Vietnam

Made it :)

Test/leaving!!

Today was nice. last class of the economics part of our cultures class was today. It was basically a motivational speech of how to be happy :) then a surprise break because we didn't have dance. Got xero shoes online, watched soccer, and studied for the Econ test in the afternoon. Also wrote five sentences in Thai for hw. Then Thai class. Learned about classifiers and the huge number of Thai pregnancies under the age of 15. The most in SEA. Crazy. Then the Econ test. I think I did great :) then mailed a post card to SMCM as part of my scholarship and printed out my boarding passes. Dinner then packing and now leaving for the airport. Flighing to Bangkok tonight, sleeping in the airport, and then headng to Hanoi tomorrow :) can't wait! How I have wifi there! (Probably will)

Monday/Tuesday

Monday we were suppose to get our visas extended but that didn't work out lol but it will. Don't worry! Missed dance because of it though. Learned about Buddhist economics in Econ. Cool stuff. Look it up. Then Thai class. Talked a lot about monks and their sexuality. Can't be gay and be a monk. So sad. Then the test! I did great :) I was nervous because speaking Thai is not my strong suit but it all worked out :) then I did hw and prepared for Vietnam! Tuesday was sex trade and a good documentary about Bangkok. Really hard to watch. I could not stand by and watch that stuff happen. I shouldn't got to Bangkok. I'll get in a fight lol then ate lunch and wrote my Econ paper. Dinner was good. Lots of fruit. Now study for Econ test tomorrow and then leaving for another country! Hope I get wifi there lol :)

Elephants!

Picked up at nine and drove for an hour. Then got to the place and went raftig through the mountains. It was great :) then watched an elephant show. Painting and soccer and so much more! So impressed! Then a great lunch. Included! Then elephant riding. We sat in seats. It was bumpy but brought me so much closer to the beaties! Then an ox cart ride back to the camp. Now that was bumpy! Really good day. Saw a ten day old elephant! It was really interesting to see the extensive affects of the tourist industry. Better than the sex industry! And the elephants were well treated. Rode home and studied for Thai oral test! Oh, and stopped by a flower place on the way home :) 

Saturday

Sorry it's taken me a while to post. I've been real tired. Saturday was awesome! We got picked up at 9 and headed to the cooking class. It was held in a little house near the mountain. We got to cook a six course meal! And there were about five choices of dish we could pick to cook for each course. So many choices!! And all of them could be vegan :) after we picked we went out and put aprons on and cooked and ate and cooked and ate and cooked and ate. She was a great instructor and the food was excellent. I learned so much! I'll have to cook for people when I get home :) then headed home and watched About Time. Loved it! Highly recomended. So happy at the end of the day :) here are some food pics :)

Weekend

So good! Cooking class and elephants :) too tired to write bu I will later, never fear! Here's a sneak peak :)

Friiiiidayyyyy

Learned all about sustainable economic models today. Very cool. I'm into that sort of thing if you didn't know :) then a surprise dance class! Lol I missed the last one so was not aware we were having a make up class today. We learned a southern dance that seemed more Irish than Thai lol then I worked one some emails and wrote. Then Thai 2! Learned about transportation stuff. Got an oral test on Monday to finish up Thai 1. I really need to study for that.... Then I looked up stuff on the interwebs. Xero shoes makes awesome minimalist shoes for cheap and they're having a sale till the 31st. Check it out! I might get a pair :) the Chiang Mai soccer team is playing some games latter this month that I'll try and go see. Also trying to work out practicum school change. Woot woot! Then soccer on the grass field. I still got it ;) lol I'm alright haha it was fun. Then foooooood! Rice, veggies, salad, and soy bean dumplings with coconut and auger for desert. So good!! And talks with friends :) cooking class tomorrow. All day!! Can't wait!!! 

