Currently, I am sitting at the gate for a flight to Doha, Qatar, where I will connect to Rome. I have come to terms with the idea of being there as my awesome boyfriend has reminded me that this summer was about getting published and not about globe-trotting. He’s so smart. I left Tioman this morning, connected in my FAVORITE place in the world (NOT), Kuala Lumpur, and am now flying out of Bangkok.
As a side note, I had to get a new piece of large luggage today at Subang Airport, where the small flights come in and out to Tioman. I was able to purchase a reasonably priced item and transferred my contents into it. I decided I needed to find a dumpster to put the old luggage into, but could not locate a receptacle large enough. I went to catch a taxi to Kuala Lumpur International and mentioned to the driver that I needed to get rid of the old suitcase. About 3 minutes into the drive, he attempted to pull the taxi over so that I could throw the old piece of luggage on the side of the highway… I politely declined. About 20 minutes went by without incident when he told me that he was hungry and needed to stop to eat. ??????????????? What??????????? Luckily, he wasn’t able to find a place to stop, but I did get a little nervous and think that he might try to kill me.
Anyway, back to what I really wanted to write about. In the US, people complain about illegal immigrants. They steal jobs, they stress the system by not paying taxes, they bring down labor costs, blah blah blah. But let’s get one thing straight here: they do jobs Americans simply aren’t willing to do. They do what they need to do to get by and help the people they care for.
When I first arrived at BKK, I had a thought, albeit a somewhat prejudicial one. In the US, oftentimes Hispanics (and other minorities), sometimes legal, sometimes not, take jobs like airport janitors. I saw so many women walking around BKK that were part of the cleaning crew and I asked myself (and pardon this, please), “If these people aren’t Hispanic immigrants, who are they?”
After only the short time I spent in Thailand, I now know the answer to that question… They are the women who would leave the small villages, like the one I was researching, to go to the big city for work so that they could make money and send it back home to their families. One case in particular that I’m reminded of is that of a 13 year old boy with cerebral palsy we met on our first day. He had never attended a day of school because the Thai educational system was not equipped to accommodate him. His primary caretaker was his aunt because his mother worked in Bangkok to send money home.
I’m really tired and I can only hope that I’m making sense right now, but the struggles of these people are the same as the marginalized in the US. Think about how many people you’ve met in your life who came to the US from a different country with the hopes of sending money back home to their families in their native countries. Take, for example, many Hatians in South Florida. This issue was made even more apparent after the devastating earthquake Haiti endured. It was revealed that a solid part of the economy on the island is driven by the money sent back by family members working in the states.
What I think I’m trying to get at here is that people who are so different – culturally, ethnically, spiritually, and geographically – can have the same struggles. Whether it’s mothers in Pakhon Village in Northeast Thailand, airport janitors in Newark, New Jersey, or Haitian cab drivers in Miami, Florida, the story is the same: Do whatever it takes to move forward and sacrifice everything for the well-being of your family… Take a hit for the team.
I am so thankful I was able to experience the little I did in Thailand last week. Connections like this were my main reason for wanting to be in a country so dramatically and diametrically opposed to the US. Not only did I want to see the differences, but I wanted to see the similarities as well. You don’t know what’s out there until you go investigate and find out for yourself.
Things are looking up, I think. I don’t know what Rome will bring, but I can only hope that it will blow my mind completely and teach me something I never expected to learn.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
When in Rome... Live on a couch?
Yesterday was a very long, draining day. I left for my tour at 9 AM and did not return until 4:30. It was originally going to be some snorkeling and a trip to Mukut Waterfall, but the guide was able to convince everyone to make it a tour around the island, which is exactly what I had wanted!!!
We set out to the waterfalls and i notices immediately that the South end of the island has a lot more rain than the other parts. It was overcast and foggy there and the water was a bit rough. The crew docked the boat and we began our descent into the jungle... Well, not really. There were poured concrete steps. Not very authentic if you ask me. Apparently, some movie called Bali Hai (sp?) was filmed at this particular waterfall. It was very pretty. I'm working on setting up a Picasa account to link to this blog, but the internet connection here is too slow to facilitate quick upload.
People were getting into the water and sitting at the base of the waterfall, allowing the water to pound their heads. I, being not so adventurous in the realm of aquatic activities, decided to climb the waterfall to take some pictures. I got into the water a little bit just to cool off, but it was all over after the guide showed me some fresh water eels. Yuck.
