Thanksgiving and Thankful

I almost forgot that it was Thanksgiving here, but our language teacher reminded us the day before to not skip class on THanksgiving day. It is so warm here, and since I really enjoy the food, I wasn't really feeling like I was missing out on much. One of the women who works at the guest house that I am staying at invited me to an American stlye buffet restaurant that night called, "Sizzla." WOW!! I think it is considered a delicacy here, but that was the worst meal that I've had!! They had a variety of not great meat, cold veggies, and old fries. I had eaten about 3/4 of the food that I'd taken, when I decided that I had eaten enough. I had taken a yucky piece of chicken that I wasn't going to finish, but she informed me that you're fined if you do not finish your meal here: it costs double, so I decided to finish my meal, and that was my Thanksgiving!!
It really is amazing though how easy it is for us Americans to slip into our bubble world, get down because we don't have the new IPOD, and forget how truly lucky we are for everything that we do have in the United States. I've already met so many cool people here who have lived and traveled the world, and they have vivid and terrible stories to tell about the poverty in places like India and Brasil. It makes me so sad hearing about it.
I really feel like to a certain degree, I escaped Southern California. Living there, there was so much to be grateful for, and yet that culture breeds complete dissatisfaction, total insecurity, and constant desire for more, more, more: to have more money, to be more beautiful, to have a better car, to the point where I feel like as a whole, few people feel comfortable enough to be real, and people's priorities are completely backwards. I won't go off, but I feel strongly enough about it that I could probably write a 10 page essay on the topic. If I go back to the US, I am definitely going to settle in the Pacific Northwest.
In conclusion: Experiencing Thailand, and meeting other travelers has increased my awareness about the big world around me, and really leaves me with a sense of gratitude on Thanksgiving Day 2005!! Is there a greater gift than travel, awareness, and gratitude? I think not!! HAPPY BE-LATED THANKSGIVING DAY!!!

Fear of Heights

Last Sunday I walked into my favorite hole in the wall restaurant to have breakfast and I sat next to this chatty guy who looked exactly like a friend from Santa Barbara. It was a deja-vu experience! He lives in the hippie town a couple of hours away from here, and definitely had that really open, hippie, vibe to him, so we had a nice, long chat over breakfast, and decided to go up to the waterfalls later that afternoon.
The waterfalls are about half way up this mountain on the way to the temple that I drove my motorbike up to a couple weeks ago, when I was completely freaked out. I figured that it wouldn't be too bad since it was only half way, and since he would be driving and I would be on the back. Anyway, he seemed to know how to drive really well, and gave me a bunch of really good information, but I still have this complete fear of heights!! He taught me how to curve and flow with the turns, and some call it an adrenaline rush which I wouldn't mind experiencing: mine was pure anxiety!!
Anyway, I survived the trip there and back. It was a really great afternoon, he brought his guitar and played, encouraged me to sing: I politely declined, and thoroughly enjoyed myself, and really want to learn to play the guitar and sing some day soon!! Another number on the to-do list!! Music really is so powerful and emotive. But I also felt totally drained by the time he dropped me off later that afternoon. I'm not sure what exactly I am trying to learn, but I feel like I've met all these people here who seem to feel really comfortable with me, and tell me everything, talk to me/at me for an hour plus straight, leaving me with this really invisible feeling. Maybe I just need to be more real, and straightforward with people instead of being so nice.
In conclusion: I'm driving much better and really having a lot of fun on the motorbike and have a new friend!

And All That JAZZ

So I guess that it has been a week since I last wrote. I was really surprised that in my language class, me and another Japanese girl are the only people under the age of 55!! I guess that there are a lot of people who retire here. Anyway, the Japanese girl is sooo cute and sweet, but she lives about an hour away with a host family. She is teaching Japanese here, but learned English in Australia and has the cutest accent!! I really like her. Our teacher is great, and this week, I'm definitely devoting some time to studying!

