Peter's Thailand Blog

Spring snow in Tahoe...

2009-04-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Boardin' in Lake Tahoe, California...

End of Peace Corps Service Trip To Nepal

2009-04-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here are photos from my COS trip to Nepal. I spent two weeks on the Everest Base Camp trail and in Kathmandu.

Entering the temple

2009-03-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

With my landlord's family at the temple.

My neighbor's baby who they nicknamed "Joe."

Dressed up in formal wear inside the main temple.

View from our room. Each room has two monks and we sleep on the floor. Each morning we would wake up at 4 a.m. to pray for about an hour followed by walking for alms.

Hanging out before breakfast. This is right after we walked around the neighborhood asking for alms. Most people come out and put a scoop or two of rice in our bowls and some people give food that is eaten with rice. This is all taken back to the temple and eaten first by the monks and then by the lay people who come to pray with the monks each morning.

Sharing a few laughs as we're trying to shoot mangos off the tree with a slingshot.

Blamaw, my co-teacher's son who became a monk at the same time as myself. We spent a week together at the temple.

Relaxin' by the window watching some kids swim in the pond that surrounds the main buiding at the temple.

During the ceremony to become a monk. It's usually a two-day process. The first day is the shaving of your head and eyebrows and then the next morning entering the temple to have your "lay" clothes removed and replaced with robes. If you're wondering...no underwear.

This is the outfit you are dressed in for the 24 hours before entering the temple. At this point, Thais consider you a "Nak" which is not yet a monk but higher than a lay person.

Shortly after shaving our heads and wearing our "Nak" uniforms.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2009-01-23T23:25:00.000-08:00

Last weekend a friend and I got the chance to take a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, which is the site of a host of temple ruins dating as far back as the 9th century. We saw a variety of architecture and the history surrounding this area is amazing. Here are some pics from our trip...

The main temple of the Angkor Wat complex at sunrise.

Right before sunset outside of Angkor Wat

Sunset with a beer sitting on ruins.

This is from a landmines museum outside of the city. A cambodian man who grew up as a child soldier in the Khmer Rouge has dedicated his life to the education, locating and disarming of landmines throughout Cambodia.

A neat temple that was built in a miniture scale. The doors located at the middle of each building are only about two feet high.

A shot in the ruins.

Ancient script carved into a doorway of one of the temples. It's a beautiful script that reminds me of Thai.

You SHALL NOT PASS.

A nice afternoon in a lush valley near a waterfall. Chillin' with cattle.

Enjoying the waterfall after a short hike.

Along the stream leading to the waterfall monks have carved the stones into Hindu and Buddhist images.

Partner in crime.

Our "private" tour of Angkor Wat given to us by a security guard who spoke Thai. At the moment they are doing rennovation of the upper areas of the temple, so it's off-limits. However, for a few bucks you make your way up there to see some awesome views!

This guy was a natural in front of the camera. As soon as people begin snapping pictures he was rolling around striking a pose.

An intricate carving in an archway in a side corridor of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat!

Meditation Retreat

2008-08-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

This past week my school, along with fifteen teachers and myself, took a field trip to a Buddhist temple and meditation center about an hour from our town. The temple is up away from the highway a little ways and in the middle of a nice forest with mountains in the background. The weather was beautiful and cool with a constant breeze blowing through. We spent three days and two nights at the center and slept in a dormitory building on straw mats with little square pillows. Traditionally, many monks here in Thailand will only eat a morning meal and then abstain from food until the following day. The students, teachers and I ate morning and lunch meals and then didn't eat until the following morning. The first night of not eating was definitely a challenge as I don't think I have ever in my life gone without eating when I was hungry. It's a funny thing to write, and it makes me realize just how lucky I am that I can even say that. That I have a chose to eat when I'm hungry or abstain from food that is sitting in front of me.

After an initial few hours of discomfort, I really felt normal. By the following morning I felt really light and clear and eating breakfast was enjoyable, but I was less hungry than usual. The center serves only vegetarian food as it follows the traditional teachings that people should not kill anything living. I know some of you may think, "Well, what about plants. They're living too." At the moment I can't remember what the Buddhist text says about this, but they have a reason. Of course. It seems that all religions usually have a reason to justify something.

We all woke at 4 a.m. each morning to go down to the temple to pray and meditate. I'm not sure why, but I was really awake each morning and found the meditation to be pleasant. Breakfast was served around 8 a.m. and lunch at noon. Between these times there were various presentations for the students about the history of Buddhism, being a good person, son/daughter and student and other various lectures pertaining to morals and religion. We also had the chance each day to participate in walking meditation, where we would take off our shoes and walk in long lines, silently, following three leading monks. This, I almost liked better than sitting meditation, but as the head monk was telling me, it's important to have a combination of the two. That makes sense to me. Here are some pictures from our time there.

No school bus, no problem. The vehicle we drove to transport students. Lawsuit?

Safety third.

In ya go.

This was one of a long row of little houses where the nuns and monks stay. It was one person to a house with the men and ladies divided on the grounds. The nuns also shave their heads and wear white robes instead of orange like the men.

Students listening to the abbot of the monk give a lecture. This monk also has a temple in Chicago where he teaches about meditation and Buddhism. He said mostly Thai and Lao people visit, but he also gets others interested in learning.

Organizing ourselves before going out on a walking meditation session.

I had the chance to sit and talk with this man one night and it turns out he attended high school in Nashville, Tennessee and worked in New York City for a number of years. He was a very nice man and is interested in having me back out to the temple to discuss religion a bit more.

Walking meditation.

Practicing bowing before starting prayer. If I've figured it out right, most of the times before you start a prayer session, you bow three times and your head touches the floor.

Our walking meditation leaders.

Sign for visitors.

Teachers having a good time while the students sit inside :)

A group of teachers from my school.

The word "wat" means temple and Santinanachat is the name of the temple. It means, I think, temple of many nationalities.

