Email to Loki

The following is an email I sent to a Peace Corps volunteer in Azerbaijan. She asked me some questions about Thailand and I decided to do a Lonely Planet-like write up. Enjoy.

Yo,

All right, I'm sitting down to write you what we should have talked
about months ago. I will assume that you can get a map of Thailand
and will try to explain the locations of provinces (jangwat) and
cities (ampur) in as easy to follow terms as possible. The spelling
of the locations will be the transliteration that you will find on
most maps - everything in parenthesis will also be Thai
transliteration. Here we go.

1. What are some cool places to visit and see?

If Bangkok is the center of Thailand, the geography of the following
locations uses Bangkok as it's focal point - eg. "the south east"
means, south east of Bangkok.

The tourist trail in Thailand stretches from the beaches in the south,
to the mountains in the north. Most people that come here visit the
islands (koh) of Phuket, Samui, Tao, or Phi Phi. Seriously, take your
pick. They're all beautiful but hold different surprises on each.
For example, Phuket and Samui are the most traveled, but Phi Phi is
the most expensive and Tao is practically just for SCUBA diving.

The mountains (phu kao) in the north, centered around the city of
Chiang Mai, are also a nice place to visit and carry many advantages.
If you like trekking, waterfalls, and riding elephants, you may want
to spend some time tooling around the north. Just north west of
Chiang Mai is a popular tourist town called Pai that gets mixed
reviews from volunteers. I've personally never been there, but I've
heard both sides - that it's too touristy and has lost it's culture,
but also that it's in a beautiful location and has all the amenities
you would want while on a vacation. I refuse to go because I know
I'll be put off by it but if you like spending money and hanging out
with tourists, go check it out. Sukothai, which is also in the north,
was the first capital of Thailand and contains an ancient city that
history buffs in your group might love. Farther south yet is the
second capital of Thailand, Authiya, which in my opinion is much
prettier and contains better examples of ancient architecture than
Sukothai.

The northeast (Isaan) is by far the largest but least traveled place in
Thailand, and of course, where Peace Corps stuck me. I live in Ubon
Ratchathani, up along the Mekong River. My favorite town in Thailand
is in Leoi province because it is sleepy, contains almost no tourists,
is cheap, has excellent temperatures, and is absolutely beautiful. As
far as the rest of Isaan goes, there's really not much to see other
than some national parks and temples but if you wanted to come
visit me waaaaaaaaaaay out east, I'd love to put you up.

The south east, has gems, but it's also got coal. Let me explain.
Thailand is know for it's sex tourism. It's a booming industry here
and because it brings in so much money, the authorities have sort of
embraced it. As a result, the city of Pattaya is Thailand's sex
tourism hub and that's all I'll say about it. I've been all over the
country, to nearly every province, but I've never been to Pattaya so
that tells you just how much you need to see it. There is however, a
large island in that region butted up against the Cambodian boarder
called (Koh) Chang which is absolutely amazing. It's cheap, relatively
unknown, and absolute paradise. My best friend and I stayed in a
bungalow on the beach for 100 baht per person per night - that's
like 3 dollars American! I totally recommend it.

Finally, you've got the west. Kantchanburi is basically the only
thing west of Bangkok and it has a seven tier waterfall (naam tok)
that you can climb and is very pretty. If you're really into wanting
to see Burmese culture, there are two popular boarder crossings, one
north west of Kantchanaburi called Three Pagodas Pass and one in the
northern province of Tak called Mae Sot.

2. Do you know of any cheap (but nice) hotels in Bangkok?

Peace Corps volunteers stay in one of three guest houses while in Bangkok:

Suk 11 Guest House: Sukumvit road is the "main drag" in Bangkok. The
BTS Sky Train runs above Sukumvit and the alleys (soi) that branch off
of Sukumvit are numbered 1 to 150 - odd numbered alleys on the north
side, even numbered alleys on the south side.

Buri House: This is my personal favorite. The Buri is on soi
55. It's a little south of town, but still on the sky train so
transportation is not a problem. I like it because it's quiet and
doesn't contain any tourists - you may begin to see a pattern with how
I like to travel.

Thara House: Thara House is near the infamous Khao Saan Road, but
not directly on it. Thara House is just west of Khao Saan on a road
called Phra Atit. This is the most popular guest house amongst
volunteers because the rooms are cheap and it's in a location that
is accessible - the river taxi is literally across the street. If you've
got a big group with you, I'd stay at Thara.

3. What are cool bars/ hang outs/ interesting things to see in Bangkok?

Honestly, I could write a thesis on this question but I assume by now
you're probably like, "Holy shit, this guy is writing me a novel." I
love Bangkok and I know Bangkok. Volunteers in the city will call me
for transportation questions and recommendation questions like the one
above. I'll try and answer without going into too much detail.

Bangkok is full of interesting things to see. As a result, I will
limit my answer to the top five "must see" tourist sites in Bangkok.
This list is reduced to just tourists stuff and is in order of,
"Coolness."
5. Royal Palace and Wat Pra-gaow - The quintessential tourist stop.
You almost have to go if you're going to be in Bangkok. Be sure to
cover your shoulders if you're a girl and wear long pants if you're a
guy.
4. Chinatown - morning market and evening dining. During the day, it
looks like any other neighborhood in Bangkok. At night, it glows.
3. Jatujuk (JJ) Weekend Market - I've been told it's one of the
largest markets in south east Asia. You can find almost anything here
but it's only open on the weekend.
2. Chao Phraya river taxi - even if you don't need to go anywhere,
jump on the water taxi and go for a cruise. The boat with the orange
flag is the regular taxi that will stop at most piers.
1. Lumphini Park - I'm a bit bias here because I like city parks. In
the morning and in the evening, it's an excellent place to people
watch and wander around. On the north west corner of the park is a
hot pot restaurant that sets up on the sidewalk and is great for large
numbers of people.