I hooked up with a couple "younger" people in the other classes, in their 30's and 40's, and we've been getting lunch after class every day, so its nice having that connection, and I'm also looking forward to meeting some peeps my age who also live here. Where are you all?
There is this one bloke from England who has the thickest accent ever, and he just makes me laugh hearing him speak!! He was telling us the other day about having too many beers at the Irish pub, and then driving home on his motor bike, he woke up in the ditch with a police officer tapping him on the shoulder. The police man ended up driving him home on his motorbike with no fine or penalty since he was the only one involved in the accident. "I feelll off me bike" too bad you can't do accents via the Internet.
I also happened to arrive for one of the biggest festivals in Chiang Mai called Loi Kroitong, where you give an offering to the goddess of water, I think?? Anyway for about five days there were festivites and parades. People would set off these paper lanterns which had fire in the inside of it, and they would rise like hot air balloons (they were of course much smaller) and then you say your wish for the coming year. They also made these flower bouquets that have candles and incense (sp?) on them and you would send them off giving thanks to the water, and also asking for your wishes for the coming year once again! It was great fun!

Non Bread and Random Thoughts

Yeah so I've had this mad craving lately for the Indian style non bread I think it is called. Today, I ran into this German guy who I keep on seeing everywhere, he's really laid back, really nice. Anyway, he was telling me to go to this one restaurant where a lot of local ex-pats hang out. Anyway, I went there and it was closed and then I saw this little Indian restaurant near buy, so i decided to give it a whirl.
There were two kinda sketchy guys outside the restaurant, but the people working there invited me to come it. I had already ordered when this obviously drunk, half-clothed western man came downstairs. He looked in pretty bad shape, and opened a bottle of whiskey and coke and started taking shots. And then a half-clothed indian young woman came downstairs. i haven't really seen the sex industry that close and personal yet. I don't think I need to go back there again, althought he nonbread was pretty good. I ate a chicken dish there too, but I am thinking about becoming a veggie again, it wierds me out eating meat here.
It is wierd because of the two extremes. Most of the culture is pretty modest and then there is that small portion of sex workers.
I don't mind the obvious mix of white men with thai women except when there is a huge and obvious age difference, "GO HOME OLD MAN!"
There aren't that many people begging here, but i try to always give just a little bit. There are quite a few blind men who will walk around at the markets singing with a little boombox and i always see the locals giving to them, and i think that that is so special, they're kinda taking care of each other.

Farang on a motor bike

So I made good on my promise to rent a motor bike. It was kinda comical, because i rented it at this little place, but the guy had a new, automatic bike to rent. Luckily it was on this uncrowded, back alley. I got on the bike, and was like, "How do you make this go?" Opps, I gave it a little to much gas and took off like a bat out of hell!!
Anyway, I stayed on the back streets, and then worked my way up to right turns and the city traffic, and i was feeling pretty damn good!
I decided to go to the university since it is so pretty there! No problem, so I decided to just keep going up the hill cause I knew that there is a temple about 17 km up the hill. That's not too far in miles, right? Anyway, needless to say, I wasn't going to fast, and it ended up being so steep with all of these absolutely crazy turns and switchbacks. The air felt clean and cool, but i was praying to Buddha, Lord Jesus, Devi, Kahli, Archangel Michael, all of the above. By the time that I got to the temple it was about to be getting dark, so I got back on my motorbike to take the even scarier ride down the hill with the brakes on the whole way, at about 10 km/hr!! I'll go check out the temple in a bus tomorrow!!
Anyway, I remember writing these manifestos for a art class that I took, this is one of them: I DO NOT LIKE GOING DOWN HILLS FAST ON BIKES, SKIS, OR SNOWBOARDS. STRAP ME INTO A ROLLARCOASTER OR A PUT A PARACHUTE ON MY BACK AND I'LL BE FINE!! It was fine, I just went really slow!!
I love how all the locals are whizzing by me though, 3 people to a bike with no helmets, no thank you! I'll stick to the streets!
Today was my first day of class, I'm learning how to say, "Hello, my name is meagan, I come from California! It'll be no time before I am fluent!

