tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39492648954894484962024-03-05T21:26:01.812+07:00Keeping Ties in ThailandA Peace Corps ExperienceKayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-78383808052238950012014-01-29T15:09:00.001+07:002014-01-29T15:11:36.665+07:00Family<div style="text-align: center;">
As my second and final year in Thailand comes to an end I have been thinking a lot about how much has changed. I remember coming to Thailand eager and excited for the experience, but feeling entirely alone. I remember thinking that I would never be able to develop true friendships in a country and culture so vastly different from my own, especially considering the language barrier. Now, two years later, I am leaving Thailand as a sister, friend, and daughter.</div>
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One of the relationships that has changed the most, and that has had the biggest impact on me and my time here has been my relationship with Meh Lek. </div>
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When I first arrived in my village I arranged to rent a house Meh Lek owned next to the house she lived in with her two daughters, Al and Ear. Our houses are located in a family compound, along with her older sister, her niece, and a few other extended family members. Before I moved in Meh Lek fixed up the house by putting a new roof on, installing running water and a bathroom, and arranging for dishes, a hot plate, and a bed. I was incredibly grateful for everything she did, but I could tell I made her nervous and she didn't know what to think about me, while at the same time she felt responsible for me. The first night in my house she sent her oldest daughter over to cook dinner and eat with me. This dinner time arrangement continued for weeks, and made me uncomfortable because I knew Meh Lek and her younger daughter were eating right next door. Meh Lek was always very polite and friendly to me, but we were still strangers.</div>
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One year later I would often come home from work and find Meh Lek sleeping in my hammock or chatting on the phone on my porch. For dinner I would often make something at my house and bring it over to her house to eat with her and her daughters. Most of the time no one actually liked the food I brought, but they would pretend just to be polite. After dinner I would wash the dishes with my host sisters. When I broke a dish, which was a common occurrence (my excuse is that the soap is super slippery here), Meh Lek would wave her hand in the air and with a smile on her face say<i> mai bpen rai</i>. If Al and Eah weren't home I would usually eat alone at home and Meh Lek would do the same. During cold season she would offer me her bathroom to take showers in since the water at my house is freezing, but I always declined, not wanting to impose and instead chose to boil water at my house and take a bucket bath. </div>
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Two years later I am nearly always found at Meh Lek's house. Often I'm there before she or her daughters get home from work and am chopping up chilies in the kitchen and starting to cook dinner. We cook together nearly every night, whether or not her daughters are home. When I cook something that isn't exactly delicious, no one pretends to like it. Instead they laugh, making faces and telling me how terrible it is. Sometimes we argue about nothing. She gets annoyed when I forget to water the garden. She nearly always laughs at me when I do something stupid, but calls me daily when I am away from home. She has a running tally of how many dishes I have broken, and holds this over my head on a regular basis. I shower at her house after dinner, and have my own spot on the towel rack and an area to hang my clothes. Every evening we sit down together and she watches TV while I read. We have evenings of companionable, comfortable silence and evenings when we talk non-stop in a mix of Northern Thai, Central Thai, and hand gestures. Lately, when I go home at night she asks why I am leaving so early and invites me to sleep over. On a nearly daily basis she mentions how soon I am leaving and asks me if I will miss her. On weekends she forces me to pluck gray hairs from her head. She asks me what time I wake up and calls me lazy if it was past 7am, even though she already knows what time I woke up because she checks to see what time I turn the light off outside my house. After work I sometimes find her napping in my house on the cool tile floor with her phone charging next to her. We go for runs a few evenings a week and I drag her along when she gets tired, telling her to <i>su su. </i>I take her blood pressure once a week and get angry at her for the amount of salt and oil she eats. She has hosted my friends and family, comforted me when I'm sick, and made my favorite foods when I'm feeling down. When people ask her who I am, she calls me her daughter.</div>
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Her daughters are my sisters, and it definitely shows when we are alone together. We get into arguments about whose turn it is to do the dishes and who gets to shower first during cold season. I call them lazy for never helping Meh Lek cook. We joke with each other about boyfriends, and pick on Ear for her love of Korean popstars. They laugh at my clumsiness. Al stayed in the hospital with me for three days when I was sick. On March 16th, the day before I leave my village, Al is getting married and she has asked me to be her <i>puan-jao-sao, </i>or maid of honor. They moved the date of the wedding up just so I could be there.</div>
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Without this family my time here would have been an entirely different experience. We went from acquaintances, to good friends, to family. </div>
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The only picture I have of all of us together. Meh Lek, Meh Oui-Lum, Ear, me, Al.</div>
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Meh Lek and I at the Chiang Rai Flower Festival in December, 2012.</div>
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Ear and Meh, December 2012.</div>
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Al and I on one of our many weekend trips.</div>
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Meh Lek tying string on my wrist during a blessing ceremony at my house, January, 2013.</div>
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Dinner time. Pretty sure she is yelling at me for taking this picture.</div>
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One of the many afternoons I came home and found her asleep in my hammock.</div>
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A typical evening.</div>
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Meh Lek making dinner and laughing at me.</div>
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-61353275210874219022013-12-31T10:52:00.001+07:002013-12-31T10:52:29.663+07:00Happy Holidays!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I know that I owe updates and pictures from the last two months, but for this post I've decided to focus only on the last week since it was pretty fantastic and I actually have some pictures to post. The last two months will follow soon enough so just <i>jai-yen-yen</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On Christmas day, rather than lounging around the house drinking coffee and eating apple turnovers, I woke up bright and early and biked to the school for scout day. I was told the day before that we would be leaving the school around 8:00 to bike 20 kilometers to a waterfall, play some games with the kids, and then bike back. You would think that after two years here I would realize that 8:00 really means 9:30 but for some reason I still showed up on time. After the morning assembly, opening speeches, bicycle repairs, and splitting up into teams we were finally on the road. Once we started biking I realized that I was the only adult biking, and the teachers were all driving motorcycles or trucks and cheering us on. It was a beautiful bike ride, through serene country roads with sweeping mountains in the background. At the waterfall the kids learned about the national park, cleaned up trash along the river, jumped of bridges, and climbed ropes while hanging upside down. I made Christmas cookies for all of the students and teachers that were devoured instantly. By the end of the day the kids were happy and exhausted as we started our bike ride home. When I got home two of my favorite kids were waiting on my porch to wish me a Merry Christmas and discuss the newest Korean popstar heartthrobs while opening presents. As soon as they left another one of my neighborhood kids showed up asking me why my Christmas party hadn't started yet. Since I couldn't handle the look of disappointment on her face when I said there was no party this year I pulled out cookie dough I made the day before and let her decorate and bake some </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cookies. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Two days after Christmas I worked with the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) to distribute blankets and sweaters to the elderly, children, and the disabled in my village. We were able to distribute over 200 blankets and 200 sweaters, helping more than 400 people stay warm during cold season on the mountain. All the supplies were donated by PDA using funds supplied by the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation in New York. I was able to contact PDA after hearing about them from Peace Corps and connected PDA with people in my village in need of the supplies.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> You might not think of Thailand as ever getting cold, but in my village in the far north it has been dropping down to around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which is very uncomfortable when you live in a wooden house with a metal roof that doesn't attach all the way. The blankets and sweaters were definitely appreciated, and the villagers couldn't have been more grateful. Most of the people who received blankets and sweaters are from either Hmong or Mien Hill tribes.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1c2a47; font-size: 20px; line-height: 14px;"> </span></span></div>
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That's all for now. Happy New Year!</div>
Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-47745261869283856392013-10-14T11:35:00.003+07:002013-10-14T11:41:59.440+07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
The last few months have been a whirlwind. I had been planning on writing several blog posts along the way, but something more interesting always seemed to come up. A few of the events from the last two months really deserve individual posts, but I've come to accept that that's not going to happen. </div>
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In August I held a sexual education week with my 7th and 8th grade students. We played games, pretended eggs were babies, learned about birth control, using condoms, being a parent, and had a mini concert on the last day. The kids loved the week and even asked me when they could learn about sex ed again. </div>
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The next week I was off to Central Thailand with five of my 5th grade girls for the first annual Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Thailand. We brought 50 Thai youth together from all over Thailand for a week full of leadership, volunteerism, self-esteem, and goal-setting activities. For me, and the two other PCVs leading the camp, it was the long awaited outcome of over a year of planning. The girls had an amazing time and many were crying and clinging to us on the last day of camp. Some of them have been calling me regularly just to say hi and see if I can go visit them. The five girls that I brought are trying to start a GLOW Club at our school and we are in the process of making plans and working with a co-teacher so that the club can be sustainable when I go home. Before the camp my five girls were incredibly shy and self-conscious but they have since become much more outgoing and will even help me lead games and activities at school.</div>
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I took six pictures during the camp, so credit for most of these photos goes to Karissa Warner!</div>
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Since Camp GLOW I've been back at site enjoying some time at home where things are never dull. Last week my village had a ceremony at the local temple where we blessed the dead and gave them offerings such as soap, pots and pans, clothing, money, and food. I chose to give offerings for my grandmother, who passed away during my service here. My whole village found out I was doing this and there was a big debate about whether or not she would be able to hear the monk call her name all the way from America, and the fact that she wouldn't understand a word the monk said. I told them "baw bpen yang" and did it anyways.</div>
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In other exciting news I was going to borrow a weed wacker from my neighbors the other day to cut the 'grass' around my house when I camp up with the brilliant idea to borrow his cows instead. This scary looking creature and I are now often seen eyeing each other warily across my threshold, enjoying our symbiotic relationship.</div>
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Other than all of that I've been working at the school doing life skills activities, teaching some English, entertaining the students on the weekends, and teaching everyone how to make cakes. I've also been spending more time than ever at my host families and neighbors houses as I start to think about how quickly my time here is winding down. Right now is school break for a few weeks, and to take advantage of that time I'll be spending some time exploring Laos and different areas of Thailand. I leave tomorrow for Laos, then heading to Nong Khai to see the Naga fireball festival, taking a ferry to an island to get scuba certified, than island hopping on the Andaman Sea for a few days before heading to Bangkok for Halloween.</div>