Shopping in Bangkok is centered around the Siam BTS Sky Train stop.
The top shopping centers are MBK, Siam Discovery, Siam Center, Siam
Paragon, Siam Square, Central World, Central Chitlom, Gaysorn,
Pratunam, and Platinum Fashion Mall. I could give a description for
each but that would be overkill. If you want to go shopping, just get
off at the Siam stop and you'll find yourself in the middle of
marketing mayhem.

Once the sun goes down, Bangkok turns on the neon. Instead of telling
you about individual bars, I can just tell you about specific
neighborhoods since all of the bars in a certain neighborhood will be
similarly themed. RCA is a walking street full of clubs. Sukumvit 11
also has dance clubs. Sukumvit 22 and 33 have bars for foreign types.
Sukumvit 55 (Thonglor) to Sukumvit 63 (Ekamai) is full of Thai bars
where high society people like to hang out. Khao Saan is where all
the dred-lock hippy tourists drink. Soi 2, Sukumvit 21 (Asok) and
Patpong are where the naughty things happen. Sathorn and Silom
are the business districts and has rooftop bars as well as posh street
level bars.

4. If I wanted to take a Thailand cooking course for a day or two, do
you know of any place?

I'm sure you can take cooking courses in Bangkok, but I know for
certain that Chiang Mai has cooking courses. Just ask around.

5. Any Thailand travel advice? Words to learn?

Traveling in Thailand is extremely safe. The Thai people will
genuinely want to help you. Trust them until they give you a reason
not to.

One tip while in Bangkok: only hail taxi's that are lit - there will
be a red light in the bottom right hand corner of the windshield when
they are driving towards you; that means the taxi is available. Make
sure when you get into a taxi, the driver presses the big wide button
on the meter on the dash. The meter will start at "35" and it will
be displayed in bright red numbers. If you don't see anything on the
meter because he pulled away and didn't press the button, INSIST he
does or get out and find another taxi. Don't be the unsuspecting
tourist. The word for meter in taxi is, conveniently, "meter."

Helpful words:

Thank you - Kawp khun
Sorry - Kaw tote
I want to go to... - Bpai...
Yes - Chai
No - Mai
Little bit - Nit-noi
I don't know - Mai loo
Water - Naam
Eat food - Gin kaao
Bathroom - Hong naam
White person - Farang
Guava - Farang
Ladyboy - Guh-tuey
Give me my underwear - Ow gan-gaeng kang nai ma hai

My fingers hurt. I hope this information is helpful but not too
dense. If you have any questions or if you want to call me, I'm
straight chillin. Stay in touch and lemme know when you get in.
Take care.

Tony

3:36

That's not my official time, but that's what was on the clock when I crossed the finish line.

Ps. If there's anyone in group 122 that's reading this, what up? You got questions? Ask away and I'll post the answers. Might be kinda fun.

Dedicating Miles for the Marathon

A month ago, my friend Catherine and I were sharing running stories and she told one about a friend of hers who dedicated every mile of his Ironman race to someone he knew. I though this would be a great idea to keep motivated during the race because if I don't finish "this" mile, I'm letting down "this person." On my bus ride into Bangkok, I wrote down the people I wanted to dedicate my miles to and then I put them in order. Here's the list:

1. Mom - She created me. I mean, come on.
2. Uncle Mike - He's always been close.
3. Paul & Cara Jacobson - They've earned their fair share of karma by sending me the trifecta of magazines.
4. Geography - I know it's not a person but it's my favorite thing in the world!
5. Gary and Kylie Rafaelli - They helped make my experience in New Zealand amazing.
6. Co-teacher Wassana - She's been by my side this whole time I've been in Thailand.
7. Co-teacher Dtieu and family - They've been more than generous.
8. Dtak and family - My best Thai friend and his family.
9. Wuttiya - She taught me Thai, and put up with me; incredible!
10. Jared Diamond - He's the best geographer the world around.
11. Anna - She's my sis.
12. Phil - He's my bro.
13. Myself - Half way. Run that same distance, one more time.
14. Uncle Jim, Auntie Claire, and family - They've always supported me.
15. Uncle Tom, Auntie Mary, and family - They seem to be growing but I'm including them all.
16. Grandma and Grandpa Barnes/Beauparland - I miss them.
17. Jeremy Hare - My best friend.
18. The House on College St., Marquette - I spent a large percentage of college here.
19. The Red House - I spent the remaining percentage of college here.
20. Benny, his girlfriend Norah, and their unborn baby - For health.
21. Every other one of my friends - You've influenced me in ways you'll never imagine.
22. Peace Corps volunteers - Some of the smartest people I've ever met.
23. Max, Kran, and family - Hands down, the most giving people I know.
24. Dtong, Nit, Frame, View, and Wan - They are my Thai family.
25. Dad - Thanks for the genes.
26. My future - The last .3 miles are dedicated to everything I've got ahead of me.

I won't let any of you down.

Nearing the End

11/11/09

Tucker finished teaching around 4:00 and we didn't get back to his house until 4:30 which means we didn't start running until 5:00. The sun was just barely setting over the bubbly hillside as we began our run down the dirt road that connects everyone's farmland. The trail took us through a valley, but even the valley was full of highs and lows. Both sides of the path were surrounded in the distance by monolith hills covered by jungle and just inside of those were wave-like mounds half the size of the panoramic mountains. Corn is the main crop near Tucker and the mounds are almost all treeless to make room for agriculture.

By the time we hit the half way point it was already dark. We didn't care though. We walked and jogged the final six kilometers home, all the while talking and telling stories. The stars were out, brighter than I had seen in months and had we not gotten stuck in the dark, we may not have spotted them from Tucker's brightly lit village.

