Alice in Thailand-Phase 1, Starfish School Days

Introduction - Hello everyone.

Well I am safe in Chiangmai Thailand. So what am I doing in Thailand you ask?

I am teaching Art and Movement (yoga, tumbling, tap dance? I will define it better when I know what works) at a Montessori school north of Chiangmai.  It is called the Starfish Country Home School.  The name is based on a Parable.

There are 23 students from age 2 to 7.  They are all orphans, but keep in mind, here if you only have one parent you are an orphan.  Several children still have one parent they are in contact with. 

I will be here for 7 months.  The school is actually an old resort so all of the classrooms and my rooms are hotel rooms with bathrooms.  I have found that I seem to seek out the experience that is most different from what I grew up with.  I may have found it here.  That is what I love about it.  As different as Thai is from English I am still working with children.  Smiling, laughing and even crying are the same in all languages.

This is very exiting and I am amazed at how many emotions are possible at once.  I am exited, scared, tired, nervous, laughing at myself for the silly things I worried about.  How long did I debate what shoes are appropriate to teach in? Closed toed or open toed?   In the end I didn’t bring any teaching shoes, just traveling shoes.  As it turns out Thai’s don’t wear shoes indoors.  So I get to teach barefoot!!!!

Here is my story day by day. I hope you are well, happy and doing something you love.  I love you all.  Madalitso, Alice

Preparing to Leave - October 5, 2006.  38 degrees in Mason Michigan.  Well this is it, the day I leave for Thailand, sort of.  I have been preparing for this move for a month now.  Last week I ground my teeth so bad my jaw hurt.  After my going away party on Saturday I felt like I was on a slide straight to the airport.  Ready or not here I come.  I am also so amazed how excitement and nervousness seem to be the same emotion.  I have been asked both if I am nervous and if I am exited.  The answer is always “Yes” but the actual emotion seems to be the same.  So now I am off to the airport where I will fly to LA, the first leg of my journey.  Here I go.

California - October 7, 2006.  75 degrees in Huntington beach California.  Wow, what a difference this break makes.  I am packed so no more worrying about that.  Now I can relax and have a little vacation before I leave for this great adventure.  Beth and I went to the Modern Art Museum where they had a conceptual clothing exhibit.  How perfect! 

Flight to Thailand - October 10 or 11, 2006 wait what day is it?  Well I had a great time with Beth and the Beach Birneys.  Now I am on my way.  Well here was my schedule.  Uncle Dick dropped me off at the airport around 9 PM.  My flight out was at 1 AM.  I sat next to Daniel who will be teaching English in Taiwan.  How perfect.  We had a lot to talk about and that helps on such a long flight.  Six movies, two meals and a snack, what a flight.  This leg was 13 hours and it only was light for the last hour or so.  I was able to sleep about 3 hours on the flight, a record for me.  So if the flight left at 1am Tuesday and was 13 hour long, but we landed at 6am Wednesday that means my Tuesday was only 7 hours long right?  Then two and a half hours in the airport, a three hour flight to Bangkok. 

Immigration, baggage claim and customs (basically walking past the customs officer) went fast, but I still missed my flight.  Luckily it was only 500 bhat ($12.50) to reschedule. 

Five hour layover and a one hour flight, I can hardly keep my eyes open!  Now I am exhausted, dirty, smelly and I probably look like a zombie.  What a trip, and here is Lisa, one of the volunteers in Chiangmai school, with a sign reading Alice Birney.  This is the first time anyone has met me at the airport with a sign with my name on it.  I also met Dr. Haugland and Oh-pah, a Chiangmai student who has cerebral palsy and is quadriplegic.  They brought me roses and we all went out to dinner. 

Once we reached the school I thought I would collapse, but the children were still awake so I went to meet them all (as if I can remember any of their names) and more importantly they all met me.  Then I took a shower and collapsed.  Ahhhhhhh

Adjusting to School - October 12, 2006 Thursday.  I woke up this morning and didn’t really know what to do.  Sleeping in a real bed seemed like a nice idea, but also made me soar and stiff after so much plane sleep (or attempted plane sleep)  I unpacked a little so I can try to feel more at home.  Then I wandered around and found the flag ceremony.  This gave me a chance to talk with the other teachers and volunteers to get a feel for the place. 

I found it interesting that they all seemed amused that I would request a meeting and tour before I started teaching, and that I made a list of questions I had.  Wow.  For me this is crucial to my being able to function. 

Dr. Haugland was willing to meet with me and answer questions.  We had a great meeting and tour that landed us at lunch, great I was so hungry after missing breakfast.  The children love to have an adult sit with them so I did of course.  We were supposed to talk again, but I apparently needed a four hour nap in the middle of the day.  I could have slept for longer, but it was dinner time and I have no desire to be hungry. 

I played with the children a little and then back to my room to work some more.  I was exhausted again by 8 so I went to bed. 

Two point of interest today.  1)  The only bugs in my room are tiny.  I have seen ants, flies (gnats really) and one spider.  All were the size of a pencil lead or smaller.  2)  Dr. Haugland asked if I would give any advice on Curriculum Enhancement so he obviously values my presence and knowledge and one of the Thai teachers (how can I forget so many names!) asked about my degree.  When she found out I had a bachelors in education she was very happy and told me I am thought of as the principal.  Well I guess I am more an asset here than I anticipated.  It is great to have everyone happy that I am here, I hope I can meet their expectations.

Food - October 13, 2006.  Well lets talk about the food.  Although I like rice I was very glad to see bananas for breakfast.  Corn flakes too, but I am most happy about the fruit.  We mainly have rice and sides.  There is a lot of meat in the dishes but they always make sure there is something I can eat.  Some of the other teachers are vegetarians also. 

I am learning to eat with a spoon and fork.  Sounds simple right, well don’t scoop food and eat it with a fork.  If you do that you are WEIRD.  Thais eat with the spoon and use the fork to balance each bite perfectly on the spoon.  Today we had shrimp and green beans for dinner.  Although there were no legs on the shrimp, they did have heads!  I didn’t eat them even though they are probably considered “the best part”. 

First Day Teaching - I worked in the Montessori class today.  This is the first time I have worked in a Montessori class and it was very manageable.  I had between one and four students at a time.  English is basically the subject I work with because the other teachers are all Thai.  I worked on Letters and the difference between a letter and a sound.  Some of the children are ready to read.  Most of them are at the most basic level reading such as the cat sat on a mat.  Ahbe read me a book that was very impressive.  It was about Wibbly the Pig who made bubbles, tents and a mess.  He only really struggled with words like Wibbly, hey who can blame him.  Wow!

On Art one of my student (yes I am working on their names) picked a blade of grass and said “Fish”.  I corrected her and said it is “grass”.  She then wove me a little fish out of a blade of grass.  So she was right.  I have to make sure not to underestimate their artistic talent.  I know they can do a lot, now I just have to work on communication

October 14, 2006 Well my schedule has changed again?  I am really ready for a little structure so I took matters into my own hands and proposed a schedule that worked for all aspects of what we have discussed so far.  When I went to present it to Dr H he has several new ideas of what to teach and when, oh and by the way there is a new volunteer coming in two weeks so it will all change again.  ARRRRR.  Ok ten deep breaths.  We have a meeting on Monday so I will know then and I only have one class today and tomorrow so I get to read and plan and whatever I want.

Teaching Yoga - On the positive side I had my first class today.  I taught Yoga (yoka in Thai) to all the kids that don’t take a nap.  I did a lot of work to get ready.  I had calm music, a routine, even a drawing of a circle to illustrate the movement of some of the poses.  Well just because you don’t take a nap doesn’t mean you are well behaved in a class.  I had one crier, two singers (loud singers) a napper (shouldn’t she be in the other class???) two beauty queens (doing their hair in the mirror) and one who wouldn’t do anything.  On the flip side I had one student ask for more after everyone else left.  I stayed and showed her five more poses and she wasn’t done.  I finally had to tell her I was done after an hour of relatively intense yoga in 80 degree heat.  In the end it was a success because I learned so much.  45 minutes is too long at least for now.  They need to choose to be here and once they come they should stay.  Don’t bother with the music you can’t hear it over the fans.  The students do really love the yoga deck I brought with the illustrations of the poses.  I think I will incorporate them choosing cards at random once I know more of them.  Well I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.

