27. Thailand

     During the course of this year we have been given two 10 day vacations. It is crazy to think that we have come to our half way mark and the first vacation has already come and gone. For this first vacation I chose to treat myself to Thailand. Last year when I worked in China I unfortunately didn’t have the time to travel at the end of my contract. As I headed back to a cold New York winter, my coworkers were setting off to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.  Since then I have I become fascinated and mildly obsessed with the idea of traveling through out South East Asia, with Thailand being at the top of this list. This past summer when I had decided to spend this year in Nepal I told myself that the two places that I wished to travel to were Thailand and India. During my time here it has become clear to me that India is not something you can do in 10 days and it also requires a visa which right now is quite difficult for me to obtain. However Thailand was in my reach and I decided that I deserved and needed the vacation. It would be my birthday present to myself.  A fellow volunteer and friend also had the idea to go to Thailand, and so the planning began.

            Now that Nevo and I had decided Thailand was where we were going to go, planning the trip was the next step. However while living in the village we have no internet which inhibited our ability to research and book things. Therefore we would have to wait for our 3 day seminar in Kathamndu, which was approximately three weeks before the trip, to do EVERYTHING. While living in America this might not have been a big deal, however, while living in the developing world I have learned that everything is more difficult and everything takes more time. 

            When we arrived in Kathmandu I immediately started trying to book our flights, however Internet kept cutting out and we had no electricity and my computer only had 50% batter life yet. Every time I would start the booking process a new problem would come up and I would have to start again.  Eventually my level of frustration elevated to the point that I decided to go to a café and do my work there. In the end booking our flights, something that would have taken 30 minutes in the states, took me 4 hours here.

            Then the hard part started, picking our destinations once we got there. We decided that we wanted to spend some time inland and some time on an island. After several hours of research we decided on Koh Sok National Park and Koh Samui. Both of these places are in the south and can be accessed by the same Hub, Surat Thani. Therefore our trip would look like this:

January 2^nd: Arrive in Bangkok

Janaury 3^rd: Spend the day in Bangkok, take night train down south to Surat Thani

January 4^th-January 7^th: Explore Koh Sok National Park

January 7^th: Leave Koh Sok and make our way to Koh Samui

January 7^th-10^th: enjoy the island of Koh Samui 

January 10^th: Go back to Surat Thani to take the night train back to Bangkok

January 11^th: Last minute shopping in Bangkok

January 12^th: Return to Nepal

With all of our plans in place we were able to go back to the village at ease and have an awesome vacation to look forward to.

And Awesome it was!!! Thailand is simply amazing. The weather is tropical, the people are friendly, the culture is interesting, and the food is tasty. On arriving in Bangkok Nevo and I felt the culture shock of being back in civilization and a significantly more developed society.  While sitting on the metro we observed everyone sitting in their seats with their nose in their phones. As we walked   Realizing how overwhelming it was we knew we had made the right the decision to escape the city the next day and spend the next ten days within the quite of nature and serenity of the beach.
through the streets there was shopping everywhere and food stalls which filled in every available piece of space.

           

So our Journey down south began by taking the night train from Bangkok to Surat Thani. This was quite the unique experience. As you walk down the train you see that everything is broken down into compartments. Each compartment has two chairs with a window. These two chairs can then convert into a bed. Then above the seats there is bed that folds down from the ceiling. Therefore once the transformation is complete you have bunk beds. Each bed comes with sheets, a blanket, a pillow, and a curtain to close yourself in.  Overall it is quite comfortable and an experience I would definitely recommend. Once we arrived in Surat Thani there were buses waiting to take people to their various destinations, including Koh Sok National Park.

            
The drive to the park was magnificent. The landscape is lush and tropical, and as we got closer to the park, huge lime stone mountains began to appear on either side of us.  When we arrived at our hotel we were greeted by this cheerful Thai man who was the human replica of the cartoon character Diego from the children’s show Dora the Explorer. He presented us with a list of things that we can do while staying here, most of the park you need a guide to go through for safety reasons. After deliberation we chose to do the lake tour the following day and then hike the trails ourselves on our second day.  However we still had half a day to explore, so we set out on a small hike to a nearby waterfall. On arriving we were disappointed to find out that the English translation of “waterfall” was mistaken and that in fact it was just a small pool with rapids. However we were surprised to run into friends of Nevo’s from Israel! It’s amazing how small a world we live in. After sitting with them for some time we made plans to meet up for dinner that evening. This being our first real dinner in Thailand I was excited to be with people who could recommend their favorite dishes. They had us order the Panang Curry, which is a sweet curry made from coconut cream, and it was delicious! I really enjoyed being outside of the volunteer group and interacting with new people. Overall it was a great start to our vacation!

