Phnom Penh, Cambodia

With minimum access to internet here in Cambodia, our main outlet has been through cafés, and I must admit that when that special time comes that I can finally open mozilla again, I become so giddy that I shove aside the need to blog and embrace facebook, e-mail, and other such blissful pastimes.  There are those who would accuse me of going blog-soft, and tell me I'm not the blogger I used to be, hoping to shame me into a post, but it won't happen! Or it wouldn't have if I hadn't just been served an infection that keeps me bedridden…thanks, Life. Anyways here is a quaint bedtime story detailing the past three weeks of adventures in Cambodia.  I don't remember where I left off last time, and since I don't have the internet to check, I'll start my story where I want to, and you can just be refreshed, dear reader!

Week one: We had met Dr. Kyle at dinner the night we arrived, and he seemed like a really great guy, intelligent, interactive, and quite helpful.  During the week we learned more about him and his style, and found him, like many anthropologists, to be an in-the-field guy.  We went to a local market, where no foreigners [barang] ever go, and after he bought us breakfast at a delicious stand [for me just the barbecued meat on a skewer, for he, Skylar, and Tim the meat was put in a traditional soup, not too unlike Thai soups] we engaged our market-navigating skills and embarked on a scavenger hunt for the list he gave us, also getting the prices of our favorite fruits. I took over as cartographer and mapped out the market as we went along [A+ material, I'm told *Note: normally here I would wink and use a sarcastic tone to indicate the true nature of the map, not as cartographic genius, but as the work of a girl who still uses stick figures].  We only couldn't find one thing on the list, but no failure resulted there.  Meanwhile our Khmer classes began in the afternoons [Kyle's class was scheduled 8-1o:oo, although it generally ran until 1o:3o in the classroom or later on an excursion, and Khmer was 1:15-2:45].  It was hard to get Thai out of my head when I had been used to it for so long!  I got the weirdest looks for saying thank you in neither English nor Khmer, although the rest of what I was saying was in American English, which more Cambodians speak in relation to Thais, especially in the service industry.  But other than separation issues, Khmer was a world of its own, and with no tones it is easier to speak [although some sounds are hard to pronounce], however it is much more difficult to read and write.  [Future note, I'm in my 3rd week and still don't even know how to write my name].  We learn generally 2 letters per lesson and 2 vowels, for there are many, and then for homework we write sentences with the new verbs we have learned and do combinations of the letters and verbs we know, to make sure that we can draw them properly.  As in Thai, the vowels circumambulate the consonants, so its important to know how they connect, because sometimes one could end up drawing the wrong combination and your word would make no sense!

There were more excursions with Kyle, including a trip across the Tonle Sab to the peninsula, where we saw a lot of what looked at first glance to be poverty, but closer looks at a neighborhood show deeper into the Cambodian Façade, as I call it.  Not to be confused with a blatant trick, but the Cambodians, in many areas, are much better off than they are portrayed.  When Westerners look around they see the picturebook definition of poverty - aka they don't have what we have, how unfortunate.  They mean well, but without looking deeper these visitors don't understand that there is a new car or 2 new motorbikes in the garage, and grandma's silk weaving is successful, and that the money they don't throw at materialistic goods is still there, just used for other purposes.  In the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodians learned to take what they could, hide it, and work their way from there.  That mentality still runs today; Cambodia is one of the richest poor countries in the world. During our peninsula visit we also visited a temple, which is built in the shape of a boat.  As with the Hagia Sophia, this is the 3rd rendition of the boat temple, for various reasons, all explained by the Venerable Sophea, a very kind monk who promised to teach us Khmer if we had the chance to come back, and who had such a good sense of humor.  We took pictures with him and he would look at them and say, "I can't believe it!  Do you see how good looking I am here?!"  Needless to say we had become quite fond of him when we left, although we hadn't been there long.  Our next adventure was to Phnom Chisor.  'Phnom' means 'mountain' in Khmer, so needless to explain, we climbed a mountain [okay fine, a big hill] to reach Wat Chisor.  But that's skipping ahead. 
    We left Phnom Penh around 4am in hopes of watching the sunrise from Wat Chisor, set up high on its phnom.  Unfortunately, it was the end of the rainy season, and the water had weakened the dirt roads out there, and after a while we came across a semi that had been stuck in the ditch.  Another big truck was there, and between some of our men and their men and truck-power, the semi was pulled out of the conclave, and luckily they didn't leave right away, because right after, our van got stuck while picking its way across.  The trucks had a much easier time pulling us out, but by this time the sun was rising, and we still had quite the trek to our destination.  We had to take an alternate route, and missed the splendid rays awakening.  Despite the anticlimactic result, we still had a big day ahead of us!  We found our way to our destination, then hiked through rice paddies and such to arrive at the temple that marks the gate to Chisor.  This temple was ruins, of course, but beautiful!  You could still see the lintels and laterite rock, as well as sandstone.  Walking through it, you feel inherent Indiana-Jones-esque powers being absorbed, and everyone becomes an adventurer!  After peaking around, we moved down the road to see the rice paddies, engineered hundreds of years ago in PERFECT rectangles.  The road leading from the paddies to the gate-temple is as straight as any Roman road, and has lasted that way through the centuries.  It was incredible from the ground, and later on more so from Chisor.  We walked back up to the gate, and then took the winding path from the temple to the mountain base. 
    Along the way, Sok-ta, a pottery expert, showed us the different bits of pottery strewn everywhere and dated them for us, just by glancing!  Kyle had the same talent, and since the path was greatly composed of ancient pottery shards and dirt, it took us a while as we explored Chinese influence, and pre-Angkorian pottery from the Funan and Chen-la periods of Khmer history.  No worries, readers, I have a nice collection tucked away in my backpack! 
    When we did make it to the base of the Wat, the sight was daunting.  The sheer number of steps is unknown, made worse by the fact that they were laterite [which is a porous rock that cuts really easily, making it difficult to just rock climb these stairs], and that the higher you got, the steeper and skinnier the steps got, until I was side foot-stepping and clinging to the next steps to keep from toppling backwards.  Where was my harness and pads?  My only comfort was the little old man perched on the rock at the top, who thinks its hilarious that a barang is coming up the front, instead of the "tourist stairs" that we later found out approach from behind.  Not that they see many tourists, anyways, Kyle reckons only about 6o people visit Chisor a year, including researchers and grad students, not just tourists. ADVENTURE!
    After we regained our breath and poured copious amounts of water down our throats, we got up and explored the ruins of Chisor, seeing the lingas/yonis [I'll explain in the next paragraph], visiting the temple [still in use, of course], and just wandering.  It's so interesting to see the Buddhist temples synthesized with Hindu traditions and images.
    The linga and yoni I mentioned are of Hindu origin.  The linga is a representation of Shiva, and represents masculinity.  It resides on a yoni, which is generally square-ish and has spouts for the run-off of libations - the yoni is the female counterpart to the set up.  In times of worship, brahmins [Hindu priests] or others pour milk, water, and other libations over the linga to bless them, and the libations then run through the yoni and run off the spouts to be collected and bathed in, drank, etc.  The linga is seen in the West as a phallic symbol, and depending on who you talk to that can be considered quite offensive to some Hindus.  At the same time, it represents Shiva's sense of control as an ascetic, because the linga are never limp, implying that he has the ultimate control over his desires.  Linga and yoni can be found all over Cambodia, in temples and out. 
    After climbing all over the ruins, we stopped for a picnic!  I had brought peanut butter and jelly, but traded them for a ham, cheese, mayo, and mustard sandwich courtesy of Kyle.  His wife and daughter, Mina, had come, and had prepared an almighty picnic, including homemade sushi rolls [delicious!], the sandwich ingredients, flaming hot cheetohs, and the works.  We also ordered a chicken, and had the pleasure of watching the village women pick it out and prepare it for us.  Delicious!  After completely stuffing ourselves with seconds and such, we walked around a little more before starting the descent down those self-same death rocks.  Fear not, I have come to realize that I was a mountain goat in another life, and easily picked my way down without falling or stopping!!  We were all shaking from the muscle tension by the end, but kept walking to take a different path back and even passed by a village and many palm trees and other beautiful sights!  The country is so beautiful, beyond what people could imagine when they think of Cambodia.  Commonly, and I have been guilty of this myself, the Western mind instantly think of landmine-ridden fields when they imagine the Cambodian countryside, but there is really so much more here.  Yes, there have been tragedies, but Cambodians are beautiful people who have made the best of their situation and are some of the happiest people I've ever met! 


