Crests and Valleys, Biking, Excitement

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

All month I had been waiting for the weight of my move to hit me. I thought perhaps I got lucky and the only stress I was going to feel was while packing - concerned that I didn’t have the right amount of business attire for teaching this summer. I should have realized this was me we’re talking about - rearranging furniture is about the only change I handle well; moving across the country was not going to go smoothly.

Then came Maryland: Mountain crests = emotional crests - each higher and more dramatic than the last; each downward slope not only was an exciting sight, or a falling lurch in my stomach but a horrible twist as I felt each hill further separating me from my home and the people I love. It is one thing to leave for a semester with a set and terminable amount of time until I return home and am reunited with familiar places and people. It is something completely different to drive away when I have no sense or guarantee of when I will next see those I leave behind.

There is also a feeling of unease or a sense of danger driving through twists and hills for someone so firmly rooted in the flatlands of the midwest. I can never see very far in front of me because the road will wend around a turn or over a crest, and lets be honest, a mountain makes a better door than window. I also often find myself separated from the sister highway traveling back the other direction, adding to the sense of permanence and isolation.

And driving habits are different on mountainsides. I learned to prize myself on my ability to regulate my speed, either through use of cruise control or listening to my vehicle or observing the gage. In my neck of the woods we hate adjusting the cruise or being stuck on the same stretch of highway with someone who can’t decide what speed they are going to drive. When you are forever going up hills and down troughs though, regulating speed kind of goes out the window, apparently. You shoot for the speed limit on the straightaways and are a little below on the uphills, and a little above on the downhills. I have never had so much difficulty with other drivers and deciding where to place myself around them as I did today.

All this amounted to crying through the first hundred miles of Maryland and gripping the wheel white-knuckled and clench-shouldered the rest of the drive.

What the universe reminded me today: Other than needing to occasionally deal with sh** days, always remember to eat. I was so busy being stressed out, that I forgot to eat lunch, which only compounded an already bad situation.

What I am thankful for: Having a friend in my life who will answer her phone, remind me to breathe, deal with my (loving) verbal abuse (read teasing), and keep talking to me until my hands stop shaking and I am able to laugh; and my family being large and spread across the country so at least I’m always heading for someplace familiar and loving at the end of the day.

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

I am currently exhausted. My uncle decided that just chilling at home today was not okay, so we went biking around the capital. Sometimes I should probably say no to things, rather than just avoid making waves. In all honesty, though, I feel fabulous. Sore, but fabulous. Check with me tomorrow.

Along with biking around the Mall, I did a lot of writing today. Wrote an essay. Wrote a letter. Took two showers. Tried a new beer. Ate the biggest bowl of ice cream I’ve eaten in years. Stuff like that.

I want a huge dog. A dog-bear, like my family has here. Corky is fantastic.

What I hope to replicate: My aunt and uncle are in AMAZING shape. Uncle runs with the dog, four miles, every morning. Neither of them looks their age. I want to do that. I need to start working on it. Sometimes I feel like my body is already 30 or 40 and that makes me really, really sad.

OMG!!!! Tomorrow I join my corps!!!

Driving in the rain, dreaming and prepwork

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Today it rained the whole day. And it poured to the point of white-outs most of the way through Ohio. But interspersed throughout the day were moments of dominant beauty - watching clouds billow along the Indiana skyline, snippets of sun-streaked clouds between downpours, wearing my sunglasses for over six hours, despite the rain.

What the universe reminded me today: Two things - 1. Always be grateful for what you have. Don’t complain about being parked on the freeway. At least parked there you are not one of the five vehicles involved in the accident further up the roadway. - 2. All things in moderation. Taste the salad before you dump on three extra scoops of dressing, or add the extra one scoop at a time.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Last night I dreamed I was staying in/moving into an apartment habited by the strangest assortment of friends and acquaintances from high school and college. Then I woke fully and realized there were six people running around the apartment, yelling, talking and completely ignoring the fact I was sleeping on the couch (not to mention three other roommates were fast asleep in their not soundproof rooms). The fourth roommate had finally appeared with her family and fiancee for final preparations before attending master’s graduation this morning. While disorienting, it did explain why one past acquaintance had appeared in my dream - he kind of looks and sounds like the fiancee. Doppelgangers - Story of my stay at OSU. I’ve encountered at least three. I’m sure if you see them side-by-side they are not actually doppelgangers, but right now - separated - they’re decent matches.

