At this point some of you may be wondering exactly what I am supposed to be doing here, something that I often wonder myself. As a CBOD volunteer I am working in community development. This means that I am working through the local government office, similar to town hall in the states. While technically I work out of the government office, I am supposed to spend most of my time the first few months, and really the whole first year going out and meeting people. This means visiting schools, health stations, community volunteers, youth groups, community groups, and the chiefs of the villages. Sometimes I spend the whole day at the government office talking to the people here, practicing my Thai, doing research online, or making lesson plans for English. Other days I go out and interview the village chiefs about their community. Today I spent the morning at a health center, asking the doctor questions about health problems in the community, programs they have, what they excel in, and what they could improve. Yesterday I spent the morning at the office developing the questions for the health center and then the afternoon and evening at a wedding. Going to things like monk ordinations, weddings, and funerals are actually a part of my work and are an excellent way to meet people and have more and more people know who I am and why I am here. In the last three months I have gone to two weddings, 3 monk ordinations, and 3 funerals. When I ride my bike around I hear people yelling my name all the time and always bump into people I know at the market. Most of the time I have no idea who the person is or how they know my name but I just smile and pretend I know exactly who they are. In order to make myself feel slightly useful during these months of going out and meeting people I have started teaching English two days a week to kids in the community and also have planned my first project which is coming up next week.

On a different note here is my story of humiliation for the week. Friday was elder appreciation day which means a couple of hundred elders from the village came and had a party. They danced, sang karaoke, and then I had the honor of pouring water on their heads and they all got to dump water right back on me. At lunch someone asked me if I thought there were any handsome men at the event and I responded by saying "they’re old why are you asking me that". But of course it doesn’t end there, they then say a specific persons name and ask me if I think he is handsome. I didn’t understand the question and responded with Yes. Horrible idea. Next thing I know I am up on stage in front of hundreds of people and they are announcing that I think one of the village chiefs is handsome. Then of course he comes on stage stands right next to me and all the elderly people start yelling and clapping. I can’t even imagine what shade of red my face was at that point.

I have a few pictures of me teaching English and pouring water on elderly people to show that I really do work once in a while but unfortunately I left my camera cord at home and I won’t have internet again until next week so I will just have to post this without them.

Songkran!

It's a typical thursday afternoon as I leave the office to bike the 4k back home still wearing my work clothes. The ride home is entirely downhill and as I'm cruising along on my bicycle I suddenly hear shouts of "farang, farang" coming from around the corner. Next thing I know 8 kids jump in front of me, dump a bucket of water on my head, throw a bucket of orange colored water all over my shirt, and smear white paste on my cheeks. The whole ride home there are kids and adults lining the road dumping water on anyone who happens to be riding a bicycle (although I'm pretty sure no one else was that stupid), motorcycle, or sitting in the back of a pickup truck. While the motorcycle riders are defenseless against the water, pickup trucks are packed with people sitting in the back with huge trash barrels full of water that they scoop out and throw on the people lining the streets. The water isn't just regular water, it has big chunks of ice in it so it's as cold as possible when it hits you. In the town all you can see is water of various colors flying through the air as people engage in the most incredible water fight I have ever seen. This doesn't just go on for an hour, or an afternoon, or even a day, but 3 full days of water throwing all over the country. 

This three day festival is known as Songkran and is the Thai New Year. I spent the three days going to wats, dancing, throwing water, and walking in a parade. Oh, and being the official "Miss Songkran" for my village. I am already excited for next years festival and plan to somehow start a massive water fight in the states when I get back home.

The first night of Songkran festival I was a Sao Ramyong. They made me wear that ridiculous red skirt, put on insane amounts of makeup, and dance on a stage in front of the village. Fortunately I danced with a group of women, but they had their moves all choreographed so I looked pretty ridiculous trying to follow along.

Offering we made and brought to the wat in the village. It has money on the sticks on top and bars of soap, rice, chili peppers, garlic, and various other supplies hanging from it. 