11/12/09

Today is the last day of my, "volunteer visit trip." My original goal was to only stay with other volunteers, in order to save on accommodation, to see some other sites, and to get to know my peers better. Over a span of almost two weeks, I was able to stay with volunteers all but two nights. I left Tucker's village this morning and right now I am in Nan. My bus for Utaradit leaves at 1:45 where I'll meet my friend Jeff and in his village for the night. Tomorrow I am going to the American Women's Club English Camp, which will pretty much signify the end of my trip.

Its been great being able to see some of my friend's villages and to share their experience with them. I often caught myself comparing my own experience to theirs but I realize this is unfair because every single person is dealt a different hand. A couple of times on this trip, I had to remind myself that even though another volunteer may have it better in so many ways, I played the hand I was dealt, not the hand they were dealt. Everyone's experience is unique. Your own experience is what you make it.

I don't know if anyone is reading this blog besides my parents, so I was planning on stopping after I get to Jeff's. If you are following along and you want me to keep writing, please comment or email me (mrtonybones@gmail.com) and it will motivate me to continue posting my experience. Otherwise, I'm going to get lazy if no one is interested in what I'm doing.

Northern Extent

11/9/09

Eli and his "father" - Eli is dating his co-teacher's daughter - picked me up in Payao and drove me the final 45 minutes to Eli's village in the dark. He's the only person on this entire trip that I'm visiting that isn't in my Peace Corps group. I'm in group 120 and Eli is in group 121, but as you've already read, Peace Corps love spreads far and wide. We got to Eli's and played Super Nintendo games until I was too tired to keep my eyes open. He was an excellent host.

11/10/09

In the morning, I woke up to the loud speakers announcing someone in the village had died, so that was pleasant. Eli and I drank coffee and ate oatmeal before heading out at around 7:30. I was informed that a bus would take me half way from Eli's village to my next destination, my friend David's village about an hour away. Just as I was sitting down on the bus stop bench, watching Eli turn the corner towards his school, an old man walked by and said, "You just missed the bus." Now it wasn't like this road was desolate, in fact the traffic was quite regular so I was certain another bus would pass by.

To pass the time I made some phone calls. I called my dad, my uncle mike, my friend Benny, and a friend of mine in Bangkok. I watched the road intently, planning on waving down the next available public transportation. Before I knew it, it was 10:30 and I realized all hope was lost. So, I started walking. The next intersection where the traffic would be heavier was only 9km away and I decided to hitch while walking. About two kilometers down the road, a man picked me up and gave me a ride the final seven kilometers. I only had to wait about ten minutes for the next bus.

Two hours later, I was in the town of Bpong! I add an exclamation point to the sentence because that's how you must say the name of David's town or the Thais wont understand what you are saying. You literally must exclaim the name. Bpong! is located in a flat plain with mountains and rolling hills surrounding the outer limits. My plan was to visit a couple of volunteers even more northern than David, but I was two days behind on my original itinerary and had to cut a good portion of my trip short. David's town would be the extent of my northern Thailand bumble.

I met David at his office and played on the internet while I waited for him to finish work for the day. Once he got off work we went for a run because David was originally planning on running the marathon too but has run out of money and can't afford the entry fee. After our run, we rode bikes over to a house where he tutors twin girls and ate dinner with their family. I enjoyed talking and playing games after dinner, but I especially enjoyed the desserts the girls made for David and I in their brand new oven. On our way home, we stopped at the house of a counterpart David brought to the youth conference I mention in an earlier entry who remembered me and wanted to see me again. We stopped by her house and watched a movie while helping her put fresh passion fruit juice in containers she sells in the local market. I had never eaten passion fruit before, so it was nice to have a taste and drink some juice. Once it got late, we rode home and crashed hard.

11/11/09

David and I woke up to the sound of his neighbor smashing food up in a mortar. We decided to go for a run, just as the sun was coming up over the hills. We ran through forests, fields, and pasture. Once we got back, David's neighbor, the one bashing food with a pestle, prepared a breakfast for us of traditional northern Thai food. The food was amazing. It wasn't spicy, but maybe I'm bias because Isaan food is some of the spiciest food I've ever eaten.

I caught a bus out of David's site towards my next destination, Nan province. My friend Tucker is nestled in the mountains of northern Nan. The ride from David's to Tucker's is only about 100 kilometers, but it takes almost three hours because of the switchbacks that climb and descend the hills. The views along the route more than make up for the road-sick inducing bus ride with mountain vistas that rival that of Guatemala and New Zealand.

I got off at the post office in Song Kwae and Tucker rolled up five minutes later. I ate lunch and now here I am at his school. I helped him with two lessons this morning because we both agree, our students get too used to our own accents and it is good to hear another foreigner speak sometimes to break that habit. I can't wait for our run tonight - Tucker was also going to run the marathon but has since decided to just do the 10k - because we'll be able to run mountain trails to peaks overlooking shallow valleys and jungle laden hillsides.

We All Work for the Government

11/7/09

Just before we parted ways, Michael told me he'd call me around 7:00 if he was going to head to Sukothai since I was interested in tagging along with his refugee officer team. I woke up the following morning around 9:00 and no one had called. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to know more about him, his friends, and their job but I didn't sweat it. After I took a shower, I checked my phone once again and noticed a text message. It was Michael. They were going to leave for Sukothai around 1:00 if I wanted to join them for the weekend. This is the nice thing about open ended travel, you're not tied down by itineraries, schedules, and other business. If you wanna go north, you go north. If you wanna go east, you go east. I went east.

They picked me up a little after 1:30 and we drove the two hours to Sukothai, or rather we were driven to Sukothai, in an American embassy issued minivan - one of the nicest minivan's I've ever been in. Once in Sukothai we were dropped off at our guest house to check in and snag a quick shower before hitting the town for dinner and drinks.

