Well I officially have only 9 days left here in Thailand. I am happy to report that the last few days have been extra pleasant. We got two new volunteers. Amanda, technically from California, but came from living in New York for the past 6 years. She is getting ready to go to law school after this. Then there is another Kelsey, of course! She is from Alabama, of all places. We all went into the city on Tuesday and bonded and now we all get along great! We can laugh and be silly together, but we also have a lot of intelligent conversations. It is wonderful to be surrounded by like-minded people with similar interests and feminist mindsets!
The next few days, and my last few days, we will spend doing activities with the girls and that sort of thing. On Monday I am going to finally live my dream and ride an elephant!!!! It will be wonderful! I was able to find a place that actually treats the elephants right and doesn't abuse or exploit them, or so that is what I was led to believe. There's not much else really. I am working on making a short video for COSA to use on their website or wherever they'd like. So I will be sure to post it so you all can see.
That's about it! Miss you all! Be back in 9 days! :)
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Wild Monkeys and Tiny Shorts
Well, I officially have two weeks left here! I can't believe it! Two weeks seems like a lot, but it also seems like a little. I am missing my family and friends incredibly so I will be happy to get back to them. However, I will miss the Thai people and culture ridiculously as well. I've done just about everything I want to do while I'm here. The only thing left is to ride an elephant, and I surely won't leave without that being done!
It's amazing what traveling does to a person. So many things in my life became so clear once I flew a couple thousand miles away. It's definitely an emotional roller coaster. For example:
The other day when I was still in Krabi I took a walk... a longggg walk. I'm amazed I walked as far as I did actually. I was walking to these huge rock like things that I saw in the distance. then after awhile I found this nature path, which I continued to follow and walk for a longgg time more. At the end of this path I found a river and I decided to sit and just enjoy it. After sitting by myself at this river for about 5-10 minutes out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. Guess what it was?! WILD MONKEYS! It was so incredible. Monkeys with their babies on their backs. It's cool to see monkeys at the zoo, sure, but seeing monkeys in their natural habitat at the most unexpected time is really something I can't explain. I felt so privileged to be there. I felt like that experience told me a lot about my life as well (but that is another subject). Anyways, after that I was on this incredible high. I then took my longggg walk back to the hostel I was staying at. In Thailand many people stare at the Farangs because we are strange to them I guess. But as I was walking down the street they must have thought me incredibly strange because I was boppin my head and belting out Isreal houghton and Jimmy Needham songs. It was surely a sight to see.
On another note, the next day I had to spend about 7 hours in the airport. My mood, in the best way I can describe it, was "grumpy gills." Yes, that was me. Everyone in the airport seemed to bother me for some reason or another. The Thai couple that chose to sit on opposite sides of me and hold their conversation across me as I was trying to read The children crying over someone eating their chips (and way past the age to be crying over that), or the farangs that had no respect for thai culture and it's modesty walking around the airport in tiny shorts and spaghetti straps. I was very unhappy to say the least.
I say these things with a point. Traveling truly does evoke a wide range of emotions. I go back and forth, but in the end all the highs outweigh the lows. And all the positive experiences outweight the negative ones. In the end, every emotion, experience, hard time, whatever... it's all worth it.
It's amazing what traveling does to a person. So many things in my life became so clear once I flew a couple thousand miles away. It's definitely an emotional roller coaster. For example:
The other day when I was still in Krabi I took a walk... a longggg walk. I'm amazed I walked as far as I did actually. I was walking to these huge rock like things that I saw in the distance. then after awhile I found this nature path, which I continued to follow and walk for a longgg time more. At the end of this path I found a river and I decided to sit and just enjoy it. After sitting by myself at this river for about 5-10 minutes out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. Guess what it was?! WILD MONKEYS! It was so incredible. Monkeys with their babies on their backs. It's cool to see monkeys at the zoo, sure, but seeing monkeys in their natural habitat at the most unexpected time is really something I can't explain. I felt so privileged to be there. I felt like that experience told me a lot about my life as well (but that is another subject). Anyways, after that I was on this incredible high. I then took my longggg walk back to the hostel I was staying at. In Thailand many people stare at the Farangs because we are strange to them I guess. But as I was walking down the street they must have thought me incredibly strange because I was boppin my head and belting out Isreal houghton and Jimmy Needham songs. It was surely a sight to see.
On another note, the next day I had to spend about 7 hours in the airport. My mood, in the best way I can describe it, was "grumpy gills." Yes, that was me. Everyone in the airport seemed to bother me for some reason or another. The Thai couple that chose to sit on opposite sides of me and hold their conversation across me as I was trying to read The children crying over someone eating their chips (and way past the age to be crying over that), or the farangs that had no respect for thai culture and it's modesty walking around the airport in tiny shorts and spaghetti straps. I was very unhappy to say the least.
I say these things with a point. Traveling truly does evoke a wide range of emotions. I go back and forth, but in the end all the highs outweigh the lows. And all the positive experiences outweight the negative ones. In the end, every emotion, experience, hard time, whatever... it's all worth it.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Koh Phi Phi = Not For Me!
The next day I went on an all day snorkeling trip and tour of the islands. It was awesome. I saw such beautiful things and got to swim up and close with the fishes! My kinda thing!
Now, here's the twist! I found myself literally sitting in paradise and thinking GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!
Here's the thing. At night Koh Phi Phi turned into what I would like to describe as a stereotypical frat boy's paradise! All over the island are these little shops to help you set up tours and adventures for the day. At about 8pm on my second night I was walking back from having dinner and I realized that all these tour shops had closed, but instead they set up tables in front selling BUCKETS of alcohol! Oh yeah, did I forget to mention, that was the thing, not drinks of alcohol... buckets. I'm not exaggerating either, that is how they were advertised. "3-4-1 Buckets!" It was all kind of sickening. Plus on top of it all I was staying in a 16 bed dorm room hostel. So all the people in my room just wanted to party and didn't go out until midnight, so it made for sleeping somewhat difficult!
Anyways, after 2 nights of that, despite the beautifulness I just had to leave. Now, I am in Krabi. Another beach, but this is not an island so I am staying in the city part of town. I was incredibly happy once I arrived. The hostel I am staying at is the same price as the awful one I was at in Phi Phi but it is wonderful! The beds are comfy, there is AC and hot showers and nice hang out spots! I never realized how much a little bit of comfort can change your mood! I explored the city a little bit last night, but not too much cause it was raining. I love it here so much more. I already met lots of people. When I was exploring I met some women Pow, Barbara, and Da. Then getting back to my room I met Laura, Rebecca, and Neddly. I think people are friendlier here... it's nice!
Well I'm off to explore and get some breakfast! I hope everyone is doing wonderfully! Miss you all!
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