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Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-48003711783708314992013-08-25T16:46:00.002+07:002013-08-25T16:46:47.815+07:00The night my village floodedLast month I was sleeping peacefully at 3:30 in the morning when I heard people screaming and shouting at my neighbors house. I lay in bed for a minute trying to hear what they were yelling and trying to figure out what the heck was going on. The screaming showed no sign of abating so I quickly jumped up and rushed downstairs to see what was happening. I opened my door and stared in shock at the raging river that was rushing between my house and the neighbors houses. My neighbors screamed for me to pick up as much as I could from the first floor of my house and then to try to get over to where they were. I immediately grabbed Porky (my hedgehog) and brought him upstairs. On my second trip I grabbed my running shoes and before I knew it the water was rushing into my house and I couldn't even get back to my front door to try to shut it. I called my neighbors to tell them that I was stuck in my house and could not get out because the water was too high and moving too quickly. The water was rapidly rising and began splashing onto my second floor (there are only 4 steps up onto my second floor so it's not quite as crazy as it sounds). The current was incredibly strong and I saw motorcycles being swept away, a dead cow, and my neighbors washing machine rushing past my house. I had never seen a flash flood before and had no idea what to do, how long the water would last, or how high it would rise. I grabbed my phone to call Peace Corps and let them know that I was in trouble in case anything serious happened. PC immediately reacted (thanks Phanuthat!) and called the Nayoke (similar to a mayor) to see what was going on and if they could get me help. Next thing I know the Nayoke is sending a boat of soldiers to try to rescue me from my house. A few minutes later I got a call from the soldiers telling me that the water was flowing too quickly around my neighborhood and no one could get in or out, even on a boat. They told me to wait it out on my second floor, and not to enter the water. I told them not to worry about me and that they should assist the elderly and children before helping me. For some reason I was oddly calm (or at least that's how I remember it) and skyped with my family as I collected some water bottles, some oatmeal, and settled down to wait out the flood, hoping that it subsided quickly. About an hour or two later the water level was slowly going down and people began to emerge from their houses. Hundreds of soldiers showed up to offer assistance and get everyone to safety. My front door was blocked by a motorcycle that had washed away from someone's house and there was debris everywhere. I walked through about 1.5 feet of water full of debris to get to my neighbors with my emergency bag packed since we were told it might flood again. I only suffered a few scrapes/gashes and some bruises. Unfortunately not everyone was as lucky as I was. One woman died from a tree that collapsed on her house during the flood and many more were injured trying to get themselves or their vehicles to safety.<br />
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Most things on my first floor were damaged or lost as they were swept out of my house, but I am thankful that nothing else happened. For my villagers, the flood had a much greater impact. Some people lost nearly everything in their homes as well as the fields that they make their living growing rice and corn in. Countless chickens, pigs, and cows were killed which was a major blow to some villagers.<br />
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The mud left behind was unbelievable. The mud in my house covered my ankles, and trying to walk between houses was impossible with shoes on as the mud sucked them right off our feet. Everyone soon banded together and people from all over showed up to help. Soldiers came by with a fire truck to hose out our houses and helped carry things back that had been swept away. The Red Cross showed up with bags of rice, canned food, ramen noodles, and bottled water. I spent 3 weeks without a refrigerator, 1 week with no running water, and still don't have any chairs. I stayed at my neighbors house for the first week after the flood, sharing a bed with my host sister. That entire week every time it started raining at night we both lay awake in the dark preparing for another flood and praying that it didn't happen. One of my coworkers left her house that night and has yet to come back. She found another house to rent and had friends and family collect her belongings because it was too traumatic. Others are talking about moving and finding higher ground to build houses on. No one was prepared for this since my village hasn't flooded for 18 years. During that flood 18 years ago the water rose much higher, but it didn't move as swiftly so in some ways it was less scary and caused less damage.<br />
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It's now about one month later and things are pretty much back to normal, or as normal as they can be after what happened. We're still walking on pieces of wood artfully arranged between the houses to get around, and are constantly wary of more flooding. However, the kids are back at school, the adults are back at work, we're eating actual food again and are back to our regular routines.<br />
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None of these pictures can capture what it was like during the flood, and my camera died after one photo so I didn't actually get any in my house while it was happening, but they give you a decent idea of what the aftermath was like.<br />
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Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-32031918829478813292013-06-28T15:38:00.000+07:002013-06-28T15:44:07.411+07:00HIV/AIDS Camp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Earlier this month I held a camp about HIV/AIDS for youth in my village. We had 30 youth attend who were selected from the community because they either have HIV, lost a family member to AIDS, have a family member living with HIV/AIDS, or demonstrate risky behaviors. The camp was designed to educate the youth about transmission and prevention of HIV, while also focusing on reducing stigma and providing support to anyone who has HIV or who has lost someone to AIDS. My vilIlage has over 80 people living with HIV and I am sure there are many more who are undiagnosed or simply have not registered with the hospital. One young woman who came to help at the camp received HIV from her mother and has been living her whole life in the shadows so as not to make others uncomfortable around her. She is careful about not eating with people, cooking food, or even touching someone. While she knows that she can not transmit HIV to someone through any of those actions, she knows that others do not understand this and are often nervous around her. Hearing how she has adapted her life because of the stigma that surrounds HIV was heart breaking, and made me realize how important HIV/AIDS education is.</div>
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The first day of the camp we had 30 youth attend. All sessions were led by the local hospital, an NGO, and the leader of one of the youth groups. There were also many adults with HIV present to act as role models and show support for the project. The first session was a relay race that involved using condoms as balloons, an AIDS ribbon jig saw puzzle, and HIV T/F statements. A nurse followed up with questions about what the youth have heard about HIV, where they get information, and if they believe there is a stigma associated with HIV. Other sessions involved learning how to properly use condoms by practicing on cucumbers, and HIV role plays about stigma. My favorite session of the day was a water exchange activity that showed the youth how one person having HIV in a group of 30 can easily spread to 10 people if they do not use condoms to protect themselves. It also demonstrated how abstaining from sex is 100% safe, while having one committed partner is also safer than having multiple partners. The last activity of the day was an anonymous questions box where each youth had to write at least one question they have that they feel uncomfortable or embarrassed to ask.</div>
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The second day of the camp all of the youth had to bring a family member or adult that they are close to with them. The first activity of the day was answering questions from the question box which surprisingly went really well. The parents were able to learn what kinds of questions their children have, and also hear the answers. In the afternoon the kids made posters about stigma, prevention, transmission, and services our community offers to people living with HIV/AIDS. The posters came out great so we posted them in both of the schools, the health center, and the local government office to educate others about HIV/AIDS. The adults had a separate session with a nurse learning how to talk to kids about sex and giving them the facts and information they need before trying to talk to their kids. Some of the parents wrote me anonymous notes that I found the next day thanking me for doing the camp and telling me that they got a lot out of it and think their kids did too.</div>
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The two days of the camp I didn't end up doing much of anything but sitting around and eating snacks and drinking tea. I planned all the lessons, made all the materials, bought the food, ordered the t-shirts and then just got to sit around and relax. I had two PCVs come to help me, which was great to have other people there for my community to meet, but I felt bad that they came all the way from their sites and then didn't get to do much. However, in reality that was exactly what should have happened. It was a camp that I helped create, but that day of my community could have completed without me ever showing up. The next week I even got to have two of the girls who attended the camp come show the posters and educate students at another school about HIV/AIDS without me having to say a word. While it certainly wasn't a perfect project, and there are things I would change and do differently next time, it was a great experience and a project that hopefully helped to change the way a few people in my community think about HIV/AIDS.</div>
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Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-54147137443910112412013-05-11T15:10:00.000+07:002013-05-11T15:10:11.062+07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a busy few weeks since I last updated on my life. I traveled to Bangkok for a week of medical and mid-service meetings, visited a friends home, traveled to Chiang Mai for a meeting, was visited by the Country Director, had a friend come stay, completed an environmental project, and am currently planning an HIV/AIDs Camp. On top of all of that I was stung by a scorpion, am the proud mama of three chicks, and am getting ready to head to Cambodia next week. I also got all dolled up in a lovely Thai outfit, had my makeup done by a 10 year old and sat on a float during a parade while everyone dumped buckets of ice water on me. Always an adventure in Thailand! I'm so behind on blog posts that I won't go into details on all of that, but will share the story through some pictures. </div>
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For Songkran (Thai New Year) my neighbors woke me up at 6am to go to the temple and give rice to the monks. We had to sit on the floor for about 2 hours while the chanting took place. I was struggling not to fall asleep, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one.</div>
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Parade time!</div>
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This ones a bit old, but I can't remember if I shared it on here before. Hmong outfit for New Year Ceremony.</div>
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My coworkers and I looking cool with our matching shirts...</div>
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Hanging out a with the kids during the Songrkan festival. Everyone has to wear flowered shirts the whole week!</div>
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A village elder insisted that I take pictures of the fish he was drying out and then wanted to give me one to take back to America...</div>
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My youth group doing an activity during my environmental project. </div>
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Posters the kids made about Global Warming and what the world would be like with no trees or plants.</div>
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We planted vegetable seeds in egg shells then when they were ready planted them outside to start a garden. The kids had lots of fun decorating their eggs and seeing the plants grow.</div>
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My chicks getting ready for bed!</div>
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Bombay has been coming over every day to hang out with the chicks and see what I'm up to. </div>
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-51773180503738951572013-04-22T11:20:00.000+07:002013-04-22T11:20:43.738+07:00The Boston Bombings<!--StartFragment-->
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman; font-size: 16.0pt;">Tuesday
morning I was awakened by a frantic phone call from one of my neighbors telling me
bombs are going off in Boston. As I poured over news online and called family
and friends from home, a deep sickened feeling slowly settled into my stomach
and horror and disgust washed over me. Neighbors came over and asked me what
was going on, everywhere I went in my village for several days people asked me
questions about the bombs that I simply couldn't, and can't, answer. I am told
repeatedly that my home is not safe, that I should buy plane tickets for my
family and move them to my village in Thailand. Here I am safe, I am protected,
I am loved. My friends here question how I can love Boston so much, how I can
want to go back there. They ask me why this happened, who did it. Why do people
hate America, why do people want to hurt us? They start talking about the
bombers being Muslims, and suggest that I must hate all Muslims and be scared
of them. They mention how all Muslims in America right now must be scared to leave
their homes, how we must want to hurt them, to exact revenge. I try to explain
that I do not blame events like this on an entire group of people, but on the
few who actually committed and helped plan the crime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
struggle to come to grips with what happened, work through my horror, my grief,
my worry for my family and my friends. At the same time I know I have to say
something to the people in my village. I need to explain to them that that is
my home, that it is a part of me, and that while there are crazy, evil people
out there, overall we are good. I tell them to watch the news and see the
people running to help. Look at all the police, medical personnel, good
samaritans who put their lives at risk. America is good, it is full of loving,
amazing people. Every country has the crazies, the people who hurt others,
murder, rape, and rob. But I believe that every single country has more good
than evil. When something like this happens and no one runs to help is when we
really need to start to worry. When someone is raped or killed and there are bystanders that don’t step in is when real evil rears its head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
third goal of Peace Corps is to help increase the understanding of Americans
to host country nationals. This is my chance to do just that, to help them see
past the horror and see a city, a country, that pulled together and is forming
a unified front to get through this horrendous time. I want them to see the
Americans of different religions, different races that ran to help and continue
to offer support. I want them to see the Carlos Arredonondos of the world. I
am the only American they actually know, the only real example they have of
what Americans are like. I want them to be able to look at me, and the friends
and family that come visit my village, and see examples of the good in America.
