Day Trips Are NOT Bigger in Texas

This weekend, Bradley, Ben, and I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Lindsay, John, and their beautiful baby, Ashton, in Texas. It was somehow relaxing and way too much fun. Allow me to give you just the highlights…

After arriving there late on Friday night, we hung out for a little bit and went to sleep shortly thereafter. On Saturday, we woke up early and decided to make it a beach day. After sneaking Ben into the trunk, the six of us made our way over to Padre Island, TX to enjoy the hot weather (and for us “northerners,” the last of our summer). Unfortunately, our day turned into about an hour of fun in the sun once we quickly realized that 1. It was very hot outside for a baby… and for grown adults and 2. There were these little bugs that climbed all over us and were so itchy and annoying. Between these two things, I made a comment about an hour after getting there that I wouldn’t be upset if we left. Needless to say, everybody agreed and about ten minutes later, we were all packed in the car and ready to go!

On Sunday, we left Little Squirt and John home (so that John could “study”) and the rest of us took a day trip to San Antonio. We enjoyed the Riverwalk and the Alamo… but it just so happened to be the coldest day in this part of Texas since last March. No joke, people were wearing hats, scarves, and heavy winter coats because it was 60 degrees. I thought it was hilarious… until I realized how cold I was in my flip flops as I wrapped my thin cardigan around myself. So, to avoid the frigid weather (Don’t make fun of me. It WAS cold!), we went into restaurants and shops. And then we went into restaurants and shops just to stay warm. And then we went back to the car to stay warm. Yes, our San Antonio day was another shortened adventure. Don’t judge.

 

Yesterday was very laid back besides the multiple photo shoots that we had of Ashton. Not only were we able to celebrate his 3 month birthday in his pre-made-onesie-by-pregnant-and-bored-Lindsay, but we decided it would be hilarious to put him in a pumpkin and take holiday specific pictures. Both extravaganzas resulted in great photos and a hilarious scene of a slew of people trying to get Ashton to look up and laugh in order to create the best picture. Fortunately, I not only captured pictures of Ashton, but of his entire entourage, as well.

 

 

I’m really looking forward to 10-15 years from now when Ashton looks at Lindsay and John and asks them why they put him through all of this. To future Ashton: It’s because your parents are crazy… but that’s why we love them! Now go ask your mom about donkey dances, popping her shoulder out, or upside down car stickers. In the meantime, I’ll reminisce about these stories while I wait for my delayed plane to come into Houston. Or maybe when I’m trying to fall asleep on a school night at 1 A.M. Thank you, Lindsay for your gift of these stories to think about, the small child that you brought into this world that is far too adorable, and for your wonderful hostess abilities. I think I speak for Ben, Bradley, and myself when I say that it was so great to see you and your beautiful family this weekend. Thank you for allowing us to invade your home and I look forward to seeing you all again (hopefully) in December!

I Finished!

On my flight back to the U.S. from Thailand, I decided that I wanted to take everything that I had experienced this summer and tie it all together with a nice little bow. Several other HELP volunteers had created a video of their experiences, complete with music, pictures, videos, quotes... You name it! After watching their videos (which they somehow found the time to create before we left!), I was so inspired, that I thought that I would try, also. What I didn't know is how big of a project this was. (Hey, I've never made a video before!) I spent a good portion of my 13 hours flight from Tokyo to D.C. uploading videos, rearranging pictures, and testing out various songs.

When I landed in D.C. (two months ago now!), I had a good chunk of my video finished, but knew there were still a few things that I needed to do to make it 100% complete. I spent four days catching up with family and friends as well as figuring out my sleep schedule again. (Scratch that -- I spent like a week and a half figuring out my sleep schedule...) Then, volleyball started. Then work. And then I was so into a routine that I didn't really have time to touch this again.

Thank goodness for quiet weekends. I hope you enjoy the video that I finally just now finished this morning!

Lastly, I think I'm going to try writing on here more often again as I sometimes have hilarious stories to share. I know, you were just dying for me to say that. Until then, you'll have to continue sitting on the edge of your seat. Enjoy!

Thailand Follows Me

I'm home!!! As I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things, I came to the realization: although on the other side of the world, Thailand really isn't too far...

• I slept until 1:30 P.M. today... which means I'm still on Thailand's time. That has to count for something!
• I have all of these amazing souvenirs that I brought back. I was so excited to give them to my family yesterday, that I was literally jumping up and down.
• I can't explain it, but I feel like I've changed and made a lot of personal growth. I mean, humanitarian work is bound to change you, right?
• The acts of kindness that both I and other people have shown! I'm not going to list them all here, but it's been awesome to hear about the little things that people can do (and have done!) each and every day to make a difference.
• I still have a lot of bahts. Hahaha, but seriously. If you want some bahts (Thai money), please let me know!
• Magnum ice cream bars. No, I'm not eating one right now...

And my personal favorite...

• My sister and I were getting our nails done yesterday. She was telling me a story, when I very rudely (and very necessarily!) interrupted her and said, "Oh my gosh. Thailand has followed me!" She followed my gaze out the window to see... a monk outside the nail salon with an iPad in hand (yes, "monk with an iPad")! I honestly don't think I've ever seen a monk in the U.S. before, so why did the day that I return home happen to be the first? Because God has a great sense of humor... and is reminding me that even though Thailand is two travelling days away, I will remember the wonderful-ness of the past six weeks for the rest of my life.

The Land of Smiles

Similarly to how my trip started, I’m currently sitting in the Tokyo airport (but instead of eating sushi, I’m eating Pringles. What can I say? I’ve missed “American” food!). After accidentally saying, “Kop-kuhn-kah” instead of “thank you” when going through security and hearing a group of Thai people talking about “phalongs” in “Chiang Mai” (could it have been the volunteers of HELP? I have no idea… because those were the only two words I understood), I’m suddenly realizing how bittersweet it is that my summer in “The Land of Smiles” has come to a close. So, without further ado:

The Top 10 Things Meg Will Stop Smiling About Because She Is No Longer in "The Land of Smiles":

• How freaking nice people are. (Side note: Paiboon really outdid himself yesterday evening. Even though our checkout time was several hours before our flight, he let us shower when we came back from the beach and gave us pineapple, water, candy, mango juice, and the cool breeze of a fan until our bus to the airport came. Umm, what?!)
• The fact that I can’t see into the future anymore. Although this one is kind of a joke, it’s also kind of serious. I mean, the volunteers here DID see Batman eleven hours before anybody in the U.S. could…!
• How cheap everything is!
• The high level of respect that students and teachers showed to us volunteers, even if we are foreigners. And strangers.
• Learning Thai! Believe it or not, but I ended up learning more than I thought I would. Even though it’s still “nit noi” (very little), it’s something!
• Some food items that I fell in love with. Even though I’m slightly sick of rice at the moment, I have a feeling that I won’t be able to find pad thai, roti, or sweet and sour chicken that tastes as good in the U.S. Not only that, but I’m certain that the watermelon, pineapple, and mangoes won’t be anywhere near as good at home!
• The culture. Call me crazy, but I have come to love so many things about the Thai culture. Their clothing, their love for the King, and even hearing the monks praying from the temple up on the hill will all be missed. After all, these things, in my mind, are all so uniquely “Thai,” so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to experience them again!
• The easy access to public transportation. I have a feeling that somebody is going to throw in a Metro comment here, but it’s amazing to me how much EASIER everything is there. I literally walked 50 feet down the street, and I could catch a song tao to Fang, or a bus to Chiang Mai, Bangkok… you name it!
• How people drive there. Again, call me crazy (and if you’ve ever been to Bangkok, you might really think I’ve gone crazy), but driving isn’t as… structured. And I like that! The lines on the road are really more like guidelines, there aren’t speed limits a lot of times, and it’s perfectly normal to have a dozen people piled into the back of a pick-up truck. The thing is, people don’t worry about other drivers… they just DRIVE. If you’re passing someone, you honk to make them aware of it. If you’re turning, you move over to the shoulder so that the cars behind you can pass. I know that this mindset of driving can make things much crazier in the city, but in my opinion, it’s just more practical and efficient. And lastly,
• The majestic beauty of the country. I honestly can’t think of an ugly part of Thailand that I have seen. From the rice fields, the mountains, and the windy roads in the north to the turquoise water and limestone cliffs of the south… it was all just absolutely breathtaking. If nothing else, I hope that one day, you get to experience Thailand just so you can see first-hand how gorgeous the country is.