            The following day we set out on the lake tour and were once again brought to the realization of how small of a world it is. While introducing ourselves to some of the other people in our group I came across an American couple that had been working in Australia with outward bound. A couple I had worked with in China was also working for Outward bound  in Australia so I dropped their names, and sure enough they were friends with them! We spent the remaining part of the tour enjoying their company and comparing stories. Besides the good company, the lake tour was also amazing. It was filled with huge limestone formations that took your breath away.

              On our last and final day in the park we enjoyed some leisurely hiking that led to beautiful pools where we were able to relax and enjoy being surrounded by the sounds of nature. After our time in the park, which mostly consisted of long days filled with activities, we were ready for the next part of our vacation, the beach! When we arrived to our hotel we were delighted to find out that it was located on a quiet beach away from all the tourists. The water was calm and bright blue, and the sand was white and pristine. All of my worries and stresses that I had had only a few days ago in Nepal had now drifted to the back of my mind.

On our first full day we decided that we wanted to rent a motor bike and explore the rest of the island. We decided that we would beach hop our way around the island and hit all the most recommended spots. When we drove through “the most popular” beach we were glad that we were nowhere near it. It was extremely congested with people and swarmed with tourists shopping and eating. Our highlight of the day was when we arrived at a bay on the south east side of the island. This bay was said to have the best view of the sunset, which could not have been more accurate. Both Nevo and I sat in silence for the 45 minutes it took for the sun to go down. It was mesmerizing.

The rest of the vacation flew by as quickly as the first  part had. I headed back to Bangkok sad we didn’t have more time. However at the same time I knew had our vacation been longer I would have grown detached from Nepal and it would have been harder to go back and readjust. 

Thailand is an amazing country that definitely needs more than 10 days to explore, but then again so does every country. It has become evermore clear to me that there will never be enough time to go everywhere and see everything. However at the same time the more places I go, instead of being in awe and mesmerized by each individual place, I am beginning to see the similarities. For instance when I first went to China I was fascinated with its subway system, however after going to Taiwan and Thailand I see that it may not be as original as I had once thought. While the east and west hemisphere’s of the world are drastically different, it is clear that through globalization that we are beginning to morph into one. I think it is important to recognize the unique qualities our cultures posses and hold on to them as much as possible. It will be sad day when the world has become so small that we  all are the same.

Women of The World.

While each place I have been is extremely different, the one thing that remains the same are the amazing woman. No matter where I am, be it America, Grenada, or Nepal it is clear that women are the backbone of any society. WOMEN ARE EVERYWHERE! They are in the house, they are in the schools, and they are in the work place.

Nepal has made this fact even more apparent to me. The women here are truly incredible.  On an average day they wake up at 4:30am to go to the fields, they return at 10:00am to cook Dal Baht for their families after which they go back to work. They return from this long day to only cook again and take care of their children. Only when it is time to go to sleep is their day complete, which then leads to restarting the cycle in the morning. There are no days off, there are no sick days, and there is no one else to share the burden.

It has truly put into perspective what the definition of the term “hard work is”. In my experience I have used this phrase after a long day studying for an exam, or when I would depart my nanny job after a day of chasing children, or even following long days in an office filled with meetings. However now it is hard to compare this use of the term with the hard work I see these woman doing every day. I see them carrying 70 pounds of grass on their back up the mountain. I see them beating the beans in the fields for hours without water and without a break. It will never cease to amaze me what these woman can do, and again makes me rethink the “hard work” I do at home.

This week I had a day where I had no planned activities with the youth so I decided to spend the day in our kitchen garden. We needed to dig small holes on a plot of our land so we could transplant seedlings from our nursery. I thought seeing that these woman do this type of work all day everyday that I could handle a few hours. However once I began to dig I quickly realized that this was no easy task I had set for myself. For hours I dug small holes until my hands were so raw they had begun to bleed.  That evening I walked around the house as zombie out of pure exhaustion and when I finally allowed myself to go sleep I slept more soundly then I had since I got here. Never again will I be able to use the term “hard work” casually and never again will I be able to look at these woman than less then the super heroes they are. They may not be the super hero’s we are use to seeing in comic books, but they can lift the weight of a thousand men, feed the world, and still make time to tuck their children in at night. These are the women I have see and come to know. These are the women of the world.  

