Interesting Times

It is a truth universally acknowledged...that we live in interesting times. And that statement (a bastardization of a couple great literary quotes to be sure) could not be seen any clearer than here in Thailand. My life has gotten so interesting lately (which shouldn't really be surprising considering the fact that I am residing in a foreign country for the summer). Today was a good day, but certainly a day with ups and downs. We started off as we have done the last two days. Wow, I've only been here for three days (and the first day I had just flown in), but it feels like I've been here forever. We got up a little later today since we didn't have Yoga (that is scheduled for every other day) and got to class at 9 am.

The day was much like the other three, with strange orientation games and lessons. Today was a little different in that we had to give a group presentation on a lesson plan we were supposed to create based on a topic given to us yesterday. We were put into groups of four, which is fine, except for the people I was placed with. The first is a guy named Jerry (asian of some persuasion) who is not part of the legal internship program and introduced himself to the group as an individual not interested in the law and one who thinks the law is stupid. Not a good way to start a partnership. The second guy is Spencer who had just arrived in Chiang Mai and was completely jet lagged. The third member is Chinda, who is from Laos and also not a law student, but a member of the group I will be working for this summer, VFI. She speaks English fairly well and only struggles with the larger words and sometimes getting her concepts completely across. So, that was my group. Now, we did split up the work yesterday (which I mentioned in my last blog), and met earlier in the morning to cement our lesson plan that we would present. Well...our group had to go first and it did not go well. We were...well...the only word for it is: massacred. We were put down because we didn't use the "interactive teaching methods" we were talking about while presenting, our stuff was not specific enough, I took over too much, etc. Basically, it was a 45 minute slaughter of everything we had done. Which was really unfair considering his directions consisted of, "This is your topic, you have all the tools you need, go." That is not really much of a system of rules. In any event, that was horrible and I hope never to experience it again. The trick is obviously to never go first here (the other groups didn't get nearly as much attention [since they used all the time on us] and were able to learn from our commentary [aka decimation]). In any event that is now over and while we have to do another assignment for tomorrow Chinda and I have fully prepped and are ready to come back and blow them all away! ;)

As that horrible event took much longer than was scheduled in our agenda we got out late today and had only an hour and 15 minutes before our Thai language lesson. Zenia and I opted to return to our apartment to get a jump start on our homework research assignment and managed to get a lot done, but soon we were heading back out with a group from PT Res, catching a red truck, and arriving at BABSEA house in time for our language lessons. Tonight's lesson was very exciting, learning all about bargaining in the market and buying! It was so much fun and one of the girls teaching helped me in particular. :) I can now count to ten (and beyond) in Thai, ask to find the bathroom or other things, follow simple directions, and tell a seller that something is overpriced and then ask for a discount. These are the key skills and I now have them! :) It is so exciting. And I'm now actually starting to learn to use it in real situations. For example, tonight I ordered two more glasses for the table! I feel so good now! :) And, it is excellent to note that I already knew some Thai! Hahaha! It turns out those wonderful people at Thai Basil in Berkeley were actually speaking Thai, which is how I learned that "kai" is egg! And it is! So now, to ask for no egg in a dish I say, "Mai sai kai." :) I ordered it that way today and the waiter totally understood me! So exciting.

After language lessons a group of us went out to dinner at a place we are calling The Garden, which is located very close to BABSEA house. The food was delicious and I tried something new! I had a stir fry of asparagus and shitake mushrooms with chicken and rice. I LOVE the food here. I just wish you could all experience it at home.

Now, on to more serious matters. Today some of the issues that have been plaguing Bangkok moved to Chiang Mai. It is still peaceful here for the most part, but some interesting things have been happening in the old section of Chiang Mai, an area far removed from my apartment, BABSEA house, and Uniserv. Tonight there have been some protestors and tire burning, but no violence toward people. It was a little scary when we were told this afternoon that there would be a province wide curfew starting and 12 am and ending 6 am. During that time no one is supposed to be out of their residences. Well, as I mentioned, we went out for a late dinner and finished around 8:45, ready to head back to our apartment. Soon we met with another group that was heading back to BABSEA house. This group told us that the restaurant where they were eating had kicked them out at 8:30 and shut down immediately because “Chiang Mai is a danger zone and curfew starts at 9 pm now.” Well, that news freaked us out. Zenia, Sam (a new girl who just arrived; Korean studying at Harvard), and I speed walked/jogged back to our apartment. I think we must have made the journey in record time and we were inside our apartment by 9 pm. It was strange walking down the streets that early in the night with no other pedestrians out and no cars, just a couple motorbikes here and there (motorbikes are HUGELY popular here and almost everyone uses one). There was one thing that restored my faith in humanity a little though. As we were speed walking (moving close to the speed of light I am sure), a man on a bike (English speaker of some kind, American or Canadian) paused near us and asked if everything was ok and if we had a problem or had someone chasing us. He said he was worried when he saw us because it looked like we were running from someone. When we said no and that we were just trying to get home before curfew he reassured us, asked if we were close (which we were) and offered to accompany us. It was just so nice that someone saw something potentially wrong and asked if he could help. I instantly felt better and I hope the knowledge that there are still good, helpful people out there comforts you too.

To sum up, I am safe and Chiang Mai is still considered a safe place. I will continue to offer updates about the political situation here and will let you all know what is going on.

As I said in the beginning, it is a truth universally acknowledged…that we live in interesting times. At the very least, I certainly am.