One Week In

Here stands an official United States Peace Corps Volunteer in service to the
Royal Government of Thailand

Following my last post was my Swearing-In Ceremony in conjunction with the Close of Service Ceremony for the group that came in two years ago. Apparently, this is the first time that the two ceremonies took place at the same time, and I can't imagine a better way to begin or end my service. It was inspiring to hear their stories and look forward to what is to come, and I would love to be able to experience looking back when I reach the finish line. After the ceremony, we got to mingle for a bit, have lunch, say goodbyes, then finally, hit the road. My journey to my new home was nine hours long but I made it, safe and sound.

Newly Sworn-In Volunteers

Saying Goodbye to my first aa-jaan and language classmates

Meeting my RanNayoke (Deputy Mayor) who was our driver for nine hours.

I've been at my site for about a week now. My new community is so very different from my training community. Here we have wider roads and fewer rice fields, houses are less traditional, there is a different variety of food, and the list can go on and on. The people, as before, are very warm and welcoming, and are very impressed by my limited language ability, even more so by my even more limited ability to speak the local lingo. I'm experiencing the novelty of being the new kid on the block all over again, and trying to establish some sort of a routine.

My New Home :-)
The neighbors come over to play badminton every day.
They've been teaching me the game, and
I've been teaching them Sudoku and English! 

My new family is very nice, and I haven't had any difficulty fitting in. My host mom is really cool and trendy, and she is beyond happy to have a girl around. She has two sons, one my age, but he is away for college, and the other is nineteen and lives at home. Her husband died three years ago, but there is family is around and they help out with different stuff around the house. My first two days at my host home, my host mom dressed me up from hat to shoes, and over the weekend, we did each other's nails. I set up a phone meeting for her and my first host mom, I couldn't understand most of the conversation, but it was over an hour long, and there was lots of laughter on both ends. My host mom said "Kui gap meh suphhan sanuk sanuk" which basically means that she enjoyed the conversation very much. She's made reference to the conversation several times since then, I heard you like to eat fried chicken, we'll eat that tonight, I heard you like to wash your hair with hot water (unresolved misunderstanding) there is hot water in the shower (yaaay!). I'm glad they got to chat, I think that they would like each other in real life, and I hope that they can meet each other soon.

My host mom next to me, my brother and his girlfriend right across from us,
next to them, a cousin who speaks English, and at the end,
cousins/neighbors who help out at the house sometimes.  

I'm getting a new mosquito net soon, and curtains.

A flushing western toilet, and water heater!
I actually got comfortable with the old squatty potty,
but I'm happy that cold baths are a thing of the past.

For the next two years, I will be working out of the Oh-Boh-Tor (OBT), which is kinda like City Hall. I will work with community organizers to plan events and activities for youth in the community. The OBT will be my hub, but I also plan to work with schools in the area and the local health center. I've met a few key people so far, and the next couple of months will be spent mostly building relationships within the community and finding where I best fit in. The folks at the OBT are pretty cool so far, we've done some outings and activities with the health center, and I've visited a couple of the schools, including the Non-Formal Education Center. In quite a few cases, I thought that I was going on a quick school visit and maybe a short meeting with the principal, or maybe an event that I can observe and even participate in, but I somehow end up with a microphone. Fun times.

My New Hub

Speaking at a senior aerobics event
I had a little help with my outfit ;-)

Speaking at a school's promotion exercise.

My Nayoke (Mayor/Supervisor) and officers that I will be working closely with

So far, I haven't had any significant problems with the language difference, apparently, there are four languages spoken around here -- Passa Thai (Standard Thai), Passa Isaan (Local Lingo), Passa Laos (Laos, which influences the local lingo) and Passa Khmer (Cambodian, as Cambodia borders my province). So far, I haven't had any encounters with the latter two. The majority of my time is spent in the work environment where Standard Thai is the norm. At home, I can tell that an effort is made to speak Standard Thai around me, even so, there are some differences, and when folks are speaking among themselves, it's a completely different. I'll get the hang of it eventually, but that's not my focus right now.