I hope that they will be able to see beyond our village, beyond this country,
and recognize how many good people there are in the world and how that good can
always overcome the evil. I want them to see that this horrible event hasn't
filled my heart with hate. I don't hate the country these brothers were born
in, or their religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman; font-size: 16.0pt;">While
I will never be able to explain this tragedy to my friends and family here in
Thailand, I hope that they will be able to see the good that becomes evident
when evil strikes. I hope that they will be able to understand why I love my
home, my city, and the amazing strength and courage that Bostonians showed after the bombings.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-12101454030917579202013-03-27T14:05:00.001+07:002013-03-27T14:05:20.452+07:00Food!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since coming to Thailand my view on food has changed quite a bit. One year ago I couldn't manage to eat squash, many kinds of fish, anything with strange textures, or even zucchini. I wasn't the pickiest of eaters, but I certainly wasn't the most adventuresome either. One year later I have had pig brain, intestine, liver, fried bugs, ants, ant eggs, fish eyes, and so many other things that I can't even remember because it just isn't a big deal anymore. As you can imagine, Thai food in the village is a bit different from the food you might order at a Thai restaurant in America. Most dishes have very strong flavors, usually involving lots of spice. If it is a non spicy dish it is sure to be sweet, salty, sour, or bitter. Any "plain" foods just won't cut it. Thai people generally eat rice at least three times a day and are amazed when I tell them I would eat rice about three times a month in America. This is always followed up with questions on how I have survived so long and what exactly did I actually eat in America? Bread, pizza, and hamburgers? I've been here so long now I am beginning to wonder how I survived on such a small amount of rice too. The other day I made an egg and then went to the neighbors to get rice for my egg because I simply couldn't imagine eating an egg without rice. I didn't even realize how strange that was until I started thinking about this blog post.</div>
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A typical day for me involves a breakfast of yoghurt and fruit, or oatmeal and fruit. Sometimes I mix it up and make pancakes, eggs, or cinnamon buns but I generally don't eat Thai food for breakfast. I stock up on huge containers of oatmeal when I go into town, and buy yoghurt whenever I can find it. The first question I get asked every day at work is what I ate for breakfast. When I respond everyone says "ohhhh" and shakes their heads in horror. They simply can't imagine how I make it to lunch without eating rice. For some reason this question never seems to get old.</div>
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For lunch during the work week I almost always go to a small restaurant with a few of my coworkers. Restaurant in this context is almost certainly not what you are picturing in your mind. Sometimes we sit on the floor on bamboo mat, on a small wooden platform, or on the ground. Other times we sit at folding tables on plastic chairs. Meals are generally around 30 baht, or 1USD. Most of the time the restaurant is just someone who sets up a stove along the side of the road. Our choices are either noodle restaurants or rice restaurants. Noodle soups are common for lunch and are served piping hot with balls of pork and fresh vegetables. Rice restaurants serve dishes like basil fried pork, coconut curry dishes, and all the dishes you might see on a Thai menu in America with a big heaping pile of rice.</div>
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Dinner is my favorite meal of the day. I usually go to my neighbors house (I call them my host family but they really aren't) and share a meal with them. I always try to cook a small dish at my house to bring over but that doesn't always happen. I make things like stir fried vegetables, spaghetti, an omelet, or one of the few Thai dishes I can actually make. Most of the time my family picks at my food a bit and once in a while they actually really like it. My host mom usually makes two dishes every night and they are generally Northern Thai food. I love her food and have not turned down a single dish she has offered me. We often have heaping piles of fresh steamed vegetables, a hot soup, a pork dish, and a spicy dipping sauce. A few times a month all the families in my compound kill a chicken and make Thai Chicken Noodle Soup which I can't get enough of. They recently decided that they think I am allergic to this dish (I had a crazy allergic reaction the day after eating it) but I refuse to be told I can't eat it. Every night my two sisters, my host mom, and I sit on a bamboo mat on the floor in a circle with the dishes in between us and a large container of sticky rice. All bowls are communal and we all just dig in. We grab a clump of sticky rice, roll it into a small ball, and reach in with our right hand to grab a bit of food and eat it with the sticky rice. Some dishes require a spoon, but more often than not we eat with just our hands. The ball of sticky rice is used to sort of scoop the food from the bowl. Nearly every bite of food that goes into our mouths includes sticky rice. The rice helps even out the strong flavors, has a nice texture, and makes us full. I love sticky rice now but still don't eat it when one of the dishes contains noodles, or when I make potatoes. After dinner everyone drinks a nice cold glass of water from the communal cup.</div>
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Aside from the three regular meals we are always snacking. Sometimes snacks involve fried bananas, fresh fruit, jelly desserts, or homemade rice snacks. Basically everywhere I turn someone is trying to feed me.</div>
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On to the pictures!</div>
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My host mom in her kitchen. There is a banana tree right outside the window that we can reach out and grab bananas from.</div>
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Everything is made by sitting on the floor! Kitchen counters don't exist in my neighborhood.</div>
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Eating dinner. My sister was trying to avoid this picture.</div>
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Kitchen sink area.</div>
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To wash the dishes we fill the black bucket with water then scoop water with the small pink bucket and dump it on the dishes, scrub them with soap, then rinse them with some more water. There is a small bucket to the right that you can barely see in this picture that we put all the scraps in for the pigs. Nothing goes in the trash.</div>
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Typical dinner. Sticky rice, boiled mushrooms, green vegetable and pork stir fry, red chili dipping paste, and fresh bamboo with noodles.</div>
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Making naam prk ong, my favorite dish! Put garlic, red onions, lots of dried chili peppers in the mortar and pestle. Cook with ground pork, crab paste, soy sauce and a bit of water. </div>
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Chili dipping sauce, Naam prik ong, Spicy mango salad, sticky rice, cucumbers.</div>
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Lunch of fried rice.</div>
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One of my other favorite dishes, kanom chen naam ngiew. The large dark brown chunks are congealed blood cubes.</div>
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Same dish with that sauce put on noodles, add in some fried garlic and parsley.</div>
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Ants and larvae, yumm.</div>
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The only way to eat fish so you can enjoy every last part of it.</div>
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Gheng Keio wan, no clue what it is called in English but it has chicken, veggies, and a coconut curry sauce.</div>
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Snack time at the office</div>
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Two of my favorite fruits.</div>
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One of the restaurants we eat at pretty regularly. It's outside with a tin roof and we sit on a raised platform, no chairs.</div>
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Som Dtam or Spicy papaya salad. Usually is very spicy and has whole crabs along with fermented fish.</div>
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That's all for now. I'm off to Bangkok on Friday, visiting my host family, Mid service conference for Peace Corps, then spending a long weekend at a bungalow Cave Lodge in Mae Hong Son. Soon after that is the Songkran Festival (water throwing festival). It's going to be a busy April. I won't have my computer with me for a bit, but will try to update when I can. Happy Easter!</div>
<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-32758538660749726442013-03-20T14:47:00.001+07:002013-03-20T14:50:00.137+07:00I've been avoiding posting for awhile now because I had been having a rough few weeks. I was frustrated at work, feeling useless, and constantly aggravated with a few of my coworkers. I couldn't get anyone to agree to a project and was told to jai-yen-yen (relax) and just play on the internet all day. I started leaving my office and spending more times at the schools and at the health centers and things have finally started turning around. I have a few projects I am currently working on (sex ed, world map, dengue traps and environmental activities) and have lots of work to do to get these projects ready. None of the projects are actually with my office, but a few of my coworkers help me translate materials and lesson plans. I am still coming into the office regularly, but realized that in order to be productive and happy I needed to branch out a bit more. I am no longer going to sit around waiting for my coworkers to give me the green light on a project. After going through a rough patch for a few weeks I have come out happier and more content than before. I think I had been in a lull before and didn't realize it until things got hard and I had to find a way to deal with it and come out stronger.<br />
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Today marks one year at site, and one year until I will be leaving Thailand (assuming everything goes according to plan). It's strange to think that one year from today I'll be saying goodbye to my village and heading to PC offices in Bangkok to check out. I had expected that I would feel excited when I reached the one year mark, but instead I feel kind of sad and nervous. I want to accomplish so much more here and really make a difference, but at the speed projects happen here I don't know how much I will realistically be able to do. I know that the next year is going to fly by and next thing I know I'll be boarding a plane and heading back to America!<br />