After this, we all jumped back into the boat and headed to a beach on the West side of the island called Juara to get some lunch. This is when things took a bit of an interesting turn. Near Juara Village there is a turtle sanctuary that specializes in collecting, hatching and releasing different types of sea turtle eggs from the island. The tour guide asked me if I wanted to see it. I said sure and jumped onto the back of his motor bike.
Immediately, I knew something was amiss when I had a flashback to my dead grandfather who smelled of the same vices as the tour guide: cigarettes and alcohol. At this point I realized that the tour guide was driving the motor bike drunk. I can speak about this with a sense of humor now because, well, I'm alive!!! We had a very interesting conversation on the way to the sanctuary about the school system. Children on Tioman attend 3 different schools, depending on their age. Once they hit about 16 years old, the kids have to go to the school on peninsular Malaysia and it is very expensive for the families. The children live in hostels while they go to school and return home about every 2 weeks.
We arrived at the turtle sanctuary and were greeted by an American chick from California who was a total hippie. She is on Tioman as a volunteer biologist trying to save the turtles and she started planting a garden so the sanctuary can be sustainable. Right then, I received a phone call from the 60s asking for her to return.
There were some baby sea turtles in a big vat that they had found emaciated on the beach. They brought the back to the sanctuary to nurse them back to health and plan to release them once the next set of eggs hatches. There was also a very large female turtle in captivity there named Jo. The only reason they had her is because she is blind and every time they tried to release her she would just come back. She is 4 years old, but eats so much that she is the size of an 8 year old. She must have been American in a past life.
After the little tour, I jumped back onto the drunken motor bike and learned that the guide is Muslim with 5 kids and number 6 on the way. His wife works for the Berjaya resort also and is originally from this island. When we returned to the restaurant, the guide proceeded to sit down and drink with his buddies for the next few hours until we were ready to leave for our next destination.
All that followed was snorkeling at 3 different location of varying degrees of scariness. I made it about 3 minutes in the water at the first location before I decided that I was indeed having a panic attack. The second location was a marine park which contained many ferocious and hungry beasts. I wish I had had my camera on me for that stop because those fish were CRAZY! And HUGE! They wanted food and every time someone threw some bread in there it was a feeding frenzy. I jumped in and swam to the dock fast enough that I didn't have a panic attack. The third location was not scary and I jumped off the boat several times.
Later that evening, I skyped with Dr. Anderson, who informed me that I would be going to Rome. She told me I would be living on a sofa bed in a one bedroom apartment. Oh no, I will not. I'm currently working on finding some other living arrangements. I am very particular about having my own space and if I must be in Rome (somewhere I don't even want to be) I will not be on a sofa bed (somewhere I REALLY don't want to be). If things don't work out, I suspect I will come home because I will not make it on a sofa bed for several months.
I'm becoming more and more concerned about the status of our exotic beach vacay in Phuket. Everything is booked... except for my airfare at this point. I understand that the university doesn't want me to go back to Thailand, but I am a free adult who can make her own decision. I feel like they constantly putting road blocks in my way. For example, I booked airfare for Rome last night and they administration made me send them the ticket so that they could see it was one-way. What business is it of theirs to tell me whether or not I can by round trip airfare? So what if I did?
I don't know. This is all very frustrating. They're sending me somewhere I don't want to go to live on a sofa bed and they're trying to control how I spend my money. This whole thing doesn't seem right.
We set out to the waterfalls and i notices immediately that the South end of the island has a lot more rain than the other parts. It was overcast and foggy there and the water was a bit rough. The crew docked the boat and we began our descent into the jungle... Well, not really. There were poured concrete steps. Not very authentic if you ask me. Apparently, some movie called Bali Hai (sp?) was filmed at this particular waterfall. It was very pretty. I'm working on setting up a Picasa account to link to this blog, but the internet connection here is too slow to facilitate quick upload.
People were getting into the water and sitting at the base of the waterfall, allowing the water to pound their heads. I, being not so adventurous in the realm of aquatic activities, decided to climb the waterfall to take some pictures. I got into the water a little bit just to cool off, but it was all over after the guide showed me some fresh water eels. Yuck.
