Farang Stephanie in Thailand

2006-08-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2006
The day started really early and I was pretty groggy from interrupted sleep. It was five AM when the sound of the call to prayer was heard in the distance from the Mosque. It was then when I realized why Moosa said that activities would start at 6:30 AM! He was probably up at 5 and praying either alone or with the 2 boys that he took care of during the night. The girls started to stir more at 5:30 AM; I stuck to my bed until 6 AM. At 6:30 since it was still pouring we met in the auditorium for our Aerobics routine. A teacher from Ban Triem showed up and led the students, along with Moosa and me up front. It was actually fun as I haven’t really exercised the entire time here and I really miss it and need it! Also, it was to American music as Thai music proves to be too slow to work out to! Despite the quality of music, I have to admit that I found myself singing to Zombie and other songs and smiling.
After breakfast, we were all excused to shower and prepare for the day. It was going to be a day of English language. I was given the stage as Moosa disappeared from sight pretty much. The teachers that did attend hung out not paying attention, just chatting on their own in the back of the auditorium. It was all me. As the students were having a difficult time with English, I decided to draw pictures of vocabulary on what we saw on Saturday, make simple sentences to describe the activities. I incorporated the students as much as I could and they were willing. I think it turned out alright and when we played Pictionary they could guess the words and had a fun time doing it. The day was also filled with anxiety as Jeff was on his way. He arrived in Bangkok at 6 AM – sans bags. Unfortunately his flight across the US on Delta was horrible, 3 different planes broke down (or never went) and he arrived in LAX with 45 minutes to get to the International Terminal rather than the 8 hour layover as expected. His flight from Bangkok to Phuket was affected by the heavy rain – got all the way there, turned around and landed back in Bangkok. He did make it eventually – arriving around 1:30 PM until 9:30 AM. Horrible for him, but no worries for me though, as I was at English Camp and would be the whole day.
The afternoon at English camp was a bit disappointing as Moosa decided that we would do a simpler activity and not the role play as planned. The students did not know the original plan so they didn’t care, but I think it kind of undermined their accomplishments. I couldn’t really argue as I didn’t really have that choice. Plus, in order to have time to do the closing ceremony that was added, we needed extra time.
The final ceremony I was given nicely printed certificates that I had signed along with the Director and I handed them out to the students officially. For each student I called up, there was a picture taken. It is very typical in Thailand – in the past for every student graduating from college, the King or a member of the Royal Family tried to hand out the diploma. Every accomplishment is recognized in a very formal way.
After the ceremony and the students went their ways, Moosa and I cleaned up the school, taking down the decorations and putting everything away. Time crept by but finally around 5:30 I was headed to Boon Piya to meet up with Jeff…finally. I arrived and was met with a man with a grubby goatee – I’ll take it.

2006-08-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

July 29, 2006
Saturday was the first day of English for Tourism Camp at Ban Triem School. The day began early as usual getting to the school before 8 AM. I arrived and saw a very nice set up – formal registration with a tablecloth on the table, packets for the students that not only included the handbook that we developed, but a folder, an extra notebook, pen, pencil and ruler for the students. There was a stage set up in the open air auditorium as well, flanked by plants and a nice sign “English for Tourism Camp”. Students arrived pretty quickly, indeed there were some already there before Director Boonmee and I arrived. I worried that there would be many more than the agreed upon 25 – but actually only 27 were there. They were however from 6 different schools, rather than four and kids were aged 8-14 rather than 11-14. Saturday was spent surveying with the students. Kim from Kenan came in the morning to film a bit of the camp for Kenan and I think got a good show.
The day started with opening ceremony – Moosa, Boonmee and I each speaking with a microphone to the group of students and the teachers from the schools who came as well. It was of course all in Thai, except for what I said, and seemed to take a long time as usual. I smiled and talked when handed the microphone. I received many blank stares, but Mai Pen Rai, no worries, what else could I do…
The schedule was officially out of the window, more of a suggestion than a guide. Moosa started a game with the students, not really filling me in on what was going on and I had to keep asking to have a clue of what he was doing. I just went along with what I could. We visited Pak Triam village first and the students learned about tie dye. Unfortunately the volunteer that does the best tour and description of the activity was not there (I doubt she was contacted too far in advance) and so part of the time kids just wandered. Not sure if Moosa really had them answer the questions that I asked…
It started raining a bunch and we headed back to the school for lunch. As we had talked earlier, I thought we would have a bus, but transport was basically 3 pickup truck beds of kids! Lunch was great and the weather held for awhile.
It was decided that it was still possible to go to Thung Nang Dam Island with the kids. We headed to the Kuraburi pier to head out. We took 3 boats for all of us – a fun adventure for the kids. The weather was descent and we walked through the village, a local guide described the history to the kids (in Thai), we visisted Home Stays and got to play on the beach for a little. We did not get back to the school until around 6 PM! Dinner it was and then showertime. The girls were cute in their sarongs and towels. They all wear sarongs after the shower before they change – not sure if they actually wear them when showering…
Many of the girls are Muslim and it was interesting to see some wear headscaves all of the time and then decide not to wear them after awhile. There was only one girl that wore one the entire camp, even to bed.
I took my cold bucket shower and we met in the room I was to sleep in. There were 3 beds and a tile floor. Originally it was the plan to have some teachers spend the night, but all of them bailed. I was elected to stay with the students ( I knew earlier in the week) but forgot to consider that most students would be girls – thus 25 out of the 27 students were girls and my responsibility through the night. Surprisingly enough I did get some sleep: interrupted by giggling girls, some sleep talking in Thai, anxiety over the next day’s activities, loud bullfrogs and the pouring rain!

2006-07-26T04:44:00.001-07:00

July 25, 2006
The last two days has been spent at Ban Triem School planning for the upcoming “English for Tourism Camp” that will be all day Saturday and Sunday. Moosa and I have put together a booklet for the kids. Looks like the Camp will be exhausting (for me) and hopefully fun for the kids. The first entire day we are going to spend visiting different sites and learning about them. I am hoping to add some English in here, but most likely it will be mainly Thai. There will be games and such. And best of all…they want to all spend the night at the school. Ugh. I think I might be able to get out of it and spend the night at my host family’s house. The school does not have the best facilities and I can only imagine the chaos of 25+ kids 11-14 plus some teachers I guess. Then all day Sunday too… We will see what happens. Pray that it doesn’t pour all day Saturday. Moosa promises me to do some Black Magic to keep the rain at bay, we will see. Today was slow at school, I am used to working on a project and making good headway and need to give that up. With constant interruptions (legitimate as to Moosa’s teaching schedule) and sometimes just laid back time, I usually itch to finish. I am sure when Jeff gets here it might be even a bigger stretch for me to spend long hours at school. Just not used to the pace. Today I longed more for friends, family (Jeff of course) and just familiarity. As I have been open to living abroad, I have become more aware of my sense of home in the United States. However I constantly struggle between the two worlds – being comfortable in a community of friends and then the itch to see the world and feel that I need to be out in it more. Oh, we will see. I think the alone time has done me good but I don’t think I would do it for so long again. Perhaps research that I have designed and am more active in rather than being part of a program that does not really have the same direction as I do – i.e. working with school kids and a bunch of bureaucracy. Speaking of bureaucracy, I think there will be some pomp and circumstance at the “Camp” this weekend. Government officials from around have been invited and are expected to attend an opening ceremony. Seems that most things function around this kind of structure, but might not always have the meat inside. Even the boy scouts here are into long marches with sticks, seems more on the militant end. Then there are the constant recitations in school “Good Morning Teacher” and “Thank you Teacher” after each class – yet some chaos in the middle. More spoon fed information. The kids of course also seem to not have the same respect for teachers in the States, at least not in the rural areas. Sometimes I see a kid do something that would make me want to clobber him or her, but sometimes they do it right in front of the teacher. I have seen a few ruler smacks to the knuckles but more in jest and the kids seem to play along with it, not a painful or even disciplinary result. The kids just want to have fun and Moosa tells me that they don’t think about their future in the rural areas, so school doesn’t matter that much to them. They will eventually probably work in a garden or the ocean as their parents have. Some are already doing it and don’t show up for school for a week at a time or so because the demand on the families are great. It is a pretty poor area and even today when Moosa and I went out to eat lunch, a student of his brought us the food. Working. The parents were of course there and gave us fresh rambutan when we left. The ride too and fro the restaurant was my first try at riding Thai style on the motorcycle, sidesaddle that is. I decided my skirt was a bit to short to straddle without making too much of a laugh as I needed to get on the motorcycle in front of a ton of kids and teachers today. It was OK, but not for long distances. Moosa took me home today on the bike – the longest ride yet, probably about 25 minutes, he let me where his helmet. And of course I straddled the bike!Thinking of you all. Drop me a line if you have the chance so I know you are still out there. (No reading for free! J)

2006-07-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2006
The Bank
Today I went to the bank. I asked my host mother if someone could take me to the bank on Monday and since it is only open from 8:30 AM until 4:30 PM, it was arranged so that Boonmee could take me before he headed to Phang Nga town for a meeting. Not a quick trip as I perhaps thought first thing in the morning. We took Soopa to school, proceeded to drive beyond Ban Triem to another school, picked up a teacher and headed all the way down to town. We arrived before the doors opened and waited in the car for a bit – but were at the door with about 8 others when the doors opened. It was a rush to get inside and everyone proceeded to head directly to a red button which they pushed to get a number. Luckily the teacher was assigned to take care of me and got in line and I ended up with number six. Very similar to the DMV – permanent seats were arranged for a long wait. Eight different employees milled around the bank in their yellow shirts (Monday) and we waited. Eventually the teacher told me that they would start helping people in 20 minutes. We waited and when 20 minutes passed, 2 out of 4 windows opened. They took people in order of number, but there were some interruptions of course. One woman sauntered into the bank showing off her new earrings in a plush velvet box. All in all it was funny, watching the slow yet official operation of the bank. I cashed my check without a hitch and we were on our way – about an hour later.

