I guess if Sylvia Earl says so...

After living on the coast for 8 days we made our way to Koh Lipe, a very beautiful island infested with tourists. Did I mention we made our way via personal ferry? ISDSI hooks it up. Although I could also blame them for the awful sea sickness I had the entire 5 hour ride due to writing an essay for the first hour....
We spent two days on Koh Lipe, taking a break for the most part...enjoying the beaches and lounging in bungalows. But it was also the place we used to compare the rest of the island we would be visiting, Koh Adang and Koh Rawi, both of which were practically untouched, at least in comparison and are protected by the National Park. We had to get special permission to camp on their beaches...Again..ISDSI hoooks it upppp.
So there we were. 16 students in bright orange kayaks, making our way through the turquoise waters, on our way to camp on beautiful beaches and snorkel all day. Little did we know we were about to see the last rays of light for several days.
It's true. It rained and it rained...it was cloudy. It was wet. It was...in my opinion a ton of fun. Sure we missed out on some snorkeling, but hey...I got to body surf in the most massive waves I have ever seen. There is no similar feeling as riding on top of a white cap, until the end when it feels similar to what I imagine it would be like to go through the washing machine. I wouldn't have traded it for the world.
And playing frisbee right before high tide, when I would go to pick up the disc, look up, and see a wall of water that was definitely not there a second before. Delightfully drenched.
OR walking on the shore at high tide, feeling the power of the tide trying to pull you away, bring you with her, take you prisoner...I felt at several times like I was in a movie, at this point Narnia.
Then, finally the sun got sick of hiding and came out to play. Time to move camp to the next island while we have the chance. Of course it took us at least 3 times as long as it should have to pack up camp, due not only to the fact that everyone was discovering molding possessions but also...we just wanted to enjoy some warmth. Well we should have known to move quickly in case the clouds got sick of sharing the sky...by the time we had to load the boats with our gear the storm was moving back in. Waves fought us back, trying to prolong our stay on its shores, but with our camp already packed up we had no choice but to push forward. Chaos ensued as we attempted to get off the shore as fast as possible, and finally there we were a little cluster of orange probably looking rather pathetic in the midst of the massive dark waters, choppy with rain. I looked back and was surprised not to see dinosaurs crawling through the primitive looking island, heavy with mist. Goodbye Narnia, hello Jurassic Park.
It was actually pretty exhilarating, feeling as though we had to paddle with all our strength, to get to our destination before the storm got worse, in case we got stranded somewhere. Luckily by the time we got to Koh Rawi, it was sunny again and stayed that way the last few days, allowing us some perfect snorkeling opportunities in which I saw sting rays, eels, a scorpion fish, some nemos and dories, and sssssssssoooooo much more. Oh and some monkeys, on koh pung!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the sea by the sea by the beautiful sea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6PGxLLkCXg

Expedition 3- Oceans

Day 1&2- overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok- arrive and go straight to Jatujak market.

Jatujak: Somehow this market has everything you could possibly want to buy and then a lot of things I think no one should ever ever desire to, let alone actually purchase. Some examples. - I bought a water proof bright orange and blue backpack. Sensible, cute, and as I will explain later...extremely vital for later in my trip. A bamboo mat that folds up for easy transport, perfect for keeping items sand free on the beach. Shirts with misspelled or just simply mistranslated English ("Don't make sexy in the garden")- providing great entertainment and souvenirs. Okay so maybe that last one could go in the second category, but there were far worse things to buy, such as sedated squirrels that were glassy eyed and breathing heavily in their cages. Overall though it was just enormous and filled with everything from second hand clothing to endangered marine life and I had a blast exploring and bargaining all day, until we had to catch the 2nd overnight train to Trang province down south.

Day 3- Arrive at Hat Jao Mai
We stayed for around 8 days with a muslim community, living with a host family and taking trips around to learn about the area and how the people on the coast interact with their marine resources- mostly food (fish, crab, squid etc.) and then mangroves, which they have been struggling to protect because of all the help they provide to keep the area ecologically healthy.
Some things I did
- Went fishing with my neighbor and 2 other students and caught over 50 fish. I personally went back and forth between "Tok blah geng"- really good at fishing, and "Mai geng" Really really awful several times throughout the one trip. I caught some big fish sometimes two at a time, but somehow managed to tangle my fishing line more often than successfully casting.

