I hate Thai computers

ok, so I have no idea what i'm doing. all of the instructions for this blog are in thai. so i thought i had deleted my first post. and then i typed it again and realized that i posted both. so now i have two similar posts that i'm not even sure will come up right away when you type in my url. poop :D sorrrrrrry!!

Adventures

Well, I did end up getting sick. I stayed home from my placement on Wednesday to catch up on sleep. I'm feeling much much better, but still a little congested. Yesterday I went to the clinic by myself because Kate wanted to visit a daycare. After lunch we went to the market and I always cause a big fuss because the local people never see Americans. One lady invited me to her house for lunch on Monday and gave me a big bunch of small bananas. She also has a meat stand. The meat at the market is all very fresh and just hanging up. There are pig ears and feet and lots of other nauseating things. She had a huge slab of grilled sweet pork and she chopped off a corner of it and hacked it up into small pieces with a cleaver. She gave it to me as a gift along with the bananas and another fruit (don't worry mom, I didn't eat it!). It was a sweet gesture, but it's so unsanitary there with no refridgeration and lots of flies everywhere. Another lady I've run into twice there is CRAZY! I can't tell if she likes me or hates me. She always grabs at my things (my earrings, bracelet, camera, etc.) and then she hugs me and speaks a little English but mostly Thai. It's confusing and scary. I don't want to offend the people there because I am trying my best to understand and follow their culture, so I just politely in Thai say "Hello, how are you? I have to go. Goodbye." After a few minutes she left me alone. Luckily she hasn't actually stolen anything from me- but I still can't tell if she's trying to take it or if she's just looking.

Anyway, after the market we went back to the clinic. A little boy came in with aniphilactic (sp?) shock. He had been bitten by an insect near his ear. He was very swollen and crying. It was so sad to see how worried the mother and father were. The nurse practitioner gave him an injection of dexomethasone sodium phosphate (or something along those lines) and then had to start an IV. The parents had to hold him down in order to get the needle in him. I couldn't watch the whole thing because I was feeling queasy and sad to see the boy so upset.

After we got done at the clinic, the nurses took me to Tham Le cave and we took a boat tour through it. It was so awesome, but soooo scary. There were bats flying everywhere and in parts of the cave there were tons hanging upside down just chilling out. The last part of the cave was called Dragon Cave and we had to lie down in the boat to get under it. The top was only just above our heads and the boat kept getting wedged in between rocks and the guides taking us through had to push the boat out from between rocks. The boat was scraping very loudly and the air was stale. It was terrifying. It took us about 20 minutes to get through that part and I was so happy to finally see light!! On our way back to the dock I saw several monkeys hanging out on telephone wires!! It was so awesome. I'm so scared that something is going to happen to my camera and I won't get to show you all of the amazing things I've seen here.

The nurses took me to a market where people carve beautiful puppets and animals and boxes out of wood and then we went to the same funeral we went to a few days ago to eat dinner. The celebration was still going on and we prayed in front of the casket and ate a lot of yummy food! Eventually they took me home, but it was such a great, unpredictable day! Today the director is taking us to some hot springs and then I'm getting another massage- I can't wait! Tomorrow I am going to try to get to Nakhon Si Thammarat because there's some amaazing history to see there. On Sunday, I'm going with another volunteer to Krabi to go elephant trekking for the day. I'm really excited to see the elephants. I can't believe I only have a week left here! There isn't enough time to see everything. But I also miss home- I can't wait to see everyone! I'm sure I'll have a ton more adventures to tell about later...

Lots of love,
Jen

Deserted Island?

AH! The weekend was SO amazing! We went to Kho Mook, an island that is part of Trang Thursday night and got back on Sunday. We were the only people staying at the resort because it's the off season. We had great weather, bungalows on the beach, swimming all day... it was awesome! Friday I pretty much just hung out, got an oil massage by the pool, etc. Saturday was lots of fun- in the morning we went to Murakot Cave and swam through it. The middle of the cave was a beach surrounded by huge cliffs- it was sad that I couldn't bring my camera through. In the afternoon we went snorkeling off Kho Kradan, which was sooo beautiful. The whole weekend was magical. Next weekend I'm planning a trip to Chiang Mai to see the elephants and temples! I can't wait. Work at the clinic is going pretty well. They don't always have much for us to do, so I started working on an information pamphlet about HIV/AIDS for them to hand out. Today we actually taught at the school for a little while. The kids were so cute! They were really excited to see us and learn English- it was really heartwarming. The bad news is that I think I'm getting a cold :( POOP! Lots of tea and an early bedtime for me. I hope I feel better tomorrow!