2006-07-26T04:43:00.000-07:00

July 23, 2006
Chilling in Khao Lak. Hard to find something to do with myself sometimes. I decided to try to adventure to another part of the town, which required some sort of transport. As transport is sparse, I spotted a Songtraew (local bus but really a truck with benches in the back. I waved him down and there was no one else in the truck. He got out to unload some stuff at a restaurant. I said where I wanted to go and his answer was “100 baht”. Yeah right, I said “no, 10 baht” which is the typical price. He did not want to take that. So I just said “mai ow” and walked off, meaning “I won’t take it then”. So I ended up surfing the net for about an hour at a nearby place. It turned out OK as it started to pour anyway. I just get tired of having to negotiate everything and people trying to rip me off. I don’t mind negotiating if I am buying something, but come on, transport at 10 times the going rate. Not for this woman.
Packing and unpacking as I travel between Khao Lak and Kuraburi is getting old. But one week until Jeff joins me here! I am sure I will see it with new eyes and excitement as I get to show him around a bit, and enjoy some freedom as we will not stay with my host family in Kuraburi but at a small guesthouse. I have yet to really broach that subject; will have to do it in the next few days. I am sure that they will want him to stay at their house too, but I am sure would put him in another room and don’t really want to do that. So anyway, hope I can say “no, thank you” and they will accept it. However, they are my source of transport and will need to coordinate to be picked up in the mornings at the guesthouse which is on the way to school. I am really grateful but am looking forward to getting out. I can’t remember the last time I was treated as a little kid, even when I was one! I have my loving parents to thank for that as they put up with my stubbornness and at least feigned that I could make my own decisions at a young age.
Next weekend, I will be leading an English for Tourism camp, I have put some ideas together this weekend and hopefully Moosa (teacher at Ban Triem) will be there this week and we can discuss. It is hard to get things figured out in Thailand, especially if you are not Thai and not used to the system. As you all know, I am pretty much business minded and like to have a plan. Love to work together on doing it but coming up with a pretty defined plan in the end so we are all on the same page. Having to go with the flow has been tough for me as the flow doesn’t tend to go anywhere most of the time. Not just a laid back attitude, but a perhaps it won’t get done and that’s OK. Huge lesson to learn when working in this country.
Off to catch a bus soon…

2006-07-19T04:38:00.000-07:00

Boonmee, Me and Malia (Ancient Coffee producer) in her minimart. It is obviously Monday as we are wearing our King Shirts - the King was born on Monday, the color of Monday is Yellow and for the entire year of 2006 all teachers wear them on Mondays. And many other people too.They are really friendly people but not always smiling in pictures - just the dorky farang.

2006-07-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

On Ko Thung Nang Dam - July 17th - Students in front, Guide to the right, Or (Soopa and Boonmee's daughter) next to me and her (boy)friend Den.

2006-07-19T04:33:00.000-07:00

July 19, 2006
Today was day 3 (and the last for this week) without Moosa at Ban Triem. The director is gone too. I found out this morning at breakfast, apparently Moosa had to go to Bangkok. Pure Thailand beauracracy at work, or at least to me it seems most chaotic and unpredictable. I was taken to school by the director of another school (as was Soopa) as they only have one car and Boonmee is in Phang Nga town. I arrived early, before 8 AM and with limited communication found out that I would be working with students at 10 AM. It was actually 9 when 4 students were brought to me. “Go survey” So I took the students to Pak Triam village, the only place nearby, and where two of the students live. It was about a 25 minute walk or so. Two other students joined so I had 6 at the end – 4 girls and 2 boys – all 13 years old. We played the dictionary game of communication. The girls were Faa, Naa, Bia and I forgot the other one’s name. One boy was Dam. They all laugh at this name because it translates to “black” and in Thai culture I find that many people do not want to be dark skinned. I have been told that by many different people so far. Seems to be a trend all over the world, the darker skinned get the short end of the stick. It was a muddy road and the kids warned me and said we could maybe go around (I think). I said “Mai pen rai” no problem. But of course when we approached the first big puddle and I tried to navigate around it my entire left foot sunk into the muddy mess beside it. Oh well. Dirty feet take some getting used to and is something I definitely will not miss upon my return to the States. We walked further and then stopped at someone’s house so I could wash my feet outside. About 10 people or so came out to watch the show and I said thank you and moved on. They were one of the kids relatives some how. Not really much cleaner, just wet and slippery shoes we walked the rest of the way. When we arrived at Pak Triam Village to observe the Thai Dye, Kesara the volunteer from Bangkok was not there so I struggled to ask the kids to interview some of the other women about the work. It is like pulling teeth as the communication is very limited, the students are young and I don’t think they really want to do it, plus they are shy. Anyway they asked a few questions (in Thai). I know enough about the process after visiting earlier in the month that I can do translations later with Moosa. Kesara arrived a bit later and it was nice as she speaks English. She offered to have the students try making some Thai Dye so they did 2 sample pieces of materials with the help of the women in the village. It was nice and more fun. We walked to the bridge in the village while waiting for the material to dye – a very muddy walk through new village homes, all the same, raised on stilts, and then reaching a wooden walkway through the mangroves and to a canal where the boats are kept and the fisherman access the sea. This was a village that completely relocated after the tsunami as their village on a nearby island was completely destroyed. There are only about 150 people in the village, I think most or all are Muslim. Walking back in the hot sun the sound of thunder ripped through the air and I hurried along. We were rescued by Dam and a few other teachers that showed up on their motorbikes. I jumped on with Dam and we went down the highway to buy some Rambutan and Mangosteen, for me to eat of course. I ate a huge lunch in the office by myself but was very grateful. Was driven once again to Khao Lak, this time by Pidaah another director. His English is quite good and we enjoyed chatting along the way. Learning more about Thai culture, he worked in Phuket in hotels, on Phi Phi as a dive instructor and then his parents really thought they were not good jobs. He returned home to Kuraburi to be a teacher for 10 years and has been the director at his school for 2 years – looks young as all Thais do but lives with his parents. Back in Khao Lak, all showered and refreshed.

2006-07-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

July 18, 2006
This morning I found out that not only was Moosa (my teacher, the only one who speaks English) not going to be at school today, neither was the director. I was taken to school and spent the entire day in the main office and in the director’s office trying to work on some planning by myself for an upcoming English for Tourism camp in a week and a half. Moosa and I were going to plan together but he ended up having to stay in Phang Nga town for another meeting. So I worked alone. At lunchtime most of the teachers disappeared and finally when I saw one I asked “Gin Kao” - literally “eat rice” but that is what you say when you eat as pretty much everything is with rice unless you eat just noodles which is rare. She let me know just a minute and I followed her outside and she handed me a large umbrella. Instead of heading to the cafeteria, we got on her motorbike and she took me down the road to a place to eat. It was raining and I struggled to hold the umbrella against the wind so she helped – holding the handlebars with one hand, very typical. We made it alright but were both pretty wet. Her name is Dam and is very nice, I think she is actually an assistant who does a variety of stuff rather than teaching, but who knows! We tried to talk at lunch a bit. I spent the next few hours planning again and then at around 3:45 the director from Hoisap School showed up and was my ride to the NATR office in town. I had arranged with NATR to visit, finally, and was very excited about it. They are a local nonprofit that has worked with Community Based Tourism, post tsunami. Check out their website, www.northandamantsunamirelief.com. I convinced the director as he reached for his cell phone amidst the rain and swerving on the road that I knew where we were going. “Chan Saab Ka yu tee nee” – I think the right words but translating to more likely “I know here is located”. He dropped me off and I spent the afternoon and evening with the staff, well most of them volunteers and a group of students from England that are here for 5 weeks being Mock Tourists and trying out the CBT program. It was amazing to realize how much of their time all of those working at NATR have given, each with a different story but living in Thailand from anywhere between 5 months to 6 years – only 3 out of the 7 I met were paid, and some worked for more than a year before getting paid anything. I was taken home at around 8:30 after dinner and before the bar. I didn’t want to turn into a pumpkin as I promised my host mother that I would be home by 9 PM or would call her as she worries a lot. When Jeff arrives and I am no longer on near house arrest, I promised the group to join them for the evening. Looking forward to it.

2006-07-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2006
Today I feel much better as yesterday I was nursing a sick stomach all day in Khao Lak and was nervous about the bus ride to Kuraburi. I made it just fine as I continue to self medicate. I woke up this morning and ran into someone new in the house at Kuraburi, Oo (don’t know how to spell) Soopa and Boonmee’s daughter. They all were in Phuket when I arrived and Saman picked me up on his motorbike and Bee made sure that I was well fed. Soopa, Boonmee and Oo I guess arrived around midnight when I was fast asleep. She is a teacher in Phang Nga town but had a few days off and so came up here to spend them with her parents.
As we got in the car this morning, I found out that Moosa would not be at school today or tomorrow as he had a meeting. When I saw him on Friday that was not the case but things tend to change a lot here. Instead of planning with Moosa, I “surveyed” with Boonmee and Oo which means that they took me around the area to learn more about some interesting sites. First we stopped by the pier to reserve a boat, then picked up 3 students, went to Hoisap School to watch a bit of a soccer tournament and then headed to the boat pier. Oo’s boyfriend, Den, joined us as well. She indicated that she is encouraged to use friend instead of boyfriend. Interesting as they have been together for 6 years.
We rode through beautiful mangrove forest to a nearby island, Ko Thung Nang Dam. Our mission was to visit the home stays on the island. We arrived and walked across an elevated concrete path through the mangroves – a huge improvement over the old thin board that used to be the access – I was grateful as you all know I lack grace and balance! We emerged on a dirt road, pretty nicely maintained, and vacant – not a car or motorbike in sight or sound. (My English is getting pretty horrible so please forgive the wording! – not that my Thai is getting good as it is really bad) Anyway, we walked along the dirt road for probably 10 minutes before reaching a home stay house. The boat driver lived there and showed us around the facilities, a few mattresses upstairs equipped with mosquito nets and quartered off by sheets and mats. Not bad for a home stay though, actually pretty nice and a descent bathroom too. Had to test it out – never miss an opportunity here. We then walked a bit more down to the beach. The forest on the island seemed different and there were some great open spaces too – the lack of vehicles and people made it very peaceful. Oo told me that the boy scouts (luk sau) used to come and camp here, but no longer after the tsunami as it is no longer considered safe. We sat and ate lunch on the beach, some fried chicken and sticky rice with fried garlic. Yum! The beach was deserted and actually not very clean as far as random trash here and there. The water was murky as other beaches here, but that is normal for the rainy season. Looking out you could see various surrounding islands. Next stop was the house of the headman of the island. He and his wife also participate in home stay. The program is new to the island – about a year old – and supported by NATR and Rak Thailand. We stayed there awhile as Boonmee was good friends with them and actually their son was a student of Boonmee’s a long time ago. There is no school on the island and so children that go to school go by boat everyday, one of the students that we brought with us lives there. Most students go to Ban Triem School, of which there are about 20 right now from the island when the total population is pretty small 100-200 people. There are about 38 houses on the island and 6 of them participate in home stay now, in addition to fishing and selling fruit from their gardens. There is not a market on the island and people go to the mainland for supplies, about a 15 minute boat ride through mangrove canals. A woman from the local center brought over some statistics on home stay pricing as we were curious which was very nice. If you visit, you must notify them first and then are taken to the center first to learn the rules on the island before participating. It is a Muslim community so the 5 rules follow 1. No drinking, 2. No gambling, 3. No bikinis. 4. Must wear polite clothing (no tank tops or shorts), and 5. You may go swimming but must wear short sleeve shirt and pants below the knee. There are 3 tours that you can do while on the island; fishing, hiking in the mountain or visiting the mangrove forest.
They were very welcoming and asked me to write in their guest book even though I did not stay the night. We returned the same way we came after about 3 hours on the island. It was a nice trip. Learning more of what Kuraburi has to offer to interested tourists.
After dropping off the students at school, we went to visit a woman who sells Ancient Coffee in Kuraburi; it was a minimart with many products but the sign outside supported the OTOP project in Thailand, One Tambon One Product, this one selling ancient coffee. The program offers areas a larger distribution and certain supplies such as the coffee boxes. It seeks to make local work more mainstream and marketable.
The last stop on the survey tour was visiting Hat Praphat – Praphat Beach. It is a beach actually in Ranong province as we are close to the border. Popular with Thai locals, after the tsunami, few want to return. The beach is long and had a beautiful view of many islands, I am sure in the high season it is gorgeous as it has crystal waters then. There was a research facility across the street which kept damaged buildings from the tsunami, pretty much wiped away to remember the event. There is also a memorial and a tall sign marking how high the waves reached – 6 meters. The area is pretty flat and low and thus there was a new grouping of houses as the previous ones were totally destroyed. We finished the day with noodles at a local restaurant.