Michael's team consists of five people. Michael and Jaquet, an African American Native American who served in Peace Corps Haiti, and who can still speak creole, are the two "senior" officers - both of whom are only 30 years old. They do all the interviewing, case review, and managing. Claire, an American born ethnically Belg (both her parents immigrated from Belgium) and Dianna, who served in Peace Corps Ukraine, are interviewer trainee's right below Michael and Jaquet. Finally, Anna does all the fingerprinting and processing. Together, they make an excellent team, nearing a family. We went to bed that night, after hours together talking and getting to know one another, and they made me feel like I was part of that family.

11/8/09

We woke up early to tour the old city of Sukothai which gives the city it's notoriety. The old city is beautiful, but a bit sterile. I felt like at any moment some anamatronic monks were going to pop out and start chanting in an ancient language; like Disneyland Thailand or something. You can tell that the money that the old city brings in is used to keep it looking nice but it's all just a bit too nice I feel.

I was the tour guide. My family watched in awe as I communicated with the Thais without hesitation or confusion. They were all impressed with my ability to engage the Thais. I had a lot of fun playing host.

We left the temple complex around 3:00 and headed back west towards Mae Sot. I got dropped off in Tak and said goodbye to the people who have been the highlight of my trip thus far. We exchanged emails, hugs, and pleasantries until the van motored away. I got on the next bus heading north to a small village called Baan Tak where my friend Stoney lives. The ride only took about 20 minutes.

Now, I just want to say, I find it incredibly interesting how the smallest factors during travel can have such large implications. Once I arrived at Stoney's house, I told him I wanted to do laundry. By this time, it was already almost dark and although I knew my clothes wouldn't dry over night, I figured they would be dry by noon the next day (the time in which I had to catch my next bus). So I proceed to do my laundry. I was ecstatic to finally get it all done - you know the feeling, when you've got five pounds of dirty clothes in your backpack just taking up room and making everything else stink and finally you relieve the pressure by washing them. I hung the clothes, Stoney and I watched some T.V., and then we went to bed.

11/9/09

The next morning, my clothes were almost as wet as they were the night before. I assumed because Thailand is so hot, even at night, that they'd dry at least a little bit. No, still wet. 10:00 rolls around and my clothes are only beginning to dry. At this point, I'm getting nervous because I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to catch my bus, so I start looking at other volunteers who live closer than the next one on my list six hours away. I'm frantically making phone calls trying to find someone who's around who will let me stay - plan B sort of stuff.

At 11:00, the temperature rose a good 15 degrees. It got so hot, my underwear became stiff like chip board. Had my clothes not dried, I'd be in a totally different part of Thailand right now, typing up a similar story. As it is, my clothes dried and I caught my bus. Right now I'm in Payao, waiting for my friend Eli to come pick me up from the bus station which was pretty much my original plan. Funny how things work, or don't work, out eh?

Along the Boarder

Yesterday was turning out to be unpromising until we hit the piss. I didn't even want to drink a whole lot but when you go to four different bars, the chances of you buying a drink greatly increases. Again, the day was very dull with not much happening - laundry, coffee, crossword puzzles - and even the evening was looking like it was going to be uneventful until we got to the last bar. I rolled up and sat down to order a drink. Next to me was a man in his early to mid thirties wearing a wool shirt and corduroy pants. "Look, they've got Bombay," I said to my friend, pointing at the bottle of gin. The guy next to me who was obviously drinking gin and tonics overhears my comment, turns and says, "You're right. They do have Bombay, and they know how to make a good drink with it."

His name was Michael. After serving in Peace Corps Samoa, he landed a job with the US government using his noncompetitive status he earned by serving in the Peace Corps. He works for the department of homeland security as a refugee officer, traveling to refugee camps around the world interviewing potential American citizens that will relocate in the United States. I sat with Michael and fired question after question at him for more than an hour. At one point, I had to ask if anything we were discussing was sensitive information and he said, "I wouldn't answer your questions if I was divulging sensitive information." Apparently the United States is the largest relief country, taking over 10,000 refugees last year and possibly even more this year, followed by Australia and I think Switzerland if I remember correctly.

Michael has been working for the the department of homeland security, interviewing refugees in countries all over the world for about three years now. Can you imagine the kinds of things people have told him (or told his interpreter rather, who then relays the information into English)? I don't even want to imagine the horror stories he must have heard in the past three years. I was absolutely awestruck by his occupation. That's the kind of job that makes a person understand. The understanding that the world is not a fair place. The understanding that you can read books, watch movies, or even hear stories, but until you experience these atrocities first hand you will never know what it is like for the have-not's. The understanding that people all over the world, people just like you, people just like me, live at levels that are far more grave than our own. It makes me feel greedy. I realize opportunity is unfair, dependent on countless variables from the moment you are born but I can't help but think, "What if?" Ask yourself, what if you were the refugee Michael was interviewing?

What if?

Long Journey Into the Night

I recently arrived back in my village after two weeks on the lamb and had only been back for three days when I got a phone call from a friend of mine living in the south. She was trying to talk me into going up to Chiang Mai for Halloween because heaps of our friends were meeting there to dress up and celebrate the great American holiday. I was certain she wasn't going to be able to convince me after having just gotten back from an excellent trip but near the end of our conversation she said something that entered my brain like an earthworm buries itself in the dirt. She goes, "You'll regret it if you don't go." Two days later I found myself on a city bus heading down to Ubon Ratchathani. Here starts my journey.

10/30/09

At about 9:30am, I jumped on the rickety, always noisy, wooden floor bus from the main city in my area down to the biggest city in my province, Ubon Ratchathani. A friend of mine who lives in the city reserved me a ticket on what is apparently the longest bus in Thailand. I arrived in Ubon around noon and waited only a half hour for my bus to arrive.

Now, I know what it must seem like, the longest bus in Thailand, 18 hours in a chair, rough rural roads, but I'm so used to it now after almost two years of living here, all the buses are the same. Whether I take a two hour pick-up truck, a five hour tour bus, a ten hour minivan, an 18 hour over-night, the variables associated with traveling through Thailand even all rides out in the end. For example, I'm tall here, like...megatron tall, so no matter what I ride in, it's almost always going to feel tight.