Wat we went to at 6am for a ceremony. In this picture the monks are walking by with bowls and everyone throws rice from their own bowls into the monks bowls. The night before we went I  asked what I needed to wear to the wat and my family said anything that covers your knees. I then specifically asked what color shirt and they said any color. I was the only one not wearing white, once again. I really can't figure out why they refuse to tell me what color shirt to wear so I don't look like a fool all the time.

My family trying to teach my how to wrap the snacks we made in banana leaves. I failed miserably so they decided to go get my camera and take pictures of me struggling.

Water fights in the streets of Phayao.

My host sister and I dressed in traditional Northern Thai clothing for the parade. I'm not sure why I had to wear makeup and they did my hair since the second we stepped out of the car a bucket of water was dumped on me.

Leading a parade. At this point I am completely soaked and I have various colors of some type of past smeared on my cheeks. People all along the way bowed before me and then dumped ice water on me. I was completely defenseless since I had to carry a sign in one hand and an umbrella (not for the water for the sun) in the other hand. I have to admit it was incredibly fun and I can't imagine a better way to walk in a parade.

One of the fire trucks along the parade route that sprayed water on us as we walked.

Just another day in Thailand

Yesterday I woke up late (around 7:30) after drifting in and out of sleep since 5am when the roosters and pigs start their daily morning ritual of shrieking outside my window. I wander downstairs to see what strange food experience awaits me and find grilled chicken and sticky rice. While this may seem like an odd breakfast, it is far more normal than most meals I eat here and I was so excited to wolf down some regular grilled chicken. But alas, before I can finish eating my Meh comes in and says Kaylaaa do you want to go to "ban soap" with me. I say sure so she whisks away my grilled chicken and clicks her tongue at me to tell me to hurry up and get dressed. I throw on some knee length shorts and a light blue t-shirt and head out the door. This whole time I really have no idea what ban soap is, but I am assuming it is just the home of someone named soap, since ban means home. But of course I misunderstood yet again. We walk into a family compound with around a hundred people all dressed entirely in black. Large groups of women are cooking ridiculous amounts of food (whatever you're thinking think more) and groups of men are arranging chairs and carving wood. My first thought was maybe it was a catering service (stupid I know), but nope, it was a funeral. I am quickly surrounded by women grabbing my arms and hands, turning them over, rubbing them, and exclaiming at how white I am. At one point someone even slapped my butt. Then I am sent over to the older women to have the experience repeated. The older women are all splitting small pieces of wood and then carefully putting money into the wood and shoving it into coconuts in pretty arrangements. I help them do this while they all shout questions at me and I try to answer question after question in a language that I am not at all comfortable with yet. This whole time I am sitting on a bamboo mat on the floor with all of these women in their 70's and 80's. My legs are killing me and no matter how many times I rearrange them they fall asleep and get stiff. When I stand up I can hardly walk and all these women jump up and appear to be in no pain at all. I end up staying there for 4 hours, and still have no idea who the funeral was for, whose house I was at, or why I was sticking money into coconuts. 

My afternoon consisted of trying to read my kindle but having kids constantly come up and tap the screen so I lose my page, eating honey from a beehive that someone just happened to find and extract from a tree, eating a coconut that a monkey just happened to knock down from a tree in the yard, and hanging out with all of the people in the neighborhood. My days in Thailand never go quite as expected and each day has its own little bit of craziness. 

Picture time!

I've been hearing that everyone wants to see more pictures, so here they are! I'm not a great photographer and rarely remember to bring my camera but here are some of my favorites.

A few pictures of my village.

Traditional hill tribe clothing from the Mong tribe. The women make all of this by hand and it takes them months to make one item because the needlework is so intricate. I am going to work with one of these groups to try to help them sell products in the market to tourists.

On Sunday my family took me to a temple at the top of this big hill. They all went on a motorcycle to get there and I biked behind them. 

My host mom cutting up a banana tree for dinner. I was about to offer to help and then decided I would rather not end up in the hospital again after I lose a finger from that huge knife.

My host dad walking through his cornfield. He owns two acres of land that he grows corn on half the year and rice the other half. When it's harvesting time I'm going to be working in the field "helping" them.