    Beyond the classroom, which we arrived to and departed daily on our bikes through the crazy roundabout of Independence Monument and through the ferocious streets teeming with motorbikes speeding past, going the right way AND the wrong way, we don't have much to do.  Homework and naptime, definitely, and generally we seek out an internet café to connect with the world.  Unfortunately after only two weeks in Phnom Penh I managed to come down with something nasty, and that ends most of my fun adventures.  Before I tell that story though, I have one more really exciting one. 
    The Saturday before I got really sick Kyle took us on another adventure, although this time he let us sleep in a bit longer!  Our route took us off the beaten path to see many Khmer homes and a few new temples, and we stopped at a bakery for breakfast before we headed halfway to Vietnam [and I'm not even exaggerating!] up the Mekong River to an off-the-road site filled with, you guessed it, rice paddies!  But there was so much more to be revealed!  In addition to more crumbled pottery, there were fields of lotuses and the occasional farm field with families.  We made our way along the path until we came to a lovely tree that I named the Christopher Robin tree, for it seemed to have popped out of the Hundred Acre Wood, and there we left our took took and Mina and went on a hike.  This hike took us past Cambodians hollowing out a palm tree to make a boat [photo op!], through the wooded area, and out into a field where a friend of Kyle's keeps his eye out for archaeological artifacts.  He had recently found WHOLE pots in the fields - small, but rare and a great find!  After meeting his family, we continued our walk around until we came to a series of Chinese burial grounds.  Further along we came to one of the many natural basins, which were still full of water from the rainy season, but when the water is lower it is a gold mine of bones [human and animal] and pottery - this area was an archaelogist/anthropologist's dream, and here I was!  I even found a femur! Human, to be exact, and dated to be about 2,5oo years old.  For reference, it's the year 2553 by the Buddhist calendar, which means my femur and the calendar started the about the same year.  Boo-yah!
   After that, we went through the paddies [mudbath for the feet!] to another area, where Kyle showed us the foundations of what was probably one of the oldest temples in Southeast Asia.  Unfortunately the ministry in charge of archaeological digs and stuff is broke, and so this goldmine of Khmer history remains untouched and unknown, a travesty really!  We waded back through the paddy rows, and naturally I slipped off the mud path and one leg fell knee deep in, but thanks to 3 months in Asia, I'm a squatting pro and was able to catch myself before I became a mud pie!  The water was also relatively clean, so I escaped unscathed.  We squished back to the Christopher Robin Tree, where we unpacked yet another fantastic picnic.  This time, Kyle had made a chicken salad worthy of kings!  We had buns, french bread, and sliced bread to choose from, Kettle chips, more flaming hots [Kyle's favorite], fruit, and other goodies to accompany our feast.  So. Delicious! After much face-stuffing, we found a little pond to wash off our feet before preparing to head back.   The trip had been exhausting, and we spent most of the hour + ride back passed out in the back of the packed tuk-tuk.  An amazing day all in all!
    The next Monday was Skylar's 21st birthday, so we celebrated, and then celebrated more because the next day was a holiday!  I turned in early from exhaustion, and then the next day was a holiday, so we had no classes and went to the russian market, a market full of everything you could ever need!  This is when I really started to feel sick, so unfortunately I missed most of the shopping, but had a great nap when I got back! 
    The rest of the week was easy-going, but by Friday I was still really ill and started my clinic visits.  The weekend was spent in bed, and I missed out on meeting some new Cambodian friends and adventures, which stinks.  The next week i still made it to classes, but unfortunately didn't do much otherwise.  I really like Phnom Penh and am disappointed that I didn't get more time to be out and enjoy the city.  Before we were ready it was time to leave, and we had a weekend planned on the floating village of Prek Tole before we started our Siem Reap part of the semester.  Packing was a drag, made better by one last bicycle ride through town to see Independence Monument lit up by night and to bike around the fabulous parks they have in the middle of the city!  Families often go there to play with their children, or joggers/walkers, youth playing their games, etc.  It makes for great scenery!  Plus with the big water festival coming up the mood was quite jubilant! 
    The next morning we were up early to head to the bus station with all our gear, Kyle stopped by to say goodbye and Maryann escorted us to the station, and was kind enough to bring us breakfast!  We got there plenty early, and eventually the rest of the group we were meeting up with arrived, a team of 6 students from primarily the West Coast doing ecological studies for 6 weeks.  They had been through Vietnam, and were also going through Cambodia and Laos before ending in Chiang Mai.  The bus trip was long but not uncomfortable, and before long [about 5 hours] we were in Siem Reap.  Natasha met us at the bus station and took our suitcases and stuff to the guesthouse to check us in while we proceeded with the group to the lake to begin our homestay!  The boat ride was just over an hour, and they explained the ecology of the Tonle Sab River, as well as bird watched and just enjoyed the ride.  The Tonle Sab is unique in that it is a tributary for both the Mekong and Tonle Sab Rivers.  The  Tonle Sab River actually reverses its current during the year, and that is what causes the rise and fall of the Great lake.  In the dry season, everything that we were floating on is 3o meters lower - so the floating greenery we see are really the tops of trees, and we were floating over an underwater forest!  Amazing considering the marine life that is so abundant at this time of the year when the lake is just starting to fall.  There are so many different kinds of fish, snakes, etc that live in the lake, even cobras!  At one point in the talk we floated into a tree, and I don't know if anyone else felt like Noah in the Ark, but I was definitely getting the vibes! 