A monk sporting a digital camera taking pictures in order to do a video for the students.

Last night closing ceremony. We each had a candle and a leaf from the Bodhi tree, which is supposedly the tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. The principle of our school lit his candle first and then proceeded to light my candle and I lit the next person's and so on and so forth. The leaf was used to catch the wax from dripping.

Frame the face.

Putting candles in the sand pit at the front as the ceremony was closing.

2008-08-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

Dinner at P-Dang's house with Rachel, Bree and fellow PCV Bush Poothorn. Rachel got a chance to learn how to cook from my friend P-At.

A Queen musical and all-you-can-eat-conveyor-belt-sushi.......SWEEEEEET!

This guy's name is Toothpicks. At least I call him Toothpicks because every time I turned around he was trying to show me some new puzzle, trick using toothpicks.

Rachel, Bree and I's awesome rafting trip up north near a two called Pai. We went with a group of 15 American, high schoolers who were here on an exchange program.

Scavenger hunt.

Man, I was so comfortable accept for my feet that you can't see sticking out into the middle of the aisle. People basically just kept pushing me out of the way every time they walked by.

Brown baggin' it in the hotel!

I think I have the cutest dog in all of Thailand right next door. He comes over pretty much everyday to hang out and do.............

THIS! Right in my doorstep. It's hilarious! He knows he's not supposed to come in, but lately he's been getting a little brave and inching his way into my house.

A beautiful set of seven waterfalls called Erawan Falls in the central region of Thailand.

Thai Ronald giving a little 'wai' to all the people.

On a field trip to a huge meditation retreat with our school. Here are some of the teachers I went with.

P-Uon, my landlord and a teacher at my school, practicing a little meditation during the day.

A couple of monks who were helping with organizing the event.

P-Renu gearing up for a little karaoke.

Our project group at our Mid-Service Conference this past May.

As time rolls on...

2008-08-01T23:50:00.000-07:00

You know, I feel like it's been forever since I wrote anything on my blog much less posted new pictures. I suppose that could be taken as a good sign that I'm doing really well, happy and don't have that much time to do updates. For the most part, that is pretty true. As I've entered into my second year of my service as a Peace Corps volunteer here in Thailand, I can't help but feel more comfortable, both in my work and my community. The language barrier that was at the beginning such a monumental task has become less and less restricting. I'm able to enter most situations and feel comfortable speaking Thai with the people around me. At work, I've gotten into the routine of a Thai school year and all the various surprises that might come with it. I've made good friends here in my town and just hope these next eight months before I return to the U. S. don't fly by too quickly.

I'll share one really interesting story that happened to me about a month and a half ago. I thought at one point that I had seen most of what Thailand had to offer, but it never ceases to surprise me what you might find on any given day. I was riding my bike home from school one day in May when, as usual, I passed by the local store on my street. I stopped and chatted for a bit as I try to do everyday. They are a great family and always welcoming and interested in what's going on in my life. There are three sisters that live within this compound of three houses, and the youngest sister, Jarune, owns the shop at front. She's a lively woman, and a natural leader. Even last year when I only understood a little of what was being talked about I could tell this lady had it together. She is the only member of her family that has traveled abroad, and she seems at ease in almost any situation. This particular day as I hopped off my bike and strolled up to the little garage where everyone hangs out, I noticed that Jarune sprawled out on the hammock towards the back. Her hand to her head, a weary look on her face. I could just feel her headache by looking at her. I felt tired just seeing her laid out like that. I asked her what was up and she said she'd been to the local doctor and the city doctor and no one can figure it out. She had been unable to sleep for more than a week. Terrible headaches. Low energy. What was she going to do, I asked. She and her family decided that the ailment must be related to her spirit, and obviously there was another spirit in her that was causing these symptoms. It was a spirit of a man that lived long ago. Not someone related to her, but someone that sought her out for no apparent reason. And this spirit was hungry for chicken. And whiskey. And likes boats. Banana boats. I'm not even trying to joke.

This information about the spirit came from the local witch doctor in our village who has made somewhat of a career of exorcising spirits from ailing villagers before or after they've gone for other medical help. The witch doctor did the consultation and requested Jarune to return the following night for the ritual. Fortunately, the day I stopped and asked her what was the matter was the same day they were going to the exorcism. They invited me along and I quickly accepted. After all, this was something I've never seen in my life. Not more than an hour later, myself, Jarune and nearly the entirety of her family are cruising across town. We pulled into a dusty, little street and parked next to a tin shack with trash strewn about the side and back. A short walk brought us to a little wooden, sitting hut that are common all across Thailand. It's where people come to sit and socialize. A crowd of older woman are already gathered gossiping and preparing the materials needed. In our case, a boat was being fashioned out of banana leaves, a chicken had already been roasted, head and all, and the whiskey was purchased by yours truly before we arrived. 100% rice whiskey. The stuff is awful.

A string was tied around Jarune and then placed between the hands of the witch doctor. She began by praying and talking. The way I understood it, she was basically talking with the spirit, asking it why it had come. Why wasn't it satisfied with it's existence. It should accept these gifts brought by Jarune and her family and then go on. Go rest in peace. Not only was the witch doctor speaking, but at any giving point, the whole of Jarune's family was talking to this spirit. Gently persuading it to go away from here and take the chicken with it. As the talking was going on, whiskey was being poured, slowly and carefully into the beak of the roasted chicken. Not dumping it on its head. Making the dead chicken drink, in little beakfuls, the whiskey. Just like you'd carefully give a baby it's food. Making sure not to spill any of it.

The speaking began to escalate at one point and everyone joined in, even me. Everybody was doing an eerie call of some sort. A call, they explained would help take the spirit away. Kind of a "yeeeeehooooooo!!!" I couldn't help but turn my head and snicker at points. Even some of the younger kids found it hysterical. We eventually ceased this calling and managed to capture the spirit in a boiled egg that was cradled by the witch doctor and then handed to Jarune. Jarune proceeded to cradle it also before she cracked it open and handed everyone a small piece.