I spent much of this tired and dreary day working on TFA prep. At this point in my pre-reading I have moved on from the importance of setting big goals to following through on big goals; from recognizing the role(s) of diversity in the work I will soon be doing to concrete ways to counteract negative messages and stereotypes my students will be inundated with daily. I’m still nervous about having conversations about race with my students, but I feel that I have more tools in my arsenal to utilize when having these conversations. I also further recognize the unique opportunity I have as a social studies/history teacher to help students develop a positive racial identity. In my discipline, more than (or at least to the same extent as) any other discipline, have racial minorities been left out. So much of the role played by African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and others has been left out of history curriculums. Study of ancient North American societies does not occur. Study of current Native societies doesn’t occur, for that matter. Not only were Africans enslaved during the colonial era, they are still enslaved by modern history curriculums - in the sense that we hardly ever teach students about the ways these men and women found ways to retake, regain and retain their agency. We only teach about how they were demeaned, not how they were strong. I have an exciting opportunity to teach my students - who will mostly be students of color - about the ways these minorities are strong and worked intelligently against their oppression all throughout U.S. history; about the movements within the dominant white community to respect and enfranchise minorities. Rather than only having George Washington and John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin be the only heros of the American Revolution, I have an opportunity to show my students that the heros of the Revolution, or the Civil War, the Abolitionist Movement, of westward expansion also looked like them. Wow.

I need books. Lots of them. I know nothing about most of the things I will need to teach, and I’m sure not gonna find them in the textbook. I’m looking for the George Washington Carvers, Cesar Chavezes, Alice Pauls, (Insert Chief or LC guide here)s, Sojourner Truths, (Asian??) of every time period. I will learn about my students and not only will I tailor to their interests, but I will fine-tune to their heritage as well. They will see themselves in American History, or the U.S. Government. It’s gonna happen.

While not reading, I hung out with J and her friends here. I really like some of them and wish I could stay here with them, rather than move on to more new people. J’s friend across the hall, A., and her boyfriend, B., threw J. and another friend, also J., a going away party since they leave tomorrow for a trip to Botswana. Cook-out = awesome. People should grill more often in my life.

I also spent a fair amount of time with one of J.’s roommates, S., from Jamaica. S. is studying chemical engineering and tests next week to gain acceptance to the Ph.D. program here. We studied and watched CNN together. Being from Jamaica, S. didn’t really understand all the hoopla surrounding Obama’s healthcare plan, which was the big topic on CNN over the lunch hour. She had me explain public vs. private healthcare and insurance, and described her hellish day trying to get medical attention at the clinic on campus - “So much paperwork! Jesus! I’m vomiting, just let me see the doctor!” - as an example of what is wrong with healthcare in the U.S. When I asked her to reciprocate and tell me about healthcare in Jamaica she said it wasn’t much better, but you can at least see the doctor without filling out hours of paperwork when you need to.

What I hope to replicate: J. managed to find a (somewhat) affordable apartment that came fully furnished, and with a workout room, patio, grill, pool, and lounge. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

What I never want to hear myself say: B. (the boyfriend) and a few of the other grad students mentioned that they are BSing their way through grad school. I would be so thrilled to never hear that phrase come out of my mouth ever again.

Ms. Calluna takes on teaching

Tues. June 9th 2009

I've been getting many requests to continue my blog, even though I am no longer in Asia and (soon) will no longer be ambulating about the countryside. Because of these two drastic changes, I initially wasn't going to continue this blog after returning to the states, but to be honest I miss it and apparently some other people do too. And for the next couple of months, I'm still not tied down to any one place, even though I am working towards a more specific end than "experiencing Southeast Asia."

Back in January, during my first days in Chiang Mai, I was accepted into the U.S.'s Teach for America program. This program is a branch of Americorps, which many people call "the stateside Peace Corps. While Americorps is a one-year renewable experience working with a wide variety of non-profit and volunteer organizations, Teach for America is a two-year committment for corps members, all of whom are recent college graduates who agree to teach in an underperforming and underserved school district. Corps member teachers' larger purpose is to combat the educational achievement gap that exists in the United States. Each year, we engage in "big goal setting" with our students and their families. Most of our students are performing below (some very below) grade level proficiencies in math, reading and other content knowledge areas. This is a HUGE problem since a solid education is vital to college admissions, job prospects, and other aspects of a person's life. Lacking basic literacy skills drastically circumscribes an individual's opportunities and options.

The children I will teach are bright, creative, vibrant individuals. Due to where they live however, the educational system has failed them. Some will probably believe they are stupid and cannot succeed in school. This is not true, and it will be my (and my fellow corps members') job to help them unlearn this personal belief and help them prove to themselves and others, through making great educational strides during the year, that they are the brilliant individuals I know them to be.

I'm so stoked.

And scared pantsless.

So, tomorrow, I depart my beloved home state - Land of 10,000 Lakes - and head for the Atlantic Coast - Tar Heel territory to be exact. I'm taking some time to visit friends and family as I drive out and I will do my best to find breaks in training to write updates on what I'm doing to prepare for the fall and provide reflections on my experience as a new teacher, in a new region of the country.

Wed. June 10th 2009

Today I said final goodbyes to family and set out for Madison, WI - the first stop on my journey east. Wisconsin was uneventful. I did make the same mistake that I made traveling to the Dells two summers ago, though. See, you take I-94 out of the twin cities and it counts up from zero at the border. I needed to take exit 92. All of a sudden, I hit exit 98, and I’m kicking myself for missing the exit. So, I get at exit 102 and turn around. While doing so, I’m marveling at how quickly the state went by. But then I realize I am much further from Madison than I should be... And all the advertisement distances do not add up to mile 92. Hmm... Flipping backwards through the AAA Trip-Tik confirms my suspicions - Yes, I need to take I-90’s exit 92, not I-94. Never do directions mention that the two meet and when they do, the mile markers transfer to I-90 rather than 94. Since you do nothing to get on 90, and it is technically still 94, both Google (two years ago) and AAA (today) told me to follow I-94 to exit 92. Thanks guys. Very helpful. This particular exit/problem has now cost me almost an hour of my life.