2006-07-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

Me and teachers from my respective schools.

Miss Umatip, Miss Ian, Me, and Moosa.

2006-07-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

On a mangrove canal - the back of Pa Rai's house.

2006-07-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

At Pa Rai's house in Leeled village. She is on the far end next to me in purple. Other house mates and people in the training session. Don't I look tall.

2006-07-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

Lunchbreak from the boat trip in Surat Thani.

2006-07-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

Chawii eating worms in Surat Thani.

2006-07-15T21:48:00.001-07:00

July 14, 2006
Last day of the 3 day training at Surat Thani. We wrapped up in the morning by sharing what we had learned in the evening. As my group talked to the committee, others talked to their host families about other topics related to home stay and CBT. We ate lunch together again packed and served by our hosts and then shared what we learned from this experience. Of course mainly in Thai, I did not get the full translation but one of the host moms was in tears as she thanked everyone. I was asked to say a few words and just went with it as I have learned here that it doesn’t really matter if you are answering a particular question, they just want to hear from you. I am trying not to stress about details as it seems to be so laid back but still feel some pressure for results in the schools – probably mostly self inflicted but none the less, if I don’t take the lead, not sure if any one else will. We had a bit of time to meet with our school teachers and try to nail down a few more details or make adjustments as needed. Ajarn Sonthida from Bangkok was really helpful as she helped formulate more of a plan for one of my schools. Having the Thai connection was very beneficial and I am very grateful to her. Before jumping into the vans for the long ride home I said goodbye to those who I made a connection, Pa Rai had someone translate to me to say “I love you very much and hope you come visit again.” Very sweet. The stunt drive home was a bit shorter, 3 ½ hours. Ended the day with an expensive burger for dinner with a few guys from Kenan.

2006-07-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

July 13, 2006
Got up early to queue for the shower and have breakfast. Enjoyed coffee and some palm cakes. I was glad for the basic breakfast rather than curry or other heavy dishes which are pretty typical. We were transported by sitting in the bed of a pickup truck to a canal in town. We boarded small long tail fishing boats and were offered goofy yet protective hats for a day in the mangrove forest. Stephen, Morgan and I were put on a boat with Daeng, an employee of REST and pretty much an Indian Jones of sorts. He arrived with Morgan and Stephen as they stayed together in a rusted 1970 Mustang without a back seat where Morgan and Stephen stood for the ride to the dock. Daeng must be in his 50s and has an interesting story to tell as I asked him about his life the day before. He is trained in Environment Science, worked as a University professor for 5 years before being disenlightened with the education system, worked in the Jungle for many years on irrigation in the Muslim southern provinces and now works for REST and also guides trekking tours through the Jungle in a nearby national park. His wild mustache and khaki outfit suited him. We saw many different areas as we traveled through a fishing village, went out to see and saw netting to catch krill in the tide and manmade groupings of logs of all sized to attract fish. These are set up and after a month fisherman return and put bamboo around it and then work by diving down (about 3 meters or so) to pull out the logs then trap the fish in the bamboo. We watched as one group took the trap apart – 4 men working very hard and throwing the logs on the outside of the bamboo fence to build a new trap for the next fish. Traveling on the shallow waters, people were outside of their boast and in the water using nets by hand to gather fish. It was amazing how primitive it felt, but the local knowledge and innovation was very intriguing. We spent about 5 hours on the water – stopping once near the end at a random house where I had to shimmy across a few small boats, be helped up a few ladders (as the house was on stilts) and across a small ladder to reach the bathroom. I swear that Thai people never go to the bathroom! I was only joined by about 3 others from the group of 30.
The sky opened up on us as we headed back and arrived soaking wet, expect for what was covered by the lifejacket. We commenced to have more meetings in the afternoon and were given homework in the evening. My group met with a few other groups at a house next door to mine after dinner. We met with some members of the local CBT club’s committee to ask about some administrative details. We learned about how they managed the money with 2 different funds, how they regulated the home stays, and what future plans were in work. As all Thai meetings seem to be, it was long – 2 ½ hours of swatting mosquitoes despite the thick application of lovely Deet. Ann tried to translate for me but was pretty exhausted so am sure that I only got about 20% of it – but as was the only foreigner in the group, it is to be expected. The host ladies from the surrounding houses worked the entire time making a dessert next to us – Kanom Koo. Balls of rice flour wrapped around palm sugar, boiled and then rolled in coconut. I must have eaten 15 or 20 of them – part of my zoning out as I could not understand most of the content. It was nice though but I was happy to return to my mosquito net at 10:30 in the evening – a long day. It is more typical of a Thai work day, full of leisure time and different snacks but extensive in its time commitment. Very different from the Western work ethic to work hard for 5 days and then relax for 2, they combine it all.

2006-07-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

July 12, 2006
I think I finally experienced the true monsoon season as I barely slept last night. The wind howled, the rain poured in all directions and the waves outside of my hotel window seemed to crash just as loudly. In my mind I was planning my escape but then realized that I am on the third floor, the top floor of the hotel and probably in the best location. Needless to say when I got out of bed it was without electricity – and thus at this hotel no water as there is a water pump. As I needed to meet up with a van on the main street at 7:45 AM I washed my face with a bottle of water and headed out. Today was the first day of a three day training session on Community-Based Tourism held near Surat Thani in the community of Leeled. The training session was a joint effort by Kenan Institute, led by REST (Responsible Ecological and Sustainable Tourism) a non-profit in Thailand. Those in attendance were teachers and directors from the schools that I work at in addition to other schools in the Kenan TRAI program. Morgan, Stephen and I (Kenan School Volunteers) were the only farang in attendance. The drive to Surat Thani in the van was 4 long hours of picking up people along the way and included various stunt driving techniques as usual. I am sure that my return to slow North Carolina driving will be a shock! We arrived safely around 12 noon and started with meetings and introductions by REST. We had a few people helping with translation here and there as it was all conducted in Thai. Our accommodations for the training were Home Stay so we were dispersed among the community. There were a group of ladies from the village, all in matching green button down shirts with colorful fish waiting for us. I stayed with Pa Rai or Auntie Rai. Ann from Kenan Phang Nga, Suwang from Kenan Bangkok and Chawii all stayed in the same house with me. Each of the home stay ladies had brought us lunch to eat and we feasted on an array of Thai dishes. After lunch we were taken around the village of Leeled in 4 different vans and visited various local houses involved in different activities. First we visited the shrimp paste house where we saw huge containers of shrimp paste in all different stages - the mixture of dried shrimp and spices is left in large drums for 2 months to age before it is sold! It is a staple in many Thai dishes, especially in the south. The second house we visited was one involved in packaging cigarette wrappers made of Nipa Palm. This was the house where I spent the night. Pa Rai has been making Nipa Palm wrappers since the age 15 when she finished secondary school. She now has to be in her 50s. She went and cut a young long shoot from the Nipa Palm and demonstrated how to cut it and peel off the layers. Can’t imagine doing that for so many years but she seemed to be happy as she constantly smiled. Her house was a beautiful old style Thai house made of wood and right on a nice canal. She has many bird cages with exotic birds and also has a German Sheppard named “Money” but with a Thai accent sounds like MaNEE. The next stop on the village tour was the Coconut Worm farm. There were numerous tree stumps covered with some sort of fertilizer and then covered with a sheet of wood and bricks. When lifting up the bricks tons of fat yellow worms with black heads move about. A woman from the house brought out a big dish of the final product, cooked worms. Although many partook I abstained – didn’t think I could swallow them! Maybe I am getting old…The last stop on the community tour was a traditional “Thai Opera”. I asked Ann what this was like before arriving and she said that it was a disappearing traditional art and that she had never seen it. Assuming we would be watching a show, I was surprised to pull up to a little Thai shop where 3 rather old looking people, one man and two women sat on the floor. They were in normal dress and then started to sing a bit here and there. It was definitely a dieing art, lost to an older generation. The oldest member was an 89 year old woman who looked much older and the spry young man was in his 70s but missing most of his teeth. They had streaks of red running from the corners of their mouths. Ann told me it was from a mixture that they would constantly chew on and then spit. The concoction was a bitter leaf, a limestone like paste (red) and a bitter nut. She managed to get a bit of the ingredients and I tasted them – not so good. Did taste a bit like rocks I would guess! I videoed a bit of the singing with my camera to capture the “opera”. When walking back to the van I was followed by one of the old ladies and asked to stay with her (someone translated because of course I had no clue what she said). I declined with a smile. The evening was spent at Pa Rai’s home with her husband and Ann, Suwang and Chawii. We had a delicious meal including various fish dishes, omelette, vegetables, rice and then desserts of coconut and rice flour. My shower was much appreciated as I was unable to take one in the morning. I had the choice of the shower nozzle or the splash method, but in the country I prefer the splash shower with the cold water! The water in Surat Thani looked brown in the big container, rainwater. It did the trick. In the evening Pa Rai pointed out a bunch of wild birds that come to perch and sleep a few feet away from the caged birds. They looked fake as they did not move. They visit every night and leave in the morning. I slept peacefully under the mosquito net that night.

2006-07-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

fruit stand in khuraburi. getting some mangkut or mangosteen - my family always seems to buy at least a kilo...

delicious!

2006-07-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

sarah and me at the viewpoint on phi phi island. what a beautiful view! note the strip of land between the bays - that is where all of the hotels, restaurants, shops are. and of course where the tsunami wiped out a lot.