Thursday

Had breakfast and then headed to sex trade class. Learned more about the history and economics behind SEA so we could better understand the sex trade as it is now. Then was watched a film on the sex trade called Holly. Good film about one specific story of a young girl in the sex trade and an American man who tries to save her. Showed many key aspects of the industry but left out other aspects, as any movie usually does. Also portrayed the while man saving the young girl but overall I thought it was a really good movie. The class is held in the library so I decided to work there on my first reflection for Ho's class. So many computers! Finished and then was heading out when Amy was heading in. So I headed back in and talked with her and wrote my practicum reflection about how the class has so much potential but generally fails to love up to that potential. Then rode back to the dorms and helped fix Amy's computer and then read the first reading on the sex trade in SEA. Finished and headed to dinner for a quick bit before heading to a Vietnamese restrant with Ho and the other SMCM students for a nice dinner. His treat :) Ho tells great stories and has great stories to tell. This summer he hiked a 500 mile trail in Spain. Very cool :) it was a great dinner. Such a cute place and such great food. I'm so glad we have Ho here. He can be our link between Payap and SMCM. We might actually get things changed in the program to make it better for those who follow us. I'm still really enjoying myself and learning a lot but it'll be so nice to get back to US standard classes. Thank goodness for Ho's class! Real work!! Classes got released today! Woohoo. Got to plan :) after dinner and long talks we went back to the dorms and had good talks with friends. Then a tad bit of soccer and bed. Class tomorrow and then vegan cooking class on Saturday and elephant and raft riding in Sunday. All paid for by SMCM. Can't wait!! :)

Holiday

No class today! Instead I woke up and ate a leasurly breakfast and watched some good old soccer and rugby. Then I checked the movie times and saw that About Time was out of theaters to be replaced by a bunch of Thai films. Oh well. So instead I read outside mag and finished my Redwall audio book and started Wild :) I really like it so far. Then I started to write a reflection for our sex trade class about what we've seen here and how it compares to back home. Then a good dinner of rice and veggies and cool Thai tofu. Then off the promenada to do some grocery shopping. On the way back there was some ride confusion and I ended up in the front seat of a songtow going to the city lol it was cool to see the city at night again. I hadn't seen that in a while. And it gave me some time to listen to Wild. After Chiang Mai the driver dropped me off at Payap. Sweet guy :) then I went on a quick run and showered and listened to more wild. Now sleep. Big day tomorrow. Have sex trade for three hours and then three hours of the school in the afternoon. Should be quite a different day than today lol :)

Tuesday

Today marked the start of the economics of the sex trade in SEA. Professor Ho from SMCM is finally here and with him a real and challenging course. I'm so excited! Already I learned a lot, one of the most important things being that Ho know what he's doing and is excellent at teaching. And the content is clearly something I care about. I can't believe I have four classes of this quality a semester at SMCM! I'm so lucky! Payap has really showed me that lol I can't wait to actually write something lol it's going to be great. Already have assignments. It's going to be good to get use to working again! The SMCM crew with me treated to dinner by Ho on Thursday and then Thai vegan cooking class this weekend, cortesy of SMCM. And an elephant and raft riding trip still to be planned. And Vietnam next weekend. This is the part of the semester I've been waiting for! Time to enjoy it :) went climbing after class. It was good to get back into the swing of things. Met a sweet guy from Switzerland :) Tried to speak Thai to two people who weren't Thai lol oh well. Then back home where I ate too much desert of coconut milk, starch gummies and cantaloupe. It was good so I'll be ok :) it's a national holiday tomorrow so no class :) I'll be sleeping late and going to the movies, thank you very much :) should be fun. Going to see About Time. Wish Evelyn was here to watch it with me! Here are some more pics from Myanmar.  

New classes

Start of some new classes! And the start of a new semester tie everyone else. So some new faces :) no roommate yet. Yes! Started Thai 2 today. It was nice to be back in class :) we have economics of the sex trade tomorrow. Can't wait!! Really hoping it's a good class. After Thai I had a great talk with Ozzie. Great guy :) talk about books. I recommended A New Earth and he recommended The Happiness Hypothesis. I'll have to check it out :) then headed back to the dorms in the beautiful afternoon light. It's cool here! No more hot! Thank goodness. When I say cool, I mean the 70s lol but so nice! Then I met a new guy here from Toronto. Seems like a cool guy. Then headed to dinner and tried to get Burmese food and sucseeded so well. Fried rice and veggies and tofu. So good! Then Big C and 7eleven for some stuff and then back home. I'm trying to start back up Words With Friends lol we'll see how well that goes :) might go climbing tomorrow after class. And no class on Wednesday. National holiday! Here are some more Myanmar pics. Enjoy :)

