Not Busy, Just Thai'd Up

 

Hmm this week has been filled with a lot of schoolwork, and thus not much exciting to tell you.  Lemme tell ya what though- I’m excited for this 20-page research paper due at the end of the semester.  I’m thinking about doing it on women’s roles in Thai Buddhism.  There’s this whole thing about not being able to be officially ordained.  There’s only one nun in Thailand, and she’s not recognized by the state.  More on that another day, after I’ve done my research and whatnot.

 

Speaking of nuns, Buddhist nuns have 311 precepts, or rules, that they have to follow.  Crazy right?!  Buddhist monks have something like 247 precepts, novices have 10, and laymen have 5.  I learned all of this from the monks I visited on Wednesday.  LauraSA volunteers at Wat San Prahkha (spelling?) teaching English to two monks, M and KK.  She really enjoys it, so she invited me and Emily to go with her and meet them.  They are really super sweet.  KK got us all journals, pens, and plastic bags (for shopping at the market in Bo Sang where we explored later) as presents.  AND he wrote us a message in the journals with the most wonderful penmanship I have seen in a while- he even has different font styles. 

 

Emily asked KK about his daily routine, and whether or not he will disrobe.  It is common for males to enter the monkhood in order to attain an education because it is free, they get to travel, and they have a lot of time to study- there are none of the material, worldly distractions that plague all of us other students.  Then, after they have learned a satisfactory amount, they disrobe, and enter lay life.  Historically, the Buddhist religion and the temples were the center of community life in Thailand, so entering monkhood was pretty much the only one could gain an education for a long time.  But, I’m not going to write up a history paper.  I do enough of those.

M is the monk on the left, KK is on the right.

 

Hmm, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for Maia’s birthday.  I tried these slimey wrap things, which are her favorite, and they were slimey, but OH SO DELICIOUS.  I regret not knowing what they are called.  We got her a cake, and Emily bought her an over-the-shoulder-strap bag from her volunteering place Healing FamilyFoundation!  It’s an awesome place, and I’d like to go at some point.  It is an organization that serves as a community for disabled people.  They make the most beautifully weaved things, and I think everyone should buy something from them (some of you will get Christmas gifts that I bought from this foundation).

 

Food.  We also went to Birds Nest Café.  Which is amazing- the murals are done by a local artist who also plays an instrument and writes, the books are awesome (I started reading The Little Prince) , and the food is crazy good.  The Friendship Cake tastes like tea, and the banana and black sesame seed shake was so good.  The first night we went, we were there for the viewing of the movie The Lady, which is about Aung San Suu Kyi.  I highly recommend the movie 1) because it’s a great movie and 2) because she is a freakin amazing, inspiring person.  I know now what to write when asked the question about who my role model is.  Just read about her, everyone.  And for those of you in America right now, you should go see her speak because that’s what I would be doing if I were at home.

 

The other night we went to Birds Nest, there was Indian food! Oh how I kind of miss India.  It’s such a magical and puzzling and horrifying place.  But I loved it.  BUT I’M IN THAILAND! So I’m gonna continue to focus on the fact that I’m here for the time being, until I travel somewhere else.

 

Friday night, I took more people to a Muay Thai fight at the Kalare Night Bazaar Boxing Stadium. This time, we got to see International fights, and women fights!  People kept making  jokes about me being up there…oh heck no.  I am not nearly ready for any of that.  Especially after watching this 20 year old women from Canada beat the crap out of this 40/50 year old Englishwomen.  She just went after her face like a banshee bridezilla after discovering the baker didn’t put buttercream icing on her wedding cake instead of chocolate.  It was awkward and awful to watch. The ref stepped in twice, and the fight didn’t even last 2 minutes.  In the middle of one of the fights, the power went off, which was super amusing, but I felt bad for the fighters because they had to wait for about 20 minutes before they could finish their fight.

 

Later, we went to Zoey’s where I met one of my trainers at the Reggae bar.  Lemme tell ya what.  Zoey’s while completely sober is not fun.  It is a shit show- everyone is super drunk, foreigners everywhere while poor Aka villagers selling bracelets try to sell their stuff.  My friend ran into a pimp too- there are prostitutes everywhere.  I saw two Thai people dressed as Pikachu and Yoshi, and I got to watch my trainer kinda make a fool of himself on stage while the reggae band was playing music, and he gave us free beer…so, I guess Zoey’s wasn’t terrible.  