In Madison, I’m staying with two friends, sorority sisters. They have what amounts to a starter home as an apartment - 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo. And they’ve been complaining about rent. Really? I suppose it probably seemed cheaper and more worth the money when they first leased it two years ago, when the economy was strong, versus today, when everything is expensive. I will be lucky to call such a nice apartment home.

The three of us and a boyfriend went out to eat with another sister and her fiancee at a place called Cheeseburger in Paradise. We (after much pointless head-scratching) decided to go there because of the sweet potato chips that you can get as a side. Duh-licious. Good call M!

Over dinner and throughout the night we talked about the work each is doing now, either two or three years out from undergrad. All three were science majors in college - a path I nearly pursued. One is in her second year of graduate school, after first doing a year-long internship at the National Institutes of Health. In grad school she’s studying the meningitis bacteria (which is apparently closely related to the gonorrhea bacteria - the main interest of her lab’s research), and even though finals are over, she still has a huge project due in a few weeks. K. said it’s their last chance to kick her out of grad school, so it’s kind of a big deal and involves writing a grant proposal and defending the project to a five-person faculty committee. I told her it sounds kind of like the undergrad theses students do at our school, but a much bigger deal. And mandatory.

M runs experiments (or protocols) for a pharmaceutical company. She’s been able to advance very quickly (from a “1” to a “3” in half the time as her boss and former trainer) and loves the work she’s doing. And, really, who wouldn’t love to get paid for spending time with chimps? I think it was M who also at one point had been doing some work related to the herpes virus... or maybe she just said she had an enlarged and stuffed facsimile of “the herp.” (K. has one of gonorrhea - and she gave them to family members at christmas. Sorry you’re missing out fam.)

S. is also in the pharmaceutical field, but not with a drug company. Instead she is working to reproduce human tissues for testing. Apparently you can manufacture stem cells from skin cells, and then use those stem cells to make other cells. It’s a wickedly difficult process and her team is working to find the happy medium between number of cells produced and the number that actually function as the type of cell (heart, skin, kidney, etc) that they’re supposed to be (growth-purity ratio). It’s a lot of running the procedure over and over and trying to be more exact with cell feedings and other lab techniques each time to have more functional cells. The goal is for drug manufacturers to be able to better test for and neutralize some of the unwanted effects of medications (such as - and I’m making this example up - a drug to cure acid reflux somehow damaging the heart muscle over time... something like that - keeping side effects from happening).

Back at the apartment we watched Transformers and played with the dog, Benny. He (the dog) really didn’t take to me. Every time I moved to a new part of the house he seemed to forget who I was and that he had already met me and been told I was safe. Essentially, this amounted to a lot of barking, which is no big deal, but it really flustered M, who had never seen him act like this before.

What I learned about the real world: The hours suck. There isn’t as much down time as you think you’ll have when you are slugging through all-nighters in college. It’s early mornings and working weekends and holidays. Yes, your evenings may be more free, but be prepared to have your only desire to be sitting on the couch or crawling into your bed. And I’ll still have to grade. Woo hoo.

What I’m resolving to do differently: I’m resolving two things - 1. Live within my means, starting with a cheap (read small?) apartment. I don’t want to be unable to save or have a night out once in a while because my rent is too high. - 2. Schedule fun nights. This is like scheduling “me” time, but with friends. I don’t want to find myself living in the same town as friends and never seeing them. It would drive me crazy. Even if it’s pizza and wine at someone’s apartment, or with my roommate and their significant other - one night a month, I’m spending with friends not working, having fun.

"Guys! Guys! Everyone's WHITE!!"

 - us, going through passport control in Chicago. 

Shortly after this was chorused, we realized everyone also spoke English and thus we sounded like horrible, horrible people - particularly Ian, who added "I LOVE white people!" to the end of his wonderings. 

I'm back in Cedar Rapids at this point, am almost over jet-lag, and am generally adjusting just fine to being back in the states.  It really is wonderful to see all of my sorority sisters and other friends around campus.  It is still strange and novel to wander around a college campus instead of a city block; to smell fresh air, with a hint of various blossoms, rather than tropical heat and car exhaust.  I'm always cold, which is very strange to this Minnesota girl.  Makes North Carolina a more welcome idea in my life.  :) I actually had to borrow a pair of flats from a friend here to keep my toes from freezing off. 

Some culture-shock-ish moments to report:

1. My second or third night back in the states, I went with a friend to the store.  I didn't break down while pondering carbohydrates, as I was warned I might.  Rather I was confused as to why all the swimsuits were so numerous.  After all that season was over, most of the suits should be sold already; soon it would be too cold to swim.  Then I remembered that although, that was how the seasons felt to me, it is indeed the start of summer here, not the end of it. Whitney and I had a good laugh about that thought process, when I shared it.

