Highs and Lows

Hey Everyone!

So I haven't been very good about posting. Woops. But here is the (hopefully) entertaining and interesting post you've all been desperately waiting for.

Anyone who knows me in any kind of wilderness/outdoors/group bonding/peace n’ love/OMG BEST FRANDZZZZ setting knows that I really enjoy Highs and Lows (or Roses and Thorns, Veggies and Compost, ect). So for the sake of simplicity here are my lows and highs since moving up to UHDP and coming back to the city yesterday:

Lows

• ·      The first few days at UHDP were kind of (read: HELLA) slow. Ajaan Da (the teacher I was supposed to be working with) left for Chiang Mai the same day I arrived at the farm and in typical Thai style, I was not told until I arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed. Consequentially, I spent the first few days at UHDP living on my own fairly bored and somewhat frustrated, friendless, and fearful.
• ·      Food. I LOVE Thai food but unfortunately I’m not too good at making it. As a result, I spent most of my time at UHDP living on various combinations of rice and eggs (mostly fried rice, omelets, and stir fry). While I’ve progressively gotten better and more creative, I still feel like my options are fairly limited by my lack of skill and familiarity with the ingredients. (Any and all suggestions for how to spice things up (ha, pun) are VERY much appreciated!)
• ·      There is something living in my ceiling. It is large and makes loud scary scratching noises right above my bed while I’m trying to fall asleep. I think it might be a rat but an over active imagination, wayyyy too much free time, and the fact that I live alone, means that I’ve created all kinds of terrifying monsters in my head. I know it’s illogical but I can’t help myself.
• ·      Interviews and Thai. Thai is HARD. Talking about citizenship is hard. Talking about citizenship in Thai is EXTRA hard. This si comounded by the fact that my meeting/interviews are generally VERY well attended and tend to get distracted and off topic. One of my “interviews” ended up with me asking a room of 41 PEOPLE questions about citizenship and then about half of them trying to answer me at the same time. Because of things like this and my non-fluency in Thai, my interviews have not been going as smoothly as I would like. It’s hella frustrating and I tend to get really down about it so that’s a definite low.

Sooo that was kind of a downer. Now on to:

Highs! (things get better, I promise!)

• ·      Making friends. This was trickier than I thought at first. I think I might have a shy side (which is weird and more than a little disconcerting) and I was definitely very awkward about talking to people initially. But things have improved. I started hanging out at the seed bank office to do work during the day, which was and awesome change of pace from being on my own in my room. And the people at UHDP are just some of the friendliest ever and have been incredibly welcoming and helpful. I like nice people. They’re great.
• ·      My host family. They are literally the best. Ever. Coming back from UHDP yesterday and staying the night with them was just so easy and simple. They have been so welcoming from the very start and I can’t imagine life in Thailand without them. Just so so so wonderful and loving.
• ·      Driving. To be clear, I am not doing ANY driving. That would be bad and dangerous. But we do have to get out to the villages to do interviews somehow so Ajaan Da and I have been spending a lot of quality time in the car together. The rides themselves are a little much. Lots of ups and downs and potholes and carsickness on Emma’s part but it is entirely worth it for the views. Rice paddies and mountains and rivers and SO MUCH GREEN. Pictures below. Definitely a highlight.
• ·      Interviews. I know I just put that as a low but interviews are also hella fun. I have something to do with my time and everyone has been super nice and helpful. I can't quite believe that these Palaung villagers are so willing to let this rando farang into their homes and talk to me for hours about citizenship and the problems their community faces. It's pretty fantastic. And on the understanding side, things are slowly but steadily getting better. I’m starting to understand more and what I am understanding is FACINATING. UHDP and the different villages have set up such a cool grassroots organization that helps each other out and does cool stuff like planning a sports day and meetings to discuss citizenship and other important issues. What I’m finding out is that a lot of the time, government doesn’t have much of a presence in these villages because most people are not citizens. What this means is that villagers have to rely on each other and have created infrastructure on their own without government help. I’ll say more as I find out more but I’m hella pumped about this and my SIP topic as a whole and that’s a damn good thing.
• ·      Thai. Again, I know this was also a low but then I had a half-hour long, 80% mutually understood conversation about democracy and government power and US interventionalism with Ajaan Da the other day entirely in Thai. It was awesome. I’m going to chase that feeling…
• ·      I knew coming back to Thailand wasn’t going to be the same as before. I’m more on my own this time and I have more freedom to do what I want, when I want. But it’s one thing to think that and another to experience it. And in some ways that’s a little daunting. I have a SIP to write and no one is going to tell me to write it except myself so I have no one to blame if it sucks. But on the other hand, I have a lot of agency with this. I can choose what I want to do and when to do it. I have more control. And I like that. Despite the fact that it’s a little terrifying.
• ·     Friends. Friends are great. Last night I moved back into the apartments with Cassie and we had dinner at CMU with Daniel and Reid. It was great and kind of felt like ISDSI all over again in the best way. Friends are awesome.
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  This PYT is leaving on Saturday. Gonna miss you, Cass.
  