Anti-drug bike rally I participated in. Drugs are a big problem in this area because we are on the border of Laos and drugs are trafficked across the border. A couple hundred people participated in the ride.

To get to the other side of this river I have to walk across those bamboo pieces tied together that roll when you step on them. My paw and I decided that I wasn't quite up for this yet, I've only been here for a little over a week and everyone already knows how clumsy I am.

Meeting with over 400 women that I had to speak at. I had no warning that this was about to happen I just heard my name on the microphone and then was put on stage, handed the microphone, and told to speak... in Thai of course. Oddly enough I was not nervous at all. If this had happened and I had to speak english I would probably have had a panic attack. Thai people love that I can even say hello so any mistakes I make don't really matter. Oh, and no one told me about the pink shirt dress code either so of course I was wearing a nice baby blue polo to help me stand out even more.

baby bees and rubber trees

After 10 long weeks of training I took an oath on Monday and swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! The completion of training felt like such an ending, when really it is only the beginning of my service here in Thailand. I am now at my site and will not be seeing any other volunteers for a few months. Even though I have been in Thailand for a while now, this feels completely different because I am not surrounded by other Americans everyday. 

After a 12 hour overnight bus ride I got to site around 6am yesterday. For breakfast I ate baby bees. They were actually pretty delicious even though the texture was a bit funky. By 8am I was at work meeting people and getting to know the community. For some reason they insisted that I bring my pet porcupine with me.  He sat next to me all day long.  Thai people think I’m strange enough as is so bringing a porcupine to work just makes me even stranger to them. They kept saying they hope he dies so they can eat him! 

At work I met all of the police and fire volunteers then someone handed me a scary looking knife and I carved a tree until rubber came out. The rest of the day I tried to practice my Thai and avoid falling asleep.  After work I went home and met all of the neighbors. For a few hours I sat outside and talked to the kids while neighbors came by to see me. The whole time there were about 10 kids ranging from 2 to 16 years old hanging out in the yard.

After dinner my host family asked me if I wanted to go watch people do aerobic exercises. When we got there I realized they didn’t want me to watch they wanted me to actually do aerobics because they want me to lose weight. Aerobics was fun and I got my 5 year old host brother to join in.

So far I love my new home and am excited to see what the next two years will bring! The office building in my village has internet so hopefully I will still be able to update my blog weekly.

Last week of training a few volunteers and I found real bread and cheese! First time I have had either in a few months and it was by far the best grilled cheese I have ever had. It must have been well over 100 degrees kneeling next to that fire cooking but was certainly worth the effort.

Singing karaoke at a going away dinner. It's not a real Thai party without karaoke. 

My Sing Buri host family at our last dinner together. This is one of the only times I was able to get a picture of them all together.

Porky.  Looking fly as always.

Fried Food and Wedding Dresses Galore

I don't think a week has gone by yet without something ridiculous happening to me. Last Sunday I was taken on an hour long drive to a photo store. I had my hair, makeup and nails done by transsexuals who all wanted to date me. After that they took my upstairs to a room full of wedding dresses and told me to pick out three. At this point I decided it was time to draw the line. I kept saying "no wedding, no wedding" and everyone was laughing at me. So eventually they just picked out some dresses for me. The first dress I had to wear was this puffy white knee length dress. I feel pretty confident that it was a wedding dress but they kept saying it wasn't. I then had my picture taken with a beach as the background as I was playing a violin and laughing. Then we all had family photos taken with me in my wedding dress. Next dress was a European ball gown with a hoop underneath to make it puff out, then a japanese gown, and finally traditional Thai. I eventually found out that these were family photos and that they were going to replace the ones already on the wall in the living room. Hopefully they decide not to buy the one with me playing the violin in my wedding gown. But it was really nice of them to want to include me in the family photos, even if the entire experience was kind of terrifying.

In other news, this week I think I ate french fries everyday. My family has been concerned about me and to show this they make me lots and lots of french fries. Yesterday for breakfast I ate french fries, deep fried chicken, and mini hot dogs. Today for lunch I ate fried papaya, fried mushroom, and fried corn. Quite the healthy diet I've got going on.

