This post was prepared to be published on Thanksgiving Day, but various events prevented that from happening. I must say that the month of November has been one of the most eventful (and exhausting) months to date, but it's been awesome! Hopefully, you'll see some of that below :-)
It's that time of the year, when most American families come together to express their gratitude for all of the blessings of the year, and of course, to eat a huge meal and watch football, American football that is. Although I've spent most of past several years living away from my family, I've always managed to find a home for Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception. This year, I enjoyed a Pre-Thanksgiving potluck dinner with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers in Bangkok. It was a really nice get-together, a much larger crowd than the usual, but I had a great time with my fellow group members and got to meet some of the senior volunteers for the first time.
It's that time of the year, when most American families come together to express their gratitude for all of the blessings of the year, and of course, to eat a huge meal and watch football, American football that is. Although I've spent most of past several years living away from my family, I've always managed to find a home for Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception. This year, I enjoyed a Pre-Thanksgiving potluck dinner with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers in Bangkok. It was a really nice get-together, a much larger crowd than the usual, but I had a great time with my fellow group members and got to meet some of the senior volunteers for the first time.
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| pretty awesome time with a pretty awesome group :-) |
As is custom, I've taken time to reflect on my year, and as always, I have so much to be thankful for. On my long list of blessings, here are three that I am especially grateful for this year.
- The opportunity to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand.
Cliché as it may be to say this, I am truly having an experience of a lifetime, in so many ways. A few years ago, even in my wildest imagination, the thought would have never crossed my mind that I would ever come to Thailand or that I would even consider becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer. I look back at the events , situations, and circumstances that led me here, and I am so sure that I am right where I am supposed to be and I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, and I'm thankful for every moment. - Family
My family has been so supportive of my decisions, and that has been such a blessing. In the beginning, naturally, there were a few questions about whether or not I was sure that this was something that I wanted to do at this point of my life, partly because I'm not exactly the adventurous, journey-across-the-world-for-two-years type, and also because it meant leaving really good employment behind, but once everyone was sure that I was sure, it's been 1000% support. I've realized that this isn't the case for everyone, and it makes me appreciate my family even more.
I'm also extremely appreciative of the Thai families that have taken me as one of their own. I can go on and on about how at home and how loved I've felt in my time here, but there's just so much more that I can't articulate. I couldn't imagine more perfect matches than the families that have adopted me since I've been here, and I am extremely grateful for them. - Friendship
Over the past several months, I've developed some pretty incredible friendships, among my fellow volunteers and within my community. I have a feeling that these friendships will extend way beyond my two years here in Thailand. My pre-Peace Corps friendships have been put to the test of time and distance with various outcome, but I'm thankful for them all.
The month of November has actually been quite eventful. I'm glad that schools are back in session, while that's been great, I've had a few pretty awesome adventures outside of the schools as well. At some point, my camera went missing, so some pretty awesome moments are undocumented, but I'm glad for the memories. Thankfully, I found my camera hiding out oddly positioned in a corner of one of my bags, I was so relieved when I found it, almost to the point of tears. Here are some moments that were captured this month.
Lao Border Market
Lao Border Market
My host family had told me that we would bpai-tiiao (take a trip) to the Lao border market, it wasn't until we got there that I realized that we would actually be crossing the border into Laos. Luckily, I had my passport and the Peace Corps director was gracious enough to grant me last minute permission to leave the country. It seems like ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) nationals just need to show ID to cross the border from one country to another, so my family just waited patiently as I completed visa applications and went through all of the customs clearance procedures. I got nervous when my host cousin started taking pictures (despite the sign) but the customs officers didn't even flinch when the flash went off (quite a contrast to my travel experience through the US, Canada, and Caribbean where officers threaten confiscation at the sight of any recording device). We had a fun time shopping and afterwards we had a nice lunch on the river market. As we ate, we were amused by the 'banana boat' riders getting drag raced through the river by little speed boats. Once we were finished eating, my host brother and cousins convinced me to take a ride with them, I sat securely in the middle and received the least splash (and whiplash) and we all had a screaming good time. Twas a great day!