I read and slept the 18 hours away and arrived in Chiang Mai at about 6:30 am, Halloween morning.

10/31/09

Chiang Mai is beautiful city, save for the air pollution. It sits at the crossroads of all major antiquity caravan routes originating in China and ending in Myanmar. Because of it's strategic location in the hills of northern Thailand, ancient Chiang Mai was completely surrounded by a moat and city wall. The moat remains but only remnants of the wall still stand. Nonetheless, Chiang Mai retains a character unlike any other city I've seen in Thailand, save for the air pollution.

I checked into my guest house on the east side of the city wall and set off for breakfast. One nice thing about Chiang Mai is how easily walkable the city is, save for the air pollution. You can get anywhere in and around the walled city center by foot, which garners it extra points on my personal "Cool City" scale (to give you some comparison, Sydney, Australia has the highest score on my Cool City scale).

I set up shop at a place called Art Cafe just south of my guest house but still near the east wall. Art Cafe sits on a corner of a busy intersection across the street from one of the main city gates, making it an excellent location for people watching. Now, I've been to Bangkok countless times and I've also visited other tourist destinations within Thailand but nothing prepared me for the alienness of Chiang Mai. It's like I entered a different country - and I very well could have with how long my bus ride was - but I was definitely still in Thailand. Back in my village, I am the only white person for miles and all of my communication is in Thai or Laos. I saw more white faces on that particular street corner than I have anywhere else in my time here in Thailand. The languages they were speaking were also indiscernible. I could feel myself beginning to breathe heavy, my temperature was rising, and I felt very jittery. I was experiencing what I would describe as "inverse culture shock." What I mean by this is, I have been living here so long that, even though I'm not Thai, I feel more like a local than I do a foreigner. Once I started seeing the influx of tourists, my anxiety level rose dramatically and I had to calm myself down with a little controlled breathing. After about an hour, I was able to convince myself that it was still Thailand and that the whole city would be the same; enjoy it for what it is.

Volunteers showed up in pairs and by night fall, we numbered in the twenties. Everyone dressed up and we held a party in the courtyard of the guest house I was staying at before hitting the night scene. My costume was Where's Waldo, red and white striped shirt, red and white hat, black rimmed glasses, and sneaky hiding places in pictures - my friends have a bunch of pictures with me poking my head out in the background. The other costumes were all very well done. We had a tree, a masquerade, Lady Gaga, a pumpkin, and other random things. After pre-gaming at the guest house we moved on to a bar in the city called Cafe Del Sol. All I can say is, I don't remember much after grabbing the microphone from the stage to sing, "Billy Jean." We had a great Halloween.

11/1/09

Art Cafe, I was soon to find out, is the most popular breakfast spot for the volunteers. A group of us met up there to recuperate over cups of coffee and breakfast burritos. After breakfast, a few of us decided to get a massage. This was however, not your typical massage. I followed the group to the Chiang Mai Woman's Correctional Facility. Yeah, we got convict massages! The story goes, these women have served almost their entire sentence and so to better prepare them for the outside world, the Thai government lets them practice a trade, in this case Thai massage, before being released. I got one of the best massages I've ever had but unfortunately didn't land any phone numbers.

I slept the day away in my room and woke up with time for a run. My friend and I ran laps around a stadium north of the city - I'm currently training for a marathon which I will run on November 22nd. In the evening the same friend and I went shopping at the night market outside the city. I picked up a couple shirts and a wool hat that would have cost me $30 in the states but only cost me $2.50 here. I crashed hard once we made it back.

11/2/09

It's a Full moon: Thais are celebrating. Loi Kratong is a holiday in Thailand, my favorite holiday as a matter of fact, in which the Thai people make little boats out of banana tree trunks and leaves, flowers, candles, and inscents and float them down rivers or in canals, really anywhere there's water. From what I understand, the symbolism is that the person doing the floating is appeasing the water spirits and asking for "mother water" to cleanse the body of bad karma. This may not be the academic definition, but it's close. The reason I like Loi Kratong is simply because it doesn't involve copious amounts of alcohol. Thai holidays can get crazy but Loi Kratong is much more laid back, chill, and relaxed than most.

Specifically in Chiang Mai the Thai's float lanterns made of paper into the sky for the same reason mentioned above. The sight is truly amazing, watching the sky fill with hundreds of glowing orbs. The only word I can use to describe the scene is, magical. A group of about ten friends and I sat up on the rooftop of a bar that overlooks the city. We were able to watch the sky fill with lanterns for about three hours while listening to reggae, drum and bass, and dub music. After the bar, some people split up to watch the chaotic scene down by the river and the rest of us ate burgers before crashing out.

11/3/09

In the morning I went straight to the bus station where I boarded a bus that terminated in a rural town where my friend Cameron lives. He's about three hours southwest of Chiang Mai (Lii). He lives in a high, flat valley surrounded on all sides by mountains. We walked around his village, went for a run, and relaxed with a couple glasses of whiskey before eating dinner and crashing out. Nothing crazy.

11/4/09

I left Cameron's village early in the morning just as the morning rain let up. My next stop was farther west yet, near the boarder of Burma. In the main city of Lii, I met two Monks that were headed in the same direction I was headed and so for the next four hours, I proceeded to hitchhike with these monks until our paths no longer continued in the same direction. One thing to note about our on again off again transportation: while walking down a desolate but beautiful mountain pass, I asked the older monk if he thought we should hail a car. Prior to this we had just allowed the vehicles to pass. His answer was simple, "If someone wants to stop, then we will take the ride." I thought that a very Buddhist thing to say and I allowed my inner spirits to absorb the idea for...oh...about five more cars, until finally I waved one down and we were picked up. Patience Tony, patience.