Overwhelmed - October 15, 2006 OK I am overwhelmed.  I think it is just a case of no structure.  My schedule has changed every day.  The expectations of me have changed.  The children have the same situation therefore they are working as a pack.  Beyond just dealing with a group of 23 small children with little structure in their lives, they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Thai.  Generally I don’t know the situation or rules and when I do they can’t understand me.  It also seems that the only English word they know is “No”.  At least they say it to me all the time.  I just need a schedule and then I will have my time with the kids.  I think that is the only solution.  Why won’t I work with children from America?  Or even children that speak English?  I must enjoy torturing myself.  Ok ok torture is probably the wrong word. it is just a challenge and challenging yourself is good.  Right?

Party - On a more positive note:  Yesterday I was feeling quite like a hermit.  I wanted to go for a walk after I finished my yoga class and cleaning the art room. By that time it was getting dark so I couldn’t really leave.  I was sick of reading and working on the computer so I was just going to go to bed early again.  Then one of the Thai teachers said Julie, the Montessori teacher, was having a party and wanted me to come.  We got a ride on a motorcycle (3 of us) and I found out Julie lives 200 yards away from the school.  Then we drove into town for beer.  I was happy just to go somewhere.  Driving past the signs and shops, seeing the different fruits (always my favorite).  In the end we went to 7/11.  That is fine at least it is a 7/11 in Thailand.  I didn’t know what beer to buy (and I refused to get Heineken which was suggested) so I went with the one with the elephants on the label.  At the house I found out what a Thai party is like.  Everyone sat in the living room and took turns singing karaoke.  They all had their own collection of karaoke cd’s.  Most were in Thai with English letters also (English letters spelling out the Thai words).  One was in Thai dubbed in Chinese!  Wow.  So we all sang and drank.  I learned “duun” is the Thai “cheers”.  I also learned to say many dogs coming “mah mah mahk”  I kid you not.  Same word different tones. 

Feeling Better - October 16, 2006 Well we didn't have the Monday meeting so no structure yet, but I am having fun working in the Montessori class.  I have even considered getting certified and teaching Montessori.  It is a really cool method that is really student centered.  After school Alicia took me on a bike ride just to get me acquainted with the area.  We went to the “big wat”.  There is a lot of controversy about building such a gilded monstrosity in this poor area.  It is beautiful though.  It was so nice to get out in the day and feel like I have some freedom.  The countryside is gorgeous!  Ok I am feeling a bit better now.

Some Descriptions - October 18, 2006 - It is really hot here during the day.  Usually in the upper 90's at around 3.  Nights are beautiful though.  About 70 degrees. 
I tried an octopus today!  it was whole.  8 little legs sticking out.  not bad I have to say.  I am still not up for fish eyes though.  That's ok I have 6 months and 3 weeks to do it.

For Christmas I want something. Receiving a package with correspondence from everyone would be wonderful.  Of course I want world peace, but that is a big one. Oh and I have a phone the school let me borrow.  I have free incoming calls so if you find a good calling card again give me a call sometime.  Just remember the time difference! (Call me if you want Alice's number.)

Also what day of the week was I born?  They really pay attention to that here.  it determines your color and your buddha.  Love you
-Alice

Shopping - October 24, 2006 - Well haven’t written in a while because I have been experiencing so much.  We finally had a meeting about my schedule and decided I will be teaching Art and Yoga in Mae Tang and Chiang Mai.  And I will teach in Chiang Mai on Fridays so now my days off are Saturday and Sunday.  At least it is decided. 

Finally time for my actual days off.  I had a list of things I needed that I didn’t bring.  The burden of packing light.  However I was happy to be able to shop.  I rode a bike around town to see what I could see and kill some time.  I found some nice shops and oriented myself with the city.  When I got to the clothing store I found a few things to try on. 

Question:  What size am I?  I was looking at t-shirts.  In America I am a Small or Medium so I found a S, M and L because they looked like they were running small.  NONE OF THEM FIT.  In Thailand I am a XL.  So I guess the random body image complex I had in High School does have some merit.  Regardless I bought a few more things to make myself comfortable. 

I also had my first Thai Massage!  Wow a one-hour full body massage and body work for about $4.  I am in.  I may have one a week. 

Saturday night Shelly Lisa and I went to the night walking market.  Very fun but markets are still overwhelming to me.  I don’t even know what I am looking for let alone if I want to buy anything.  So again I just walked around and took everything in. 

Thanks to Buddha - Sunday morning I went to Wat Doi Sutep.  It is the biggest wat in Chiang Mai.  I took many pictures and observed a lot.  Once I felt I knew what all was happening I bought a flower, incense and candles for an offering.  There is a big golden tower in the middle and people walk around it and pray.  There is also an area for lighting incense and candles as an offering so I did all of the above.  Hey why not give thanks to Buddha.

On my way home I stumbled upon this market.  It turns out to be the Sunday night market.  I decided to walk around for a while.  There were so many fun things at this market.  First off it was huge.  With so many people around there was a lot of noise and movement.  At one point this song started, either a national anthem or maybe a song for the king I don’t know but everyone, yes every single person in the market stopped moving and was silent for the song.  It was amazing to see so many people doing the exact same thing in unison.  We also ran into a street performance of some children and a marching band.  We watched for a while and then someone came out and started singing.  Then these people in animal costumes came out.  There was a pink and a blue elephant, an owl and some others and all the children ran up to them.  Wow Thailand is so random when you don’t understand the language.

A Trip in the Dark - Monday was a holiday so I didn’t leave to go home until 4pm.  By the time I made it across town, found the saung tao and rode to Mae Tang it was dark.  My cell phone also died, so I got off at the 7-11 where I knew there was a pay phone.  However my phone card doesn’t have any minutes.  Interesting, it had 97 last time I checked.  Luckily I had some change, but no one answered so the phone ate the change.  Great now what do I do it is dark, no one knows to pick me up, do I walk the 8 km?  Turning around and looking quite distraught I am sure I saw two people presumably waiting to use the phone.  I moved out of the way and the farong (foreigner) asked where are you going?  So I told him I work at a local school and can’t get a hold of anyone to pick me up.  He let me use his cell phone, but still no answer.  So he introduced me to the local wholesale rice seller and he offered for one of his workers to drive me home, Thank you universe.  He even said I could have a ride for free, but I gave the driver 50 bhat anyway.  The key is that I had to know my way home… in the dark.  In the end we only turned around twice.  Luckily I could communicate well enough with pointing and nodding.  Wow so I am home safe.  Yea!

A letter to Grandma - October 25, 2006
Thank you for the email, it is great to hear from you.  To answer your questions I am teaching Art and Yoga to Thai students 2 to 8 years old and just yoga to some pre and post natal mothers at the wildflower program (another program of the same foundation).  Sometimes I help in the Montessori classes as well.  I teach in English as it is the only language I speak.  On occasion I have a translator.  I am very exited to start my Thai lessons next week.  Hopefully that is just what I need to help with the language barrier.  Thai people are very nice and agreeable.  If I ever need anything there is someone to help, or if I have a question someone will try to answer.  So far I have had fun and very positive experiences with the Thai people I have meet.  However I have found that sometimes people can be too agreeable and may say “yes yes” to your question because that is what they think you want to hear, and really they didn’t understand what you said.  Oh well at least we are all trying to communicate.  As for my day it varies a little, but generally I teach Montessori from 8-11, then help with lunch and recess.  Art from 12:30-2 and yoga from 3-4.  Friday is different because I am teaching at a different school.  I still teach Yoga and Art, but that is where some of my adult students are.  I have two days off a week to do with as I please.  Hopefully I will get to travel during that time.  Well I love you and feel free to email anytime.  Have a great day.  Peace
-Alice

Halloween - October 31, 2006
I am ok, adjusting and definately feeling comfortable with the country and travel.  All Thai's seem to be so nice, I was in someones way the other day and they didn't even say anything, just wait for me to move.  Too nice in my mind, I would have said something. 

I have been working non stop the last few days to get ready for this halloween party.  It is tonight and I am very exited.  And if a halloween party wasn't enough this Friday is a field trip to the flower exhibition and Saturday is loy krathong festival where everyone sends little boats (but don't call them boats, they are krathong) with lit candles down the river.  I am exited for everything.

Volunteer Coorninator - So did you all take bets to see how long before I became the volunteer coordinator?  If so whoever guessed 21 days gets the jackpot.  Hey I saw a need and offered my services.  It also means I can be more flexible with my schedule.  And still teaching art and yoga. 