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I don't have any exciting stories or pictures to share today, but I promise a whole post full of pictures when March is over. I've been doing an activity that another volunteer created taking one picture a day off a list she made, so I promise to upload those once I'm done. I've also been taking pictures of my host moms amazing food that I will post about next week. I hope you are all enjoying the snow while I'm over here suffering through 90 degree nights...Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-91896682556703409362013-02-26T14:06:00.000+07:002013-02-26T14:08:21.872+07:00This morning I woke up to birds chirping on my windowsill as sunlight streamed through the windows rousing me from a great nights sleep. As I drowsed under a light sheet I dreamed of waking up during a beautiful summer's day on Cape Cod and wandering downstairs to find my family lounging on the porch with fresh brewed cups of hazelnut coffee while my dad cooked up a batch of pancakes. I dreamed of the normalcy of life at home and a day spent with family. All I wanted was a day lounging on the beach collecting sea glass, teaching my niece to swim, and spending time with those I love. After waking up and shaking of this nostalgia for home I stumbled sleepily downstairs and got ready for the day.<br />
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Instead of the day at the beach I imagined, I spent the morning teaching English to High School students. They were crazy and out of control, but somehow we made it work and ended up learning and having fun at the same time. On days when I miss home, spending time with the kids and being surrounded by their enthusiasm and excitement keeps me going. It's been a slow few weeks at site as I try to get a few more projects started. It's very hard to begin planning projects here, so at this point I don't know if any of the projects I have recently proposed will actually happen. It's a waiting game as plans get approved and budgets agreed on. But if I simply sit back and wait I will go crazy with boredom and the projects will never happen. If I've learned anything in the past year it's how to be pushy. I write meeting times on peoples calendars so they can't say they forgot, call people to remind them to be somewhere, talk to the boss myself, and force people to get things done. If I didn't do this I can guarantee I would not have completed a single project in the last year. To keep myself busy I've been spending more times at the schools and health centers. I even have two new projects I hope to plan with one of the schools and new projects with the health center. Now I just need the green light on one of my proposals so I can get to work.<br />
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In other news, two weeks ago I spent a week with the newest group of Peace Corps Thailand trainees. I couldn't help reminiscing about my 10 weeks of training last year and how many things have changed since then. They are excited, energized and ready to go. It was great to be around them, teaching them about life in Thailand and leading some sessions about teaching English and Sexual Reproductive Health. They reminded me of what my group was like last year and made me miss language classes, biking home with friends, and the craziness of PST. Fortunately, my group will be reunited in Bangkok next month for our midservice conference and medical checkups.<br />
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I'm planning on writing a few blog posts about more specific topics like food, temples, and family life so if you have any suggestions or anything you would like to learn about life in Thailand let me know! I also took a few videos of the kids learning to make s'mores with some marshmallows I found in Bangkok, so maybe a video will be appearing one of these days if I can figure out how to shrink the size.Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-11219808971410284562013-02-06T13:51:00.002+07:002013-02-06T13:51:56.898+07:00Update and Vacation Pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The last few weeks at site have been surprisingly rewarding, productive, and fun. I thought that transitioning back to life in my village would be challenging after my parents departure, but fortunately I had plenty of things to keep myself busy. Last week I taught an 8 day English conversation course for the informal education office and had an amazing time. My students were all adults who were eager to learn english and excited to come everyday. By the end of the program most students could hold basic conversations about their age, birthday, job, time, daily routines, emotions, and places. They learned to ask and answer questions, and learned nearly 200 vocabulary words. Everyday we began class by reviewing all of the conversation we had already learned, which I think really helped them put it all together. Hopefully some of these students will actually go on to use what they learned. With ASEAN coming up soon and Thailand falling behind and lacking English speaking people, there is a huge push throughout the country to learn English.<span id="goog_706384568"></span></div>
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After the English course was over I taught a one day baking course. Most Thai people have no idea how to bake, and after news of my baking expertise spread many people expressed interest in learning how to bake a few simple things. I taught ten women how to make chocolate cake, white cake, chocolate frosting, buttercream frosting, and snickerdoodles. They all whipped out their notebooks and wrote down everything I said. Ideally, some of these women will purchase a small oven together (they are about 30USD) and start a business selling cakes and cookies in the market to raise a little extra money for their families. </div>
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This week I'm busy preparing lessons for the newest group of Peace Corps Thailand trainees who arrived in Thailand last month. I was lucky to be chosen to help with their training and am excited to meet the new group, be inspired by their excitement and energy, and spend a week in a hotel with hot water. I'll be heading to their training site next week (a 14 hour trip) and will teach them about Sexual Education in Thailand, Gender Issues, and Teaching English. The neighborhood kids are already complaining about me leaving again so I've been spending plenty of time playing with them and going on long bike rides after work.</div>
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I didn't take any pictures of the two projects I completed this week, but here are some pictures from my parents vacation...</div>
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Bus ride on the way to meet my parents. It was several hours long, no air conditioning, and I didn't have a seat. After standing for the first 2 hours I couldn't take it anymore and sat down on the floor surrounded by the smell of sweaty feet. Not sure why I look so happy...</div>
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Boat trip on the way to the Island we stayed on. Excited to begin our adventure.</div>
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Sitting on the floor for dinner. Typical Thai style sitting, but at a pizza place!</div>
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Check out that baby bottle of milk.</div>
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Mom and dad got to meet a few of my Peace Corps friends and we took a kayaking trip around the limestone cliffs.</div>
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Sunset from a small island in the middle of the sea.</div>
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Sitting in a cattle car to take our luggage down to the beach as we headed off the island.</div>
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Wat Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. After a very long, very windy ride sitting in the back of a truck to the top of this mountain, the highest point in Thailand, we finally arrived.</div>
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Elephants!</div>
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I thought for sure my mom was going to wimp out, but she surprised me and acted like a pro (sorta).</div>
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Short hike to a massive waterfall in Chiang Mai. You can't see too much of the fall in any of the pictures.</div>
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A man in his barley field.</div>
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Hanging out in a field of lavender.</div>
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Mom and Al acting goofy.</div>
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"Soo Quan" ceremony to wish my parents good luck, safe travels, and health. Notice the massive amount of string tied on our wrists. My little house was packed with the village elders all sitting on the floor while the kids and younger people sat on bamboo mats outside.</div>
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Mom and dad trying to make heart shapes with their hands... dorks.</div>
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Dancing down the street to the temple for a monk ordination.</div>
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Dad impressing the kids with his height.</div>
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Making a birthday cake with the neighborhood kids.</div>
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Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-6706963060002143702013-01-29T14:36:00.003+07:002013-01-29T14:38:27.629+07:00My Parent's Perspective<!--StartFragment-->
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The following post was written by my parents about the two weeks they spent with me traveling around Thailand and visiting my village. It gives a new, different perspective on Thailand and on my home. Pictures to follow some time this week. Enjoy!<br />
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“Sawatdee krap,” “korp kun krap,” and “check bin krap”
(hello, thank you and check please) was about all the Thai that I, as a
language challenged American, could handle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course it was handy having a Thai fluent daughter/PC
Volunteer at my side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After what
seemed like a never ending flight from Boston my wife and I met up with our
daughter/translator/tour guide in Krabi and took a long tail boat to Railay, a
beach area accessible only by boat and frequented by people from many countries
enjoying the warm weather for their winter vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone seemed to speak a different language although
English was the language most had some ability to speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The warm beach was a welcome change
from the snow that we left behind in Boston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We enjoyed kayaking with two other PC volunteers, hiking through
a “diamond” cave and a six hour sunset cruise which included dinner on a
secluded beach and snorkeling – all for $33 per person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boat crew was friendly and enjoyed
joking around with the tourists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When the crew learned that Kayla spoke Thai and that she lived in
Thailand the first question they asked was weather she had a boyfriend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most exciting event in Krabi/Railay
was when Kayla was attacked by a monkey that jumped off the roof of a building
as we were trying to take its picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was not a little monkey – standing on its hind legs it was probably
four feet tall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They look cute
from a distance but more ferocious up-close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The monkey was probably after Kayla’s sunglasses or bottle
of soda but Kayla screamed at the monkey and he ran away leaving only a scratch
on the arm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kayla’s mother ran
away as soon as she saw the monkey approaching (“what kind of a mother am I?”