I finally made it to Mae Sariang by about 3:00 and checked into my guest house. I changed my clothes and went for a run up a big hill to check out the view, which overlooked rice fields, rivers, cityscape, and mountains. It was very pleasant indeed. That night I talked to some NGO workers helping with Burmese refugees but they were uninteresting and actually very dull so I hit the sack early.

11/5/09

The pickup truck ride from Mae Sariang to my friend Peter's village is a five hour snake, up and down, left and right, near upside down ride between two mountain ranges which separate Burma from Thailand. I passed the time by watching the view weave it's way by. I finally reached his place but nothing could prepare me for what it looked like.

The Karen people are ethnically mountain folk who live in the hills which straddle Burma and Thailand. To make a long story short, the Burmese Junta and Karen people don't get along. Thailand has lent support for these people but only as refugees. As a result, the boarder between these two countries is littered with refugee camps (a total of seven in all from what I've been told). The largest refugee camp, which contains approximately 40,000+ people - there's no real way to count - is only about 10 kilometers from Peter's village. The site is incredible. Words, nor pictures, cannot do this Swiss Family Robinson-style land grab justice. The Karen people have built their houses on rolling valley hills out of bamboo and tree leaves, sunk in behind a mountain vista of sheer cliffs that loom over the people like a barrier to freedom. The west side is guarded by the main road that connects Mae Sot and Mae Hong Son and the east side is blocked off by impassable mountains that seem to reach the sky. We walked along the road and I couldn't help but stare in awe of the huts that litter the landscape.

Within Peter's village are Karen people who are nationally Thai. They smoke these huge cigarettes that look like stogie cigars and wear colorfully decorated clothes with tassels and fringes. They are short people, even shorter than Thais, but smile just as often. After dark, Peter and I had a couple of beers with his neighbor and I was able to learn a little about the history of Karen clothing. Once it got late, Peter and I headed back home and went to bed.

11/6/09

TODAY! I'm caught up with my blog. Well, at least until tomorrow, right?

I'm currently sitting at an internet cafe in Mae Sot, a boarder town near the southwestern part of northern Thailand. I came down here to shop for souvenirs and eat foreign food - there's a strong foreign community all along this boarder due to the refugee camps. Who knows what's next, but I'll be sure to blog it all.

Dry needling

For the past week, I've been in Bangkok. Peace Corps fit the bill for my bus ticket and per-diem but it's not all glitz and glamor in southeast Asia's sin city. Let me explain.

For the past six months I've been training for the Bangkok marathon which I will run on November 22. The first five months of my training went as smooth as they could have been. I was running no less than 15 kilometers a day at one point. Then, on one of my distance days, I attempted to break through a plateau runners sometimes find themselves in. I ran 25 kilometers in the midday heat without resting and without taking in any water.

The result was not a breaking through of a plateau but a breaking of my body. I pulled a muscle in the back of my left knee called the popliteus. For a month, I couldn't run. It was devastating to my psyche after training so hard for so long and it looked like I wasn't going to be able to run the marathon.

Two weeks ago I called in to the Peace Corps medical officer and explained to him my situation. His immediate response was, "When can we get you in?" At this point, I was thinking all hope was lost because I could still feel the discomfort and the marathon was just over a month away.

I arrived in Bangkok on Friday morning and Peace Corps had me in the doctors office that afternoon. The procedure was simple: stick a long smooth needle through my skin and into my muscle, causing a twitch response which is an indication that the muscle is relaxing.


The approach is based on Western anatomical and neurophysiological principles and is not to be confused with Chinese Acupuncture. Dry Needling involves introducing fine, sterile acupuncture needles into “trigger points” of muscles. A trigger point is defined as a tight, irritable and painful spot within a muscle - exactly what I had. Dry Needling alleviates the symptoms of trigger points quickly and effectively by eliciting a twitch response. The feeling is much like a muscle cramp or sometimes a centralized electrical shock.

Immediately after my dry needling treatment, my knee was sore and it was uncomfortable to walk. But as the days progressed, I could feel the discomfort from the needling AND the discomfort from the injury melting away. I've got one more series tomorrow morning and then I'm all done. The best part is, I should be healthy enough to run the marathon. In all honesty, I would have never thought this procedure would work but I stand by it 100%.

As far as what I did in the meantime between my treatments, that's information for my personal journal.

Grasshoppers

I ate grasshoppers for lunch today. While I was eating the grasshoppers, I was thinking to myself, grasshoppers taste good but eating them just seems wrong.

What's going on and the Youth Conference

Hello again. For months, I wondered why I haven't posted regular, creative, insightful commentary on my life in Thailand. I like writing and I keep a personal journal that I haven't missed a week in. So why is this blog any different? Why? Because I don't have regular access to the internet.

In this day and age of social updates on facebook, twitter, myspace, blogspot, and the likes, it's easy to write down the thought or idea that just popped into your head. That is, if you have internet access. Believe me, I have things I want to share daily but the internet where I live is not regularly available. Then, once I do get on the internet, I'll sit at the computer, staring at the blogspot "new post" page trying to remember everything I wanted to say. It's more frustrating than helpful.

As a treat, I have included pictures of the Youth Development conference the group I'm a member of hosted during the first week of September.

I had to lead an activity in which participants broke into groups of four and had to lay on their backs with their feet facing in. I would then take a bucket of water and place it on their feet. The object of the activity was to have everyone in the group take their shoes off without spilling any of the water in the bucket.

We had the kids all paint their own designs on the conference t-shirt. Then, we had the conference participants cheer for their favorite designs.

This was our main conference room. All of the youth that took part in the conference are sitting down listening to a presentation.

I was supposed to do an activity in which students had to sit down, link arms, and then stand up using teamwork, but instead I decided to sing karaoke. The boy in front was the first and last person to volunteer to sing. He stole the show. Everyone in the background are volunteers who sang backup.