After this, we all jumped back into the boat and headed to a beach on the West side of the island called Juara to get some lunch. This is when things took a bit of an interesting turn. Near Juara Village there is a turtle sanctuary that specializes in collecting, hatching and releasing different types of sea turtle eggs from the island. The tour guide asked me if I wanted to see it. I said sure and jumped onto the back of his motor bike.
Immediately, I knew something was amiss when I had a flashback to my dead grandfather who smelled of the same vices as the tour guide: cigarettes and alcohol. At this point I realized that the tour guide was driving the motor bike drunk. I can speak about this with a sense of humor now because, well, I'm alive!!! We had a very interesting conversation on the way to the sanctuary about the school system. Children on Tioman attend 3 different schools, depending on their age. Once they hit about 16 years old, the kids have to go to the school on peninsular Malaysia and it is very expensive for the families. The children live in hostels while they go to school and return home about every 2 weeks.
We arrived at the turtle sanctuary and were greeted by an American chick from California who was a total hippie. She is on Tioman as a volunteer biologist trying to save the turtles and she started planting a garden so the sanctuary can be sustainable. Right then, I received a phone call from the 60s asking for her to return.
There were some baby sea turtles in a big vat that they had found emaciated on the beach. They brought the back to the sanctuary to nurse them back to health and plan to release them once the next set of eggs hatches. There was also a very large female turtle in captivity there named Jo. The only reason they had her is because she is blind and every time they tried to release her she would just come back. She is 4 years old, but eats so much that she is the size of an 8 year old. She must have been American in a past life.
After the little tour, I jumped back onto the drunken motor bike and learned that the guide is Muslim with 5 kids and number 6 on the way. His wife works for the Berjaya resort also and is originally from this island. When we returned to the restaurant, the guide proceeded to sit down and drink with his buddies for the next few hours until we were ready to leave for our next destination.
All that followed was snorkeling at 3 different location of varying degrees of scariness. I made it about 3 minutes in the water at the first location before I decided that I was indeed having a panic attack. The second location was a marine park which contained many ferocious and hungry beasts. I wish I had had my camera on me for that stop because those fish were CRAZY! And HUGE! They wanted food and every time someone threw some bread in there it was a feeding frenzy. I jumped in and swam to the dock fast enough that I didn't have a panic attack. The third location was not scary and I jumped off the boat several times.
Later that evening, I skyped with Dr. Anderson, who informed me that I would be going to Rome. She told me I would be living on a sofa bed in a one bedroom apartment. Oh no, I will not. I'm currently working on finding some other living arrangements. I am very particular about having my own space and if I must be in Rome (somewhere I don't even want to be) I will not be on a sofa bed (somewhere I REALLY don't want to be). If things don't work out, I suspect I will come home because I will not make it on a sofa bed for several months.
I'm becoming more and more concerned about the status of our exotic beach vacay in Phuket. Everything is booked... except for my airfare at this point. I understand that the university doesn't want me to go back to Thailand, but I am a free adult who can make her own decision. I feel like they constantly putting road blocks in my way. For example, I booked airfare for Rome last night and they administration made me send them the ticket so that they could see it was one-way. What business is it of theirs to tell me whether or not I can by round trip airfare? So what if I did?
I don't know. This is all very frustrating. They're sending me somewhere I don't want to go to live on a sofa bed and they're trying to control how I spend my money. This whole thing doesn't seem right.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Malaysian Odessey
I'm a little bit behind on my entries. This has to do with a combination of Internet access and forgetfulness. I'm currently sitting beach side at the Berjaya Tioman Resort on Pualu Tioman in Malaysia. One word: wow.
This place is beautiful. Getting here is a little treacherous and a lot scary, but so worth the danger! Since the island really only caters to the resorts and the SCUBA divers, the airport is tiny... I mean, this thing is small. The runway has to be only about the length of a football field or so.
I took a small propeller plane in from Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning after a stay for the night at hotel from hell. It was located approximately 15 minutes away from KUL. The downtown area is 1 hour away from the airport (!!!!!) and caters mainly to Europeans looking to shop for "cheap". The conversion for USD to RM is about 1 to 3.3, so the Europeans really get a bang for their buck here.
Anywho, about the hotel: it was dirty, small and broken. The shower had black feet marks in it, so, needless to say, I wore sandals in there. The toilet was running incessantly, but it was masked by the noise of the A/C. Unfortunately, the A/C could not mask the noise of the club 4 stories down on the first floor of the hotel. It was terrible.
