burma for the afternoon. We got farther than I did last time, taking tuk-tuks to a couple of temples just minutes form the border. One of them is a replica of an even larger pagoda in Burma's capital of Rangoon. The real one is made of some 60 tons of solid gold and is one of the most important Buddhist sites in the world. Whoa. Anyways, the Golden Triangle was historically THE epicenter of the opium trade. Today, though, Thailand has been really successful in its attempt to eliminate production and trade of the drug. We spent one morning in a really nice museum dedicated to opium and its influence in the area. Then, in the afternoon, we hopped on a long-tail boat that took us to Laos. We only walked around the little market there, admiring the countless tables of moonshine bottled with cobras and scorpions, before heading back to Thailand. While in this area we also visited a local village, which was nice to give my parents some idea of the kind of homes and lifestyle that characterized the Karen villages that I had spent time in. And we enjoyed some relaxing free time around the resort where they have their own elephants roaming about. It's a really gorgeous area, surrounded by mountains that are covered in jungle. It's also a bit mysterious, I thought. With the underlying theme of drugs and the proximity of the three countries, it just felt like any minute a boat full soldiers and machine guns would appear from around the bend and trees would began to sway with the force of helicopter blades. But no such luck, we spent a couple of very peaceful days up there.
Cambodia: We spent only 2 full days in Cambodia but they were pretty incredible days. For the most part, we were simply exploring the ancient temples from the Khmer empire. The biggest and most famous of which is Angkor Wat. And man is it big. We got an aerial view of it from a quick little hot balloon ride. And then walked around the temple itself. There is a moat that encloses the entire grounds. Within the moat is a huge manicured lawn, lake, incredible trees, some 6 libraries, plus what feels like layers and layers of walls and rooms and levels making up the temple. The sheer size was incredible. We spent around two hours inside and could not possibly have seen everything. Plus the craftsmanship was also incredible. Each part of the temple is built from giant sandstone blocks, which just boggles the mind to think about transporting and stacking the enormous weights without the help of any machinery. But then, every inch of the sandstone was artfully finished. Every column, every wall, every ceiling was carved or etched or sculpted. I can't even imagine what the place looked like in its prime-- with crisper details, sharper corners, and the pure white of the stone. Time has definitely taken its toll, as this site was built in the early 12th century, but overall this site is amazingly well preserved.
Most of the rest of our time was spent exploring other smaller temples and ruins in the area. I won't say too much because the pictures say it better. But I will say that Wat Bayon (the Temple of Smiling Faces) and the Jungle Wat were my two favorite sites in Cambodia, even more so than Angkor Wat. Wat Bayon has a total of 54 GIANT stone faces smiling and looking down on you as you wonder the temple. Each face is a puzzle of giant stone blocks pieced together to form a handsome portrait. This site was also in more of a state of ruin than Angkor Wat. The faces are largely whole and complete but the walls around them have crumbled here and there. You could walk through an intact hallway but then clamber over a pile of stay bricks, then look through a standing window frame without any wall surrounding it. Then, in a further state of ruins, was the jungle wat. It is widely known as the site of some Tomb Raider filming. But it is fascinating, I think, to see nature in the process or retaking a manmade structure. Incredible, giant, old trees grew from the tops of roofs. Roots traced their way through seams in the rock. Bark coated stone walls. It was, for some reason, truly beautiful.
We also took a trip to a floating village which was quite the site. The people live either on anchored boats, or on houses that they have constructed to float atop bamboo platforms with the help of empty barrels. These houses along with a couple of little stores lined both sides of the river, their backyards consisting of marsh. It absolutely reeks of dead fish. Toilets consist of a hole in the floor of the home which is then surrounded by scrap plastic sheets for the several feet between the floor and the river water below. Nearly all homes have hammocks, many or them occupied as we floated by. And surprisingly, many of those people were watching TV. They all get around in small boats, often children who looked as young as 8 were paddling by themselves. They grow vegetables in the water. There was even a floating pig pen. Most all of the villagers are fishermen, although the lake that the river opens into has seen a dramatic decline in fish population. Also, according to the seasons, each family must move their entire house due to the changing water levels. Our Cambodian guide actually grew up here. And while he shared many happy memories from his home, he also told of how hard the life can be and how it seems to only be getting harder.
A more uplifting experiencing in Cambodia was our encounter with "wild" monkeys who have grown all too familiar to the tourists visiting the ancient sites. We spent a while on the side of the road feeding them bananas, and simply watching them monkey around. So funny! Another amusing sight was to watch the activity on Cambodian rodes. Instead of the overwhelming amount of motorcycles that consume Thailand, Cambodia is covered in bikes. Everyone from small kids to grandparents navigate the streets on their bicycles. It was ridiculous to watch how many people could fit on one bike, to watch kids on their bike bum rides by holding onto their friend on a motorcycle, and the unbelievable loads that they would strap onto the bikes. So overall, Cambodia was a fun, educational, exciting adventure. And it was great to be able to see how different Cambodia is from its next door neighbor which I've been spending so much time in.
Khao Lak: From Cambodia we flew to the Western coast of Southern Thailand. We enjoyed another couple of days in sweet resort on the beach. For two of those days, my Dad and I went scuba diving. I really missed that feeling of breathing underwater and of course it was not disappointing. The highlights of our 2 days were: a couple of small rays, a couple of big turtles, a school of huge barracuda, countless different reef fish, colorful soft corals, AND 2 sharks! Each was around 5-6 feet long. One was a calm leopard shark sitting on the reef, while the other was a darting, skiddish black-tip shark. Awesome. Our third day down south was our one and only day of the whole day with absolutely nothing on the schedule. So despite a bit of rain we enjoyed our books on the beach and a morning at the spa. Mom had already made friends at the spa while Dad and I were diving. So she scheduled Dad for a foot massage and her and I for a traditional Thai massage. As my mom says, "it was like forced yoga". The resort also put together a really impressive buffet and party for New Years Eve. There were Thai dancers, fire dancers, and a ton of people releasing paper lanterns into the sky. We then enjoyed the midnight fireworks from the comfort of our own beds.
Bangkok: Finally, we made it to Bangkok. I had to do some stuff for school while my parents were still around but it worked out well because I still got to see most everything that they did and still got to spend most of the time with them. We saw the Grand Palace and the nearby temples that characterize the old part of the city. We saw the emerald Buddha which is only a few feet tall but is made form one solid piece of jade. We also saw Wat Pho which houses a 46 METER long reclining Buddha. Seriously. Alot of the buildings in these sites were covered in incredible ceramic tiling. All done by hand, they would arrange the tiles to be 3D, so that flowers bloomed off of the walls and patterns became textures. One night, looking for something to do, we jumped on the skytrain and got off at some ridiculous mall. Turns out, they have a pretty nice aquarium along with a really nice movie theater, both of which we took advantage of. Sherlock Holmes was a great movie, by the way. We also spent an entire day outside of Bangkok. We drove out to the bridge on the River Kwai where we learned alot about Thailand's part in WWII. From there we continued to the Tiger Temple which is a sort of wildlife sanctuary where you can watch and pet and take pictures with tigers (while they are on a short chain to the ground). Also in Bangkok, we walked through a giant and ridiculously cheap flower market, found and moved me into an apartment for this semester, ate lots of good food, and sat in our fair share of traffic.
So this entry is way longer than I was planning, congratulations if you made it through. I can't tell you how good it felt to see my parents. Although, it also reminded me of just how much I miss everyone else. Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season, and I hope winter is treating you well.
Chiang Mai: Our trip started off here, where my parents met me at my apartment. Even though we had a guide with us, it was pretty fun to be able to show my parents the things that I had already seen and done. We visited some of the most significant temples within the old city, which my host parents had taken me to several months ago. We went up to Doi Suthep, the temple on a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai, which I had been to with school and with my host parents. We went to Kad Luang, a giant market complete with clothing, shoes, baskets, dried fruit, nuts, bamboo worms, fresh fruit and veggies, live fish, raw meat, dried fish, and so much more-- where I often went to shop or walk around. We even bought some worms for my parents to check 'eating a bug' off their list but you can give them a hard time because they chickened out and never tried it. One night in Chiang Mai, we met my host family and went out for dinner with them. It was pretty hysterical. My sisters were as energetic and crazy as ever, running about the restaurant. My host dad was severely limping with a soccer injury. And my host mom struggled to find food that my dad's hyper-sensitive-to-spice mouth could handle. I had a great time and was so glad that they could all finally meet each other. We also took one morning to drive to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. We took a little walk through the jungle, enjoyed the scenery, and saw a great waterfall.