If anybody can find a way to bring any of these things back to the U.S., please let me know as they couldn’t fit into my carry on. Have no fear though! If you know me at all, you know that it's impossible for me to well, not smile... so this obviously doesn't mean that I'll never smile again, as I’m extremely excited to be heading home! I’m so excited to see my dad at the airport. I’m excited to get my nails done with Michelle and enjoy my mom’s company while she has the day off of work. I’m excited to drive (!!!) over to Brambleton to see Mike, Kim, and Myla. I’m excited for ice cream, cereal, and food that isn’t rice. I’m looking forward to not having to carry toilet paper around with me everywhere and to actually put on clothes other than the few outfits that I’ve been wearing for the past few weeks. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, to having access to my cell phone again, and to peacefully enjoy the last few days of my summer before volleyball season begins. I can’t believe that all of this is only a … long 13 hour flight away? The point is: I can see all of these things in my near future and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

With that being said, I should probably go as my flight will be leaving soon… exactly 25 minutes after I land at Dulles. Ready? Set? TIME TRAVEL! (Mom – Sorry that your mind is blown from this. I’ll explain later. Love you!)

See you soon with a big smile, U.S. of A!

Acts of Kindness

These past few days, I've been biding my time by relaxing on the beach during the day and souvenir shopping at night. It's amazing how quickly my mindset has transformed from "work" to, well, nothing... and I've enjoyed every second of my vacation. Not only have I had time to read, swim, and soak up the sun's rays, but I've had time to contemplate life. Okay, so I realize that I'm sounding way too serious when I say this, but one thing that I've actually been thinking a lot about is how freaking nice people are here. No, I'm not joking. Locals will literally bend over backwards for you. Let me give you a few recent examples...

In Bangkok, we left our luggage in our friend's room in a hotel that we weren't even staying at. We then booked a taxi with the hotel, used their WiFi while we were waiting for our ride to the airport, and just hung out in the room that we didn't pay for. As Americans, our response to these accommodations was to give them 100 baht as a thank you for housing us for a couple of hours. Their response was insistent. "No, no, no. It was our pleasure!" We then thanked the hotel profusely, put the money back in our pocket, and promised to give the hostel glowing reviews on TripAdvisor. (We had to do something!)

At our hotel here in Ao Nang, the front desk leaves these little sweets that taste like Starbursts out. When we were checking in, they pushed the candy jar in front of us and told us to take one. Allow me to say that this particular candy has been very popular for us in Thaton during team meetings, movie nights, and midnight snacks that result in the loss of lizard limbs. Recognizing the sweets, I made a comment of something like, "Oh my gosh... I LOVE these!" Naturally, the owner of the hotel then gave us a handful to eat. Now, every time we walk back into the hotel from a day at the beach or a night of shopping, ALL of the employees here push the candy jar towards us, knowing how much we love the fruity treats.

Not only do they keep forcing the candy towards us, but they have clearly figured out that, as a group, we all have a sweet tooth. That's when Paiboon, one of the employees, decided to treat us to something sweet that's a bit healthier than the taffy-like substance that they've been giving us. Yes, he brought an entire trayful of mangosteen fruit to our room completely free of charge. We've greatly enjoyed this addition as breakfast for the past few days and I made the bold statement of saying that this act of kindness has allowed Paiboon to officially overtake Mr. Honey as my favorite Thai person (I'm so sorry, Mr. Honey! You had a good run!).

So now we have a lot of mangosteen AND a constant supply of candy! Because the candies seem like they're coming from a bottomless pit, I asked one of the employees how big the bags were that they used to fill the candy jar. He proceeds to go and get a huge, Costco-sized bag of candy and brings it up front for me. In awe, I said something like, "Wow! How much is that? I want to buy a bag so that my family and friends can try!" He laughed and told me that next time he was at the store, he would buy me one and I could pay him back.

I got a phone call in the room today and was told that I should go downstairs as soon as possible. Worried, I walk down the steps... only to find the owner holding out a big bag of candy for me. I asked him how much I owed him while pulling out my wallet, but he just stood there, shaking his head and hands with a big grin on his face saying, "No, no, no! A present for you!" I'm not sure if it's culturally appropriate or not, but I then gave him a big hug. I was just THAT excited!

So, I'm scratching my goal of making the Thai laugh and changing it to something that I can realistically change within myself. Just seeing the joy that these people have when they can do something nice, selfless, and thoughtful for complete strangers inspires me to want to "pay it forward"... but rather than making this a rare occurrence like most Americans, why can't I make it an everyday thing? Maybe if more of us treated each other like the Thai people treat other humans, the world would be a happier place. Today, I encourage you to take Meghan's Thai Act of Kindness Challenge: Do something completely selfless in order to make somebody else smile. (Then, be sure to share with me! If possible, I'd love to share some of these experiences on here in a few days!)

I'm excited to hear all of the simple acts of kindness and, more importantly, all of the joy that your selflessness is bound to spread. Good luck!

The Most Beautiful Place on Earth

It's official! I've found the most beautiful place on Earth, although southern Thailand has a handful of strong contenders...

Yesterday, we walked ten minutes down the street to Ao Nang Beach. It's a beautiful walk that parallels giant limestone rocks that are the size of mountains. At the beach, this limestone comes out into the water which makes the view amazing. The water is a crystal clear blue and there were several occasions where I said something in awe like, "Just look at this view!"

Ao Nang Beach

We walked a short distance down the beach to get a little bit closer to the limestone, when we noticed a little wooden path with a sign next to it that says, "WARNING: DO NOT FEED THE MONKEYS!" Like any normal human, we immediately got on the path and had cameras at the ready in case we spotted any monkeys. We quickly found them and started taking pictures next to them (how could we not?!), but after a few too many flashes, they started chasing us and hissing at us. I'm dead serious when I say that I'm not sure what was scarier: being in a tiger cage or fending off wild monkeys. Needless to say, I'm not making any plans to take the monkey path again!

Today, we took a tour to three different islands off the coast of Thailand: Koh Dang, Koh Poda, and Koh Hong. Koh Dang means "red island" in Thai which is very appropriate as the island is made almost entirely of red rock. We went snorkeling in the water here and got to swim around the rocky island. Then, we went to Koh Poda. We docked at a beach and had the opportunity to lay out, swim, or snorkel -- and I did a little of all three! Lastly, we went to Koh Hong which is appropriately nicknamed "Paradise Island". We had lunch and then two and a half hours to swim and sunbathe. I seriously have never seen a more beautiful place in my life and I'm not sure if my words will do it justice. At one point, I was just floating on my back in the turquoise water, looking up at the cloudless sky and the huge limestone rocks jutting out of the water thinking, "This is it! This is the most beautiful place I will ever see in my life!" I literally got tears in my eyes as the boat was leaving, just thinking about how spectacular this island was and how I will probably never see it again in my life. (But how fortunate am I that I got to see it once?!) God is so good!