"This," she said, "you must eat in three bites. No more, no less." So, one, two, three. I'm not sure how I feel about boiled spirit eggs, but it wasn't bad. That spirit could have used a little salt, I suppose.

Finished, we all strolled back and Jarune decided she felt like a weight had lifted off her shoulders. She knew whatever it was that had ailed her was passing already. I can't say it wasn't just her immune system finally kicking in, or her mind willing it to be over, but maybe there was a different kind of energy that required everything I saw. Either way, I learned that boiled eggs don't just come around on Easter.

Snowboarding in Japan!

2008-03-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

My friend Garrett heading off-piste down some great powder. The area we were in is known as the Japanese Alps, and there are some towering mountains behind the ski area. It was really beautiful.

Hot sake outside a Japanese convenience store. It was freezing so this was just the remedy for a cold night.

Looking down a run at the town of Hakuba.

I found this guy back at my house after returning from Japan. He seems to think this is his house because he keeps coming back to the same spot in my kitchen. He's bigger than my hand!

Area in Tokyo similar to Times Square. Being in Tokyo at first I wondered where all the people were for a city of 20+ million, but after coming here I realized that about 3 million of them were in the area of a few city blocks!

Al-Qaeda in Japan? Close - Gabe.

Getting ready to hit the slopes!

Nice boots!

The line to the gondola.

The boys outside a Japanese pagoda.

This statue you were supposed to rub the elbow and head for good luck.

This is a luck game where you pull out a numbered chopstick and then find the corresponding drawer on a huge wall of cabinets. Inside your numbered drawer will be your fortune. Whether good or bad you tie it up around these little strings here.

People come here to breath in the incense to "cleanse" the soul or mind.

Cool-looking tree outside the temple.

A little two-seater taxi that is pulled by a man wearing Ninja Turtle shoes...sweet.

Outside the front gate of a major temple in Tokyo.

After entering the front gate there is a long corridor full of shops before entering the main temple grounds. This day it was packed with people.

A buddy that went on the trip thought he was buying tea but ended up getting hot sake.

A little side street of of the main road leading to the temples.

Three PCV friends and I recently took a short trip to Japan to do some skiing/snowboarding, and we had an amazing time. We spent one day in Tokyo and the other four in Nagano Prefecture in a town called Hakuba. The mountain we rode was Happo One, which was the site of the 98' Winter Olympics. We found a really great Japanese package deal with the help of a friend in Tokyo, so we were put up in a hotel with traditional Japanese sleeping mats and a bath house. We also spent each breakfast and dinner eating Japanese style in a small cafeteria in the hotel. It snowed four out of the five days we were there so there was soooo much powder. There were parts on the mountain where the powder came all the way up to my thighs. I found the snow in Japan to be a bit wetter and heavier than I'm used to from Colorado, which made it somewhat hard to make turns. But, after you got used to it, it was some of the best snow I've ever been in.

The other pictures are from a temple we visited while in Tokyo. It was a big temple complex with four or five large buildings. The day we were there a ton of people had come to pray and make offerings. Also while in Tokyo we went to the "times square" area, ate some awesome sushi and took a boat ride along the main river in the city.

all pics...

2008-02-18T21:57:00.001-08:00

Some kids chillin' watching the dancers from Makha Bucha Day.

Putting gold flakes on Buddhist sculptures and statues is pretty common during festivals and holidays.

This was also part of the ceremony. You made a donation of whatever you wanted and then received a bowl of coins. You walked around the temple putting one coin into each of the little black pots.

Here I am throwing in my two cents.

AHHH! A fat baby, Buddha statue playing with his toes!

One of my sixth grade students performing a Northern Thai dance.

One of my friends from school helping serve coffee for the holiday.

The local band rockin' out, or not.

Before the ceremony begins.

During prayer.

Lighting candles and incense as offerings.

Trip to Roi Et to see some fellow Peace Corps friends.

Monk tending the flowers.

I was really interested in this statue. At the way he is so emaciated. I didn't have the chance to ask anyone why he looks like that, but I'm thinking it may be one of the stages the Buddha went through on his way to enlightenment. Complete guess.

These were some other statues near by the previous one. Looks like the Buddha teaching under the .......... tree. Anybody know the name?

It is a yellow watermelon! I couldn't believe my eyes. They call it honey watermelon and it pretty much tastes like red watermelon, but it's so entertaining to eat something you've always had, but in another color. Like making blue spaghetti sauce.

Meghan and I after the race! Yeay!

Posin' with our medals.

A few post-race drinks by the pool!

A cock fight at a town about 5 kilos from me. They have this every Saturday and it was packed with gamblers. They set up about 10 of these rings and then a crowd gathers around each to watch and place bets. The cock that loses is the one that runs away first. These guys had some sweet Kung Fu moves.

The giant, standing Buddha in Roi Et. It must have been at least 10 stories high. A monk let us climb up into the thing and out on an observation deck, which was really cool.

Near a year...

2008-02-18T20:48:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything in nearly three months! Sorry for the lack of updates on my time here in Thailand. I am now past my one year mark in Thailand, and nearing my one year mark since being at my site (the first three months of service were spent training in a different province). I am also coming to the end of my first full year as an English teacher. It's been quite the trip, and I don't think I've ever experienced anything quite like it. I feel very comfortable where I am. I'm finding out that between my town and the town 2 km. from here we are about the size of my Jasper, Indiana (my birthplace). The people here continue to be extraordinarily welcoming and friendly. I've made some good friends and even a few best friends I believe I will have for the rest of my days. I look forward to seeing my Thai friends when I am away from site for too long. Surely this is a good thing.

