I'm officially in Thailand. Surrounded by 5 of my falang (foreign) friends. And outside motorbikes and soipthau taxis are going by.
Me and 13 other students are staying at a guesthouse in Chaing Mai, Thailand. And I'm sharing a room with 2 other ladies, Ana who grew up in Santa Cruz and goes to UCSB, and Chris a MA student from NY who ius 38 and married. Both are great, and I love talking to Chris about her marriage and young lifestyle, because honestly she has the young of a 28 year old outside and in.
So far we have gone out into the forest and studied how the forest is affected (forever) by deforestation, because basically once you remove the trees the soil degrades to a level that will no longer support anything but grass naturally and is very fire prone. But we also saw and learned how people have reafforested these areas... so all hope is not lost. Although all the animals are.
Less than 40 years ago, these park and area housed leopards, wild elephant, deer, monkeys... now the habit was pushed back to so little that there are no more big game. None. In 20 years of research our teacher has only seen one monkey... and no one has seen the others animals for decades.
Goes to show we can't always make up for our mistakes.
I am most excited about learning about Buddhism and going to the temples. Seeing the monks walk by around town in their orange robe fills me with awe. One of our professors is Thai and I have talked to her a lot about it. She recommended some places for me to go study and live at (for like a week or so) with the monks. She also gave me a book to read... I am so fascinated.
So far I am surprised how developed this place is. Even in the mts, the road is in perfect condition and even young teens have motorcycles. It is mostly clean, although there is some trash. Lots of cheap (sweatshop? Chinese?) goods are on the streets. And food everywhere is cheap and good. Sooo good. A roy mahk actually.
Which brings me to say that we have a very good Thai language teacher and the language is actually fairly easy.. especially for those good at languages, which I am not, but theres at least hope.
So far the weirdest thing for me has been being in a large group. We haven't wantesd to really break up and have been exploring and going out as a whole group of 14, which makes simple decisions like where to eat, which road to take, or whether to walk or take a taxi very laborious. We have a past student as a sort of TA and she has been our guide. Oh the patience of that girl.
One downfall of being in such a group is it is difficult to really "get in" with a Thai crowd, although we have done our fair share of talking to people. Including a lead singer of a Thai reggae band that did Bob Marley cover songs. But I do want to explore places by myself (especially because it is so safe).. but I'm waiting so that it doesn't look like i am pushing away the group.
I'm covered in dirt from hanging off the back of the taxi and need to take a shower before we go to the night market or out to eat... so more later.
Sa wa dii kah (greetings n goodby)