Koh Hong Beach

Lastly, I want to give my proper thanks to Thaton and to the HELP International team. My volunteer work this summer was something that was humbling and eye opening in every way imaginable. I truly feel like I've made a difference among the locals in northern Thailand. The fact that students now love English, their teachers have resources to continue making the subject enjoyable, and that I had the opportunity to interact with both the faculty and kids at many schools has made all of my hard work this summer SO worthwhile! Please pray that the volunteers for the remainder of this summer and in the future can continue to make a difference among the needy in this beautiful country!

Longest Birthday Ever!

July 19th, 2012 began just like any other morning. You know, Shawney, Hannah, Sydney, and Heidi woke me up by singing "Happy Birthday" and putting french toast (made in a wok in Thailand!) in my lap. As you can probably imagine, I was completely besides myself. According to Shawney, I opened my eyes slowly, got a huge smile on my face, and said, "Is this real life?" (For the record, I don't remember doing this.) Between that reaction and the fact that I started jumping on my bed after I finished eating, she has made the bold statement of saying that I'm the best person to serve breakfast in bed to. Maybe you should try it sometime and see if these expectations can be accomplished for you, too? I mean, I wouldn't complain...

To continue my birthday celebration, I spent the day packing, eating one of my favorite meals at Sunshine Cafe, and (of course) getting a Thai massage. (Why wouldn't I?!) We then said some sad goodbyes to the volunteers at the house and boarded a bus headed to Bangkok. Fourteen hours later (Mind you, it was a quick fourteen hours. This bus had pillows, blankets, meals, and seats that reclined all the way back!), we arrived at the bus station in the capital of Thailand before the sun had even risen. We sat in the food court, sharing our packed breakfast of sliced pineapple and peanut butter sandwiches before taking the city by storm... or something like that.

After dropping our bags off at the hostel that three other volunteers were staying at, we decided to tour Bangkok on foot. We had the amazing opportunity to see the Grand Palace which is INCREDIBLY beautiful and ornate. The size of the Palace and the attention to detail in every last building was something that was so spectacular, that I truly don't think a camera could capture it. I literally got chills at one point by the beauty of it all! (Unfortunately, I would have loved to take pictures to TRY and capture it, but my camera was dead. I'll have to steal all of Shawney's pictures. They'll be coming soon...)

After a delicious lunch, we went and collected our bags and then headed to the airport. (For some reason, I feel as though it's necessary for me to say that our bags from living in Thailand for a month and a half were too big for the taxi, so he left the trunk open and secured all of our luggage with bungee cords. Thankfully, everything is here and accounted for! I should probably also mention that he was blasting the "International Hits" station which included songs like "Lucky" by Britney Spears. It was heaven!)

Our flight to Krabi included the most "phalongs" (Although I just read something yesterday and this word was spelled "farong". I apologize, but if you think about it, it's the "same same, but different". This is in quotes because I hear locals say it fairly often and I about die laughing every time because it doesn't make sense. At all. Yet I find myself using it all the time now!) that I've seen since being in Thailand which is, of course, completely expected. After all, everybody wants to come to the touristy, world-renowned beaches that Thailand has to offer! If you haven't already, Google image the following places: Krabi, Phi Phi Islands (pronounced Pee Pee. Is it sad that I'm 25 and still giggle at that every time?), and Railay Beach. Now think about the fact that I'll be spending the next five days beach hopping and snorkeling in these places. As if celebrating my birthday for eleven hours longer (I couldn't stop until it was over in America, right?!) wasn't enough, I get to be in paradise until Wednesday.

Happy Birthday to me! (And to Kim, my soon-to-be sister-in-law whose birthday is ACTUALLY today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIM!!!)

Birthday Roti

Today started with the best wake up call a girl could ask for. Because several people are getting ready to leave, Rob decided that we were going to have a thorough house cleaning this morning beginning at 7 A.M. sharp. At 6:52 A.M., there was a loud knock on our door with a bellow of, "TEAM CLEANING IN 8 MINUTES!" Naturally, I started hysterically laughing. Tell me that's not great!

Something else that's great is the fact that while I was still half asleep, I verbalized how I was envisioning everybody cleaning the house while listening to Jock Jams. That's when I decided to pursue my dreams of re-living our cleaning of the beach house at Lindsay's wedding. Yes, while we were all lined up, ready to start, a few stragglers were stumbling down the stairs. While lyrics that were literally screaming, "Areeee youuuu readyyyy?!" were playing, I used my best Katie-broadcasting voice to announce the volunteers into the "Cleaning Ceremony". I'd like to make a quick shout out to Katie for being my inspiration as well as everybody else that participated in the cleaning two summers ago that actually knows what I'm talking about.

In other news, I think I can officially consider today to be my last day of volunteering. Although I technically have tomorrow in northern Thailand, my work is literally done at this point (hallelujiah!). Shawney and I finished the activities today, burned them onto CDs, delivered them to the last schools, made master copies for the house, and then stood a little bit taller from the pride of our completed project. I turned to Shawney at that point and said, "Well... now what?"

Birthday roti. That's what! The HELP team really outdid themselves by bringing out a roti cake for my birthday after dinner (and by "roti cake," I really mean a bunch of rotis that are laid out on a tray). They even had our land-lady play her karaoke CD of "Happy Birthday," which had versions in literally every genre of music that you could imagine. Then, they did our team bonding activity (which started out as a joke, but has since turned into something very sincere!) that I mentioned several weeks ago of, "I love Meghan and I appreciate her because...". It was amazing! I love the HELP team! I love roti! I love birthdays! I love Thailand (even though I'm turning a half life tomorrow)! My whole life is great! I can do anything good! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Floss, Floss, Floss!

So before I begin talking about today, I think I need to put an addendum to yesterday. Silly me forgot to write about one of the most hilarious things that I've heard since being here! Remember that class that hated Shawney and I and gave us a thumbs down to show how much they disliked us? Well, apparently they hate us even more than I thought! Courtney, the volunteer that has been teaching in this class, told them that she wasn't coming back because she was going back to America. The smart allics then asked, "Meghan? Shawney?" Courtney said that yes, we were going back to America, too. Apparently, they then stood up and cheered because we were leaving. Ahh, they joy of a child...!

So besides being hated by this class, a few other things have happened here. I guess I should mention that I started my morning off by falling down a flight of stairs (bet you didn't think I was going to say that!). Our outdoor steps were slippery because it had been raining. Well, I slipped... and fell down the stairs and have some pretty great bruises from it. The good news is that I got up laughing. 555!

After that incident, we did a personal hygiene assembly at one of the schools. Shawney and I were in charge of the "flossing" station which turned out to be a lot of fun (side note: Before we started, we asked how many students had flossed their teeth before. The answer? ZERO!). We put paint on a rubber glove, and then "brushed" it off with a toothbrush. Once it was clean, we used yarn to floss in between the fingers of the glove. The kids faces were great as they saw how much paint was on the yarn. The best was when they gave audible, "Ewwws!" or started putting their nails in between their teeth to feel for their own plaque. So gross, but so cool! Then, we taught them how to floss. Since I'm basically a dental hygenist now, I should probably floss tonight, I guess...

We then taught the teachers this afternoon for the last time. Because we wanted to end on a fun note, I introduced them to the activities, songs, and games that we've been working so hard on. Some other volunteers recorded the songs that we included in our document, and we played them the CD, also. They loved it! (Ahh, all that hard work paid off!) Then, we played some "popular" songs while they had to write down any English words that they could hear. Afterwards, we would put the lyrics up on the screen and I would be the karaoke version of Vanna White. Then, all of the teachers would sing along to The Beatles or Sara Bareilles! It was HILARIOUS. Really, this is just way too difficult to understand and, in my opinon, it really doesn't capture how hysterical it was. Video coming soon!

Guess what? I also got a framed certificate from this school for teaching there twice. That puts me at five so far this summer. I may have the most in the house... I'm just saying!