2006-07-10T21:06:00.001-07:00

July 10, 2006
Today Sarah and I headed our separate ways. She to the airport in Phuket to start her long trip home to the states, and me back to Khao Lak for a few down days. As we arrived at the bus station in Phuket Town, Sarah’s bus was there and ready to go so we said a quick goodbye. My bus was not to leave for another hour so I sat and read a book. The first bus to leave was a non-AC – either that or wait another hour and a half. I opted to get moving. The bus took 2 ½ hours to get to Khao Lak. Met an Australian and American headed for different areas. Glad to be back and settled in my room. Ate an early dinner by myself and reflected over the dichotomy that i walk pass everyday, hard working burmese people rebuilding after the tsunami - often regarded as second rate but are the ones putting in hard labor.

2006-07-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2006
Sarah and I got up early as we had an early evening and got coffee and breakfast. We decided that we wanted to walk to the Viewpoint where we could see the view of the curving bays of Phi Phi Don. On the walk we went through less traveled parts of the island. As Phi Phi Don is really small, there are no cars or motorbikes allowed, and little livable space, the tourist and Thai spaces intersect more often and provide an interesting balance that is not always seen in tourist areas. The walk took us through the middle part of the bays where we noticed platforms of what I am sure used to be bungalows that were completely gone – destroyed by the tsunami. It was a bit eerie as it had been left and no reconstruction has started in some areas. The walk to the Viewpoint was more of a hike – multiple, almost never ending staircases that wandered through some bungalows and private residences. Sarah and I were a sight to be seen – pretty much a sweaty mess! The view at the top was breathtaking and we only had to share it with one other who arrived shortly after we did. It was well worth the trip to see the crystal bays. What a sight the tsunami must have been from this vantage point. Couldn’t stop thinking about the tsunami on the island as we wondered where the survivors were able to go. We were ready to go a bit early and spent a few hours shopping and meandering before our ferry left at 2:30 PM. The ride back to Phuket was not nearly as pleasant as the trip across. We were on the top deck as the boat rocked and dipped and splashed. The water was choppy and we could see whitecaps but not huge swells, but oh did we feel them. We were drenched in Sea Water and our chairs were plastic lawn chairs that could easily slide across the deck if not occupied. We tried to laugh a bit and did when people screamed when hit with splashed of water and others tried to walk on the deck to go downstairs – it was a sight and we were glad to disembark after the 1 ½ crossing. We made it to the Crystal Hotel a complete mess, me looking like I had dreadlocks as I could not even run my fingers through my hair. The front desk guy said we didn’t have a reservation and they had no rooms. Sarah didn’t take no for an answer and we were given a room – We were puzzled but perhaps they thought we were up to no good hippies? J We were glad for the hot shower and pretty nice accommodations for mere 500 baht. Wiped again we were in bed by nine – after watching the discovery channel recount on sailboats that were lost in a big storm and needed to be rescued…we related.

2006-07-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

July 8, 2006
In the morning we headed out for the ferry, being ripped off both for breakfast at the hotel and also by the “taxis” that were to take us to the peer. More likely friends of the hotel owner that wanted us to pay 300 baht per taxi. Morgan negotiated and we got them for 200 each but still were overcharged, but we were on a time crunch and didn’t have many other options. The bargaining continued at the pier as there were different people from whom you could buy tickets, we only had a few minutes and were able to negotiate down a bit (800 round trip). The ferry ride was 1 ½ hours and pretty as we passed large limestone islands that emerged directly out of the ocean and were covered with lush trees. Approaching Phi Phi Don from the west we rounded the southern corner and entered into the calm bay, bright blue to light green water, filling with various boats – yachts, sailboats, commercial fishing boats, small long tail fishing boats and of course other ferries – ours being the largest. The water was gorgeous and the pier was in the middle of the beach – a strip of land that is walkable in less than 5 minutes – two beautiful low-lying bays butting up against each other and then give way to dramatic limestone hills lushly covered with vegetation. The middle part with the bays suffered drastic damage in the tsunami, the second largest area of loss of life in Thailand, second only to Khao Lak where I spend have of my time in Thailand. The damage on the southern part of the island was not a visible but the northern bay side had areas where obviously there used to be something and now is just some mild vegetation. Sarah and I did not have reservations at a hotel yet so walked around the small area in search of a place to stay. We decided to stop and eat lunch and gave way to grilled cheese and French fries – glorious. We found a small guesthouse – The Pier Guest House for 700 baht a night, although having thin walls and very small, it was perfect for what we needed. The owner was a very nice man too. After getting settled in we put on our suits and went out in search of long-tail fishing boat to take us to Phi Phi Lei, the other island that you can visit but not stay on. It is where the movie, The Beach, was filmed and absolutely gorgeous. We found a guy to take us for 800 baht including flippers and snorkel. We called the guys and they joined us for a total of 1,500 so all enjoyed the afternoon for about the $6.
The boat ride was a bit unsettling after we passed the safety of Phi Phi Don and were exposed to the open ocean between the two islands. Only 6 kilometers, but felt like an eternity as we road the crests and troughs of the waves and were soaking wet. We laughed but held on tightly and I think all prayed or hoped for it to end soon. We rode past Viking Cave, a cave where a few Thai people live inside the limestone cliffs – looked like it was straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean. (Can’t help the Disney reference) We pulled into a bay on the east side and the boat driver told us that we could get to Maya Bay (on the west side) via foot as it was too rough to go around the island on that side via boat. We jumped out into the water and he directed us through a rock cave. Crazy. A bit nervous I went with the others, loving that I have Keen shoes, and quickly got over being in a bikini as I hurried through the rocks. We emerged quite quickly on the other side and then through on other hole in the rock to land. We walked on a path that felt a bit like Gilligan’s island. We walked through a nice walkway of trees with rocks cliffs ascending above us. We emerged on the other side in beautiful Maya Bay. A few other visitors were there but no boats and we entered the crystal blue water and enjoyed the solitude. We headed back as the wind picked up and we were pelted but the sand on the beach. On return to the boat, we snorkeled in the little bay and were surprised at the fish we could see in the choppy water. After a swim, we got back into the boat and were headed back towards Phi Phi Don and were taken to another interior part of the island where the water was very calm and shallow and swam. It was very peaceful and floating on my back I could see the circle of large cliffs surrounding me. After being a bit exhausted we headed back to Phi Phi Don and prepared ourselves for the rough water, which it was again but I think we were all better prepared for it. We arrived 3 hours after we started utterly exhausted and in need of showers! After cleaning up Sarah and I had a beer at the Apache Bar and then met the guys for dinner at an Italian/American/Thai restaurant. I had a pizza which was descent. The end of a fun day – was in bed early!

2006-07-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

July 7, 2006
I was anxious for Friday to come as I was ready to get out of the weekly routine and get on the road to Phi Phi Island for the long weekend. I started the day with an early breakfast with Richard, a representative from Kenan who was in town for Thursday and Friday to meet with the volunteers. We ate a huge American breakfast complete with bacon and chatted over my experiences and concerns thus far which was very encouraging. In the AM I was taken to Banlamkaen School and spent the morning working on a PowerPoint as usual. I was done a bit early and was not expecting to be picked up until 12 noon so at 11:30 when I was asked to eat lunch, I joined in. I met a new volunteer from Switzerland who is volunteering teaching English to the kids. As Friday was the last day of school before essentially a four day holiday (Saturday-Tuesday), there was to be a ceremony where some of the kids would be walking to a nearby temple to deliver and intricate huge candle. This four day holiday is know as Buddhist Lent – at this time it denotes more of the beginning of the rainy season and the Buddhist monks enter into the temples where they stay for 3 months. I was sorry to miss out on the ceremony but was picked up at 12 noon and taken to Taplamu, the next school. Morgan and Steven were in the van as they had been picked up by the driver for an afternoon meeting that we were to have with Kenan. We drove up to Taplamu School and Richard, Nakorn and the Vice Governor of Phang Nga province were there among tablecloth covered tables in the open air of the school building. The Vice Governor was excited to meet us (although none of us knew about it, including Richard) and we chatted a bit. The Vice Governor was all smiles and I smirked as I noticed among his suit that his belt buckle said “playboy” and sported a playboy bunny symbol. The playboy symbol seems to be more common here, worn by both men and women, on wallets and jeans…
Anyway, I met up with Miss Umatip, my teacher contact there while Steven and Morgan were asked to stay for lunch. The lunch was put on by BASC, a German Chemical Company which some teachers attended and kids in the school were given bags and pens and such. They had donated the auditorium at the school. As the school was completely rebuilt after the tsunami, it bears the labels of many different countries and companies – Unilever donated a whole building, Italy and Germany were very involved in many different building projects. From the outside I wonder how much the labeling and selling of the school effects the Thai people or if they seem to care at all. The school is drastically different than others as it is all brand new in contrast to wooden shutters and wearing blackboards in all of my other schools.
After having a chaotic time of trying to teach much top high level info on Mangrove Forests and playing bingo I was picked up and taken to the Kenan office. Umatip expressed her excitement to me at school of the following week where I will be in Surat Thani province with others in my program for some training – all of the teachers and directors from the schools that we are working with are invited. It should be fun and I am glad that she is excited to go.
Hung out at the Kenan office for a bit in the afternoon trying to check email but being bumped off more often than not. Then we all went to the Viewpoint for Dinner. We drove up to the Viewpoint Hotel which had a gorgeous view and had a relatively long dinner as we waited for everyone to arrive and also had a guest speaker from one of the first NGOs in the province (pre-tsunami). He spoke in Thai and Nakorn translated for us. He was from (I think) Wildlife Fund(?) and works in Kuraburi.
After frantically packing after returning to the hotel, 7 of us (including Sarah) jumped into a van we rented to take us down to Phuket Town for the evening. We were to get on a ferry to Phi Phi Island the next morning. The hotel was a bit seedy as was the area and Sarah and I felt a bit like we were at a frat party with the 5 guys we were with. We agreed to go out for a drink and ended up at the O-Zone a funny club. We shared a bottle of whiskey and had it mixed with soda – very typical Thai. Thais love their whiskey. The club was full of paraphernalia from 100 Pipers – scotch whiskey. A Thai band got on stage and we laughed at the music but enjoyed the entertainment. Thai music seems to air on the side of being a bit dramatic and love struck. When the band took a break techno music pulsed, and the big screens featured runway model shows. Surreal experience. We walked back to the hotel with 2 of the guys but lost 3 to another bar or lady’s bar, not sure which…