I had my final language test yesterday which was a 30 minute interview all in Thai. It was going pretty well until she asked me what I studied in college. When I told her I studied the brain she asked me what about the brain I studied. The only thing I could think to say was "well if you touched me but I didn't know you were touching me I would study why I don't know that you are touching me." Pretty sure she thought I was a bit strange after that. In my defense explaining neuroscience in Thai is incredibly hard! My pet porcupine also came up which didn't help my image.

In one week I leave for my permanent site!  I will try to update one more time before then. Hope all is well, and I miss everyone! Eat some pizza for me.

Site Visit!

My new home is located in Northern Thailand in an area known as the golden triangle near the borders of Laos and Myanmar. I will be the only Peace Corps Volunteer living there for the next 2 years. My village is in the mountains and right on the other side of it is Laos. There are 2 different hill tribes in my village, plus Northern Thais, Isan Thais, and immigrants from Laos. It is a beautiful place and is very rural.

After a 12 hour overnight bus ride from bangkok to my site, I was picked up by my Thai counterpart and taken to her house. After eating a bit of food she asked me if I was ready to go out. She probably said where we were going in Thai but I didn't understand it. Next thing I know I'm at a funeral. Funerals are very different here. There are groups of people hanging out outisde eating and drinking. Males in one area and females completely separate. Everyone stared when I walked in and I heard shouts of foreigner coming from every direction. Everyone wanted to talk to me and know who I was and what the heck I was doing in their village. The separation of male and female didn't seem to apply to me for some reason. I met lots of key village people and learned to cook some Thai food too. After that I went to a wat and got string tied around my wrists from a monk who chanted over me and poured water on me. From there I was taken to a waterfall, a market, and a windmill.

That night I stayed with a host family. We ate some delicious food and everyone sat on the ground and ate with their hands which was very different from what I have experienced in Central Thailand. The next morning I met two elderly women who weave mats for sitting on the floor. They taught me how to make one and I sat with them for a few hours making the mat. They asked me if I could help them develop a market for selling them because they can not make enough money. Then I walked down the street and met another elderly women sewing traditional hill tribe shirts. I sat with her for a while and spun a bicycle tire attached to a string that spun out the thread for her. After about 10 minutes my arm was killing me but this lady could probably do it for days on end. In the afternoon I met a teacher who is very excited to work with me and was incredibly nice. 

The next day I went to the government building in my village which will be my main base for doing projects out of. When I walked in everyone was so excited and was yelling and could not wait to meet me. I said hello in Thai and everyone dissolved into fits of laughter. After being introduced to everyone they crowded around and whipped out a scale. Everyone is gesturing for me to get on it and at first I am horrified, but after a few seconds I thought the whole situation was hilarious and stepped on the scale with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. When they saw how much I weighed people were high fiving and laughing even harder. Then they told me I need to diet. It was an incredibly strange experience. I also went to a daycare, health center, and a community group to meet with people and discuss why I am here. In the afternoon back at the government building they dragged me upstairs, handed me pom poms and told me I was going to be a cheerleader. About 8 of us practiced a cheerleading routine for an hour and then at the end after seeing how bad I am they asked me if I can do a Thai sport instead. Apparently there is a big sports day competition next month against other villages and it is very competitive. Every day they stop work an hour early and split into groups to practice the sports they are competing in.

Near my site with my counterpart Pii-Dao.

2 year old who I stayed with! She's incredibly energetic and tons of fun. She took me around the neighborhood to meet everyone and by the end I had 10 kids hanging onto me.

If you're thinking gosh that looks like ants and maggots in a sandwich bag, then your only half right. Those are red ants and ant larvae in a sandwich bag, get with it people. I only ate the ants and was very nervous to do so because I thought they might bite me since they were still alive. The larvae looked a bit too much like maggots for my liking. This is a common food in my Tambon, people love it which I absolutely do not understand.

View in my village. This is what a lot of the area looks like. There are gigantic fields everywhere with mountains/hills in the background. Beautiful.

Cheerleading practice with my coworkers!