Now, go floss!

Pep Talks

If I had to pick one word to describe yesterday, it would be "adventure". In fact, there was nothing normal about it. Let me explain...

Everybody in the house fell into one of three groups this weekend: the "out of town for the weekend" group, the "Mormon" group, and the "other" group. Obviously, I fell into "other" group which meant that I was left with the task of visiting a tribal village as Sunday is their only day off and everybody else was busy. As everybody was running out the door, they were telling me various questions that I needed to ask the tribe. I was stressed, annoyed, and frantically trying to write everything down. It even got to a point where Shawney was giving me a shoulder rub while another volunteer was literally giving me a pep talk of, "Don't worry, Meghan. You'll do great!" My life may or may not have reached a new low.

After everybody left for church, I turned to Rob who was going with me as a translator to say something like, "I have no idea what's going on. Don't expect to get much out of this." Rob, God bless him, continued the pep talk with something like, "Trust me. We'll make the most of this!" I've never heard any truer words...

One of the NGOs that we've been working closely with this summer came and picked us up in his truck. We drove for about 40 minutes before reaching the village of an Akha tribe. There, we had to get out of the car in order to take motorcycles the rest of the way to our destination, a Lahu village, because the roads "weren't feasible for cars". While we were waiting for the motorcycles to arrive, we were told to go sit in a room. Little did we know, this room was the village nursery. We also didn't know that they nursery was having their bi-monthly meeting for parents. Or that they'd want us to awkwardly sit in the front of the room right next to the teacher so that everybody can gawk at the "phalongs" while she presents her information. I'd like you to take a quick moment to imagine me sitting there, staring at all of these parents and their children from the front of the room without a clue as to what's being presented to them, while they just stare at me as if I were a zoo animal. This goes up there on the list of "Most Awkward Moments of My Life".

After ten minutes that seemed more like an hour, the motorcycles arrived! I was excited to leave the situation... until I saw the next situation that I was about to face. Rob had to drive one motorcycle and the NGO would drive the other with me on the back. (They actually asked if I wanted to drive one. Umm... what?!) For a fleeting moment, I was ecstatic as "riding on the back of a motorcycle" is on my Bucket List... but then I looked down the hill at the roads that "weren't feasible for cars." Yes, my first experience riding on the back of a motorcycle was terrifying as it was on a narrow dirt road, sometimes mud road, in the middle of the jungle. We drove through a stream, through pot holes that were unavoidable because they were everywhere, and -- at one point, I even had to get up and walk through the mud as the NGO couldn't balance both me and him on the motorcycle.

After ten minutes of the NGO laughing at my fearful face in his side mirrors, we made it to the village! We were ushered into a bamboo hut and, like last time, I started asking Rob questions in English who asked the NGO in Thai who translated it to the northern dialect of Thai for the village representative to understand. Every now and then, he would turn to the village (which kept coming into the hut) and tell them things in Lahu and then send the game of telephone back to me. Side note: when I said that he turned to the village, I mean the village. There were literally twenty people in this room that was meant to be a meeting with just the one person. Again, everybody just wanted to gawk at the "phalongs"... and then take awesome pictures with them.

Today, I taught English for the last time. The kids were very adorable and even though I only taught at this particular school three times, they still felt the need to thank me profusely, tell me that they love me, and give me a certificate. (What is it with this country and certificates?!) It was very unneccessary, but very sweet nonetheless! It also made me miss my students back home... which then made me miss my family and friends. And volleyball. And Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And high speed internet. And pasta. And clothes that actually smell like they're clean when you put them on... you get the point. I think I should save this list and make it my personal pep talk on the ridiculously long flight back to the U.S...

Easy As "ABC"?

Yesterday, Shawney and I started the morning by making a "To Do" list. The good news is that we got a lot of these items taken care of. The bad news is that we still have a lot to do before we leave on Thursday. Needless to say, I'm going to be spread very thin over the next few days.

We began our "To Do" list on Friday morning by going to one of the schools and meeting with the headmaster. After having HELP volunteers teach English for two months, she said that the students in her school love English. She wants to keep this love for the subject going, so she used the school's funding to build a language center. It's scheduled to be finished this weekend, and she wanted advice as to "fun" English things to put in this building (and by building, I really mean a structure that's no bigger than my bedroom). Shawney and I gave some suggestions such as materials for the activities we've written out, some English books and videos, etc. Right before we left, I looked at the bland walls and said something like, "Maybe we could paint the alphabet and some English words and phrases on the inside? I mean, the more exposure that the kids have, the better."

One statement was all it took to have another project on our hands.

Granted, I'm very excited about this project and I think a splash of color containing practicality will make the language center look awesome; however, I can't help but think that painting the ABCs won't be as easy as we hope...

Maybe now is a good time to add that one main reason that I'm thinking this is because of the time constraints. Maybe now is also a good time to talk about how our activities for two of the schools aren't quite finished... because the curriculum for grades 4-6 is missing. Because I'm always the optimist, allow me to throw some positives into this situation...

• We know how to obtain the curriculum... but we won't have it until Monday afternoon.
• Other volunteers have offered to help us.
• We DO have until Thursday night to do this. And, most importantly...
• We will finish these activities if it kills me. I didn't work all of this time for nothing!

So, while that project was on hold, we decided to head to Fang today to print out the things that we do have and then to make copies of it for the schools. (Techincally, we have weekends off, but when you're short on time, you gotta do what you gotta do!) The first internet cafe that we went to was closed. The second one didn't have ink in the printer. The third one had a printer that literally had no internal parts. To discover these three things, it took us like two hours of walking around the city in the mid-day, sweltering heat. I was drenched in sweat and frustrated. That's when I came up with a brilliant solution (that was at least two hours too late): Let's burn everything on CDs instead. This idea should have been much easier than it was. I'll attribute my lack of thinking to my hair color. Or the heat. Your choice.

Because I don't want to write an entire blog post about me complaining, I'm going to include random awesome things here.

• Today, four of us made French toast in a wok in Thailand. Upon this discovery, you too will realize how awesome our "international" lunch was.
• Yesterday, Shawney and I walked into the drive of the closest school to our house when Rob, one of our country directors, pulled up in the truck (thanks for the ride, Rob!). We were there to talk to the teachers for our project and asked what he was doing. I didn't believe him when he said that he came to borrow some speakers for a dance party at our house. Twenty minutes later, Rob, Shawney, and I were driving back to the house with smiles on our faces and a huge subwoofer in the back of the truck. As you can probably imagine, the entire town heard the dance party that we had on our deck last night. They may have also seen it since everybody used flashlights to create something like a strobe light effect. It. Was. Awesome.
• Today, I was looking for a snack and closed a cabinet in the kitchen. I saw something fall onto the counter and went to check what it was. As you can probably guess, it was a lizard's tail! Yes, I severed a lizard's tail with a cabinet door in my quest to find a fruity snack. But that's not all! It was still moving for like five minutes after it was severed. It was so cool and disgusting at the same time. You can't tell me that that's not awesome enough to mention on my blog. You're welcome.

Lastly, a question for you to ponder: Is it okay to date your fourth cousin? If not, where do you draw the line of "acceptable family members to date"? (Oh my gosh, that question sounds terrible and hilarious at the same time!) And for the record: I'm asking for a friend. Seriously.

So, exactly how easy is "ABC"...?

Half Life

Yesterday, we celebrated the birthday of one of the ladies that owns Sunshine Cafe, our favorite restaurant in town. We walked down in various groups, sang her happy birthday, gave her a gift of pineapples, made her a card, etc. Apparently, it was so moving, that she cried... but I wouldn't know. I was too busy Skyping with my long lost roomie, Abby. (For the record, Abs -- it was SO worth it!)