The opening ceremony was a red carpet affair and I was the host. We had paparazzi, a video camera for broadcasting, and EVERYTHING!

We ended one night with impromptu skits in which the volunteers stood in front of everyone and the audience shouted out a scene for us to act. This scene was, "Sumo." My diaper fit well but my opponents diaper kept falling off.

I was working, I swear. One of the activities I was in charge of was having students build card houses.

The proud winner of the t-shirt competition holds his design up for everyone to see. Pretty eh?

Just a couple happy faces.

We play a game throughout the three days of the conference in which you can put a clothespin on someone outside of the meeting room and if they walk into the meeting room with it still attached to them, they have to dance in front of everyone. I'm usually pretty good about checking my person, but someone got me in that spot I can't quite reach on my back.

A lovely panorama of the conference participants.

Bangkok Lights

My top five favorite things about Bangkok:
- The parks
- The food
- The night life
- The public transportation
- The opportunities

My top five favorite places in Bangkok:
- Vertigo Sky Bar
- Lumphini Park
- Chao Phraya River
- Kinokuya Book Store
- The Sky Train

My top five favorite places to eat in Bangkok:
- Siam Paragon food court
- Shabushi Restaurant
- Phahonyothin Rd. street vendors
- Thong Lor Japanese Restaurants
- Chinatown

Descriptions to come.

The Rainy Season

The ominous low lying clouds moving steadily across the sky have brought rain, the fields are flooded with light brown water and the rice sown only weeks ago is a wash of flowing neon green that resembles the color of a nuclear reaction. Rice planting season in Thailand is under way.

Rice is undoubtedly Thailand's most important commodity, not only within the country's boarders as sustenance but also as an incredibly valuable cash crop. The country itself is the world's leading rice exporter. As an American growing up eating rice once or twice a week (I always had other options for my daily caloric intake) I never realized just how important rice was until I came to Thailand and began eating the simple white grains every single day, three times a day. Rice is the most important staple food for a large portion of the human population as many poor people rely on rice for survival. Like other foods, rice is consumed without much thought as to how it got from the field to the plate. Movies or documentaries on Asia portray the poor rice farmer wading through waterlogged paddies wearing a conical Vietnamese-style hat. They always fail however, to explain the dedication, patience, resilience and effort that goes into cultivating the most important food in the world.

No one plants rice in the dry season. The technique involved in pushing the rice through the mud is impossible if the earth is hard and dry. Rural Thai farmers bide their time during the dry season by either working in Bangkok or lounging around the village, performing odd jobs and taking care of their family. The dry season surrenders to rain halfway through the summer which allows farmers to being preparing the fields. The dirt must be soft and malleable before the farmers can even start tilling. The rice paddies are essentially small plots of land quarantined by earthen ramparts that serve as walls which hold water when the land is uneven. Agriculturally, rice is a crop that needs copious amounts of water, not just for nourishment but also as a stabilizer while the stalks are young and weak. Each plot is designed as a basin for holding water at shin level. If plots at lower elevations are collecting more water than those higher up, farmers will use pumps to defeat gravity and flood the entire field.

The saturated fields are tilled using a automatic push-style tiller which has two wheels about four feet in diameter that look like thin metal waterwheels attached to a gas engine mounted in between and controlled at the helm by long lawn mower-like handles. Before mechanical tillers, farmers relied on beasts of burden to prepare their soil, but now water buffaloes live the good life (wallow, eat, and sleep). The farmer tills the field down and back, covering each corner of the paddy until it resembles a muddy off-road race course.

Before tilling even begins though, right around the very start of the rainy season, depending on the size of the field, a number of plots are set aside as rice stalk nurseries. The farmers carry sacks full of rice seeds through the plot and sow handfuls at a time, covering the ground evenly with the little white pellets. The field will begin to produce a thick green blanket just in time for the rain. Once the rice has reached half-maturity it is bunched together in bundles and cut to the same length, looking like thick bouquets of flowers with the tops cut off. Finally they tie a thin piece of bamboo around the stalks to keep the bunch tight. The rice stalks are incredibly buoyant and just float in the water during planting. When someone needs more stalks, they simply grab the nearest bunch and continue working.

The planting process itself is rather simple but physically straining. The farmer grabs a bundle of rice stalks with his/her off hand holding the roots facing outward. With his/her strong hand, the farmer pinches about ten stalks away from the bundle just above the root, inverts his/her hand facing the ground and pushes the rice through the water and into the mud, letting go when he/she feels resistance. The process is repeated along rows and columns about a half a foot apart until the entire paddy is filled with a bright green grid of lined rice stalks. Quick planters can move at a feverish pace, pinching the stalks, entering the mud, shuffling backwards and grabbing for more stalks without hesitation. But most people talk and laugh, listen to music and take water breaks without hesitation.

But why do they have to plant the stalks by hand? Why don't they just throw the seeds throughout the entire field like they do in the rice nurseries? It's simple: the total grain output would be much smaller considering the distance at which the stalks would grow next to one another. By planting by hand, farmers can determine exactly how close they want their stalks to be, ultimately increasing efficiency. Plus, once the fields are flooded, the seeds are unable to survive under water and will not grow stalks.

In a few months the fields will begin to dry out and fill in and the bright green grid will slowly transform into a sea of top-heavy dark greens that look as though something is weighing them down, bending like a weeping willow; that's the grain itself. In a few months it will be time to harvest the rice.

A poem about chickens

Is this a chicken conspiracy?
Sleeping soundly sounds impossibly
preposterous, sending me sliding steeply into lunacy.

Like pawns placed perfectly
around the perimeter perniciously
forming a feather flapping filibuster
preventing me from dreamily freely floating far from reality

Tossing my torso to and fro
'til the tumultuous throaty torture tips me too far
flipping, flying, frustrated
further towards the floor in a furious fixated fervor
fearing finally my mind to me must meticulously muster energy to main my enemy
maliciously.