    There are many birds of paradise flying around during the high season, so they passed out charts and binoculars for those who wanted to see, but at that point I was feverish again and chose to just sleep.  Nothing like a good boat ride to lull me to sleep like a baby!  When we arrived at the company's headquarters we had the chance to look around at the products made by the villagers, and they had some of the best woven materials I have ever seen!  No loose fibers to be found!  After a bit dinner was served, and then Tim, Skylar, and I just relaxed as the students had their class.  I felt bad, apparently it was generally like this, where they would go-go-go and then still have class in the evening when they were exhausted.  Thankfully it didn't last too long, and before we knew it we were heading off to our homes for the night.  Unlike in Mae Chaem, there wasn't any social interaction expected here.  The homes were just there for sleeping.  The director dropped us [Tim, Skylar, and I stayed together] off and showed us the facilities [squatter and bucket shower!] before heading off to drop off the next group at their home.  These homes aren't connected [usually], they are literally floating houses.  They are kept up by a series of hollowed out bamboo poles under the house that are replaced every certain amount of time [I can't remember if its 6 months or 6 years], and there are other sources of buoyancy strapped to the houses, but the key is the bamboo.  Incredible! And they must be anchored because they don't just float around willy-nilly either.  Permanent structures, usually government buildings and the Wat we saw, are built on high poles to ensure that they will always be grounded.  I feel bad for the workers in the dry season, they have to climb all the way up, while the villagers' homes just sink with the lake.  It is really quite practical and amazing! 
    The night was not kind to me, and I woke up not only with a fever but with a rash all over my face and shoulders, indicating that maybe it was time for a new doctor.  The company was really understanding and commandeered a boat back to Siem Reap and then a car to take me to the guesthouse where Natasha would come get me.  They even offered to take me to the hospital, but I waited for Natasha.  The rooms were not ready, as they didn't expect us until the next day, so we just hung out in the lounge until I went to the hospital, and Skylar and Tim stayed behind to get settled and begin exploring Siem Reap.  Unsure of the source of the rash [I've never had any allergies, so a reaction to my anti-biotic was curious], they took blood samples and examined my super swollen lymph nodes.  After the results came back, the doctor guessed Mono and had my blood sent to be tested, and we determined that a night in the hospital would be best for the rash, my dehydration, and whatever I was dealing with.  Lucky me! 
    The nursing staff was great, and it really wasn't too bad of a night, Natasha brought Tim, Skylar, and even Dr. Harris to come visit, and I had sudoku, TV, and sleep to occupy me.  And good food!  I spent the night and most of the next day there, until about 5 when I checked out, got my bag of goodies [medicine], and met up with the group for what was left of our Siem Reap orientation - dinner.  Dinner was delicious, and after we walked back and I saw a bit of Siem Reap before we got to the guesthouse.  The staff helped me with my luggage and I got settled into my tower room for the night.
    Monday we started class with Dr. Harris - Hinduism and the Khmer Civilization.  It was a class I had been looking forward to all semester, but was daunting for the mere reason of fitting a semester class into 3 weeks!  This meant heavy readings and 3 hours of class per day.  Fascinating subject though!  Cambodia is ninety percent Buddhist now, but much of their history, including the famous Angkor Wat, finds its history in Hinduism.  We learn all about the Gods and their incarnates, read Hindu texts, and take field trips to visit the many Hindu temples in the area.  Wednesday was our first field trip to Sambor Prei Kuk, near Kampon Thom.  Sambor Prei Kuk is home to 280 temples, divided into 3 sections.  Not many still stand, but those that do are beautiful, and you can still see some of the foundations of the fallen. 
    There was so much history [the temples date to the 7th century Chen-la period [Angkor is 11th century, for reference]], and yet at the same time modernity finds its way in.  Not in the form of tourists as is common elsewhere, but in the 310 craters found throughout the wood [Sambor Prei Kuk is in a forest], the results of US bombings in Cambodia.  I hadn't even known before coming to Southeast Asia that America bombed Cambodia during the Vietnam War, and now I could see not only the craters from bombs and landmines, but the destruction to the few temples that have managed to survive the ravages of hundreds of years. 
    We were also able to see vestiges of the inner and outer walls that surrounded the complex.  Built of laterite, there were parts that were still very much intact.  We were also able to see a baray, although the use of which historians are still unsure of.  It was possibly used as a source of bath water for the ruler, or for agriculture, although lack of agricultural fields discredits the latter.  Either way, it was incredible to see!  We wound our way through the forest, which was gorgeous!, and stumbled upon a dig that had been underway since 2001! 
    We saw so many beautiful structures, but before long it was time to go, and it was back on the road from hell - covered in potholes that made the belly drop every 5 seconds!  We had a quick lunch in Kampon Thom before the long ride home, during which we enjoyed a great nap!
    Thursday we began Khmer lessons again, and boy was that crazy!  In Phnom Penh we had a teacher from a Khmer language school, complete with lesson plan, book, and CD.  Here, we had a man who was under the impression we spoke much more Khmer than we did, and he kept speaking to us in rapid Khmer.  Yikes!  We finally got on the same page, after all we were only here for 2 more weeks and knew the basics, so we agreed to work on our vocabulary in some areas that needed filling in, i.e. family, days of the week, colors, etc. 
    It was Thanksgiving, and there was turkey to be found, but for a high price, so we went the ironic route and had Indian food.  After all, it was India that Christopher Columbus was searching for, and had he found it we wouldn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but we'd sure as heck have naan and mutton curry!  Dinner was delicious, and in true American style we stuffed ourselves and then went to find pie.  Well, we ended up with cheesecake, but it was delicious nonetheless.  We brought the pie back and watched the Hangover, as we were all in the mood for a good laugh, before tucking in for the night.
    Friday brought more classes, followed by lunch and then reading/nap time before Khmer class.  After class, which went much smoother this time, we found Viva, a Mexican restaurant, and had a yummy dinner [I had nachos!] before wandering back.  Skylar and Tim had a big field trip to Phnom Kulen and Bantay Srei Saturday [the doctor didn't think it wise for me to go on long field trips], so it was an early Friday night for us.  I spent Saturday catching up on my reading and napping before Tim and Skylar returned.  We had dinner and then hit up the Siem Reap Night Bazaar, which turned out to be much, much larger than anticipated, and filled with so much neat stuff!  Then back to the guesthouse, where I wrote a month's worth of blogs and packed the night away.  I know, its an exciting life!