-Swam with dolphins. No joke. Maybe 6 or 7, there were actually two groups of them swimming by our two boats and we stopped and jumped out, then got back in followed them for another half hour. Glorious.

-Went to a talent show and watched some prepubescent boys shake their asses better than I can, while wearing tutus or hula hooping.

-Danced on a stage with over 50 Thai people and at least a dozen other fellow students until we were covered in sweat and the power went out. Probably good timing, the stage was shaking so vigorously I feared for my life. BUT SO FUN.

- Got dressed up as muslim barbie. pretty literally. Bright pink traditional dress. Bright orange head scarf. Make up Make up Make up. And bright pink knock off Ray bans for an added pop. Everyone found this quite amusing. We took so many pictures it was hard to adjust to using other face muscles to eat my dinner. Everyone looked so great though. after dinner we exchanged thanks with our host mothers in front of the group and laughed/cried/said goodbyes.

This is exhausting so I'm going to write more later,
I'm getting home sick so write me some love somehow if you have time

k08aw03@kzoo.edu

sawasdee bee mai ! (Happy new year)

Keekahoooooo

Ya samoonply:herbal medicines
Life: Rice and mountains
Huay Tong Kaw: Oh how I miss thee
The light streaming in through the ceiling made of "tong kaw": how the village got its name
On top of Doi Pui: the tallest mountain in Huay Puling district


LIMBO





Take a trip with me

We'll start in the back of a pickup truck, 5 eager students bounce up and down as they wind their way up and through mountain after mountain. Into the heart of the forest, hours away from telephone service and junk mail. Miles away from paved roads and traffic jams. Worlds away from the city life your accustomed to.

Now you've arrived at Huay Tong Kaw. Greeted by your smiling Moogas and Pawtees (aunts and uncles) A village with a vibrant and close knit Karen tribe community eager to share their culture, their time, and more than a few laughs with their new children. Don't worry, it takes no time to get accustomed to life in the mountains. Waking up to the chickens, a not entirely welcomed personal serenade welcoming you to join your family around the fire...which is providing the only heat and light as the sun has yet to be awakened by the poultry choir. A couple hours of slowly and steadily cooking eggs, pumpkin, and peppersauce (always accompanied with rice of course) all the while singing songs in bawkenyaw, a way for mooga napal to simultaneously teach and poke fun at her silly foreign children. All the while Pawtee Sakoo scurries about busily, making bamboo cups, feeding the pigs that grumble hungrily underneath the tree house-esque, stilted bamboo fortress where you are residing.

Don't get too comfortable though, as soon as you've finished your delicious fill of neverending rice its off to the Rai/Na/...Rice field. A half hour walk of bumbling to keep up after 70 year old pawtees while trying to soak in the view, by the time you arrive somehow your moogas have already started working (Wasn't she still at the house when you left?) and your breath is already gone- taken away by the vastness of your families land amid the surrounding peaked landscape...a field of food..several families sustenance surrounded by wilderness.

But now is not the time to be out of breath, it's time to work. 4 hours of struggling to keep up with these beasts and you'll never take rice for granted again. They have the triple f's down to a bowing t- fun, fast, and fficient- so efficient they don't need the e. It becomes a beautiful rythym, cutting bunches with a sickle, tying the bundles with a clump of dried husks without sacrificing any grains (this step a swift dancing twist of the hand and husks for the teachers- a slow tangle of limb and lumps for the struggling student).

Don't worry, a break is in store...a trip to the "sabai shack" for lunch. Todays menu: More rice! With a side of more pumpkin, another type of equally deliciously spicy pepper sauce and upon special request: Zoo. A bawkenya delicacy. Commonly known to foreigners as wild rat. Freshly skewered and roasted personally by Pawtee Papu and cooked specially in front of your eyes right in the sabai shack itself. If that's not guaranteed freshness I don't know what is.

An hour of lounging, laughing, and licking your bowls clean and you'll be sent off with your pawtees, helping them carry 10 foot bamboo poles back home for several uses: making cups, baskets, floor repair, pipes, "thai twist ties"...and a variety of other creative and effective things. You can't help but be left in awe of their handiness.