2006-07-07T02:09:00.000-07:00

July 6, 2006
Today was a good day. I didn’t have to be at school until 1 PM so Sarah and I had some time to hang out in the morning. We got up and leisurely went to Happy Lagoon for breakfast. We enjoyed our coffee and I had a “pineapple pancake” which was more like a crepe – more to my liking anyway. It was delicious. We talked a bit out the Mangrove Forest and I need to teach on it for school on Friday. After breakfast we headed to the main street in hopes of getting to the Tsunami Craft Center which is a few kilometers away. After waiting awhile we caught a bus that dropped us off within walking distance. The craft center was small and a bit out of the way, but worth it. It has a mix of different products from bags to pillowcases to bracelets all made by those effected by the tsunami. It was nice to be able to purchase a few products that will directly aid those in need. Being nosy I looked at the register as the man logged in our purchases and say the previous few day totals – the most ever being around 3000 baht ($75) and the least about 950 (less than $25). Amazing, low season here is pretty desolate and wonder if the money taken in fluctuates for this store dramatically. The town I am sure is hoping for quick recovery as the major reconstruction of resorts is in full swing and signs are posted that resorts will be open in October – but seem like a far way from being finished. As Khao Lak saw a decrease of about 90% of tourists from 2004 to 2005, they are hoping for 2006 to be a big year of return to normalcy. After shopping a bit we headed back to the highway and across the street to the beached police boat that was taken inland about one kilometer from the tsunami and stands today as a memorial, never to return to the sea. It was a bit eerie to see the massive grey boat sitting among the grass and pinned between tree stumps. There was a memorial too where pictures and signs must have been posted awhile back as they were faded and worn. We started walking back towards to hotel as I needed to be getting back and did not see a bus. Luckily after walking for a bit, we spotted the local transport - a truck with benches in the back and waved it down for a ride. Thank goodness or I would have definitely been late. The walk had been hot and intense as the sun was out in full force, not a daily occurance during monsoon season. In the afternoon I went to BanLamKaen school and helped out with a project for the kids learning about ancient coffee in the area. I caved for dinner and Sarah and I ate at an Italian restaurant for dinner, it was pretty good for being in Thailand I would say, but of course about triple the amount of what we pay for Thai food. We ended to night with Singha beer and an HBO movie in the hotel!

2006-07-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2006
Independence Day in the U.S. – not so independent in Thailand.
Today I rose earlier than usual as we left the house at 7 AM to visit the local talaad sod (fresh market) held on Tuesdays and Saturdays in Kuraburi. It was nice walking around and seeing the fresh fruits and vegetables and the machetes! (just one table covered with all sorts of handmade knives) I spent the morning at Ban Bang Wah School –arriving at 8 AM but joined a bit later by the teachers. I watched the daily ritual of the students lining up by the flag singing songs, repeating phrases and so on. I was next to the kindergarten class which had a bit of a different routine and participated from afar. We went inside earlier than the rest and the kids continued chanting games, doing the numbers in Thai from 1-100 and then 1-10 in English. I was then asked to teach the class. As the kids really don’t know any English, I went through the alphabet and wrote words and drew pictures on the board as I went. Then it was on to the 10 year olds. I was given a book on Canada and one on Mexico to teach which was nice to have. The teacher who assisted me actually assisted me and translated a bit for comprehension which was nice. However, she really didn’t let the kids answer anything, she always spoke first.
For lunch I joined 4 teachers, the same from last week in a classroom. Kantana (my host teacher), Ubon, Ratchanok, and Jantanee. They must have gone out and bought me Paht Siew but they brought various dishes from home. I was very full as they continued to offer me fruit. We had a good time though. After lunch they brought in a Durian of which I had my first taste. Farang usual turn their noses (as did I at first) but wanted to at least say I tried it. Durian has a name for being rather pungent and smells a bit like feet. I decided to try and actually it tasted quite different than the smell, thank God. I probably would have had more than one bite if I hadn’t eaten everything else in the world already.
After they cleaned up (of course I was useless as usual), we headed to the mountains to see a waterfall. When asked last week, “what would you like to see in Kuraburi” I said “a waterfall” and they resolved to take me there. It was a very nice gesture. Kantana, Ubon, Jantanee and I got in Jantanee’s truck and headed on the road right next to the school towards the mountain. In Thailand I have discovered that there is no such thing as a substitute teacher, if one is sick or steps out, the students I gather are pretty much on their own with an occasional drop in teacher. It was funny that 3 out of the 8 teachers in the school were gallivanting with me to a waterfall all afternoon. We four-wheeled a bit in the truck through rubber tree plantations and arrived at what they call a “garden” (suan) but was much more like a big orchard with a variety of different fruit trees and rubber trees. Jantanee’s husband is a farmer and he met us in a little open hut where I think he spends his days while at work. I then noticed the big letters on the back of Jantanee’s truck window “Farmer Never Die”; I had to take a picture. We then jumped in a Jeep for more rugged terrain – the 3 ladies crouching in the back as I sat in the front. A rather quick trip then we walked to the first part of the waterfall. The ladies helped me along on the rocks as I was dresses in a skirt and had what I would say would be the wrong shoes. Wimpy farang as the 3 women were in flip-flops and at least 2 of them were in their forties. We then hiked up through more rubber tree plantations and they showed me the process as we went along. It was hot and humid of course and I was eaten by mosquitoes (jung) but was having a great time. The waterfall was beautiful and I thanked them a ton for taking me. Although Kantana was the only one who really spoke English and not that well, we all had a great time laughing together. After returning to Ban Triem, Boonmee and I did the typical routine of picking Soopa up at school. This time however we also picked up a young teacher as well. As it is typical that they pick up people and take them where they need to go, I never know what’s next. We ended up going to a restaurant together. Mai (“new”) is 29 years old; she made sure to ask me my age as pretty much the first question – typical in Thai in order to establish your relationship. So being the same age, we had a good bond. Another teacher and her daughter also joined us for dinner. Mai asked if I wanted to go to her house after dinner and I said yes. When invited, it is best to go and the best chance for Sanuk (fun). Her English is pretty low but it didn’t matter, we stumbled through the dictionary together. Boonmee and Soopa dropped me off at her house – she showed me briefly then took me to the market via motorbike of course. We then went and got a coffee and met 2 of her friends. It was a good time and I ran into some farang from NATR of course. Hope to meet up with them in a couple of weeks. Mai asked if I wanted to get a beer later tonight, I said yes, anxious to get out and about and actually see a bit of Kuraburi. She said she would ask Boonmee to take me to the restaurant. When we returned to my house, she had a conversation with Soopa in Thai then was gone really before I could say goodbye and figure out the outcome. I was told that I would see her next time. So apparently, I was not allowed to go, or they were not willing to take me…not so free after all. Strange but protective I guess. I will try to meet up with Mai later in Kuraburi. It was nice to have someone so eager to spend time with me. She already has invited me to go fishing and to go to her parents’ house in Surat Thani, another province in Thailand. We will see what unfolds!

2006-07-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

July 3, 2006
Today I was back at Hoisap School teaching English. The teacher that took care of me last time and spoke some English was out sick. Therefore I spent time between a few other teachers, each of which had very limited English skills. I was in four different classes – aged from 7-12. I tried to recycle as much as I could and relied on their English books to be teaching what they had been learning recently and picking up where they had left off. Some things I did took a ton more time together. I asked students to draw a 9 square grid on their paper and that took about 15-20 minutes! I drew it on the board and helped some students but think they were just stunned and since I wasn’t speaking in Thai my hand gestures did not mean much. Oh well.
At the end of the day, Boonmee picked me up and we went to Soopa’s school as usual. However, it was quite early, about 3:30 and he dropped me off and I stayed with Soopa and her students until he returned about an hour later. Soopa had by far the best behaved class that I have seen. I could see how she was working with them and keeping on them a bit to stay in line. I had some crazy kids today and had it by about 10:30 this morning. I decided to just ignore the boys that were going crazy. My voice though is a bit rough right now which made it harder in the loud Thai classrooms. We made multiple stops at the market on the way home. Also, Soopa bought some crabs directly from some students at school who brought them to her by motorbike. She said that they got them from fishermen in the Mangrove Forests.
Needless to say, I feasted on a very delicious dinner. We had fresh crab – sweet and flavorful. We also had a ton of clams, I am very glad they were good, (although they never seem to look appetizing) but they were not fishy at all which is one of the tastes that I have a hard time swallowing too much of at a time.
We also had fresh vegetables, a delicious curry dish and cooked green leafy vegetables. Of course we had Ngo (ramutan) at the end. Boonmee does not like crab so Soopa and I ate I think 2 or 3 together. They were about 1/3 of the size of a Dungeness. I am very well taken care of the days that I am in Kuraburi. Tomorrow is going to be earlier than usual as Soopa wants to take me to the market before school, so up by 6 AM at the latest I think.

