Back to Reality

Today was Monday here in Chiang Mai, which means we’re “back” at orientation. Now, I say “back” with the quotations because, as you know from my previous messages, we did not get a proper weekend or even one truly free day. To be sure, yesterday was loads of fun and I had a wonderful time doing all the touristy things, but even when it’s been fun, there is something about the fact that it wasn’t just your choice that brings the whole thing down a little (in the sense that we didn’t get a free weekend, or perhaps that is the residual pain from the forced hike talking now…). But now, we’re back at work at Uniserv. This morning I started the day with a lemon soda (which is actually made with limes and is actually limeade rather than a soda) from a little coffee/tea shop across the street from our Res called Zane’s. The beautiful thing about lemon soda is that they make it all in front of you, squeeze the limes, add the sugar water, ice it, pick out the seeds, etc. It is definitely worth the 40 Baht price and I will continue to buy them as they are a wonderfully refreshing drink in this sauna called Thailand.

In orientation we did a lot of exercises today on international law, NGO “speak,” and fundraising. We mostly learned about it through group games and exercise and while I did learn a lot I think I would have learned more through a lecture presenting the material in a calm, reasonable manner. We have been told over and over again that only 5% of the information heard in lectures is retained, but I often wonder if that is not so low a retention rate for law students. We have been trained, really from our first day of school, to learn information through lectures, and that practice of teaching cannot be seen in any better place than in law school where all the information the professor wants the student to retain is mentioned and briefed in class in the lecture format. Therefore, I can’t help but think that lecture would be a viable method of teaching us. However, games are more often used here at BABSEA orientation. While they are fun and I will admit that they stick in my memory, I often don’t remember answers to questions I didn’t know beforehand, which means that I am don’t often learn those items that I didn’t already know. I suppose I could always review the information again since they often e-mail it to us later, but I find myself too tired at night and the spotty internet connection here means I don’t often receive them for a long time. Oh, well.

I mentioned to Dad earlier (when I talked to my parents on the phone) that today was boring, but on reflection, I now realize that I wasn’t giving the day enough credit. As I mentioned, the games in orientation were fun. The reason it seemed boring at times was actually the result of all of us being tired from the very busy 7 days we had just put in with no break. But we actually did have some fun today… during one of the game sets our teams were given points and scores with negative marks for wrong answers. The result of those negative marks was the eating of a fried silk worm by a member of our group. Well…I ate one! While only one person needed to “take one for the team,” I thought: this isn’t an experience I should forgo just because it seems like it should be gross. So, I took the plunge, popped one in my mouth, and *crunch*. The taste with the worms isn’t what gets to you, because, really, there isn’t a great deal of flavor. No, it is the texture. The first crunch is fine, but as you go to swallow once the chewing is finished a small coating of debris (there really is no better word to describe it) is left in your mouth, coating everywhere the worm touched. No amount of successive swallowing will clear the way. The only way to get rid of it all is to drink a large glass of water with plenty of swishing. However, that fact does explain why our local Thai volunteers (there are 3-4 young Thai people who volunteer for BABSEA) said they go great with alcohol. :) Eating a silk worm or two would definitely be a good excuse to take a drink!

Our lunch today was delicious, a return to The Salad Concept, the amazing salad place we ate at for lunch a few days ago. I had the same lunch salad I ordered the last time (Organic Tofu Salad); although this time I ate it all by myself. We had a fun time chatting and laughing and then returned to our orientation. We got out around 5 pm and had to run some errands, which were about as exciting as they sound: dropping off laundry and grocery shopping. After that, we walked to the BABSEA house for Thai language lessons, which was actually pretty fun as it started raining as we walked (although by Thai standards it was barely a sprinkle). For dinner after our lessons we went again to the small restaurant around the corner from the house, what we have named The Garden, where I ordered pad see ew and stuffed myself on my favorite dish once again (not quite as good as the other place, but good all the same). I am happy to report at this time that I have officially finished my first week in Thailand and have suffered no ill tummy effects! Woo-hoo! I’m sure it’s from all of your good wishes, so keep it up because I would like to go this entire trip without a major stomach (or other type of) calamity.

Some Special Notes-
1. We are now experiencing a day-to-day alert curfew (simply until all the “red shirts” are out of Bangkok and back home in their original provinces), which started at 11 pm tonight.
2. My internet connection is terrible, which is why I haven’t uploaded any new photos tonight or yesterday (but I promise they are coming and they are fantastic!).
3. The next three days should be interesting for us all. As a new “challenge” to us interns, for the next three days BABSEA requires us to live on $1 (US)/day for all of our primary living expenses (basically travel and food/drink, not living expenses). This means that on each day we have 32 Baht to spend and no more. I’m sure this exercise is meant to make us feel how it would feel to be a person (1/5 in the world) who lives below the poverty line (which is judged by the UN as $1/day to live on), however, I have a few reservations with the assignment. Firstly, an individual who lives on that amount of money would not be living in this area because $1/day would not allow him/her to afford these apartments with the TVs, air conditioning units, and hot water for showers. This means that they certainly would not be able to afford the food we can find within walking distance as the entire area would exceed their income (or lack thereof). Secondly, this project wastes my Thai food time. I am now relegated to eating plain rice or pooling my resources with others and buying raw food, walking to BABSEA house to cook at night (for leftovers too), cooking, eating, then walking home. (I would not be able to afford a red truck, so walking would be rule of the day.) Thus, I cannot go out to try all these amazing restaurants and experience all the delicious Thai food I have yet to eat. Three eating days wasted when I only have a limited amount of time left in Thailand. Thirdly, I had planned a lot of sightseeing in the afternoon after we were freed from the orientation, including a visit to the weekly night bazaars in the old city (need a 20 Baht red truck to get there), shops and things in the old city, and restaurants all around Chiang Mai, all of which are now out by our new rule. I feel very upset about the loss of our time and ability to act as tourists and visitors during the only time left to us by the long days of orientation.
4. I love Thailand and am so happy to be here. I am excited that I will be able to do some more exploring soon (we do get the upcoming Saturday off), but I also can’t wait to move on to Laos and explore that city fully during the time I am there and to reconnect with the Laos people I got to know over the last week who left yesterday for home, but who we will meet up with again soon (Chinda and Lamnleugn).
5. I hope you are all still enjoying your vicarious travels through Thailand. In spirit you are all here, but if you want a firmer connection…don’t forget to send me your summer address if you want a postcard from Thailand! I have some ready to go!