she said later recounting how she left her daughter to fend for herself in such
circumstances).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kayla also was
able to enjoy a pizza, something she has not had in quite a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We learned that she had a craving for
some American types of food.</div>
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From Krabi we flew to Chiang Mai, way to the north, and
enjoyed seeing Wat Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple dating back to the 1300’s situated
on a mountain top, a beautiful waterfall, the market areas, and took a river
cruise on a snake boat narrated by an entertaining 80 year old guide (again,
when the guide learned that Kayla spoke Thai and lived in Thailand we were no
longer tourists but long lost friends).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kayla eventually got tired of her mother telling everyone that Kayla
lived in Thailand because it forced her to go through a long explanation of
what she was doing etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kayla just
wanted to be on vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
stayed at “The Secret Garden” which was a wonderful spot with European style
breakfasts and Thai dinners run by Peter (from Bavaria but a long time resident
of Thailand), his wife Pi (Thai) and their daughter Isabel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were tireless in making the Garden
a memorable place to stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Chiang Mai we were also able to fulfill one of Kayla’s wishes and get some
Mexican food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She eventually had a
burger (albeit chicken) in the airport in Chiang Rai to satisfy her craving for
some home style food.</div>
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One of the big events was a visit to an elephant ranch that
cared for and protected elephants (not all elephant ranches are elephant
friendly).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kayla and her mom rode
an elephant (I decided not to and told everyone it was because of my bad back
but it was really due to my fear of animals with really huge floppy ears).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After feeding the elephants huge
bunches of bananas and sugar cane everyone practiced shouting the commands for
stop, go, left, right and sit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then there was practice on getting on and off the elephants and a short
practice ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then off to the
jungle for a 1 and ½ hour ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
stayed back at the ranch and caught up on my reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once they returned it was off to the pond to wash the
elephants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The elephants also use
the pond as a toilet but, according to our guide, not to worry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their stuff floats to the top so you
won’t step in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Kayla’s mom
heard this she suddenly got a sore back and decided it would be better to stand
outside the pond with me and let Kayla wash the elephant.</div>
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Then we took a bus to Chiang Rai where we were met by “Al”, one
of Kayla’s friends from the village where she lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Al </span>planned a wonderful day in Chiang Rai
and took us to a magical flower show, an equally magical all white wat and a
farm owned by the Singa Brewery where there were acres upon acres of rolling
hills covered with, flowers, tea plants and barley. We also went to a walking
street (a market where just about everything is for sale) that evening. Al and
Kayla would ramble on, laughing and joking in Thai, and then Kayla would
translate for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Al</span> went to
college in Chiang Rai so she knew all the sites and all the back roads.</div>
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Al then drove us to their village – a quiet (usually) farming
village of hard working but fun loving Thais.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was our first chance to really get to know the Thai
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We’ll need ear plugs”
Kayla said the day before we got to her village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had been receiving calls from her friends in the village
during our vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They just wanted
to make sure she was OK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One call
mentioned that the son of one of Kayla’s neighbors was going to be ordained as
a monk and the party for that was scheduled for the day we arrived at the
village with the ordination the following morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The party meant singing and dancing with music (contemporary
Thai) blasting from the back of a pickup truck that had two huge speakers
(perhaps better suited to announcing the teams at a football stadium).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went to bed at around 10:00 pm, the
party was still rocking and Kayla’s house was actually vibrating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ear plugs, which Kayla had a supply
of because of prior similar events, did little good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next morning a parade went from the neighbor’s house to
the nearby wat for the ordination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A crowd of about 50 villagers and three Americans (yes Kayla and her two
parents) danced along with the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Behind the dancers was a pickup truck with the monk sitting in the back
on a thrown type chair followed by what can best be described as a handmade
float (think Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade but on a smaller scale) being carried
by 8 men, and then followed by the sound truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one quarter mile walk to the wat took about one hour as
the dancers slowly led the procession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kayla’s mother made instant friends as she exhibited her Thai dancing
abilities.</div>
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Over the next few days we had the pleasure of meeting many
of Kayla’s friends and neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We learned why Thailand is known as the land of a thousand smiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We learned why Kayla is so fond of
Thailand and the people of Thailand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kayla had warned us that after being out of her house for two weeks the
lizards that somehow find their way into her home would have made a big mess
inside that would take some time to clean up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when we arrived Kayla’s friend and host mom was coming
out of Kayla’s house, mop in hand, having just finished making the house
spotless for out arrival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was a continuous parade of neighbors of all ages, individually and in groups,
who came to greet us, say hello, offer us food and just generally making us
feel very special and very welcome. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hospitality offered by so many kind people was
overwhelming and showed us how well liked Kayla was and how special the people
of her village were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As parents we
are all concerned about the safety and well being of our children, regardless
of their age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kayla’s friends and
neighbors understood this and many of them told us not to worry about Kayla,
that “don’t worry, she is like a daughter to us, we will take care of
her.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They said what we wanted to
hear and their sincerity was obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not that we needed this reassurance, as we know Kayla is capable, but
knowing the kind of people that she is surrounded by in Thailand is reassuring.</div>
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Among the visitors were a number of children who would
wander over, again in groups or individually, just to say hello, play games and
just have fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kayla’s home seems
to be a community center for the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We played cards, drew pictures and even baked a birthday cake with the kids
for the birthday of another of Kayla’s good friends, Dteo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The recipe was in English and Nadia,
the oldest of the group, translated the recipe into Thai so that the younger
kids could measure out the flour, cocoa, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Kayla takes every opportunity to use an activity as an
English class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The country is
trying to become more English speaking and English is taught to all school
children.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kim, Boat, Bombay,
Akate and several other kids helped bake the cake which, despite Kayla’s very
limited kitchen, turned out great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Later we took the cake to Dteo’s home for a fun birthday party.</div>
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The “elders of the village” came over the day before we left
for home and performed a good luck ceremony, tying strings on our
wrists while whispering their wishes for a safe journey, good health, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a touching experience and we
were left with lots of strings on our wrists.</div>
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We took a day and visited a health clinic that Kayla is
involved with, spoke with several people there who brought us food and
drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we visited a kindergarten
class where Kayla and the two of us got involved in several games, again as a
bridge to learning English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
we visited a high school where, because of my height (about 6’5”) I became an
instant celebrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The students
all wanted to get in pictures with me and Kayla’s mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we took them outside and taught
them the Hokey Pokey (“you put your right hand in, you put your right hand out,
you put your right hand in and you shake it all about…”) in English, of
course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was followed by a
traditional Thai dance that the students showed us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great time was had by all.</div>
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At Kayla’s village we were awoken by roosters (at around
4:00 am), viewed her huge “bee” tree out her back window (the biggest tree I
have seen other than a Sequoia) that the villagers climb to take honey from the
large bee hives, walked Kayla’s running route and enjoyed the marvelous vistas
of the valley that leads to mountains in the distance, slept under mandatory
mosquito nets, saw how little Kayla needs to survive on (a hotplate, rice
cooker, and an “oven” that looks like a glass crock pot and has room to make 4
cookies at a time), took cold showers as Kayla has no hot water, and watched
young kids dance Gangnam Style at the Children’s Day event at the town
offices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were amazed at how
completely Kayla had become a member of her community, had learned to live in a
situation that most Americans could not imagine, had developed true friendship
and gained the respect from her neighbors and the people in schools, health
clinics and other places where she has worked so hard to improve the lives of
the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nearest PC
volunteer or American is a several hour bus ride away, making her assimilation
into the community necessary but even more amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also we were able to meet the people Kayla lives near and
works with – we got to know her Thai neighbors and friends – we learned how
kind, thoughtful, caring and friendly they all were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than spending time with our daughter after not being
with her for a year, meeting all of these people, old and young, was the best
part of the trip. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we can say
to all of those people is korp kun krap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thank you for being who you are, thank you for making our trip truly
memorable, thank you for supporting Kayla in her work.</div>
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Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-27943098467928448362013-01-21T14:46:00.001+07:002013-01-21T14:46:10.064+07:00One Year InTwelve months. Have I really been here that long already? Has it really <i>only</i> been twelve months? Sometimes it feels like time is flying by while other times it crawls along.<br />
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In the past year I've found cockroaches in my purse, killed massive spiders, and screamed in terror upon spotting a scorpion. I've been told I'm fat, I'm ugly, I'm beautiful, I'm skinny. I've watched the sky light up with stunning shades of pink and orange as the sun sets during my nightly bike ride with the neighborhood children. I've enjoyed countless meals sitting on a bamboo mat, eating sticky rice, and digging into communal bowls with my hands as I laugh and joke with my host family. I've played game after game of UNO with the children while older neighbors stop by and smile. I've been woken up at 4am by roosters, 5am by the neighbors tractors, and 6am by screaming children asking me to come out and play. I've been laughed at for language mistakes. I've been laughed at for cultural mishaps and misunderstandings. I've become outraged at the way overweight people, dark skinned people, disabled people and anyone who is different are viewed and treated by many Thai people I know. I've participated in weddings, funerals, graduations. I've become a part of my community. I've made friendships both in my community and with other volunteers that will last a lifetime. I've thought about having to leave here one day and knowing that it is going to break my heart. Other days I've thought about how desperately I want to go home, how desperately I want to be back in America surrounded by my family, surrounded by people who understand me. I dream about warm showers, cozy couch cushions, and layers of blankets.<br />