2. My phone fascinates me. I LOVE sending text messages and calling people.  Friday evening I just sat and stared at it for a while, trying to think of people to message or call. Text messages don't always come out right the first time around though.  Gonna need to redevelop some of that muscle memory. 

3. I am getting over this, but for the first week or so being back, I had a very low "people quota" meaning, I could only deal with seeing so many people per day.  I want to say last Thursday, I had lunch and coffee with two people and that was about all the socializing I could deal with.  I knew that I should go see other friends, but I just couldn't, so I spent the evening as a hermit with one or two other people I was staying with, watching movies.  This is so so weird for me.  I normally love people and being around others. It's kind of a bummer I was a hermit during the week before finals and now want to socialize when everyone has tests. Oh well. Only two more days of tests, and then it's all social until graduation.  

Countdowns:

5 days until I see my family!

6 days until graduation

8 days until I officially have a place to live...

49 days until Teach for America

“I want one of those, and one of those, and that!”

- Ajaan Bob’s imagining of Rama IV

On Sunday, Bob took me to a Royal Palace and the city and ruins of Ayutthaya.  This was possibly the most memorable day trip of the lot.  We started by taking the Bangkok subway, which uses these really cool one-trip token things.  They're plastic and have a computer chip inside that records where you are going and how much you paid and controls the gate that lets you in and out of the subway.  The tokens probably are not actually that interesting, but I thought they were cool. We rode the subway to the train station (sa-ta-nee rot fai), where we got 12 baht, 3rd class tickets to the palace.  

3rd class train is quite the experience, let me tell you. It’s basically open-air, because all of the windows were open before we left the station. Each set of benches is slightly smaller than a car’s backseat, but most of the time you cram three people onto them anyway.  I sat next to a mother with two kids, one about 4 the other not yet walking. Vendors push around all the bodies in the seats and in the isles, hawking everything from rice, juice, water to nylon hammocks.  Two of the men sitting by Bob, across the isle from me, bought four or five hammocks from the vendor.  They thought it was the sweetest deal ever.  The mother sharing my seat bought her four-year-old some rice.  And she promptly got train-sick while eating it. As the train began to fill, people ran out of seats and began crowing in the isles.  This did not deter the vendors traveling up and down the train. One man standing near me had a fish the size of someone’s face in a bag of water, as though it were a goldfish he were taking home from the petstore. When we were a station away from our stop Bob and I got up and made our way to the door of the car. This was necessary because none of the station stops were very long. I ended up standing in the space between two cars, watching the ground fly past below, thinking it wasn’t so different from riding the accordion of a two-car bus. 

The palace we went to see is located in the country about a two-hour train ride from Bangkok. It was built by Ramas IV and V in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  The idea behind the palace was to build one of everything that Rama IV saw on a European tour.  No joke.  They had a French palace, and English manor, a Chinese palace, gothic cathedral turned buddhist wat, among other buildings and parks. It was crazy.  All of the buildings had very vibrant colors as well - the french house was yellow, the english one was purple, chinese red, observatory yellow and red stripes... very interesting and rather strange to see them all crammed into the same place instead of hundreds of miles apart. 

Once we had exhausted the palace, Bob and I took a boat up the river (the traditional means of travel around Thailand, especially around Bangkok) to Ayutthaya.  

After the kingdom of Sukkhothai fell out of power, the kindom of Ayutthaya became dominant in Siam.  The capital city once held at least one million people and was a great center of trade between India, Europe, China and the rest of Southeast Asia. In 1776 it was ransacked and destroyed by the Burmese, who came in, burned everything they could, stole and melted all the Buddha images, and killed as many as they could - including monks.  This is especially strange to me, since the Burmese are Theravada Buddhists, as are the Thais/Siamese.  Seems you might kill different kinds of Buddhists, but your own sect?  I don't know. 

This destruction had a different result than the destruction of Sukkhothai.  Sukkhothai was destroyed and then left as ruins.  Other cities became important, diminishing new construction, so the ruins in Sukkhothai are all that is left in Sukkhothai.  Ayutthaya on the other hand, has been rebuilt around the ruins.  You have to drive thru a growing urban center to get from one ruined wat or palace to another.  Also, some of the ruined temples have rebuilt active wats inside them.  I'm not certain how I feel about this difference or exactly how it affected my experience viewing the ruins.  I didn't always feel that the ruins were as impressive as at Angkor or Sukkhothai, but at the same time, it was really interesting to see a ruined jedi at one end of a soccerfield, or a gleaming new white wat situated in the center of a walled-in group of ruins.

"I AM your father!"

 - Darth Vader, to Luke.

Random? Not at all!  

Tonight Jena and I decided that the Bangkok airport looks oddly reminiscent of Star Wars.  Particularly the walkway between plane and gate.  That looks EXACTLY like the walkway where Luke meets Vader after leaving the Ewok village. 

Yeah. Weird.

And... The entry way (exit way?) of the airport looks like the medical ship where Luke gets his metal hand. It was trippy. 