Have a great day.  Madalitso
-Alice

The Scariest Halloween Ever - Oh my gosh!  The Halloween party was crazy and not in a good way.  The Thai staff set up a whole trick or treat thing, which seemed great as Alicia and I set up all of the decorations and games.  We planned on having a party with games at 4:30 after ballet and doing cookies and trick or treating after dinner.  The Thai staff seemed to agree with that at our meeting with Dick (a whole other story).  Then at 4:30 they said no we are not doing games until after dinner?  Did we not discuss this?  Oh well I am teaching in a different culture and country so I have to trust them right?  At least I got a break for a minute.  So then we had dinner and started getting ready for games, right? Or not I guess we are trick or treating and doing games later. So finally we all get in costumes.  All the kids dressed in the same thing basically, and I thought it was hard to tell them apart before.  Then we separated into groups and set out (I say that as if it didn’t take an hour). 
When we got to the first door it was very dark, no lights at all.  I thought this strange, being used to American Halloween, but we had a flashlight.  Then we knocked and no one answered?  So we went in and knocked on the individual rooms?  Finally at the last room someone opened the door and jumped out at the kids.  Beem was so scared she ran away screaming so I followed her.  She was too scared to go back (who can blame her) so I held her and tried to calm her.  Last night I learned that when children are Really scared and shaking, even their individual fingers shake.  Not what I hoped to learn.  Then I thought showing her the “ghost” was actually nice and gave candy would help.  She was ok to walk at that point so we all went on.  I will sum up the rest.  Basically every bush, tree, corner and door had a staff member dressed in a scary costume ready to jump out at the children.  Did I mention the kids are 2 to 8 years old!  They were all terrified.  I could hardly walk at one point because I was carrying two kids and three clung to my skirt trying to stay behind me.  Of course I couldn’t communicate to Goy to ask if we were going to a real trick or treat location, or just somewhere to scare the kids.  Finally we went back to the “party”  which was a giant mass of calming down kids and then feeding them candy and cookies.  Wow are we trying to ruin their lives or what.  Of course no one wanted to go to the “haunted house” Alicia and I made which at this point Julie described as Mr. Rogers living room.  The games were a flop too because none of the staff would help so we really only had one game.  If I would have known maybe we could have had less games and a real trick or treat, not a site wide haunted house.  Frustration.

Now I am exhausted from spending days getting ready for this party and in the end having a scare fest.  I hope we didn’t do too much lasting damage.  Good thing kids are resilient.

Thai Art and Yoga Classes - November 2, 2006

So I have started Art classes finally.  I have taught a few, but not my own class.  The last few days have been great.  Teaching art, organizing volunteer info and teaching yoga.  Of course there is the ever present classroom management.  Yesterday I actually said “Pim will you stop climbing the walls”  She had her hands on the table and could reach the wall with her feet so she climbed up!  Wow and I thought that was just a figure of speech.

Yesterday was our first Thai lesson!  Cawn seems to work on an American time frame.  We were told that Thai class may start this week.  I personally thought that meant we would know when classes start in a few weeks.  Monday was the meeting about what we want to learn and yesterday was class.

Read Thailand's Yellow Ribbon Coup by Nola Kelsey

Loy Kratong - November 12, 2006

Last weekend was the Loy Kratong festival.  It is held on the 13th lunar month during the full moon (the November full moon).  I love finding a festival celebrating nature.  There are two activities, first the lanterns, which are big white balloons that are lit and released.  Some of them have fireworks as a “tail”.  It creates a sparkly tail like a comet.  They are usually white, but I saw some colored ones, and some groups write notes on them.  Second is releasing Kratongs in the river.  Thais love to release things.  Both were amazing to see up close.  One of the schools I work for released a lantern so I got to help!  We also spent part of the day making the Kratongs which are slices of Banana tree trunk covered with banana leaves, flowers, incense and candles.  Remember you need three incense sticks and one candle.  Both are released for luck and good fortune in the next year.  We asked if one incense stick was ok and they said no, one is for a funeral.  Fun times.  After dark the sky just fills with these points of light as if all of the stars were huge, bigger than planets.  It was unique to say the least and I absolutely loved it.

Cried - November 14, 2006

Well one month and three days… I cried.  I don’t know if it was the stress of working 40 hours a week not including travel or prep time, having a boss who changes his mind and expectations daily, learning a new language (and a f-ing hard one at that), interacting with people from a different culture and not knowing the expectations, not being able to read signs, having to basically set up a whole organizational system for the school (no one else will), smelling the burning trash, being on my period, being a workaholic and taking on too much, traveling on all of my days off, money (yes that is always a stress isn’t it), or just everything combined.  I needed to cry and I guess today was the last straw.  Luckily I can say things are looking better and we seem to have some direction, and that direction may even be forward!  So more to come on this lovely adventure, but at least I have some released.  I love you all.  Thank you for the support it really makes a difference.
-Alice

Perspective - November 19, 2006

Sorry the last email was such a downer.  So here is my perspective now.  The staff can make a teaching situation, but I am determined that an unfriendly staff can not break one.  I need to focus on what is important.  #1 the children, they are why I came why I am here and my interactions with each and every one of them is very important.  #2 My sanity.  Keeping it being the goal.  If I loose it then I will be sabotaging the goal (see #1).  #3 Enjoying this wonderful country, culture, scenery and food.  Taking in what I can.  #4 Creating friendship with other staff.  Basically my take on this is acknowledging the good and forgetting the bad.  It is all good in theory, now I just need to internalize the goals and make them my reality.  Piece of cake… I hope.  It reminds me of a stressful situation (yes this is my journal about Thailand and yes I am writing about Waveland Mississippi) I was incredibly stressed and supposed to go on a break with my friend Kathy.  Just when I needed to unwind she said lets take a break tomorrow we leave!  Perfect until she didn’t show.  She seemed to dissapear of the face of the earth for several days.  I was worried and still stressed.  Had she forgotten, where is she, what is the plan.  Not really a distress mode for me.  Finally I realized that I needed to be present in the moment, and if I just decided to be happy I would be.  Just then my friend Daniel ask how I was and gave me a hug.  My answer was “good”  and my heart seemed to lift with that word.  I had decided to be happy, and I was.  Maybe this is a lesson learned years ago for all of you, but it was last year for me.  I think I need to do this again.  Not that everything is perfect, but some things are.  Not that everyone is my close friend, but some are, not that lesson runs totally smoothly, but some do.  The glass is half full and I am… Good.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and responces in my time of need.  You are true friends and I value each one of you and all you do. -Alice

Thanksgiving - November 23, 2006

What a great traditional Thanksgiving, well sort of...  We did have a Thanksgiving dinner in Chiangmai.  Five Americans and a Kiwi.  Shelly, from New Zealand, was very interested to find out what we did for Thanksgiving, I don't know if she expected dinner that lasts hours and football (not soccer) and parades on TV.  We didn't have turkey, but we did have chicken!  No stuffing or pie either, but we did have garlic mashed potatoes, salad, pumpkin, fruit, rolls, cashews, corn on the cob.  The "pie" was actually a sudo-strawberrie shortcake.  We had orange cake with canned strawberries and whipped cream, interesting.  The crazy part in my mind was the condiments.  To see salt pepper and butter on the table was crazy after only having chillies, sugar and fish sauce for condiments.  All in all it was fun, a nice little reprieve from Thailand for a few hours.  I hope your celebration was wonderful.  Have a great day.
-Alice

Elephants - Tuesday November 28

I was sick last night and didn't know if I would be able to go out, so I am very glad I felt better today.  Michico took all of the volunteers out to an elephant camp.  Natasha had heard about a great one that is kind to the animals, so we went there.  It took forever as the directions were horrible.  We had to call the office four times to ask again.  They only have one sign at the driveway, none at he road because they don't want a lot of drop ins.  Once we found the Elephant Nature Park we all cheered.  It is really wonderful because all of the elephants are rescued from bad situations.  We saw some that were blind due to abuse, one had stepped on a land mine and most had gone through the breaking process which is basically being locked in a cage and tortured for a few days.  Although they have had suffering in their lives now they are free to roam and play. 

We were able to feed them, walk with them and wash them in the river.  Just being this close to these amazing creatures was wonderful, but interacting with them made it all the better.  In a way I see how the gimmicks are seen as new and fun, but I would much rather walk with and feed elephants than watch them paint pictures or play the harmonica.  The best part was watching the three baby elephants play in the river while we washed the adults.  They were having so much fun tumbling and pushing each other under water.  They really are just kids!  I would love to go back.

If you are ever looking for a place to donate money and you like elephants, check out this website http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/  they are doing good things and allowing these animals to have the positive free life they should never have been deprived of in the first place.  Even if you don't want to donate, you should still check it out, they are wonderful!