 

The most exciting part of this week is that I got to see the stars one night.  It’s a rare and special treat to see the stars in a city-ish area.  I want to go to Mauna Kea Observatory just for the stars.  But I’m in Thailand.  And I’m lovin’ it, folks.

 

Movies:  Spirited Away is awesome- watch it.  Adam, the head of the SEAIGS program, has set up a weekly movie screening in which he features documentaries and films that highlight a bunch of human rights issues happening around Southeast Asia.  Who Killed Chea Vichea is about the political killing of an important labor rights leader in Cambodia, and At the Horizon is a film that gives a voice to the Lao people in the face of a corrupt justice system.  I encourage everyone to watch them, despite the feelings of world-loathing, sickening anger, and incredible sadness that might be experienced.  The hard facts of life have to be faced so that changes can be made and more light can be brought into the world.

 

Here are pictures of my room! Pictures of my Thai roommates may come later- you’ve already seen Alex.  It bothers me that the walls are so bare and white.  Tis why I hung up my favorite Yugioh cards and my Lego men in my corner of the room.  I basically sleep and dump my shit in the room, and hang out in the common area all day long.  So there’s not too much to say about that. 

 

The bathrooms.  The bathrooms are fun- I will refer you to this blog post about the bathrooms because it is well-writ, and because Rachael is also in the same program! So read on, fellahs!

 

My budget- lemme tell ya what.  Getting rides to places is by far the most expensive thing that I am doing here. I have to spend money every time I want to go somewhere, and it is frustrating.

 

Ethnic identity.  People are obsessed with appearances.  They say, “where are you from?” I say that I’m from America.  And then they ask me my origins again, gesturing to the face.  Sometimes, people just assume that I am Thai, and proceed to ramble in really fast Thai to me, until they realize that I have absolutely no idea what I’m saying.  I need to master the Thai language so people will believe that I’m Thai, and will not rip me off because I’m a foreigner.

 

School work is starting to happen.  Just a few hours ago, I finished writing two mid-term essays for my Social and Cultural History class.  I know I am here to study, but sometimes I wish that I weren’t.  There is so much more to do here than read textbooks and write essays, although it is fascinating to do schoolwork about another country while residing there.

 

New stuff.  Cliff-jumping! Umm I don’t feel like re-writing this, therefore I will use an exerpt from a message that I sent an hour ago:

i went cliff diving/jumping in this awesome quarry.  the first jump was fine because it was a reasonable height that i've jumped before cliff-jumping in hawaii, but the second jump- it was incredibly scary, and i almost didn't do it because not only was it super tall, but the cliff angled out and i was afraid i would hit the rocks. but then a thai girl i didn't know said "jump with me". so i did! and i landed on my ankle, which made swimming hell- my ankle is swollen now. and i have a gash in the bottom of my foot. which is annoying and should make muay thai (which is done barefoot on concrete floor for some of the training) interesting. so hopefully my ankle heals up by wednesday. later that night we went to an arabian restaurant slash hookah place. and i tried hookah. matt and i switched shirts because he wasn't dressed properly for the black and white party he was going to afterward (i went home). i was wearing a white overshirt. i walked out of the restaurant before he could say he wanted to switch shirts, which was hilarious. the boob lines on the shirt were evident and he looked like a gay european. i was proud of myself.

 

 

My birthday was great- my friends Emily and LauraSA surprised me with a coconut cake that looks like a bear- it was soooo cute, and delicioso.  Then, my other friends Alex, LauraH, Mickey, and Kristina took me to a hot pot place where they give us a boiling pot of water, and we cook whatever the heck we want in it! Super fun.  Then, Kristina spoke in her cute little Thai way to the scoopers of Swenson’s ice cream, so they stayed open so that we could get ice cream on my birthday.  I’ve never felt so special- and that ice cream was so good and fixed all of my chocolate wants.  Roommate Lek posted a super cute happy birthday post-it on my desk, and LauraSA’s roommate gave me some perfume called “Sexy Me” and it actually smells really good.  Watch out world- I’m frickin sexy…well the smell that I will wear every once in a while is I guess…me not so much.  So all in all- my birthday was Araawy!

