Tiger Temple and Erwan

July 5, 2012

Last Thursday was the teachers meeting at our school, well to be exact it was like the administrators meeting. All the administrators from all around came to our school. They do this once a month at different places. Our school prepared for the whole week building new canopies, and basically turning the look around in a matter of days.

Thai culture is very concerned about saving face. They like to look good so they tend to parade us English teachers frequently. Therefore the principal invited us to the main event after the meeting. I told Dani and Jessica and we figured why not; anything is better than locking ourselves in our rooms. We head to the soccer field where there was a soccer match between the administrators of the different provinces. We sat with some other principals who kept trying to convince us to go teach at their schools.

The rest of the teachers were serving everyone and the three of us were sitting with the administrators drinking and eating away. I don’t think it sat very well with the other teachers. It was a very fun night, we drank ate, and even karaokeed.

The next day after school we took a bus to Bangkok. It was Mauricio’s birthday and he was going to celebrate it in the big city. We stayed at WE BKK, where we met everyone. After hours of trying to figure it all out we finally went out to go get Mexican food. It was a fun night but an early night for me.

Saturday we headed to Kanchanaburri, we got there and head straight to the Tiger Temple. This is a temple where the tigers grow up with the monks, they are a lot more docile. I got to pet a tiger! One of the most amazing experiences ever.

That night we stayed at a nice little guest house by the Kwai River. It was beautiful. We ate, hung out, and went out in town. What a fun town! This has been my favorite night life so far. I got to see a lot of the people I have met here and met even more awesome people. We went from bar to bar, dancing and drinking. There were live bands, and foreigners and Thais alike drinking and dancing the night away.

My favorite bar was this small little bar called Sugar something or something like that. It was all decorated with crazy sayings on the walls, there was a reggae band, a ton of cool locals, and a tattoo shop all in the spot. It was soooo much fun. I danced and laughed and had one of the best nights I have had in a very long time.

Hungover and tired I still woke up early and went to Erwan waterfall the next time. It was beautiful. Not as hard of a hike as the one we did previously but beautiful. It was clear water with huge waterfalls, and fish everywhere. There were monkeys hanging from the trees stealing food from the tourists and throwing trash at them.  It was hilarious. I did this hike on my own. Ventured from my roommates and spent some very much needed time by myself. On my way up I got stopped by a Thai person because there was a huge snake in my way. At this stop I ended up meeting two guys from Austria. They were so much fun and we went swimming and hiking together for a long part of the afternoon. What an adventure.

When we were traveling back, our bus never showed up. We waited for a couple hours until the bus station sent us a minibus to pick us up. This delayed us like crazy and everyone was very frustrated. It made me glad to have taken very good advice from my mom who told me to ALWAYS bring a book wherever I go, because this always go sideways in Thailand. Well thanks mom, while other people were frustrated I got to enjoy my afternoon with a nice book. It is true TIT (This is Thailand). 

Random Thoughts...

When she was caught up in a whirlwind not knowing how to feel, realizing that nothing that she thought was the real deal, losing grip of everything that she thought was real... That's when she realized that's what her soul needed to feel, that this life changing journey had just gotten real...

Last week was hard, it needed to happen, and it was the best thing that could have happened, but my last connection with what I thought was my present was cut off. No need to go into it, yet I am happier than I could imagine. It has been a few days of soul searching (and partying and enjoying), but I feel like I am in a much better place than I was before I began this journey.

I have been thinking a lot, and reading a lot. I have been spending a lot of time with myself, and I can finally say that I think coming to Thailand was the best decision I have ever made. I have vowed to have an hour of silence a day. This doesn’t mean that I only not speak, but I don’t watch movies, read books, or listen to music. I spend time alone, trying to clear my head. Trying to stop thinking. I have come to believe that silence of the mind, when we clear it of all other thoughts, is the only way of finding out what our true innate desires are. When we find out who we are and what we want, in all aspects of our life.

This, plus running, plus meditation, yoga, and time alone has become my routine. I have so much clarity, so much direction, and so much positive thinking and happiness in my soul, spirit, and heart that there is no other place I would rather be. That or I’m reading too much Deepak Chopra….

