Let's get caught up!!

Main street through Lonely Beach area of Ko Chang

Lonely Beach

                Directly following our Reconnect Conference, Zack and I headed down to Ko Chang in the province of Trat for a couple of days and stayed at the BEAUTIFUL Oasis Guesthouse. We had really expensive (in relation to our Peace Corps monthly allowance) western food, special drinks and some amazing volunteers as company. It was kind of tricky to get to (a five hour van ride from Bangkok, followed by an hour-long ferry then a forty-five minute song taeo ride plus a small trek up the mountain to our bungalow), but completely worth it!

Check out the album HERE.

                After returning to our site in Chaiyaphum Zack and I were involved in a whirlwind of English camps. The first was in Nong Khai province. The camp was wonderfully organized, and since it took place on a Thursday and Friday, we were able to spend the weekend at another great guesthouse, Mut Mee, along the Maekong River in the town of Nong Khai. The highlights of our visit were "story time" with Julian, the owner of Mut Mee Guesthouse and our trip to the sculpture park, Salakaewkoo. 

A little "Rock, Paper, Scissors Evolution" 

to get camp started! (Led by Nolan)

Check out the entire album HERE.

My friend and fellow PCV, Christine, posted an awesome video of the "Wheel of Life" at the sculpture park. Check it out HERE.

                The next camp we helped with was in Kalasin. It was another Thursday/Friday camp, so we were able to spend the remainder of the weekend in Khon Kaen. We discovered an AMAZING restaurant called Didines that carried CRAFT BEER!! This is virtually unheard of in Thailand, so it was REALLY exciting for us to say the least! 

                This past week I traveled to Chiang Rai to help with a Genki English Camp. (Traveling alone on the twelve-and-a-half hour night bus to get there was an experience in and of itself!) The camp was so much fun, and it inspired me to start the planning process for implementing Genki English at my school next term. In Thailand, every first grader receives a tablet with Genki English (among many other programs) already installed on it, so I'm excited to hopefully start putting those tablets and the Genki program to good use!!

Genki = FUN!!

For the rest of the album, click HERE.

                Traveling so much over the past couple of months has been draining, but it's also been a really great opportunity to check out other sites, learn about what other volunteers are doing, and broaden my perspective on Thailand and Peace Corps service in general. It's an adventure, that's for sure!!

Backtrack...First Experience Traveling Alone in Thailand

                Time to backtrack a little bit…Over the past few weeks I have hit several of what I consider to be “Peace Corps Milestones.” Granted, there are a lot of them because Peace Corps lends itself to almost everything being a brand new experience. I didn’t blog about it at the time (due to lack of time), but I think that it is important to note my first experience traveling alone in Thailand. I know, not that big of a deal when you consider that all of the other volunteers who are not serving with a partner have had to do it for months, but it marked an important date for me nonetheless.

                Since arriving in Thailand, I have had the amazing fortune of being able to travel (and do almost everything) with Zack. Granted, we were in separate training programs during PST (pre-service training), but we still got to bike to and from training together (usually), eat every meal together, face the whole “host family” situation together, etc. We really hadn’t had any reason since arriving here to not be together. Several weeks ago though, I broke a piece of my tooth while eating rice. (I think that there must have been a rock in it or something.) My wisdom teeth had also been bothering me a little bit, so I took it as a sign to just go to the dentist. I called Peace Corps and they promptly set up an appointment for me in Khon Kaen, which is about a two-hour-bus-ride away.

                My host family and counterparts panicked when I told them I’d be traveling alone. They couldn’t believe that Zack wasn’t going with me. One of my co-teachers even offered to drive me all the way there and back for the appointment. I reassured them that most Peace Corps volunteers are serving alone and travel by themselves all the time. They were still really nervous though. Really, it was a great opportunity for me to prove to them that I could do it myself and to show them that I value my independence even though I am married. Reluctantly, after many, many conversations involving me insisting I wasn’t afraid, I knew where to go, I had a plan if I couldn’t find a bus back, etc., they “agreed” that I could go. I say “agreed,” because oftentimes I feel like choices have been made for us before conversations even begin. In this case though, I was insistent about needing to go myself and they ultimately seemed to respect that.