As far as food goes, sticky rice is the standard staple here, and it is the norm to eat without utensils, and sometimes without individual dishes - each person reaches into the big bowl of sticky rice, grabs a fist full, ball it up, dip the rice ball into whichever sauce, pick up a piece of meat or veggie, and eat... My first host mom actually demonstrated this to me before I came here, and I laughed and thought "No way" but here I am, and I'm doing it!!  I have tried a few new dishes since I've been here, many of which are pretty tasty, I've also been offered several delicacies, including kai-mot-deng (ant larvae), maleng-saap (cockroach), and gop (frog). I've been advised that the best way around this is "Kəəi gin lɛɛ-o, deh mai chop" (I've eaten it before, but I don't like it - which is true in some instances). This strategy works well, seeing that I've obviously been in country for awhile, and have some degree of acclimation to the culture, otherwise, the pressure would be on for me to 'chim-chim' (taste).

I'm looking forward to experiencing more and sharing more as I go :-)

It's Almost Official!

There has been so much going over on the past few days! I hardly know where to begin!! I'll start from today, and go backwards.... Today will be a very special and important day, I will swear-in to officially become Peace Corps Volunteers to Thailand. The ceremony will be pretty unique, fifty-one volunteers are swearing-in while thirty-seven volunteers are closing their service in Thailand. Apparently, this doesn't usually happen on the same day. After the ceremony, goodbye's will happen, and then I will be on my way to Isaan, to the place that will be home to me for the next two years. It's almost ridiculous to think, that as far as we've come, we have not yet begun!


Yesterday (Tuesday), my group (Grp 126: 2014-2016) got to meet and mingle with the group that is leaving (Grp 124: 2012-2014), and more than ever before, I'm looking forward to the next two years, my own experiences, and the stories that I will surely share for many years to come. It was so refreshing to speak with the 124's. Just when I feel that I've barely made it through training, I've been motivated to make it through the full two years, two years that begin tomorrow. I got to speak to some volunteers who served in Isaan, they basically confirmed that, although the local language is very different, I can still communicate using the Standard Thai that I've learned. In relaxed/informal settings, the local language will be spoken among the locals, but if I'm being addressed directly, the standard language will be used. I was also assured that the folks in Isaan (Con Isaan) are super friendly and hospitable; the volunteers had amazing things to say, and mostly about Con Isaan. I am ready ready ready to see for myself what it's all about. I also met some fellow AmeriCorps Alums, including two who were City Year Corps Members! That was pretty exciting. I must admit, I wasn't too thrilled when I heard about the mandatory mingle session, but I am so glad that it happened.

City Year Alums

Monday was day one of our two-day Counterpart Conference. I got to meet two of my counterparts, Pii Gai and Pii Tai - these are their nicknames which I have been confusing, but their actual names are harder to remember... I will be working with them when I get to my site, so the past two days have been about defining roles and responsibilities, clarifying expectations and other technical stuff, as well as training on how to work through cultural differences. Although we've only been working together for two days, I already have a good feeling about the next two years. They each know/speak a fair amount of English, and I know/speak a fair amount of Thai, so we've been able to communicate without any major glitches so far. The two times that we did get stuck, aa-jaans (language teachers) were nearby and were able to jump in and help to clarify/explain. Let me just say, I am going to miss the aa-jaans so very much.  But back to my my counterparts, they are super nice, super sweet, and sabaii sabaii (relaxed). They asked me if I knew anything about Isaan language; I said "Sombaii-dtii boh ka" (how are you), and they were so tickled and impressed, they egged me on to say more. I threw out the few phrases that I could remember, and we had a nice laugh about the whole thing.

My counterparts, Pii Tai and Pii Gai

On Sunday, I said goodbye to my host family. We had some heartfelt exchanges, but thankfully, there were no tears, I'm not good at tears. That morning, we had breakfast with extended family, and later on, all of the neighbors came over to help me to load all of my stuff into the pickup, and by all my stuff, I mean two suitcases, a backpack, one box, and my bike. We went to a ran-ahan (little restaurant) for lunch, we ate, shared some laughs and some memories, ate some more, and just as we were joking about how to tell Peace Corps that I should stay with them for two years, my host dad's phone rang. Peace Corps staff calling to see if everything was okay -- time flies when you're having your last meal together! Apparently, it was check in time and none of us had noticed. We went to the hotel, back to where we met eight weeks ago, we checked my stuff in, and lingered around for a bit, promising to stay in touch and that we will see each other again.

