Last day 5.21

Downtown Khon Kaen 5.20

Pakhon 5.19

I'm finally posting pics!!! They are in chronoligical order starting with Thailand. I just uploaded everything, so there may be what appear to be doubles throughout the albums -- that's me playing with light or speed.

Enjoy!

Russian Roulette. Not.

Today's post was requested by Joe. Apparently, the guy doesn't text with me or talk with me enough per day; he also needs to read about the same things I talk with him over text and on the phone. Once again, I apologize for grammatical and spelling errors because this is an Italian computer.

Since I haven't really talked about what I have been doing here, I will start with some background information. I am currently living in the center of Rome in a popular shopping district with the classmate who requested my presence here. I have come to learn that it's not actually that she wanted me here so much as she didn't want another student, who was also in Thailand, to be here. She has bad-mouthed this person quite a bit and so I put 2 and 2 together.

Speaking of my roommate, she does quite possibly the strangest thing I have ever witnessed. She will actually sit around in the apartment, fully dressed and ready to go, reading books about Rome... But she never actually leaves. She just reads the books. Why doesn't she go to experience instead of stay to read? I mean, the coliseum is like right down the street and we can see the Vatican from the terrace. So strange.

Anyway, the apartment is spacious and located on the 7th/top floor of an old building. The terrace is amazing and offers 180 degree views. The place is quite dilapidated and needs some work, though. We have learned that we cannot run the A/c and cook at the same time because it trips the breakers. It's kind of exciting because before you flip a light switch you don't know what effect it will have of the circuit board. It's like an annoying, low-stakes game of Russian Roulette.

As for my research, I am doing a literature review on food habits in Italian adults and children as they relate to obesity. I told my research mentor about my undergraduate experience in public health, though I wish I had just told her about my current studies. She introduces me to her colleagues as a student of public health, which is radically inaccurate. My attempts to correct her fall on deaf ears. I'm not sure if that's because her English isn't the best or because she's always doing a million things at once. She is awesome, though. Very smart lady and very kind, too. I have a lot of faith in her guidance and am looking forward to being published.

My roommate went to Interlocken for the weekend, so I hope to use the time alone to get moving on this lit review, the lit review on firefighting injuries I have totally been sitting on and to go on at least one tour. It's been difficult the muster the motivation to get out and see some ruins.

Let's see... Oh, I joined a gym near the Spanish steps. It costs 95 Euros/month and fits about 4 people in the weight area at once. One of the personal trainers there noticed I was pretty serious and I think he felt bad for me. He spoke Spanish and so we had a nice conversation where he told me about a better gym that is located closer to the apartment that costs about the same. I will definitely look into that place for next month.

Also, I received a terrible slap in the face the other day when I tried to reinstate my canceled ticket to fly home from Bangkok. The woman told me it would cost $1300 in fare difference plus a $250 change fee. Ummm, yeah... That's not in the budget. So, I'm pretty much freaking out about that and completely stressed out. My Dad thinks the scholarship program is responsible for that fare, or any fare, home because, well, I don't even have a way to get home from Rome let alone Bangkok.

This has really thrown a wrench into my plans. I was in the midst of planning a mini-tour through Vietnam and Cambodia with Robin the week before Joe arrives and a backwater tour in Kerala, India the week before that. Now I don't know what's going to happen... If I will have to fly back home or what. AHHHH!! I don't even want to think about it!!!

On a lighter note, I am working with my clinical coordinator at school on a grant proposal to expand the ethnic/cultural reach of the Athletic Training profession. I've been sending her a bunch of my ideas and I hope that she selects one. I am really excited about the prospect of helping write the proposal and set up an outreach program in the community. I love working with underprivileged children... Well, underprivileged people in general. We'll see what happens with that.

Okay, I need to stop procrastinating now.

No, we can't.

I know, I know!! I am so bad about updating this thing! Since it has been about a week and a half, I will simply select a few excerpts from the events that have occurred in this time.

Sorry for spelling and punctuation errors ahead of time. The spell check on this computer is in Italian so apparently this whole thing is spelled incorrectly. Also, this keyboard has the punctuation placed differently from a US QWERTY, so navigating that has been loads of fun.

The last entry I submitted was written before I had the pleasure of landing in Qatar -- my first venture to the Middle East. And though it was just a layover, I have to say that I will not be going back any time soon. On one hand, I understand that there are different cultures around the world and they all function differently. On the other hand, I found out the hard way that I am indeed a a feminist.

Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country and I think I had mentioned previously that I had problems with the way men were treating me there. particularly outside of the resort. They were just rude and disrespectful, but not to the extent they were in Qatar. I mean, I got off the plane and there were dudes shoving me out of the way and cutting me in lines. It was crazy. I felt sick to my stomach being there and wanted nothing more than to be out of there. It made me realize how lucky I am to live in a country where women have equal rights and (some) men are chivalrous.

On a side note, I saw Sex and the City 2 this weekend and it further confirmed my beliefs about the Middle East, fiction or not. The society is simply more conservative and oppressive than I can handle. Even thinking about being there makes my stomach turn.

I have been in Rome now for about a week and a half. In that time I have learned that this place is about 50 years behind the US. There is no WiFi available anywhere. In order to connect to the internet from home I had to purchase a wireless SIM card. It has 100 hours/30 days on it. Let me tell you, you don't realize how much you use the internet each month until you're limited to 100 hours.

The university here, Sapienza Universita di Roma, is very large and has upwards of 100,000 students in attendance. It has every type of faculty you could imagine, much like Khon Kaen University in Thailand. The particular building I am in was probably built circa 1960 and hasn't had much renovation since. It's really shocking... I thought Italy would be much more Westernized than it actually is, but it is totally behind the times.

My roomate and I were fortunate enough to be able to spend some time with students our age who are just now getting their Master's in something like foreign diplomacy. They were all very well informed individuals in terms of world events as it was part of the curriculum to be well informed. When I mentioned my thoughts about Italy being behind the times they totally agreed with me and offered me the following explanation: Italy is an old country. It is run by old men who are funded by old men. The agenda never includes change.

At this time, I pulled out my Blackberry and one of the students looked at it in amazement. He said, "Wow! Just like Obama!" For realz, he had never seen a Blackberry in person. I was shocked! And I was further shocked by their general obsession with Obama and the phrase, "Yes, we can!" Which leads me to my next thought...

These students are all very dissatisfied with the political situation in Italy. They don't like that they are all unable to find work and that coming across a good job - especially as an ambassador - is nearly impossible. All of the students had plans to either go home over the summer or leave the country to find work. I said to them, "If you guys are so upset about the political condition in your country, why don't you do something about it?"

They looked at me like I had 3 heads and gave me a lesson in why it could never work. I said, "You guys are so obsessed with Obama... How do you think he got elected? Grassroots movements! It starts with you!"

Again, 3 heads.

What I came to realize through this conversastion was that while I, as an American youth, was brought up being told you can, they, as Italian youths, were brought up being told you can't. I feel sad that the youth apparently feel defeated. Until someone gets the courage to be progressive enough to stand up and say that things need to change, I am afraid that this country will stay perpetually behind.

God, when did I become so ethnocentric?

Insert title here

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.

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.