If you would like to donate through me I will accept donations of the entrance fee so they get the donation, and I get the experience.  Just a selfish thought. 

After the park we all went back to Chiang Mai where Michiko bought us all dinner at a Japanese restaurant.  I was glad to be at a Japanese Restaurant with a Japanese woman.  She ordered for me and I loved it all.  I never know what to try, but it was all good.

New Teaching Structure - November 29

Today was Megan’s first day.  She is the new Montessori teacher and what a surprise is she in for.  Khru Loy has just finished converting the classroom from Montessori to traditional Thai education, which is a lot of sitting, copying an listening to the teacher.  This was all unknown to me at the beginning of the day so I was ready for normal classes.  As I started teaching Yoga I had a great time with the young kids. At one point Megan came in to observe.  It was a little distracting, but I got the kids back on track no problem.  Then there was the elementary.  Oh my gosh I really had the thought that I was a failure as a teacher!  They didn’t listen, ran around, jumped and made lots of noise.  That is all ok at times (like recess) but yoga class is a little more organized.  Needless to say, we didn’t do much yoga, and I didn’t know what was wrong.  I found out later about the major change, and that made it all the clearer why they didn’t want to listen to me.  They were just forced to listen to a teacher for hours and they were done.  I don’t blame them.  Oh well at least I know now.  In the end I did get a few hugs from my students which always makes the day better.

Party with the Twins - Tonight was supposed to be Natasha and I having dinner with the twins.  We said Wednesday at 7:30 and they agreed.  However when we waited at the entrance at 7:30 they didn't come.  So we called and with our broken English/Thai they said they were working until 9 so we asked if we could have a beer later after work.  I love miscommunication.  At 9 they showed up, well one of the brothers and another guy on one motorbike.  they each had a beer.  So we asked if we could go anywhere and have a beer (as nice as drinking half a beer in the driveway is, we were looking for something ...different) So they took us to this party.  We had to take two trips to get everyone there which meant I went first and got dropped off, now I am alone at the party.  It was fun and as usual everyone was happy to see me, a farang, at the Thai party and they started feeding me whiskey.  I ended up talking to the mayor's wife (confusion from an earlier story, he is in fact the mayor) and having a grand old time.  Throughout the course of the night we talked about several things.  In the end I am not sure what all I committed to, but it was a number of things.  -31K bike race, announcing said race, teaching English to the staff at the local hotel and maybe something else I don't even know I said.  Crazy language barrier.  I am happy to announce the race and teach at least for a while.  It is nice to give back to the community.  At the end of the night Kay and Ken convinced us to go to dinner (at 11:30), which ended up being about 10 people including the mayor and his wife.  They were very nice hosts and the mayor's wife bought us dinner.  Well I feel like we are rubbing elbows with the elite!  What a night, not anything like what we planned, but very fun.  I love those nights. -Alice - Free

Spicy Food - December 2, 2006

Last night we went out to dinner for Lung Song’s last day at starfish.  In a way it was sad, but he didn’t quit, he was fired.  Last month he was driving in his sparatic crazy way and ran into a woman on a motorbike.  As soon as he hit her he said Mai bin rye!  No problem.  Well it was a problem in someone’s mind, like the woman, and Dick who fired him.  Regardless we celebrated his last day and it was a celebration, not a sad dinner.

I will say that for the first time I felt like I was eating Thai spicy food.  I thought it was spicy as I started eating, but nothing I couldn’t handle.  Then I ate the chili.  I didn’t mean to, but it was a little green bean looking thing hidden in a mound of greens.  This was way beyond the mouth hurting spice.  My conscience was effected.  I stopped eating and just sat there as my whole head buzzed.  I drank all of my beer and water trying to get a little relief in my mouth, but it only lasted a moment.  I am amazed that chili can cause vertigo.  I was mildly disoriented, and this is all from one of the smallest peppers I have seen.  Regardless I was feeling like a major lightweight with my spice tolerance.  Then of course May Noi, on of the cooks sitting next to me said prick, spicy, prick.  Yea yea it is hot.  Then all of the Thai staff looks over at me and laughs about how I think the food is really hot.  It wasn’t the food in total (which was quite hot) it was the pepper I ate whole.  After a while May Noi started reacting to something.  What she thinks the peppers are hot too?  Interesting.  She ate a pepper whole too and reacted more than I did.  That was the perfect opportunity for me to both sympathize and point out that it wasn’t because I am an American, it was because the peppers are really really spicy.  We all had a good laugh again, and I felt like part of the group.

Crazy Christmas - December 5, 2006

Well the last few days have been less than desirable.  I came back from Chiang Mai for my days off because I wanted a chance to relax in the countryside.  Wrong.  I forgot that my room is right next to the group room and since there is no class on  Saturday and Sunday (my days off) someone is always in the group room. 

I thought that being in a Buddhist country for Christmas would make me miss many things about the holiday.  Decorations everywhere, snow (for a day or so), Christmas music wherever you go.  Lisa was singing Christmas music a few weeks ago, before Thanksgiving!  I am usually opposed to anything Christmas before thanksgiving, but I didn’t mind.  I was a little sentimental. 

So when the children spent the whole weekend practicing their Christmas dances, well I have had enough carols this year.  They are dancing with pom-pom’s like cheerleaders use.  What says Christmas more than pom-pom’s I always say.  Not that I think there is only one way to celebrate Christmas, the way I know.  That is not true, but this cheerleader song and dance still seems way off base to me.  They only play two songs, Jingle bells and We wish you a merry Christmas.  Over and over and over and over.  If that wasn’t bad enough the version of wwyamc is horrible.  The timing is off or something so it is more like the turrets choir wishes you a merry Christmas.  And you thought Chinese water torture was bad! 

On the other hand I have had two dreams recently about going home.  The first I was home and thinking “should I go back to Thailand?”  I woke up to realize I am still here.  The message, enjoy it while you are here.  The second dream it was spring and I was home, but this time I asked the date.  It was April and I am not supposed to go home until May.  I was sad to have missed part of my trip.  Again the message, enjoy the time you have here.  So I am trying to.  Moving to a different room may be part of the enjoyment.

Miscommunication - December 7, 2006

Well today started so well.  I couldn’t sleep much last night, but I don’t think I needed much.  I woke up early and saw a beautiful red sky.  I decided to do some yoga and as soon as I finished the salutation of the sun, the sun peaked up over the mountains.  I ended up doing about 1 ½ hours of yoga and just soaking in the peace and joy I feel in my new room.  What a great beginning to any day.

Then there was some miscommunication.  I found out from Julie that Natasha and I were not supposed to go on the field trip tomorrow.  Strange because I was actually asked if I could go as they didn’t have enough people.  Natasha wasn’t even approached.  Does she not exist?  Did they forget about us.  Apparently the Thai staff had a meeting without us.  Maybe we don’t exist.  Kawn tried to say none of us were here on Tuesday when they had the meeting, nice try Tuesday is the only day everyone is here.  I have the what are you thinking moments all to often.  “But Alice you are not on the list”  I hear.  I didn’t know there was a list, I didn’t see the list and if I did I still wouldn’t know as it is all in Thai.

If we go, others will not be able to.  There are only so many tickets.  I don’t want to be the cause of someone else being left behind.  I don’t want to be left behind either.  Does the night staff care?  Are there any hurt feelings?  We actually asked what the night staff wanted to do and the answer was no problem, they don’t care which really means no we won’t care because we are Thai.  This is truly the most foreign culture I have ever lived in and it is definitely hard to cope with.

I feel sabotaged, but also like I am making to much of this, unwanted, unneeded, unnoticed, really unwanted, who would notice if I was gone really?  Anyone?  I have committed, can I even back out.  What does backing out say about me?  Is it wrong to quit?  Where else could I go?  Should I just take the free resort room and not pay attention to the rest of the people here?  Should I try to step up and make changes?  I really don’t know what to do.  Yes in a way this is a cry for help, but more realistically I am just really really frustrated and need to vent.  Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated.  Love

-Alice -Free

Permaculture Farm - December 12, 2006

I have spent the last weekend at the Baan Thai Project.  It is a permaculture farm here in Maetang.  I can actually bike there, but it is 15 KM so not right around the corner.  It is close anyway.  I feel quite welcome and have tried to jump in and help where I can.  It is also very organized so it feeds my need for that.  There are so many kind people and it is very laid back.  The perfect place for me to let go and soak up the positive energy.  I will be back frequently when the negativity here is overloaded.  Last time I left I was back in 6 hours needing a recharge.  I can’t go everyday so I will have to make due with a few weekends there.  I enjoy the work as it is all towards a goal I believe in, creating a sustainable permaculture farm.  I even got a blister the other day yea.  Now I need to decide if I should stay here and use that as a break, or if I want to just move there.  It all comes down to $.  Do I leave the “job”.  I could do it if I don’t do as much traveling.  But should I give up?