I woke up in the morning, had some bfast and took a can to the airport that caters to domestic travel, Subang. The cab driver was very knowledgeable and we had some good conversation about his country. He informed me that Malaysia is a mixture of 55% Muslims (I was very surprised to see women in Burkas EVERYWHERE), 20% Chinese Buddhist, 10% Indian (he was 3rd generation) and the mish-mosh make up the last few percentage. Malaysia is a very progressive country, as evidenced by the brand new buildings, domiciles and sky-scrapers everywhere. Their main exports are palm oil (palm trees like you wouldn't believe here), rubber and electronics. Most citizens speak English, as Malaysia is a former British territory and English is compulsory in the schools. I asked about poverty and he said it wasn't bad -- about 30% poverty rate. Additionally, the medical system is socialized and free for everyone. I am very impressed with this place.
So, I got to the airport, jumped on the plane and the next thing I knew we were approaching the island for landing. The airplane banked suddenly and sharply over the water and around a mountain. Immediately after clearing the beach we landed. Just as soon as we landed we were turning because the runway was so short. This was by far my scariest plane experience to date.
I checked into my cabana (yeah, they have cabanas here!) and I knew that God was rewarding me for dealing so graciously with the hotel room the night before. It is a beautiful, functional, quiet and fully in tact room only feet from the beach!!
Today, I went on a tour of some local islands while other people snorkeled. I don't snorkel due to fear stemming from an incident in childhood involving a school of jellyfish. The last time I snorkeled was my sophomor-ish year of college off the Eastern coast of Puerto Rico. I jumped in, looked up and, as far as my eye could see, there were jellyfish. Done and done. But the water here is so beautiful!! I have some great pictures.
For lunch, I went to "town" and got some authentic Malaysian cuisine... Delish! Tomorrow, I have plans to take a boat to the South side of the island to see some waterfall. The following day, I am doing a jungle trek to a waterfall.
After this trip, I expect to be placed somewhere else to continue research for the MHIRT program. I will likely go to Rome, which I am none too thrilled about. The whole reason I wanted to participate was to see how other people live. I know it's slightly different, but I know how Romans live... I know how Italians live... I know how Europeans live. We are all at the top of the food chain, you know? I want to see how they do it in places that aren't as privileged as the Western world. I want to see poverty and struggle so that I can understand where less fortunate people come from and what their lives are like. It's not a done deal yet, but I'm not exactly hopeful...
This place is beautiful. Getting here is a little treacherous and a lot scary, but so worth the danger! Since the island really only caters to the resorts and the SCUBA divers, the airport is tiny... I mean, this thing is small. The runway has to be only about the length of a football field or so.
I took a small propeller plane in from Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning after a stay for the night at hotel from hell. It was located approximately 15 minutes away from KUL. The downtown area is 1 hour away from the airport (!!!!!) and caters mainly to Europeans looking to shop for "cheap". The conversion for USD to RM is about 1 to 3.3, so the Europeans really get a bang for their buck here.
Anywho, about the hotel: it was dirty, small and broken. The shower had black feet marks in it, so, needless to say, I wore sandals in there. The toilet was running incessantly, but it was masked by the noise of the A/C. Unfortunately, the A/C could not mask the noise of the club 4 stories down on the first floor of the hotel. It was terrible.
I woke up in the morning, had some bfast and took a can to the airport that caters to domestic travel, Subang. The cab driver was very knowledgeable and we had some good conversation about his country. He informed me that Malaysia is a mixture of 55% Muslims (I was very surprised to see women in Burkas EVERYWHERE), 20% Chinese Buddhist, 10% Indian (he was 3rd generation) and the mish-mosh make up the last few percentage. Malaysia is a very progressive country, as evidenced by the brand new buildings, domiciles and sky-scrapers everywhere. Their main exports are palm oil (palm trees like you wouldn't believe here), rubber and electronics. Most citizens speak English, as Malaysia is a former British territory and English is compulsory in the schools. I asked about poverty and he said it wasn't bad -- about 30% poverty rate. Additionally, the medical system is socialized and free for everyone. I am very impressed with this place.
