Going Home!

Well guys, this is pretty much it. My last week here has flown by. A Buddhist monk came and spoke on Tuesday and today we had a Thai dance lesson. This morning I got up early (about 5:45) to give a monk a bag of food. They only have one meal a day, which is before noon, so monks walk around all morning collecting food. One of the CCS staff helped me- it was a really awesome experience. The women from the clinic took me out for dinner. There were lots of tears when we said goodbye (they were mostly mine since it's not entirely acceptable to show upset emotions for Thai people). Now I'm just packing up and preparing to spend a day in Bangkok. The women from the clinic suggested a temple for me to go visit and I think there's a show that I would like to see as well. Beyond that I'm going to live it up in my hotel room, rent movies, order room service, and hopefully find some divine spa treatments. I got really homesick these last few days- I miss you all so much! But at the same time it's really hard to leave all of these fantastic people. I got everyone's address, so I hope I can stay in touch with them and maybe even come back sometime to visit. Anyway, I'll be back in the U.S. on Saturday, so give me a call!

Lots of love,
Jen

Almost Over

I can't believe my time here is almost over! I feel like there are still tons of things I need to do. But I'm definitely ready to come home. I finished my HIV pamphlet yesterday and the director is translating it into Thai for me. Yesterday, we went to a Thai boxing place. The family there takes care of orphans and after school they train for boxing. It was really intense. All of them were super strong and so little and allll muscle! Today a monk is coming to the house to speak to us about Buddhism. I'm really excited for it, it should be really interesting. I have 2 more days at the clinic and then head to Bangkok! The last activity before I leave is traditional Southern Thai dance. I've been looking forward to it the whole time! I feel very tired and the heat is starting to get to me... I'm sick of being sweaty!! My skin wants to be dry for a while... I'm really looking forward to spending a day in Bangkok. The family here has been and is recommending things I should see. Anyway, I'll see you all soon!!

Lots of love,
Jen

Weekend Recap

Friday I went to the Hot Springs with the CCS staff and the other volunteer that stayed behind for the weekend. It was great. We both got private rooms with a hot tub that had been filled with water from the spring. After we got done there they drove us to a beach and we saw a HUGE lizard thing! We spent a litte time there and then headed back to town to get massages... just the right way to end the day :) Saturday I didn't end up getting to Nakhon Si Thammarat, which was kind of a bummer. But I was still feeling a little under the weather so I didn't want to push too hard this weekend. Instead the other volunteer and I biked over to the temple that sponsors the school he teaches for. They're building a new temple, so we checked out the construction. There's a shop there and half of the proceeds goes to the temple and half goes to the school. After lunch we went into town and did a little shopping and exploring the town. I'm bummed because this area isn't a tourist spot so I haven't been able to find any postcards to send everyone... I hope I can find some soon so that I can at least send them from Bangkok before I leave!! Today we got up early and headed to Krabi to an elephant camp. We went on a short trek, fed the elephants, and watched one take a bath. I really loved spending time with them. The place seems to accomodate the elephants well- they seem happy. I was sad that when they're not taking a walk or bathing they have to be chained up to eat. Otherwise they run off and destroy plantations. I want to come live there so I can take the elephants for walks all the time and they won't have to be chained!! I got some great pictures of the jungle and of the elephants. It was a fairly short day, but I'm exhausted!! I got lots of sun and I'm feeling ready to come home I think. I only have a few more days at my placement and then I fly to Bangkok on Friday. I'll be sad to leave all the great people here. The women at my placement have been so amazing. They're showing us around and I think they're taking us to a waterfall sometime this week. So, it's back to work for one more week! What's going on back there? Send me some messages!!

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