A Day in the Life.

5:30am: Wake Up

6:30am: Take dishes from the night before to the tap to wash them

7:30am: eat breakfast and get ready for the day

9:30: go to the Nepali House and discuss the days activities with my Youth Group partner, Mahendra

10:30am: “”

11:30am Lunch

12:30pm: Go to the Demonstration Farm and work with the daily farmers group

1:30pm: “”

2:30pm: Break to do other random daily activity (wash hair, clean clothes, Kitchen Garden)

3:30pm: “”

4:30pm: Youth Meeting

5:30pm: Begin preparing Dinner

6:30pm: Dinner time!

7:30pm: RELAX

8:30pm: Sleep

Worlds Collide.

2004                                             2014

So I’ve finally had my first visitor!!! My friend Gabe and I have been friends since we were 9. We met at camp and more or less grew up together.  I can’t remember a time before we were friends and having the opportunity to share my life here with him was really special.

We met in Kathmandu where we began the journey east to the district of Ramachamp. Having done the trip several times at this point I knew what to expect, so when the bus made it’s descent into the river to cross to the other side I had no reaction. However when I looked to my right I could see Gabes face and knew exactly what he was thinking, “we are about to die”. I knew this because it was what I was thinking when I did it for the first time. When we finally arrived in the village I observed Gabe’s amazement of where I live and my new life here. 

On the first day of our return I had set up a youth group meeting. So Gabe joined me as I went to the Nelpali house to plan the activity with my partner, Mahendra. During this time Gabe enjoyed a game of Chess with Santos, another volunteer, while I attempted to motivate Mahendra to do our work.As usual we were there for 2-3 hours to only accomplish 1 hour of work. Following this meeting I wanted to take Gabe to this shop at the top of the hill to get Chow Mein. It is very delicious and we didn’t feel like making lunch. When we arrived in the town of Jompsa, which is 25 minute walk uphill from my village, starving and ready to eat we were surprised by the lack of people. As we walked up to the restaurant it was clear that it was close. When the shop owner came over she had clearly just come from the shower and informed us that she was on her way to a wedding and therefore there would be no food today. It was funny to think about this situation happening in America; that a restaurant would be closed in the middle of the week when there is no holiday but instead the owner just decided to close up shop because he/she would rather go to a wedding. However here all you can say is “what can you do?” in Nepali the phrase is “Ke Garne?” I have learned to use this phrase frequently because here there’s no other option. If I were to get frustrated by every situation that didn’t go as I had planned it I that is the only emotion I would ever feel.

            After Gabe and I worked our plan B for Lunch it was time to meet the kids for our activity. This was the third meeting we have had with youth and each week more children come. The first time we had attempted to gather the youth only 17 kids came, so when 35 arrived to this meeting it was really exciting! At this point in forming the group we have been playing different games with them in order to get them to be excited about the youth group and tell their friends, from here we will then divide them into smaller groups that will then meet each week to a variety of things beyond playing games. However this week we were still in the game phase and happened to plan a game that I learned at camp with Gabe. The game is called “Indian Chief” or rather “Nepali Chief” for all intense and purposes.  It was really wonderful having Gabe participate and watch him interact with all the youth. Over all it was an awesome activity and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

            On Gabes Second Day I brought him up to the other village where the other volunteers live, which is an hour walk away.  I wanted to give him an opportunity to meet some of the other people in my group and also see how different the villages are. We spent the day sitting outside, playing the guitar, and enjoying the beautiful day.

            On Gabe’s final day here I went with him back down to the bottom of the mountain to see him off. Distracted by conversation I wasn’t playing attention to the scenery however for Gabe it was the opposite. Not listening to what I was saying he was distracted by the scenery.  When all of a sudden Gabe said “Cara, don’t get stuck in a routine here that you forget to look around and remember where you are. You will be home before you know it and never have an experience like this again so don’t forget to appreciate it.” These were truly amazing words that I will keep with me for the rest of my time here.  It was very special to have the opportunity to see my life through his eyes and be given the opportunity to reevaluate my time here.  I’ve been living in the village for 2 months now and it is easy to fall into a routine and to forget that only so many people will experience what I am this year.  Having Gabe here was a great way to remind me to live each day as it comes, live in the moment, and not take this experience for granted.

GABE I LOVE YOU! AND THANKS AGAIN FOR COMING TO VISIT!