When everybody got back, we started comparing how birthdays are celebrated in Thailand and in America. Being the only native Thai person in the house, we then bombarded Nat with questions. His responses are included within the parenthesis.

• Are birthdays bigger here or in the U.S.? (They're about the same, but if you're old and imporant, birthdays are huge here.)
• Do you get presents on your birthday here? (Yes.)
• Are there any milestone birthdays like what we have in the U.S. at 16, 18, 21, etc.? What are they? (Not really. Well, I guess like 25.)

With that response, I literally jumped for joy. Hannah, another volunteer, caught on to my excitement and said something like, "Meghan! You're going to have a Thai milestone birthday... in Thailand! That's so cool! Hey Nat -- what makes 25 so memorable in Thailand?"

His response was so nonchalant and Nat-like that it makes me sick... "We say that it's like half a life."

So I guess I have exactly six days until my life is half over in the eyes of the Thai. Ouch.

I Am Happy

As I mentioned last week, Shawney and I were put in charge of running an English Camp at a school that's about 45 minutes away. The camp was held over the past two days and I think it's safe for me to say now that it was very successful and SO MUCH FUN! Maybe I'm biased because I helped to organize it all, but here's a quick recap...

We taught twelve lessons yesterday. My topic? Greetings. That's right -- I taught 3-6 graders how to say, "Hello, my name is...," "How are you?" and, "I am happy/tired/sleepy" TWELVE times... and literally, that's all that I could teach them without overloading their brains with English. Why do I consider it successful? At the end of the day, I said something at their afternoon assembly like, "I am happy. How are you?" and a handful of students said, "I AM HAPPY!" back. I'll take it!

Today, we taught 1st and 2nd graders which was absolutely terrible... like, a million times more difficult. I started to teach them about weather and quickly realized how hard it was going to be (Maybe the give away was when I was acting out how to play "Four Weather Conditions," my take on Four Corners, and instead, they thought that I wanted them to play a class-wide game of Hide and Seek?). It was probably around this time when I decided to switch back to yesterday's lesson on greetings (yes... AGAIN!). The kids ended up having a lot of fun with it, but at the end of the day, when I made my same simple speech of, "I am happy. How are you?" the students gave me blank stares and I'm pretty certain that I could hear crickets. Then, a few students quietly responded with their pre-programmed response in a monotone voice: "I am fine, thank you. And you?" Aww nuts!

So, how do I know that today's English camp was personally successful despite all of these apparent train wrecks? Well, all it takes is one moment of glory. One kid was running back from the restroom and going past my class. As I was in the middle of playing a game with the next group, he ran by, pointed to the huge smile on his face, and said, "I AM HAPPYYY!" Done and done. Thank you, small child for allowing me to feel a brief moment of accomplishment!

As for me, I can point to the smile on my face and scream, "I AM HAPPY!" for several reasons:

1. English Camp went well and the kids are all still alive. (Hey, I can say that. Can't I?)
2. The school that we did the camp through was AMAZING! They provided all of our supplies, fed us very well, unnecessarily gave us a beautiful thank you gift, and printed very official looking certificates (I can't wait to add this to my professional development folder!).
3. This particular school introduced me to something fantastic that I will never forget: morning and afternoon snack break. Seriously! Both students and teachers take a school-wide, twenty minute break for food twice a day. It was glorious. Which leads me to...
4. The amazing-ness that was our morning and afternoon snack: individually packaged, strawberry-filled donuts. One volunteer, Courtney, made a bold statement by saying that these donuts were "the best thing she's ever experience in her life." I don't think this was a figure of speech by any means. So there you have it! Thailand is known for some great food: pad thai, Thai tea, and ... strawberry-filled donuts?

Today, I hope you can enjoy the simple things in life (like donuts...) so that you can also be happy. In fact, why don't you enjoy these simple things while pointing to the big grin on your face and telling somebody, "I AM HAPPYYY"? Better yet, say this exclamation with the accent of a Thai child. You'll get extra points. Who cares if points don't matter?! I promise that if you try the accent, it'll make you, well... HAPPYYY!

Good Cop, Bad Cop

It's official: I'm a mean teacher. Well, maybe this statement is just true in foreign countries.

So every Monday, we teach English with another volunteer at one of the local schools. The thing is, of the 20 or so volunteers here, Shawney and I are the only ones who have any background in education. (Fortunately, this is made up for the fact that many of the other volunteers have backgrounds in public health, nursing, etc... all of which are VERY beneficial, also!). I don't mean to generalize or be mean in ANY way (after all, I would know NOTHING about public health or nursing), but, as you can imagine, the educational background of our group (or lack thereof) doesn't necessarily provide the best teaching situations. As a result, I find that the "good cop, bad cop" scenario is played out nearly every Monday... and nearly every Monday, I'm the token "bad cop".

Yesterday, I got to a point where I just let the other volunteer go to town with our lesson while I stood, arms crossed and eyes glaring, next to a handful of students in one class who were playing an apparently fun game of "Here's a punch. Pass it on." In another class, I walked around collecting their drawings, origami, doodlings, etc. Last week, there was a class that was so disrespectful, that they gave Shawney and I thumbs downs to show how much they disliked us and our idea of classroom management (mind you: neither of us have taught in this class before). I kid you not, ten year olds were saying, "MEGHAN? SHAWNEY?" and then putting their thumbs down at us. Although this provides for a hilarious story (which everybody in the house just loves. Whenever somebody isn't doing something desirable, all we do is say their name and give them a thumbs down. A laugh is guaranteed!), I've come to the conclusion... that it's not fun to be mean all the time! I love teaching, but I'm looking forward to teaching my own class again. And to students who speak my own language fluently. (With that being said, please know that as a whole, the students in Thailand are extremely well-mannered, respectable, and independent. Respect of elders and people in authority is HUGE here and I can definitely tell in many of the classrooms that I walk in. But, just like in any American classroom, if a teacher gives them an inch... well, there's no coming back. Clearly.)

With that being said, I can't believe that I only have a few more days left of actual volunteer work. For every six weeks of work, we get two days of vacation and I get to start cashing them in at the end of next week. Before that point comes though, there's still a lot left to take care of! Although I love what I'm doing here in northern Thailand, this teacher is ready to stop being mean, to stop working so hard, and to relax at the beach for my last few days here. Ahh -- I can't wait!

Exclamation Points!

Here's a short post with a couple of exciting things:

1. I got an awesome birthday card from my friend Mike in the mail today! Thank you for making me smile, Mike!

But more importantly (no offense, Mike) ...

2. LINDSAY IS A MOM!!!

If you don't already know, Lindsay is the most hilarious ball of energy I know. I'm lucky to say that I've been her coworker back in the GAP and YMCA days, her roommate in college, a bridesmaid in her wedding, and her friend throughout it all. When I got her Christmas card of an ultrasound picture and a due date, I screamed from excitement. Since her due date on Tuesday, I've been checking Facebook and my phone (thanks, Ben!) periodically throughout the day for any updates.

I sent Lindsay an e-mail yesterday morning to say that I decided that her baby was going to be born today (July 7th). I didn't hear anything before going to sleep, but I had a dream last night that Lindsay was in labor. I woke up quickly this morning and ran to get my phone to see if Ben had called me with any news. I thought for sure I would have something (after all, didn't I dream about it?!), but my phone had no new messages. A few minutes later, I got on my computer to check my e-mail, when Ben sent me a message on GChat to say that Linds was in labor.

Needless to say, when I saw the picture of Ashton Micah four hours (four PAINSTAKING hours for Lindsay, I'm sure!) later, I got tears in my eyes because I was so excited. He is absolutely perfect and I couldn't be more thrilled that the first of my close friends is now a parent. Congratulations to Lindsay and John for bringing a beautiful baby into this world!!!