We also spent one full day with...elephants. Upon arrival at the Mae Sa elephant camp, we first watched their elephant show which included some soccer, some darts, some painting, some log stacking, and other various tricks. But after the show, we became elephant trainers for the day. The people at the camp spent about 3 minutes going over how to ride an elephant before hoisting each of us up onto our own animal. And then there we were, walking down a trail sitting on the necks of the giant yet gentle elephants; no saddle, no bench, no nothing-- just us and the elephants. Granted, the elephants' real trainers (the only ones the animals would really listen to) walked beside us to keep the big guys in line, but still, I did some steering... We rode them over to these villages were many of the trainers live with their families. They are hilltribe people transplanted into this tourist site which basically puts them on display everyday. So it was a little bit weird but also an opportunity to see some of the traditional housing, dress, and even the long-neck padong women. We then rode back to the camp where we bathed the elephants in the river before lunch. After lunch came what was probably my favorite part of the day. Painting. How cool! The elephant will paint anything you want it to. You simply dip the brush in the color paint you want, stick the brush in his trunk, and then trace the paper with your finger where you want the elephant to paint. He will then remember and retrace that line with the brush! Dad made a cubs logo, Mom made a flower, and I made a portrait of an elephant. Overall, it was an incredible day. To be able to interact that closely with these charismatic and intelligent animals was really unbelievable.
Chiang Dao: We drove a couple of hours from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao for only one night. We checked out this ridiculously huge cave. Monks used to live and meditate in there, until tourists started invading. So there are alot of Buddha images and shrines inside the cave. We walked and walked but still didn't even see half of what is down there. That night was Christmas Eve and we stayed in a little bungalow at this small place which threw their very Christmas party. Dinner was a big buffet and BBQ, which also featured some performances by local kids while we ate. It was the first Christmas Eve that I have ever slept through the night. The next morning, though we were greeted with small stockings and Merry Christmas wishes, hardly felt like December 25th. Instead of spending the day in front of a Christmas tree, tearing off wrapping paper, eating roast beef, and being with family, we visited a serene forest temple, walked through beautiful royal gardens, and were served a whole fried fish on a plate. It was a Christmas to remember, to say the least.
The Golden Triangle: Our next few days were spent in a quite luxurious resort where from our balcony you could see both Burma and Laos. But not only see them, you were literally on the border. All it would take is a couple minutes to walk to the river and a few more to swim across. On our way to this spot, we crossed over the border into Burma for the afternoon. We got farther than I did last time, taking tuk-tuks to a couple of temples just minutes form the border. One of them is a replica of an even larger pagoda in Burma's capital of Rangoon. The real one is made of some 60 tons of solid gold and is one of the most important Buddhist sites in the world. Whoa. Anyways, the Golden Triangle was historically THE epicenter of the opium trade. Today, though, Thailand has been really successful in its attempt to eliminate production and trade of the drug. We spent one morning in a really nice museum dedicated to opium and its influence in the area. Then, in the afternoon, we hopped on a long-tail boat that took us to Laos. We only walked around the little market there, admiring the countless tables of moonshine bottled with cobras and scorpions, before heading back to Thailand. While in this area we also visited a local village, which was nice to give my parents some idea of the kind of homes and lifestyle that characterized the Karen villages that I had spent time in. And we enjoyed some relaxing free time around the resort where they have their own elephants roaming about. It's a really gorgeous area, surrounded by mountains that are covered in jungle. It's also a bit mysterious, I thought. With the underlying theme of drugs and the proximity of the three countries, it just felt like any minute a boat full soldiers and machine guns would appear from around the bend and trees would began to sway with the force of helicopter blades. But no such luck, we spent a couple of very peaceful days up there.
Cambodia: We spent only 2 full days in Cambodia but they were pretty incredible days. For the most part, we were simply exploring the ancient temples from the Khmer empire. The biggest and most famous of which is Angkor Wat. And man is it big. We got an aerial view of it from a quick little hot balloon ride. And then walked around the temple itself. There is a moat that encloses the entire grounds. Within the moat is a huge manicured lawn, lake, incredible trees, some 6 libraries, plus what feels like layers and layers of walls and rooms and levels making up the temple. The sheer size was incredible. We spent around two hours inside and could not possibly have seen everything. Plus the craftsmanship was also incredible. Each part of the temple is built from giant sandstone blocks, which just boggles the mind to think about transporting and stacking the enormous weights without the help of any machinery. But then, every inch of the sandstone was artfully finished. Every column, every wall, every ceiling was carved or etched or sculpted. I can't even imagine what the place looked like in its prime-- with crisper details, sharper corners, and the pure white of the stone. Time has definitely taken its toll, as this site was built in the early 12th century, but overall this site is amazingly well preserved.
Most of the rest of our time was spent exploring other smaller temples and ruins in the area. I won't say too much because the pictures say it better. But I will say that Wat Bayon (the Temple of Smiling Faces) and the Jungle Wat were my two favorite sites in Cambodia, even more so than Angkor Wat. Wat Bayon has a total of 54 GIANT stone faces smiling and looking down on you as you wonder the temple. Each face is a puzzle of giant stone blocks pieced together to form a handsome portrait. This site was also in more of a state of ruin than Angkor Wat. The faces are largely whole and complete but the walls around them have crumbled here and there. You could walk through an intact hallway but then clamber over a pile of stay bricks, then look through a standing window frame without any wall surrounding it. Then, in a further state of ruins, was the jungle wat. It is widely known as the site of some Tomb Raider filming. But it is fascinating, I think, to see nature in the process or retaking a manmade structure. Incredible, giant, old trees grew from the tops of roofs. Roots traced their way through seams in the rock. Bark coated stone walls. It was, for some reason, truly beautiful.
We also took a trip to a floating village which was quite the site. The people live either on anchored boats, or on houses that they have constructed to float atop bamboo platforms with the help of empty barrels. These houses along with a couple of little stores lined both sides of the river, their backyards consisting of marsh. It absolutely reeks of dead fish. Toilets consist of a hole in the floor of the home which is then surrounded by scrap plastic sheets for the several feet between the floor and the river water below. Nearly all homes have hammocks, many or them occupied as we floated by. And surprisingly, many of those people were watching TV. They all get around in small boats, often children who looked as young as 8 were paddling by themselves. They grow vegetables in the water. There was even a floating pig pen. Most all of the villagers are fishermen, although the lake that the river opens into has seen a dramatic decline in fish population. Also, according to the seasons, each family must move their entire house due to the changing water levels. Our Cambodian guide actually grew up here. And while he shared many happy memories from his home, he also told of how hard the life can be and how it seems to only be getting harder.
A more uplifting experiencing in Cambodia was our encounter with "wild" monkeys who have grown all too familiar to the tourists visiting the ancient sites. We spent a while on the side of the road feeding them bananas, and simply watching them monkey around. So funny! Another amusing sight was to watch the activity on Cambodian rodes. Instead of the overwhelming amount of motorcycles that consume Thailand, Cambodia is covered in bikes. Everyone from small kids to grandparents navigate the streets on their bicycles. It was ridiculous to watch how many people could fit on one bike, to watch kids on their bike bum rides by holding onto their friend on a motorcycle, and the unbelievable loads that they would strap onto the bikes. So overall, Cambodia was a fun, educational, exciting adventure. And it was great to be able to see how different Cambodia is from its next door neighbor which I've been spending so much time in.
Khao Lak: From Cambodia we flew to the Western coast of Southern Thailand. We enjoyed another couple of days in sweet resort on the beach. For two of those days, my Dad and I went scuba diving. I really missed that feeling of breathing underwater and of course it was not disappointing. The highlights of our 2 days were: a couple of small rays, a couple of big turtles, a school of huge barracuda, countless different reef fish, colorful soft corals, AND 2 sharks! Each was around 5-6 feet long. One was a calm leopard shark sitting on the reef, while the other was a darting, skiddish black-tip shark. Awesome. Our third day down south was our one and only day of the whole day with absolutely nothing on the schedule. So despite a bit of rain we enjoyed our books on the beach and a morning at the spa. Mom had already made friends at the spa while Dad and I were diving. So she scheduled Dad for a foot massage and her and I for a traditional Thai massage. As my mom says, "it was like forced yoga". The resort also put together a really impressive buffet and party for New Years Eve. There were Thai dancers, fire dancers, and a ton of people releasing paper lanterns into the sky. We then enjoyed the midnight fireworks from the comfort of our own beds.