Just this morning, at the local temple, I continue to have wonderful cultural experiences, and I just love how "in the thick of it" I am. I participated in the opening ceremonies of a festival called Makha Bucha Day, which is actually Thursday, but many towns will have a few days of festivities leading up to it. The temple was decorated in all colors and people from all over our district came to watch as troupes from different schools performed traditional dances originating from all the regions of Thailand. Everyone also also did a "tamboon," or ceremony to honor Buddha. This usually includes monks chanting, lighting of incense and candles, ringing of bells and even putting gold foil on the buddha statues. It's a really cool ceremony, and I enjoy the music that goes with it. A traditional band consisting of different xylaphones, drums and bells was playing throughout the morning. This evening I'll go back to the temple to listen to a live band from a nearby school perform.

Also, recently I completed a marathon here in Thailand. It was held in a town called Khon Kaen, which is in the same region as I live. The race started at 4:30 a.m. and we ended at about 9:00 a.m. The weather was nice and cool with a little rain. We really got lucky because the weather can get really hot unexpectedly. I ran it with two other friends and all three of us finished feeling pretty good. We just hobbled like cripples for about 24 hours!

I do, however, have a claim on a possible "first" for a marathon...

As I was running at about mile 13 or so, I started getting really dizzy and realized that I was just starving. Of course, I didn't bring any money with me, so I couldn't buy anything. We were running down these streets filled with people cooking grilled chicken, selling fruit, making soups. And the smells! I could taste that savory chicken and those sweet oranges if I just closed my eyes. Drooling, something had to be done. We were starting to leave the "town" area, and you never know when you might next come across vendors. Then, I spy her. A sticky rice lady. She's taking the rice fresh out of the pot! If you've never had sticky rice it's similar to white rice except that it's so sticky you can grab hand fulls of it and squeeze it into little dipping balls. It's great to eat using your hands and an assortment of dips, veggies, etc. She saw me seeing her. We locked eyes. I gave a smile and slightly widened my eyes at her huge wicker basket full of sweet, sticky carbs. She smiled back and without hesitation motioned me over as she tore off a great hunk of goodness! I was so relieved! I smiled at her over and over saying thank you in Thai as I shoved a little rice in my mouth and said, "It's delicious!" in the local language before running off. She laughed and laughed and I could hear her yelling to her friends sitting nearby as they started to laugh too. And everybody after her along the road got such a kick out of watching this crazy white guy run along the road as he chowed down on their favorite staple. I gotta say though, after eating a couple of mouthfuls I was right back in action. And, sticky rice is famous for making you clogged up (if you know what I mean!), which is awesome when you're running for four hours!

(side note and a little gross - if you ever eat sticky rice while running a marathon and you don't have anything to eat it with....the salt from either your lip or your forehead makes for great seasoning and replenishes your body salts too!)

Northern Thailand backpacking trip

2007-10-16T21:52:00.001-07:00

Here are a bunch of pictures from my trip to northern Thailand in October during my school break. I went up to my friend and fellow PCV's site Garrett and also the city of Chiang Mai. Garrett's site is located in the province of Chiang Mai and the district of Mae Jam. His district has quite a population of Karen people, who are one of the many mountain tribes living in the north of Thailand. Most Karen people speak the Karen language as their first language and learn Thai as they go through school. This is true in most cases, but as we backpacked we definitely ran across some people (mostly older) who only spoke Karen, so we had to have our guide translate into Thai. The backpacking lasted two nights/three days and was some of the most up and down hiking I've ever done. Even though the mountains around the north aren't alpine, they are definitely steep! I also don't think many people around here have ever heard the word "switchback." "Straight on up" was more the phrase of choice to describe most of the trails we hiked on. It was really amazing to see this other side of Thailand that I had no idea existed. From the language to the houses to the food to the clothes the Karen culture is definitely a little pocket of something completely unique, even for Thailand.

Wat Doi Suthep - Chiang Mai City
Located on a high peak overlooking the city, this temple was definitely great to go see. They have a pavilion overlooking the whole city, and on a clear day you see everything in Chiang Mai.

The dragon staircase leading up the temple of Doi Supthep; supposedly the longest dragon statues in any temple in Thailand.

Getting ready to set out...I'm trying to puff up my chest so I can look as manly as Garrett! The dog just wanted in for the picture...he didn't actually come backpacking with us.

Definitely a candid moment. That's Garrett trying to work his GPS gadget and me scratching my head trying to figure out where the hell we are on the map.

After a little walking around we found our way to a rice shack in the middle of the mountains where we had lunch with some local Karen people working the fields.

This was after our backpacking trip. Near where we ended there is a tourist attraction of "long neck" Karen people. It's pretty exploitative...pretty much just staring at these people wearing rings around their necks as they try to sell you souvenir.

Same village...woman trying to sell cds of the folk music she plays.

I feel like this is a sign you would see on South Park, but they had them every few kilos to let you know what you were coming upon!

The central temple of Wat Doi Suthep - Chiang Mai City

With my friends Garrett and Danai

The second night of our backpacking we camped near a lake outside of a small village. This is the mist coming off the lake in the morning when we woke up.

This is the "mayor" of one of the villages we walked through. He walked with us in the morning for about an hour before headed off into the mountains to work in his rice fields.

After the long way down! We walked for about 12 kilos pretty much straight down and we were all definitely relieved to see the bus stop where we're sitting.

Sign post telling us where we had walked from. I think in total we walked about fifty kilos in three days.

A huge bamboo grove in the middle of a small village. It eerie the way bamboo creaks in the middle of a hot day when the wind blows. I don't know if I've ever heard anything like it.

Coming down a pretty tall we peak we happened upon a tiny village consisting of about five houses, twenty people and no roads going in or out...only footpaths.

Some of the kids who sat with us having tea and eating a fruit similar to grapefruit called "som-o".

An old woman who came to chat with us. The floor she's sitting on is a typical design for the Karen houses I saw. It's a woven bamboo that's really bouncy. It almost feels like you're going to fall through it if you step too hard, but it's great to sleep on because it's so soft.