Now besides my own excitement and the apparent necessity for a shout out to Linds and Ashton, why do I feel the need to share all of this information? Because I'm living eleven hours ahead of you, of course. Obviously, I can predict the future! If I have any more insights into anybody else's life, I'll be sure to let you know as soon as possible. On that note, I think it's my bed time. I hope you guys enjoy your breakfast!

My Work Here is Done

... but not really. In reality, my work here has just started, but after these past few days, I'm completely understanding why I came to Thailand.

On Thursday, Shawney and I spent the day working on our songs, games, and activities for the teachers. We started complaining about how tedious planning all of this is, but we got so close to finishing that we just kept on trucking!

On Friday, we started the morning off by visiting a school. Shawney and I were "voluntold" (I hope my CG is proud of this insert) that we were heading up an English camp next week and the school wanted us to visit beforehand. After we asked our few questions, one of the teachers said that she wanted us to meet the students. She brought this up several times and was visibly excited that we were there, so we couldn't say no. We then awkwardly went from classroom to classroom, saying something like, "Hello! How are you? We are excited to teach you on Wednesday. Bye!" I'm still not sure if any of the students understood us, but that's neither here nor there. I really just think the school wanted to take pictures of phalongs "teaching" the class, hanging out with the class, etc. (Side note: I should probably insert here that I feel like a celebrity here... or sometimes a zoo animal being gawked at. I don't keep including the word "phalong" to be funny; I'm honestly including it because I hear it everyday while walking down the street. The Thai love white people and love talking about them because they're such a rarity here!)

Afterwards, Shawney and I went to this amazing coffee shop in Fang to finish working on our list of activities. We thought that we could finish it in a short period of time, but, for whatever reason, it seemed to take FOREVER. If we thought Thursday was bad, it was nothing compared to Friday! My eyes were starting to close, I had to take periodic breaks, and I was getting frustrated. We finished much later than expected and decided to take a song tao to the school to just get this 55 page (Yes, that's right. 55 pages of songs, games, and activities to teach English. For all teachers reading this -- let me know if you want the link as a lot of it can be used for other subjects, too!) document off of our hands. (Another side note: I don't think it's a coincidence that our list of activities to make teaching English fun is 55 -- ha ha -- pages. God has a wonderful sense of humor!)

We arrived at the school at the end of the day on Friday, unsure whether or not the teachers would even still be there. We drudged around for a bit and finally found them in the Literacy Center. We walked in, gave them our document, and explained how to read it and where everything was located. Allow me to say that at this exact moment, I knew that all of the hours Shawney and I had spent over this project was made all the worthwhile. These women were nothing but smiles and couldn't stop saying, "Thank you! Thank you!" When we told them that we would bring a CD by next week with recordings of the songs (shout out to Nicole for organizing the production of this!), they nearly lost it. They were so grateful, that they were literally on the verge of tears. Shawney made the perfect statement as we were walking away by saying, "That's it. That's why I came to Thailand this summer!" I couldn't agree more. Hence, my work here is done... but not really.

As far as enjoyment purposes goes, my work here is also done as I have finally done the one thing that I've been wanting to do since signing up to come to Thailand. That's right, I rode an elephant today! Allow me to say that again as I still can't believe it.

I. Rode. An. Elephant. Today.

We took a longtail boat down the river for about two hours before arriving at the Elephant Camp. After getting there, we spent the next 30 minutes in pure bliss as we rode elephants through the town. Seriously, I couldn't stop smiling and I think I told Shawney probably too many times, "Oh my gosh! We're riding an elephant right now!" Our elephant, Mahdaeng, was the 45 year old mother of the elephant family that we were riding. Yes, it was like our group was taking a family of elephants for a walk around the town... or, more accurately, I guess they were taking us for a walk around town. Tell me that's not the cutest thing in the world!

Afterwards, we got to feed the elephants. At one point, I put a banana in my mouth so that it's trunk would have to come get it (I guess I just wanted to be kissed by an elephant again!). I think the elephant must have known how stupid I looked standing there because she kept teasing me by reaching her trunk out and then pulling it back in. After looking stupid for far too long, the elephant took the banana from me and I'm pretty sure that I jumped up and down afterwards from excitement. Elephants are officially the coolest animals on the planet.

So my work here is done both professionally and personally! I guess I can come home now, but I'm having far too good of a time to just up and leave. Besides, something tells me that my last week and a half of work here will be nothing short of amazing, also. More stories are bound to come in the very near future... and I can't wait to tell them!

Secrets and Patriotism

Unfortunately, there’s a bug that’s been going around the house which has prevented several people from being able to work this week (and fortunately, it hasn't hit me yet!). Because of this, I travelled to my third school in three weeks to teach English. I’m an optimistic person, so I like finding the silver lining in essentially being a substitute volunteer teacher. This silver lining in this particular situation, however, was very obvious: I got to teach with Shawney. That’s right; the Dream Team was formed on July 2^nd, 2012… a date that will live in infamy.

But really, we had a blast teaching common English commands together, like “stand up,” “sit down,” “look,” and “listen.” We quickly discovered that: 1. We’re awesome team teaching together (I don’t think I’m biased at all) and 2. These commands also work wonders for classroom management. As soon as students started misbehaving, all we had to say was, “Look at Shawney,” or, “Look at Meghan,” and they were all ours again. It was brilliant!

On Monday night, we decided to play my new favorite game, “Secrets.” To play, everybody writes a secret on a sheet of paper and then everybody takes turns reading them out loud. You never know which secret belongs to whom, so it makes the game really exciting, hilarious, and intense. I’m not sure who decided this, but on Monday, we plotted a secret during Secrets against Rob, one of our country directors. In this particular game, everybody wrote a secret that somehow included Rob in it. (For example, “I like riding in the cab of the truck next to Rob, but hate when the stick shift gets in the way,” or, “Sometimes, I picture Rob in skinny jeans… and I like it!”) It was hilarious to see how creative everybody’s “secrets” could get, even more hilarious to see Rob’s reactions, and we quickly discovered the added bonus – that we get to learn Rob’s secret! Thankfully, he was a great sport about it and found it funny also. Phew!

On Tuesday, we began working on our projects with the hill tribes. We started it off by meeting with the president of a local NGO that works with the Lahu people in Thailand. He had several projects in mind for us to help with and answered all of our questions about the tribes, specifically about the culture and their way of life. Then, I went with two other volunteers to a tribal village located about 45 minutes away from our house. We literally drove through the jungle and across a couple of unsteady-looking bamboo bridges to get to this village. It was terrifying! After the very bumpy car ride, we had the opportunity to walk around this impoverished community and sit in the one-bedroom house of a family. Here, we were able to “get to know” some of the members of this community. When I say this, I really mean that we asked a girl in our group questions in English. She translated them to Thai to ask the man who drove us (his name? Supachy. SO fun!) Supachy translated this into a northern dialect of Thai so that the 23 year old man, who was only one of three people in the entire community of 80 people that can speak some Thai, could understand and answer appropriately. In other words, we “talked” to him for an hour or so. We learned that this particular tribe doesn’t work as a community. Because of this, they don’t have any goals for the tribe as a whole and don’t know how they want us to help. Essentially, every man is for himself and as soon as they can find a way to get out, they leave. Everybody else is stuck in this community until they can get to this point also. We’ve been brainstorming several things that we can do to help the tribe as a whole, but I’ll talk more about that once we actually start putting some of these plans into action.