Bangkok: Finally, we made it to Bangkok. I had to do some stuff for school while my parents were still around but it worked out well because I still got to see most everything that they did and still got to spend most of the time with them. We saw the Grand Palace and the nearby temples that characterize the old part of the city. We saw the emerald Buddha which is only a few feet tall but is made form one solid piece of jade. We also saw Wat Pho which houses a 46 METER long reclining Buddha. Seriously. Alot of the buildings in these sites were covered in incredible ceramic tiling. All done by hand, they would arrange the tiles to be 3D, so that flowers bloomed off of the walls and patterns became textures. One night, looking for something to do, we jumped on the skytrain and got off at some ridiculous mall. Turns out, they have a pretty nice aquarium along with a really nice movie theater, both of which we took advantage of. Sherlock Holmes was a great movie, by the way. We also spent an entire day outside of Bangkok. We drove out to the bridge on the River Kwai where we learned alot about Thailand's part in WWII. From there we continued to the Tiger Temple which is a sort of wildlife sanctuary where you can watch and pet and take pictures with tigers (while they are on a short chain to the ground). Also in Bangkok, we walked through a giant and ridiculously cheap flower market, found and moved me into an apartment for this semester, ate lots of good food, and sat in our fair share of traffic.
So this entry is way longer than I was planning, congratulations if you made it through. I can't tell you how good it felt to see my parents. Although, it also reminded me of just how much I miss everyone else. Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season, and I hope winter is treating you well.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Pitcures!
I have finally uploaded pictures onto the internet! If you would like to check them out, you can go to this website:
http://picasaweb.google.com/juliecstetson
http://picasaweb.google.com/juliecstetson
Tropical Paradise...and class
I know this is ridiculously late, but here is a bit about my last course of first semester:
It all started with a 23 hour bus ride. Seriously. We drove down Thailand's western coastline basically as far as you can go before reaching Malaysia. Thankfully, it was a pretty nice, double-decker bus with room enough for me to have two seats to myself. And thankfully, I packed some Tylenol PM. We made a few stops for meals and potty breaks, but we also made a stop at the site of Thailand's old capital. Rising out of the perfectly manicured lawn were incredible towers and walls of sagging red brick. The capital was built sometime in the 14th century and it was fascinating to see the toll that time had taken on these man made structures. The incredible detail and complexity of the buildings' ornamentation were evident. Yet at the same time, corners were rounded by erosion, cracks were widened by the roots of plants, and Buddha images were decapitated long ago by looters. And the charismatic red bricks set against the vibrant green grass and the striking blue sky was particularly beautiful. So it was really fun to explore the place, and a welcome opportunity to stretch our legs.
Sprawled across my seats, I awoke in the morning to the bus stopping at the pier. Finally, the ocean! But our journey was not over, we had a four hour boat ride ahead of us. Eventually, we came upon a couple of islands, ringed with immaculate white sand beaches and then surrounded by turquoise waters. This is where we would spend the next two and a half weeks. For my group, the first half of the course was spent on Lipe Island. It's pretty small, you can walk all over it in less than a day. But it is the only island in the Adang Archipelago that has been developed. The first resort opened nearly 30 years ago, but the past 5 or 10 years have seen a huge boom in construction. Today there are some 50 places offering accommodation and even more offering food. So we actually stayed in small bungalows at one of those 50 resorts. Our place essentially had its own private beach which we thoroughly enjoyed either laying out on, snorkeling off of, or looking out at from the deck of the restaurant. So while we on this island, we spent 4 days doing projects in small groups but we could spend the days as we wished. Usually this meant some morning beach time, a couple of hours of work, a yummy lunch, some more beach time, and maybe a little more work-- if we could squeeze it in. In the evenings, we often had meetings with significant people on the island such as business owners, restaurant owners, and locals. Speaking of, the locals are actually a minority people-- the Urak Lawoi. Years ago, they were semi-nomadic sea gypsies, spending most of their time on boats; fishing, living subsistencely, and moving from island to island. The Thai government, however, wanted to be sure that Malaysia did not claim these Southern islands, so they set up a National Park and gave land titles to the Urak Lawoi. This forced them settle in one place. Then, over the years, voluntarily and not, the Urak Lawoi sold off their land to developers. Now, the remaining Urak Lawoi often do not own the land they live on. In fact, an entire village was forced to relocate just months before we arrived. Furthermore, their primary livelihood (fishing) is at high risk due to the severely depleted fish stocks in the archipelago. Many now work in tourism industry but very few have high level jobs. So are projects on the island were meant to try to figure out what is going on on Lipe in terms of development, the local culture, and the state of the island's environment. Then, our last two days on that island were spent snorkeling the reefs in the area and writing midcourse essays. Aside from some rain on our second day-- which was a good excuse to get some schoolwork done-- our weather was fantastic.
At the halfway point of the course, it was time for us to leave Lipe. So we got into our kayaks. We paddled around the entire island of Lipe and then crossed the straight to its neighbor, Adang. It took us just over 2 hours. Once we arrived, we set up camp! The rest of the course we would be spending in tents. Tents on the beach, that is. This campsite was actually at the site of the National park, so we had dinners at their restaurant each of the two nights spent there. Breakfast was always a granola type mixture made with your own personal recipe of boiling and powdered milk, hot chocolate mix, instant coffee, and/or sugar. Lunches were always an endless supply of bread, peanut butter, nutella, honey, banana chips, and beef jerky, plus some watermelon or pineapple. The second campsite that we stayed at was a 17 km paddle away from the first which took about 5 hours, not including lunch. This site was much quieter and more secluded, with no restaurant or tourists to speak of. We had the same breakfasts and lunches but then cooked our dinners, some of which consisted of fish caught that day by our boat drivers. There were some bathrooms but they were straight out of a horror film-- filthy, broken, rundown, and accessible by a long overgrown path. I went there once and decided never to go back, a decision which was re-enforced when someone ran into a viper on that path. I also had a close call with a venomous creepy crawly at that site. While completing an assignment at a picnic table, I just happened to look down and see this ridiculous THING on the leg of the table, a mere inch from my leg. It was hideous. It's body was about 3 inches long, but then its LEGS. It had about 30, each around 2 inches long. It was bright orange. It was one inch from me. It was gross. And disgusting. I carefully but urgently removed myself from the table. According to our local boat driver, the venom from that bug hurts more than that of Thai centipedes. One of the teachers at school was bitten by a centipede and was sent to the hospital for a morphine drip. So yea... that was scary. But actually, I loved camping on the beach. I loved falling asleep to the sound of the waves. I loved waking up to the view of the ocean. I loved showering under a 4 ft tall hose attached to a beached boat. I loved spending a week entirely on either sand or water.
This half of the course was focused more on ecology and less on people. So our days were spent doing activities such as a forest plot survey, a mangrove study, a sea anemone survey, and a giant clam project. We did a few more short paddles in our kayaks. I always looked forward to them, it was pretty cool to slide right along the top of the ocean like that. And we did alot more snorkeling. Throughout the trip, I saw alot of barracuda, anemones and clownfish, starfish, crown of thorns, sea urchins, giant clams, moray eels, small rays, and all your colorful reef fish. Little surprise, I couldn't get enough of it. To get to and from different beaches or reefs when we didn't kayak, we took traditional long-tail boats (these boats also carried all of our gear when we did kayak). They are skinny but long wooden boats with a motor attached to the end of a swiveling 15 ft long pole. Our drivers were a couple of Urak Lawoi from Lipe. One day, on our way back from snorkeling somewhere, our boat suddenly started veering to the left. All of us students were facing forwards but one of our field instructors, Pi Aaron, sat facing backwards on the bow of the boat. We watched as he jumped up and headed for the back of the boat, stopping just before climbing over all of us, as the boat began to straighten out. So I look back to see what was going on back there. Turns out our driver was fishing. While driving. In fact, he had the steering stick in one hand, a fishing pole in the other, and a cigarette in his mouth. He hadn't actually caught anything, but had just become a bit preoccupied with the line for a moment. i kept watching him as he soon propped up the fishing pole, took a seat on the cooler, draped his elbow over the steering stick, took a drag from his cigarette, removed it from his lips, then smiled and mouthed the word "sabai" across the boat to our Thai field instructor, Pi Pui. "Sabai" is loosely translated as chill, relaxed, enjoyable. So that sums up the course pretty well I'd say.