Loy Krathong Festival
Loy Krathong is the annual floating festival. It was a beautiful event. River floats (krathong) are made from banana leaves, flowers, and other natural materials, then a candle is lit and the floats are sent down the river. We release negative emotions into the river along with the krathong and make a wish. There are also huge lanterns that are lit and sent floating into the sky (same concept as the hot air balloon), my host mom and I got to release a lantern together, and we were told to make a wish as we did so. The lanterns were so beautiful floating away in the sky. I couldn't get many clear pictures, but it was a beautiful night. The main event was a beauty pageant, it was somewhat similar to pageants in the US (minus swimsuit and talent exhibition).
Loy Krathong is the annual floating festival. It was a beautiful event. River floats (krathong) are made from banana leaves, flowers, and other natural materials, then a candle is lit and the floats are sent down the river. We release negative emotions into the river along with the krathong and make a wish. There are also huge lanterns that are lit and sent floating into the sky (same concept as the hot air balloon), my host mom and I got to release a lantern together, and we were told to make a wish as we did so. The lanterns were so beautiful floating away in the sky. I couldn't get many clear pictures, but it was a beautiful night. The main event was a beauty pageant, it was somewhat similar to pageants in the US (minus swimsuit and talent exhibition).
Giiao Kaao
It's rice harvesting season out here. I was invited to giiao kaao (harvest rice) with students at one of my schools. It was nice to do something outside of the classroom with the students. Mr. C, the Cameroonian English teacher, was there as well and it was also his first time harvesting rice. Many of the students (4th through 6th graders) already had experience with rice farming and harvesting, so most of the teachers just supervised and it was up to the students to be our teachers and correct us when we made mistakes, they got a kick out of that, but they were great and we all had a really good time.
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| Ten contestants from the villages competing |
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| The contestants are dressed gorgeously from head to toe in traditional Thai wear |
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| As they get to end of the stage, they receive flowers from their family and village supporters |
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| Everybody gets involved! |
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| It was a lovely event |
Giiao Kaao
It's rice harvesting season out here. I was invited to giiao kaao (harvest rice) with students at one of my schools. It was nice to do something outside of the classroom with the students. Mr. C, the Cameroonian English teacher, was there as well and it was also his first time harvesting rice. Many of the students (4th through 6th graders) already had experience with rice farming and harvesting, so most of the teachers just supervised and it was up to the students to be our teachers and correct us when we made mistakes, they got a kick out of that, but they were great and we all had a really good time.
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| Drying out rice from my host mom's field in front of our home |
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| Bagging rice with my neighbors at another neighbor's home |
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| The rice irritated my skin, so I had to sit out with the little one |
Road Trip
I invited two of my teachers to attend a Peace Corps hosted workshop with me. We were meeting at a site about five hours away, but we made a few stops and bpai-tiiao'd (had some fun adventures) along the way and extended our road time to twelve hours. It was exhausting, but fun, my teachers are pretty cool.
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| Our first stop was an ancient palace and temple in our province, the Prasart Wat Sra Kampaeng Yai, the largest in this province |
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| Our last stop was "The Verona" - a gorgeous spot that mimics the Italian city. We were all tired at that point, so we had dinner on site and went straight to the hotel. "The Verona" is actually still under construction, but I can already see this as a neat little wedding spot. |
Student Friendly Schools
Peace Corps hosted a workshop to address gender based violence in schools. We learned a lot from the conference and from each other, and we had fun too!
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| Wonderful workship |
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| The food was amazing too |
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| We had a pretty great and successful time together. |
Bangkok Randoms... It's always a great time when I get to hang out with other Peace Corps Volunteers :-)
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| Hanging out, chit-chatting after pre-Thanksgiving Dinner |
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| The Christmas Spirit :-) Outside of a Bangkok Mall |
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| So glad we found these super awesome scarf shirts |
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| In good company with Peace Corps Thailand's Country Director and new Training Director |
With all of the happenings of the month, I especially loved sharing Thanksgiving with my students towards the end. I taught about blessings, gratitude, and Thanksgiving foods and traditions. We made thankful hand turkeys and/or colored Thanksgiving pictures as we watched "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving" in English and Thai. Here are a few student masterpieces...
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| This creative masterpiece is my personal fave |
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Suuk-San-Wan-Kob-Kun-Prajao!
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