With some villagers outside the lake town where we camped.

Walking through rice fields.

The first night we stayed with the family of our guide, "Sa-oo." Nice to sit down after that first long haul!

Sa-oo is wearing the white shirt; sitting with his family in the kitchen. Most of the Karen houses had a kitchen in one of the rooms inside the house. The rooms didn't have ventilation, so the smoke turned the ceiling black and could get quite smoky. I'm not quite sure why they don't have chimneys.

On the way uphill. Garrett, Sheila and myself.

Nice view overlooking the surrounding mountains.

Garrett, Sa-oo and myself.

Rolling hills.

Crossing the bridge into the tiny village we went to. Took a nice, freezing! bath in the river!

New Pictures

2007-08-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

Fellow PCV's at our second training about a month ago.

Getting silly after a few weeks togther! Note: that is an Italian, table cloth shirt with an array of colored dragonflies...sweet.

Me with a student at a school where orphans and battered children can go to received a full education through high school. The school also helps with specialized skills (like agriculture) or funding if a child wants to eventually go to college. I think this girl was terrified of me.

The bridge over the river Kwae. Yes, it does exist.

I CAN AND WILL USE THIS BUTTERKNIFE.

Teaching kids English about parts of the body. This was at a three-day English camp where kids had different sessions to study different areas of English. We usually try to make these camps as fun as possible to get the kids excited about studying foreign languages.

Same camp. Th students were divided up over the three days into "colored" teams.

Me, with PCV Prema (far left) and her supervisor (middle) who had her hand suspiciously close to my butt and kept rubbing my arm hair.

This was a picture from our PST 2 (second training). James, the PCV wearing the red shirt in the middle, is an awesome teacher and was leading an activity that day.

This is a group of us that all live in the region of Thailand known as "Isan." We decided to have shirts made that read, "Proud to be Isan" and have a list of 10 things that say, "You know you live in Isan if...." Isan seems to be pretty similar to the Midwest in the U.S. Lots of farmland and good ol' boys. Isan is also a region where a lot of people speak Laos, which is similarly sounding to Thai, but has all different vocabulary.

Myself, Somneuk (friend and English teacher) and fellow PCV John at a different English camp in my province. It was funny, the name tags we received for the camp read, "Smart Kids Einglish Camp".

Same camp with the kids up and dancing to a song called, "The Banana Song," which I think I will remember as long as I live!

Trainer and student dancing to a "Singin' In the Rain."

My awesome co-teacher, Renu, and our sixth-grade class at Ban Nong Pak Wan School. This school is really small with apprx. 180 students.

Hamburgers! This is the son of my co-teacher, and he came over to my house to help me make hamburgers. They were delicious, and I think we even used some sort of steak meat (it's hard to tell).

Wat Banpet in my town. This is really one of the most beautiful temples I've seen so far in Thailand. This is the same temple as from a previous picture. It sits out in the middle of a small pond and has murals and tile work all around the structure.

The Buddha outside the front door to the temple. Looks like a few birds were trying to enlighten themselves and forgot to go to restroom.

At the temple, they have these little doors that hold the remains of the cremated. During special holidays throughout the year, family will go and pay respects to the remains. This is usually done with a string ceremony, where the family and monks hold a piece of string tied to the ashes and pray for the deceased. They also light incense and place it in front of the shrine.

Another English Camp! Teaching about directions and having fun with the students. They're trying to lead their friends through an obstacle course by only using the phrases, "Go straight, turn left, turn right, go back and stop."

Handsome fella. You'll see a lot of kids "framing" their faces for photos. I'm not too sure where this came from.

Me at a national park near my site. It's called Pa Hin Ngam, which translates to beautiful, stone forest. These stones were supposed to have formed hundreds of thousands of years ago when this part of Thailand was an ocean. There are also a huge cliff and fields of this special flower known as "Dog Gateow."

I watched this man climb up this coconut tree and begin to cut off all the top branches and leaves. I was later told that they do this because after about ten years a coconut trees' fruit isn't as good as it was from the ages 2-5. He then proceeded to cut down nearly all of the trunk of the tree too!

These are rice fields near my house where I go jogging. During the hot season they are dry and brown, but lately they've all turned beautiful and green. Throughout the fields are these little shacks where rice farmers will eat lunch and take breaks.

Me with teachers at a parade to celebrate the candle festival, which is a religious day in Thailand. There was a float covered in wax with a huge candle on it made entirely out of wax.

Students from my school carrying a banner and Thai flags. The yellow flags are for the king of Thailand as yellow is nationally his color.

My co-teacher Renu at Pa Hin Ngam. I love the outfit. It's no joke.

Some more pictures...

2007-05-14T03:24:00.000-07:00

A few more teachers from my schools tying strings around my wrists in my welcoming ceremony. The woman next to the lady in the white hat is my landlord. She lives right next to me and is awesome!

All the teachers from Chumchon Banpetch School before we walk in the parade.

Concentrating really hard here. I knew about 3/4 of what I was saying during this little speech. My co-teacher helped me write it in Thai.

They also had a bunch of random games with schools from the area. The prize for each event was your choice of a case of beer or a case of soda. They had me up onstage handing the prizes to the winners and I don't think I gave one case of pop the whole time.

Looking out my back door...into my outdoor kitchen

The table and chairs where I sometimes eat.

Here's my living room where I get to hang at night.

My glorious cold-water shower! I didn't actually even expect to have a shower. When I first saw the house it had a bucket bath and squat toilet, but when I moved in my landlord had put this and a western toilet in...

This is my front porch. There are a lot of tables similar to this one where you can play checkers on the squares in the middle. I'm thinking of trying to bring chess here...don't know if that'd fly or not.

I call this one hands. It was a cool moment at a temple when they were pouring water to be blessed and two other sets of hands were helping this woman to steadily pour her water into the container.