2006-07-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

July 2, 2006
So I have managed to ride on a motorbike 3 out of the last 5 days – only one of the times intentionally…
Wednesday I was at school in Kuraburi and when lunchtime rolled around I was asked to go out to lunch…transportation was on a motorbike. I told Moosa that I was going to be “impolite” and straddle the bike in my skirt and hold onto him. I was not going to try the side saddle ride even though I was in a mixed Buddhist and Muslim community. No one seemed to care but kind of laughed a bit as we rode by!
Thursday in Khao Lak I spent the afternoon at Banlamkaen School and participated with a group of Young Guides in making Nampric Kayam. It really felt like at least more of what am here for, helping with the English references with local knowledge and to encourage the kids to interact. On Friday, I worked on the PowerPoint presentation with a student, basically I did it but she smiled and helped me pick out some of the pictures. I had asked the teacher to let me work with a student and the way the schools seem to work, students are always being pulled out for something so I didn’t think it would be a problem. Friday at all schools they had parades in honor of the King. The past week was filled with practice marching, a loud banging drum and odd sticks in the students hands. It was interesting to see the variety and yet consistency among the schools.
Friday after leaving school I scooted quickly back to my hotel, changed, packed a small bag and headed for the highway to hitch a ride on a bus to Phuket to meet up with Maggie and Sarah, two friends I had planned to meet, one who is spending the summer in Bangladesh and the other in Cambodia. The buses seem to come on no particular schedule and I tend to take the first one available to my destination. Friday was a small old, non-AC bus and I sat in what I thought was the last seat. As more and more people were picked up the bus continued to accept new passengers and there were 3 people to a bench and a full standing area. The bus took its time through the highly populated areas and I sighed as a nicer bus passed us by…if only I had waited. The trip was not all that bag but a bit long and although 5’ 7” my knees were crammed into the seat in front of me, not to mention the little boy asleep in his mother’s arms next to me whose head at each tight turn smacked against my shoulder.
Successfully making it to Talong, I knew I had to get off in order to get to my hotel. I had planned to take a motorbike taxi as I knew it would be my best option. And oddly enough, I wanted to ride one. I think part of it is from my very regimented schedule to which I feel a bit trapped and very reliant on others for transport. Being able to choose the motorcycle option was freeing. I of course only agreed to ride if I was given a helmet to wear, which I was. We started off the wrong way facing traffic at a busy intersection. Not sure of how this would work, I prayed that I made the right decision! We took off smoothly and without a hitch and when we reached a smaller road the driver handed off his helmet to a friend. I kept mine. We zipped through back roads, fields and rubber plantations and I again said a little prayer for a sign that we were indeed on the way to my hotel…it appeared in the form of a small sign. After about 20 minutes we arrived and I felt refreshed and not really cheated by the 150 baht charge, but I am sure I could have negotiated better. I met Sarah who had been at the Andaman White Beach Resort since the early AM. The sun was just starting to go down over the gorgeous property of hilltop bungalows and lush foliage. Maggie arrived a bit later and we ate a nice dinner at the hotel. A bit isolated from the rest of the island, we decided to rent a car the next day. Although they drive on the wrong side of the road and car, Maggie was up for the challenge after spending time behind the wheel in the UK in the past. She was a great driver, I played navigator and also an annoying stress case as I had a hard time not calling out everything in our way, “Motorcycle”, “Person”, “Dog”, you get the picture. We went to a huge Jewelry store, apparently the largest in the world. It was a trip with large fish tanks among the jewelry, some with small sharks. We were each assigned a woman to pretty much follow us around and show us different pieces. Of course I chose something too expensive and walked away empty handed. It was a great experience though. We continued on driving to Kata Beach in the south. Upon arrival, it was seedy and their was a strong stench where we parked the car. We ended up eating in the town but were disheartened by the tacky take over of cheap souvenirs and tourists with braids and short skirts. By the time we drove past Patong beach it was nighttime, but we were still able to see the horrible glitz (in my opinion) of what I would compare to the seedy part of Vegas 20 years ago. We returned to our hotel a bit happier about its isolation and natural beauty. We drank beer in the deserted Pizza Bar on the beach and watched part of the England and Portugal game. The only others in the bar were 3 of the hotel employees. The off season and I think part due to the tsunami has had a great effect on these areas. One guy at the resort basically kept as much as possibly running at the same time – happy to tend to us wherever we were on the premises. There is a similar atmosphere in Khao Lak where you only ever really see 5 employees doing everything, and guest sightings are on the slim.
Today, Sunday, started a bit under the weather, my first bought with an unhappy stomach. I popped pills opted out of lying on the beach with Maggie and Sarah and chilled on the porch of our room. Feeling tired but better, Sarah and I boarded a bus towards Khao Lak after taking Maggie to the airport. In Khao Lak, I did my typical luggage shuffle. Discovering that the AC was not working well, they moved Sarah to another room for the night as I tried to negotiate leaving my stuff in the old room. It took a call to Nakorn to help translate of course. Exhausting!
I got a nice bus from Khao Lak to Khuraburi tonight and arrived around 7:30 PM. It had just started to rain the last 20 minutes of the ride. The bus was the nicest I had been in, a bit tacky and playing Thai music videos with follow along Karaoke if you’d like – both in Thai script and phonetics. No one sang. Arriving in Khuraburi in the dark I was told by Soopa that her brother would pick me up. Knowing Saman but not his car I looked around with my umbrella above my head and bags and quickly heard my name being called. I turned to find Saman on a motorbike. He took my bigger bag and but it in front of his legs and I jumped on and put my bag in between us to try to shield my computer from the rain. I opted not to hold the umbrella above us as others do, I preferred to hold on. We whizzed on the wet streets and once again I prayed that I would make it safely. The ride was short – about 5 minutes but unexpected in the rain and night. Glad I had the others to prepare me…
Heading off to bed for a nice rest and then back to school tomorrow.

2006-06-28T00:24:00.000-07:00

June 27, 2006
Today I spent the day at Ban Wang Wa School in Kuraburi. The school is much smaller than Ban Triem with about 150 students. The director, Pidaa, is very nice and more English than the other Directors so far but I didn’t spend much time with him. I was shown around and spent the day with Kanchara. The day started off waiting for Pidaa in his office with Boonmee and Kanchara. Looking across the room, the bulletin board sported pictures of Buddha images and monks. Then I looked at the trim of the bulletin board and there was a big tree at the bottom all decorating and sporting the words “Merry Christmas”. Nice contrast. During the day I taught to all levels at the school 1-6. The older groups were of course easier as they could speak some English and liked the games we played. The younger group was all together, 1-3 and the teacher asked me to go over the alphabet. Then we played a few games but then I ran out of stuff to do and the teacher said I could just write their names for them in English when they spoke them in Thai. I had 2 hours if I wanted it. It was a bit intimidating because three teachers just hung out in the room while I was trying to teach the little kids. Sometimes I wonder the value in all of this but for right now I think the two things I hope that will come out of it are a greater comfort of the children with foreigners and practice for me getting out of my comfort zone. As I said before, I never thought I would teach (and still think that) but find it to be a great learning experience for myself. I really would like to be spending time with older kids and talking about their ambitions and still hope to do so at Ban Triem later during my stay in Kuraburi. My host family took me out to dinner again today. I think I probably am getting fatter here as I finish my food in order to be polite. When we got home though Soopa of course fed me fruit too – Mangkut, Gluei, and Ngo.I helped Moosa out this afternoon working on editing text that he and a student had written for a speech contest to be held in Phang Nga town this Friday. The topic is “IT in my Life” which I think is a pretty funny topic in itself. Thai students are constantly asked to present in the classroom and some take it more seriously than others but I think it is great practice of getting up in front of a group – I know that I could have used that! It is funny because I helped the teacher at Taplamu too and I know Morgan helped one of his students in Tap Put. Moosa and I had a good time together laughing and joking around. When then talked a bit about American Presidents as he asked about how it was possible to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. It was a long day. Tomorrow I will go to Ban Triem to help the student practice who will be competing in the speech contest on Friday. Tonight I watched cheesy Thai kids TV with Safanee and Soopa. Soopa said “I don’t like” but I think I caught more words on those programs than any other Thai station yet!

2006-06-28T00:22:00.000-07:00

June 26, 2006
Today was my first day teaching. I was sort of thrown into and had never been to the school that I taught at today. The Director of the school picked me up at Ban Triem School and it was a quiet drive to Hoi sap school. I tried saying some words in Thai like mountain etc. but he would only nod. I think his English is still probably better than my Thai. When we arrived at the school I was led to the “Canteen” as they call it, the cafeteria. Basically a multipurpose room as there are no chairs or tables. There were about 70 students in there and I was given the stage. There was an English teacher there and she helped me out a bit. I had the kids introduce themselves and we played a few games including Head Shoulders Knees and Toes --- but still had plenty of time left. We went on a walk outside and I pointed out items and had them repeat after me. I think they enjoyed that more. They also interviewed me later thanks to a sheet that Morgan gave me with a bunch of questions. I ate lunch with Mrs. Ankana as the kids ate their food on the canteen floor and watched a cheesy Thai DVD. After lunch I joined Mrs. Ankana in her classroom. Again I was put up front and center to teach. She had some books so I went through them with the class – what color is this and identifying animals and so on. The next class we went through a workbook which I think was quite boring for the class so will try to incorporate more games next time. I am not so good at this, never thought I would be. I felt like a bit of a celebrity again though as Mrs. Ankana took my picture with the kids many times. Returning to Ban Triem I hung out with Moosa a bit this afternoon which was fun. We left school late as Boonmee had a meeting. We drove Moosa home, north into Ranong, the opposite direction from “our” house. We sat down with his mother for a few minutes as his sisters cleaned mushrooms that they had picked. He has 9 sisters in his family and his father is a farmer. They seemed to have a lot of fun together. I have seen such amazing places through this opportunity. Their yard was full of various fruit trees; Mangkut, Ramutan and many others that I do not know. We passed rubber trees again on the way home.

2006-06-26T02:18:00.000-07:00

June 25, 2006
It is Sunday night and I successfully made it back to Kuraburi via bus by myself. Asking the Kenan contacts it was a bit vague as to when buses come to Khao Lak. The most information that I received was that they come every hour. I went and waited on the main highway and caught a bus after waiting just about 15 minutes. I started early that I would just in case it took me awhile to catch one or if transferring would be a problem. I felt confident in the trip as Pin, a UNC MBA student who is Thai and from Bangkok wrote two signs for me in Thai script that I could hold up for bus drivers if necessary. I was able to avoid that humiliation as they understood the name when I said it. The first bus to Takua Pa was pretty empty, had AC and was pretty nice and luxurious I would say. I could put one of my bags under the bus too. I asked around at the bus station at Takua Pa and found the bus to Kuraburi, all ready to go. The bus was much smaller, had oscillating fans in the ceiling and all seats were full. The man who took the money (there is a guy on each bus who just does that) had a few people scoot over so I could squeeze in with my two bags on my lap –good thing they are not that big. The trip allowed for a more scenic view of the countryside. I had done the drive before with the Kenan driver but that was at high speed. The bus lumbered along as people got off at random spot on the road. You just tell the money collector that you would like to stop at the fifth tree from the corner of the dirt road if you like and they will stop! Luckily I was going to the station so didn’t have to figure that out. We stopped at random times and seemed to honk the horn incessantly. The horn honks to say “I am passing you right now”, “hello” to other buses, “we are coming around the corner”, and possibly to give a nod to some more prominent spirit house (I could be wrong here but I was trying to make at least some sense out of it!) I sat in the second to last row on the bus next to door in the back that was open the entire time and tried to balance between not falling out with my bags and not crowding the couple sitting next to me with their little baby. I made it safe and sound to Kuraburi and then tried to call my host family again to pick me up. After multiple “network busy” and failed calls I went under cover in a nearby store when the clouds opened up and it started pouring. I finally got hold of them about 45 minutes after my arrival to find out that they were in another part of the province and would be another hour. Luckily the market was close and I wandered through and came out with a cheap pair of sandals, cookies and some bananas. Still having time I noticed an internet sign and headed for it. I was lucky to run into a NATR employee inside and talked a bit more about getting together to talk about community-based tourism. This is the group that I am excited about learning more about and hopefully doing some work with them. Providence I guess. My host family called and asked where I was and I ran across the street to what I thought was the bus station – where the bus at least dropped me off. After having a hard time communicating over the phone I mentioned the market and then waited. A few minutes later they showed up, apparently the real bus station is across the street, a hard thing to identify and the Thai script doesn’t help…
They took me to a nice dinner where I had noodles with chicken – they both had soup. Soup is hard for me to eat in the heat and if I can avoid it I can – although delicious inside or in AC, hard for me to eat in an open air restaurant. Safanee joined us too, their niece of 10 years old. We enjoyed each other’s company in the car ride as she tried to teach me Thai – her English is pretty good. She has taken a liking to me and I to her – our names have a special bond too, Safanee and Stephanie. Soopa says that Safanee is a gift for me, to take her with me to the United States. I said that she is welcome anytime.