I came here because I was lost… Yet I have found to realize that the problem does not lie on being lost. We are all lost, at one point or another... Those who say they are not or haven’t been in my eyes are small minded. They are people who never truly let their inner thoughts and mind connect. Being lost and searching for ones way is the greatest pathway to growth. For when we search for ourselves we learn, we live, and we grow. We just have to make sure that when we are lost, we keep up ways of making our mind, body, and soul grow. That we don’t neglect any aspect of our lives, or the huge opportunity that lies in being lost. The problem is not being lost. The problem is becoming stagnant, and finding comfort in seeking the wrong direction. We know what is right and we should pursue that while searching for whatever it is that we need to find.

Just some random thoughts...

-I love to love. Love to live. And live to travel… A modern day gypsy. 

Ban Phe

This weekend we decided to go to the beach with our new friends that we made at English Camp. We decided to leave Saturday morning so we still had time to kill here on Friday afternoon and evening. The evening started with the typical trip to the Friday market. The Friday market is the biggest Friday of the week. It is literally a huge flee market but with a big amount of food street vendors more than anything. Obviously, typical Asia you can find all sorts of electronics, cheap clothing, earrings, fake sunglasses, purses, watches, etc. etc. etc. They say that you finally have adapted to Thailand when you realize everything you own is fake… This market has become my favorite because it has the lady with the bbq pork with cilantro, onions, rice dust, etc. It is absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making it when I get back to the states. That, and sticky rice.

After the market we came back home and had a dance party in the kitchen. It was a pretty fun afternoon. I have found myself a lot more content in solitude than I have ever been, not to say that I don’t lack that human contact but sorting out my thoughts and being ok with who I am and the decisions I am making has helped me deal with my own demons. That and the fact that on any given day I have 2 or 3 people from home whom make an effort to communicate with me. That has seriously helped me immensely. Regardless of how much I get used to this lifestyle, nights where I can hang with other people are always fun… It is a nice break from the routine.

The next morning I woke up and made French toast and homemade syrup. They were pretty delicious. We got ready and started walking to the bus station but on the way there got stopped by another teacher. She told us to wait and then forced three students to drive us there in their motorcycles. It was pretty comical. It was an internal struggle to decide should I hold on to him, or should I just try to keep myself… wow, what the American teaching system has done to me.

We took a bus to Klaeng where we met Barry. He put Dani and Jess on a Songtao and I drove down the coast with him on his street bike. It was an hour and a half of sheer pleasure. Looking at the beautiful ocean surrounded by lush landscape, not commercialized, smelling the salty water, all while feeling the wind on my face. A year from today I would have never thought that I would be driving on a motorcycle in the countryside of Thailand to go the beach. What a beauty.

When we went there we met with Bryan. One of his friends owns a hostel so we went and hung out there. We then met a guy named Miguel from Barcelona who took us to his Mexican restaurant. We sat around drank beer, drank a typical Thai drink called liquid crack, and hearing stories from all the men and their ex thai wives. It was pretty comical.

We then decided to ride down to a further beach. It was Barry, Jess, and I on the moto… Which is not weird here in Thailand at all; after two or three days you get used to seeing families of 4 on one moto… T.I.T. (This is Thailand, a very common fraise used by the farrang). First we got pulled over cause Barry was not wearing a helmet, he paid them something like 7 dollars and we got to go. Then Barry slowed down and turned very awkwardly and we crashed the moto. I could not stop laughing. Nobody got hurt, thank God.

We finally made it to the beach. Barry and Jessica went and played in the water and I laid and tanned. (I am on a mission to get dark, Thai people LOVE touching white people so EVERYWHERE I go I have random people petting me.)

After a fun time at the beach we got ready and went to the bars. It was a lot of fun. We then ended up at a Thai strip club. There was nobody else there so we thought it would be fun to just get up on the stage and dance. OH the four of us sure made fools of ourselves but had a blast.

The next day was a beach day. We bummed around and got to play some soccer on the beach. We also got to watch a group of guys play soccer on their dirt bikes on the beach. It looked like a blast. I was soooo jealous. We then finally headed back, we took a different way and stopped in Rayong (the big city, but not really) on the way home. Went to an actual store! HOOOOORRRAAYYYYY! And bought a couple things we needed. 

English Camp, Upgrade, and Mermaids...

Last week I had English Camp on Monday and Tuesday. We were driven to a school that is 23 kilometers away in a town called Klang and had to be part of an all day English camp for a few different schools. The first day we got to do an activity with the kids, they were divided into groups and we did the same activity over and over again with the different groups. It got old, but it was nice to get away for a while. While at camp we met two other English teachers Bryan and Barry. They have been here for 7 and 9 years, dont particularly like it but wont leave. It is very common to find "farrangs" (foreigners) who say they dont like it but stay.