During Songkran Festival many families travel around to various temples to pay respects to deceased loved ones. In this picture, seven monks tied a string from the door of a tiny mausoleum where the remains were across their laps and then began to chant and pray.

Beautiful sky in the province of Chanthabury.

This is also from the province of Chanthabury. This is in southwest Thailand is famous for being a fruit province. Above is a picture of a durian, which doesn't really taste or smell that good. But, people love it here. Hense the 10 foot statue.

My co-teacher actually thought this was a picture of one of my friends. I guess all white people do kind of look alike.

As school begins...

2007-05-14T03:10:00.000-07:00

That last entry was written a bit before it was posted. This one will be more current with what’s been happening here with me. School starts tomorrow! I’m really excited to be starting my co-teaching and filling my days with something other than riding my bike around trying to communicate in Thai! The weather has turned to the rainy season, which means that in the next four or so months Thailand will expect rain frequently if not everyday. It is still fairly hot when the sun is out, but after rain it cools off and let’s everyone relax. One downside to the rain seems to be the drastic increase in the number of bugs I see. Troops of ants, swarms of mosquitoes, bumblebees as big as fat purple grapes and other bugs I have never had the pleasure of meeting. Did you know that ants here will even eat plain rice? I discovered that when I followed a trail of them and looked into my rice bucket to find it invaded by the little buggers. Best of all is that all these insects seem to be quite at home in my abode…the battle will rage on.

This means I have officially moved into my own place and out of my host-family’s house. Yay! My house is a little two-story place that is perfect for one person. I have been attempting to cook my own Thai food (still working on being good at it). I think out of the four or five dishes I have cooked one of them has been really delicious. The others were just okay but edible. Almost everyone here uses electric rice cookers, which makes that really easy. All you do is plug and press. Then, about half hour later you have a pot of rice. Most people here use gas stoves with a single burner, maybe two. My landlord is a teacher from my school and she has helped me out tremendously with getting the house ready, fixing it up and providing nearly all the furniture and other household stuff I needed. As I have heard from other areas of the world, Peace Corps Thailand has been called “Posh Corps” or “Soft Corps” because of the great food, friendly people and relative “second-worldness” of the country. So, my amenities include: washing machine, stove, sink, TV, DVD player, western toilet (as opposed to the challenging “squat toilet”), shower (cold water) and refrigerator. These things are great to have, but don’t let these fool you. They are just things and things don’t necessarily make integrating into another culture any easier. They just make cooking and washing easier : )

The Songkran Festival turned out to be really great. I stayed in my town for the three-day event “playing water” with everyone who came around. The first morning of the festival seven of the local schools participated in a parade. Each school made a float with an animal as their theme. Both of my schools participated, but I walked with my one school that had a gigantic elephant float. The day before the parade I even went and helped decorate it with flowers. The parade started in the next town over and ended about 2 kilometers from the start in a local “healthy park” as everyone here says. It’s a place where there are tennis and basketball courts, a walking path and community events can be held. Planners for the event had set up tents all around and there was a central stage where speeches were given (I even gave a speech in Thai!) and music was played. I may have written about this before, but the traditional idea of the Songkran Festival is a day of purification and rejuvenation through water. Monks, elders and myself were all purified. They sat us in chairs in a long line and everyone from the community walked past pouring scented flower water over hands and necks and saying small prayers for good health and happiness. I think I got the most water because everyone was excited about getting the “foreigner” wet! They also did a welcoming ceremony with me where each person tied a small white string around either one of my hands. First they would brush the white string on your wrist away from you “pulling” any ill feelings out. Then they would brush the string on your wrist towards you wishing happiness and welcome to you. They then tied the string around your wrist. It was really cool and I bet about two hundred people tied strings around my hands. It is then tradition to leave the strings on your wrists for three days before cutting them off. Every time I took a bath I had to wring these massive bracelets of white string out because they were sopping wet. The following two days of Songkran everyone is just riding around in pick-ups, cars, motorbikes or bicycles splashing each other and putting white “cooling” powder on each other’s faces. It’s also a time where many people start drinking when the sun comes up and stop long after the sun goes down. I couldn’t quite bring myself to crack a beer at 6:30 in the morning. I had to wait till at least 8:00 : )

In the summertime...

2007-05-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

Another hot one here in Thailand. We are about at the peak of the hot season. This weekend will be Thailand’s biggest festival of the year, Songkran. It marks the Thai New Year and can last anywhere from three to five or more days. The way I figure it the Thai government declares each year how long the festival will last (actual days that are national holidays), and then local areas kind of make their own schedule anyways. The premise of Songkran is a huge water fight. Everyone actually says “len naam” which means “play water.” For three or more days the entire country is running around dousing each other with water, and no one is exempt from the fun. The elderly, young children and buses full of people are all fair game. I asked around and I think that at night when everyone is sleeping you are relatively safe, but I might just have to try and change that trend. This festival will be a nice way to celebrate the summer here.

Right now, the teachers from school are taking a break, and I am spending my days getting to know my community and studying Thai. I am still living with a host family but am hoping to be living in my own house sometime shortly after the festival. The town I am in is small and does not have the biggest selection of rental houses. School begins on the 14th of May, and I am very excited to be in the classroom again. Some of my most heartening experiences so far in Thailand have come from interacting with the kids. It will be nice to be able to see students almost everyday. Within my Peace Corps project, I have two primary goals. The first is to work with two different Thai teachers from two different schools about how to create a learning environment that is more student-centered. From what I have observed so far of English classrooms in Thailand is that there is a lot of attention placed on rote memorization, or repeating something until it’s in your head. There is also quite a bit of time given to the students to copy English words from the blackboard. So, a student centered learning approach can include making lesson plans that encourage the students to think critically, think independently, problem solve, create and ask questions on their own and also to get them comfortable speaking and listening to English. In the classroom, I will be co-teaching every time I teach. The idea is not for me to come and teach English on my own, but rather that we share ideas about teaching and carry those out in our lesson plans. Hopefully, after two years here, our co-teachers and the volunteers have shared different ideas about better, more effective ways to teach. The second goal of our project is to help with activities in our community. These activities can anything that the community requests or I suggest and someone wants to do. These activities may include HIV/AIDS/life skills workshops, teacher training seminars, English camps for students or helping with business endeavors (although for anyone who knows me, I dropped out of college after trying to switch to a business major J). We can also simply act as catalysts for helping someone start a project they have been thinking about. There are cases where the ideas are in place, but there may be a lack of knowledge on where and how to acquire the resources to carry out a project. So, in a nutshell, those are my two goals for my two years here. There are also other Peace Corps objectives that are somewhat unspoken. These include the sharing of culture between both the host country and the volunteer. Then, when the volunteer returns to America, he or she will often share knowledge of experiences from that country. Anyone want to be a Peace Corps volunteer yet?