Back of a motorcycle

I just took my first ride on the back of a motorbike. Wow!! That was awesome, a high, I really liked it!!
I took a taxi to the University to speak to the Auzzie director of the TEFL program. The university is like this little city in itself situated right against the mountains and a preserve with lots of nature. It is great, just my cup of tea, and I should be able to get a room there for absolutely nothing!! And then i'm only a 10 minute ride into the main town.
The TEFL program looks great and the director was super interesting, really laid back, and he offered to give me a ride on his scooter to show me the university and then ended up taking me to my guest house. It wasn't sexual or wierd, he's married, but i was definitely holding on to him. He directs the English language program and is also a PHD in Buddhism and Philososhy, so this seems to be right up my alley. He also has a bunch of different connections so a job shouldn't be hard at all!!
He was saying that a lot of people will go teach in Korea, Taiwan, or Japan for 3-6 months and then come back and live in Thailand for the rest of the year, just because it costs so much less to live here than it does to live there, so there are many options!
I'm definitely going to rent a motorbike tomorrow though and go explore the outskirts of the city. It would be cheaper long term to buy one and resell it than to take taxis or tuk-tuks everywhere.

Thai cooking/ Culture

I've been hanging out the last day or two, checking out the markets, and taking in culture.
Today I signed up for an organic thai cooking class!! They took us into the mountains, my first venture outside of the city, and it was beautiful! We got to pick all of these fresh, delicious herbs from the garden, cooked 3 different meals, and then had a great feast!! We hung out for a little bit and then made desert. Sugared sticky rice with mango! The food feels wholesome and nourishing. I'll take advantage of it while I am here because most of the herbs aren't available in the US. I really don't know how to cook all that well, but learning to be a great cook is definitely on the eventual to-do list!
check out: www.thaifarmcooking.com

Pour some sugar on me: they definitely like to sugar everything here! I've gotten a coffee, orange juice, and ice tea that I haven't been able to eat because it is so sugary. Again, more motivation to learn the language!

Thai motor bikes: I definitely thought that I wouldn't dare get on one of those, but the owner of the place that i am staying and another couple in their fifties swear by them. There are a few parks and workout places just outside of the city where it would be great to have some transportation there. Today, I saw a couple people driving with one hand and holding their baby with the other hand, so I figure if they can do it, so can I!

Chiang Mai

I'm writing you all from Chiang Mai!!
The city is great, and a little hectic at the same time, kinda like a mini-Bangkok.
One of my motivations for coming here is that I would have a place to stay at, (some family friends have a vacant house just outside of the city). Anyway, I realize that it is a bit too far and out on my own until I make some connections in the city, and rent/possibly buy a motor bike to get there and back, and until i know some thai. Anyway, it is still a possibility to stay there at some point.
Anyway, again, I was feeling a little down when I first arrived here. I had just spent 24 hours with one of Jedapa's friends who doesn't speak any English, and we were trying to communicate using my phrase book. Needless to say, it was very difficult, and we made numerous phone calls to Michael, the friend here who speaks thai and english. It was sooo nice of her to help me out, the thai people are really great people, but I think we were both a little overwhelmed. Through language difficulties, I ended up staying somewhere that i didn't really want to. For the quality, it was definitely overpriced and kinda out of town. The people who worked there were up until about 3 am watching TV, unusually loud though, and it seemed to echo in my room! I opened the door so that they could see me, gave them a dirty look and then slammed with door!! Then about 4 am, all these motorbikes started coming through the streets to set up for the market, and there was a rooster that kept crowing continually from 4am-7am.
The next day, I ventured into the city and signed up for a Thai language course, first thing!! The 6 week class just so happens to be starting next Monday! Perfect timing.
I was dodging cars and motorbikes, walking down the main street when I saw this lovely, enchanting garden cafe that said it has free wireless Internet!! It seemed like such a quaint oasis right in the middle of the busy town! I started chatting with the owner from England (he's married to a thai woman). anyway, he was very nice, and gave me a lot of good info. They rent out 3 rooms, and one of them just opened up!! I looked at it, and it was sooo nice!! Air conditioning, really clean, and a very nice hot shower/ bath. It actually is the same price/a little less than the dive that I was staying at, not to mention i'll be saving money with free Internet, and I have both a thai and western connection here. I feel relaxed and at home here!! Right behind us there is a monastary and I can see the monks from my room!! I'll be here for the next month!!