Recovery

Caught up on sleep and then had pad Thai. So good! Lol :) laundry, and unpacking and cleaning and such. I might have a new roommate but there's just a fan and a clothes hanger in the room so i don't know lol. Figured out most of my classes for next semester and my senior year. I'm adding a religious studies minor. Excited :) had a nice talk over dinner and then got ready for bed. I'll try and post photos of Myanmar with current post so I don't have to go back and edit old ones. Class tomorrow. Can't wait! :) 

Thailand!

Made it :) tired but I'm here in one piece. Time to sleep!

Travel!

Today was fun. Woke up and ate my last meal in Myanmar and then headed to the airport. Said goodbye to all of the hotel staff. They're so nice. Went through security and all no problem and the flight was fine. The view out the window is always endless rice paddies. So different than the US! Then we touched down in Bangkok and had to start speaking Thai again. Oh no! Lol hopefully I haven't forgotten too much. Then had some food and headed for the bus station. Gained 30 min from Myanmar time difference. Woo! About to get on a bus to Chiang Mai. Should get there around 5 am... Can't wait! Lol but it'll be nice to be back at Payap. It's crazy this whole thing is over halfway done. But I'm happy. The next nine weeks are going to be real packed and I know that it'll going to be a blast. But there's no doubt I'll be happy to head home when the time comes. All this traveling reminds me of that. And Myanmar flew by! I'll be home before I know it :) but I'll cherish this time here that I have. There's still so much I want to do. And I still find myself smiling with joy for the privilege to be here. So I guess you could say I'm enjoying myself :) and learning! Got to go! Time to ride!

Last full day

Last day! Said good bye to our main driver this morning. Without him, I don't know where we'd be. He helped us set up appointments and got us into places. Such a sweet guy. His name is Saw. Went to the national museum and saw a bunch of cool Myanmar history and artwork. Really enjoyed it :) there were musical instruments and information on the many different ethnic groups and paintings by famous Burmese painters. After that we had lunch at our favorite restrant and then headed to the market. There we said goodbye to our other driver who has been with us the whole time. He didn't speak much English but he was a great driver and followed Saw around very well. I got a lot of presents at the market and made some friends :) people are so great here. The other day the doorman took me to the money change place even though he didn't have to. And today a security guard of a bank showed me to a money changer that exchanged Baht. Such nice people. I also meet a nice guy who showed me around the market a bit and got me a discount price for some things. Then I walked around downtown a bit and saw the people. Unlike Thailand, I'm the only foreigner I see around here. It's really cool. And although I might not look like everyone else, I feel like I'm fitting in :) and then their were the street kids. There were two of them and they clearly could tell I was a tourist. They were maybe six and could say "money please" and that's almost it. I tried talk to them and that worked pretty well. One left pretty soon but the other kept with me for a long time. He kept talking to me and asking for money. He told me he could read and write but that he didn't go to school. I taught him how to say "how are you?" And "I'm fine" in Thai and gave him 1000 jat, or $1. He had tried very hard. He deserved it. Then I walked home and read Outside magazine on the way. I stopped and sat down near the pagoda and read. That was nice. Got back to the hotel and packed up. We are leaving tomorrow at nine am and then travel by plane to Bangkok and then wait. And wait. And then get on a bus and overnight it to Chiang Mai. Can't wait! Going to eat now and maybe go out. We'll see. Either way I'll miss Myanmar a lot. I learned so much and the people are so great. I really hope I come back soon! :)

Thursday

Visited two NGO's today. One educated local people and connected them with the international community and the other was Young Women's Christian Association which empowers women and children through educations, health services, and micro loans. Lunch at our favorite place again and after a lot of notes, a long nap at the hotel. Then I wondered around for a bit and then are some food, read, watched some of 127 hours and now sleep. I'm so lucky to be here. What a great life :)