Saying goodbye to my host parents

On Saturday, we had a nice little farewell ceremony for the families in our little village. I took some time to write little individual love notes for everyone in my family (I wrote in English and aa-jaan translated to Thai) and  before the ceremony began, I gave everyone their notes along with little gifts (tshirts for my parents and American fragrances and nick nacks for everyone else). They seemed to appreciate the notes most of all, they read the notes aloud and passed them around to each other, and we all enjoyed a really nice moment. The ceremony was really nice, Thai traditional, complete with a potluck dinner. Twas nice.

My Village, Volunteers & Host Families

With my family

Reading my Thank You Speech

Communal Dinner

Friday was our last day at our training hub, so we did a nice little Thank You ceremony for the Nayok (mayor) and the staff that had been so warm towards us for the past several weeks. When I got home at the end of the day, my host dad decided to do an impromptu "take-your-daughter-to-work-day" to the rice fields. Previously, we hadn't had any one-on-one time, and it was nice to see him relaxed in his environment. We chatted for a bit and then I took a few pictures while he worked and as the sun set. It was a really nice hang out. That evening, we went to a festival and the Nayok invited the volunteers to work at the flower booth. He announced over the loudspeaker that we're down to our last few days, and invited the village members to stop by throughout the night to wish us well. 

Group Pic, Trainees and Staff

Walking through the fields

Meet and Greet at the flower booth

I got excited when I saw his AmeriCorps Logo. But he said he got it from the "free box"

That's as far back as I will go. Yesterday, my host dad (who is a man of very few words) called me to say that he misses me a lot and that the loves me. Today, I planned to call my host mom at 7:30, but she called me at 7:15 to ask me about my day and to ask me what I ate for dinner. They've been such great parents to me, and I will definitely keep in touch and visit in the future. Meanwhile, I'll be moving onward. I will have a new host family in my new community, and I hope that they're just as wonderful as my original host family.

The sun has set on my life as a trainee, now onward to becoming a volunteer!

The past couple days have been spent at the hotel, and it has been a nice little limbo. I'm making the most of the last time that I will see my fellow group members for a while, and I'm enjoying the hot showers, wi-fi in bed, and a few other conveniences. Tomorrow is a big day. I don't know what internet access will be like in my new community, but I'll be sure to check in once I figure it out. Wish me luck! 

Not There Yet...

It's been a pretty hectic week. Over the past few days, we've been going through the motions of concluding our Pre-Service Training, going through assessments and evaluations, and preparing to leave the nest. Like all transitions, it has been bitter sweet. On Monday, I completed my Final Review where I was able to discuss my progress, address concerns, and receive feedback from the staff in the areas of Language Learning, Technical Training, Cross Cultural Competency, Safety & Security, and Health. I didn't have any major concerns, and neither did the staff. The staff recognized and commended my efforts in all areas, they believe that I have what it takes and that I will be a successful volunteer, so I was nominated for service without any conditions or reservations. 

Also on Monday, I received the results of my Language Proficiency Interview. I needed a score of Intermediate-Low to qualify for service. The interview was structured as an informal conversation - I answered questions about my family, food, weather, comparing/contrasting America and Thailand, and my life before Peace Corps. I felt like everything was going well, and then I got hit with two scenarios. First scenario was "I am a sixteen year old boy, my girlfriend is pregnant, nobody knows, and I'm coming to you for help." I responded by asking "How many months pregnant is she? Who else knows about this? What do you want to do? Okay, well we need to set up a doctor's visit, and a meeting with both sets of parents to discuss what we are going to do. Don't worry. It will be okay. Thanks for telling me. Bye" I didn't understand the response to "what do you want to do?" but overall, I don't think that I handled it terribly. I didn't expect to be hit with a second scenario, in fact, I think I was the only one with a second scenario, but it was "You visit the community health center and you want to know what the main health concerns are." I don't have the vocabulary to ask the question right out, so I started by asking general demographic questions, then asked how many people come in each day, and then what is the reason for most of them coming in, then thank you and good bye. 

Last Day of Thai Class . This is my second group, and we met at the community health center.
Shame on me for not knowing more health related vocabulary!

I walked out of the interview feeling less than super confident, but still hoping that I achieved the Int-Low requirement. Scoring Int-Low means that I can initiate and respond to common and simple statements, perform tasks such as introductions and ordering food, and express elementary needs. I scored Intermediate-Mid, which pretty much means that I can speak in full and complex sentences, engage in simple conversations, and be understood by sympathetic listeners. I'm very relieved to know that I've surpassed my goal. But I know that I still have a very long way to go. A very veeerrry long way to go apparently.

