2 Months and Feelin Thai!

Hey Everybody!
Love and prayers to you all as well as a HUGE apology for not writing more! I've been busy assimilating and experiencing, learning and teaching, making mistakes and making progress. And now to rattle off all that's happened so far:

School is out for most of the month of October so because my host family works during the week, I go to the public hospital every morning with my host mom who is a hard working nurse then walk through the city to my counselor's house for the day. Within these guidelines, I have also explored the city with friends (very helpful for practicing Thai), learned to make khanom (the general thai word for junk food) and other Thai food, taught some English to Rotary outbound students going abroad next year, edited Rotary YEX application essays, taken a look at my own college apps for next year, and I've started to knit and make pom poms. It may sound boring but this has been a good time for me to really settle down into the Thai lifestyle. I've attended my first birthday party here for a little 5 year old which was special because again I saw how similar people are in their joy even though they are on opposite sides of the world. I am a regular at various markets (and 7-elevens) now and though I still get stares, I feel like I fit in more as I don my new crocs, huge t-shirt, and take the long way to places if it means I'll have more shade. I'm better at crossing the streets (no more close calls with motorbikes!) and I can immediately tell if a food is going to be spicy or not. I may not understand the reason behind certain aspects of Thai culture but now I feel as though I have a handle on what it requires. (Though I do still make mistakes).

My host mom took my host grandma and I about two hours into the mountains to Chaesorn National Park where there are natural hot springs. It was a beautiful area with jungle like scenery interrupted here and there by stretches of green rice paddy. The views of the mountains are also stunning and every so often you can see a temple glittering in the sun on the very peak of one. What adds to the magic is that I have no idea how people get up there. Getting to this national park at a much lower elevation was quite the fiasco! Anyhow, while we were there, we boiled eggs in the springs then bathed in them. fabulous.

I also traveled to Chiang Mai a few times, once to pick up my close friend, Sarah from a 10 day temple meditation intensive that she joined. The intensive included 10+ hours of sitting and walking mediation a day (training your mind to think of nothing), waking up at 4 am every morning, not eating after 12 pm every day, among other interesting rules. She said it was a great experience but at the same time extremely difficult..I opted out of doing it because of this level of intensity and my personal beliefs..but she's amazing and I just had to stick this in my update! People from around the world travel all the way to Thailand for those 10 days. The number of opportunities that we have here at our fingertips is amazing.

I went to a bowling fundraiser in the province of Phitsanolouk one weekend which had an intensity that was pretty comical. Some people had special bowling pants while yours truly probably won the gutter ball contest. Today, I just came home from the RYLA camp which is a leadership camp that Rotary puts on for young people. It ended up being a great time though not quite what I expected. I roomed with 4 other girl with one bed..it's one way to make friends fast! It was for a weekend and we did all kinds of funky activities from 6 am meditation (walking in a circle in the wet buggy grass), to face painting, to some pretty sensual performances (the extreme modesty plus this stuff gets confusing), to very interesting movies on the some of Thailand's social issues. I ended up making a lot of new Thai friends, doing a skit with one of my friends, and choreographing a dance that all of us exchange students did to "Don't Stop Believing." Just like always, there were precious moments as well as hilarious ones. Many of the kids were crying on the last day even though it only went from Friday to Sunday...it's just a special camp with pure crazy fun activities (which we take for granted) that many children don't often get to experience otherwise.

I've had some ups and downs with my host family but on my part it's all about assimilating to the culture, dealing with more responsibility, and adopting a different lifestyle. I truly appreciate all that they've done for me and I will miss them as I will probably change host families in November. I can't believe how time has flown! Another student from Mexico has been staying with me for the past couple of days and I just have to shout out to her and the rest of the students in my district. We all share so much..joy, craziness, and pain. I've really made friends for life as well as hilarious stories. We are keeping a book of these that you'll be seeing when I come home! Tomorrow, I embark on my district's Northern Trip for 9 days with all of the students. I'll be sure to let you know all about it when I'm back..I'm still exhausted from RYLA but more excited than anything. XOXO. Emily