2006-06-26T02:16:00.000-07:00

June 24, 2006
Was lucky enough to go to Ko Yai Noi today – an island on the eastern side of Phuket. The Kenan bus had to go show Stephen (who is working down there) how to get to the island and to take him to his residence at the school. So, a bunch of us from Khao Lak tagged along. It was a long day; we left around 6:45 AM and did not return until around 10 PM – thus I am writing this a few days later after being thoroughly exhausted. We drove a bit out of the way to pick up Morgan, the more the merrier, and then headed to a pier on Phuket Island. It was after 9 AM when we got on a long-tail cruiser boat – bigger than a fishing boat but same general idea but with a covered cabin area. The boat cruised along at a moderate pace and we were in awe of the beautiful limestone islands around us, each a unique and strange-looking shape. We were spoiled as Ann from Kenan and Pin, a UNC MBA are both Thai and thus became our unofficial tour guides and translators – collecting money when necessary and showing us the sites. As we meandered through Phang Nga bay we say a couple of floating houses. Little did we know that we would dock there for a bit. It turned out to be a lobster and fish farm. The buildings were kept afloat by what looked to be big blue plastic tanks. There were a variety of nets submerged and walkways between them and small residences around them for those that worked the farm. One man showed us a few items by pulling up nets and reaching in. Beautiful bluish purple lobsters and even a leopard shark. It was described by Ann as an eco-farm, the word eco is really hot in Thailand now.
Upon arrival at Ko Yai Noi we jumped in the back of a pickup equipped with 2 benches and covered on the top. We were fortunate to have the cover as the rain came and went as we bumped along the island. We stopped at a Home Stay project on the island and were able to see a Home Stay area where the villagers’ rotated taking in tourists – didn’t see any tourists though now, but it is the low season. But 70% of their tourists are Thai at this point. The location was beautiful, right on the beach. Participants would pay about 300 baht a night (about $13) including meals with families and participatory activities to experience a day in the life of the people. If you chose to stay you would be cooking, cleaning, collecting rubber from the rubber tree plantation and so on. You also would have the option of having a boat take you to a nearby island to snorkel – equipment provided. It was rustic, but not too rustic and I hope it takes off more.
Back at the “office” of the Home Stay at Ko Yai Noi, we dined on copious amounts of shrimp, crabs, fish, rice of course, some vegetable curry and bananas and oranges. The shrimp and crabs were in full shell and were beautiful. (About $3 for the entire meal). The pickup driver took us to a remote beach (like there are any other type here as there are only about 100 rooms to stay in on the island) and we got in the water a bit – gorgeous backdrop of limestone formations. We stopped at the market on the way out, tasted some more delicious street food, different this time – rotee (sweet, Thai version of crepe – similar to Indian but sweet) and corn on the cob. For the boat ride back, it was only the Kenan group – no others. The rain was intermittent but still nice. Returning to Phuket we made our way to a bar-b-que restaurant according to Ann and Pin. It was an all you could eat place where you picked your raw seasoned meat of choice and then cooked it at your table. There were also many noodles and vegetables to be had. We all opted for the Chang Beer tower (a site to be seen – a big tower with a tap that they bring to your table) as it was hot and a few of us live in Muslim communities – thus no access at other times. We cooked and ate, cooked and ate and sang the cheesy American love songs that came on in the huge open air restaurant. “Am I only dreaming, or is this burning an eternal flame?”

2006-06-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

June 21, 2006
I spent the first part of the day in the computer room at Ban Triem school emailing and trying to figure out what I should teach for the 4 schools in the area. I came up with more questions than answers but at least put some thoughts down on paper.
I was invited to lunch again by Boonmee and Moosa and we were joined by the director of two different schools (roong rien). We drove to a noodle place in Rangnong province (I think) and feasted once again. It feels a bit like a boy’s club, I am invited and know that they truly want me to be there but as I know such little Thai I don’t speak much as they converse quickly and I have no idea what they say, but of course hear “farang” a lot. I am working on getting used to that, it is not meant derogatorily by them but in Thai culture they laugh a lot and I am working on getting used to being laughed at, as it is very different from being laughed at in the U.S.
As instructed by one of the directors, Moosa went next door to a fruit stand and returned with probably a kilo of ramutan. They cut open a bunch of them on one plate and left a plate of unopened fruit. They dug into the unopened ones and motioned for me to start eating from the open fruit plate. As much as I love to eat, I am having a hard time keeping up with the Thai people. I asked for them to help me finish mine – of which there were probably 10 ramutan, much more than I wanted but they would not. I ate all but two and still felt bad for leaving them but was entirely bloated. (well not really bloated as the food seems to be much healthier but really full) Im lao. Very Full.
The afternoon was exciting because the rain cleared for a bit and Boonmee and Moosa took me to visit some local sites in Kuraburi. We turned down a dirt road full of potholes and puddles near the school. I was not sure what were going to find down the road as we meandered through rubber trees and palm trees. We passed motorcycles of course. Three riders seems to be pretty standard. It is also amazing to see the person driving also holding an umbrella in one hand in the rain. Ponchos are also really popular and come out immediately when the rain starts dropping.
After driving down the road for a bit, we stopped at a small building, half open air. Moosa and I got out and Boonmee drove away. I never seem to know what’s next and had expected him to stay. We were now in Pak Triem village and visiting a project that does “tie-dye” or “matyom” in Thai. It is very different than the U.S. tie dye as it is usually one color and white per sheet and not full of rainbow colors. It is quite beautiful. To create the tie dye the women use many natural materials to create the dye such as mangrove bark and mangosteen (Mangkut – delicious fruit). Kesara showed us around the little shop that produces items such as scarves, sarongs, tablecloths, purses and pants. The story behind the products is the most interesting part. The women working on the products were all living on one of the islands offshore of Kuraburi when the tsunami hit in 2004. It destroyed the entire village and they moved to a new village where they are still today. Kesara is a wonderful woman who is actually a volunteer from Bangkok who came to the area in February 2005 to help rebuild the community and introduced the tie dye production. It is popular in Thailand but unique to this area of Phang Nga as it is not that common. A small bamboo and palm hut sat about 20 feet away from the tie dye and Kesara said that it is her house. She invited me over and I willingly went. It started to pour shortly after and it was a nice dry haven. She made me coffee and we sat and talked – in English of course. Moosa joined us a little later “Stephanie, why didn’t you invite me?” They spoke in Thai but translated for me too. I shared some thoughts on American tourists and how some would really like to visit and others really do not want to leave the pristine 5 star resorts in Phuket. The hut was a trip, it was a build up wood floor covered with mats so completely dry. She has a tent inside the hut in which she sleeps. A 20” or so TV sits almost in the middle of the small hut and was on the whole time we were there showing a Thai soap opera. Other items in her small hut were a nice fan, some coral and other shells and wood from the area, a very comfortable hammock, clothes, some cookware and bins full of completed tie dye. Apparently the hut was built by rotary and so were the water tanks that sat outside the front door. She was very hospitable and I told her that I would be back. Can’t wait to take Jeff to meet her. She also gave me information on night fishing eco-tours that they do in the village – fishing in the local mangroves. She used to have a volunteer from America who helped with some English brochures and took beautiful images and he is a photographer. The visit inspired me again about community-based tourism and made my brain churn on how to make it feasible for locals. There is of course the concern expressed by Kesara and others in the village about preserving the local culture which means that tourists really need to be sensitive to the culture. Particularly dressing appropriately and abstaining from drinking. They have a website which I have yet to see as I do not have internet access as I write this – www.paktriam.com, check it out. Boonmee joined us in Kesara’s hut after awhile and we all talked to her for awhile. It was very nice and refreshed my spirit.
After returing to Ban Triem school, Boonmee and I headed to Khao Lak as he was very insistent that he drive me rather than I take the bus. As I got in the front of the truck with him, the back cab opened and in piled a few students…then a few teachers – 5 in all along with my bags. None of them would join me in the front. I at least took a bag and put it on my lap, I felt like a princess once again. I figured out through English and Thai from Boonmee that we were taking them to do Thai dancing at the World Vision office in town. World Vision is imprinted everywhere in this area – from the computer room to new houses built after the tsunami to random road signs pointing to I don’t know what.
After dropping them off we picked up Soopa and she joined us for the trip to Khao Lak in the pouring rain – about 1 ½ drive. I knew where we were going as I had been to the hotel before and was embarrassed when they dropped me off at a very nice hotel on the beach. Although amidst a ton of construction and a dirt road (recovering from the tsunami), I felt horrible having them drive me so far and then leave me at a very western hotel. Soopa is very protective of me and told me to be careful and do everything in my room and make sure not to go out at night. I assured her that other students would be around me too so I would not be alone. So now I sit in a big room with a king bed and a balcony overlooking the ocean. It is beautiful and I have to admit comforting based on my western ways, but my granola bar dinner and expensive appetizer in the hotel bar does not even begin to compare to the hospitality, warm welcome and delicious food of the Thai people.