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This last year has changed me in more ways than I can even begin to explain, in more ways than I even realize. It has made me more outgoing and confident, more accepting of criticism, more understanding of other cultures, stronger in my beliefs, and a better public speaker. I've learned many life lessons the hard way this year. I've been lonelier than ever before, yet at the same time more a part of a community than ever before. I've become outraged at some of the things that have been said to me, than later become close friends with the person who said them. I've been perplexed, confused, and dumfounded by the culture and people of Thailand, and still experience all of these emotions several times a week. I've learned to relax more, go with the flow, accept the fact that nothing ever happens when it it supposed to. I've learned to become more Thai while not losing my American ways. I've learned to integrate while still holding onto what makes me me.<br />
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Twelve months and I have already grown and experienced more than I could have imagined. I still have fourteen months left here. Fourteen more months to experience the roller coaster of emotions that seems to come hand in hand with being a PCV.Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-5548932252053833822012-12-26T16:05:00.000+07:002012-12-26T16:11:07.371+07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So many things have happened since I last posted that I don't even know where to begin. I had been planning on writing a post about a very unique experience at a funeral, a project at the daycares, baking lessons for kids, Christmas Day, and life in general. Since I have been a slacker on the posts lately I don't have time to write an individual post on all of those topics so I'm just going to give a brief overview of my month and then maybe sometime next year I'll have time to give a few more details. This post is going to be very jumpy and unorganized but it's the best I can do for now.</div>
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First of all I know you have all been wondering about Porky so I thought I'd share a picture of him. He is just as adorable and feisty as ever and really enjoys catching his own bugs for dinner.</div>
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Last weekend I went to the Chiang Rai Flower Festival with my host family. The following four pictures are all from the festival. We went at night so I couldn't get really good pictures of a lot of the most beautiful areas.</div>
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My host mom. I had to force her to smile for this, she is awful at smiling in pictures.</div>
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This is made from flowers and banana leaves.</div>
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Hmong Hill Tribe girls dancing at the festival.</div>
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Christmas Eve my neighbor told me we were doing a ceremony called Suu Quan and said I had to participate. One of my neighbors died a few weeks ago so this ceremony was to bless the house she died in and also to make sure her spirit was not haunting anyone. Apparently they were worried about her haunting me and even following me back to America because I was there and actually touching her when she died. My neighbor asked me for a shirt which she rolled up and placed on a dish in the middle of a circle of people. I had to sit inside a circle of string with other people who were there the night my neighbor died while the village elders chanted, tied string on my wrists, and took the heads off of dead chickens. In hindsight this may or may not have been an exorcism....</div>
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My shirt was placed on a plate next to this banana leaf creation and everyone sat inside a big circle of string around it.</div>
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Christmas Day my coworkers all wore red shirts and santa hats. When I walked in one of my coworkers started singing Jingle Bells. When I asked her how she knew the words she responded "Kayla! I am very good English! Why you not believe me?"</div>
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Christmas Night I had a party at my house for all of the neighborhood kids. I made sugar cookies the night before and had bags of red and green frosting so the kids could have fun decorating cookies. We also cut out and colored paper snowflakes and had Suki for dinner.</div>
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All month I've been working on a project at all 9 daycare centers in my village. I spent one day at each daycare distributing soap, soap dispensers, toothbrush holders, and toothbrushes for all of the students to use at the daycare. I did a few activities with the kids to teach them how to wash their hands and brush their teeth using a large model borrowed from a dentist. Each student now has a chart and they get a sticker from their teacher everyday that they spend 2 minutes brushing their teeth after lunch. In one month I'll be going back and distributing prizes to students at each daycare.</div>
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Lunch time at the daycare. These kids have to sit on the floor to eat because there are over 50 students and very few chairs.</div>
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Having a volunteer come practice brushing her teeth on the model.</div>
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Three of the daycares are about a one hour drive away from my home (and yes they are still in my village). We have to go up and through the mountain to get to them so we stopped and took some pictures along the way.</div>
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That's all I have time for for now. On Friday I'm heading to the South of Thailand to spend New Years with a few other Volunteers then my parents arrive on January 2nd! Probably won't be able to post again until mid/end of January. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!</div>
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Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-2389507755368353922012-12-06T15:42:00.002+07:002012-12-06T15:42:28.156+07:00Loi Krathong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week was Loi Krathong, a festival that is celebrated throughout Thailand on the 12th full moon of the Thai lunar calendar. A Krathong is a decorative float that is usually made from banana tree trunks, banana leaves, and flowers found around the house. The night before the festival I spent a few hours with my neighbors making Krathongs that we would float along the river the following night. We bent banana leaves and folded them into different shapes so we could pin them onto the trunk with small pieces of wood. Then we placed flowers around the leaves to make beautiful arrangements. Finally we put incense and a candle in the middle of the Krathong. My first experience at making a Krathong was surprisingly successful and even my neighbors agreed that mine was beautiful.</div>
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Dew and Ao making their Krathongs.</div>
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Some of the almost finished products.</div>
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Showing off our floats.</div>
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This one is mine!</div>
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The night of the festival we had a huge party on the big field outside of my office. There was a big stage with insanely loud speakers, food carts, trampolines, bouncy houses, and darts. It started around 5pm with a parade. Each smaller village picked the most beautiful woman to ride on a large float and participate in a contest to see which village had the most beautiful woman. After the parade there was a concert, Thai dancing, Hill Tribe dancing, and awards were given out. </div>
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My friend Jam was selected as the most beautiful one in our village so she got to ride on the float.</div>
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After the parade we lit hundreds of big lanterns and watched them float up into the sky. This is actually part of a Northern thai festival known as Yi Peng but it is always celebrated simultaneously with Loi Krathong. I thought for sure I was going to catch on fire at some point during this but I managed to escape unscathed. As the lanterns float away we "tamboon" or make merit.</div>
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To finish off the night I went to the river to Loi (float) my Krathong. At this point it was around 11pm and I had to climb down this muddy bank in the dark, light the candle and incense, climb on this tiny wooden ladder, and place my Krathong in the river. I have no idea how I managed to avoid falling in. Before you Loi your Krathong you make a wish. I also think you are supposed to imagine all of the stresses or troubles in your life floating away with the Krathong as you watch it disappear down the river... or at least that's what I did.</div>
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Loi Krathong was definitely my favorite Thai holiday so far. I hope to sneak a few of the lanterns in my bag to bring back to America.</div>
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-48045451364911840322012-11-28T09:51:00.001+07:002012-11-28T09:51:13.451+07:00Happy Thanksgiving!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Thanksgiving this year was not full of the usual turkey, stuffing, family, and football but I managed to have a pretty awesome day anyways. It was supposed to be a workday but I was sick with bronchitis so I had the day off to recuperate. I woke up in the morning and made some delicious cinnamon rolls and mocha coffee. By far the best breakfast I have had since coming to Thailand.</div>
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After breakfast I spent some time making beads from magazines. I'm working on some bracelets for the girls in my neighborhood.</div>
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Then Bye-Boah came over to visit. We danced, sang, read a book, and looked at each other in confusion every time we tried to communicate. </div>
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When Bye-Boah left the dogs came over for a visit. The black one is one of the puppies from several months ago I had on my blog, and the white one is his mom.</div>
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After a lunch of noodle soup I spent some time reading on my hammock. Bye-Boah came back over and we were both sitting on my hammock when all of a sudden it broke and we were on the ground. Fortunately it didn't hurt, but unfortunately one of the neighbors saw and within minutes the entire village knew and said I must have gained some weight.</div>
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For dinner I made roasted carrots, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and apple crisp. </div>
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Some of the neighbors came over for dinner and brought sticky rice and an eggplant and green bean dish. Pii Al wanted to make me american food for Thanksgiving so she made sandwiches of white bread and sweetened condensed milk. She also tried to put sugar in my mashed potatoes, and then decided to dip her sticky rice in the mashed potatoes instead of using a spoon. </div>
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Overall, it was a nice relaxing day, even though I did miss stuffing myself with delicious foods all day and spending time with my family.</div>
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-88917566305110363872012-11-06T10:33:00.000+07:002012-11-06T10:38:42.122+07:00Happy Halloween!A few days before leaving for Nepal I casually mentioned to one of my neighbors that Halloween was in October and that I was thinking of throwing a party for the kids. Next thing I know I'm being bombarded with questions about costumes and my house is swarming with kids begging me to make Halloween come quickly. I got home from Nepal and had one week to plan my party, buy supplies, make a costume and get everything ready, plenty of time! But then I got sick and had to hop on a 5 hour bus ride to see the doctor, and had to stay there for four days. I got back home the day before Halloween and the second the kids knew I was back they were running rampant through my house asking me about the party that was supposed to be happening the very next day. I had nothing ready, was not feeling great, and kicked them out of my house telling them the party was postponed until Saturday night. I felt pretty bad about postponing it, so I decided to use the extra time I bought myself and make it an awesome party for my favorite little kiddos.<br />
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By 8:30 on Saturday morning I had 5 kids at my house asking me about the party, making my house a mess, and playing game after game of UNO while begging me to play with them. Meanwhile, I was making them homemade chocolate chip cookies. This might not seem like much of a feat to any of you, but when you are using a small oven that barely fits a 9x9 pan and have to sit on the floor for 3 hours while you cook 4 cookies at a time, you'll understand how much effort it takes to make some simple cookies. Then I spent an hour killing spiders. I do this every Saturday and am actually starting to enjoy it. I get this massive broom and take down spider after spider. I feel kind of bad killing these spiders because they mainly stay up in the corners of the house and don't bother me, but if I don't kill them every week then I'm pretty sure they would take over my entire house. I would guess that this Sunday I killed around 30 spiders without trying very hard. Then I swept, mopped, hand-washed my laundry, made lunch for everyone, and finally sat down to take a break. But of course my break turned into me teaching the kids a new card game (War), and then yelling at them as they ran across the floors I had just finished mopping. After lunch I made spaghetti sauce and hot dogs, got the snacks ready, and made goodie bags for each of the kids coming to the party that night. At 4:30 I kicked everyone out and told them not to come back until 6 so I could shower, cook the pasta, and do my Halloween makeup. By 5:15 they were all back and running through my house like crazy people getting the party started. They shut all the windows and doors, turned the lights off, played some Gangnam Style, and started a dance party. After we were all exhausted and sweaty from dancing, the witches, wizards, ghouls, and ghosts plopped themselves on my floor and began munching down on some cookies and snacks while making jack-o-lanterns by coloring scary faces on balloons. Then we all enjoyed some homemade spaghetti and I gave them each a hot dog (hot dogs are for rich people in Thailand so most of the kids never get to eat them but they LOVE them). After dinner we played pin the tail on the black cat followed by a game with a blind fold where the kids had to say Happy Halloween in a scary voice and the blindfolded person had to guess who was speaking. Every time someone "won" a game I added an extra treat to their goodie bag. The kids had a blast and I'm pretty sure they are already looking forward to Halloween next year. They also want to know when the next holiday is. Hopefully by Thanksgiving I can work up the energy to throw another party.<br />