Here in BKK we're staying at the Christian Guesthouse. I am surrounded by so much Jesus right now.  More than any other time this semester.  It's also a little weird.  Where did Buddha go? 

The most ironic thing about the guesthouse is it's location - right next to one of the largest red-light districts in Bangkok.  Prime real estate here. If everyone were not leaving for the beach at 8:30 tomorrow morning I'm fairly certain we would be out exploring.  

Countdowns:

1 day til I take the Praxis

2 days til Bob and I go to Ayuthaya

4 days til the longest day ever (aka we fly home)

16 days til graduation

"May your wisdom be as wide as the ocean."

- my prayer painting... thing...

Today was our last day in Vietnam.  We taxied to the University and met with our professors there before setting out to visit a couple of pagodas.  The first was sort of like the Doi Sutep of the Hanoi area, with the temple complex being the largest and highest in the area.  No elephants expiring on the site though.  Bummer.  Ian, Patricia and I got harassed for not purchasing snacks at one of the auxilliary temples.  Vietnamese Buddhism could use a Jesus-in-the-temple figure; just about everyone we've visited has had a bunch of vendor stalls near, if not inside, it.

The second pagoda we visited was much smaller, but we spent our entire visit with the abbott, who was fantastic.  They made us a vegetarian meal for lunch.  Most were very surprised because it was the best meal we had in Vietnam.  No joke. After lunch we had question and answer time with the Abbott.  This was so amazing, despite the copious amounts of translating (interpreting) that had to occur.  We had been to monk chats and such in Thailand, and spoke with many Thai people (who have a better handle on their Buddhism than Vietnamese, since VN Buddhism really combines a bunch of other practices for most people), but this was the first time we were able to ask our questions to a learned monk, who had dedicated his life to learning about and practicing Buddhism.  In Vietnam they practice a form of Mahayana Buddhism, versus the Theravada Buddhism practiced in Thailand.  While Mahayana swears off meat entirely (and not really in VN...), where they are allowed to eat meat given certain requirements are met in Theravada Buddhism, in all other manners, Mahayana seems to be less strict than Theravada Buddhism.  For example, in Thailand, monks could not take or give something directly from or to a woman.  This is not the case in Vietnam or apparently Mahayana Buddhism in general. In the same vein, while in Thailand novice monks can participate in monk chats and just talk with people about Buddhism, fully ordained monks cannot - it's seen as fun or frivolous. So this was the first time we had been able to talk with a monk who was fully versed in Buddhist belief and teaching.  I'm not certain about others, but I definitely got clearer answers to some of my questions about Buddhism today. 

After Q & A, the Abbott made us prayer scroll things.  These are a Chinese influence, I believe, but basically they are a sort of prayer or blessing written for each individual in traditional Vietnamese characters.  Each has a main character or message in the center in large characters, and a secondary message or explanation on the right in smaller characters.  On the left, the monk who writes it signs his name.  Then a buddha image gets stamped at the very top. My prayer reads:

"May your wisdom be as wide as the sea.

May you teach your students with unending enthusiasm."

Each of the Vietnamese people translated the characters a little differently, so I feel the exact translation is a little loose or cloudy, but this pieces together my favorite translations. I can't wait to get it back home and framed and hung somewhere. :)

I also keep finding the most adorable puppies in Vietnam that I want to bring home to North Carolina with me.  But that's still a ways off in the future, and I would have a hard time sneaking one through customs. 

Leaving bright and early (5 a.m.) tomorrow for Cambodia!

For your sanity, today has been removed from the calendar

Catherine, Patricia and I voted today off the calendar. In the words of Patricia:

"The list of indictments are as follows:
1. It made Catherine get harrased at the airport for having diabetes.
2. It made Heather's plane rides less than enjoyable.
3. It gave us all travel edge [including my panic attack on the bus into Hanoi]
4. It promised us cake, and then pulled us out of our rooms for said cake and said cake had no serving utensils, and thus will be postponed until tomorrow, hopefully.
5. It teased us with the last 4 minutes of a great English language movie on TV
6. It convinced all technology to work against us.
7. It allowed Vera to almost not get through Vietnamese security (because the immigration official didn't believe the woman in her passport photo matched the woman standing in front of him)
8. It, in general, royally sucketh the ass."

That was a pretty hefty list

The one positive - it's 10-20 degrees cooler here than in Chiang Mai, so you no longer drip just from walking outside.

Hanoi feels so foreign right now. This might be an exaggeration, but it feels more foreign than Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Some of this I'm sure comes from the fact that I understand the fact that I'm not going to learn this language, and that my professors do not know Vietnamese either. Which is a little freaky. To me at least. No one else seems miffed about it. Also, I cannot deal with all the horn honking. I swear they (the Vietnamese) are carrying on conversations with their car horns. It's insane. It's the opposite of the states, where using the horn is taboo - something assholes do, or you might, maybe do to an asshole that almost kills you. Here though, everyone honks at everyone. I'm not really sure why. And there are no visible lane markers - I mean they're there, but they're so faded that you can't really see them ever and no one follows them anyway. It just sounds so angry and looks so chaotic to me. I'm really not looking forward to driving to the University tomorrow during what (in the west) is rush hour. Cringe.