Meeting people, adjusting, navigating

So, after my first hectic day in Bangkok, I was feeling a little bummed, but things turned around right away!
Michael, my friend's older brother ended up taking me to get some pad thai that night, and then we went to Khao San Road where all the back packers hang out and where there are a lot of markets, so that was nice.
THe next morning, I really set the intention to meet some cool people, and I did!! I ended up having breakfast with this really nice auzzie girl/woman about my age who had spent the last year in India, Nepal, and TIbet, and we had so much in common, she did the exact same meditation retreat in India that I did in Cali, she was getting ready to go back home, and had been traveling alone, and was very encouraging!!
Then right away this English/French couple that I had met the previous day invited me to go take a canal ride with them up north. THe man only spoke french, so I got to brush up on my french, and we had a great time!! This Thai woman ended up coming with us(we hired a private boat), and then she took us to one of her friend's house on the canal. I'm trying to upload pictures to the internet, it'll be a couple of days. It's amazing though, we saw people fishing, bathing, washing clothes, etc... all in the same canal. We saw a few shack type of houses, but I wasn't really sad seeing this, people seem to have a joie-de-vivre despite their situation here, something I've yet to TRULY see anywhwere else.
I ended up going off on my own again, meeting a German woman who I had seen the previous day when I was lost, and she gave me some great advise for where to go, and I managed to really navagate on my own!! I again met an AMerican guy (there really aren't all that many American's here, a bunch of Euros on month long holiday though) on the sky train who will be in Chiang mai for the next couple weeks.
I went to Siam square where there is huge shopping, it's really trendy, and then I took a tuk-tuk back. I thought that I was getting a really great rate, but he changed the original price when I got to the hotel. It was fun, but I think I'll stick to the metered taxis. I think that I've been taken a couple of times! I cannot wait to learn thai!
Today, I slept in because I couldn't sleep all that well, I don't think I'll stay at this guest house again. I was so completely sore from my last few days of yoga that I decided to go get a massage. THe Thai massage was intense, but really great!!
I then headed for another temple that I hadn't seen, and I ended up meeting this British guy, Robert, a couple years younger than me who is also traveling alone, so we ended up spending the whole afternoon together. He, I guess is staying in the go-go district/dodgy part of town, and was having a hard time meeting other people under the age of 40, so we were both glad to hang out and naviagte together. We went to a great park in Bangkok, it was so refreshing to see some greenery, and we rented a little paddle boat and took that out on the lake. We then went back to Khoa San Road, there is so much shopping here!! I'm going to hold off though until I'm a little more settled. After that we went to China Town, and then we went our seperate ways. We might try and meet up again some time, he was a great companion for the day. He is spending 4 months doing all of south east asia and then going to the west coast in the US.
The Europeans seem to get so much more holiday with their jobs, they are everywhere. Yesterday, I met another British couple who had their 1 year old daughter on their back, and they said that they just spent 6 weeks in Sri Lanka!
Tomorrow is Chiang Mai! Wish me luck that they let me take all my luggage on the airplane!! Much love to everyone!!

A little overwhelmed!!