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  From a walk I took around UHDP.

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  Rain outside my little house at UHDP.

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  Ok, so maybe this isn't the best picture to show it but if you tell me that Thailand is not the most beautiful country ever I will disagree with you. Forcefully.

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•      I don't know why there are so many dots. Silly Blogger...
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  Again I still haven't gotten my act together with pics but I promise to promise to try to do better next time!
  
  
  Sunshine to you, wherever you are!

City Happenings

This is a post I wrote a while ago but then never posted. Typical. But better late than never, right? Enjoy!


Lists are GREAT. I could never manage to go grocery shopping in any kind of productive way without them so here is a list of things that have happened during this first little bit of SUMMER 2KTHAILAND.

• After helping out at school on Friday, one of Mae Toi's 17 year old students asked for my number and email. His reasoning? "Thai girls are too short." I took this to mean that clocking in at a womping 5'5" (a full 3 inches taller than the average Thai woman, mind you) I have clearly missed my true calling and the only remedy is to immediately move here permanently and embrace my future as a Thai supermodel. I think I'll go by the name Waffle. (See this is funny because there's actually a real Thai supermodel who goes by Pancake. You can laugh now...)
• I got a haircut! It's a little too short and I feel like I look like a cross between a suburban mother and a 9 year old boy BUT that does mean I now have a PRIME excuse to go ridiculous Thai hair accessory shopping. I haven't really done very much traveling, but Thailand seems to have cornered the market in absolutely ludicrous trinkets with which one can adorn one's scalp. Seriously. Chances are, if you can dream it, they have already made it with more sparkles. I thinking something a la Carmen Miranda but am 100% open to suggestions.
• On Saturday, I spent most of my time in the city hanging out with my friends Katie and Ross, who recently got married and are on their honeymoon in Thailand. They're thuper cool and like practically real adults now which is neat. We spent the afternoon getting gloriously turned around in the Old City (sorry about that, y'all) and talking and eating. Katie is one of my bestest old(er) people friends and Ross is pretty cool too and I had a great time derping around with them. Mmmh. Friends.
• FRISBEE HAPPENED! And it was great. I hadn't played since the Chiang Mai Hat Tournament in February so I was definitely a little rusty and hella slow but it was oodles and oodles of fun. I went with Cassie (former ISDSI roomie), who is also back this summer doing research and despite the fact that everyone else was running circles around me and I was drenched in sweat it was a wonderful time.
• Speaking of Cassie, I got to see her for the first time in simply ages! Cassie, if you recall was my first roommate when we moved into the apartments. She's back this summer doing thesis research about the negative affects of dams on local river communities in Thailand. (Basically shit's fucked up with forced relocation, destruction of natural resources, flooding, ect. so there are a ton of cool things to research. Anywho...) Catching up with Cass has been really nice. She's done super well for herself alone in the city for the past few weeks despite various complications (such as a nasty bout of dengue) and it's just generally nice to have friends around who you know well enough to make fun of (and vice versa).
• I'd forgotten how exhausting this all is. Sometimes my brain just wants to shut off and most of the time that's not an option. Basic conversations require so much more energy when you're working in another language you only half remember and were never great at to begin with. Patience is key, and being semi-confused is constant. At the same time, I enjoy the challenge of it all and I'm sure the once jet-lag/initial adjustment has run it's course, things will get easier.
• Things I've Been Really Bad At: Taking pictures. I'll do better next time. Promise.

Should be another post coming up soon about things since moving to UHDP. Stay tuned!