I am very excited to see Hua and Trang again. They were the first Asia Termer's guides around Hanoi and the next year came to study abroad at Coe. Both women are so sweet and it's really nice to see a familiar face.

The other thought for today. As we were gathering in the Chiang Mai airport and chatting amongst ourselves this morning, we started discussing TSA and Homeland Security types, which prompted Bob to tell me this story:

Once there was a woman from an Arab country, living in the US. Her husband was very abusive, but she couldn't find a way to safely leave him. Then Sept. 11th happened. So the wife calls DHS and tells them that he's a terrorist. Abusive husband gets arrested and deported. Wife lives happily (?) ever after.

As Patricia said, as I stood there and looked confused, "You just blew her mind - she doesn't know whether it's funny or inappropriate, a good story or a bad one. You can almost see the wheels turning." *giggles*

Me: "Yeah...."

"Go a-way! Go a-way!"

- Ajaan Rien, paraphrasing the first King of Siam

Two weekends ago, we packed up all of our belongings, tried really hard to make them all fit back into our suitcases (mostly everyone failed), and moved to the hostel located on CMU's campus - Uniserv. This move was necessitated by the lack of air-conditioning and over 95 degree weather that started a week or so before we left and should continue to rise until after we leave in April.

As soon as our luggage was safely in Uniserv storage, we headed out (all 12 of us from Coe and a group of five A-jaans from CMU) in two vans to survey the sites of Sukhothai and other ancient cities. The Dean of the Humanities - Ajaan Rien - was a tour guide before landing his cushy job at Maw-Chaw, so he was able to tell us all of these amazing (and sometimes not so amazing stories) about the places we were visiting. Some of the basics:

Before Thailand became Thailand, back in the 12th century or so (Europe's middle ages, he reminded us), the first Kingdom of Siam was founded, with it's capital in Sukhothai. Other related kingdoms include Ayudaya and Lanna. Both Ayudaya and Lanna were founded after Sukothai, and eventually Ayudaya became dominant. But Sukhothai was first, so it still maintains a lot of prestige (unlike Lanna, which is important to the Northern Thais and some Lao, but not really anyone else, apparently). While most of Sukhothai and its satellite cities - S... something and Pitsanulok, which I'm sure I misspelled, was burned down by the invading Burmese army during the Ayudaya period, the temples still remain. Why the temples you ask? Well - in Sukhothai, there were three classes of building - those for normal people, those for royalty, and the temples - and each of these classes were made with differing building materials. The Palace was built with teak wood, and normal buildings were made from bamboo and thatch, so they either were burned down by the Burmese, or decayed over time. The Temples on the other hand are special and were made of stone, dug from the ground - natalite... or latelite... something like that, so they're still standing.

Ajaan Rien told us how the French - the first Farang in Thailand - didn't believe the Thais when they said they dug the stone from the ground. It looks a lot like volcanic rock, and Thailand is mountainous, so the French said "No, you got that stone from the volcano." To which the Thais said "Silly farang. There are no volcanos in Thailand." Rather the stone is found 2-3 meters below the ground soil. When it is in the ground, it is somewhat clay like and a little pliable, allowing blocks to be cut out. Once above ground they bake and harden in the sun and then are solid as other rocks and used to build temples.

There is a lot of Khmer (Cambodian) and Chinese influence in the architecture of the time. These two groups both worked to influence, and in the case of the Khmer, control the area. As an act of defiance against the Khmer, the later buildings are almost all in a pseudo-Chinese style, called Sukhothai style. This creativity in architecture and decoration was meant to show that the Thai kingdom was separate and independent from the Khmer kingdom, similar to the Declaration of Independence, but minus the Revolutionary War. Apparently the Khmer didn't care about North/Central Thailand that much.

In Sukhothai we saw what is supposed to be the most beautiful image of the walking Buddha. It was pretty nice; huge too. But as we biked around the park containing all the Sukhothai ruins, Patrica, Emily, Holly and I found one that we decided was more beautiful. It was smaller, much more graceful and actually caught the movement of "walking," unlike the big one, which just looked like Buddha standing. The four of us also sneaked off the beaten path to a quiet corner, found an empty pedestal (you'd be surprised how easy that was!) and formed the group of us into our own huge "subduing Mara" (evil, the devil) Buddha. Then P, E, and H posed as the Holy Family, to ensure we were equal-opportunity blasphemers.