I went to an event at my neighborhood wat (temple) a couple weeks ago, and got to do a little fortune telling thing, my aa-jaan (language teacher) interpreted the fortune for me and said that I would be lucky in the south and that I would find love in the south. I'm not a superstitious person, but since then I've been obsessed with going to the south. Not for any romantic reason, but just because I feel so lucky and loved in the community that I'm in right now and I want so badly to feel this way all over again in my new community. I've learned a few things about the southern region of Thailand, and the more I learned, the more I had my heart set on where I want to be. The southern region is where the beaches are, I'm an island girl, so for that reason alone, I was sold. Also, Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, but there is a concentration of Muslims in the south. I've heard that Buddhism in Thailand is different from Buddhism in other regions, and I heard that the same is true for Islam. Since I am familiar with Islam, I am very interested in observing and participating in their way of life here in Thailand.

My "fortune" that my aa-jaan translated for me

I've had conversations with my family about the various regions in Thailand. They spoke very fondly of the north (most notably Chiang Mai) and the south (most notably Phueket). They would love for me to stay in the central area, since that is where we live. In reference to the North-Eastern Region (aka Isaan), my host mom said that they don't really speak Thai there. She says that they speak Isaan, and that she doesn't understand them. I confirmed with my aa-jaan that it's not just a little twang or dialect, but it really is pretty much a different language. Language is tough for me. Somehow, with amazing aa-jaans, four hours of language class, four days a week, for the past two months, I've managed to reach a level where I can be understood by sympathetic listeners. Somehow, after being exposed to Spanish for 20+ years, my proficiency isn't a whole lot better. Taking that into consideration, knowing that I can't take an aa-jaan to site with me, I decided that maybe Isaan wouldn't be the place for me.

Soooo.... Today we found out where we will be serving for the next two years. There have been little conversations here and there among trainees along the lines of preferences "I want to be in this region because there are mountains/beaches/major cities/etc nearby." I've said many times, "I really do not know Thailand well enough to have much of a preference or to be picky about an assignment, it's a lovely country and I'm just happy to be here" recently I've added "...but I heard the south is really nice" or "...but I heard they speak their own language in Isaan." Even with all that I've learned in the past couple weeks, the original sentiment remains true. So, when I learned that my placement site will be in Isaan, I just laughed at the odds.

The Big Reveal!!  The staff created a map of Thailand on the floor
and did a fun and dramatic intro and welcome to our site.

Following the big reveal, we (volunteers assigned to Isaan) participated in an Intro to Passa Isaan (Isaan Language) session. The Standard Thai that we've learned should be a good foundation. We've been assured that most of the Isaan locals should be able to understand (even if they can't speak) standard Thai. The sentence structure is the same, a good number of common words, terms, tones, and phrases are very different, but I'm sure I'll get a hang of it once I've been at site for a while. Being from the Caribbean, I would compare Passa Isaan to a bilingual Patois, influenced by Laos and Thai. Standard Thai is spoken in schools, so students, teachers, and other educated/professional individuals will be able to speak accordingly, so I should be fine in the work environment. 

Learn more about Isaan and the Isaan Language by following the links, and wish me luck!

HomeStay Week Seven: Seven Memories

There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not reminded that my time here in my Pre-Service Training (PST) home-stay community is coming to an end. Apparently, word has gotten around, so I am now also having conversations with folks in the community about my pending departure and if I’ll ever come back to visit. I’m not out of here yet, but I must admit, the past several weeks have been quite memorable and I will surely miss this place. Some memorable moments I’ve mentioned in previous posts -- riding the elephant, adventures at the dinner table, encounters in the bathroom, and random people in random places knowing my name…  Since this is my seventh week here, I think that it is appropriate to list seven memorable moments, not top-seven and not in any particular order, just seven of the many moments that I’ll hold dear to my heart as I leave here.