A Good Day - December 16, 2006

How am I?  Well how am I today?  Today is a good day.  A day off, but a good day none the less.  I am trying to live for me.  A novel concept, but I need to figure some things out so lets start at the basics.  It is whirlwind time as I am sure you are aware of.  Next week is Christmas, then New Years, then my birthday and the next day I leave for two weeks.  Yea vacation to my first international rainbow gathering! 

I mostly feel like I want to leave the school and resettle at the permaculture farm.  The problem comes on days like Thursday, we had a long boring meeting where it became ever more apperent that this is a dictatorship run by someone without any teaching experience.  I left numb and frustrated, glad for my one day a week teaching in Chiang Mai.  As I walk away Gaminy runs up and says Khru Alice are you leaving?  I tell her I am going to Chiang Mai (probably what she meant, but not what I am contemplating).  She ran up and hugged my legs and says I love you don't go.  I give her a hug and say I will be back in a few days.  Then I cry.  I love these kids so much.  I don't know if I could leave them.  Only time will tell I guess.  Much love and happy holidays.  I don't know how I will feel on Christmas.  My first one away!  Madalitso
-Alice

Christmas Prep - December 20, 2006

Wow I really haven’t written in two weeks?  Well I guess I have been busy. 

I am amazed how the holiday season is so busy here too.  It is a Buddhist country!  But we are still celebrating Christmas at the school so parties to plan, gifts to wrap it’s Christmas.  At first I was glad to be away from the “lets shove carols down your throat” music lights everywhere Christmas.  Now that it is getting closer I am starting to get a little homesick and I miss it (a little). 

I am still having fun here.  I have tried to separate myself (physically) from any other teacher that is being too negative.  I am also trying to concentrate on the children.  Both are helping my mental state. 

The retreats at the farm are helping too.  Last weekend I had a foot massage to relax.  The next day I went to the farm and did some work.  I left sweaty and covered in dirt and I loved it.  I have also been soar for three days.  I guess a good days work making bricks and a 30 KM bike ride is not what my body is used to.  Oh well it is good to work.  Due to my upcoming vacation I am now thinking I can stay the full six months.  Again time will tell. 

I guess visas will tell also.  I apparently don’t have the 6 month visa I asked for so now along with all of the party planning and vacation coming up I also have to figure out visa runs.  I will have to go to Laos to the embassy and see if I can get a new visa there.  Crazy new visa laws.  Well time to plan and prepare for solstace, two Christmas parties, new years, visa run, starfish dedication, my birthday and vacation all in the next 2 ½ weeks.  Ah the holiday season.

I wish you all a pleasant and relaxing holiday season.

Peace-Alice-Free

Solstice Greeting - December 21, 2006

A Joyous Winter Solstice to everyone.  Now is the turning point, now is the shortest day, now we are closest to the sun, yet tilted away.  Time to rest and rejuvenate for the coming spring just like the seeds that lay dormant.  Symbolically rest of course as it is also the holiday season.  I hope you all enjoy your festivities and get some time to relax as well. 

As for your solstice present from me, here is what to do:
1. go get your pillow (don't worry I have already summoned the interconnectedness of pillows and it is attached to mine)
2. put your arms around it
3. squeeze, give it a good bear hug, and I mean a good one don't let go right away
4. feel the warmth.  That is my love I am sending to you.  Feel free to send that love straight to your heart.

I wish you peace, clarity and repose on your winter solstice.  Namaste

-Alice-Free

Making Bricks

Dad,
I just thought you would want to know, even if I don't ever get to stomp grapes, or strawberries or whatever, I have fulfilled that physical need.  Last Sunday I helped make bricks at the farm.  First you use a hoe to dig out the sand and clay basically tear down the wall of the mud pit.  then add water, always scoop dry dirt into water or  wet mud.  once it is mixed well add rice husks and mix more (dry in to wet of course).  We also had to be careful to mix the rice husks not step right on them or else they would just stick to the bottom.  then basically a great big stomping party mixing and turning the concoction until evenly mixed, or at least close.  I stomped to my little hearts content.  Then we filled the brick molds.  My part of the work included lifting a lot of buckets full of mud.  This was a most fulfilling days work when lately I have been questioning my purpose here.  Just thought you would like to know.  Peace
-Alice

Christmas Party - December 23, 2006

We just finished our Christmas party here and it was a lot of fun.  I still think it is crazy that I am finishing my December 23rd while you are just starting yours.  Hey this year I get to see the new year hours before you.  Crazy.  This was a great holiday party, the children were so happy to see Santa.  Especially since Santa spoke Thai.  It was different, but hey that's what I expected. 

I am gearing up for my big Christmas Eve plans, white water rafting.  What better way to spend Christmas Eve if your family is far away.  Enjoy the party and tell everyone I miss them.  Peace
-Alice

White Water Rafting - December 25, 2006

Christmas eve I started the day with a phone call from the party at my parents’ house. I got to talk to Beth, Sarah, Martha, Mom, Dad, Anne and Ben and got word that there was a long line of folks that wanted to talk and sent their love. I was crying, but it was great. That is what I wanted the most for Christmas and I got it. Yea! Then off to white water rafting. Hey what Christmas eve is complete without it right. We had a lot of fun. Natash and I paired up with two Thai women and a guide for a great five person team. We all had a lot of fun and a lot of jokes. If you can call splashing others, tipping the boat over, trying to push the guide into the water and falling in ourselves, having the guide try to pull us into the water, getting stuck and having to swim, (then telling us we could have stayed in the boat but this was more fun), playing pirates and splashing other boats. Anyway lots of smiles and water. What a great Christmas eve. Well as good as one can be when I am this far away from family and friends. In the evening Lisa and some of her friends arrived from Chiang Mai. We basically partied all night and everyone woke up with a hangover on Christmas. 

Everyone but me that is. I have been sick for about a week now. I drank a little but not too much. I have been coughing a lot and didn’t want to make it worse. So Christmas was very laid back. We cooked a lot of food and all ate too much. And we watched the Christmas Story. That was the key to making it feel like Christmas to me. It definitely had an air of celebration, but that movie made it Christmas. The scene at the Chinese restaurant had a lot more meaning for me this year. The wait staff were wearing the uniform the children wear on Fridays, and they sang like an exaggerated version of the children too. Funny times. Jiap, Nathi, Best and Nathi’s husband came over for a while. We also lit two lanterns and released them as we sang Christmas carols. It was a fun day which is nice because I definitely was a little depressed. Oh well now I am less depressed, just sick and trying to figure out visa stuff. I may be here for my birthday or in Laos. I will figure it out this week, or next and leave before or after my birthday and get the visa, or not? Oh well I will figure it all out.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. Happy New Year! 

Peace-Free-Alice

Market Experience - December 26, 2006

It’s cold.  Yes I mean cold.  No it’s not snowing and I know it is a lot colder other places in the world, but it is cold here too.  We played guess the temperature last night.  I guessed 62 but really it was 57.  That was just after dark so it only got colder.  This morning I woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t fall back asleep.  I will get another blanket today.  Even my fingers are cold from typing.  I guess I am just under prepared, who knew I would want a wool sweater?  OK that is enough.  It will be hot hot hot soon and I will be missing the cold.

Last week Alicia and I went to the farm for a solstice party.  Very informal, we just had dinner and sat around the fire singing and playing music.  We are always so well received there I love it.  It rejuvenates me every time, and I keep thinking I should move there. Unfortunately I have to think about money and visas, neither of which I have enough of to walk away from the school.

A random market experience at Mae Malai Market I bought some fruit.  I choose a watermelon and these cool green frits I like that are sort of a mix between an apple and a pear.  The woman told me the price and even gave me one bhat off.  Then she gave me two oranges for free.  Nice, I like oranges.  Next I went to the kitchen supply stall and bought a big mortar and pestle for 65 bhat ($2).  I was happy with the purchase, but then she showed me a washcloth.  Although it was nice I said I didn’t want to buy a washcloth.  However I was mistaken.  She was giving me the washcloth to go with the mortar and pestle.  ????  I guess I do need to wash it!  What a fun market day.