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-55638576976797598922012-11-01T13:51:00.001+07:002012-11-01T13:51:56.234+07:00Namaste! Adventures in Nepal<div style="text-align: center;">
While we waited at the Bangkok airport to check in for our flight we noticed that we were the only people who didn't have at least two flat screen TVs with us.</div>
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After 48 hours of not sleeping due to an overnight bus ride on Friday and 1am flight on Sunday we finally arrived in Kathmandu! Getting out of the airport we bargained for a taxi and eventually found one that wasn't trying to take too much advantage of us. On the ride to our hostel we hit a woman with our car. We just tapped her lightly and the driver didn't even stop or say anything. My friends and I just sat there in shock staring out the windows at the dusty dirt roads full of people, pollution, animals, and taxis. An entirely different world from Bangkok! </div>
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The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Pokhara, a smaller town about 8 hours from Kathmandu. The ride was full of honking horns, crazy mountain roads, and amazing views.</div>
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We spent that afternoon/night wandering around Pokhara, enjoying the peace and quiet after Kathmandu, and eating lots of vegetarian momo which might just be my new favorite food. The area was beautiful, colorful, and full of awesome things to buy.</div>
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We then finished the afternoon with some delicious Himalayan Tea.<br />
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The next day we visited a waterfall and a Tibetan Refugee Camp.</div>
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We also got to see some pretty spectacular views of the Annapurna Mountains from our hotel.</div>
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The next day we got up and headed out for a 3 day rafting trip on the Kali Gandaki River. We ended up signing up with a company that caters to Israeli people. We realized this when out of 20 people only 5 of us didn't speak Hebrew. It was really awesome to meet so many people from Israel and hear about their experiences, talk politics, and talk about Peace Corps and life in Thailand all while enjoying the amazing scenery in Nepal. The three days of rafting were full of awesome Nepali food, star gazing, swimming, flipping the raft, camping on white sand beaches and Nepali dancing and music next to a bonfire. Those three days were by far my favorite part of the trip.</div>
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After rafting we spent a bit more time in Pokhara enjoying the sites then headed back to Kathmandu. We spent a few days visiting temples, ancient cities, shopping, eating even more Momo, and enjoying being able to speak English to everyone we met.</div>
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The street our hotel was on.</div>
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Durbar Square</div>
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Freak Street</div>
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Eating some Dal Bhat, traditional Nepalese food.</div>
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Durbar Square</div>
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Fresh King Curd</div>
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Boudha Stupa</div>
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Our second to last day in Nepal we took a Mountain Flight to see Mount Everest. We got to the airport before 6am, eager to board our plane. The flight took off at 6:30am and I think we were all a bit nervous being on such a tiny plane so close to the mountains. After the first glimpse of the Himalayas in the distance all nervousness vanished and I couldn't peel my eyes away. It felt like we were right on top of Everest. On the way back and I even got to go into the cockpit and talk to the pilots as they told me the names of the different mountains we were passing. It was incredible.</div>
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In the afternoon on our last day I went to the store next to our hotel to refill my water bottle and started talking to the guy who owned the store. He invited me to sit down for a cup of tea. After about 30 minutes he asked me if I would stay in his store for about 20 minutes while he went to run an errand. I had nothing to do so I agreed to help him out. After he showed me where he kept his money and explained the prices of water, candy bars, and some of his better selling items he left and I was in charge! Fortunately people only bought water and candy so I was all set, although it took me a while to figure out the Nepali coins to give change. After he came back he gave me some more tea and we chatted about his family, his home, and life in Nepal. Quite the way to end the trip!</div>
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I've been back in Thailand for about 2 weeks now and just returned from a little unplanned vacation to Chiang Mai for some medical appointments. Now life is slowly returning to normal and I'm getting back to work on new projects. It helps coming back from vacation and having this as my backyard...</div>
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-71747408127141723622012-09-30T11:18:00.003+07:002012-09-30T11:20:47.123+07:00Buddhist FuneralsLast week one of my elderly neighbors passed away. It happened at midnight on a Friday and about an hour later the house was crowded with people cooking and preparing for the next day (or so I hear). I slept blissfully through the night and found out early the next morning when I woke up. Everyone kept telling me it was okay that I hadn't come the night before because I didn't know. The next 5 days and nights hundreds of people came to eat food, listen to insanely loud Thai music, and chant with the monks every night. I went every night and every day that I wasn't at work and was immediately put to work cooking food, serving food, and doing the dishes. Oddly enough being expected to do all of these things made me incredibly happy. I was no longer sitting in a special chair, being served food and water, and being stared at by everyone, I was finally part of the family. I no longer had to follow my host family around like a little lost puppy, I could finally wander around comfortably on my own. No one even asked if I would be coming back the next night, it was just expected that I would be there to help out.<br />
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The whole side street was lined with tables and tents, there was a karaoke machine, huge speakers set up along the street, and cars and motorcycles everywhere you looked. The women sit in the back and are responsible for all of the cooking, serving, and cleaning. They also play bingo, sell clothing, and socialize with the neighbors. The men sit in the front and socialize and drink whiskey. Everyone is wearing all black or white. Children are running around everywhere with no supervision. Everyone is laughing, telling jokes, and having a good time. For 5 days and nights I didn't see a single person shed a tear. Everyone in my area is Buddhist and believes that when they die they will be reborn. Someone who was a good person in this life and gave offerings regularly will be born wealthy and healthy, while a not so good person could be reborn as an animal. On the 5th and final day everyone gathered at the house around 1pm and walked in a slow procession to the crematorium to say goodbye to the grandmother and send her off to her next life.<br />
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This whole experience made me realize how comfortable I have become here and how well I have integrated into my community. While the staring and shouts of farang will never stop I can accept that as long as I'm still being asked to do the dishes.<br />
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In other news, I am leaving for a vacation to Nepal next week! I won't be able to post again until late October, but prepare yourself for some breathtaking pictures of the Himalayas.Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-3544630037622687422012-09-07T13:30:00.000+07:002012-09-07T13:30:09.169+07:00Sex Ed ProjectLast week I completed my first big project. It involved the Education Officer, the Community Development Officer, the Public Health Officer, 1 doctor, 1 nurse, and 2 people from Raks Thai Foundation. It was basically a sexual education week with 8th graders. The project was very difficult to plan mainly due to the language barrier. I spent days drafting the plan in Thai and English, meeting with different people, trying to gather support and trying to make people understand my Thai. Then I had to plan all of the activities and lessons for the whole project.. in Thai. Everyone wanted me to lead some of the sessions but I refused to teach. I wanted all sessions led by a doctor or nurse who was a native Thai speaker. Surprisingly, I got away with that and didn't have to teach a single thing.<br />
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Many of the students at the school are from the Mhong Hill Tribe and are often expected to get married and have kids very early in life (14-15 years old). I wanted to encourage these kids to think about their choices, their future, and make decisions for themselves. If these students want to have children already, I want them to be as informed as possible and know what they are getting into.<br />
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The project began with the students carrying an egg around with them for a week and treating it like their child. The teachers were all told about the project and were supposed to help make sure the students had the egg everywhere they went. After a week of this we asked the students how taking care of the egg was and they all complained about how hard it was and how many of them had broken their egg sometime during the week. One student actually ate his egg for breakfast on the second day. When we then compared taking care of a child to taking care of an egg and asked the students if they wanted to have kids yet they all screamed "NO!"<br />
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The last day of the project was a full day of sexual education training. The girls learned about family planning, birth control, and how to be confident enough to say no. Their session was led by a female nurse, and 2 women from Raks Thai foundation. The boys also learned about family planning, a little bit about birth control, and then STDs. We played sex jeopardy and taught both the boys and girls how to use condoms by putting them on cucumbers.<br />
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I surveyed the students at the beginning to find out how much they knew, and found out it wasn't much. Many of them had no idea if you could get an STD from hugging someone, if birth control was the man or woman's responsibility, if it's okay to ask your partner about STDs, etc. I surveyed them again after and they learned quite a bit, but some of them definitely still have a long way to go before I would consider them well informed to make safe and healthy choices. I also learned that a few of the students are already sexually active at such a young age. I am hoping to do a lot more work on sexual education both with these same students and with students even younger. I would love to do a project with the parents too, teaching them how to talk to their children about different topics that are never talked about in Thailand. Hopefully we can actually make a difference in a few of these kids lives.<br />
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-38743924781924378182012-09-02T16:53:00.000+07:002012-09-02T16:53:49.809+07:00Birthday Festivities!Birthdays in Thailand aren't a very big deal. At work the birthday person pays for lunch for everyone for the day to celebrate. In the weeks leading up to my Birthday I had explained to a few people that in America, or in my family at least, we do things a bit differently. I told them about my homemade birthday cakes, presents, parties, and all my favorite home cooked meals. Leading up to my birthday I wasn't expecting much, but I did tell my host sister that I was making myself a cake (I bought a mini electric oven for about $30) and that she needed to decorate it because it would be bad luck if I did it myself. Most people here have never heard of anyone actually baking a cake, or even owning one of these ovens. The day before my Birthday I made the cake and had all the kids come over to watch and "help" me. I was also given a purple, flowery, crocheted Thai style dress the day before my birthday from my coworkers. I was told it was my Birthday dress and I had to wear it the next day!<br />
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I woke up on my birthday expecting a day like any other. I threw my dress on, skyped with my parents while I opened packages sent from home, ate my yoghurt and went to work. At work everyone yelled Happy Birthday when I walked in and immediately grabbed me and had me sit down. Next thing I know I'm getting my make-up done and my hair is put into elaborate braids. Then I am ushered into the Mayors office and there is a Birthday cake awaiting me. Everyone crowds in, the lights are turned of, they sing me Happy Birthday, and I get to blow out the candles and eat my cake. At lunch time they took me to my favorite restaurant and I was planning on paying for everyone but one of the ladies at the office had given 500 baht for everyone to take me out for my Birthday. I get home from work and my sister comes over right away to decorate the cake. I made chocolate frosting and then buttercream to decorate. We even had a bit of pink food coloring. I taught her how to put the frosting in a plastic bag, cut of a corner and slowly squeeze it out to decorate the cake. Then I went over to my neighbors where we had snacks, soda, and my favorite foods. A bunch of the kids and neighbors came over and when it was time to cut the cake there were over 20 people singing me Happy Birthday. The kids gave me presents like marbles, toy soldiers, and plastic rings. My sister gave me a beautiful purse, and one of the ladies from work gave me a wallet. Overall it was an incredible birthday, everyone put in so much effort to make me feel happy, welcome, and at home on my Birthday. I am so grateful that I was placed at this site, and that I have so many amazing neighbors and friends here in Thailand. Enjoy the Birthday pictures!<br />
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My host sister doesn't speak English so my cake ended up saying happy day instead of Happy Birthday. I think that made it way better! </div>