The last part of the expedition, our travel back to Chiang Mai, was like a variation on Planes Trains and Automobiles. It began by loading up longtail boats at 4 in the morning. Those boats took us out into deeper waters where we transferred everything onto a ferry. After a 4 hour ferry ride we had a 2 hour bus ride to the airport. From there, we had an hour and a half flight to Bangkok followed by another hour and a half flight to Chiang Mai. It was a long day. But then a final seminar in Chiang Mai and a Thai language assessment interview meant ISDSI was over. Islands was a great way to end it, it would have been hard to top class on the beach. The scenery was spectacular and the activities were fun. The teacher was horrendous but thankfully, he doesn't even teach while we are on the expedition. So overall, it's hard to complain.
Alot has happened since then, such as a three week long vacation with my parents. Hopefully a report on that will come very soon, now that my new room in Bangkok is equipped with wireless. Until then!
It all started with a 23 hour bus ride. Seriously. We drove down Thailand's western coastline basically as far as you can go before reaching Malaysia. Thankfully, it was a pretty nice, double-decker bus with room enough for me to have two seats to myself. And thankfully, I packed some Tylenol PM. We made a few stops for meals and potty breaks, but we also made a stop at the site of Thailand's old capital. Rising out of the perfectly manicured lawn were incredible towers and walls of sagging red brick. The capital was built sometime in the 14th century and it was fascinating to see the toll that time had taken on these man made structures. The incredible detail and complexity of the buildings' ornamentation were evident. Yet at the same time, corners were rounded by erosion, cracks were widened by the roots of plants, and Buddha images were decapitated long ago by looters. And the charismatic red bricks set against the vibrant green grass and the striking blue sky was particularly beautiful. So it was really fun to explore the place, and a welcome opportunity to stretch our legs.
Sprawled across my seats, I awoke in the morning to the bus stopping at the pier. Finally, the ocean! But our journey was not over, we had a four hour boat ride ahead of us. Eventually, we came upon a couple of islands, ringed with immaculate white sand beaches and then surrounded by turquoise waters. This is where we would spend the next two and a half weeks. For my group, the first half of the course was spent on Lipe Island. It's pretty small, you can walk all over it in less than a day. But it is the only island in the Adang Archipelago that has been developed. The first resort opened nearly 30 years ago, but the past 5 or 10 years have seen a huge boom in construction. Today there are some 50 places offering accommodation and even more offering food. So we actually stayed in small bungalows at one of those 50 resorts. Our place essentially had its own private beach which we thoroughly enjoyed either laying out on, snorkeling off of, or looking out at from the deck of the restaurant. So while we on this island, we spent 4 days doing projects in small groups but we could spend the days as we wished. Usually this meant some morning beach time, a couple of hours of work, a yummy lunch, some more beach time, and maybe a little more work-- if we could squeeze it in. In the evenings, we often had meetings with significant people on the island such as business owners, restaurant owners, and locals. Speaking of, the locals are actually a minority people-- the Urak Lawoi. Years ago, they were semi-nomadic sea gypsies, spending most of their time on boats; fishing, living subsistencely, and moving from island to island. The Thai government, however, wanted to be sure that Malaysia did not claim these Southern islands, so they set up a National Park and gave land titles to the Urak Lawoi. This forced them settle in one place. Then, over the years, voluntarily and not, the Urak Lawoi sold off their land to developers. Now, the remaining Urak Lawoi often do not own the land they live on. In fact, an entire village was forced to relocate just months before we arrived. Furthermore, their primary livelihood (fishing) is at high risk due to the severely depleted fish stocks in the archipelago. Many now work in tourism industry but very few have high level jobs. So are projects on the island were meant to try to figure out what is going on on Lipe in terms of development, the local culture, and the state of the island's environment. Then, our last two days on that island were spent snorkeling the reefs in the area and writing midcourse essays. Aside from some rain on our second day-- which was a good excuse to get some schoolwork done-- our weather was fantastic.
At the halfway point of the course, it was time for us to leave Lipe. So we got into our kayaks. We paddled around the entire island of Lipe and then crossed the straight to its neighbor, Adang. It took us just over 2 hours. Once we arrived, we set up camp! The rest of the course we would be spending in tents. Tents on the beach, that is. This campsite was actually at the site of the National park, so we had dinners at their restaurant each of the two nights spent there. Breakfast was always a granola type mixture made with your own personal recipe of boiling and powdered milk, hot chocolate mix, instant coffee, and/or sugar. Lunches were always an endless supply of bread, peanut butter, nutella, honey, banana chips, and beef jerky, plus some watermelon or pineapple. The second campsite that we stayed at was a 17 km paddle away from the first which took about 5 hours, not including lunch. This site was much quieter and more secluded, with no restaurant or tourists to speak of. We had the same breakfasts and lunches but then cooked our dinners, some of which consisted of fish caught that day by our boat drivers. There were some bathrooms but they were straight out of a horror film-- filthy, broken, rundown, and accessible by a long overgrown path. I went there once and decided never to go back, a decision which was re-enforced when someone ran into a viper on that path. I also had a close call with a venomous creepy crawly at that site. While completing an assignment at a picnic table, I just happened to look down and see this ridiculous THING on the leg of the table, a mere inch from my leg. It was hideous. It's body was about 3 inches long, but then its LEGS. It had about 30, each around 2 inches long. It was bright orange. It was one inch from me. It was gross. And disgusting. I carefully but urgently removed myself from the table. According to our local boat driver, the venom from that bug hurts more than that of Thai centipedes. One of the teachers at school was bitten by a centipede and was sent to the hospital for a morphine drip. So yea... that was scary. But actually, I loved camping on the beach. I loved falling asleep to the sound of the waves. I loved waking up to the view of the ocean. I loved showering under a 4 ft tall hose attached to a beached boat. I loved spending a week entirely on either sand or water.
This half of the course was focused more on ecology and less on people. So our days were spent doing activities such as a forest plot survey, a mangrove study, a sea anemone survey, and a giant clam project. We did a few more short paddles in our kayaks. I always looked forward to them, it was pretty cool to slide right along the top of the ocean like that. And we did alot more snorkeling. Throughout the trip, I saw alot of barracuda, anemones and clownfish, starfish, crown of thorns, sea urchins, giant clams, moray eels, small rays, and all your colorful reef fish. Little surprise, I couldn't get enough of it. To get to and from different beaches or reefs when we didn't kayak, we took traditional long-tail boats (these boats also carried all of our gear when we did kayak). They are skinny but long wooden boats with a motor attached to the end of a swiveling 15 ft long pole. Our drivers were a couple of Urak Lawoi from Lipe. One day, on our way back from snorkeling somewhere, our boat suddenly started veering to the left. All of us students were facing forwards but one of our field instructors, Pi Aaron, sat facing backwards on the bow of the boat. We watched as he jumped up and headed for the back of the boat, stopping just before climbing over all of us, as the boat began to straighten out. So I look back to see what was going on back there. Turns out our driver was fishing. While driving. In fact, he had the steering stick in one hand, a fishing pole in the other, and a cigarette in his mouth. He hadn't actually caught anything, but had just become a bit preoccupied with the line for a moment. i kept watching him as he soon propped up the fishing pole, took a seat on the cooler, draped his elbow over the steering stick, took a drag from his cigarette, removed it from his lips, then smiled and mouthed the word "sabai" across the boat to our Thai field instructor, Pi Pui. "Sabai" is loosely translated as chill, relaxed, enjoyable. So that sums up the course pretty well I'd say.
The last part of the expedition, our travel back to Chiang Mai, was like a variation on Planes Trains and Automobiles. It began by loading up longtail boats at 4 in the morning. Those boats took us out into deeper waters where we transferred everything onto a ferry. After a 4 hour ferry ride we had a 2 hour bus ride to the airport. From there, we had an hour and a half flight to Bangkok followed by another hour and a half flight to Chiang Mai. It was a long day. But then a final seminar in Chiang Mai and a Thai language assessment interview meant ISDSI was over. Islands was a great way to end it, it would have been hard to top class on the beach. The scenery was spectacular and the activities were fun. The teacher was horrendous but thankfully, he doesn't even teach while we are on the expedition. So overall, it's hard to complain.
Alot has happened since then, such as a three week long vacation with my parents. Hopefully a report on that will come very soon, now that my new room in Bangkok is equipped with wireless. Until then!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Village People
Once again I have no idea where to begin. Where could I possibly begin to describe two and a half weeks spent isolated in rural hilltribe villages of Northern Thailand? I promise when I get my laptop after this semester, I will put up some pictures although even that can't tell the whole story.