So, I got to the airport, jumped on the plane and the next thing I knew we were approaching the island for landing. The airplane banked suddenly and sharply over the water and around a mountain. Immediately after clearing the beach we landed. Just as soon as we landed we were turning because the runway was so short. This was by far my scariest plane experience to date.
I checked into my cabana (yeah, they have cabanas here!) and I knew that God was rewarding me for dealing so graciously with the hotel room the night before. It is a beautiful, functional, quiet and fully in tact room only feet from the beach!!
Today, I went on a tour of some local islands while other people snorkeled. I don't snorkel due to fear stemming from an incident in childhood involving a school of jellyfish. The last time I snorkeled was my sophomor-ish year of college off the Eastern coast of Puerto Rico. I jumped in, looked up and, as far as my eye could see, there were jellyfish. Done and done. But the water here is so beautiful!! I have some great pictures.
For lunch, I went to "town" and got some authentic Malaysian cuisine... Delish! Tomorrow, I have plans to take a boat to the South side of the island to see some waterfall. The following day, I am doing a jungle trek to a waterfall.
After this trip, I expect to be placed somewhere else to continue research for the MHIRT program. I will likely go to Rome, which I am none too thrilled about. The whole reason I wanted to participate was to see how other people live. I know it's slightly different, but I know how Romans live... I know how Italians live... I know how Europeans live. We are all at the top of the food chain, you know? I want to see how they do it in places that aren't as privileged as the Western world. I want to see poverty and struggle so that I can understand where less fortunate people come from and what their lives are like. It's not a done deal yet, but I'm not exactly hopeful...
The Eye of the Hurricane
I sit here now typing this entry from halfway across the world at 25,000 miles in the air.
Allow me to take a moment to describe a bit of what has gone on in the last few days. The last blog I wrote detailed the “turmoil” that was going on in Khon Kaen. Nothing ever ended up happening that night and everything was back to normal the following day. We had an emergency meeting with Prof. Siriporn to discuss our safety and general feelings of well-being. The absolute consensus between both the students and all of the professors was that we had nothing to fear so long as we complied with curfew.
As I often tell Joe, it’s like not going to Harrisburg, PA because there is political unrest in New York City; Kohn Kaen is 6 hours from Bangkok. Granted, it’s not that there wasn’t anything going on around KKU, but it was well contained and not near the villages of study. At any rate, when asked, we all agreed that we wanted to stay.
The rest of the day was spent on “self study”. We took that to mean “cultural study” and went shopping downtown with our buddies (the translators). We rode both the sontel and the tuk-tuk… Good times. Because of the political situation, many of the stores and malls closed early so we headed back to the dorms and hung out.
The following morning (5/21) we awoke to emails from the university notifying us that the Thailand MHIRT program had been canceled and that we were to come home effective immediately. Enclosed were our itineraries for travel. Needless to say, we were blind-sided. We met with the staff to discuss travel arrangements. It was decided that we would visit the closer of the 2 villages, Loomhin, the following day to say goodbye. The day then progressed as follows:
Noon – welcome party with the buddies and Adjans
6 P.M. – farewell party with the buddies and Adjans
I wish I was kidding.
After our second party, we all met up to Skype with the director of the MHIRT program to get more information about the sudden decision. She informed us that the Provost of something went over her head with some other people and made the decision to pull us out. I want to believe that their decision was completely unintelligible and based on footage from CNN, but I have to admit that it’s possible I was in the eye of the hurricane, unaware of dangers to come.
The drama started when the office of education abroad began demanding that grown-ass adults report to campus for a meeting on Monday. Oh no they di’ent. As far as we were concerned, if we were out of Thailand we were releasing them of any liability. You cannot force people with God-given rights to freedom to show up at your office and not allow them to live their lives as individuals with free will. Additionally, I may be placed as an alternate at the MHIRT site in Rome. I’m not trying to jet lag myself to death, so I will wait it our on a white, sandy beach near the Equator :). In the end, we students agreed that so long as we were out of Thailand we had completed our end of the bargain.
Which brings me to my next adventure… I am on my way to Malaysia!!! Anyone who knows me – really knows me – understands that a trip to Malaysia for me is like coming full circle in life. When I was a youngster, maybe 4 or 5, my parents thought they would control my brother and myself by threatening us in the following manner: If my brother was bad, they would return him to Sears, where they bought him, and exchange him for a much nicer and better behaved counterpart, Jimmy. If I was bad, my parents were going to send me back across the world in exchange for my much nicer and better behaved counterpart, Malicia; yes, Malicia from Malaysia. And so now here I am 1 hour shy of fulfilling the lifelong dream of returning to my home in Malaysia and seeking out Malicia. Wish me luck!!!!!