Today I woke up at 4 am and I ended up doing my prayer, meditation, yoga, chi gong, and that was great, really grounding!!
I was so proud of myself because I bought some breakfast on the street from some street vendors- orange juice and fresh pineapple, and then I got a cup of coffe at the Starbucks (it was kinda comforting).
I ended up switching hotels, going to a different guest house where the room is smaller, but it is really cute, and seems a lot more friendly, it has organic food and stuff, and is in a quaint part of town, it seems like it will be easier to meet people here.
Right after checking in, I started chatting with this older couple from Canada, and they invited me to go with them to the ferry. I decided to skip breakfast and go with them. We had to cross through one of the markets to get there, where they sell everything, and the woman kept complaining about how dirty it was, so i decided to leave them behind and go see the grand palace.
Instead of just going with the flow, I was trying to be super cool, and follow the directions in my Lonely Planet, and I ended up on the wrong side of the palace. A bunch of different thai people kept approaching me, and telling me that i was at the correct entrance but that the place was closed. I remembered reading something like this, so I refused their offer to take me somewhere else. I ended up calling Michael, and he told me that I was right about the scam and to walk around until I found the entrance! Another person then approached me really close to the enrance in an official looking suit and told me the same thing, I didn't fall for it though. After an hour or so totally exposed in the hot sun, and super dehydrated i made it to the correct entrance!! It was so beautiful!! These huge grand gold palaces, and I saw the emerald Buddha! There were groups of monks walking around in their orange robes, it was so beautiful. It took me a couple hours to see everything.
Hours later, soaking wet, and still dehydrated, I made it back to the hostel.
It's funny though how great I feel now with a little A/C and some water!!
Yeah me- I figured out how to put minutes on my cell phone today!
Funny things- this new guest hostel does not have toilet paper, but a hose with a spray gun attached to it, it actually feels good!
Realization #1 There are some very cute thai boys!
Realization #2 The thai language is complicated and confusing!!

Arrived!!

Thanks for all of the good vibes everyone, I can definitely feel them!

So my departure from Reno was on one of those little puddle jumper planes, and it sounded and felt like it was going to fall out of the sky, but once we made it over the mountains, it was all good. I was a little worried about flying China Air too, since they had changed my ticket around so many times, but they were so nice checking me in in San Francisco, and I have not had better service from any flight attendants ever. The flight attendants were all absolutely model beautiful and really enthusiastic to please, it must be part of the culture, but it felt very genuine.

I really saw everything working out perfectly in my mind before I left, and it did!! I made it through customs in a relatively short amount of time. They didn't question my one-way ticket, nor lack of VISA, and all my bags arrived within minutes of me getting to the carousel. I exchanged some dollars, and then two Thai women were waiting to take me to my hotel (they are friends of our family friend Jedapa who is from Thailand).

Everyone I know who has been to Thailand has loved it, and they have all said that the first thing they did when they got here was to leave Bangkok. The traffic moved at a snails pace, and there is this huge grew cloud over the city. The cab driver had his window open and my eyes and throat started to burn, it makes you think!

Noi, one of Jedapa's friend's can speak a little bit of English, so we were able to converse minimally!! I thought it was so nice of them to go out of there way to make sure that I was all right! I always find it commical though how one tries to communicate with a language barrier. Her other friend (I forget her name) was also super nice, and we would both start speaking to each other, expecting the other person to understand, and when they didn't, we would just repeat ourselves, thinking it would help, but I definitely got some things, just by the context. It sure makes me wish I'd studied thai a little bit before arriving.

They took me to this huge 8 story mall with all of these people who rent space inside and it was super overwhelming, being jet lagged and all, but I got my cell phone! I was surprised by just how many westerners I saw, mostly Europeans, I can always spot them.

Right now I am just trying to stay up, and adjust to the time difference. I feel really good and energized though travelling alone. I really feel like I am reclaiming parts of myself that I've lost over the last couple of years, and that feels really good. My brief encounters with the people at the stores and on the streets really rings true that they are very friendly people. Being alone has forced me to be much more organized than I've been in the past, and I'm enjoying taking care of myself!