In all, we stayed in 5 different villages. The first village, we spent one night in. The next two villages we spent two nights in each. And the last two villages we spent five nights in each. To get from one to the other--we walked. For over two weeks I did not: ride in any motorized vehicle, sit on a toilet seat, take a hot (by hot I mean anything except breath-takingly cold) shower, use a sink, eat a meal without rice, see my own face, or even sit in a chair. Seriously.
All of the villages that we stayed in are Karen villages, which is one of the many different hilltribes that populate the area. They are well known for their kindness, hospitality, and also their weaving. Most of the women and some of the men still wear the traditional dress. They love their bright colors, including lots of flourescent pink. They also work hard (at least in these particular villages) to preserve other cultural traditions, such as blacksmithing, ancient songs, and herbal medicine-- all of which we got a chance to learn about and try. Their native language is Backinyaw. Much of the older generation, therefore, does not know Thai, which was beyond frustrating. But the majority of the villagers spoke at least some Thai, though it is a second language for them (not like that matters to us). The Karen are also known for their agricultural practices. Like most other hilltribes, they use a form of swidden agriculture which means basically that they burn a plot of forest, plant it for one year, then let it return to forest for up to ten years before farming that land again. But comparatively speaking, they tend to execute this in a very sustainable way. So much of our academic time was spent learning more about how they use their land, the impacts of that, and the problems they encounter. We also spent alot of time learning about the specifics of the different forest types that we passed through. But that's the boring stuff.
I'll start with the hikes. We had four big hikes, with our backpacks. Each was absolutely beautiful but also very different from the next. The first was along a river. We crossed it probably around 15 times. The deepest water that we encountered reached just above my knee. When we weren't crossing it, we were usually either right next to it or literally walking up the river, since a few sections of the river were contained by vertical rock walls, which didn't allow for a trail on either side (= GORGEOUS). Some of the river was calm and smooth, other parts were rocky and rapid, and there were even some small waterfalls scattered throughout. The most challenging part of the hike was its technicality, since it required alot of careful footing. I was also 'lucky' enough to see a snake slither right in front of my feet as I wandered off to go to the bathroom-- so that's always exciting. The next hike was the longest, as it took us 7 hours. But keep in mind, that always includes a lengthy lunch break. Whenever we hiked, our host families from the village we were leaving would pack us a lunch. This included a giant brick of rice wrapped in a banana leaf and some baggies of leftover dishes. More on food later. Anyways, this hike was nothing too spectacular, just your typical up (by up I mean straight up a steep slope)and down through tropical forests. The next hike was essentially like climbing a mountain. But it was especially enjoyable because someone in this country finally learned about switchbacks! We basically just headed up until the trees thinned and we were welcomed by an extraordinary view. It felt strangely familiar-- feeling like I was on top of everything and seeing only the continually lighter silouhettes of mountains deep into the horizon. Who knew Thailand's green mounatins could be so similar to the Rockies? The last hike was another long one but it had a little bit of everything: beautiful views, steep slopes, a few river crossings, and lots and lots of forest. On every hike we always had a couple of local guides. Often they were in flip flops. Often they were very small, older men. And often, they turned around once we reached our destination and walked back home the same day-- granted it would only take them half the amount of time to go back (they didn't have backpacks, okay?). So that was impressive. We also took two smaller day hikes during our time in the villages. One was to climb Doi Pui, the tallest mountain in the province. That offered even more spectacular mounatin views. Plus, we had our midcourse seminar at the top with out professor from Chiang Mai. Not a bad classroom if you ask me. The second small hike was to a 300 meter tall waterfall. wow.
But the real meat of this experience, in my opinion, was living with the families: eating their food, sleeping under their roofs, helping with their chores, and talking with them (or at least trying to). The houses were all somewhat similar. Many of them were built on stilts so that the water buffalo, pigs, and chickens could live underneath. Bamboo is a common building material which is used by making vertical cracks down the cyclinder and then unfolding it so that it lays flat. Walls were either this type of bamboo, wood slats, or every once in a while just nonexistent. If you were lucky, the floors were wood. Otherwise, they were the bamboo sheets which a total of about 4 students broke right through. Roofs were either thatched with palm leaves or made of tin. There was always a 'kitchen' which featured a continously burning wood fire pit and thats about it. Many families often also slept in this room. And then there was usually one or two other rooms that were largely empty as well. Most of the homes I stayed in had a small TV, though I'm not sure how many of them actually worked. They all had electricity thanks to solar panels. And they all had NO furniture. Students would always stay either two or three per house, where we would sleep on thin mats or folded quilts on the floor with mosquito nets hung above us. Bathrooms were outhouse style, unattached to the house. They featured a squat toilet, and a bucket shower. Those first few scoops of water were always rough but once you got your breath back, it was worth it to feel clean again.
The food turned out to be much better than I was expecting. In fact, in some villages, the food was actually good. Since they lived off of their land, there wasn't a ton of variety. We ate a lot of pumpkin, fired eggs, this cucumber/melon thing, pumpkin, ramon noodles, longbeans, and pumpkin. It's a good thing I loved that pumpkin. But surprisingly, I never had to eat anything really crazy. A few students found a rat head in their soup once but not me! I did watch one of my host mothers hold a dead squirrel by the tail and dunk it into the fire, but it remained on a shelf above the fire, smoking, until the day we left.
In an attempt to give a feeling for some of the experiences I have had with my families in the villages, the following is a small collection of brief stories:
One day, my host family took Allie and I to duu bplaa or "watch fish". At first we were a little confused, thinking maybe they really meant to "go fishing". But no. We walked through rice fields until we came to this small, water filled cave. Apparently, it is a sort of Buddhist shrine for the village. Therefore, nobody actually fishes there, but they do come to watch and feed the fish. Our adorable 2 year old host brother especially enjoyed this.
We spent an afternoon at the village school playing games with the kids. Even though the games were different, it was fascinating how similar the Karen kids' games were to those from our childhoods.
One of my host mothers took us to gather firewood with her. She is an older, very small woman. She wore the traditional woven skirt and shirt. She is nothing short a sweet old lady. And she absolutely showed us up with a machete. Then, she carried a huge basket full of wood on her back by a strap wrapped across her forehead.
During one of the longer homestays, we stayed in a Christian village. My housemates and I became really close to our family in the short time that we stayed there. One thing that I will never forget is sitting next to the fire in their kitchen, with a belly full of rice and pumpkin, and learning to sing Backinyaw church songs. And then, at the cultural exchange, watching our host father's face as we sang those songs for the entire village. He looked like he could burst with pride.
At that same village, we discovered a giant (softball sized) spider uncomfortably close to our bags and beds. So what did we do? Go get our Pati (host dad) and beg for help. He had just the solution. After assessing the problem, he returned to the room with a stick. And poked it. What the heck is that supposed to do? Not surprisngly, the spider would just run around in completely unpredictable directions, causing us girls to squeal a little everytime. Eventually, by some stroke of luck, it scurried through a slat in the wall and left the room.
It is November and in Thailand that means...rice harvest! So in one of the villagers, we spent a day helping our families with this incredibly important process. All of the families were at different points in the harvest so we all ended up doing different things. Some were cutting down the rice stalks. Some were bundling and tying the stalks together. Some, like me, were thrashing the bundles to seperate the husked rice from the stalks. Basically, we just whacked the stalks against this half cyclindrical, slanted piece of wood until the rice kernels had all fallen off. This task wasn't too difficult but I can't imagine going out to the field and harvesting day after day. It is an incredible amount of work, but does result in the family's rice for an entire year. It really felt like an honor to be part of such a truly sacred and traditional activity.
I awoke one morning to find my three year old host brother sitting beside an outdoor firepit. He was pulling pieces of wood out of the fire and sharpening the ends with a machete. A real fire. A real, sharp machete. A real three year old boy. But... he was good at it. He is the son of a blacksmith.
So hopefully this helps shed some light on what I've been up to. I know this is long, but I also know I cannot convey how incredible this experience truly was. It has given me alot to think about, and is something that I will never forget. I am so thankful to heve had this opportunity. Speaking of, Happy Thanksgiving!!
In all, we stayed in 5 different villages. The first village, we spent one night in. The next two villages we spent two nights in each. And the last two villages we spent five nights in each. To get from one to the other--we walked. For over two weeks I did not: ride in any motorized vehicle, sit on a toilet seat, take a hot (by hot I mean anything except breath-takingly cold) shower, use a sink, eat a meal without rice, see my own face, or even sit in a chair. Seriously.