Peace-Free-Alice

Preparing for Travels - January 4, 2007
            Well The whirlwind is not over yet.  I had a good Solstice, Christmas and New Years Eve.  Now I am planning for the Starfish dedication on Saturday, my birthday on Sunday and I leave for Laos on Monday.  In Laos I will be doing a visa run, but the goal is to apply for and get another type O non-immigrant 3 month visa.  This is tricky and I am gathering documents, letters and other random trinkets in hopes of this process working.  If it doesn’t, too bad and I have to deal with the delight of tourist visas.  While I am waiting for the visa gods to smile on me, I hope to travel around.  There are many wonderful things I want to see but time is an issue as I also have to reenter Thailand before this visa runs out, otherwise my new visa that we have worked so hard to get, is void!!!  Hopefully I can get the visa, see some cool stuff and not be in a complete hurry.  We will see.
            So after I get back into Thailand on or around the 15th I have a two week vacation!  I plan on heading south and going to the World Rainbow Gathering.  Flora is also getting to Thailand and heading south so I hope to see her for a bit.  Again and as always, time will tell. 
            After my vacation we are taking the children on a field trip to the sea.  I have already set it up so I can meet everyone at the beach rather than travel north only to get in a bus and head south.
            Random crazy fun times ahead.  It will definitely be an adventure.  I don’t know how much contact I will have in the next month or so but I will try to check email semi-regularly.  I hope you are all doing well and not having to deal with visas as regularly as all of us in Thailand have to.  Love and Light
-Alice
-Free

P.S. Before sending this message I tried to book my ticket to Laos and there are no flights on Monday.  So I can leave tomorrow, or on my birthday, or risk not getting the visa in time, or try a bus or train, or or I don’t know.  Like I said…ADVENTURE.

Laos - January 14, 2007

Well here I am in Laos on my whirlwind tour.   I did get my visa and everything went very smoothly with that.  Good thing as that is why I came.  It is interesting traveling "alone".  I met Claudio from Switzerland on the bus and we found the embassy and a guesthouse together.  As we split ways to our respective rooms at the guesthouse I met Michael from Canada and we had dinner together.  So really it took days for me to be alone. 

After handing in my passport I decided to see some of the local attractions.  There is a Wat with thousands of Buddha statues that was cool.  It was nice to see a small non-gilded Wat.  Then I went for an herbal sauna and massage.  Oh my gosh it was wonderful.  If you are ever in Vientiane Laos, go get this sauna/massage.  And to make it better it was only $8 including the round trip transport from my guesthouse.  The next night I went bowling with some new friends, crazy to go bowling in Laos, but hey why not! 

Now with visa in hand I continue my adventure.  Having only a few days left in the country I decided to prioritize and I focused on a boat trip from Luang Prabang to Nong Kiaw.  This meant a beautiful, but long bus ride.  I took many pictures out the bus window, hopefully some turn out.  At one point it was so mountainous they actually passed out sick bags (as they passed out water and snacks earlier).  I took one, with my track record I had to, but luckily I didn't need it.  I arrived in Luang Prabang in the evening and took a boat out the next morning.   Not a lot of time, but that is not why I am here. 

I will say I was a bit annoyed with the folks trying to "help".  I asked if this was the right place to buy tickets, and a man said yes and even pointed out the boat I would take.  Then he said he would take me to buy the ticket.  What?  So I asked again do I buy a ticket here or somewhere else?  He said "Here, but I will take you".  Not wanting to get into a vehicle alone with a strange man I just walked away.  As I did so someone else said it was a two minute walk to the ticket office.  Thank you!

Waiting for the boat I saw a man that looked a bit like Jason Schewe.  I figured this was a good a conversation starter as any and we started talking.  So that is how Christian from Toronto became my travel partner for a day.  We took the same boat, stayed at the same guesthouse, had dinner together and talked for hours (mostly about boys, how I love gay men) and watched the "sunrise" together.  Then he left so no chance of getting on each others nerves.  Perfect.

The boat trip itself was breathtaking.  It was 8 hours of beautiful mountain scenery and local Lao villages, gardens and people.  The boats were all interesting and every turn was another photo op.  I tried to take a few photos and then stop and just experience.  My favorite thing was a boy about 6 or 7 using a bamboo pole to paddle a long boat. 

I had a funny experience a few hours into the ride I had to pee, really really bad.  The driver didn't speak any English so asking when we would stop was useless.  I saw a man coming out of what I thought was the engine room.  I figured there was some sort of bathroom there, at least a hole.  If not I would pee over the edge of the boat.  I went back and found a squat toilet, and I mean squat.  There was only  a few feet from the toilet to the ceiling so I had to climb up into the cubbie hole bathroom.  Fine with me at this point.  Then I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.  What beautiful misty mountains.  OK I am done sitting in front of the computer.  More to come later.  Much love

-Alice-Free

Bus Rides in Laos - 1-14-07

Well where was I.  I don't think I said enough about the boat trip.  Granted it was 8 hours long so the tushy hurt towards the end.  However boating up the Mekong amidst beautiful mountains and rock faces, seeing the other boats, folks doing laundry and fishing and the gardens wow.  Everyone plants their gardens on the banks of the river so we could see all the beautiful greens of new plants.  I saw a boat with two boys in it, one leaning over the edge.  On closer inspection I noticed he was holding the lead of a water buffalo that was swimming next to the boat.  Crazy sight. 

Nong Kiaw was breathtaking.  a quiet little town that still gets a few tourists, but nothing overwhelming.  I went to the market and was the only farang (foreigner) there.  Nice to be in a true village market selling food, clothes, pots and pans.  It doesn't take much to get tired of the constant "buy one thing from me"  "real silk" and "I make good price for you".  None of that here.  I spent almost a whole day in my hammock reading and enjoying the mountain view.  It was very nice to have a whole day off.  The next day I took it easy again thinking I would catch the late bus, but when I went to buy the ticket there was a new bus on the schedule!  I got the earlier bus, but it was really a songtao so 4 hours of sitting in the back of a truck.  Oh well, I made it back safely. 
The ticket situation is not the best.  Not knowing my plans in advance has make me have to take busses everywhere.  All the plane and train tickets are sold out.  Oh well, I have my motion sick patch on and am ready for three days of travel. 
Luckily the bus didn't leave until the evening so I had an extra day in Luan Prabang.  This gave me time to go to the night market and get a great Hmong tapestry, see one of the Wats and go to a new waterfall.  I love waterfalls so they are all great to me, but this could be the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen.  I met a couple from Canada staying at the same guest house so we hiked the falls together. 

Speaking of guest houses I found the most friendly family run guest house in LP called Cold River Guesthouse.  I got in Sunday night which happened to be family dinner night.  Family meant the whole family, and all of the guests.  It was dinner for 25.  After we all ate papa they came around and gave everyone shots of lao lao, the local strong alcohol.  They also helped book tickets and get a tuk tuk to the station.  When I was leaving there were five people waving goodbye and I was only there one night!  They also gave me a snack of bananas for the ride.  What a great family, and guest house.

Now for the crazy busses.  I rode a night bus last night and got about 2 hours sleep.  I couldn't fall asleep for the longest time so I watched 007 Casino Royal in dubbed in Thai, subtitles in Lao.  Then a whole slue of Thai kareoke music videos.  After I finally fell asleep I woke up to the man next to me with his hand on my leg.  Creepy.  So I spent the rest of the ride doing a lot more cuddling my purse than sleeping.  We got in to Vientiane at 6 am so I have been killing time until my next bus this evening.  That's fine because it gave me time to catch up on email and have a sauna and massage.  I love these herbal saunas before a massage.  Well off to eat something before my next long bus ride. 

I love you all, thanks for all the support you have given me in this new and crazy experience.  It is good to know I have such great family and friends that care, even if I am far away.  I have much love and respect for all of you.  Madalitso
-Alice
-Free

The Life of Night Busses - January 16, 2007

Be warned, this is the bitchy email.  In my last post (Jan 14) I mentioned a night bus ride.  I don’t sleep well on busses, but I managed to get a few hours in.  We arrived in Vientiane at 6 am.  I opted to walk to town because it wasn’t that far and I had a few hours to kill.  When I got there I tried to buy a bus to Bangkok (I was looking forward to not going to Bangkok, just flying through.  No such luck) and found out there was only one, at night.  I guess that is the bus for me.