Just outside the old city of Sukhothai, we saw the biggest Buddha image in Thailand (maybe anywhere?). If I had been standing on its pedestal, Buddha's knee (as he sits crosslegged, lotus-style) would have hit right around my upper arm or shoulder. We're talking gi-normous Buddha. Gi-normous Buddha is known in Thai as the Talking Buddha, and not because his pose is of Buddha giving a sermon or anything. No, Buddha's just doing his usual thing - Subduing Mara. The story of the talking Buddha is my favorite from the trip, and goes a little something like this:
One day, the Burmese army comes invading - as the Burmese army is wont to do according to Thai history. (I'm pretty sure if they taught history in Burma/Myanmar, they would say the same about the Thais, but since they don't (which is another post entirely), who can say?) And the King (I believe it is the king of Ayudaya at this point, but don't quote that), he's having none of this "invading, burning everything down and taking all your land" business, so he runs ahead of his troops and tries to cut the Burmese army off before they can burn down Sukhothai. The King thinks to himself, "Hey, the Burmese army isn't going to listen to my plea, so how else can I get them to leave us alone?" Then he finds himself at the gi-normous Buddha, and decided that perhaps the Burmese would listen to an order from Lord Buddha himself. So, the industrious King scrambles behind the gi-normous Buddha (supposedly seconds before the Burmese would have seen him, if Ajaan Rien's retelling is to be believed), and starts bellowing "Go a-way! Go a-way! Leave! Leave!" The Burmese army is reluctant to attack in the face of a giant, "talking" Buddha telling them to scat, so they peace out and live to pillage another day.

Isn't that great?! I love it.

Another fun moment was when Ajaan Rien was explaining why the windows in the temple were so small and narrow - "We Thai people were not so good at maths" was the inital response. When that warranted blank looks, he explained more thoroughly, that they hadn't discovered how to build larger windows and hold the roof up at the same time - much like medieval castles in Europe. The phenomenon had never been put to us in that fashion before, and it caught us off-guard.

When not touring ancient ruins, we ate a lot of Northern Thai food, drove a lot, and spent a ton of time in hotel swimming pools (usually playing chicken). The weather that weekend was wicked hot (forecasted over 110) and you would drip just from being outside, so the pool was really the only place to be.

Returning to Chiang Mai and Uniserv we discovered the main drawback to moving - less internet, which is why the posting has fallen completely off the band wagon. One project for the week - Get caught up before we leave for Vietnam. :)

“I just ate a baby animal?!” - Laos Day 1

Friday we left for Laos.  We were only staying the weekend, and this was definitely the lightest I have ever packed. Ever. I was pretty proud of myself. I even used everything that I brought - including the deck of cards, which was probably the biggest stretch. Before we left for the Chiang Mai Airport on Friday morning, I spent 60 baht on all-organic (read all citronella) bug spray, because, well, I forgot to start my malaria meds on time... oops. I was a day late.  And really, only 12 hours late. So not horrible, and better than one member of our group who just decided not to take his. I am being a good kid though and taking them for the full week after the day we got back, and I'm even making sure to take them at the same time everyday.  I take meds the way Emily takes care of her diabetes - "Why do I feel funny? Oh yeah. I haven't taken drugs (or in her case insulin) yet today."

But anyway. Laos. Or Lao People's Democratic Republic as the country is apparently called. 

We cancelled class for Friday and took off for the airport at 11.  As we're all gathering downstairs with our overnight bags, Ajaan John turns up with a HUGE bunch of bananas.  He was out walking and decided we might all like to have some food for the airport.  Luckily for him security, while frequent at the Chiang Mai Airport (we went thru three times), was not very strict, so he was able to bring them through to the waiting area, and may have even brought some on the plane. 

While we were waiting to board our flight, I started editing the English language booklets for my NGO. I had tried to do this once before, but got intimidated by this opening paragraph "Students at the age of curiosity: experimenting with off-class sex education.  At the conjuncture age, high school students have much to learn and cope with changes in relation to the environment."  Jigga wha!? (and yes I have been channeling Amelia lately.)  I still don't know what to do with that, so at the airport I started in on the other booklet, and got through about half of it during our weekend trip. It was interesting though, because I did a lot more editing of "quotes" than I have ever done before.  I figure people know how to speak, someone just doesn't quite know how to translate their articulate comments from Thai so that they are equally articulate in English.  I'm just taking it that next step. 

So not only did we go through security three times at the airport, not only was our boarding delayed for almost an hour (no clue why).  The whole Lao Airlines experience was pretty different than other plane rides I've taken.  When it was finally time for us to board, we exit the gate, but there is no plane in sight. Instead we get on busses that are built like a cross between tour busses and subway cars. After about 15 seconds on the bus, we've gone around the corner of the airport building and are stopping in front of the smallest, most brightly colored airplane I have ever seen.  The Lao Airlines logo is very tropical and once you climb the stairs into the back of the plane, the upholstry is even more neon and flowery.  I was impressed. It was dreadful. Once we're airborne they conduct the fastest meal service I have ever experienced - it seems even more harried than the 45 minute flight from CR to Chicago, despite it being an hour long flight. It is also the shortest safety presentation - basically they told us how to fasted our seatbelts, that there were four exits and to read the safety card for all other information.  (On the way home, the woman sitting next to me says something like "that's basically their way of saying 'don't bother. if we go down in this plane you're screwed anyway.")