But honestly, can it really be
that the enemy with a brain like a pea has it in for me?
Or is it me and my conspiracy theory convincing me subconsciously
of an imaginary chicken wake-up spree.

I hate chickens.

Mass transit is good

Bangkok is a cool city but anyone who lives there or has even just visited will agree, there's just too much traffic. I like maps, but I especially like this map.

The decision I've made

A long long time ago, I decided I wanted to join the Peace Corps after I finished college. It was a decision I made that would determine which paths in my young life I was to take. It would be years before I could complete my goal but the paths happened to be very straight and flat. I finished high school, entered college, finished college, joined the Peace Corps, and now here I am with less than one year left in my service. Everything that was placed in front of me while on each path had been easy to pass. I was preparing myself for that one ultimate goal, the Peace Corps, and I knew exactly what I had to do to complete it.

It's looking like I am going to finish my service successfully, which begs the question, now what? Even though I have 11 months left, "Now what?" is becoming a real part of my future. A long long time ago, I decided I wanted to join the Peace Corps, and then...I couldn't say. I drew a blank if I tried to plan for my future after my service, like someone who knows nothing about quantum mechanics pondering theoretical physics. I hit a wall and as a result, couldn't think of one good option.

How could I have been so irresponsible? How could I care so little about my future to just brush my inability to plan my life aside? How could I ignore the fact that I wasn't sure of anything after Peace Corps? But hey, back up, back up. These questions are valid enough to be asked but it wasn't like as though I never had something in the works. The truth is, after I was unable to decide during college where I would go after Peace Corps, I told myself the decision would be made within those two years of service. I did have a plan, even if it wasn't planned, and it worked.

The decision I've made for once I complete my service is to work at an international school in Bangkok and I'm going to pursue it passionately. I can say with no hesitation that I like Thailand. I know the people, I eat the food, and I speak the language. I'm comfortable here, almost as comfortable as I am in Michigan. Positions will open up starting in October and I will begin applying immediately. My decision was not made in haste. I've been thinking about where I want to live and how I want to live for over a year now. Bangkok is a big city with a few drawbacks, but for each drawback, it has something I like. International schools are popular in Bangkok and I'm hoping at least a few positions open up. Even though I was unable to plan for my life after Peace Corps, I was certain I'd figure something out.

What's my future look like now? It's time to eat rice.

I'm getting tired

I was writing in my personal journal the other day about traveling, trying to explain to myself the reasons why traveling is important to personal development. The last thing I wanted to do was sound like a motivational speaker so I wrote the entry as if it was an interview. I've decided to share a small portion of why I feel like moving away from what you are comfortable with (your home) for even just a short time to relocate somewhere unfamiliar, removing you from your comfort zone, is beneficial to the foundation of life.


The mundane monotonous patterns we find ourselves living in are necessary to keep our lives going. Working, exercising, eating, and sleeping are often times patterned activities we do on a daily basis without even thinking of straying from. The pattern is at home, the home in which you are currently living and we're locked into this march towards some great goal, striving to complete the tasks we've set forth for ourselves. It's not until we divert our efforts, wandering from our home, that we can ever experience new and unique things and learn upon them, therefor increasing personal learned experience in decision making and social development.

Why are older people wise? Why can an older carpenter never having never taken a college course in woodworking give advice to a professor on cabinetry? The decisions we make and the resulting experience we gain, both positive and negative, will influence how we will continue to make decisions in the future; it's these decisions which shape our experiences, in-turn shaping our personal development. Removing yourself from what you are comfortable with and breaking out of the patterns of every day life forces you to make decisions you may not be used to back home - it's all about the decisions. Experience is a result of having to make a decision. Factors affecting decision making while traveling include, but are not restricted to:
- People
- Money
- Time
- Family
- Language
- Safety

Which of these is applicable to life back home?

These are the kinds of things I think about while traveling. The view out the bus window as the sun sinks between two camel humped mountains on the boarder between central Thailand and Isaan is remarkable, glowing bright but dulled enough by the hazy clouds that concentrate in the distance. Does seeing the sun set between the mountains mean I've experienced more? Is traveling about bragging about the number of places you been and things you've seen? Should I fill my blog with colorful explanations of my surroundings because that's my "experience?" However beautiful, my experience isn't shaped by a pretty scene, but rather by the reason I can see the sun setting in the first place: I had to make a last minute decision to travel west rather than to go home towards the east, thereby chasing the sun. I'm able to watch the sun set because I wasn't ready to go back home. I made a decision and my experience is only enriched by the sunset. A romantic may believe the two were meant for each other (my decision and the sunset) but I'm skeptical. To me, it's the decision which unveils the experience.

I'm back in my village now, preparing for a hearty Songkran. Traveling is tiring and it's nice to be back even if my routine will feel like a pattern. Like I said near the beginning of this rant, the pattern is necessary to keep our lives going. It will feel good to recharge the batteries and prepare for my next tour.

"We'll get somewhere, sometime."

Its offical

Our mid service conference took place last week in Bangkok and all of the volunteers were in excellent form. It's incredible to think that I've already been here for one year, living in this Kingdom for a whole 365 days of my life. Looking back, I can say that it's gone by quite fast, but I've also had moments that seemed to never end.

Some highlights include sharing a room with my homestay brothers, living on the Mekong River, and meeting my current girlfriend. That's right, it's offical, I'm dating a Thai national. She great and if you wanna talk about it, just give me a call. I'll be happy to fill you in.

I want to send a personal thanks to Paul and Cara Jacobson for sending me the trifecta of male magazine entertainment, Rolling Stones, Maxim, and The Economist. These three magazines have collectively kept me up to date with everything I've wanted to know over the past year. I love you two so much for thinking about me, and thanks again.

I raise my glass of lao kaao (Thai rice wiskey) and say "Here's to the coming year. May it be a safe and prosperous year full of potential."