On day 2 we went on a tour of the city. It wasnt much of a tour.... We went to the dump, yes the dump, drove around a temple, went to some construction sight, and finally a playground. That was fun. I got to go on the monkey bars and act like I was a kid again... soooo much fun. We ended the tour by going to a rice mill. That was kind of cool.

The rest of the week was very typical except that on Thursday I got to move into the Western house!!! Woohoo!!! I got an upgrade! I dont live in a box anymore!!! I have a room with windows, a full cute kitchen, and a nice bathroom!!! and two new roommies (Danielle and Jessica) the other two English teachers.

Fridays I get off work at 11:30... which is amazing. This Friday it was the day of a famous poet from this area so the kids put on a show for the whole school. There was a band that played, some break dancing, and a mermaid competition. I guess this author wrote about a fat ugly mermaid or something... I dont know, obviously I cant understand Thai... and the teachers english is not good enough to explain what is going on. I had no idea what it was about and went to get some ice cream and run into boys and girls dressed as mermaids... it was strange to say the least!

Changs and Khoa Chamao

 June 17, 2012

This weekend we stayed in town yet it was filled with adventure and excitement. Friday after school I came home, read, and entertained myself for a couple hours. I get off early on Friday and am allowed to go home or do as I please, gives me flexibility to travel which is pretty nice. At 4 pm I met with the other two English teachers, Jessica and Danielle, and we decided to go to the market. By the market I mean the outdoor market. It is basically a giant flea market that happens three days a week. Tuesday and Thursday the small one goes on, Friday the really big one happens.

The market is walking distance from the school (everything in town is pretty much walking distance), but one of the teachers wanted to take us. We got in the car with her and drove to the market. When we got there we were walking and Jessica yelled “elephant!”, I was slightly confused and asked what? Huh? And was completely caught off guard when I almost run straight into a momma elephant and a baby elephant! I was so excited! I haven’t seen elephants since I got here and was incredibly excited  to finally see some.

Being the typical tourist I decided to pay 20 Baht to feed them. These animals are greedy!!! They kept using their trunks to try to steal my food, and to fight each other for it. I have no idea what I was feeding them but they seemed to love it.

Im not a very big fan of the market, I am not trying to shop until I leave and I don’t particularly like the market food… But that day I was in luck! The first stall we saw was my favorite dish, Lab Moo… and I have to say it was my favorite so far. The pork was freshly BBQed. It then was chopped and mixed with onions, cilantro, spicy stuff, lime juice, ground sesame, and some sort of other magical stuff. It was delicious. I ended the night by coming home working out and relaxing.

Saturday was a pretty awesome day as well. I got up very early to meet the girls and Keng at 7 am. We met and got a ride to Koa Chamao, a national park that is located about 20 km from our town. Keng gave us a ride and dropped us off. From then on it was a 5 hour or so hike up the last virgin evergreen forest in the world! Super cool! It consists of an 8 stage or however you call it waterfall. Each higher level gets prettier and prettier… but also more dangerous and crazier of a hike. It was beautiful.

The first couple of levels were relatively easy. From then on it got progressively harder. When we got to level 4 or something like that there was a big pond or body of water where we could swim. It was full of fish (big crazy looking fish), which made me kind of nervous… but I was not going to get that far and not jump in. Danielle sat out but Jessica decided to go in. Crazy little monkey me climbed up some rocks and decided to jump in. Danielle was in charge of taking the picture… but I was a little hesitant and jumped without warning. The water was cool and refreshing.

One of the park guards saw us jumping and decided to talk to us. He decided to show us the rest of the way up. The rest of the trek was complicated. There were places with crazy cliffs to the side, and places where there were ropes so that we could make it through. It was incredible. I didn’t think I was going to make it. I was exhausted… but I kept going and made it to end. Level 8 was the most beautiful level. To our surprise our guide took his uniform off and decided to go swimming. Having seen that I had jumped he made me climb with him and slide down the moss covered rocks from the waterfall… like a natural slip and slide! It was awesome!!! The best part was trying to get up there, slipping falling and the hilarious pictures that ensued… ENJOY! (Cause you probably will never see me in these awkward positions again hahaha)!