Here is a picture from the Songkran festival in my town,

2007-04-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here's another picture from my town. This is actually taken in the same place as from my other blog, but just facing the opposite way. My town has one central road that stretches for approximately one kilometer. There are little shops and food stores along it.

This is from the outside of the temple in my town. It is common to see these archways above temples and also upon entering a town.

The man on the right, kneeling, is the husband of my co-teacher. All the teachers from our school attended a funeral of a man they knew. It is common to kneel in front of a picture of the deceased, bow with a stick of incense and then put the incense in a holder in front of the picture.

Who's that white boy? Here I am participating and trying not to mess it up.

Here is a really dark shot from our swearing-in ceremony in Bangkok. These are one of my co-teachers on the left and my supervisor on the right. Yellow is the color associated with the king of Thailand, so you will see it being worn everywhere, even on formal occasions.

New Site

2007-04-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

It’s getting on to the hot season here in Thailand as I finish out my first week at my new site. Each day is about as hot as the hottest days of summer I can remember from Indiana. It’s the kind of heat that makes everything quiet. Not even the wind wants to blow. Everybody, and everything, comes to a standstill in the afternoon. Dogs quit chasing every last vehicle that goes by. People lift their heads slightly from a sleeping position as I bicycle past. Usually, if they catch a glimpse of me they’ll switch to a full sitting position to get a look at the “farang” or foreigner. If I smile and say hello in Thai I’m almost always guaranteed the same in return. Thailand is known for its smiles, and I have definitely experienced enough of them to attest to this. April should be the hottest of the year, but it is also hot pretty much every other month also. People joke that Thailand has one season, the hot season. Cheesy, but I have to admit it is easy to say in Thai, and Thai people always get a laugh out of it, especially when a foreigner is saying it.

My town is a small village in the province of Chaiyaphum, which is located on the very western border of the region known as Isan. I am very centrally located with only about a four-hour bus ride to Bangkok, an eight-hour bus to Chang Mai and an hour bus to Khorat. These, I think, are the three biggest cities in Thailand. The region of Isan is in the northeast of the country and is generally known to be the hottest and driest region. The landscape where I am is relatively flat, with a mountain range in the far distance (someone told me they are about 60 kilometers away). The highways are like country highways in Indiana, curvy with a lot of agriculture right off the road. Here, two of the main crops are sugar cane and rice. Also, there are tons of coconut trees dotted everywhere. If you haven’t already, some day try drinking milk from a fresh coconut. It’s amazing. Then, you get to eat the meat from inside…mmmm. Kind of wish I had a coconut right now. I wonder what everyone would think if I went outside and climbed the nearest tree?

Each town in Thailand usually has its own wat, or temple. This is a picture of the temple from my town. Thailand is 95 percent Buddhist, and there are events and festivals that run according to the lunar cycle. Each morning, monks will travel around the town collecting food as alms from people. I have yet to offer alms, but I would like to some day. All of the monks I have seen in Thailand wear orange robes and sandals. I have seen monks traveling everywhere, including on buses to and from Bangkok. It is known here that woman are not to touch monks, so if a monk is sitting on a bus he will always be sitting with another monk, alone or with a man. Funerals, holidays and even parties can take place at the temple. I think it is generally viewed as a place of worship, but also as a public place to meet. I have never seen a temple that was built on water, but I think this temple is beautiful.

Some Other Pics

2007-03-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

Goofy fella who kept on insisting on wearing my bike helmet! Notice the tee-shirt displaying the different types of machine guns...

Here is a picture of my ma and pa! Ahh, just like home.

This was a pond full of these goldfish and that just kept swimming in a big circle...I have no idea why!

This is my host sister on the left and my aunt. We're at a party with kareoke, dancing and fun!

Random picture of a monkey, a monk and a King Cab truck. Hmmm?

2007-03-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Two-headed cockroach? I too asked myself that question when I came upon this insect phenomenon in the bathroom at my host family’s house. Funny enough, I’ve discovered some interesting things in this bathroom. Besides the occasional frog coming out of the drain, I’ve seen a spider the size of my hand (the kind of spider that you’re sure will eat your entire arm if you get it close enough), and a scorpion that couldn’t have been bigger than a quarter (I didn’t realize scorpions came in “mini”). Well, I had to be sure that this genetic mutation was for real, so I threw a bucket of water at the critter, but one quickly became two as they scurried for the nearest crack. I was really hoping for a two-headed cockroach, but I guess I’ve never seen roaches mating either. Weird, eeh?