    Stay tuned - this week is Angkor Wat!!!

[Pictures to follow the next time I'm inspired]

Paradise and Cambodia!

The Dancers

Timmy dancing

little mermaid!

my view :]

hellooooo, islands!

lunch on Koh Tan

water break in Myanmar

Sorry, I know blogs are a long time coming, and i'll try hard not to overlook anything-

Finals week! It was CRAZY! I had been studying in between dinners and plans and group activities, etc., but there was always more! I had a Thai test Monday, a test on Southeast Asian Economic Development Wednesday, an essay test Thursday, and a paper due by 5pm on Friday.  I got it all done though, mostly well researched! I flopped a bit on my paper, because by the time I got to working on it each night I was so done with academia that I couldn't form a cohesive paper.  Bad idea.  Anyways, in between were a last trip to the Sunday Walking Street, the Dance class' performance, more studying, and a last-night-in-Chiang-Mai fling Friday night, staying up all night until our 645 train, at which point I passed out the minute I could! 
   That was Saturday the 16th, and we were on the train ALL day :[ .  We slept, ate snacks, chatted, and slept some more until arriving in Bangkok around 11:3o pm.  We had an early bus to catch, so we headed to Khosarn Road, a huge farang [foreigner] destination, so there were guaranteed cheap hostels, and Gina had stayed at one the weekend before when they went on an adventure.  We got our rooms and dinner, and then showered and went to bed around one.  The next morning we had to scramble, because the bus we planned on catching we found out was half an hour earlier than we were told, and it was the only bus because it was a Sunday.  Thank goodness Tim missed our train and took a bus down, because he got there before us and got us to the right bus station and held the bus for us.  It was a miracle!  The bus ride was pretty long too, but not as bad, and much more comfortable.  Plus we had frequent stops so we could stretch our legs.  We got in at 7 and hopped the ferry [which was included in our bus tickets], and I laid on a bench and star-watched the two hours it took to get there-very relaxing and quite fun!  When we got there we took a taxi that didn't quite know where it was going, but luckily we spotted a sign and were able to get there before getting totally lost!  When we arrived they had to figure out where we were staying [we were staying there thanks to a friend, so we didn't follow normal check-in procedure], and then dumped our stuff and jumped in the ocean!  I had a nice sandwich after I called home to share the sound of the waves, and then after hanging out and more swimming we called it a night.  I couldn't find much room on the bed [there were 5 of us on a double and twin bed], so i slept on the floor for a bit before crashing on a lounge chair under a palm tree on the beach.  The sound of the waves was perfect, and just what i needed to lull me to sleep.  I woke up once to the lady from the cabin next to ours [which was ON the beach] sitting in the chair next to mine, and a second time to see a water buffalo begin led to down the beach.  Good ol' Thailand!    That day, Monday, we just relaxed by the beach all day.  We had gone to breakfast down the beach at a nice little nook called the MaeNam Cheer [Maenam was the beach we were by], and I had a yummy pancake that had bananas and pineapple in it, and it tasted a bit cornbread-y, but it was delicious!!  I made a PB&J for lunch, and then napped for a while before going back out on the beach, to sit int eh sun with a piano colada and my book [Harry Potter], my idea of fun while others were in town sightseeing.  Tuesday we headed up to see a waterfall, which was really fun! We r rode all over trying to find the waterfall.  When we got there, it was QUITE a hike to the swimming area, and there was sweat galore!  When we finally got there though, it was so worth it!!!  The water was cool and perfect!  We just sat and soaked in the greatness, before taking "Little Mermaid" pictures and heading back to return the trucks. Four of our group had rented motorbikes, so our group was quite a scene!  When we got back, Burgundy and i headed into town and got pizza at a bar with wi-fi so we could connect with our friends and families back home.  We were supposed to have a BBQ on the beach later, but that didn't pan out, unfortunately.  Some friends took us to a Reggae cub they knew, which felt like a shrine to Bob Marley, and we hung out drinking and dancing.  After my "No Woman No Cry" drink and a round or seven of dancing we decided to leave, but rather than go somewhere else I went back and to bed early because I was exhausted from our day in the sun, and we had a big day planned for Wednesday! 
     Wednesday - thanks to the bartender at the beach bar, we were hooked up with a day boat, two all to ourselves for the day, to go where we wanted.  We headed out to the reef to snorkel, our main plan of action.  The reef wasn't as great as we thought, but the fish were pretty cool and snorkeling is snorkeling, so for $8 it was pretty legit.  After, we headed to a gorgeous beach to nap, tan, swim, and relax.  I napped under the boat cover [too much sunburn!], and hung out with some friends.  After that was lunch at Koh Tan, which was great.  While we were waiting we saw a man walking his monkeys. Yes, monkeys.  After it was time to return the boats [it was just about 4], and then we headed back.  Dinner was just whatever [peanut butter sandwich again], and later the bartender's friends had their birthday bash on the beach, with free barbecue ribs that were AMAZING, with bbq chicken wings and potato salad.  Later there were fire dancers, which gave it a bit of a Hawaiian luau feel.  The dancers were really good, and the fire flinger was amazing! He could twirl the fire around like it was nothing, and would come talk to us to show off, then went down to the beach to fling embers in a peacock-esque display.  As it was our last night, the party went on for a while, and since Tim and Skylar weren't coming back, and I would only have a week, there were a lot of held back tears and memories. 
        Thursday we got up early to see off the part of the group switching islands, and then everyone else went to our farewell breakfast at Maenam Cheer.  After that was packing, and then teary goodbyes when it came time to go to the bus station.  As was becoming a bad habit, we were again late to the bus, and had to tell the song-tao driver, who wanted to drop off his friend at the massage parlor, that we had to be there now, which he attempted to do by barreling along the road at breakneck speeds, including such feats as driving in between the lanes uphill on a curve in between two cars.  We almost wet ourselves!!  Well we made it, luckily, and commenced on our 14 hour bus & ferry ride to Bangkok.  Skylar and Tim sat across from me and some random guy who ended up being really nice, but who snored so loudly that I didn't end up sleeping at all.  Needless to say I was super cranky and hungry when we got into Bangkok, because my cup o' noodles didn't fill me up at all.  We got in, stayed at the same hostel, and then after much deliberation Timmy and I got some McD's for dinner…which we realized after we had ordered that we weren't even hungry for anymore.  Fail.  Well it was good anyways, and after that we hung out a bit before passing out around 6am.  After the past week, my body hated me so much from my crazy sleep habits that sleeping until 2 the next afternoon was quite justified!  We had a nice late lunch [I had breakfast], and then walked up and down exploring.  We took a break for massages [they were amazing!] and Timmy got a haircut!  The masseuse was really skilled, and was working so hard that I ended up cracking her wrist and fingers just as much as she cracked mine!  For dinner we found a vegan restaurant with wi-fi and we hung out there for a while before going back to hang out in the room.  After a while we decided to go out and found a fun bar to hang out at and dance, but didn't stay super long.  Then, as we were walking back down the street we saw a group of kids breakdancing, including an adorable kid about ten.  They could do some really cool stunts, so we watched them for a while before heading to bed.  The next day we had to check out by a certain time, so we waited for the bus we had booked the day before to the airport, and it was a few minutes late [which had made us nervous, especially when they didn't answer their phone], but we made it to the airport quite early.  That would have been great, except that we had to wait for Adam with our tickets, so by the time we got in the super long lines and waited for a while, check in for our flight was almost over.  We then had to struggle with weight issues, because Air Asia is an economic line that only allows one carry on and one checked bag of 25kilos max.  This was such a problem because we were living in Asia for 4 months, so obviously we had a lot of luggage.  I barely made it, by taking some things out and stuffing the crap out of my backpack [which also had a weight limit, but luckily they didn't check!], but Tim and Skylar weren't as lucky and ended up with massive fees for their bags.  There was no way around it-for 3 extra kilos I would have had to pay almost $1oo.  Thank goodness the lady was understanding!  Then we had to RUN through the airport trying to find our terminal, get through passport control, and then run onto our plane.  After all that work the flight was just under an hour long, and before we had even gotten to put our music on we were there, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  We were met by Peter, the Vice President of the University of Cambodia, and ushered through the airport ahead of all the lines by an immigrations officer, who was also a student at UC.  Since we were last to check our luggage, it came out quickly, and before others had even gotten there we were off again, headed to the cars, by which the Southeast Asia TV network, part of UC and also a national news channel, was waiting to interview us!  So my first night in Cambodia I was on national TV in leggings, a panda shirt, and my headband across my forehead like a ninja, because I wasn't expecting to be on TV…I'm attempting to procure a copy for your enjoyment.  Because I was the closest, I was the only one to speak, so all of Cambodia knows that Anna K. Limbrick from Illinois was here to study, and to watch out for the crazy girl.  Then they took us in a nice escort to our hotel, which is really nice and in a great area!  The Golden Mekong is right behind the palace, and there are plenty of shops and restaurants, etc.  It's also a very safe location and near many things, especially the school.  We had an hour to shower and change, then met up to go out to a welcome dinner at a restaurant called the Bodhi Tree with Adam, our professor Kyle Latinis, and two representatives of the Seam Reap NGO Pepy, Maryann and Natasha.  Kyle ordered a vast amount of everything from bruschetta with salmon to soups to kebabs, and everything in between, much of it Khmer, but not all. We were so stuffed full of good food and wine, and then dessert  came!  Most people had brownie sundaes, but I got a delicious crepe with some filling that I'm not quite sure of its name, but it was good!  Then Adam took us out for a drink and we chatted before bedtime.  I was upstairs while there was someone else from Payap in my room, and it was kind of nice to have my own area, let alone room!  The upstairs room was bigger than my permanent room, but my permanent room is equally as comfortable.
    The next day, Sunday, we went to The Shop, a café around the corner, for breakfast before meeting the group for a quick tour of the city.  The tour included going to the school, seeing a great little Chinese noodle shop, and getting our own bicycles [and helmets!].  I'm a little nervous about biking around the city, because traffic is crazy, but I have to get around somehow!  My will is going to be published soon just in case, and if you've read this blog, I probably love you.  Just remember that!  Meanwhile, we had another dinner at a Khmer BBQ restaurant, and foodstuffs include such gems as beef in famous Cambodian pepper with limes, and squid, along with many other delicious dishes.  We walked back to aid digestion, and then turned in to relax in our own ways.  Tim and I had developed a ritual that will probably last us the entire break of going outside for his smoke break.  We were standing by the curb, and like the night before despite our naysaying, the security guard who sits across the street brought his chair and the second one next to his across the street for us, got another, and resumed his position across the street.  We're planning on becoming best friends with this guy!  We just sit and talk, and its great alone time together [if that makes sense, with 3 of us we never get time just us two].  There has been an addition to the tradition, but more about that later!