 

I won’t post details- but people in management positions for organizations that are supposed to help people should really take the correct steps, even if they are hard, to make their organization/business the best it can be.  People that don’t do that- Yuck, man.  But I’ll give this rating an Ehhh for personal reasons.

 

School dinner buffet.  Yuck.  Take the chicken bones and the congealed chicken blood out of the foods that actually seem decent please. 

 

Junk food.  Yuck.  I WANT FRUIT AND RAW VEGGIES! And cheese, but that could make me fat- I don’t need any more fattening crap right now.  Oh wait- I am enjoying trying the different junk foods though.  I had prawn chips, and lots of different chocolatey things, and whatnot.  Some are Ehhh.  Also, milk sucks here.  I am adopting a milk cow when I get back to the states, and I will tote it around with me everywhere I go.

 

Fruit smoothies with salt.  Yuck.  Mai sai (enter the thai word for ‘salt’ which I have forgotten).  Being able to order foods in Thai and request that certain things be dismissed from the order- Araawy.

 

The beds.  I have been a very good girl and have not complained about them, but I feel like I need to get this out.  The beds are not yuck, but they are owwy.  I cannot lie on any side of my body without being sore in the morning.  Lying on my stomach causes my knee to pop, waking me up with a jolt of pain.  And the cold showers- now that I have become acclimated to the weather, and it’s cooled down a bit, cold showers at any time of the day are entirely uncomfortable and make it impossible for shower singing to happen- which is so utterly depressing that I cannot speak of this anymore.

 

I went on a one day trip to Chiang Rai.  I saw the White Temple, which was incredibly interesting.  You can read about it here, but I must do more research on it- on the inside of the temple were images such as Ben 10, Michael Jackson, Darth Vader, Harry Potter, AND MORE! It was the strangest thing ever.  Araawy

 

Then, we trekked through mud to get to the Bandaam Museum.  Basically, this famous Thai national artist named Thawan Duchanee has done lots of art and it is housed in 36 or 38 of these beautiful houses that you can’t enter. It would have been cooler and I would have been more intrigued by his beautiful craftsmanship if I had more time to gawk, and had I not been drugged by Dramamine.  I don’t recommend trying to see this in a large group if you are an art geek, or on Dramamine. Ehhh.

 

The last stop on the trip was the border to Myanmar/Burma.  I crossed the border into another country!...to shop.  Those of you who know I hate shopping will laugh- I got lost in a clustercraphole of cheap Chanel bags, perfume, fashion clothing, and pirated DVDS.  I ended up wandering off by myself to search for things I was interested in- these places were sparse, but I found them by braving a somewhat empty street.  I can’t tell you what I bought because they are prezzies for some of you fine people.  I enjoyed the walking merchants who felt that I would become interested in buying their cigarettes if they told me “I love you.” Thank goodness my mother told me that some men use that line to take advantage of girls.  Overall rating on the Myanmar trip- Ehhh. I spent present money and a 500 baht re-entry fee to get a few stamps proving my presence in Burma.  I wish I could have done more there.

 

Watching an anime called Monster.  Araawy.  Except when the internet is a butthole- Yuck.

 

Muay Thai Boxing- ARAAAAWWYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This past week was the beginning of my muay thai lessons.  Ever since I caught a glimpse of people learning muay thai in Ohio where my dad was taking Eskrima (Filipino stick-fighting martial art, another art I’d like to learn) lessons, I have wanted to learn too!  DREAMS DO COME TRUE! So, Rachel, Mickey and I are going twice a week on Wednesday and Friday mornings for training from 6:30 to 9, and afterward, we go back to school and have classes all day.  We start training with a “45 minute run” (we are not in tip top shape yet), then jump rope for way too long, then shadowboxing, some drills, and then we “spar” with the trainers one-on-one.  They shout orders at us “punch-hook-punch…kick-kick…uppercut-punch-hook-punch…knee-knee-other knee-knee…elbow-elbow-elbow…sip (ten) kick- neung-sawng-saam-see-haa…”  After each sparring round, and they have decided that we are sufficiently out of breath, they make us do sit-ups, and have us hydrate.  After three rounds, and a lot of sweat, we do more kicking/kneeing/punching drills with the bags, and then condition.  After all of these repetitive exercises, we will be really good at counting in Thai.