I Speak Lao

In Laos almost everyone accepts three types of currency.  Laos Kip, Thai Bhat and US dollars.  Since I was on my way to Thailand I asked if I could pay and get change in Bhat.  The change was B210 and B10 is a coin so I thought they might not have it but I didn’t say anything.  Then I heard then say “vnsghiahuip;dfg sip bhat vmnufilahrofno;”  Notice the sip bhat in the middle, that means 10 bhat.  That was all I understood but I knew what they were talking about.  When I said It’s ok to give me the 10 bhat in Kip all eyes were on me.  I had four Laos women convinced I spoke Laos and I only spoke to them in English.  Funny situation and we all had a good laugh.  I love those situations where you can tell a joke, sympathize or just connect with someone who speaks a different language.

I found ways to kill time by eating slowly, reading, doing yoga by the river, getting a massage and taking a sauna.  Never thought about it before but I found I can’t take as long of a sauna when I am this tired.  Oh well.  Then on to the bus which was really 3 busses.  First a shuttle that picked everyone up at their guest houses.  Then a bus to the border and then a bus to Bangkok.  Again on a boring night bus where I can’t really sleep.  Oh well at least I have my MP3 player.

When we arrived in Bangkok I was ready to get off at the bus station and hop on the next bus out of town.  However the bus didn’t go to the bus station, only the airport and Ko San Road. 

Ko San Road

Let me take a minute to discuss Ko San Road.  It is basically backpacker town (like china town).  If there is ever a question as to where to take tourists to find a guesthouse in Bangkok, the answer is Ko San Road.  This sounds cool right!  Meet a lot of cool travelers no big deal.  Well along with tourists comes carts selling everything imaginable from cloths to fruit shakes to dried squid (very popular in Thailand) to tours you can even get your hair dreaded.  The icing on the cake is everyone is getting drunk. 

To make it more intense it was 6 am when I was dropped off.  There was one place open so I sat and had a fruit shake with another woman also traveling alone with one small backpack.  All I wanted to do was sleep but nothing was open so I sat waiting for everyone to wake up.  There were several other people there some still drinking (or maybe drinking again).  I just wanted the pharmacy to open.  That sauna I viewed as lovely and relaxing was now seen only as the annoying source of athletes foot.  Once everything started to open I took care of my feet and then tried to buy a bus ticket.  Guess what time the bus was………NIGHT BUS!  I can hear the creepy horror film music now.  OK don’t panic, remember to breath.  Sure I’ll take that bus. 

This is the point that you are all glad you are not traveling with me.  I was cranky!

Now I want to mention that I should have bought a room for the day, slept and set my alarm for the evening bus.  That would have been the smart thing to do.  Of course trying to save $ and being slightly delirious from the previous two night busses I didn’t.

Falling Apart

Everything started to fall to hell at this point.  Leaving the travel agent I realized I lost my hoodie, not good, it has been cold and I basically lived in that hoodie for the last month.  I also agreed to do the tuk tuk scam.  There are several stores in Bangkok that offer tuk tuk drivers free gas to bring customers to their store.  It is more of a game I knew what was going on and so did everyone else but I played the game.  Then back to Ko San Road to look for the hoodie.  I found it.  After breakfast I just got up and walked away without it.  It really annoys me when I do stupid things like that. Another clue that I am not in my right head.  Is getting to rainbow as soon as possible worth this?

And another night bus.  I will say it is rather easy to sleep on the third night bus in a row.  I decided to only go to Chumphon instead of all the way to Ranong and get a guest house.  It’s time.  Unfortunately this was not a regular night bus that drives all through the night and you arrive at 6am.  No no this bus arrived at 3 am.  What the hell am I supposed to do at 3 am?  All the guest houses were closed so I couldn’t get a room if I wanted one.  Luckily the shuttle driver knew he couldn’t just leave me on the side of the road so he took me to the bus station that opened in 5 hours!  Oh well what can you do?  I went and bought a yogurt at 7-11 for breakfast, wait did I have dinner, maybe it was dinner or afternoon tea?  My schedule is all screwed up. 

There was a bus at 4 so I didn’t have to sit on the bench all night.  When I got to Ranong (at 6 am) I was exhausted but so close I couldn’t stop now (stubborn remember).  I took a motorbike taxi in to town and when I got off I did the classic, don’t do this when you ride a bike thing, I touched the muffler and burned my calf.  Just keep going don’t stop now.  I needed a mosquito net, anyone know how to say that in Thai?  Me either.  I ended up drawing a picture and he knew exactly what I was talking about.  Now on to Rainbow.  I was close enough that everyone knew about the gathering so I just had to ask for a bus to rainbow and they knew where to drop me off.  As usual with a gathering the local community has the opportunity to make money from our various needs.  There were 5 motorbikes waiting for the next customer and the prices were set. 

Danger Zone?

So I took the taxi to the beach and something really hit home.  I was passing signs that said “Tsunami hazard zone.”  This is it, this is one of the very beaches where the tsunami hit and destroyed everything.  That made me feel a little nervous.  But what are the chances really?  Oh well keep going, can’t stop now.

Trail Head

Finally I am at the trail head!  And of course this journey wouldn’t be complete without… High tide.  I have heard it was dangerous to cross at high tide but I decided to hike as far as I could and stop where it was impassible.  There was one spot where I threw my mosquito net down and used a rope to climb down the rock.  Oh my gosh this is it, this is the beach I am at the gathering!!!  I walked up the beach and saw some kind folks sitting on a blanket so I dropped all my bags and collapsed.  I couldn’t even set up my hammock, just need to sit for a while. 

So when all was said and done I left Luang Prabang Monday evening at 5, headed for rainbow with as few stops as possible.  Thursday around noon I was there.  67 hours almost 1000 miles only taking busses, motorbikes, tuk tuks and taxies.  I probably had 8 hour of sleep total  only 1 or 2 hours at a time and all on the bus… but…I AM HERE!!

What is a Rainbow Gathering?

At the Rainbow Gathering - January 18

The first day or two at the gathering I was sort of hermitish.  I set up my hammock and spent a lot of time there.  I needed a lot of naps to recover.  This was a very new gathering for me.  My first international gathering and the first gathering I didn’t know anyone.  Once rested, I met a lot of people and jumped into helping in the kitchen. 

The first dinner was the Italians turn to cook.  Great I like pasta!  When they came around for seconds I asked for a little.  Ha ha.  He looked at me as he was holding a big scoop of pasta and put the ladle back in the pot.  Then he scooped out the biggest scoop he could and plopped it on my plate.  “No you need to eat more so you get nice and fat”  Oh right, at the international gathering “Italian night” means actual Italians.  Fun times.

Some local villagers wanted to have a party for us and it was announce at circle.  4:00 at Ao Chak beach (two beaches over).  I arrived at 5 and discovered the great misunderstanding.  It was supposed to  be at 10 am to 4 pm.  With some quick maneuvering and calls a few locals came back and we had dinner of pad thai they made for us.  Then we started the fire show as entertainment for them.  After about an hour it was entertainment for us because many locals left.  I hope there were no hard feelings from either side.

Tide

The tide!  Wow I have never lived with the tide before.  The closest I have been is visiting relatives in Ventura CA.  Yes I have seen the water higher at times and called that high tide but this was intense.  When the tide is low the hike to and from the gathering is easy, mostly sand and a few smooth rocks.  At high tide you basically have to scale the few rocks still visible.  It is safer to travel to/from the gathering at low tide but the supply boats can only come at high tide.  Also the times change almost an hour each day.  Being this close and living in a hammock brought me so much closer to this cycle.  I feel that even if I was living by the ocean in the states I wouldn’t have this experience because I would hide in my house and not notice as much.  The scariest tidal experience was after the party on Ao Chak beach.  There were large rocks and a small stream when we hiked in at low tide.  When we realized the tide had almost caught us on this other beach and tried to hike back we found the little stream to be a river over 6 ft deep and not even a ledge to try to walk back on.  Mother nature had won.  We slept on this beach in a big rainbow cuddle puddle around the fire.  I was pillow for two at one point and no matter how I tried to keep my hair out of the sand in the end I surrendered and just laid my head down.  It wasn’t the best sleep and also it was quite cold at night even with the fires and friends.  I ended up hiking back at low tide at 4 am.

Mud Party

One morning I walked to the beach and saw a big mud party.  Rainbow spa!  Everyone was covered head to toe with cleansing mud.  It looked like a lot of fun and I hoped to join so I stripped down to my bathing suit (being in a Muslim area there was a lot of naked/ clothed conflicts, out of respect for the community we agreed not to be naked.) I walked up asking if there was any mud left.  Then I heard “FIRST TIME MUD” and five people started smearing me with mud.  I guess so.