Wednesday

Had a great talk with the head of a theological school. Learned a lot about culture and education and human rights, specifically women's rights and gay and lesbian rights. The culture here is not accepting and confuses gay/lesbian with transgendered. Kind of frustrating but it was really cool to hear how the church is educated and accepting and trying to spread acceptance. Then we talked with two politicians. They were both involved with the revolutions and explained to us the many challenges that face Myanmar today. So eye opening. Then we visited a Hindu temple. So many colors and statues! I use to gold and less things going on but this was so cool. I loved it. Made me realize I need to learn more about all of Asian, not just the Far East, which is my focus. Then came back to the hotel and napped and read and ate dinner and now sleep! :) 

Great day

Had a lecture this morning by a member of the UN for over 25 years. He was a great speaker and talked about the economy, culture, politics, development, along with the past, present, and future situations of Myanmar. Learned so much! Then we saw the white elephants of Myanmar. These are real elephants that are albino and are thought to give the owner power. Thailand use to own nine white elephants but then Myanmar fought for them and took them. So there was a war over elephants. Very surprising. So I figured these creatures would be treated well. But they were all chained in place and could bairly move. Very surprising and sad. But I'm glad I saw it so I can tell others. Maybe it'll change one day. I hope so. Then we had lunch where we ate the first day. Such good food and service and quantity for such a small price! Love it! Then we went to the market. It was very large but people sold basically the same thing: jewelry, paintings, cloth, clothes, carvings and food. I don't particularly enjoy shopping but rather enjoy markets for the people. I'm clearly a foreigner so many people try to sell me things. I love getting to know these people and learning their names and about their work. For most of these people this is their livelihood. Selling postcards or bracelets that they bought from some artist to tourists. And I'm not contributing to thier income monetarily so I try to contribute through conversation. Most are quite good a English. I wish I knew Burmese!! It's so weird that I know nothing. It feels so disrespectful! I don't like it at all. But there's only so much you can do in two weeks. So I wondered around the market and talked to people and walked to a train station and checked that out and just kind of experienced the culture for a bit. Quite nice :) this is the type of firsthand experience you want when you come to a new country. So wonderful :) started to poor and we all for soaked lol I read a lot today and finished my book. Loved it! Might read it again. If not I'll for sure go through it again. Didn't go out or get dinner tonight. I guess I'm just a little tired. But I'm excited for breakfast! Lol more lectures and many learning experiences tomorrow :) 

Monday

Visited a wounderful pagoda today that had a 3D story painting of the Buddhas life and multibke level prayer rooms. And there was an underground hall where monks on the monk counsel gathered and disscussed topics and decided things. It was a very calming place. It was a man made cave with a jade Buddha inside a great conference hall. I felt very at peace inside the cave. There were two huge bells as well that were very calming to ring. After that we ate lunch and then talked to a member of parliament. Very cool talk. Learned a lot. Then back to the hotel where I relaxed and then went out and got some dinner at the same place I went the other night. Great food. Great price. Great people :) then sleep! 

Easy dayy

Very sheltered day today. Spent a majority of the day in the hotel. Was suppose to go out at 10 but that didn't happen for some reason so I cleaned my backpack and read and wrote. Had lunch in the hotel and read my book. I had veggie soup :) was expecting to go to the market at 3 and so watched a little tv till then and then headed down. But...the bus never showed up lol you just have to go with the flow here just like in Thailand. So I wrote emails and waited for an hour and then walked around town in my long-gee. People definitely looked at me differently because of what I was wearing and I didn't really know what to do so I headed in after like half an hour lol then I submitted photos to an SMCM photo contest and now we're being treated to dinner at the hotel because of the ride debockle. I'm getting fried water cress and mushrooms and rice :) after dinner I'll read and sleeeeep! As I said, sheltered day. Hopefully tomorrow will be more exciting! But today was a nice break :)  

Saturday

Myanmar is so fun! I got a long-gee today :) it's purple and gold. It's like a long shirt that all the men here wear. Today we woke up early and drive two hours to another city and visited a pogoda there along with two reclining Buddhas. Also an old palace and it's replica. Very cool. Met a great guy named Zaw. I love the people here! Ended the day with a visit to a village wher they weave cloth. So cool! The drive home was great. Burmese countryside and a good book :) dinner at hotel and now needed sleep. Market tomorrow :)

Wednesday

We had a lecture on the religions of Myanmar and the peace work between them on Wednesday. It was interesting and I learned a lot even though the PowerPoint was a little strange lol they provided us lunch of rice and tea salad and bananas and tea. So nice :) we also saw the firth church built in Myanmar. I had a "conversation" in Burmese with a young man who talked to me and I repeated things he said lol but he was very sad when I had to go. Sweet people :) went out to try and find a place to eat for dinner but ended us just drinkin tea and buying bananas. Had dinner back at the hotel and then talking with friends and sleep. I think we did something else that day but I forget right now. I'll remember later. 