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<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-82540263582185536912012-08-21T16:00:00.002+07:002012-08-21T16:20:28.493+07:00Being Fat in ThailandOne of the first comments I get from people when they see me is inevitably about my weight. People love commenting on how fat I am. In our very first meeting I will often be asked how much I weigh. If I do tell them how much they will usually burst out laughing. They then try to grab my stomach and check out my big butt. Thai people call overweight people ouan (fat) as a nickname. No one is exempt from this scrutiny. Little children, babies, adults, males, females. Everyone. It breaks my heart when the kids in the neighborhood run around chasing my overweight 8 year neighbor, calling her mean names, and cracking jokes about how fat she is. I tell her she is beautiful every chance I get and won't let the kids talk about her weight at my house. None of the kids parents think this is a problem and will often join in commenting on her weight.<br />
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This week I tried to buy a pair of sweatpants with a few of my coworkers. I found a pair I wanted in a medium and went to try them on. When the women found out I was trying on a medium they all exclaimed that my big butt could never fit into those pants. I ignored them and tried the pants on anyways and of course they fit. I assumed this would end the conversation, but I was so very wrong. They pulled out a pair of XL and handed them to me saying these will fit you much better. As I was standing there right in front of them wearing the medium pants that were not tight at all I couldn't understand why they were trying to hand me an XL. I pointed at my pants and told them to look saying a medium fits me perfectly. They said no, a Thai person can wear those not you. I humored them and went to try on the XL which were gigantic and I could hardly walk in them without tripping. They insisted that the XL fit me perfectly and I should buy them. I ignored them and bought the pants I wanted.<br />
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Things like this happen to me regularly and I have learned to laugh them off and just accept it is as part of my life here. They aren't saying these things to be mean or to hurt my feelings. It is simply the way things are done here and how blunt Thai people can be about certain subjects. People can ask you your weight, your salary, your age, your marital status all within minutes of meeting you and it's not strange at all. Sometimes I have to remind people to ask me my name before getting so personal.<br />
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I have explained to many of the women here that in America they would never be able to talk like that to people. It is rude, and mean, and they may even get punched in the face. After 7 months here I am now comfortable laughing about my weight (I still don't consider myself fat even after 7 months of hearing it nearly daily). I am comfortable grabbing someones stomach before they can grab mine, making jokes about how my big butt is sexy in America, and ignoring rude comments. This week I heard someone compare me to the size of a pig, and after a second off shock, I ignored them and went on with my day. For many volunteers in Thailand this becomes a major issue. It happens to most of us no matter how skinny or fat we are, and if we don't learn to laugh it off and live with it it can tear us down and destroy all confidence we had. For me it has made me stronger. I don't need anyones approval or praise. I can brush comments off about my clothing, my weight, my skin, my frizzy hair, anything. I have become far more confident and have completely changed my whole self-image. This isn't to say that I would want anyone to go through what we deal with daily here, and I definitely don't thing it is a good thing to teach children.<br />
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There are certainly some things I don't like about living in Thailand. Some of the culture I will never get used to, and some of the people will always drive me crazy, just like some people in America will always drive me crazy. But despite everything I am still confident that at this moment this is where I want to be. I am happy here, I am making a difference, and my life has already been changed forever.Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-27182844220913471162012-08-13T12:28:00.002+07:002012-08-13T12:31:04.260+07:00As I write this blog post I'm perched precariously on my little plastic chair with my feet as high up in the air as possible. If any of my neighbors spot me they will be horrified at how inappropriate it is for me to have my feet up so high up, but that's the least of my worries.<br />
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A few minutes ago while cleaning my house this strange half snake half lizard creature came running into my house. While I'm pretty used to lizards, seeing as how I live with about 15 of them, I was not prepared for this strange creature that I've never seen before. I immediately ran outside and peered through my window to see where it went. After locating it I ran to the neighbors house to have them come over and tell me if was dangerous and to help get rid of it. Unfortunately no one is home except a 14 year old girl. She really didn't want to come but I dragged her over to my window and made her look. She screamed and ran away while yelling "mai andalai, mai andalai." This means "not dangerious" but based on her reaction I'm not sure I believe her.<br />
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I climbed through my window to get back in so I can avoid the door area where the creature has been hiding behind my water crates (yes I know this sounds ridiculous but my windows are really easy to climb through, the kids do it all the time). I'm keeping a close eye on it while I write this and am hoping the neighbors come home soon!<br />
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Anyways, on to the pictures!<br />
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This was a poster Peace Corps made about one of my projects at site. They featured 6 or 7 volunteers at the 50th celebration. The Princess came and got to see my work!</div>
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It's longan picking season. I've gone into the fields to help a few times now. Full days in the fields make my back ache and my hands sore. I have gained lots of respect for my farming community.</div>
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Longan! Delicious. After my day in the field I get rewarded with my own pile of fruit to take home. </div>
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Lunch Thai style. We put large banana leaves down on the floor and everyone eats from the same bowls. Everything is eaten with sticky rice and usually no utensils.</div>
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After working in the fields I saw them pouring water from this container into the water bucket I had been drinking from all day. I was horrified and they just said "don't worry we washed the container this is clean water..."</div>
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My neighbors new baby pigs! I love these little guys. Everyone knows how much I like them so they told me I can have one to raise. I declined because the minute I am gone they will be eating him for dinner.</div>
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My favorite. He's so tiny and gets picked on by all the other pigs. I picked him up to play with him yesterday and he got away so I was chasing him around the yard while all the neighbors looked at me with looks of shock on their faces.</div>
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View from one of the temples in my village.</div>
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Offerings I gave to the monks for Buddhist lent. </div>
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In one day we went to 14 different temples. I was exhausted just from getting in and out of the car that many times, never mind sitting on the floor and chanting for hours on end.</div>
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My village. I'll never get used to how beautiful it is. </div>
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Creepy hands at a temple in Chiang Rai.</div>
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One of the most beautiful temples I've seen. On the inside they have superheroes and cartoon characters painted all over the walls. </div>
<br />Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-44410858537169112382012-07-31T16:09:00.000+07:002012-07-31T16:09:11.404+07:0050th Anniversary and ReconnectI've been away from site for the past 2.5 weeks for Peace Corps events. It all started with the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps Thailand which was 2 days of celebrations. The first night was a "cocktail" party at the US ambassadors house. No actual cocktails were served because a worldwide rule of Peace Corps is that volunteers and staff can't drink together. It was an incredibly beautiful house right next to the embassy with huge gardens, a swimming pool, and a beautiful covered outside area. I got to speak to returned volunteers from group 1, the very first group of volunteers to go to Thailand. Most of them are in there 70's now and some still live in Thailand and have married Thai people. The next day we met HRH the Princess at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 60 volunteers got to take a picture with her (we picked names from a hat and I was one of the 5 or so unlucky ones that didn't get picked). That night there was a party at the Peace Corps office where volunteers from past and present got to share stories and experiences about their time in Peace Corps.<br />
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After the 50th celebration was over I went to Sing Buri to visit my host family from training and spent the night there. My host mom had become a nun at a temple for a few weeks so I unfortunately didn't get to see her or enjoy her fabulous cooking. After that it was off to Suphan Buri for 2 weeks of Reconnect or inservice training. We had 16 hours of language training which I spent learning how to speak Lannese. In my region of northern thailand the language is very different from central Thai so I am hoping to be able to study both regular central Thai and Lannese. It's pretty confusing trying to keep track of which language I am speaking. We had lots of technical and cross cultural training as well and one person from each of our sites had to come for 3 days of the conference to work through any issues and explain more about the program. Aside from training these two weeks were full of farang food, air conditioning, stories, hot showers, comfortable beds, western style flush toilets, great friends, and hours upon hours of speaking english.<br />
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Now I'm finally back at site and am readjusting to village life again. I came back on Sunday around 7am and was immediately horrified at the smell of my house. It didn't take me long to discover the source was toucay and gecko poop all over my floor, table, toilet, and even bed. There are also spiderwebs everywhere and its a bit "chilly" now that rainy season is in full swing. I started cleaning my house and got very dirty from all the poop and spiders I had to clean up and kill. It wasn't warm enough for my regular cold water shower so I boiled water and poured it into a bucket with cold water to take a luke warm bucket bath. Sunday I was "thainapped" and worked in the fields as free labor all day. We got to the field at 7:30am and immediately started picking fruit to be sold in the market. By 10am I was thinking to myself we have to be done any time now. By 2pm my back felt like it was going to split in half, and by 4 all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep. Now everyone wants me to go help pick their fruit but fortunately I have had the excuse of needing to work the last 2 days.<br />
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Tomorrow I am apparently going to meet a flying monk. Everyone is very excited about me meeting him and want me to ask him how he flies. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do that without laughing so I'll probably just pretend I don't understand what they are telling me to say. Village life feels a lot less like a vacation after 2 weeks of western amenities but I am still loving every second of it.<br />
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Pictures to follow soon! Sorry for the long delay in updates but now that I'm back at site I should have a bit more time.Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949264895489448496.post-81456422546009849462012-07-08T10:11:00.001+07:002012-07-08T10:11:53.509+07:004th of July FestivitiesFor some reason this year I was feeling more patriotic for the 4th of July than I ever have in the past. I'm not sure if it was being abroad, serving in the Peace Corps or a combination of the two. On the 3rd I was feeling a bit down and depressed about not being home for the 4th and then started thinking about how many events and holidays I will miss out on over the next two years. So I decided instead of moping around and being a downer I would celebrate the holiday to the best of my abilities and share it with my friends and neighbors here in Thailand. <div>
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Immediately after work on the 3rd I took my roundtrip 20k bike ride to the store to buy all the supplies I would need for my 4th of July feast. Unfortunately it rained the whole ride back. When I got home word had spread around the neighborhood that I was throwing a party the next day and I started to get worried that maybe I hadn't bought enough food. I had to work all day on the fourth but during lunch I got a ride to the store again to buy even more supplies. When I finally got home from work at 5 there were already 4 women waiting to help me start the cooking. We made chicken, pepper, mushroom, and onion skewers, pineapple salsa, spicy tomato salsa, homemade fajitas, and grilled pineapple. Over 15 people showed up all wearing red, white and blue. Some of them came and then found out the dress code and went home to get changed. I even gave a little speech to everyone about what the day means to Americans. The party was a huge success and tons of fun for both me and my neighbors. Plus I got to bring in the 3rd goal of Peace Corps and share my culture with my host country. </div>
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I plan to continue this tradition and celebrate all of the holidays I'll be missing out on at home with my new family here. Hopefully it will keep me from getting all mopey dopey self-pitying around the holidays. Plus I'm sure everyone here appreciates the free food.</div>
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Enjoy the pictures!</div>
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<br /></div>Kayla Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06593419087083074634noreply@blogger.com0