The days pass in a flash, blurring into one big scene. A scene that leaves you with the feeling of laughing so hard your eyes are filling with tears, your side in the best kind of cramping pain as you remember playing limbo with the locals, laughing hysterically at your mooga as she continues her attempts to embarrass you by telling all the pawtees that you like to "Kee-ka-hoooo" (Shake your butt; synonymous with being promiscuous). Who knew you'd be paired with a woman whose quirkiness rivals your own. The scene leaves your head spinning as you try to hold on to everything you've learned. weaving baskets, weaving clothes, setting looms, spinning thread, dying thread from barks and fruits, blacksmithing, herbal medicines, traditional songs...each local teacher an unending source of knowledge and friendliness.

No time to get comfortable though. Pack up your belongings, it shouldn't' take long. It all fits into one large bag. Sling it over your shoulder. Let it get to know your back...they'll soon be best friends..they have quite a bit of time to get to know each other over the course of two weeks. Put on your quick dry clothing, your name brand boots and gear. It's time to get a little dirty and a lot wet- a combination of river crossings and intense sweating, an inevitable consequence of hiking through forests and up mountains.

At the time it will feel like the day will never end. With each peak you reach there is another in sight. Your legs may scream and your feet blister, but most of the time it's hard to think about anything other than the enormity of the trunks surrounding you, sprouting roots bigger than most trees you've ever seen. The variety and lushness of the forests. The clarity of the river. The overwhelming aura of pure wilderness. No time to want the pain to end if it means the beauty will be gone too.

But eventually you make it, everyone in tact though thoroughly exhausted and overwhelmed. Don't think you get a break though, in a short half hour your whisked off to the next family. The next adventure. The deaf grandma who works harder than most healthy boys your age, Take a trip with me


When you first meet this woman she'll have a basket on her back strapped to her forehead for balance. This basket probably weighs as much as she does, full to the brim of veggies from the farm. Within 5 minutes she'll spot a chicken climbing up the stairs and proceeded to grab a nearby machete and chuck it with surprising accuracy straight across the house at the aformentioned poultry. Don't worry she's just trying to scare it away. This woman is such a boss and you'll aspire to be just like her someday.

Hike after hike, family after family, as you go you'll get closer to the city. Closer to the end of your trip. Closer to missing all these experiences and people. Closer to understanding a complicated issue of people living among the resources of forests that are trying to be preserved by several actors, all who view the same land through a different lens.

Closer to Chiang Mai, closer to February when I'll be returning to all of you. It's bittersweet. Bitter and sweet. But don't worry... I'm only tasting the sugar on my tongue.

videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGEIez1CDAg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr5UtLZ_rj4

Sometimes you just need toast

Hiking to a village: W.O.W
Organic Farmers market "JJ": We helped our Maes and Paws sell what we helped harvest
Wat in the mountains: worth the walk
Kids at one of the palang villages: So. Cute.

So I guess I have a lot of updating to do.

I returned to civilization on Wednesday afternoon after 3 weeks of bliss. Back to the big city of Chiang Mai.
I think my school is trying to kill us with culture shock.

From the aroma of countryside to the stench of the city.
The sweet smell of manure to the sour smell of dirty streets.
From the endless chirpings of chingree (crickets) to the blaring bars and car horns

But I must admit It’s nice to get some internet access
And have a break from eating sticky rice (which was throwing my digestive system for a loop)
And have a chance to reconnect with everyone (I had my first bout of home sickness 2 weeks into the expedition)

Surprisingly though I didn’t really miss a lot of the things I thought I would.
Not having a computer and phone was more of a relief than anything, and I must say I’ve become a fan of the once dreaded and feared squat toilet and wish I had one in my dorm. There’s something about the squatting position that really helps things get moving if you know what I’m saying. Sorry, we like to talk a lot about our bowel movements here in Thailand. On the regular. Especially when we’re regular.

Anywho
3 weeks ago I left for our first field course about Food Systems.
We began the trip in Mae Ta, a rural village North of Chiang Mai. We stayed for 5 days, living with host families learning about their switch from industrial mono-crop farming to polycultural organic farming. This community was beautiful.
From the green land with its abundant fresh/delicious/heavenly/succulent/mouth watering produce to the warm/caring/smiling/considerate/knowledgeable people. Beauty enveloped me and sent me soaring to new heights of happinesss.
In was a good life.Waking up at to the sound of roosters to help Mae cook sticky rice and breakfast. Going to the co-op to meet with community members. Walking by rice paddies and grazing cows, mountains looming majestically in the background. I had a really hard time comprehending that it was indeed real. Helping Mae and Nong Tui (17 year old host sister) harvest peanuts at their farm. Hiking the local watershed. Touring agroforests. Cooking dinner, at least 70% from straight from the farm. Every day was filled with adventure and laughter, but my favorite part was just hanging out with my family.