 

My favorite part of training is when we are trying to leave so that we can make it to school on time, and my favorite trainer, a 50/60+ (?) year old whose fighting name when he was big in Bangkok is Maak Dynamite, gets us to do more drills.  He is hilarious and so adorable, and in incredible shape.  There is also a couple from Denmark visiting Chiang Mai and attending the gym for the next couple of weeks- their names are Jed and Maia.  They are 51 and 43 years of age, respectively, and also in amazing shape, AND they are fighting next week.  AMAZING! I aspire to be as active and healthy as they are when I grow up…and now.  I could mop the floor with my sweat while they jump around and whatnot for three hours without a bead flowing down the brow of their blue-eyed faces.  Woof- I have so much more to say about my muay thai experience, but I’ll save it for later when I have absolutely nothing interesting to say.  The honeymoon part of my trip has ended, and now I’m settling down into a routine of trying not to spend so much money, and being in school.  UUUGHGHGHGHGHG I DON’T WANNA WRITE A PAPER! BUT doing muay thai has made me much happier- to do something active, physically draining, and off campus is magical. This could be the best thing I have done in my time here.

 

 

Let’s see.  I’m gonna make the theme of this post about people.  This week I have had the most amazing encounters with the most interesting people- the sweetest, the worldliest, the most talented, and the most helpful.  They had it right in that documentary A Map for Saturday (which everyone should watch)- the people make your travel experience.  But, it’s more than that- the people we meet every day impact our lives in ways that I believe many of us are unaware of.  So, let’s begin introducing you to the people I met this week.

 

1). Roddie, the trumpeter.  Now, the trumpet is one of the sexiest instruments in existence.  Saxophone is another, and I have discovered that somehow piano has become my favorite (the main instrument in all of the songs I like to sing to myself is piano).  But the fact that he plays a sexy instrument is not why Roddie is awesome.  He was born in Scotland, spent a lot of time in London getting into the music scene, and has travelled all over the world playing music with different big band…bands.  We met him at North Gate (where I got to sit on the bunny plaything all night! WEEEEEEE!!!) after his band was finished playing- ooh it sounded so lovely.  He would ask us where we were from, and he’d have a ten-minute long story in response, telling us about his adventures near our hometowns.  He’s met famous artists, he’s been offered exorbitant amounts of money, and he’s even been asked to forge a famous person’s autograph.  What a life!  Now, he’s retired and settled in Chiang Mai, smoking and drinking way too much, and playing with random groups of people. 

 

2). Hannah, the SMCM alumnus (alumna, if you prefer me to say that).  Alex has mutual friends with an alumnus from our college who has lived in Chiang Mai for the past few years teaching English to Burmese refugees.  I’ve met so many people with this goal.  Several people in my group are even volunteering for such a project- some are teaching refugees some computer skills and chemistry! I love it when people see the merit and benefits of an education, and are willing and patient enough to help others achieve that.  To all the teachers around the world: respek.

 

3). Den, the Muay Thai trainer at Lanna Muay Thai Boxing Camp (a.k.a. Kiat Busaba).  Mickey, Rachel, and I went to the gym to ask some questions to see about getting muay thai training.  And guess what! No need to because imma tell ya!  We start training on Wednesday! Blammalamma! Anyway, Den is the manager of the gym, and he is the sweetest person.  He was willing to help us with deals on paying for use of the gym, and he is our friend on Facebook, and he told us that we can call him any time we needed help.  He said that in the gym, our relationship is students-teacher.  But outside of that, we are all friends.  He was also not pushy about having us join the gym- he understands that we are students and have a duty to learn, and that getting to the gym is an expense because we have to pay for a sangteauw to get there.  So, he’s not a pushy salesperson jerk! Whoo!  I can’t wait for Wednesday to come, even though the 6:30-9 AM workout is going to kick me in the face.   I tried training for it Thursday morning- woof.  I’m out of shape and need to stop buying ice cream every day.