Lots of love,
Jen

Settling In

Firstly, Thai massage is AMAZING. Easily the best massage I've ever had- and only 200 Baht for an hour! (That's about $6!!) I'm am absolutely getting another next week. They get really deep in with their elbows and knees and stuff and it feels divine. Anyway, today was my second day at my placement. The people here are wonderful. Everyone is very happy to see us. They think white skin is very beautiful and even though they are shy to be around us, they are really happy to have us there. Yesterday was "diabetes" day at the clinic. It's basically a free clinic, but people donate money if they can. We took blood pressure and pulses, etc. Today was "dentist" day and everyone was getting their teeth checked. One woman came and told us that her son had just died by being stabbed 30 times and that we were all invited to the funeral. In Thailand funerals are big celebrations with lots of food and music- very happy. So we went and had some yummy lunch. Then the women from the clinic took us to the Temple and we were able to meet the head Monk. He spoke with us a little and then gave us small statues of a Buddhist god (Balom Puton is how it's pronounced- not sure on the spelling). It was a really amazing experience. He let us take a picture with him- I almost sat on his chair!! Monks are not allowed to touch women, so we had to be very careful not to touch even his robe. Also, because the head is sacred, we always have to sit at a lower level than the monk. So when he was standing or sitting in a chair we had to sit on the ground. Tomorrow is "prenatal" day, so we get to care for pregnant women. I'm really excited for it. The children who come in are soooo cute! They are always very shy around us, but very adorable. Anyway, tomorrow we are also leaving for an island for the weekend. The whole house (20 of us!) is going and we are staying at a bungalow on the beach. It will be very relaxing. But mostly I'm looking forward to interacting more with the Thai people. They are amazing and so eager to learn English and teach us about Thailand.

Activities Galore

Last night I went out with a couple of people to the night market. I definitely felt like a foreigner, especially when we stopped at stands and asked prices. But I was trying to speak Thai and practice my numbers, and that made the people a lot friendlier. I found a yellow bracelet that I wanted because yellow is the King's color and everyone is always in yellow. They asked for see-sip hah (45) Baht and I said I would give them saam-sip (30). They told me they would give me 3 for 100, but I said "I don't need 3- I need 1!" So, they finally agreed to 30 baht. I was very proud that I haggled in Thai!! This morning we were supposed to go to the Botanical Gardens and then go to the beach, but a storm rolled in and it will stay for 3 days so we couldn't go. Instead we went to a Buddhist temple up on a hill. It was so beautiful and peaceful. There were hundreds of Buddha statues and so many butterflies flitting around. It was really amazing. This afternoon I signed up to get a 1 hour Thai massage and then we're having a cooking lesson! I think we're learning how to cook Pad Thai, which is my favorite Thai dish. Tomorrow we're going to go to our work sites for the first time. I love all of this relaxing vacation stuff, but I'm excited to get to the work site too! Anyway, hiking up to the temple was exhausting so I'm going to try to get in a nap before my massage :)

Lots of love,
Jen

Day 2!

Orientation is awesome. Yesterday we were dropped off in the middle of town with a few tasks and had to make our way back to the Home Base on our own. It was really interesting to try and communicate with the locals. I'm glad I learned a little of the language before I came. This morning we had our first Thai lesson and I was relieved that some of it was familiar! Everyone was overwhelmed- it's a difficult language! I think we're going into town again tonight and there's rumor of a beach visit tomorrow. It feels like summer camp here, but I'm excited to visit my work site and get down to business! A few of us went for a walk this morning and it was beautiful. The weather wasn't too hot yet since we went about 8:30 and we said hello to the locals. There were some cows just hanging out on the road and lots of dogs! The greenery is beautiful- there are lots of rubber trees, which is the major part of the economy here. But there are also lots of fruit trees- bananas, coconuts, etc. I've been taking lots of pictures! We eat a ton of fresh fruit every day- at lunch today I tried lots of exotic fruits I've never heard of! I don't know how to spell them, but you'll see pictures :) The house cook makes great food, but it is SPICY! We're going to eat at a restaurant tomorrow for lunch. Everything is so new to me. A lot of the people here have already been traveling before they came here and it's fun to hear everyone's stories!! I hope that I can do more traveling in the future; this is such an amazing experience so far. They have so many cultural activities planned for us- there's so much to learn! Hope all is well in the U.S.

Lots of love,
Jen

Here finally!

After 24 hours of plane rides and 3 days of traveling, I'm finally here! We just got to the Home Base, ate lunch and started unpacking. It's beautiful here, but humid and rainy!! Luckily, the house is air conditioned. Everyone is really nice and there are lots of girls to gossip with :) All of the plane rides went smoothly, but my legs are aching to be stretched! We have a few hours and then orientation starts. I'm probably going to naaaaaaap... I got to the hotel last night around midnight, went to bed at 2, and got back up at 6. We got breakfast at the hotel and then caught a cab to the airport. My solo cab ride last night was a blast! I was trying to speak in Thai and the driver was trying to speak English, so neither of us were really getting anything across. He managed to ask if I loved hamburgers and after about 15 minutes I finally learned how to pronounce his name. I'm looking forward to exploring the town. A bunch of the girls want to go to the beach this weekend, so we might take a trip to an island. It's going to be so much fun here!

Lots of love,
Jen

Welcome!

HI! Welcome to my blog :) I will be in Thailand Friday, June 15th-Saturday, July 7th doing volunteer work. I'm so excited! I just received my updated placement in the program- I'll be working in a Primary Care Unit speaking with clients, taking blood pressure, educating about HIV awareness, etc. This is exactly what I was hoping for!! There is an internet cafe 5 minutes away from my Home Base, so I should be able to keep you updated fairly often :) I want to know how you are all doing! Make sure to send me lots of messages...

Lots of Love,
Jen