Allow me to take a moment to describe a bit of what has gone on in the last few days. The last blog I wrote detailed the “turmoil” that was going on in Khon Kaen. Nothing ever ended up happening that night and everything was back to normal the following day. We had an emergency meeting with Prof. Siriporn to discuss our safety and general feelings of well-being. The absolute consensus between both the students and all of the professors was that we had nothing to fear so long as we complied with curfew.
As I often tell Joe, it’s like not going to Harrisburg, PA because there is political unrest in New York City; Kohn Kaen is 6 hours from Bangkok. Granted, it’s not that there wasn’t anything going on around KKU, but it was well contained and not near the villages of study. At any rate, when asked, we all agreed that we wanted to stay.
The rest of the day was spent on “self study”. We took that to mean “cultural study” and went shopping downtown with our buddies (the translators). We rode both the sontel and the tuk-tuk… Good times. Because of the political situation, many of the stores and malls closed early so we headed back to the dorms and hung out.
The following morning (5/21) we awoke to emails from the university notifying us that the Thailand MHIRT program had been canceled and that we were to come home effective immediately. Enclosed were our itineraries for travel. Needless to say, we were blind-sided. We met with the staff to discuss travel arrangements. It was decided that we would visit the closer of the 2 villages, Loomhin, the following day to say goodbye. The day then progressed as follows:
Noon – welcome party with the buddies and Adjans
6 P.M. – farewell party with the buddies and Adjans
I wish I was kidding.
After our second party, we all met up to Skype with the director of the MHIRT program to get more information about the sudden decision. She informed us that the Provost of something went over her head with some other people and made the decision to pull us out. I want to believe that their decision was completely unintelligible and based on footage from CNN, but I have to admit that it’s possible I was in the eye of the hurricane, unaware of dangers to come.
The drama started when the office of education abroad began demanding that grown-ass adults report to campus for a meeting on Monday. Oh no they di’ent. As far as we were concerned, if we were out of Thailand we were releasing them of any liability. You cannot force people with God-given rights to freedom to show up at your office and not allow them to live their lives as individuals with free will. Additionally, I may be placed as an alternate at the MHIRT site in Rome. I’m not trying to jet lag myself to death, so I will wait it our on a white, sandy beach near the Equator :). In the end, we students agreed that so long as we were out of Thailand we had completed our end of the bargain.
Which brings me to my next adventure… I am on my way to Malaysia!!! Anyone who knows me – really knows me – understands that a trip to Malaysia for me is like coming full circle in life. When I was a youngster, maybe 4 or 5, my parents thought they would control my brother and myself by threatening us in the following manner: If my brother was bad, they would return him to Sears, where they bought him, and exchange him for a much nicer and better behaved counterpart, Jimmy. If I was bad, my parents were going to send me back across the world in exchange for my much nicer and better behaved counterpart, Malicia; yes, Malicia from Malaysia. And so now here I am 1 hour shy of fulfilling the lifelong dream of returning to my home in Malaysia and seeking out Malicia. Wish me luck!!!!!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Red Shirt Turmoil
So, apparently today while we were out conducting research in the village the Thai military storm the Red Shirt camp in Bangkok and forced the leaders of the rebel group to surrender. As a result, members of the party located in other parts of Thailand, mainly E-San, or the Northeast (where Khon Kaen is located) decided to demonstrate their dislike of the situation by burning down buildings, including Khon Kaen city hall, a government run broadcasting station across the street from Khon Kaen University (KKU) and Udon city hall (where a nurse from the village offered to take me when I stay in the village overnight).
On our ride home from the village, our first clue that something was amiss was the giant cloud of smoke emanating from somewhere near downtown. Shortly thereafter the retarded traffic began. Our translators immediately became concerned because in all of their time at KKU they had never seen such terrible traffic. I mean, it was bad. At one point I had to pee so badly I thought I was going to pass out, so two of the translators and I jumped out of the van, went inside a local business to pee and came back out with plenty of time to get back into the van exactly where we had left it.