Our hotel in Laos was beautiful.  Lots of dark wood, everywhere; comfy beds and soft pillows (a nice change from Thailand; dressers (not that we needed them for two days); complimentary drinking water; and a GORGEOUS rooftop garden. I think Emily and I declared "This roof garden kicks Mountain View's garden's ass!" You could see all the mountains surrounding Luang Prabang and there were hammocks to sit and read in. Sweet!  Emily still got bored of the roof pretty quick and decided we should go walking around the town. 

While Luang Prabang is a fairly large city as far as Laos goes, and is possibly the most popular tourist spot (due to having two rivers - both called Mekong - caves and a waterfall in or close to the town) it is tiny compared to Chiang Mai, and even Cedar Rapids. It's probably closer to the size of Mahtomedi or White Bear Lake, Minnesota - where I grew up. We wandered around the two wats (or vats in Lao, but still said like a "w") next to our hotel. At the first vat, we saw a guy jogging around the chedi. Em and I joked how he was gaining merit while getting his exercise - multi-tasking, Buddhist style! I bought postcards for 8 baht at the market between the two wats. A lot of people here in Chiang Mai like to charge 20 B. It makes me sad. After the vats we just wandered around the city for a while up and down the two streets by our hotel - which were not, in fact, the most interesting, but we didn't want to get lost. Our wanderings also included a quest for Lao music we had heard from our roof, and occasionally caught snippets of while elsewhere on the street. Turned out it was coming from another vat at the end of the block. 

Things that struck us while we walked were, in no particular order: fewer street animals, less western looking structures, the cobbled street and sidewalk, less smog, more small children and young mothers, fewer motorized vehicles and those that existed were more likely to be motor bikes than trucks (including the "song-tuks" as we christened them - the size of song-taows, but pulled by a three-wheeled motor bike (like tuk-tuks) rather than a truck), and bikes were more popular than anything, lots of wood or coal fires, rather than electric things, fewer lights on patios or at vender stands. 

The vats we walked around and others we passed all had what we think were Mara images.  Emily and I couldn't figure out why they would want to build Mara statues, since Mara represents all the worldly vices that the Buddha had to ignore to reach enlightenment and then worked to subdue.  One of the poses of the Buddha is actually called "Subduing Mara." Mara is usually represented by a woman with uber long hair that she's wielding like a whip. These statues were definitely women with whip-like hair, but she didn't look as crazed as Mara usually does. So... I'm not sure if they were or not [Edit - Monday - So apparently they are not Mara images but instead are the Rice Goddess - Mae Phosop (meaning Mother Rice) who is very, very important in Northern Thai and Lao folklore and traditional religion.  Not Mara; Mae (said Mah) Phosop (said Pohso).]

Along with vat vs. wat there are other subtle differences between Thai and Lao.  They're similar enough that whenever people were talking, I felt like I should be able to understand at least something, but I didn't. Here are some English-Thai-Lao comparisons:

Thank you (very much) : Kop khun (mak) kha : Kop jai (lai lai)

Dollar : Baht : Kip

Hello : Sawadee kha : Sa bai dee

How are you : Sa bai dee : I actually don't know this Lao, but notice that "Hello" in Lao is the same as "How are you" in Thai.

The last great adventure of our first day in Laos was going out to dinner at a French/Lao restaurant.  They mostly just served French food, some of it with a Lao twist.  I had the most delicious pumpkin soup, ever. Oh I wish that could be in my life more often. Two of the other people I was traveling with decided to order meats they had never had before - quail for Nikki and lamb for Gen. As we're about halfway through out main dishes and sampling each other's food, Gen asks "What's the difference between lamb and sheep anyway? Is it male and female?" "No. Sheep is the adult and lamb is the baby," I respond. Gen's eye's get wide and her jaw drops as she gets this petrified look on her face.  As we start to ask her if she's okay she says "I just ate a baby animal?!" and starts apologizing to her lamb. Nikki, Holly and I try to calm her down, explaining that lambs live good lives and it's not a baby, persay, just a younger sheep. But she pushes her plate away a little and starts to cry. "I just feel so bad. I'm so guilty I ate a baby."  

My telling of the story is most likely no where near as funny as it was in real life, but as it happened Holly and I were in silent stitches. I have never seen anyone get so upset over food before, and I watched my younger brother freak out over a feed-lot and give up burgers for a month. Gen is such a sweetie. :)

Airports and Delays

I have been up for just over 28 hours. Woo!

We got up extra early this morning to ensure we could make it through any blizzard conditions we encountered on the way to the CR airport. The flight to Chicago went very well, but once in O'Hare, things went downhill. First we were delayed from 12:00 noon to 1:30, then til 6, then 3, then 4:15, but when all was said and done we left the ground at about 6:10. Yuck. So while United did "at least get us to Asia" (to quote our apologetic pilot), we are overnighting in Tokyo instead of Bangkok. I guess we just get an extra adventure out of the deal.

Prof. Drexler promises we'll have a good view tomorrow morning when we leave the hotel and fly to BKK. The Tokyo-Narita airport is essentially in the middle of rice paddies, about 2 hours from Tokyo proper. It sounds gorgeous and we may be able to see more of Japan as well as Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia out of the plane windows if their clear weather holds. Should be exciting!

In about ten more hours, we'll all be in Thailand! :)