1.  My host mom and sister combing my hair. Yes, my natural hair. They were so fascinated with my hair when I finally took out my braids. They helped me to blow dry and cornrow my hair, and even add in extensions. They didn’t do a bad job, but I did stay up that night fixing it up…
   
2.  Deciding not to ever mention “Ticket Agent” in my employment history. Tones are so important in Thai language, one ‘word’ can have multiple meanings depending on the tone and the context used. Dtuua-tɛɛn means agent/representative, kaai means to sell, dtǔua means ticket. I had a job as a dtuua-tɛɛn kaai dtǔua before I moved to Thailand. Dtuua (different tone) means body. Saying dtuua- tɛɛn dtuua (without the appropriate tone) would be suggesting that I was a person who sold my body… Kinda like saying someone was “a pro” or “in the business” – making reference to the job without using the specific term. Anyone who knows my history with music lessons knows how terrible I am with tones, and would agree that I shouldn’t even mess with this one. 
   
3. My folks took me to KFC. I had recently declared that I love fried chicken, and they’ve served it at least twice a week ever since, but this particular day, they decided that they would take me on a little field trip so that I can eat American style fried chicken. So we ordered a family bucket, and I also ordered my favorite – the twister. Ummm… Not the same, at all, none of it. I told my host mom “Gai tot tii bahn aroi gwaa KFC” (Fried chicken at home is more delicious than KFC).
   
4. A typical first-time conversation here in Thailand pretty much revolve around the following questions: What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? How long will you be in Thailand? Do you miss home? Are you married? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you want a Thai boyfriend? (Regardless of previous answer.) Do you think Thai men are handsome? What do you like to eat? A couple (actually 3) of these conversations, in the presence of my host parents, have resulted in my being awkwardly shuffled into me taking a walk and/or eating with somebody’s son/brother/friend. Awkward is an understatement, but it’s cute and funny to those setting it up, so haha. My sense of humor improves every day.
   
5.  My host brother doesn’t usually have a whole lot to say in general, but sometimes when our folks have other stuff going on, they ask him to stick around to help me with my homework or the washing machine, to ride with me to the corner store or ran-ahan, or to pick me up from an outing that unexpectedly ended after dark. My parents are protective and don’t want me to be home alone, or to go out alone (except to training), or to ride my bike before/after certain hours. I understand completely, but sometimes I feel like a burdensome little sister sometimes. I’m the big sister in my family at home, so that’s the last thing that I’d want to be to anybody. He’s younger than I am, and quite coy, so our interactions are almost laughable sometimes. It’s hard to adequately describe specific anecdotes, but he makes the list anyway.
   
6. Funerals are pretty informal social occasions here in Thailand. Events for one funeral are spread out over seven days, with maybe one or two days being semi-solemn. Basically, we dress in any combination of black, white, gray, and sometimes jeans, the community gathers at the home of the deceased or at the wat (church), they bring in tokens (flower or blanket wreaths) during the first few days, the monks come out and recite prayers nightly, and then it’s just lots of food, eating and socializing every night. I attended a funeral where the daughter of the deceased is an English teacher. I was happy to speak to a villager who could speak English, and she was happy to have a native English-speaker to speak English to. We hit it off pretty well, and then she started to get possessive of me and she begged me to come live with her since her mother was gone and she was going to be lonely. She really and seriously would have kidnapped me if she thought that she could. I haven’t seen her since the funeral, but I think about her sometimes and I hope she’s doing okay.
   
7. I mentioned in a previous post that I really enjoy my one-on-one breakfast time with my host mom. Apparently the feeling is mutual. We had a really nice warm conversation about my pending departure, and she “Pii ja siia-jai, mai chop gin kaao con diao. Ja gin gap krai mai?” Basically, her heart will be sad because she doesn’t like to eat alone, and who will she eat with… Her husband goes to work early and her kids don’t eat breakfast. Before I could respond, she realized that it was time for me to leave and she shooed me away. The thing about these conversations, as soon as they start to get mushy or sentimental, someone finds a way to change the subject, make a joke, or dismiss the conversation. But she knows that I’m going to miss her too.

My host mom and I making merit on Maka Bucha Day (Buddhist Holiday)

I’ve had great moments with my neighbors, within my community, with my fellow trainees, our trainers, the ajaans… I’ve developed relationships that I just cannot put into words and I am going to miss them all. PST has been quite the experience, I’ve learned and grown a whole lot over the past several weeks, and I do feel prepared to begin my two years of service. Next week will be the grand finale, it’s going to be pretty hectic, and so this may be my final post as a trainee before I become an official Peace Corps Volunteer.