Now the idea is you let the mud dry and it absorbs the oil dirt and whatever gunk is on your skin.  I had so much fun letting the mud dry was an issue.  First time I was covered, a food supply boat came in and we needed to carry it all to the kitchen.  After helping I washed of the bits of mud left and started over.  This time my hair was covered.  At first I tried to avoid mud caked hair, but I gave in.  Then there were the mud hugs which turned into mud contact improve dancing (initiated by yours truly).  That ended in sandy partial mud cover.  Again I started over and this time I let it dry.  When I washed it off I could feel the cleanse  both on my skin and in my hair.  It had been days since I washed my hair and it was quite greasy.  The mud really did wash my hair.  After washing in the sea I went to the fresh water showers.  What a great set up.

Moterbike Ride

One day I needed to check my email so I hiked out and took a motorbike to Minros (or the Main Road).  On the way there I gave a sister a ride as three can fit on a motorbike, easy.  On the way back the driver pulled over and offered to let me drive.  Sure this could be fun.  I was scared to go too fast so I am sure I was crawling, but we made it safe.  When we got off I put out my hand and said “hah sip bhat” which means 50 bhat, the price of the ride.  Wow I had the other drivers rolling.  Yea two word jokes!  It created quite a rapport with this driver and he ended up helping me hike out my pack and giving my a ride when I left the gathering for good.

A birth

The next day I was in my rainbow grove.  I describe it as ultimate BLISS.  My notes were :bliss smiles running skipping kissing singing sharing loving.  Yea I think that sums it up.  I was so high on life it was amazing.  Of course I was trying to spread that joy also by helping others, smiling and playing Frisbee.  At lunch food circle there was a joyous announcement; a baby was born.  Wow what a day time for a swim in the Andaman Sea.  After my swim I was just sitting and chatting when a sister came up with something to say.  The baby died.  I was shocked, stunned, I didn’t know what to do.  The hardest part for me was that I still felt this overpowering joy.  I wasn’t happy the baby was dead.  It was born with the cord wrapped around it’s neck.  One hour after birth it stopped breathing.  That is all I know.  Yes it was sad, but I didn’t know the parents.  My heart went out to that lovely Israeli couple, but the joy of the wonderful rainbow day was still there.  It took me nearly three hours to come down to the somber level of everyone else.  It is strange to feel so happy and feel bad for having that emotion.

Island Adventures - January 23, 2007

When Steve (Kiwi friend/ travel partner) and I finally left the gathering it was dark.  We tried to hitchhike for a few minutes but it wasn’t working.  Luckily the shop owner let us set up a tent in his back yard.  In the morning we were going to try again but a group of rainbows were getting a truck to Ranong.  And they were going to an island: Ko Panyam.  Cool all we wanted was an island.  So we tagged along.

I will say I was expecting to sleep, read and hang out on the beach.  It sort of freaked me out when they bought a bunch of food and asked everyone for $.  Then there was talk of a major beach cleaning project, building bungalows and raising goats.  In the end it was all good.  Of course that was after I went in to my "Alice doesn’t feel like she does enough, but doesn’t feel motivated to do a major beach cleaning project" phase.

We stayed for two nights and three days then parted ways, no goats yet.  There was an unexpected visitor.  The first night I was exhausted.  I woke up to something on my leg but the fog of sleep was still thick.  It felt hard like claws or a shell but also soft like flesh.  My imagination going wild I swatted it off.  I truly thought it was a crab probably because I heard a story from another traveler of crabs in their bungalow.  Then I remembered the fleshy feeling and thought it was a lizard.  It was way to big to be a gecko so it was probably a tookay.  Those are the ones that bite and don’t let go.  I woke Steve up but I don’t think he believed me and I couldn’t see it with my flashlight so we went back to sleep.  Then Steve woke up to something on his leg, see I wasn’t hallucinating.  He couldn’t sleep until he found it and when he did he told me it was a mouse, well a big mouse.  So there was a rat in our bed.  He didn’t want to tell me because he thought I would be afraid (as I had told him the neutrino story from St. Bernard’s Parish).  The next night I heard something again and this time I saw it.  Amazingly enough it is a big mouse.  It looked a lot more like a mouse than a rat with silky fur and round ears, but it was bigger, but not as big as a rat.  Who knows.

Trip Back

When we left we went to a nice hotel in Ranong.  It was 350B ($10) and had hot water.  I was so exited to take a shower.  It has been 11 days since my last real shower.  I have been swimming in the sea and rinsing with fresh water.  Of course there was the mud bath which did cleanse quite a bit but when mud is the closest you have come to soap in 11 days, a hot shower is ecstasy.  I felt like a princess, we had our laundry done at the hotel and had a nice dinner too.  Thanks Steve.

The day  bus was my idea as we would get to BKK around 12 midnight enough time to find a guest house and get a decent night sleep.  Wrong.  We ended up getting to BKK late around 3 and they took us to the bus station, not ko san road ( the opposite of what I wanted and the same as what I wanted the last bus to do)  Ugh.  So we walked around and saw a lot of drunk people and looked for a guest house.  We couldn’t find one and this didn’t help our mood.  Finally we saw a man walking out with a pack and asked if this one was full also.  He said yes all but one, the room he checked out of.  We convinced the clerk to give us that room even though it was a single and we had a place to crash.  What a crazy room, the size was a single bed plus two feet on the side one on the bottom.  The bed was a little softer than a sheet of plywood but who cares we could finally sleep.

Back Home - February 5, 2007

Wow what a crazy whirlwind trip I had.  In a way I am happy to be home and in a way I am going crazy.  I have decided I can’t stand my job.  This is very unfortunate because I love the kids and the whole staff minus Dick and his crazy ideas and dictatorship management style.  Basically I need to tell him exactly how I feel and then leave.  This is the type of confrontation I dread so I am kind of avoiding it for the moment. 

I got home from the field trip to the sea Saturday night and checked my email.  Daniel and Flora were both online at the same time so we all decided to meet up on Sunday, the only day we all had off.  So after falling in to my room and hardly unpacking I got up in the morning and headed for Chiang Mai.  What a great day.  Basically I just got to hang out with Daniel and Flora and other friends interspersed throughout the day.  We sat and talked and walked around the flower festival.  There were so many great floats all decorated in flowers (of course) and all of the entries in the orchid competition, wow so many different types, colors, sizes they were all amazing.  Then we all got foot massages, what a great idea.  In almost every market or festival there are chairs where you can get a ½ hour foot massage for 60 baht ($1.75).  Later that night in the market I actually translated for Flora.  It is always a great feeling to have enough of a handle on a language that you can understand and help out.  I guess I do speak a little Thai.

In fact I was so confused today that I was hardly thinking straight.  While waiting for a ride home from the market I saw a whole group of Farangs.  Several cute guys, but hey I am on my way home and they are leaving etc.  As they loaded up of the song Tao I said, “have a nice trek” as the only other farangs that go to that market are on their way to a trek.  One guy asked if I was going with them.  I said no and the cutest one of them all (it’s the eyes, I am a sucker for striking eyes) said why not?  This got me thinking; well I only have my purse and some random things from my room in CM with me.  It would be an awkward trip if I had to carry this craziness (book, face wash, lotion, sarong, traditional Thai outfit, Popsicle sticks, a painting and a watermelon).  So I declined and blew a kiss goodbye.  Then he winked at me.  Damn it.  I was all set to forget about it.  They drove off and I thought, hey why not?  I don’t want to go back to the school anyway right?  So I ran off and cut them off at the pass, said I wanted to go and hopped in.  Great, spontaneous this was going to be fun.  We started driving and I realized I also had Sarah’s passport she left in CM.  I can’t run off with that so I said I couldn’t go, please let me out.  They were so confused and I think everyone thought I was crazy but hey, I kind of am.

As I walked back I said “wow I can’t believe I almost went on that trek” “Wow, why didn’t I?”  “Wow I am talking to myself”.  And I was saying this all out loud.  Oh well back to starfish and it is time to pack.

Quit School - February 6, 2007

I just quit my job.  So I am out of starfish and hopefully in to the farm although that is another conversation.  My heart is still racing but it was civil and I told Dick all the aspects I didn’t agree with and why.  Wow big day, I guess it is time to pack.  I am not sure what my contact status will be like so email or call me in the next day or so if there is anything urgent.  Otherwise it may be a while (a while being weekly instead of daily).  Change, the only constant, an end and of course a beginning.  I wish to project healing, learning and calm.  I love you.

-Alice
-Free

 
 

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Last updated 2/16/07

Move to Phase 2 of this trip report.