Being able to communicate was such a huge boost in confidence for me. It hadn’t really sunk in yet that I had actually learned enough Thai to not just get by, but talk about so much and to joke (my family way so funny, especially my Paw). They had to literally pry me from my host family the day I had to say goodbye. At 4 am. On a Saturday. To go help sell produce with some of the Mae Ta farmers at an organic market. Sanook maaaak (So fun)

Then school again hit us up with some culture shock. A trip to Tesco, a grocery store equivalent to Meijers in the U.S. It was so weird. It felt so sterile, and kinda gross. We had to compare the prices, atmosphere, customers, etc. of the organic market and the big grocery store. Mai sanook (not fun)
Then just to keep with the theme of never letting us get too comfortable with one atmosphere they took us to the Nest. A posh tropical resort in Chiang Dow. Wow.

From there we met up and stayed at an NGO even further north in Mae Ai. UHDP-Upland Holistic Development Project. Basically they are working with villages of marginalized hill tribes to help them gain access to citizenship and land while also training the village members to do a variety of projects such as plant backyard gardens and raise livestock or other forms of protein. We visited about 5 of these villages.
We talked with their headmen and played with their children, helped the women dish out dinner, were performed to and performed for children around a bonfire,slept under their mosquito nets and took showers in ceilingless room on stilts under the stars, stayed up late learning palang vocabulary with the cultural guru who laughed harder than anyone I’ve met in Thailand. I loved every second of it. The more people I meet here, the more beauty I see.

At UHDP itself we learned how to make organic pesticide and compost. How to cook using bamboo and banana leaves. How to measure biodiversity the way the pros do it, getting all up in that dirt, classifying understory and overstory, measuring wind and temperature. We played a lot of soccer and a lot of pranks (we lived camp style: bunk beds, separated by gender, boys vs. girls) We did a lot of stretch circles (sound effects included) and ate a lot of peanut butter. Again, it was a hard place to leave.

There are a million stories and a million pictures but there's an overview of my life the past month.
Today I'm off to the queen's botanical gardens which is supposed to be stunningly beautiful.
Thailand is about to start cool season which means I can stop sweating through everything I own.
I think I know where I'm doing my internship in the fall and I'm trying to get a bartending job in Chiang Mai while I do it.

More to come.
Yuh Ah-Nuh (I love you in Kahren, a hilltribe dialect, sounds like someone grunts and then says my name hahahah)

Pringles! Thai Style: not pictured- soft shell crab and seaweed

Veiw of Chiang Mai from the hike: zoom a few thousand times and you'll find ISDSI

At the forest temple: Sabai Sabai...relaxed, harmonious with life, all is well

Some of the group in front of the Wat Doi Suthep stairs: (notice the Yesterdog shirt.Reppin)
Pure surprise: Farang and Chang bff for life
One of my favorite fruits: impossible to pronounce/write...Nghaugh? It's all in the throat

Yesterday my host family brought me to Duke's. It's an Italian restaurant, Farang style: individual ordered meals rather than shared Thai style of mix and match dishes and hodge podge grabbing, Menu written strictly in English and naturally overpriced. "I bring you here so you feel like you in you're Michigan." Awww, thanks Kun Mae. At first I was kind of bummed, I love Thai food and don't like them spending unnecessary large sums of money on me... but once the food came it was nice to eat some things I haven't seen in a month. I have been craving pizza and mashed potatoes both of which were welcomed by my taste buds, happy to be reunited with their long lost friends cheese and potato.

Before the food came out my Mae pulled out four Tupperware containers. Fruit! She must have known that she wasn't going to like the salad dressing I would choose (I don't think they would have liked any of the choices actually, they like something similar to mayo smothered on their salads...) and of course once the food came we simply ate Thai style anyway: all plates in the middle, a flurry of knives, forks, hands...and ketchup. Ketchup by the bottle. I kid you not we went through 2 whole medium sized, glass Heinz ketchup bottles. They may not have been completely full but we had to grab a third bottle from another table, so I stick by my estimate of TWO complete bottles. My family loves the stuff especially my little brother who had to swim through the pool of red on his plate to find the crust of his pizza at the bottom. "Would you like any pizza with your ketchup?"