The Three Kingdoms Excursion, Sans One

Hello, friends!

  This week was quite exciting! After only two days of classes (not much else because we had to pack and do laundry), we headed down south to visit Sukothai and Ayutthaya.  There have been three dynasties in the Siamese/Thai history; and for each dynasty there is a capitol.  For the first dynasty, before the Lanna Kingdom of the north (where I am) was conjoined, the capitol was Sukothai. After Sukothai came Ayutthaya, and then after Ayutthaya, if my history is correct, the Burmese invaded and things were topsy turvy for a while, until the Chakri Dynasty, which still exists today, came into power under Thaksin "the Great" and the chose Bangkok in the south for their headquarters.  **Note: the northern Lanna Kingdom was aquired by the Siamese in the early 1900s when King Rama V, King Chulalongkorn, married the princess of Lanna.  The capitol of the Lanna Kingdom was Chiang Mai, where I currently dwell.

Tuesday, 28/9/53
     After our midterm test on Tuesday, Maggie, Pete, and I went to the travel agent and train station to look into transportation to and from Koh Tao.  After getting back, I had a little time to shower and change before heading out to dinner with Champ and a group for his birthday dinner.  We went to this really quaint litte restaurant up on one of the mountains, so we had a GREAT view of the city!  Dinner for me was German sausages (mmm! Although their sauerkraut was nothing to boast of...) and hot chocolate, much needed! The sausages weren't too German, and the mashed potatoes were cold, but the thought counted, and a bowl of sticky rice filled m

Wednesday, 29/9/53
     Wednesday we were off at 8:30am, for our 4-ish hour drive down to Sukothai.  We had a big coach bus, and luckily I had my two seats to myself...for most of it.  Pete moved up while we were watching Robin Hood, thus ruining my nap, but I survived, because Robin Hood is a fantastic movie that isn't even available in the U.S. yet (ha!)! We watched that and a few episodes of Dexter (season 1) before we made it, and by that time, we were all completely HOOKED on Dexter!  Our guesthouses were really nice! They were small little cabins, two people in each, with a 4-poster tester bed (including pulled back fabric that could be let down to envelop the bed!), A/C, a desk, wardrobe, towel rack, and bathroom.  I took a cool shower and then napped before we went on our first outing, to the Sukothai Historical Museum.  It was air conditioned in there as well, which was great because Sukothai is in the south and it was HOT HOT HOT and super humid!  After we looked around and learned some more, we rented bikes and rode to the Sukothai Historical Park to look around.  It was so much fun, I hadn't  ridden a bike in so long, so to be able to feel the wind whipping through my hair and cooling me down as we rode along the not-too-busy streets was invigorating, to say the least!  After we took some pictures and biked around, we biked through the town, stopping at 7-11 for some ice cream (which I didn't drip on myself!) to eat on our way back.  When we all had parked our bikes at the guesthouse it looked quite comical, like a biker gang had taken over!  It's the low season for tourism, so we were fortunate that everywhere we went there were few people to disturb and the vendors were more willing to negotiate, especially since we were students.  You can probably guess what came next  - a flying leap into the pool! I need not explain the insanity that was twenty 20-somethings on vacation, so I'll skip that part and go to the nap after, before a group dinner.  The dinner was delicious, they piled plate upon plate of food upon us, until we could eat no more! And then, of course, they brought us fruit for dessert!  After dinner we had some drinks around the pool, but it was hot, there were many bugs, and I had a princess bed waiting for me, so after putting down the enclosing fabric, I turned in early.

Thursday, 30/9/53
    Today, we had a guided tour around the Sukothai Historical Park, the selfsame one that we had visited the day before.  This time we saw a whole nother part of the park, and learned much about Sukothai, and their art.  For instance, the Sukothai style of Buddha statue have hands different than that of Ayutthaya.  The Sukothai Buddha hands have curved fingers, and they are uneven, like natural hands.  The Buddha also has a little swirly part on his abdomen, although at the moment I cannot recall what it symbolizes.  It very well might represent his Buddhahood.  One of the monuments we went to see was called the standing Buddha.  It is seated, of course, high on a steep hill with a stone path.  We climbed. And climbed. And climbed...and then we were there! Panting, sweaty, and camera-laden we made it to the top, and were quite wowed by magnificence before us!  We took a lot of pictures, prayed, and lit incense for our ancestors before starting the climb down.  It was hard to say which was harder- this with the humidity, or the higher up pyramid in Egypt, when it was just as hot (without humidity), but we also had to climb down, then up, then up more...and then come the opposite back out.  Either way, I got my workout!  After this we saw one more monument, where a king had once snuck up a back passage and pretended to be the voice of the Buddha in order to keep his troops heartened enought to fight off the invading Burmese.  After our tours, we left for Ayutthaya.  We arrived at our next "backpacker's" guesthouse (this was more of an actual hotel) around 7, and set out for dinner in small groups. I showered before going out, because that bus ride (full of more Dexter!) hadn't made me smell nice after all the morning's sweat! :( We found a little place with western and Thai food, but we ended up waiting over an hour for our food, which wasn't even that great! We were really unhappy, and after I just went back to my nice cool room, out of the heat, and watched a movie with my roommates before bed.

Friday, 1/10/53
  
Saturday, 2/10/53

Sunday, 3/10/53

Shenanigans!

Weekly Update:
Monday, 20/9/53

    Monday we had another quiz in Buddhism, then just regular lectures in Gender.  It was Dad's Birthday (yay!) so I called home to talk to him while hanging out outside.  It was just a lounge-y sort of evening, hanging out with my friends and studying...a little!

Tuesday, 21/9/53

      Basically the same as Monday, sans birthday :)

Wednesday, 22/9/53

     Today after Economic Development I went to the orphanage again, although this time by myself.  Since there were no details to go over, I had about 45 minutes before they needed me for laundry, so I explored the grounds and dozed off in the playground until it was time to get washing!  We went around to the rooms to put away the laundry we had folded, and collected the dirty laundry of the various rooms, then washed it and hung some of it to dry, putting the rest in the dryers.  Then I watched TV with the staff until the children woke up!  It was nice to talk to them, I told them my Thai name and they loved it!  Soon the whole staff knew, and I spent the rest of the day hearing "Fa Sai!" and running after the caller.  I spent the entire 2 hours with the 2 year olds, carrying them around, rocking them, helping them snack and drink their milk, etc.  It was another day full of fun, and again, I was exhausted when I got back.  I did, however, have the energy to make it to the Night Bazaar to shop and hang out before passing out in bed!

Thursday, 23/9/53

     Thursday passed slowly, although fun, with speakers in both Buddhism and Gender.  In Buddhism, a group of Ajan Alan's monk students came to talk to us.  Most of them had been studying English for 5-9 years, so they were quite articulate.  It was so interesting to hear their analogies, life stories, and advice.  It was also really fascinating to hear them tell stories from the Dhamma, because they could word for word recite the same things I had read in my book!  After lunch, we had a quick lecture in Gender before Remi, a kathoey friend of Ajan Stephen's, came to talk to us about her life as a kathoey.  A kathoey is, in essence, a transgendered person, but in reality, they are so much more.  Its hard to describe the difference without knowing what Thai culture is about and their views on sexuality, but often we see "Lady Boys", as they are commonly referred to as, who are more beautiful than biologically born women!  Dinner was at the cafeteria before a relaxing evening of reading and watching Robin Hood.  I went to bed early, saving up my energy for Friday!

