Ups and Downs and Hopes

It has been a while since my last blog post and hiatus, and I've since returned to my little village in Thailand to resume my service. I am so rejuvenated, and so very glad to be back. My time away coincided with the schools' summer break, so it's almost like I didn't miss a beat! The starting of a new school year is just evidence upon evidence (upon evidence) that I'm over the proverbial "hump" of my service. It's been a long time coming, but at the same time, it's a little hard to accept that this is the home stretch!

Mid-Service Conference with 46 fellow group members.
This officially marked the mid-point of our service. 

At Mid-Service Conference with Stephen and Julia
It was so great to spend time with fellow volunteers!

In my personal reflections, I recalled a chart that we received during our Pre-Service Training shortly after arriving in Thailand. It's a neat little graphic that Peace Corps developed which shows the roller coaster of emotional ups and downs that volunteers typically go through during the course of service. It's quite a ride! There's a reason (many actually) why they call it "The toughest job you'll ever love." 

Typical cycle of a PCV's Ups (Adjustment) and Downs (Vulnerability)
Graphic originally located on this blog.

While each volunteer has a unique experience, the chart is startlingly on point in so many ways. Now that I've pretty much worked my way out of my mid-service crises, I'm hoping that the remainder of my time in Thailand stays true to the chart and remains on the upside. The second year of service is sometimes referred to as the "Year-2-UpSwing" during which, many volunteers are finally able to: capitalize on the relationships that were developed during the first year, see first year ideas/projects to fruition, and establish a sense of sustainability.

At this point, I have about nine months remaining in my service, and I'm definitely experiencing a wee bit of all of the above. I'm already looking forward to reviewing and reflecting on this chart/my service at the 27 month mark. It's pretty motivational, knowing that with the time I have remaining, the period of human gestation, there is potential for miracles, great success, and other wonderful happenings.

 

Delightful visit with Amanda, my friend who serves in a nearby province.
Discussing plans for the remainder of our service and enjoying delicious treats!
We both determined to birth something wonderful with the remainder of our time here :-)

I'm so grateful for the unwavering support that I've received through all of the ups and downs, especially recently. I'm embracing this homestretch and everything that comes along with it. Hopefully, I'll be able to resume a monthly blogging schedule,  to help keep me on task, I've started recording snippets of my daily life that I'd like to share in the form of a short video at the end of each month.

Thanks for being on this journey with me. If there's anything that you'd like to see in an upcoming blog or video, please comment below!

Hiatus

It's been a while since my last blog post, and a lot has happened during that time. There was an incident at my site recently, and Peace Corps has allowed me some time to [temporarily] remove myself from my service in Thailand. This has been a period of learning, growing, processing, and healing. I'm truly grateful for the amount and quality of care that I've received from the Peace Corps during this time. I also appreciate the love and support that I've received from family and friends.

I haven't yet decided what my next step will be, in terms of whether or not I will return to my site or even resume my service. Barring one isolated incident, jarring as it may have been, my Peace Corps experience has been absolutely incredible in so many ways. Here are some reflections from my first year (Jan to Dec 2014) in Thailand (mostly pictures that you may have seen previously here on the blog). Thanks a bunch for being a part of my journey!

To be continued...

Mom in Thailand

The best surprise ever was my mom's visit to Thailand. A few days before I returned from my holiday vacation, my mom announced that she would be traveling with me and spending a month with me in Thailand. My whole family was in on the surprise, and even one of my friends out here in Thailand. My mom had done all of her research, and even made a few calls so that we could be seated together for the whole trip (I purchased my tickets a couple months in advance). This vacation was her well deserved gift to herself after a very trying and very successful academic year, it was also her first trip outside of the US/Caribbean. I'm usually not one for surprises, but this one was amazing, I'm really glad she chose to spend this time with me, it was wonderful.

The big surprise revealed. My mom's ticket to Thailand!

Our journey from Miami to Bangkok was over thirty hours long, including a lengthy layover in Doha, Qatar. The flight itself was pretty pleasant and comfortable. The food, the entertainment, the legroom (!!!) and overall service were great. I would definitely use Qatar Airways for future travel, and would highly recommend to others.  We left Miami on Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Bangkok on Thursday evening.

Qatar Airways. World  Class Service!

In Doha, Qatar. It was freezing cold!
We were on a mission find someplace quiet and comfortable to sleep until our next flight

One of the many delicious  meals that we were served along the way

We finally made it!

My mom's first meal in Thailand.

She was surprised to see soup in a plastic bag.

But that is not unusual.

The price was unusually high though, since it's airport food.

70THB, about 2USD, twice as much as it would cost in the village.

She got lots of baht! 32 THB for 1 USD!

We spent most of Friday in rest and recovery then traveled to a nearby province for the weekend where we visited a friend and got to attend church. From there, we finally made our way to my little village in the Isaan (Northeastern) region.

Among friends, after church at the Adventist International University

At the Victory Monument in Bangkok. Ready to head to my home!

We took a short flight from Bangkok to the province neighboring mine, and my host mom and host brother met us at the airport. Prior to our arrival, I had explained to my host mom that my mom and I would stay at a little motel in the village. Once we got in though, she insisted that we stay at her home and spend our money exploring and doing fun stuff. There isn't much of a counter-argument to that. 