All of the villages that we stayed in are Karen villages, which is one of the many different hilltribes that populate the area. They are well known for their kindness, hospitality, and also their weaving. Most of the women and some of the men still wear the traditional dress. They love their bright colors, including lots of flourescent pink. They also work hard (at least in these particular villages) to preserve other cultural traditions, such as blacksmithing, ancient songs, and herbal medicine-- all of which we got a chance to learn about and try. Their native language is Backinyaw. Much of the older generation, therefore, does not know Thai, which was beyond frustrating. But the majority of the villagers spoke at least some Thai, though it is a second language for them (not like that matters to us). The Karen are also known for their agricultural practices. Like most other hilltribes, they use a form of swidden agriculture which means basically that they burn a plot of forest, plant it for one year, then let it return to forest for up to ten years before farming that land again. But comparatively speaking, they tend to execute this in a very sustainable way. So much of our academic time was spent learning more about how they use their land, the impacts of that, and the problems they encounter. We also spent alot of time learning about the specifics of the different forest types that we passed through. But that's the boring stuff.
I'll start with the hikes. We had four big hikes, with our backpacks. Each was absolutely beautiful but also very different from the next. The first was along a river. We crossed it probably around 15 times. The deepest water that we encountered reached just above my knee. When we weren't crossing it, we were usually either right next to it or literally walking up the river, since a few sections of the river were contained by vertical rock walls, which didn't allow for a trail on either side (= GORGEOUS). Some of the river was calm and smooth, other parts were rocky and rapid, and there were even some small waterfalls scattered throughout. The most challenging part of the hike was its technicality, since it required alot of careful footing. I was also 'lucky' enough to see a snake slither right in front of my feet as I wandered off to go to the bathroom-- so that's always exciting. The next hike was the longest, as it took us 7 hours. But keep in mind, that always includes a lengthy lunch break. Whenever we hiked, our host families from the village we were leaving would pack us a lunch. This included a giant brick of rice wrapped in a banana leaf and some baggies of leftover dishes. More on food later. Anyways, this hike was nothing too spectacular, just your typical up (by up I mean straight up a steep slope)and down through tropical forests. The next hike was essentially like climbing a mountain. But it was especially enjoyable because someone in this country finally learned about switchbacks! We basically just headed up until the trees thinned and we were welcomed by an extraordinary view. It felt strangely familiar-- feeling like I was on top of everything and seeing only the continually lighter silouhettes of mountains deep into the horizon. Who knew Thailand's green mounatins could be so similar to the Rockies? The last hike was another long one but it had a little bit of everything: beautiful views, steep slopes, a few river crossings, and lots and lots of forest. On every hike we always had a couple of local guides. Often they were in flip flops. Often they were very small, older men. And often, they turned around once we reached our destination and walked back home the same day-- granted it would only take them half the amount of time to go back (they didn't have backpacks, okay?). So that was impressive. We also took two smaller day hikes during our time in the villages. One was to climb Doi Pui, the tallest mountain in the province. That offered even more spectacular mounatin views. Plus, we had our midcourse seminar at the top with out professor from Chiang Mai. Not a bad classroom if you ask me. The second small hike was to a 300 meter tall waterfall. wow.
But the real meat of this experience, in my opinion, was living with the families: eating their food, sleeping under their roofs, helping with their chores, and talking with them (or at least trying to). The houses were all somewhat similar. Many of them were built on stilts so that the water buffalo, pigs, and chickens could live underneath. Bamboo is a common building material which is used by making vertical cracks down the cyclinder and then unfolding it so that it lays flat. Walls were either this type of bamboo, wood slats, or every once in a while just nonexistent. If you were lucky, the floors were wood. Otherwise, they were the bamboo sheets which a total of about 4 students broke right through. Roofs were either thatched with palm leaves or made of tin. There was always a 'kitchen' which featured a continously burning wood fire pit and thats about it. Many families often also slept in this room. And then there was usually one or two other rooms that were largely empty as well. Most of the homes I stayed in had a small TV, though I'm not sure how many of them actually worked. They all had electricity thanks to solar panels. And they all had NO furniture. Students would always stay either two or three per house, where we would sleep on thin mats or folded quilts on the floor with mosquito nets hung above us. Bathrooms were outhouse style, unattached to the house. They featured a squat toilet, and a bucket shower. Those first few scoops of water were always rough but once you got your breath back, it was worth it to feel clean again.
The food turned out to be much better than I was expecting. In fact, in some villages, the food was actually good. Since they lived off of their land, there wasn't a ton of variety. We ate a lot of pumpkin, fired eggs, this cucumber/melon thing, pumpkin, ramon noodles, longbeans, and pumpkin. It's a good thing I loved that pumpkin. But surprisingly, I never had to eat anything really crazy. A few students found a rat head in their soup once but not me! I did watch one of my host mothers hold a dead squirrel by the tail and dunk it into the fire, but it remained on a shelf above the fire, smoking, until the day we left.
In an attempt to give a feeling for some of the experiences I have had with my families in the villages, the following is a small collection of brief stories:
One day, my host family took Allie and I to duu bplaa or "watch fish". At first we were a little confused, thinking maybe they really meant to "go fishing". But no. We walked through rice fields until we came to this small, water filled cave. Apparently, it is a sort of Buddhist shrine for the village. Therefore, nobody actually fishes there, but they do come to watch and feed the fish. Our adorable 2 year old host brother especially enjoyed this.
We spent an afternoon at the village school playing games with the kids. Even though the games were different, it was fascinating how similar the Karen kids' games were to those from our childhoods.
One of my host mothers took us to gather firewood with her. She is an older, very small woman. She wore the traditional woven skirt and shirt. She is nothing short a sweet old lady. And she absolutely showed us up with a machete. Then, she carried a huge basket full of wood on her back by a strap wrapped across her forehead.
During one of the longer homestays, we stayed in a Christian village. My housemates and I became really close to our family in the short time that we stayed there. One thing that I will never forget is sitting next to the fire in their kitchen, with a belly full of rice and pumpkin, and learning to sing Backinyaw church songs. And then, at the cultural exchange, watching our host father's face as we sang those songs for the entire village. He looked like he could burst with pride.
At that same village, we discovered a giant (softball sized) spider uncomfortably close to our bags and beds. So what did we do? Go get our Pati (host dad) and beg for help. He had just the solution. After assessing the problem, he returned to the room with a stick. And poked it. What the heck is that supposed to do? Not surprisngly, the spider would just run around in completely unpredictable directions, causing us girls to squeal a little everytime. Eventually, by some stroke of luck, it scurried through a slat in the wall and left the room.
It is November and in Thailand that means...rice harvest! So in one of the villagers, we spent a day helping our families with this incredibly important process. All of the families were at different points in the harvest so we all ended up doing different things. Some were cutting down the rice stalks. Some were bundling and tying the stalks together. Some, like me, were thrashing the bundles to seperate the husked rice from the stalks. Basically, we just whacked the stalks against this half cyclindrical, slanted piece of wood until the rice kernels had all fallen off. This task wasn't too difficult but I can't imagine going out to the field and harvesting day after day. It is an incredible amount of work, but does result in the family's rice for an entire year. It really felt like an honor to be part of such a truly sacred and traditional activity.
I awoke one morning to find my three year old host brother sitting beside an outdoor firepit. He was pulling pieces of wood out of the fire and sharpening the ends with a machete. A real fire. A real, sharp machete. A real three year old boy. But... he was good at it. He is the son of a blacksmith.
So hopefully this helps shed some light on what I've been up to. I know this is long, but I also know I cannot convey how incredible this experience truly was. It has given me alot to think about, and is something that I will never forget. I am so thankful to heve had this opportunity. Speaking of, Happy Thanksgiving!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Goodbye again
Happy Halloween! I hope you are all celebrating since over here, there is a serious lack of pumpkins, masks, and candy corn. But there is still a festive mood here. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday is one of the biggest festivals of the year. It is dedicated to paying respect for the river. At school yesterday, we got to make little floats out of a piece banana trunk and intricately decorate them with banana leaves, lots and lots of flowers, and a candle. Thousands and thousands of these floats will be let go down the river. At the same time, thousands and thousands of paper bag lanterns will be let off into the sky. So it should be quite the sight. Unfortunately, we will only get to celebrate on Sunday because on Monday...we're off!
We are leaving for our second field course, the political ecology of forests. It takes place in the Northwest corner of Thailand in an area called Mae Hong Song. We will be backpacking through the forests in the mountains from village to village. At some villages we'll stay for only a day but at some we will be around for several days. And everywhere we go, we will be living with host families- which always makes for some unique experiences and good stories. I can't wait!