Today, we had the day off because it was the 4^th of July. (If you’re anything like Ben, please let me clarify that no, Thailand does not celebrate America’s birthday; however, there are 20 American volunteers in the country, so WE took the day off from work.) Naturally, we went to the Queen’s Garden in Chiang Rai to celebrate (Shawney’s mom worded this perfectly when she said, “Wow. That’s so patriotic, that I’m almost getting emotional!”). In all honesty though, this place was BEAUTIFUL. We got to see the Hall of Inspiration, which is basically a museum for the royal family, the Queen’s villa, and then the garden itself. It was very interesting to see just how influential the royal family is in Thailand and how hard they have worked to make a difference among its citizens. The current king has been in reign for 60 years and has literally travelled all over Thailand to find problems and to not just fix them, but to teach his citizens how to help themselves. This mindset is because Thailand is grounded on ten important and essential principles which are literally requirements for the king in order to best fulfill his role. Because he has vastly changed the country for the better during his reign, he is very highly respected and regarded here. His flag hangs everywhere and there are pictures of him in literally every restaurant, store, and house. If you ever have a free moment, you should look up some information about the king in Thailand. I guarantee that you will be amazed!

When we returned, the other volunteers were all decked out for the 4^th. They decorated our truck and our three bicycles and we had a parade down our little street. Then, we paraded straight through the town, got a lot of laughs and stares, and had dinner at our favorite restaurant because it sells “western” food (and although Thai food is great, sometimes, you just want a burger and a shake!). The owner went out on a limb for us and made us hot dogs on buttered toast, French fries, and root beer floats. It was fantastic! Then, we paraded back home and set off fireworks. For awhile. With that being said, the town of Thaton may or may not hate all Americans now.

Because most people who are reading this ARE in the country, I hope that your 4^th of July is as hilarious and memorable as mine. Today, be thankful for the fact that our country provides public education and the freedom of speech to represent yourself in any way you want. Happy Independence Day!

Chiang Mai: An Unforgettable Adventure

This past weekend was, hands down, one of the best weekends of my life. Let me summarize it by sharing that I spooned with a tiger, was kissed by an elephant, and ziplined through the jungle. Thank you, Chiang Mai for allowing me to be the epitome of a tourist!

So four other volunteers and I took a 3 ½ hour bus ride on Friday afternoon from where we’re living in Thaton to Chiang Mai. Now that we’re back, I think it’s okay for me to say that I stayed in my first ever hostel, all of us are female, and none of us spoke Thai before three weeks ago. (Fortunately, Thailand is safe enough that we CAN actually do this! Don’t freak out, Mom!) Needless to say, our weekend was an adventure in every sense of the word.

We started it off by checking into our hostel, finding a restaurant for dinner (which we chose because there was a volleyball match on T.V. Clearly, this is the best way to determine the quality of food), and then going to the night bazaar which is essentially a night market where bartering is key. I don’t know why, but I had far too much fun finding a “must have” item, saying to the other girls in English how great it was so that the vendors didn’t understand, yet showing all of the nonverbal cues to act like I didn’t care. As soon as you start walking away, the vendors literally chase after you. Every step you take, they seem to lower their price… “Wait! 100 baht for you! Okay 80 baht! Okay last for you… 70 baht! 70 baht!” I may or may not be biased, but if bartering were an Olympic sport, I think I’d win a medal.

On Saturday, we woke up early in order to do everything that we wanted to on our “touristy” list. We started the day off by going to an Elephant Show. Now, some other volunteers in our group had gone and told us that this was great, but I was blown away by just HOW great it all was. When we got there, you could take pictures with the elephant as their trunks hugged you, put a hat on your head, and kissed you. Personally, I would have been perfectly happy to have walked away after that, but then the show started. During the show, we saw the trainers bathe and play with the elephants and then we walked to the “arena” where they performed. The elephants took turns doing different “tricks” for the next hour – playing soccer, throwing darts, painting pictures, playing the harmonica, etc. I seriously think my jaw was dropped the entire time. Just for your information, this nearly two hour long extravaganza cost me a little over a whopping $6. No, I’m not joking. After the show, I bought an elephant painting that just so happens to match my bedroom. This may or may not be the best purchase of my life.

After the elephant show, we naturally went a few kilometers down the street to the Tiger Kingdom. Here, we had the opportunity to literally go in a tiger cage to take pictures… while accompanied by a tiger trainer, of course. I think my heart was pounding through my chest, but I did it! The tiger trainer did a great job of easing us into this, so by the end, we were able to feel a bit more – comfortable? – around the tigers. Afterwards, I enjoyed the fact that I could look at my pants and say something like, “Oh my gosh – look at all of the tiger hair on these! How disgusting!”

After the Tiger Kingdom, we treated our amazing song tao driver, Doh, to lunch. Allow me to give him a quick shout out as: 1. He was amazing and 2. He literally drove us around from 8 to 5 on Saturday for a little over $3 per person. It’s a toss up between who my favorite Thai person is at the moment, Doh or Mr. Honey.

We then went to the Buddhist temple that is on the mountain next to Chiang Mai. It took us 300+ steps to get to the top, but it was SO worth it. Not only was the temple very ornate and beautiful, but the view of Chiang Mai from the mountain was absolutely breathtaking.

The last stop on our touristy tour (you like what I did there?) was to a bamboo umbrella factory. Here, we got to see the employees actually make ALL of the parts of these bamboo umbrellas. My personal favorite part was when they painted these detailed designs on the actual umbrella. I loved it so much, that I even got elephants painted on my Toms!

Of course, we went back to the night bazaar on Saturday (I had to do more souvenir shopping!). On Sunday morning, we did a ropes course through the jungle. It took us about two hours to do the entire course and we had so much fun climbing ladders, doing ziplines, and dropping from platforms. Again, another adrenaline rush!

Believe it or not, I’m now safely back at our house in Thaton. Yes, I survived tigers, hostels, and a ropes course. I would hands down do it all over again and, if you ever come to Thailand, I would highly recommend you spending at least a couple of days in Chiang Mai. Trust me, you won’t regret the adventure that is bound to come! Until then, enjoy the pictures!!!

Long Necks and 555

So I wrote this blog entry last week, but never had the chance to put it up.

On Thursday, I had the amazing opportunity to go to a long neck village that is only about 30 minutes away from our house. Yes, as in a village where women put heavy, brass necklaces around their neck to push their shoulders down and elongate their neck. It was absolutely amazing to see the vast cultural difference between us and this tribe and I (of course) had to buy a few things. I can’t wait to tell people something like, “Oh yeah. I got that elephant bracelet when I was passing through a long neck village in northern Thailand. No big deal.” I would definitely earn some cool points for that.

Speaking of points, Shawney and I made up this game that we like to play with the Thai (whether they know it or not!). Nat, one of our country directors, was born and raised in Bangkok and he is the definition of awesome. He is extremely cool-headed, matter of fact, and to the point. He has this talent of not showing any facial expression when both speaking and listening, so when he says something funny, it makes me laugh ten times harder than normal. When I say something funny, I’m lucky if he even cracks a smile.

One night, I was laughing really hard at something (and Lord knows that my laugh can be obnoxious!) when Nat made the matter-of-fact-yet-unintentionally-hilarious-statement of, “Thai people think laughing loudly is unattractive.” Of course, this made me laugh even harder which probably deemed me unattractive to anybody in a ten mile radius. And that’s when I realized that Nat’s mannerisms aren’t just true of Nat… Thai people don’t laugh! Okay, maybe I’m not being completely fair. They laugh, but it’s more of a quiet chuckle. Now, it’s become a goal of ours to make the Thai laugh. Each time it happens (which is pretty rare!), we “earn a point”. Not for anything, but I think I’m beating everybody in the house at the moment. I’m just saying!

So why is the title of this post “555”? In Thai, the number 5 is pronounced “ha” so they literally type “555” to show laughter in any text form. I’m bringing this fad back to the U.S. for sure.