After lunch we went shopping for my dinner party. It's my last weekend :( because next Saturday we move into dorms. Therefore, it's the time to do it big. We made Suki! Basically we have these tables at our house that have 4 hot plates built in, one in front of each seat. We had a bowl of boiling water, into which we added whatever we desired. A cornucopia of vegetables, a plethora of thinly stripped meat, seafood aplenty: shrimp, fresh fish, crab meat. And a rainbow of unidentified processed thingamabobs. Star shaped, cat shaped, fish shaped doohikeys...pink and white in color (My best guess: fish "balls") circles, squares, the occasional dumbell shaped shmooshma, usually tan in color on the outside, sometimes flecks of unnatural green, red, orange, neon yellow on the inside...I think you get the picture. I was braving the unknown. No worries, I love adventure. On second thought, I don't think I explained the full extent of options I was given. There was also eggs, jelly noodles, several tofu options, green sauce, red sauce, cilantro, garlic, crispy pork wafers, chili paste....I actually really didn't know what to do with myself when I first saw it all. I kind of waited around until my Kun Mae started to plop things into my bowl and then just watched and learned. Sanook Sanook Sanook (fun). Rroan rroan rroan (HOT) Soon my broth got a little saltier as I began to sweat profusely due to spiciness and excessive steam. A few trips to the kitchen for some ice and all was well.

Writing this is making me realize how much I'm going to miss my family, they are so much fun and have made my home stay experience better than I could have ever expected. I was actually pretty nervous and was prepared to feel awkward and crave contact with my American friends for 5 weeks. I was proved wrong in all respects and feel more connected to my new home than I thought was possible to feel after such a short amount of time. It's nice to know that I have a safe and welcoming place on two opposite sides of the world. My Mae has already told me I have to go out to eat with her for the festival in November and told me next year to come back with my mother and "No need for hotel, you stay with me." This Thursday is the host family dinner party hosted by ISDSI, I hope I don't cry.

OHHHHH Duuuh. I mean Doi. I forget to write about Doi Suthep hike on Friday. Holy Holy cow. I mean Holy Wat. I mean holy temple. After hiking 1 mile straight up a mountain...Not exaggerating it took 2 hours and was full of exciting obstacles such as fallen trees, streams, rocks, vines, the occasional passed out student (j/k)...we reached Wat Doi Suthep. The second most famous Wat in all of Chiang Mai. We changed out of our sweaty hiking clothes and into our culturally appropriate wat-wear and proceded to walk up 300 stairs with beautiful undulating dragons escorting us on either side. Just what our legs needed. Ha. It was pretty touristy and pretty pretty. There was an amazing view which quenched my thirst for wide open space and beautiful carvings and Buddhas aplenty.

The hike itself was a chance to realize the extent of the diversity of wildlife sustained by a tropical climate. We hiked through 4 different types of forests the names of which I promptly forgot and saw literally thousands of different plants. A monkey was spotted, I saw a big grandpa turtle, so many beautiful butterflies (of course, my spirit animal follows me even in Thailand) dragonflies, and huge bugs I would rather stay away from. Several waterfalls, a lunch packed in banana leaves, a long, thoughtful stroll through a smaller forest temple halfway up the mountain...Just another day at school.

:)

I can't believe it's already been a month. Time is flying and I love every second.

I'll leave you with a great Thai joke I heard.
Preface: another word that makes more sense to me in Thai than English. The word for a bad smell is men. Stinky men. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, I can remember than one and thank goodness no weird faces, tones, or tongue tricks accompany it.

"Which bathroom smells worse men's or women's?"
"Women's because there is Woooo-men" (imagine with someone emphasizing the wooo and fanning their nose, maybe it’s a hard one to get across via the internet. Remind me to tell you sometime…

Oof. Fail.

Until next time...
Sabai Sabai

AA...Alcoholics Annannamous

DK with the groups fave drink, Hong Thong: Cheers, we made it to Thailand

Max and I sampling the local...cuisine?: nom nom nom...don't worry, not enough to blah ;)

Today I learned that Lohw means whiskey in Thai.

This would explain why my sisters laughed so hard at me the first night ofmy Host Stay when I proclaimed loudly and proudly, several times..."Imm lohw imm lohw"....I'm full of whiskey.

I was trying to say Imm layo....I'm full already.

This explains a lot. No wonder they hide all the alcohol in the house.

Anna Witte- queen of all first impressions.