                Honestly, it was probably the best “first time traveling alone” experience I could have had. We had been to Khon Kaen a couple of weeks before for a volunteer “meet-and-greet,” so I had a good idea of where I was going before even leaving site.  (I don’t know if I would have been so confident otherwise!) When I arrived to Khon Kaen, I was still really early for my appointment, so I decided that I could walk to the hospital. It was about a twenty minute walk, and I actually had some really good interactions with random people as I walked by. I was able to answer all of the standard “Thai” questions: “Where are you going? Where are you coming from? Have you eaten yet? Is it hot?” Everyone wanted to make sure that I was okay. As I posted previously, it is really difficult to “blend” here, so I definitely stood out.

                When I finally arrived to the hospital, it was still early so I just sat on the benches outside the door and relished in the air conditioning each time somebody when into or out of the building. At one point, I turned to the woman next to me and commented (in Thai) how hot it was. Her eyes got wide and she excitedly started asking me questions about what I was doing in Thailand. It boosted my self-esteem when she told me that I spoke Thai “very good.” I really don’t speak Thai that well, but it was still a really good exchange. She asked if I needed a ride anywhere and I declined, but was still grateful for her generosity.

                When I finally got in to see the dentist, the appointment itself lasted for only a couple of minutes. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed. The dentist was short with me and brushed off my comments and concerns. Luckily, Peace Corps is willing to send me to Bangkok in the future if any problems with my teeth continue. After the whole ordeal, it was a little funny that the actual appointment was as short as it was. Feeling a little bit slighted, I embarked on my journey back to the bus station. I was home by around 7:00 that evening feeling disappointed at the ridiculousness of the trip, but also satisfied that I was able to do it by myself. I think (and hope) that it also helped my host family and counterparts have a little more confidence in my ability to be independent.

First Weekend Away

Click HERE for more photos

We just got back Monday evening from an amazing three-day-weekend trip to Khon Kaen! It’s the first time since arriving in Thailand that we’ve been able to travel for anything other than Official Peace Corps “Business.” It’s so hard to believe (yet extremely believable at the same time) that we’ve actually been here for four months. While in Khon Kaen, we met up with a bunch of other wonderful PC volunteers both from our group (125) and the group who arrived in Thailand last year (124). I can’t even explain what a relief it was to be able to share stories and advice. It gave me hope hearing about some of the struggles that the other volunteers went through this time last year and that they were eventually somehow overcome. I won’t get into major details, but will just make a general statement that living amidst a culture so different from the one I’m used to can be confusing, frustrating, and just overall challenging at times. This journey is bound to have its ups-and-downs, and being around other volunteers who can fully relate to some of the challenges that Zack and I are experiencing was a huge comfort. So with that said, thank you so much fellow volunteers for being the amazing people that you are!

Thanks to Emily, I'm not completely picture-less!
She let me swipe her camera during our trip to the night market!

                 I’m sorry to say that I barely thought about taking pictures while in Khon Kaen, so there isn’t much evidence of our trip. We did, however, get to go dancing, bowling and shopping! Group 124 arranged some really fun activities to help us get-to-know each other. The trip involved great vegetarian food, pizza, beer, and (surprisingly) no karaoke! (In Thailand, karaoke is part of almost every event…) It was good to get away for a little bit and recharge. Next time I’ll try to remember to bring my camera along!

Some evening problem-solving with
"Sam Muskateen (our cool group name)!"

                This was the last week that Zack and I ran the summer English program in our community. I (along with all of the students) start school next week, so we summed it all up with two extended days of “English Camp.” The best part about these two days was that Zack and I enlisted the help of some of the youth in our community’s Youth Council to help facilitate activities. It made the camp seem much more aligned with some of our Peace Corps goals. With every project that we take on while we are in our Thai community, we are encouraged to think about sustainability. I can’t think of anything more sustainable than working with and empowering the youth to be leaders. We are hopeful that more of our future projects will revolve around this theme of sustainability and that we will have the insight to navigate our projects here in a way that will truly benefit our community.

Some of our awesome youth helpers

First Day (Group 1)

Second Day (Group 2)

Just doing our thing...

                The close of this English program feels like the start of a new chapter. I am looking forward to starting school next week and getting into more of a routine. Not that anything in life is predictable, but life definitely seemed to hold more predictability in American than it does here in Thailand. I try to embrace the unpredictability more and more each day. Even though each day brings unique challenges, we find joy in many of the things we are doing here. I’m grateful for our evening bike rides along red dirt roads that allow us to share our thoughts and perspectives. I’m grateful for the sincerity of the people in our community and their friendly calls of greeting even when they are just passing us on their motorcycles. I’m grateful for the moments when we have chosen to just stop everything and watch the sun set at our family’s farm. More than anything though, I am grateful to be sharing this experience and all of its ups and downs with the love of my life.