The past week has been spent in the city. We were back in the classroom everyday which was quite the change of pace. Last Sunday, my Chiang Mai host family picked me up at my apartment and took me out to...Pizza Hut. I didn't think I was craving American food but oh. my. god. Its not even good pizza but that cheese, that salad, and that salad dressing? It hit the spot. And it was so good to see my family again. They were excited to hear about my trip and were excited to test my Thai language skills. After we ate, we did some Barbie window shopping and played some air hockey before they dropped me back off. I also visited my host mom from Mae Ta, with the other student who lived with me there, on Wednesday morning before school at the market where she sells her produce. She was so cute, she just lit up when she saw us. We had printed off a couple of pictures of us with the family and of their fields to give to her. She showed them off to her friends and customers. And of course she showered us with delicious food and the infamous Mae Ta sticky rice.
Thats about all that I have. But I'll be back in about three weeks with another update. So until then, Sa Wat Dii Kha!
We are leaving for our second field course, the political ecology of forests. It takes place in the Northwest corner of Thailand in an area called Mae Hong Song. We will be backpacking through the forests in the mountains from village to village. At some villages we'll stay for only a day but at some we will be around for several days. And everywhere we go, we will be living with host families- which always makes for some unique experiences and good stories. I can't wait!
The past week has been spent in the city. We were back in the classroom everyday which was quite the change of pace. Last Sunday, my Chiang Mai host family picked me up at my apartment and took me out to...Pizza Hut. I didn't think I was craving American food but oh. my. god. Its not even good pizza but that cheese, that salad, and that salad dressing? It hit the spot. And it was so good to see my family again. They were excited to hear about my trip and were excited to test my Thai language skills. After we ate, we did some Barbie window shopping and played some air hockey before they dropped me back off. I also visited my host mom from Mae Ta, with the other student who lived with me there, on Wednesday morning before school at the market where she sells her produce. She was so cute, she just lit up when she saw us. We had printed off a couple of pictures of us with the family and of their fields to give to her. She showed them off to her friends and customers. And of course she showered us with delicious food and the infamous Mae Ta sticky rice.
Thats about all that I have. But I'll be back in about three weeks with another update. So until then, Sa Wat Dii Kha!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
I'm Baaack!
Where to start?? The last three weeks have been busy, exciting, eye-opening, amusing, and awesomely fun. I can only attempt to hit on some of the highlights.
The course started with a few hikes up into the mountains of Northern Thailand. So there we were, finally in the field. The scenery was extraordinary. Huge expanses of lush green land interspersed with some linear rows of crops whenever we neared a village. We spent two nights out in this area, each in a different village. And when I say village, we are talking legitimate hill tribe village. These people were ethnic Palong, a people who fled from Burma around 40 years ago. And they were learning how to use the difficult hillside land that they had been left in order to provide their livlihoods. A few pioneering villagers had started agroforests on their land, which essentially means they planted a forest that would produce food and other products. The theory behind this is that the more closely an agricultural field resembles a truely natural ecosystem, the more sustainable it will be-- by reducing erosion, eliminating the need for irrigation or chemicals, maximizing nutrient cycles, etc. So we got a tour of everything these villagers were doing to try to provide for the families in this sort of sustainable way. The homes in these villages are on stilts and made primarily of bamboo and thatched roofing. They would cook us meals and then at night, sit and talk with us about their lives. It was very humbling to hear one man talk about how happy he is because 1) his son has citizenship (he does not), 2) he has enough to food for his family to eat, and 3) he has "enough". It really doesn't take much.
After those couple of days, we moved to the Upland Hollistic Development Project (UHDP) which is the organization that taught and helped the previously mentioned villagers start up tehir agroforests. It is a research center that works on developing different methods that marginalized hill tribe people in Northern Thailand can utilize to better their lives. But it in itself is like a village since the staff live on the grounds surrounded by their experimental fields and agroforests. While we were there, we stayed in a relatively comfortable bunkhouse. They cooked us DELICIOUS Thai food for lunch and dinner but gave us an 'American' spread for breakfast. I was pretty sick of toast and peanut butter after about the second day. Our days were filled with all sorts of activities: plant identification, plot surveys, industrial tangerine farm visit, organic tanegrine farm visit, compost making, natural pesticide amking, plant propogation, and more. One day was dedicated to foraging for food from the forest and then cooking it so that our entire lunch came from UHDP's land. The final meal included a frog dish made from ground up whole frogs (bones and all), and wood fired crickets, among other more normal things. Another day was dedicated to...a pig slaughter. We spent the morning talking with staff of three different tribal backgrounds. They told us of the traditional significance of killing pigs within each of their cultures. And then after lunch, we killed a pig. I will save you the gory details, but I will say, tehey were gory. It was quite the experience and absolutely gave us all alot to think about. But it was a great opportunity because we were involved in every step of the process. After the pig was dead, we all helped to shave it, disect it, and then butcher it. There we were, a bunch of American students sitting outside of banana leaves, machetes in hand, hacking away at huge chunks of raw pork. They used the entire pig. In fact, while we were butchering the body, we were fed snacks of pig tail and ear. I also ended up trying the nose, intetsines, and liver. None of which I have much desire to eat again but the meat itself, which we feasted on a mere 4 hours after the pig was killed, was amazing. Truly delicious. All together, our time at UHDP was really great. We got to interact alot with the community memebers-- even just playing cards, or soccer, or hula hooping. And I now know more about ratan than I would have ever wished to.
After our time at UHDP, we had to travel down to the lowland community of Mae Ta. But along the way we stopped in paradise. We spent one night at an eco-resort characterised by small bungalows, towering trees, gourmet food, and the most comfortable beds in Thailand. Our professor from Chiang Mai met us there to hold a mid course seminar, but we also got alot of free time to explore the area. I went with a couple of people up the road and then up 500 steps to a gorgeous Wat nestled onto the mountaindside. So for one precious day and night, we enjoyed the kind of luxury that only complimentray bathrobes and mouthwatering porkchops can bring. It was cruel, really, to taunt us with this in the middle of a field course.
We reluctantly left the resort and headed off to Mae Ta. Of the 1000 or so families in Mae Ta, around 400 have switched to organic agriculture rather than chemically intensive agriculture. So we were there to live with and learn from families that had made the switch. Here, we lived 2 students per host family. My family was hysterical. The language barrier was especially difficult since these people speak a dialect of Northern Thai, so the central Thai that we have been learning is their second language, not to mention the fact that we barely know it anyways. But it helped alot to have another student around to try to decipher the various conversations. Our dad is a bit of a whiskey addict, coming home with the moonshine packaged in only a plastic bag. He poured it into a old plastic water bottle before pouring us a taste. Our mom is, as Christie (my housemate) fondly says, "an angel in the kitchen". Every meal was a feast and every feast was delicious. Plus, just about all of the food came directly from our families land-- the most local and fresh you can find. We had 2 or 3 sisters, its hard to tell. Three girls lived in the house but apparently one is a Thai student who was also just staying briefly-- except we are not sure which one she is as they all seemed so familial. Oh well. The girls were 16, 18, and 20 so it was always fun to chat with them about school and boys, two subjects that our Thai vocabs limitedly allowed. Their house was pretty nice. The eating and living areas were both on an outdoor covered patio, which I found interesting because the most valuable thing in the house-- the TV and stereo-- were constantly available for any greedy hands. Th ebathroom had a traditional Thai squat toilet (basically a hole in the ground) and a bucket shower (large bucket of water with small pail used to scoop water onto yourself). And none of the house was sealed, as the eaves below the roof were open to the outdoors. This meant I was often showering with snails or racing spiders across floors. I also saw the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen in my life on one wall-- the diameter of a grapefruit. The house also had a small garden out back, along with a few concrete tubs of catfish, and a bajillion chicks, not to mention a couple of noisy roosters. So, we spent a couple of days on our families farm, hoeing and picking vegetables. But honestly, I have no idea how these families keep up their farms. All of them will work for an hour, but then if its hot- take a break, if its sunny- get a drink, if its raining- take a break, if you're tired- take a nap, if you're hungry- eat, if you feel like it- take a break. In 8 hours on the farm, they will work for maybe 4. Its amazing. We then got an opportunity to go with our families (at 3:30 am) and help them sell their produce at a local market. It was pretty cool to follow this short food chain and see the food go from farm all the way into the consumers' hands. On other days, we had meeting with commnity memebers or did activities like hiking the watershed. This proved to be quite the lesson on wildlife, though. Just about everyone found at least one leech on them throughout the hike, but typically it was more like 3 or 4. I caught 5 but none of them had made it past my shoes and socks. Then, when we had reached the spring, the source of the water, we were standing around talking about with out village guides. And someone notices, 6 inches from where another student was standing, a slim, bright green coil wrapped around a low branch. Viper. Poisonous Viper. The snake didn't seem to alarmed as he barely moved a muscle, but all of us were quick to give him plenty of room. Until we noticed another one a few yards away, again only inches from other students. So that was exciting, to say the least.