Friday, 24/9/53

     Friday morning was sans class, so after lunch I had Thai language class at 1:00, and then nothing until 6:30 pm, when we met to go on our field trip for our Gender & Sexuality field trip (*Caution; the field trip was to the sex district, if you don't want to know, skip to Saturday*).  We started the night by having a 30 minute roam fest down the street to visit a bar or two and observe the girls out front.  My group found a really fun bar, and the girls were so nice and fun and were dancing with us and talking to us, asking us questions, etc. Very personable, as are most of the bar girls that we've met thus far.  Afterwards we went to Spotlight, a go-go bar nearby that we had actually passed a few times.  We had another drink here, and watched the girls up dancing, but they weren't particularly stunning, nor was their dancing what one would expect from a go-go dancer.  We didn't stay long (we didn't really stay long any place, as a group of 21 students and 3 professors, we stand out and aren't super welcome since we weren't buying anything other than drinks), and soon moved to Muay Thai boxing, and the bars around there to do more observing.  Here we met a young boy selling roses, as many do, and we had a lot of fun with him, having him sit with us girls or wrestling with one of the boys.  I got a rose to put in my hair (which was done specially for tonight, 4 upside down french braids containing half my head of hair, the other half down and wavy), and watched the boxing for a bit before we moved on to a Karaoke bar.  Karaoke bars here are designed for, ideally, 3-4 men go into a room to do karaoke (usually not alone) and order drinks, and then a selection of girls are brought in, and you chose whichever ones you want and pay for their time, and then you are allowed to touch and play, but no more.  We didn't have quite the same experience, we went into the room and started karaoke-ing, until we found out we had to buy a drink to stay in the room.  In favor of not being totally trashed before the end of the trip, we passed and headed to the next place, a well-known brothel.  The girls weren't allowed to observe outright, but on our way to the bathroom we could see a group of girls with numbers on them just sitting in a room behind a large pane of glass, with men on our side.  The men would choose whomever they want for the time, and then she would come out and they would go off to a room.  When we weren't sneaking around, we sat at a table in front of the stage were three un-excited looking women were singing (lip-syncing) and dancing.  After everyone had caught a glimpse, we were off to our final stop: Adam's Apple. Adam's Apple is a gay club featuring a show (I'm not sure, but it may be every night), and of course, the boys for sale.  Not all of the boys went on stage, and not all on stage took off their clothes, but they all had their shirts off and walked around, talking or waiting to be talked to.  Tim had been several times before, so in sitting with him and Lisa (also a veteran), I was able to meet the owners, several of the boys, a kathoey (lady boy), and Tim filled me in on details about the performances or the club.  They had great music and I had an amazing time, but it was very overwhelming.  The professors and faculty that we had met up with left halfway through, as well as some of the students, but a group of us stayed until the end.  After, some of us went to grab food before meeting up with Tim and Lisa at another club.  Mike's was delicious, and after Nathan and Catherine walked me to the club before meeting up with some of the others at the bars closer to campus.  I met up with Tim and Lisa, as well as 2 of the Adam's Apple guys.  One disappeared at one point, but the other stuck around, and we talked and danced and had a great time, until it was time to go home.  I was originally going to get a ride back with him, but since the other guy left we only had one motorbike, so Tim, Lisa, and I took a tuk-tuk back to campus.  We met up with three of the guys at the gates, and walked through campus together sharing experiences and stories.  All in all a great night, and a fun start to the weekend!

    *Note, the reason the go-go dancers, singer, etc. didn't look particularly excited to see us was because a large number of us are girls, and Thai women feel threatened by Western women, especially large groups of them staring.  They know we're not there to buy.  On the other hand, the boys at Adam's Apple were very pleased to see us, because most of them are straight men, who will have sex with men for money.  Thats not considered homosexual here, because they prefer women.*

Saturday, 25/9/53

    Saturday morning was slow, lunch at 7-11, and then I started my laundry. I usually do one load per day for the 2-3 days that I do laundry, because I hang my laundry to dry outside, and there's only so much room.  We had planned to go to the travel agent to book our adventure to Koh Tao for Fall Break, but didn't end up going.  Instead, Tim and I planned a date night, eating at Mike's Burgers (YUM! [yes dad, I said yum again, but this time it should be YUM YUM!]), then taking a tuk-tuk to Adam's Apple for a more relaxed night, since last night was too crazy to really appreciate the atmosphere.  We had a drink in the bar below, and the dancer we had hung out with the night before was there eating, so we got to talk to him before we went up and the show started. We got "our" table, complete with complementary popcorn, and just chatted with the owners and boys before the show started.  This time, I took advantage of the darkness to observe the other guests, their behaviors, and their interactions with each other and the boys.  I also got to talk to more of the guys, who speak pretty good English, and I got a great back/neck/arm/hand massage by one of the boys, who was a professional masseuse!  Tim and I had a great time, just the two of us! When the show ended, it was "karaoke", aka they put the songs up (Thai songs), and its really just time for the guys to hang out with whoever sticks around (it was just Tim and I).  We were suddenly the popular kids, and I got another massage, and to talk to more boys.  One of the boys was from China, so he and Tim spoke Chinese and got chummy!  Then we decided to move to the club, and spent the next 5 hours dancing and hanging out with half the staff of Adam's Apple before motorbiking home. 

Sunday, 26/9/53

    Sunday was a nice relaxing day..ish! I woke up late (beautiful!), and was just heading to the computer lab when Skylar invited me to lunch at the restaurant I've been dying to visit, called Bake & Bite.  Bake & Bite is a quaint little cottage restaurant that serves American food, and although it was lunch, we were dying for American breakfast foods.  My cuisine of choice? CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES! I've been craving them for weeks, and the time was finally here! The others got Eggs Benedict, Breakfast Burritos, Breakfast sets (a bread, meat, egg, veggie with fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee), and a Farmhouse Omelet.  We dug in and ate as if we hadn't ate in quite some time! (In reality, I hadn't eaten since 7:30 the night before, soooo....it was okay :) ).  After we had gorged ourselves, it was back to Payap for an evening of laundry, studying for the upcoming Buddhism quiz on Monday, and for Tim, Skylar and I, a dinner party with our Ajan and some other faculty.  As our Ajan is not fond of Thai food, we ordered Miguel's and had a Mexican feast accompanied by wine (one bottle, and one box...), water, and laughter.  We met one of our professors for Cambodia, and chatted with P'Nui and P'Kai (who took Tim and I to Bangkok), as well as Adam, the resident director of Payap.  We had an amazing time, listening to Ajan Ken's stories of his travels and all the cool people he's met [he cashed a check for Che Guevara, I believe].  After a scrumptious dinner and many stories, we finally headed back to campus, at which point Tim and I decided it was time to start our homework!!

Another week in the Land of a Million Smiles!

Blahh! I apologize for yet another late week! Between the internet problems I’m experiencing in my room and my busy schedule I’ve been a bit neglectful of you, my faithful followers! (Hopefully I have at least 2 so my plurality is justified…)

Sunday, 13/9/53

                Today wasn’t so much a happy day. I had a great opportunity at an unfortunate cost.  My good Thai friend’s grandmother passed away late Thursday/early Friday, so myself and two other friends were invited to come to his family’s house in Lamphun for one of the funeral days.  In Buddhist funerals, there are 4 days of events.  The first 3 days following the death are for family and friends to visit and pay their respects. At the end of the 3^rd day (today), monks from the village Wat come to pray for the deceased and the family, and the casket is put on a castle of sorts. But more about that later.