My mom-mom with my host mom and brother.

We got to the house, and the welcome committee (neighbors and extended family) warmly greeted us. Introductions were made, we had dinner, and all had a merry time. They taught my mom a few of the local phrases, and especially enjoyed her reaction to the spicy food.

The Welcome Party!

It was nice to have two moms.

Right down to the knowing look they gave each other
as they watched me hurriedly packed my travel bag on our last night,
at the last minute of course.

I was happy to share various aspects my new life with my mom. She got to meet the people who I now think of as family, she got to eat sticky rice and enjoy meals without utensils, she quickly got accustomed to the morning announcements blasting from the loud speaker at 6:30 am, the daily bucket baths, and hanger-drying laundry. In a way, I got to experience the newness all over again, and I got to see how far I've come. Not only in terms of language acquisition and cultural adaptation, but just in general life experience. 

My host mom doesn't usually cook, but she made her specialty for our special guest

my personal favorite: pat gra-prao gai (chicken stirfried with basil) 

and locally grown riceberry

During her final week in the village, my mom accompanied me to my schools. For the most part, the students were on their best behavior, and my mother was very impressed by how respectful, responsive, and eager to learn they were.

With my mom and coteacher and our students

My mom with a few students at another school

My mom is a nurse and helped me with my lesson about healthy habits.

My program manager came to visit, and all of my school directors came to the meeting.
I wasn't sure if some of them would show up, so "You'll get to meet my mom"
was part of my invitation/pitch.

I knew that I wanted my mom to see more of Thailand than just my village but I had spent all of my "vacation days" on my trip home, so our excursion time would have to be very limited. With the cooperation of my host family, we were able to make the most of our weekends. I asked my mom if there was anything that she really wanted to do, she quickly responded "Ride an elephant," so the first weekend, my host mom and host cousin took us to the elephant village (หมู่บ้านช้าง = muu-baan chang) in the neighboring province. In Muu-baan Chang, as you may imagine, there is an elephant in just about every yard in the village. Some elephants are used for shows and for riding, some are cared for as pets, and others just graze all day. Although the elephant ride was something that my mom really wanted to do, she was super terrified once the elephant started moving. Eventually, she got over her fear, and enjoyed her ride. The next few weekends were spent exploring Thai culture, foods, massages, and shopping. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon with the elephants.

At the elephant village หมู่บ้านช้าง 

Just washing his pet elephant,
the others playing in the background.

Momma elephant going after baby elephant

My mom was so scared in the beginning. They were about to let her off.

But it wasn't long before she was enjoying herself

My host mom.

I was the bravest of the bunch lol

I don't usually take selfies, but when I do...

For my mom's final week in Thailand, I managed a quick trip to Chiang Mai. We said goodbye and thank you to my host family and community for their tremendous kindness and hospitality, and we made our way to north of Thailand. Chiang Mai is a popular tourist destination, I was happy to finally have a reason + opportunity to visit, and just thrilled to have my mom as my companion. While in Chiang Mai, my mom dared herself to give it another go with the elephants. And since we were being daring, we ended the day with tigers! Our first day was pretty action packed, here are just a few pictures.

Giving it another go.

Such Friendly Giants. This one really liked me :-)

We had some free time with the elephants before the show

Monkey School

Monkey School

Baby monkey, went in to grab a sticker on her shirt.

Tiger Kingdom

Love the big cats

Tiger grooming itself as I pet it.

The tigers were really mellow. The trainers say they are not drugged.
They are just big lazy cats being big lazy cats!
These tigers have been in captivity for generations,
so they don't have much hunt in them.
But just in case natural instincts get the best of them,
trainers are nearby to intervene.

We did some more sight seeing and enjoyed being tourists for the last couple of days before her departure.  

At Wat Doi Suthep

We had to climb over 300 stairs to get to the top. We took breaks.

Kinda like a 'Congrats You Made It!' sign. But not really.

It was gorgeous

Everything was beautiful.
The weather was overcast so we didn't get any good pics of the view.

Night Safari

Night Safari

Amazing Light/Water Show. Better than fireworks!

On the safari!

Zebras! We saw so many animals but weren't allowed to use flash, so not many good shots.

Overall great night!

We spent our last few hours in Chiang Mai at the Art in Paradise 3D Interactive Museum. There's a lot of buzz in the media right now about optical illusions. This museum was full of them! Here are just a few...

As if petting tigers wasn't enough adventure for one trip

Panda Time

I'm not gonna hurt your baby. I promise.

Sweet Water

To get to the other side.

Hanging on for dear life

... and then there was a Michelle!

Under the Sea!

Just floating around

Just floating around

Just floating around

What a view!

Best seats in the house

Really!

On a song-taew, our last adventure in Chiang Mai.

It was the shortest month ever. I had spent a total of six weeks with my mother, no doubt the most time we've spent together in years, and I was really sad to see her leave. I thoroughly enjoyed showing her around my community and the adventures that we had exploring areas that were less familiar to me. There's a lot more of Thailand that she would love to see, so she's already planning to return in a few years. With or without me. Meanwhile, I'll be looking forward to possibly entertaining more visitors in the near future.

Figuring out where we wanna go next time lol

A few hours before my mom said goodbye to Thailand.