One of the interpreters had a voicemail from Prof. Darani (who owns the dormitories we are living in) notifying us that our trips to the villages tomorrow would be cancelled and that we needed to be at the Faculty of Nursing at 8:30. We later learned that there is a curfew in place from 8PM to 6AM and that if the political situation gets any worse all power and communication networks will be shut down. This brings me to the current blog post. I was going to wait to post my journal in order, but I wanted to get this information out there first in the event that the situation escalates.
Currently, I am recharging every piece of electronic equipment I brought with me in the event that the government decides to shut off the power in the city. It's sad that such a wonderful day in the village has turned into a frenzy over political unrest. I find it hard to believe that a country as stable as Thailand that has been without conflict of any kind for so many years should suddenly go into a tailspin a few days after I arrive. I mean, I knew I had that effect on men, but I had no idea I transcended boundaries.
On our ride home from the village, our first clue that something was amiss was the giant cloud of smoke emanating from somewhere near downtown. Shortly thereafter the retarded traffic began. Our translators immediately became concerned because in all of their time at KKU they had never seen such terrible traffic. I mean, it was bad. At one point I had to pee so badly I thought I was going to pass out, so two of the translators and I jumped out of the van, went inside a local business to pee and came back out with plenty of time to get back into the van exactly where we had left it.
One of the interpreters had a voicemail from Prof. Darani (who owns the dormitories we are living in) notifying us that our trips to the villages tomorrow would be cancelled and that we needed to be at the Faculty of Nursing at 8:30. We later learned that there is a curfew in place from 8PM to 6AM and that if the political situation gets any worse all power and communication networks will be shut down. This brings me to the current blog post. I was going to wait to post my journal in order, but I wanted to get this information out there first in the event that the situation escalates.
Currently, I am recharging every piece of electronic equipment I brought with me in the event that the government decides to shut off the power in the city. It's sad that such a wonderful day in the village has turned into a frenzy over political unrest. I find it hard to believe that a country as stable as Thailand that has been without conflict of any kind for so many years should suddenly go into a tailspin a few days after I arrive. I mean, I knew I had that effect on men, but I had no idea I transcended boundaries.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Final Countdown
My Passport/Visa arrived this morning!!! It was like Christmas all over again. What a relief! Note to self: local consulate > embassy in DC. Tough lesson learned...
Today I cleared out and cleaned my fridge as I will be switching off the breakers in my apartment during my time away. I got some cash from the bank, paid any outstanding credit card balances and bills and started my laundry. I've already begun packing and the only things I have left to pack are the things I have yet to wash.
The other day I went on a shopping spree. While I hate shopping, I had to buy actual clothes, not spandex or stuff to work out in. It was devastating. I had to pick up "long" shorts, capri pants and some t-shirts. Additionally, I picked up an external hard drive (on which I will store pictures), a USB SD adapter (to transfer my pics from SD card to computer) and a foreign energy adapter. I plan to bring power strip to plug into that. I see myself blowing a Thai circuit in the near future.
I hope I have everything under control, but I have that nagging feeling that I'm missing something even though I think I may have the bases covered? I don't know.
On a different note, I booked all of Joe's airplane trips and our hotel stays. I am so excited to explore Phuket and surrounding areas with him. He has dubbed our trip an "exotic beach vacation." How appropriate. Now, I'm working with Robin to see what it is we're going to do after Joe leaves.
I tried to change my flights as I was told non-chalantly by the program director that it would only cost $150 to change a flight. Boy, was she ever mistaken!!! Making even 1 minor change to my flight itinerary increased the cost by $1000-2000!!!! Madness. I will have to work around that. Updates to come...
Take off in T-26 hours...
Today I cleared out and cleaned my fridge as I will be switching off the breakers in my apartment during my time away. I got some cash from the bank, paid any outstanding credit card balances and bills and started my laundry. I've already begun packing and the only things I have left to pack are the things I have yet to wash.
The other day I went on a shopping spree. While I hate shopping, I had to buy actual clothes, not spandex or stuff to work out in. It was devastating. I had to pick up "long" shorts, capri pants and some t-shirts. Additionally, I picked up an external hard drive (on which I will store pictures), a USB SD adapter (to transfer my pics from SD card to computer) and a foreign energy adapter. I plan to bring power strip to plug into that. I see myself blowing a Thai circuit in the near future.