So much more happened but it would take me forever to recount it all. I really loved being out in the field. And I really loved that my professors were all local village men and women, without college degress but with a heck of alot of experience and local knowledge. I'm already looking foraward to the next field course, one week from Monday. Returning to the city was a bit of a shock, but is also exciting and comes with alot more freedom.
Finally, yesterday, we went to Burma. We drove the 4 hrs up to the border with the sole prupose of crossing and renewing our Thai visas. We spent about two hours in Burma, in the crowded market filled with pirated DVDs, knockoff designer stuff, cheap SE asian souvenirs, and beggars. It was pretty overwhelming and a bit sad, and I left empty handed. But it was certainly an adventure and the 8 hours in the car was almost welcome after such a busy couple of weeks.
The course started with a few hikes up into the mountains of Northern Thailand. So there we were, finally in the field. The scenery was extraordinary. Huge expanses of lush green land interspersed with some linear rows of crops whenever we neared a village. We spent two nights out in this area, each in a different village. And when I say village, we are talking legitimate hill tribe village. These people were ethnic Palong, a people who fled from Burma around 40 years ago. And they were learning how to use the difficult hillside land that they had been left in order to provide their livlihoods. A few pioneering villagers had started agroforests on their land, which essentially means they planted a forest that would produce food and other products. The theory behind this is that the more closely an agricultural field resembles a truely natural ecosystem, the more sustainable it will be-- by reducing erosion, eliminating the need for irrigation or chemicals, maximizing nutrient cycles, etc. So we got a tour of everything these villagers were doing to try to provide for the families in this sort of sustainable way. The homes in these villages are on stilts and made primarily of bamboo and thatched roofing. They would cook us meals and then at night, sit and talk with us about their lives. It was very humbling to hear one man talk about how happy he is because 1) his son has citizenship (he does not), 2) he has enough to food for his family to eat, and 3) he has "enough". It really doesn't take much.
After those couple of days, we moved to the Upland Hollistic Development Project (UHDP) which is the organization that taught and helped the previously mentioned villagers start up tehir agroforests. It is a research center that works on developing different methods that marginalized hill tribe people in Northern Thailand can utilize to better their lives. But it in itself is like a village since the staff live on the grounds surrounded by their experimental fields and agroforests. While we were there, we stayed in a relatively comfortable bunkhouse. They cooked us DELICIOUS Thai food for lunch and dinner but gave us an 'American' spread for breakfast. I was pretty sick of toast and peanut butter after about the second day. Our days were filled with all sorts of activities: plant identification, plot surveys, industrial tangerine farm visit, organic tanegrine farm visit, compost making, natural pesticide amking, plant propogation, and more. One day was dedicated to foraging for food from the forest and then cooking it so that our entire lunch came from UHDP's land. The final meal included a frog dish made from ground up whole frogs (bones and all), and wood fired crickets, among other more normal things. Another day was dedicated to...a pig slaughter. We spent the morning talking with staff of three different tribal backgrounds. They told us of the traditional significance of killing pigs within each of their cultures. And then after lunch, we killed a pig. I will save you the gory details, but I will say, tehey were gory. It was quite the experience and absolutely gave us all alot to think about. But it was a great opportunity because we were involved in every step of the process. After the pig was dead, we all helped to shave it, disect it, and then butcher it. There we were, a bunch of American students sitting outside of banana leaves, machetes in hand, hacking away at huge chunks of raw pork. They used the entire pig. In fact, while we were butchering the body, we were fed snacks of pig tail and ear. I also ended up trying the nose, intetsines, and liver. None of which I have much desire to eat again but the meat itself, which we feasted on a mere 4 hours after the pig was killed, was amazing. Truly delicious. All together, our time at UHDP was really great. We got to interact alot with the community memebers-- even just playing cards, or soccer, or hula hooping. And I now know more about ratan than I would have ever wished to.
After our time at UHDP, we had to travel down to the lowland community of Mae Ta. But along the way we stopped in paradise. We spent one night at an eco-resort characterised by small bungalows, towering trees, gourmet food, and the most comfortable beds in Thailand. Our professor from Chiang Mai met us there to hold a mid course seminar, but we also got alot of free time to explore the area. I went with a couple of people up the road and then up 500 steps to a gorgeous Wat nestled onto the mountaindside. So for one precious day and night, we enjoyed the kind of luxury that only complimentray bathrobes and mouthwatering porkchops can bring. It was cruel, really, to taunt us with this in the middle of a field course.
We reluctantly left the resort and headed off to Mae Ta. Of the 1000 or so families in Mae Ta, around 400 have switched to organic agriculture rather than chemically intensive agriculture. So we were there to live with and learn from families that had made the switch. Here, we lived 2 students per host family. My family was hysterical. The language barrier was especially difficult since these people speak a dialect of Northern Thai, so the central Thai that we have been learning is their second language, not to mention the fact that we barely know it anyways. But it helped alot to have another student around to try to decipher the various conversations. Our dad is a bit of a whiskey addict, coming home with the moonshine packaged in only a plastic bag. He poured it into a old plastic water bottle before pouring us a taste. Our mom is, as Christie (my housemate) fondly says, "an angel in the kitchen". Every meal was a feast and every feast was delicious. Plus, just about all of the food came directly from our families land-- the most local and fresh you can find. We had 2 or 3 sisters, its hard to tell. Three girls lived in the house but apparently one is a Thai student who was also just staying briefly-- except we are not sure which one she is as they all seemed so familial. Oh well. The girls were 16, 18, and 20 so it was always fun to chat with them about school and boys, two subjects that our Thai vocabs limitedly allowed. Their house was pretty nice. The eating and living areas were both on an outdoor covered patio, which I found interesting because the most valuable thing in the house-- the TV and stereo-- were constantly available for any greedy hands. Th ebathroom had a traditional Thai squat toilet (basically a hole in the ground) and a bucket shower (large bucket of water with small pail used to scoop water onto yourself). And none of the house was sealed, as the eaves below the roof were open to the outdoors. This meant I was often showering with snails or racing spiders across floors. I also saw the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen in my life on one wall-- the diameter of a grapefruit. The house also had a small garden out back, along with a few concrete tubs of catfish, and a bajillion chicks, not to mention a couple of noisy roosters. So, we spent a couple of days on our families farm, hoeing and picking vegetables. But honestly, I have no idea how these families keep up their farms. All of them will work for an hour, but then if its hot- take a break, if its sunny- get a drink, if its raining- take a break, if you're tired- take a nap, if you're hungry- eat, if you feel like it- take a break. In 8 hours on the farm, they will work for maybe 4. Its amazing. We then got an opportunity to go with our families (at 3:30 am) and help them sell their produce at a local market. It was pretty cool to follow this short food chain and see the food go from farm all the way into the consumers' hands. On other days, we had meeting with commnity memebers or did activities like hiking the watershed. This proved to be quite the lesson on wildlife, though. Just about everyone found at least one leech on them throughout the hike, but typically it was more like 3 or 4. I caught 5 but none of them had made it past my shoes and socks. Then, when we had reached the spring, the source of the water, we were standing around talking about with out village guides. And someone notices, 6 inches from where another student was standing, a slim, bright green coil wrapped around a low branch. Viper. Poisonous Viper. The snake didn't seem to alarmed as he barely moved a muscle, but all of us were quick to give him plenty of room. Until we noticed another one a few yards away, again only inches from other students. So that was exciting, to say the least.
So much more happened but it would take me forever to recount it all. I really loved being out in the field. And I really loved that my professors were all local village men and women, without college degress but with a heck of alot of experience and local knowledge. I'm already looking foraward to the next field course, one week from Monday. Returning to the city was a bit of a shock, but is also exciting and comes with alot more freedom.
Finally, yesterday, we went to Burma. We drove the 4 hrs up to the border with the sole prupose of crossing and renewing our Thai visas. We spent about two hours in Burma, in the crowded market filled with pirated DVDs, knockoff designer stuff, cheap SE asian souvenirs, and beggars. It was pretty overwhelming and a bit sad, and I left empty handed. But it was certainly an adventure and the 8 hours in the car was almost welcome after such a busy couple of weeks.
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