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...