Friday

I want to come back and put time and pictures into these posts but while I'm here I don't have the time or the energy or the wifi to do it lol so I'll come back and make them nicer later. Today we got a lecture at the university of Yangon. It was so cool to actually be in the university. What a huge deal! We learned about the history of Myanmar and UY. Very interesting. Then we got a small tour. Got to see where Obama talked when he visited :) then lunch at a restrant that was alright but not really authentic Burmese food. Then a nap! Then dinner with friends. We went out and got ramen soup with veggies and Burmese noodle salad. Meals here come with free tea and soup and spicy salad. So cool! It cost $5 or 5000 Katz. Expensive. Relatively. Tomorrow we are going to a city two hours away all day. Should be fun. I'm going to get a long-gee, the long shirts that all the men wear here. Can't wait!

Thursday.

Today we went to a mosque and saw the burial place of the last king of India. Really cool. Then we had a long and amazing lecture about women's groups in Myanmar. These groups fight for the human rights of women and children in Myanmar and the work they do is so impressive, especially lookin at what they're up against. Our lecturer was very important and had won international awards for her work and met Obama and Hilary Clinton. I was very impressed with her work. Then back to the hotel where I rested and then went out to find some dinner. Walked for quite some way and then found this cute little corner restrant with great food. Meals here come with free tea and soup and salad. It's awesome! We are now going to the university of Yangon. A first for US students :)

Pagoda

Went to two museums today and the pagoda. It was spectacular. Chatted with some monks and saw an amazing price of beauty. We were some of the only foreigners there. It's kind of like being a celebrity. Everyone looks at you and people want to take pictures with you. It's quite the experience. I'm having a blast :) lecture tomorrow :)

Day two

As expected, the plans changed a bit. We went out today instead of class but we will still have the same number of lectures. I'm just going with it, knowing that I can't change it and that it will all work out. We went to the Myanmar national cultures park instead which was beautiful and very informative. They had all the different cultures and living houses of Myanmar ethnic groups set up. Very cool. And very popular for local couples. Affection is accepted here which is such a nice change. Then we had lunch of fried noodles and soup. Then nap time! Then back out to the city. Very beautiful at night. Reminded me of DC a bit. Got stuck in a traffic jam and then went grocery shopping and then back home. Two of the eleven tv channels are English soccer channels so I'm happy :) class tomorrow. Hope it's great! I'm not able to upload photos here because of slow connection. Just a heads up. 

Myanmar

Bus was alright. Didn't get much sleep. Airport and flight was fine. Yangon I'd really awesome so far. There are a ton of cars and no skooters. Checked into the hotel and then went and had a huge feast that cost me $1! So much food and tea. Now a very early night to catch up on sleep and class tomorrow early. But I'm here and I'm happy :)

Myanmar

Made it safe and sound :)

Time to leave! For now anyway.

Slept till 8. That was a nice change. Weekend! Woo! Lol had some food and looked up movie times. Finished some packing and read a bit before heading to prom to watch Prisoners. Wow it was good. Really scary at times and really good acting as well. It showed the extent of the human will when faced with extreme challenge. And the type of people who create that challenge. It was almost three hours long but totally worth it. And it could have easily been four hours! Definitely creepy but showed some good life lessons in the end like what actually matters in this life. Enjoyed it. Then read more of a New Earth by Eckheart Tolle outside in beautiful weather. Headed home and had some dinner. Now more packing before a long bus ride to Bangkok. Then a flight to Yangon. Very excited and nervous. Can't wait!! :D