I hope I have everything under control, but I have that nagging feeling that I'm missing something even though I think I may have the bases covered? I don't know.
On a different note, I booked all of Joe's airplane trips and our hotel stays. I am so excited to explore Phuket and surrounding areas with him. He has dubbed our trip an "exotic beach vacation." How appropriate. Now, I'm working with Robin to see what it is we're going to do after Joe leaves.
I tried to change my flights as I was told non-chalantly by the program director that it would only cost $150 to change a flight. Boy, was she ever mistaken!!! Making even 1 minor change to my flight itinerary increased the cost by $1000-2000!!!! Madness. I will have to work around that. Updates to come...
Take off in T-26 hours...
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Visa Mama Drama
Wow, ummmm... So, I'm feeling just about completely out of control right now. I just got off the phone with my health insurance company and it turns out that I paid for a policy that I cannot use. I purchased a full year of health care last August before I found out I received the scholarship to study abroad and they *WILL NOT*, under any circumstances, refund my money despite the fact that I WON'T BE IN THE COUNTRY. Thank goodness for health care reform. I feel robbed.
Additionally, I'm having issues with my Visa. The "local" Thai embassy is in Coral Gables. For those of you unfamiliar with South Florida geography, that is REALLY far from Fort Lauderdale. Apparently the office is open on Tuesday AND Friday, not from Tuesday TO Friday. When I went in last Wednesday they were closed and the woman at the desk informed me that I had plenty of time to mail my Visa to the embassy in DC.
While she was right about this, what she failed to mention was that the DC office is stricter than the local office. None of the other students were required to have a letter of invitation from the university in Thailand when they got their Visas at the local office, but the DC office requires one. Now my Passport and Visa app are sitting in some office in DC and they're waiting for me to get a letter from Thailand and I leave on Friday!!!!
Ugh. I keep calling the DC embassy, but no one picks up or returns my messages. The lady made it sound so easy. Stupid lady. I did what I could... I didn't get my plane ticket (required for Visa) til about 2 weeks ago and I have been in and out of town. I know I should have done it earlier, but, realistically, I did it as early as I could have. Let's face it; it's a learning process.
On a lighter note, we booked Joe's flight to SE Asia. He will be landing in Singapore thanks to Continental frequent flier miles (95,000 of them). We're looking at Phuket and surrounding islands and Koh Chang, a rainforesty island off the Eastern border of Thailand. Travel to Malaysia would have been too much. Robin is taking the 16-20th off of work in South Korea and we have to put together a second itinerary. She's thinking island hopping... I like, but we'll see if we can't get to Bali.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! I can't believe I leave in 3 days!!!!! I am ssooo nervous!!!!!
Additionally, I'm having issues with my Visa. The "local" Thai embassy is in Coral Gables. For those of you unfamiliar with South Florida geography, that is REALLY far from Fort Lauderdale. Apparently the office is open on Tuesday AND Friday, not from Tuesday TO Friday. When I went in last Wednesday they were closed and the woman at the desk informed me that I had plenty of time to mail my Visa to the embassy in DC.
While she was right about this, what she failed to mention was that the DC office is stricter than the local office. None of the other students were required to have a letter of invitation from the university in Thailand when they got their Visas at the local office, but the DC office requires one. Now my Passport and Visa app are sitting in some office in DC and they're waiting for me to get a letter from Thailand and I leave on Friday!!!!
Ugh. I keep calling the DC embassy, but no one picks up or returns my messages. The lady made it sound so easy. Stupid lady. I did what I could... I didn't get my plane ticket (required for Visa) til about 2 weeks ago and I have been in and out of town. I know I should have done it earlier, but, realistically, I did it as early as I could have. Let's face it; it's a learning process.
On a lighter note, we booked Joe's flight to SE Asia. He will be landing in Singapore thanks to Continental frequent flier miles (95,000 of them). We're looking at Phuket and surrounding islands and Koh Chang, a rainforesty island off the Eastern border of Thailand. Travel to Malaysia would have been too much. Robin is taking the 16-20th off of work in South Korea and we have to put together a second itinerary. She's thinking island hopping... I like, but we'll see if we can't get to Bali.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! I can't believe I leave in 3 days!!!!! I am ssooo nervous!!!!!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)