2006-06-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

June 20th
Today was my first full day at Ban Triem. The morning started with roosters waking me up at around 6 AM – it was ok as I needed to be ready to go by 7:30 AM and have breakfast with Boonmee and Soo-pa first. Tackling the toilet was an adventure in itself as when the motor switch (located in an obscure location downstairs) is not on, you can not “flush” the toilet but just pour water into it. I tried to ask Soo-pa if the water needed to be running in the big bins before I used it and after trying to communicate she turned on the motor, still not sure if it is necessary. Oh well. I will learn I guess. Breakfast was catered to me I think – egg and toast. I think this came out of a conversation at dinner last night and then the quick trip to the store on the way home from the restaurant, the farang meal was bought.
We drove to school in the nice Toyota truck, dropped Soo-pa off at school and then headed towards Ban Triem School. Before pulling out of Soo-pa’s school, Boonmee made sure to roll down the window to show the teacher he knew the farang in his car. We both laughed.
Another awkward day, but I am very grateful to have Moosa even though we don’t always communicate that clearly. I was left in the computer room to “relax” and I think perhaps plan a lesson (which was not achieved) and I was the highlight. Students came out of their classes, swarmed around me and began asking me questions. To which I was only able to say “mai kao jai” I don’t understand. I could ask their names and then played the game of reading the dictionary to try to ask them questions. They knew some English and were very proud to say “my name is” and not always give their name. Very cute. I am I guess surprised by the mellow Thai school. From at least a foreign view it seems that the kids are running around a lot and not always in class – I had 2 hours of questioning. But I would get a rotation of kids so think they have a free period or something. It was unclear when I asked Moosa.
I was invited by Moosa to come to the Director (principal’s office) to introduce myself to some people who wanted to meet me. It was awkward and it wasn’t until I left and asked Moosa more questions that I realized that they were all Directors at different schools in the area. Regardless I was invited to have lunch with all of them and we went out to eat, taking Moosa with us of course as he is the only one who has a stronger command of the English language. We ate various local dishes, fish soup, chicken with cashews (spicy but delicious), fried little fish and so on. I was given way too much food as usual and ate it as expected. Not finishing is seen as wasteful and is looked down upon or at least the polite thing to do. I sparingly drank the water as I was not sure at to whether the ice cubes were filtered and want to avoid the big D. Needless to say I am a bit dehydrated, but using squat toilets sparingly is OK with me at this point.
After lunch I sat patiently in the Director’s office with a few of the other Directors and Moosa as they came up with a plan for how I will spend my time. However, I was not asked to participate and had no idea what they were saying. Mai pen rai.
Moosa then invited me to the Young Guide class where I introduced myself and they were asked to stand up individually and introduce themselves, “My name is…. My nickname is…. I am ….years old.” It was a time full of giggles and eye contact avoidance from the intimidating farang. Much different than the interaction earlier in the day when they were asking me many questions, but I guess mainly in Thai.
After school we picked up Soo-pa at her school and then made a few stops in Kuraburi. I asked to buy nahm plau (bottled water) as I need a stash of my own. We stopped at three different places, one a talod sod (fresh market) where we bought food for dinner. Plaa-muuk (octopus), plaa-tok, (fried fish – well at least to be fried) and some vegetables. Soo-pa is very hospital and will not let me do a thing. She says that when she comes to USA, I will do everything – cook, clean up, etc. I invited her to do so. The octopus was put in a soup with some cooked egg and vegetable which was really nice. The plaa-tok was also very nice. I was given entirely too much food and really worked to eat it all. It was also followed up my mang-kut (mangosteen), ramutan and some other fruit – all sweet and delicious. Tonight after taking a refreshing cold splash shower I showed pictures of my family and then spoke English and Thai with Soo-pa. She wants to learn more English and of course I want to learn more Thai.
Upon learning that I will take the bus to Khao Lak, they really are against it and want to drive me personally the 100+ kilometer drive. I have said no thank you many times but then finally accepted. They really do care and want me to be safe. They even called their daughter who’s 24 on the phone just to have me say hello. The adventure continues tomorrow in Ban Triem School and then back to Khao Lak.

2006-06-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2006
Well folks, today was full of many adventures. The day started with a torrential downpour that sounded like it was going to come through the roof of my room at the “Grand City Hotel” in Khao Lak. I packed up my bags and headed downstairs with Morgan and Stephen (two guys in my program) to meet the driver scheduled to pick us up at 8:30 AM. We joined a vanful of students with the Hotel Entrepreneurship program at Kenan. We drove to the Kenan office at the north end of town and got a quick tour and briefing from Nakorn, our contact in the local office. Then we were off to visit the three schools I will be working with while in Thailand. The van ride up the coast is not for the weak hearted or those who easily get carsick. The driver drove very quickly, and it was more than once that I found myself cringing and deciding to no longer look out the window as we buzzed around motorcycles, passed those who were already passing and barreling towards oncoming traffic. However I could say that it felt safer than many of the cab rides in Bangkok.
The day was full with a lot of nodding and smiling and waiing as Nakorn spoke in Thai to the principals and teachers at the school, introducing me and coming up with a plan to split my time between the three schools. We first visited Tablamoo, a beautiful brand new school that was funded by the favored princess. The old school was destroyed by the tsunami. The resourceful Thai people decided to build this one on stilts this time and the underneath part serves as a great place to play and have outdoor activities without getting wet in the constant rainy season. I will be at Tablamoo once a week (plus maybe some time on the weekend) to help out with their Young Guide program. There is a nature trail behind the school that they would like to develop and use to train the students and potentially draw tourists.
The next stop was Lam Kaen School not too far away and was more of what I expected in a Thai school – wooden shutters and showing wear and tear. The students of course were all smiles as the farang passed and shouted out “hello” with joy. The principle was also very nice, as were the three teachers I will be working with. We were given terrific little bananas and mangosteen to eat which also helped occupy our time through the incessant nodding and smiling while Nakorn spoke with them in Thai. The mangosteen was a first for me, but definitely not a last as it was a delicious, sweet and refreshing fruit, known as the “Queen of Fruit”. One teacher pulled me aside on our way out, put her arm around me and said, “I am glad Stephanie is here so I can work on my English.”
After leaving Lam Kaen we headed north towards Kuraburi- a long trip up the coast. We stopped for lunch at a noodle restaurant with Nakorn. It was delicious – I had pork soup with thin noodles, fresh Thai basil and bean sprouts. Morgan asked Nakorn the difference between his meal and ours and he said that his soup had more blood in it to make it thicker. My appetite was suddenly quenched (good thing I had eaten most of it already) and off we went in the van to Kuraburi.
The scenery is gorgeous – we passed multiple rubber tree plantations – each run by small family units or groups, some shrimp farms, a plethora of spirit houses, water buffalo, dogs, motorcycles, misty cloud filled mountains. It reminded me a bit of Costa Rica and Hawaii – my only tropical references.
Our first stop in Kuraburi was at NATR, the organization I would like to get plugged into. Nakorn is friends with everyone there and introduced us all. A few gave me their cards and invited me to come back and work with them.
We reached Ban Triem School not too much later, but definitely outside of town. The school was a bit more rustic but nice. It is painted bright lavender, apparently the princess’ color. We ran through the drill again of Nakorn speaking and Stephen, Morgan and I trying to nod and smile. I was getting extremely exhausted, jet lag and lots of Thai in one day. Moosa is the “young guide” teacher and has the best English skills of anyone in the 3 schools I had visited. I am very fortunate to have him. I tried to engage but have such little Thai that it is embarrassing and I feel bad.
There are accommodations for me on the school grounds, a new building very basic room and bathroom separate and down the hall. There are a few other teachers that live there. They did not have a mattress or mosquito net for me yet and so I am at the principal’s house tonight.
After the Kenan crew saw me off I was introduced to the other teachers, already forgot all but one’s name. Moosa showed a large computer room – very nice equipment funded by World Vision and a Canadian organization. After being followed by a few young school girls we eventually left school and went to another school. Not really sure why we are there, it turns out they want my help with English skills as well. Tomorrow I will talk with Moosa to see how this fits with his plan – and Kenan’s too as I am supposed to be focusing on the tsunami and sustainable tourism.
When I thought we were on our way to the principle’s house we actually were on a tour to look at different areas of Kuraburi and a little of the tsunami destruction there. We stopped on the side of the road a bit later and a woman jumped in the car – the principle’s wife. We then headed to a restaurant and ate dinner. They would not let me pay and I think were a bit surprised that I ate the spicy soup. We made one more stop at a market before getting to their home. Their home is pretty large and has two stories. The principle paused with the lights on the house before we pulled in so we could all admire it, and laugh as well J. Geese were honking outside amidst the rain. When inside, I sat and talked with Moosa and he translated for the principal for awhile. The wife rescued me a bit later by showing me my room – very nice, their daughter’s room when she is home. Glad to be in a home and will probably stay here instead of the school if I can. The shower is a trip and I am still trying to figure out the whole bathroom. The water runs on and off and fills and overflows large buckets from whence you scoop the water and splash on your body. The floor floods when you bathe and runs down the drain. Refreshing but new to me.
I am wiped- already fell asleep writing this.

2006-06-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Bangkok
Sorry it has taken so long for the first post from Thailand. Having a great time. As we are located in Thonburi, across the river from Bangkok, I have been able to experience more of the local culture - being really one of the only farang. For breakfast I have been getting to know the local street vendors (well at least by recognition- my Thai language is pretty much limited to Hello, How are you and such as of yet). Today I had a tasty dumpling with Pork and vegetables in the middle. Also had grilled toast with sugar - had not idea I could find such a thing here! Yesterday it was some delicious black sticy rice topped with baked custard wrapped in a banana leaf and a waffle looking thing with raisins and corn in the middle but had a rich coconut batter- delicious!
The people in my program have been blessed to have Peung, a local girl that had her masters and will be teaching at King Mongkut's University of Techonology (where we are based) soon.
Yesterday we were dropped off at the Grand Palace to visit the site and the Emerald Buddha. It was very touristy but gorgeous and a must see if you are in Bangkok. My capris were not acceptable so had to rent a sarang (free of charge - just a deposit) to tour the site. Kim (who will be working in Bangkok) and I decided to go Wat Arun (across the river) as it is supposed to be a beautiful temple especially around dusk. At one water taxi stop we were told it would be 300 baht per person so continued walking and took the next one which was only 3 baht! Unfortunately the temple was closed for the evening. We grabbed a cab back to our neighborhood a minute before torrential downpour - the first rain we have seen. It poured for an hour - but that was how long the taxi took in the Bangkok traffic! It was amazing seeing the quick transition of motorbikes flying through traffic as they all suddenly were wearing ponchos and rain gear. School kids were huddled under awnings and street vendors were quick to cover up and protect their wares. They were all apparent much more prepared than I was. Kim and I finished up the evening with delicious chicken and cashews and chicken and vegetables with black pepper and two very large Chang beers. We watched a bit of the World Cup in the restaurant and headed back to our guest house.
Back to orientation in a minute - our time has been crammed with meetings and touring has been limiting to the evening. Having a great time. Take off tomorrow AM for Phuket, will meet with the local office in Phang Nga province and then to Kuraburi. Details in the air of course but going with the flow.

2006-06-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Well it is Saturday, June 10 AM. I get on the plane tomorrow morning. This week has been full of different emotions as I prepare for my time in Thailand. The obsessive compulsive tendencies in me led me to be occupied with getting an appropriate gift for my host family as well as having the perfect combination of bags to take with me. Imagine the difficulty in finding a gift from UNC-North Carolina "the tar heels" where almost all paraphernalia sports a big foot and giving it to a family in Thailand where the foot is the "dirtiest" part of the body and it is a great faux pax to cross your legs so your sole even points at another individual. I settled with some stationery cards and a few other items that at least put "tar heels" in words rather than images!
Some of you may be wondering what the title of my blog means - farang in Thai is the word for foreigner and according to the guidebooks is used in many different ways, as a form of identification all the way to an insult, depending on the context. I also consulted my mini Thai dictionary and found that the word also translates to "guava" so you figure out that one. I guess I will find out for myself pretty soon...
Will post as soon as I can in Bangkok.

2006-06-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

This space will serve to hold my thoughts and experiences while spending the summer in Thailand. Please check in from time to time and feel free to send me your comments!