On Friday morning, we helped some local scouts clean up trash in the town and at the temple after the monk graduation. It was a wonderful experience and fun to interact with the community! When we finished, we decided to play games with the kids. We successfully created a giant circle and did the Hokey Pokey with 100 kids at the base of the temple. We definitely looked ridiculous and got some 555s from anybody in the general vicinity. You’re welcome, Thaton!

(My weekend in Chiang Mai is coming soon!)

Every Night, I Blog in the Morning

Today, Shawney and I decided to go to day two of the English Teaching conference. We had every intention of leaving after the morning session, but were having so much fun that we went back in the afternoon. We got to play games (which we included in our activities list for the schools!) and get to know some Thai teachers better. One woman in particular, Lorra, may be the most hilarious person that I ever met (and I’m totally stoked that she just friended me on Facebook!). She was cracking jokes all day and I couldn’t stop laughing! My personal favorite joke was when she told us that her boyfriend wasn’t handsome, but he was kind to her. And nice. And he had money. Yes, she totally knew what she was saying. To Lorra’s boyfriend: I’m sorry.

The lady running the conference also made a hilarious comment, but hers was more of an accident. When teaching everybody to make more complex sentences, she said something like, “Don’t just say ‘I woke up.’ Say, ‘Every morning at 6:30, I wake up at 8:00.’” It took everything I had to hold myself together on that one. In fact, as I was typing this post, I started cracking up at it again. (Warning: I’ll probably be saying phrases like this for awhile! Kind of like the title of this post, which oddly makes sense...!)

On a more serious note, God's hand played a more important role today than just a positive experience at the conference. We had a meeting with all of the volunteers this afternoon, and it got me fired up for the rest of the summer. One of our country directors asked us who would benefit from our help the most. Immediately, we realized that it's the tribe people, many of which are immigrants from Burma. Many of these people do not have citizenship, which means that they are not recognized by the Thai government and don't have the priveleges of citizens, one of which being public schooling. It's amazing to me that in the U.S., we take something like education for granted when there are so many people in the world, including the ones that we're about to impact in Thailand, that just don't have the opportunity to be educated. Now, our game plan is to continue the projects we've started, but to also head into the hills so that we can make a difference in the lives of the tribe people in any way possible. Please pray that God's hand continues to be shown as clearly as it was today so that we can make miracles happen here in northern Thailand... both at night AND in the morning!

The Smart Kid in Class

So here’s a recap of the past few days (with some hilarious side comments included):

On Sunday, we decided to create our own “Spa Day”. Like I briefly mentioned in my last post, we started it off by tubing down the river. For some reason, I didn’t share this, but now that I’m thinking about it, it’s truly hilarious. As I’m floating along, minding my own business, I hear a few kids yell, “HELLOOO!” I look up, and there are four monks on the riverbank. They then proceeded to say something in Thai, the only word of which I caught was “phalong” (white person), and then raced me on foot. Because this is a fairly slow moving river, they clearly won. Yes, I lost in a race versus four monk children in the jungle. Monks – 1, Meg – 0.

Then, some of us painted our nails and got Thai massages. Although it felt fantastic, it was a bit awkward. See, we basically laid down on mattresses in this woman’s living room. With that being said, I can’t complain as I paid $8 for an hour long massage. Between tubing, painting my nails, and getting a massage, I would consider Sunday Spa Day to be a success!

On Monday, I taught English at a new school in order to fill in for another volunteer that had left. I’m pretty sure that this is the school where I will be volunteering for the remainder of the summer, which is perfectly fine by me! Christie, the other volunteer at this school, is great and we got to team teach all day.

Today, Shawney and I were invited to a conference on Teaching English so, naturally, we decided to go. Needless to say, I felt like the smart kid in class as we were the only “phalongs” in the conference and they would have us present things just so the Thai teachers could “hear our accents”. I found it very interesting to see the staff development that these teachers are receiving, and I think I want to organize a training for the teachers once we finish our list of activities and games. We’ll see though, as only time will tell!

On that note, I think it’s time for me to go get a chocolate roti from my favorite Thai person so far, the street vendor named Mr. Honey. And no, I’m not joking. If you can find a better name than that (or “Boss” who was at the conference today), then I’ll give you a high five. Good luck!

Finding God's Hand

On Friday night, I had a long conversation with Shawney about how you can see God’s hand on a daily basis, meaning, no matter how good or bad your day is, God was a part of it. We then decided to verbalize a list of all the ways that we “saw” God in that day. I love this concept so much, so be prepared to hear more about it!

The conversation began because on that day, Shawney and I observed a few English teachers at a local school. We went in with the mindset of seeing how our units and lessons that we’ve spent all week working on could be incorporated into their classroom. What we found instead was an extremely humbling experience. The Pratom 6 (6^th grade) teacher handed us a copy of her lesson plan and we watched in awe as she took full control of her classroom. Although different from what we’re used to, I could tell that these students loved and respected their teacher and, most importantly, they were learning exactly what her lesson plan had laid out.

Upon this realization, I was frustrated and disappointed. All of this work that we had done was, in my eyes, for nothing. Afterwards, we spoke with two other English teachers and, exasperated, asked them how we can help other than the teaching that we’re already doing (because at this point, I wasn’t sure what else I could do). Their response was something like, “Help with vocabulary… with pronunciation… help with getting my students to love English. It’s very difficult and they don't like it.”

That’s when the light bulb went off. I know I’m not world’s best teacher, but I also know that I can make lessons fun. I asked if they wanted us to come up with songs, games, crafts, and activities for their already wonderful lessons so that the students are having fun during English and still learning. The faces of these women lit up and they practically jumped up and down with excitement. That's the moment when I saw God’s hand as I could see just how beneficial my trip here could be to these two women and to their students.

So, Shawney and I are now archiving all of the units that we created for the HELP team next summer. Now, we’re devoting our time to teaching on Monday’s and Tuesday’s, and then sharing with these teachers various ways to make learning fun for the rest of the week. I’m looking forward to this change in plans and am thankful that we were guided in the right direction sooner rather than later.

As for elephants, we put that on hold until more volunteers could join us. Instead, we did some shopping in Fang this weekend, had an AMAZING dinner at a Thai barbeque restaurant (below), and went tubing down the river this morning. More updates about the work week to come soon! Until then, may you find God's hand in your day, no matter if it's good or bad it is. :-)

Nom Yen

Just a quick update to say that things are going well and I'm feeling (mostly) successful here thus far. We planned all day today and have now completed two units in our curriculum! We had a great dinner tonight, where Shawney and I convinced everybody to go around and say why we appreciate Nicole since it was her birthday the other day. It felt like I was right at home! I had an amazing chocolate cake for dessert tonight, which is always a success. I've napped for the past two days. The weather has cooled down a bit (which is really like 2 degrees, but I can tell!). What can I say? Thailand is enjoyable not just because of teaching, riding ostriches, and going to orphanages. The little things still keep me happy on the other side of the world.

The only failure was nom yen. When writing a poem to include in a lesson today, Shawney and I needed to describe something that was pink. We asked Nat, our country director who is native to Thailand, for some advice. He told us to write about nom yen, and then made us this drink as it's his favorite. Imagine a liquid that is the color and consistency of pepto bismal. Now imagine a taste of something like cough syrup. Boom! Nom yen. Although Thailand has MANY good things to offer, I'm afraid that this isn't one of them.

In the meantime, be prepared for the following:

• Many mentions of Shawney as I spent 99% of my day with her currently. I hope she doesn't get sick of me and my weird sense of humor!
• We're planning on riding elephants this weekend! I may or may not cry from excitement. I'll keep you posted.

Please send me e-mail updates about your lives! I miss everybody very much and hope that you all are doing well. If you'd like to Skype or chat, I'm typically online around 9 or 10 A.M. EST. I hope to hear from you all soon!