                We arrived and met his whole family and had lunch (in the same room as his grandma’s coffin…new, but not too unsettling as it turns out) before visiting the Wat that he had been a monk at.  It is actually one of the more famous Thai temples because there is proof that the Buddha himself was there. It was really quite a beautiful temple! We met the monk that ordained my friend, and talked with him for a while. By that I mean my friend talked to him and I listened, and he passed on some advice…in Thai. We went back to the house for a nap before helping the family decorate the castle. The castle is a tall structure that is COVERED in flowers, candles, lights, etc.  The coffin goes in, and the castle is rolled to the crematorium at the Wat on the fourth day (some villages have a spot in the forest specially for cremations rather than a crematorium, it just depends on where you go).  Buddhists believe that since the body is just a vessel, and there’s nothing remaining after death, it should be burned and returned back to the earth.  Some people also choose to keep a small vial of their beloved’s ashes, but it depends on the person. After the castle was decorated and evening fell, we had dinner before more guests arrived to pay their respects.  Before it was fully dark, they moved the casket from the room to the castle.  This involved taking it out of the mini cooler it stayed in (to keep the body fresh), and then they open it so that family and friends can cover the body in two things : 1) a white washcloth or 2) a card.  Now these may seem like random objects, but here is the reasoning.  The washcloth – the white cloth over the body is meant to absorb any impurities left in the body.  The cards- are embellished with prayers for the deceased, last minute donated merit and wishes for a good re-incarnation.  Then the casket is pulled on a rope by the extended family up and into the castle, waiting for guests to come visit.  When they arrived, they were greeted by the family plus three farang girls (us! ‘Farang’ means Caucasian foreigners…it also means ‘guava’), then they lit incense for the deceased and placed it to burn in a flower pot (we had done this when we first arrived, so no need to do it now).  Then they are free to walk around.  Some leave, some stay, depending on their relationship with the family.  I didn’t really notice because we had front row seats to watching the monks chant and say prayers for the deceased and her family.  After the chants there were donations to the monks (robes, fans, etc.), and then we had dessert while one lone monk chanted a story about a mother’s love for her son.  I’m not quite sure how it goes, but it lasted for just over an hour!  After he finished, we said goodbye to our friend (he was staying home for the cremation ceremony the next day, and he would be ordained as a monk in honor of his grandmother), and caught a ride home with his sister (aka cousin). 

Monday, 14/9/53

                Today we were back at Payap.  We had been invited to the cremation ceremony, however the short duration of our program made our professor unable to excuse us from class, so 10am found me in Buddhism class, taking a quiz.  After lunch was Gender and Sexuality, and then ran back to change before Tim and I were picked up by Kai and Nui for yet another TEAN adventure! This time, we headed up famous Doi Suthep to visit the beautiful Wat overlooking the city.  The drive up the mountain took a while, I could only imagine how long it would take to walk/bike it (sources say 4 hours to walk)!! Its good luck in Thai culture to walk up Doi Suthep…but I’ll pass.  Anyways we drove up, then took the lift up to the Wat. It’s quite beautiful, and you get an amazing view of the city.  We looked around, and a monk blessed us and gave us a bracelet of holy string (I don’t remember the Pali word for it off the top of my head, but I’ll try to add it in later!). I have quite a collection going! It was cold and drizzling, so we climbed down the stairs (some 500-odd stairs) and went for dinner. Tim and I passed out in the backseat right away, but 45 minutes later we woke up to find that the restaurant they had picked out was closed! We drove around and found a new place, but I was so exhausted I could barely eat.  As soon as we got back to campus I ran to my bed and sleep claimed me faster than the prodigal son was welcomed home.

Tuesday, 15/9/53

                Another day of Buddhism and Thai language classes.  Mostly uneventful, or at least uneventful enough that I can’t remember anything out of the ordinary happening…

Wednesday, 16/9/53

                After our Economic Development class in the morning, I was off with Maggie and Jenny to Baan Kingkaew (http://www.baan-kingkaew-orphanage.org/ ), a local orphanage, to do my civic duty and play with adorable Asian children!  After the initial paperwork and getting set up (they don’t allow most visitors right now, because of the sicknesses going around), we rolled up our sleeves and helped out in the laundry room, handwashing the cute little uniforms and every day clothes that last about 10 minutes on average before being peed on, dribbled on, ripped off, etc. I’m anticipating finishing this with beastly forearm muscles, so enemies beware!  Then we had an hour with each group of kids, freshly up from their naps!  My first group was a group of 3-4 year olds, who were adorably sitting in the corner when arrived, awaiting their tin cups of milk and cookies.  After the first girl triumphantly guzzled hers, she walked over and plopped herself into my lap.  This was repeated by 3 other children; until I looked like a scarecrow of children (I was perfectly content!).  By then they were all done, and ran around collecting toys, showing me said toys, playing with me and the toys, and then running away.  Not long after the cups had been put away, Mulan (the Thai version) was put on, and I was pleased. I made a group of fans by singing along in English, unfortunately my time was up and Maggie and Jenny came to relieve me.  Off to the terrible twos it was! Luckily they really weren’t that bad! As orphans, they really just want to be held and cared for.  So I had the pleasure of holding several children and just bumping them up and down, rocking and tickling them.  Unfortunately, they really didn’t want to be put down…so I held one child while 4 others clung to my legs, crying, because they figured out that when children cry I pick them up. Tricky blighters!  Maggie and Jenny soon joined me, and the three of us canoodled the children until it was time for us to go home.  They weren’t too keen to let us go, but we managed to wiggle out alive! 

Thursday, 17/9/53

Friday, 18/9/53

                Today I had an amazing time sleeping in before Thai class at 1:00. Tim, Skylar, and I ate lunch off campus at Nok’s, but my fried fish & rice (kao blah tohd) smelled yucky so I couldn’t eat it.  After, I got ice cream at 7-11 and felt much better!  Thai class was fun, as usual, and while I was waiting for the other students to come (they had gone on a Thai Culture field trip, but the aforementioned twosome and myself are in the Comparative Semester, so we don’t have the culture class), my teacher checked my homework and asked if I knew Thai before I came to Thailand!  I was pleased to admit that I only knew a phrase or two, picked up the week before departure, but I love to doodle, so the characters are fairly easy, and the language itself is easy once you get the tones down. I’m quite fond of it, really.  After class we watched yet another round of Payap’s Got Talent before dinner and then I went out early with Bupe, Burgundy, and Gina for some drinks before everyone else joined us at this cute little place called Zoe in Yellow. It’s co-owned by a Greek, a Turkish man, and a Thai woman ( fun fact: property is hard to get in Thailand for Farang, it usually has to be under a Thai person so many companies will have a Thai partner, even if they are just the lease-holder.  This lady is actually a part of the company though, and she makes great drinks!), and I got the opportunity to talk with the Turkish owner as I chowed down on one of the kebabs he sold across the street, where his restaurant is being built. Best. Kebab. Ever  (fun fact #2: a kebab and gyro are the same thing- I never knew! I knew they were similar, but it just depends on where you go!).  After we danced and had an amazing night, I turned it for an early night, taking a tuk-tuk back with another friend and hopping the gate because it was after hours (gotta love being a badass in Thailand!). 

Saturday, 19/9/53

                Saturday brought us a day of rest and relaxation, of filling people in on the night before, and a few of us took the evening to stroll Tha Pae gate area.  Tha Pae is full of tourists, so there is a lot of great American food (for myself, a ham, cheese, and bacon croissant sandwich!) and other amenities.  We found a used bookstore where I was able to get “The Lady Elizabeth” for 3 DOLLARS. YES! We met up with some of the guys at the “Lucky Bar”, and I read while they played pool and we just had fun before meeting up with some friends to take a songtao back to school together. 