Food, food, food! So, Thailand has some of the best food in the world (even if they do eat rice with every meal!). I’ve been here for about two months, and I’m nowhere close to being tired of the food. A typical dinner will include a bowl of rice for each person. The youngest female in the family will usually serve rice and beverages to everyone else, starting with serving the eldest male. I say beverages, but really I almost never see anyone drink anything (even water!). I think that’s also why I almost never see any Thais sweating. On the floor, or a table depending on if the family has one, there will be multiple dishes that everyone shares. My family usually has four or five different dishes. Each person uses one’s own utensil to spoon out whatever one wants. Thais tend to only put a little bit of whatever dish they choose on their rice. Then, they will eat this before spooning more onto the rice. I’m not quite sure, but it seems that mixing the dishes isn’t common. Some interesting things I’ve had so far include rat, eel, snail, water bugs, fried crickets, silk worms and boiled blood. Hungry? I think you just have to try hard not to dwell on what you’re eating. Most of the above things actually tasted pretty good until I started thinking about what they actually were. Fried crickets for example…extremely tasty. Kind of like deep fried, salty peanut butter. Mmmm. Other common dishes include stir fried pork or chicken, fried rice, deep-fried fish, curried soups, fresh herbs and vegetables, pepper sauce, egg, and noodle dishes (considered to be Chinese).

A few nights ago, a fellow Peace Corps Trainee and I cooked dinner for our host families, who actually happen to be related. So, technically, this PCT and I are cousins through our host families. We cooked them some American fare…grilled chicken (and also pan fried with beer), mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and grilled cheese. For desert we showed them the magic that is dunking oreos in milk, and concocted some “ants on a log” with m &m’s, peanut butter and bananas. Everyone in our family was polite enough to try all the dishes, but I’m pretty sure they won’t be cooking any of them after we leave! As most of you know, I wasn’t really disappointed by anyone’s lack of enthusiasm over the mash potatoes as I helped myself to thirds and fourths!

About a week ago I attended a wedding with my host father. Or, rather, we went, ate breakfast and left. I guess this culturally acceptable, even at parties or other social events. For example, a few other Peace Corps Trainees and myself were invited to the local temple to eat lunch with a big family that was remembering and celebrating the life of a relative that had passed away. We went, they served us, we talked a tiny bit with what Thai we do know, we lit incense for the woman who died, said our thanks and left. We were there for a total of maybe thirty minutes, which felt funny to me. I think in the U. S. we are used to making a point of talking for a while to the host, even if we don’t know them. I kind of felt like we were “eating and running.” We learned that it was a big deal and a sign of respect that we would even go and eat with them. So, we weren’t being disrespectful at all. I will be excited for the time when my Thai is good enough that I will be able to hang around and talk for longer. Back to the wedding with my father…we did get to catch a little bit of the ceremony as we were leaving. In the picture here, the groom is approaching the house of the bride’s family. In order to be accepted into the family of the bride, the groom must offer a dowry worthy of the bride. When the bride’s family is satisfied with the amount, the string across the door is cut or lowered and the groom is allowed to enter. I have heard from other volunteers that they have been to weddings where the bride’s family wasn’t happy with the amount of money the groom was offering. So, members of that groom’s family ran up and started throwing down gold jewelry and money and anything of value they had with them. This was all so the groom could “save face” and enter the bride’s house!

Just Pictures

2007-02-23T23:36:00.000-08:00

Picture of my host families sink and dish washing area.

Area where my host family and i eat dinner (on the floor). There are usually between three and six different dishes and rice. Everyone has their own rice bowl, but everyone shares the dishes that have the "soups" for the rice. A typical meal at my house may include rice, fried fish, ground pork with vegetables, a curry and a hot fish sauce. Yummy!

Here's a pic from my bathroom at the homestay. If you're wondering, both are for either, and the buckets are to wash it down. Oh, and there's a dishsprayer just in case.

The bath. Well, you don't actually get in, but you stand outside and pour buckets of water over you while you wash and rinse. It's actually a really nice way to cool off when it's really hot.

I know i definitely look mormon, but this is the required attire for Peace Corps Thailand. This is outside my host familie's house.

Here is a banner to welcome us to our training site. Holding the sign are a few of the Peace Corps Language training staff. They are all awesome teachers and have been a great source of information/navigation to us here in Thailand.

Here's a picture from the place we stayed when we first arrived in Thailand. The mountains here aren't alpine, but rather hilly and green.

Here are some kids from the school where i will be teaching for the next two years! They're all really funny and awesome! Thais have this thing with putting their fingers under their chin in a picture so as to "frame" their pretty faces. Funny, yet it kinda makes sense.

Crickets anyone? Here is a vendor in the market who sells bugs! Mmmm! The region i will be moving to is called Isaan, and one of their sources of protein are bugs. This night i ate crickets and mealworms. Really, they're not that bad if you just don't think about what your eating. And, the crickets do taste crunchy!

This is a picture of a buddhist temple, or wat, in thai. My language classes are held with three other volunteers everyday right outside this building. On this same compound there are three or four other similiar looking buildings where they do other ceremonies such as cremation of the dead. It's a pretty amazing place to come everyday!

I couldn't believe it, but they do have boy and girl scouts in thailand! And, everyone is required to participate (until high school, i think). This past weekend i went to visit my site and meet my supervisors. On the last night of the visit we went to a zoo where they were holding a scout camping trip. You know what's worse than seeing all the poor animals at the zoo? Going on a "night safari" at the zoo and shining spotlights at all the poor animals in their cages! That's what we got to do! Then, we pitched tents right in front of the "Zoo Cantina" and had a "campfire" (there was no fire) on the concrete walkway to the tourist information center! It was hilarious!

One of the scout leaders leading a ceremony to begin the activities for the day.

There's me in the middle, my first counterpart to my right, and my other counterpart is the man to my left. They are both very nice people, and it should be great working with them.

Yes, 7-11 has made it to Thailand...

And yes, they do have foot long hot-dogs (christian, sorry dude, but i guess you'll have to introduce them to the 1/4 pound "big bite").

This is a really funny poster that was up on the wall in my host families house. I'm trying to decide if they always keep it up, or if they just put it up to make me feel more at home.

A month in...

2007-02-12T21:51:00.000-08:00

Here i am in Thailand after about a month of training. i've sent out a few emails so far, but i figured this was probably a better way for anyone interested to find out what i'm up to. also, i will try to keep pictures coming.