 

4). Friends in my group!  Duh huh!  We went to the Sangdee Gallery on open mic night where we all discovered how talented our group is.  There are several people who are musically talented- they can sing, play instruments, and even write really good songs.  For many of them, this was their first performance in front of people.  That takes SO MANY guts.  They serve as an inspiration to me. 

 

5). Nameless dancers.  We went to Ma Cherè Art Gallery during the opening of an art exhibition.  MORE CHARITY, MAN! Except this one was expensive- they were having an art auction in which the proceeds go toward the renovation (?) of a temple.  The MCs were so adorable, but I had no idea what they were saying because their dialogue was all in Thai.  But, the dance performances were so awesome.  There was a traditionalwomen’s dance, a contemporary Bhutto style dance about the circle of life that was amazing, and then a traditional sword dance which was mesmerizing (and not because he was only wearing a cloth that barely covered his bum).  Dancers…I don’t know what else to say because I didn’t actually meet them, but I feel like so much was revealed in the way they moved.  Just beautiful.

 

6). Eyesha.  Eyesha haggles like no other.  Holy crap.  The experience of being hounded by people wanting your money makes me nauseous.  I really hate it and wish not to talk about it further. 

 

7). Peeps at the Home of the Swallow.  On Saturday, we had the chance to volunteer at one of three locations: 1) Care forDogs, a place for strays – there are so many dogs on the streets, 2) Agape Home- an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS , 3) Home of the Swallow- an organization that seeks to help single mothers be able to keep and support their kids.  I volunteered at the Home of the Swallow because it reminded me of Maria’s newfound babychildorganization, Feminists for Life.  Home of the Swallow was splendiferous- they teach the mothers (who are all sweethearts) life skills such as crocheting, sewing, banking, cooking, jewelry-making, etc.  They sell homemade goods such as crochet teddy bears and bracelets to raise money for their organization.  The kids (who are under the age of 3 because that’s when they have to start schooling) are amazing and are so obedient.  They were scared of the white folk, but after the awkward stranger danger phase was over, we had so much fun with them.  One had me chasing after him, in and out, in and out, in and out of the house.  Another thought I could provide the milk- no way, baby.  We also tried to help out by cutting the grass.  They usually cut the grass with these rusty, dull shears- I don’t know how it is possible because we resorted to ripping up weeds with our hands until Caleb could start up the most terrifying weed whacker I have ever seen.  I love the aim of this place.

 

 

8). The Meals on Wheels delivery man.  I got a Subway sandwich from him.  It wasn’t as good as it is in America (not enough meat on my Spicy Italian, and not enough cheese options), but it tasted so nice- to have a good ol’ sandwich is a pleasure.

 

9). Doi Suthep is a beautiful temple where we got our Chinese fortunes and walked around the chedi three times in order to pay our respects, and Bhubing Palace was beautiful but kinda boring except for the imitation crab waffle I got (verdict: imitation crab does not belong in waffles).  But, afterwards, we returned to Free Bird Café.  If you didn’t check out the link in my last post…well, you lose brownie points.  So, the café is headed by this lady who is a wonderful cook.  She serves the most amazing food, and runs a secondhand shop, and all the proceeds go toward supporting the education of Burmese refugees.  During the day, she works the café, and during the night, she teaches.  Amazing woman, right?  Well, here’s the stressful sitch- they are running out of money- so the café might not exist soon, and because the money they make keeps the school alive, the school might not exist either.  A group of us are going to try to do a fundraiser to help keep them alive for a lil while longer, but they need much more help.  If any of you have any ideas, they’d be more than welcome.

 

10).  Raylena.  She is a 59 year old PhD student studying at Payap.  She was one of the first people I met on campus, but I didn’t get to know her until this past Friday.  By some turn of events we realized we have similar interests, and I suggested we get some tea at some point.  We talked about our lives, experiences, goals, and whatnot over Thai banana smoothies at what she has nicknamed Mocha Bar, and it was the most amazing thing I have experienced thus far.  I don’t want to say too much except for the fact that I am SO glad to have made her acquaintance.