Sunday, 20/9/53

                Sunday was another slow day.  We went at 1:30 to a very interesting culture museum/show, where we saw two musical groups do a few amazing numbers on interesting instruments, but the main reason we were there? Our dance Ajan, Waewdao Sirisook is a world renown Thai Dancer (http://waewdaosirisook.org/) , and she was performing a series of dances.  I have a video that I will eventually upload onto facebook, of her beautiful performance.  She did three altogether, one we later found out that she improvised, and only knew the dance moves by watching the shadows the male dancers who had rehearsed it. It was wonderful, and the whole performance was capped off by all acts performing together, dancers and musicians alike!  After that was an evening in, with McDelivery and movies, whilst studying for my quiz on Monday!

The days fly, the memories last…

REEEEEE-CAP!

Monday, 6/9/53
    Monday classes [Buddhism and Gender] passed as they always do, and in the evening a group of us went out to a market I hadn't visited yet, the Chiang Mai University [CMU] market.  We shopped around for quite some time, and I haggled to get myself a cute new dress.  It's a coral and beige number that is on the shorter end, but too cute to resist!  I was quite proud of having negotiating the cost completely in Thai, and having been so successful!  After the market we had an American moment and went for McDonalds/BK/Subway [they are all right next to each other at the night bazaar] before heading home.

Tuesday, 7/9/53
    Buddhism again, and then Thai language classes ruled my morning schedule.  It was a nice and relaxing day, I didn't really have anything to do, which is always nice!  Thai class is going very well, and I'm progressing at a fairly quick rate.  Ajan Ray, our teacher, is really a great teacher, and has made it really easy for me to remember words through the number of times she repeats the vocabulary.  The evening held nothing special, some homework and hanging out with friends before bed!

Wednesday, 8/9/53
      My only class on Wednesdays in Economic Development, so I took the afternoon to do laundry and nap/read before dinner, when the others joined from dance class.  After dinner, I hung out with my roommate and her friends while I did homework, and there was a crazy thunderstorm.  The power went out while I was in the computer lab, so I headed back up to the room, where it was hot, hot, hot!! The fans, obviously, go out with the power, so there was no source of cool air.  There was a lot of lightning out, so we went to the balcony to watch, a bolt every 2 seconds!  Burgundy called to see if I wanted to hang out, so we went outside on our way to the covered area [Kairos Square], and found a couple Thai Studies kids sitting on the stairs watching the show.  We sat with them [thank goodness I brought my blanket, cuz it was Cold!!!! The show was even better out here, as the bolts were more defined than from my room, which faces the opposite direction.  The sights were INSANE!  Lightning spiderwebbed across the skies, illuminating the heavens.  Zeus was showing off, and no matter who for, it worked!

Thursday, 9/9/53
       Thursday was a bit more of a somber day.  Immediately after class, Skylar and I went to the hospital with our friend.  Out of respect for him and his family, I won't say much, but it was a sad day.  I'm glad we could be there for him when he needed someone, although the circumstances were definitely not ideal.  Dinner was pizza hut - on crack.  Our pizza was Hawaiian, but the spin was a second layer underneath, which was tuna, a white creamy substance, and I'm pretty sure it was imitation crab.  We didn't know you're supposed to eat them separately, so I ate them together.  Definitely interesting.  After we left we went to a milk place for treats.  I got chocolate milk [their version, not toooo bad] and a mini sundae, Skylar got a milkshake, our friend got milk with something in it, and we all split warm toast with this green substance on top [YUM] and a volcano-esque shaped concoction involving cold bread covered in condensed milk mixed with ice and dye...weird.

Friday, 10/9/53
      Friday I was lucky enough to get to sleep in!  After lunch I had Thai language class, and after was my audition for Payap's Got Talent, the talent show here.  I was nervous as everything, yet still managed to somehow open my big mouth and agree to go first!  My parents always said to think before I spoke!  I did go first, and it wasn't so bad!  As many, if not all, of you know, my favorite home hobby is Egyptian Bellydancing. I had known about this show before I came, so I brought my hip scarf planning on going out for it.  I was shaking from nervousness, but did my dance and got very positive feedback, as well as 3/3 votes to move on!! I was so excited, and ran offstage with the blanket around me.  Since I didn't have time to buy cloth for a veil, I had used Skylar's blanket...which the judge definitely called me out for! I didn't mind, though, I was through! And even the judge that generally makes people want to cry said I had a lot of talent!! Tim and Gina went as well, and both got through with 3/3 votes as well-looks like America's Got Talent!  Friday night was an in-night, because we all had to be up early Saturday for volunteering!

Saturday, 11/9/53
     This morning was not only the anniversary of September 11, but community outreach program at Payap.  What better way to commemorate those who died for their country and beliefs than by aiding those whom are often neglected? In my case, children who are born with HIV, or whose parents have HIV.  Agape Home takes in children newborn-18, and takes care of them regardless of parental status.  Many children have parents who don't want them, and they find a loving home here at Agape.  It's really a great place [for more information, visit http://www.nikkisplace.org/index.html ]. There were other places for people to go to as well, including the Lanna Dog Rescue, Free Burma Rangers, other orphanages, etc.  At Agape, we helped them sort and count pencil bags that the children had made themselves.  Agape participates in a project called Samaritan's Purse, which involves a shoebox full of goodies for poor children in Africa, India, and Cambodia, among other countries.  The contents are a mixture of school supplies and fun things, such as jump ropes that the children make, so the pencil cases go in, and the shoebox [which is really a Christmas box] is put in a schoolbag, also made by the Agape children.  Through making the bags and jump ropes, the children are able to make a little money, and to learn responsibility.  They can save up their money to buy personal things, like a computer or a camera [they love cameras!].  Some of our students also helped the children make jump ropes, and they kids got to keep the profit as if they had made the ropes.  After work time was lunch time - noodle soup [gwai dee-ow] - with the children.  In the process of slurpin' my noodles up, I felt a poke in my back and turned around to find a new friend.  She smiled at me, climbed up next to me and spent the rest of lunch just hanging out.  After lunch, she had me throw away the rest of her ice cream [she was done], and then I became her toy.  She dragged me ALL over the playground, doing everything imaginable!  I have to admit it was fun to be back on the 'ground, although by the end of it i was exhausted! There was a demi-pop star there, and we sat on the climbing cage and watched as he went around to every part of the playground and had a photo shoot.  My little buddy borrowed my camera to take pictures of everything [including us], and then another girl borrowed it and followed Mark [the "star] around and took super up-close pictures of him.  After a while I recovered my camera before we hit up the swings, and then after back-bends in the grass [the kids were quite impressed with my skillz] I escaped to go inside and out of the hot sun.  We went to the temporary arcade that Dr. Tom had set up, and watched the kids play Guitar Hero while we talked to one of the Australian girls who worked there, and learned a bit more about the adoption process in Thailand and about the children.  One of the boys had been in really bad condition when he went to Agape and 4 funerals planned for him before he was even ten.  Now he's a pain in the butt, but doing much better, and that is what is ultimately important.  Next was the baby zone!  We had been waiting to play with the babies all day, and here was our opportunity!  We mostly played with Naomi, a 5 month old who's 14 year old mother was HIV positive [luckily Naomi isn't], and who couldn't take care of her.  Even more unfortunately, her mother hasn't given Agape her paperwork, so she can't be put up for adoption unless her grandmother comes and signs her over to Agape.  The other children weren't as fond of farang, but that was okay.  Before we were ready it was time to go back to school.  We were sad, but also quite tired, so a nice shower and rest was nice before we went to Reggie's [an American-student-owned sandwich shop which hosted us with a spread of yummy food for super cheap]  to present our pictures and see about other peoples' experiences.  The others did more with yard work and such, but they all had fun and made new friends, all in all a successful day!

*PICTURES!

**NOTE: it may be confusing as to why I end my date with '53', however the answer is simple: The Buddhist calendar lists the year as 2553, so I'm not  ~12 hours ahead of you, but really 43 years and 12 hours.