Last full day in Thailand for a while

Today went well. Got up early and studied and then headed to Econ. Learned about specific South East Asian countries and detailed Econ info. Love that kind of stuff. So interesting. Then a short dance class where we finished up our current dance before break. Then I studied in the park. This is the first real school work I've had to do in a while so it was nice but also harder than if I was doing it all the time. I managed to memorize a lot and headed into the test feeling good. And that feeling was rewarded. I would be disappointed if I didn't get an A. Listening was tricky sometimes but I felt I did well. Reading was great because all that comes easy to me. It's cool to be able to read Thai and know the meaning immediately :) can't wait for Thai two! Got the second part of the exam after Myanmar where I will have to have a conversation with our professor. A little harder and scarier lol glad we have some time to practice. On my ride home I got a flat riding over a ridge so I had to change it. I'll take it slower next time. Then I went and mailed stuff to my friends and donated my digital camer to a group in Sierra Lione that helps women document their war-torn lives, and through this documentation arises empowerment and change. Worth the few dollars to ship my never used camera. Then dinner and packing for the trip. I leave tomorrow at 9pm. Crazy! I know I'll have wifi in Myanmar but I hope it's high quality so I can Skype and such. We'll see but expect to keep hearing from me here. Going to see a movie tomorrow before the trip. Sleep now!

Title

Ran and tea and then Myanmar orientation. It was very interesting and informative but a little long. Then a quick lunch of rice and stringy veggies and tofu and then off to the city. Read a lot of my book today. Got a little version of SMCM mascot and took a picture of him and I infront of a temple and posted to the SMCM fb page. Then I'm suppose to send him on to someone else. Cool idea. Then climbing which is always nice. Walked back through Chiang Mai and then rode to promenada and watched Gravity in 3D. Very good movie. Kinda thriller but had a lot of meaningful messages in it as well. And the 3D worked very well for the film. Really brought you into the action more. Then caught the bus and to Payap and had rice and veggies and fake sausage. Then applied for my Vietnam visa. I've got part of my language final tomorrow. Wish me luck! Thailand is different than the US in that public contact between men and women is not very accepted where as male to make contact as friends is very accepted. You can see guys holding hands. The most contact with anyone I've had here is with men and boys who speak little English and who have smiled and put their arm around me like we're old friends. I like it :) 

Rain!

Today was beautiful and rainy all in one! Welcome to the rainy season in Thailand. Went on a quick run this morning. That felt good. Going to try and make that a daily thing. Then had some nice tea in my great mug and headed to Econ where we learned about ASEAN. He's such a good professor. His English is awesome and he's interesting and on top of stuff and know how to teach. He could easily teach in the US. After class I ate and watched soccer and then read an old Washington post from home. Then language! We studied for the test. The reading is easy for me but remembering all the words and how they sound will be hard. But I think I'll be fine. Then we got our mounthly meal stipen. Woo! Rained during and after class but was then super sunny and beautiful. Classic. Read some more after class and then said goodbye to my roommate. He's moving out to a cheap apartment. It'll be nice to be in a single like I'm use to but I'll probably get a new roommate after Myanmar. We'll see. I rearranged the room after he left and found two more outlets lol the room has so much more space now. Love it! Then dinner of rice and veggies and tofu and watermelon. Now we're planning our Vietnam trip. Going to Hanoi and halong bay. Should be awesome!! Going climbing tomorrow. Hope they have we climbs. Leaving for Myanmar on Saturday. Getting excited!

Tuesday

Had breakfast and then a long Skype session. The. Lunch is spicy peppers, rice and fake meat and then headed to the school to teach. Was in the art class and got to draw. Incorporated teaching English to the kids by quizzing them on English words for objects around the class room. I felt much closer to the students this time and like I was actually doing something. Then I played with kids in gym class and played checkers with them. They had crazy jumping rules lol and thumb wrestling and rock paper scissors. It was really fun :) I'm going to try and work at a school that teaches Burmese refugees when I come back from Myanmar because I think that will make much more of a difference. Hope it works out. Then came back and watched some soccer and had dinner. Then we almost went climbing but our ride fell through. So I played ping pong instead and then studied for my Thai language final on Friday. We're leaving for Myanmar so soon! Crazy. Can't wait :)