So! Onward and Outward

Continuing from my last post~

The Novice Camp:
So the novices, or naane as they're called in Thai, were wonderful. They taught us how to make two different kinds of mud bricks, and we helped to add a layer to the house they are in the process of constructing.

It's amazing to see a house come together from mud and sand! And they last for a long time, too. The huts we stayed in were over six years old and holding together well.

We also had a short, two or three hour English language session with the boys. They were very inquisitive, and they also wrote out the Shan alphabet for me~

This is my name in Shan! I showed my students at the school, and they were very surprised.

We were fed delicious food at the camp, too. They grow everything they eat themselves, and it's all organic. We also absorbed a lot of information on the practices and philosophy behind Buddhism. They had a great sign posted with one of my favorite quotes:

This is a common idea in Christianity, and it also explains the idea of how karma works.

We were also lucky enough to participate in a purification/longevity ritual with some people that came up from Bangkok.

The idea behind the ritual is that the naane (novices) all hold the end of a string as they chant.

The strings are attached to a network that then dangles down around our heads, so their prayers flow in to us.

The coolest thing, though, was that we got to see a traditional Shan costumed-dance.


The creature the costume is supposed to represent is a mythical creature from the Himalayas. Aren't they awesome? These boys competed in a cultural festival and won!

February 10-13: Trip to Luang Prabang, Laos
So we went to Laos two weekends ago. Part of the reason was because we needed to re-up our Visas for Thailand, and you have to do that coming into Thailand. The other part was because we could. Honestly, I didn't have the best time. I wasn't feeling very well - that's what I get for drinking ice coffee on and empty stomach right before the flight! Epic fail.

The highlights of the trip were probably getting to eat some pretty good American food, getting to do some English conversation, and going to a gorgeous waterfall.

Four lovely ladies: myself, Gina, Cassie, and Millie.

The water fall was so beautiful. And we also got to swim in the pools near the bottom! It was cold, but wonderful.

The other cool thing was that we actually took a prop plane to get there and back, since the flight was less than an hour. It was a much smoother ride than expected.

I was so happy to get back to Chiang Mai, though. It's a little sad to think that, now that we finally feel like Chiang Mai is our home base, we'll be leaving for Vietnam on March 3rd. I can't believe how the time has flown. I honestly don't know if I would have noticed the time passing like this unless I wasn't almost finished with my text book and didn't have several pages of poetry to show for it. It will be sad to leave this place, but I'm really looking forward to Vietnam, and I think that helps. Moving from Thai to Vietnamese will be a welcome break from Thai, and we get to stay with host families whose children are English students at the university. I've always wanted to be in a host family situation, even just for a week, so I'm so looking forward to it. I've also accepted the fact that I can always come back to these countries in the future, so it's okay to part with them for now. The future is wide open, after all.

Well, I think I'll leave off here for tonight. I shouldn't upload many more pictures to this post, and I'll probably have more time in the next week to do another post or two. Hope you're all having a great day, and here's to a good night's sleep for me!

~แอปี้ (Abby)

Happy Valentine's Day~

Hey guys! I know it's been forever since I've posted anything, so while I was in Laos I had time to write up everything I wanted to tell you about. Here is super-duper catch up!

So my life has been ridiculously crazy over the last few weeks (I just realized I haven't posted since January - epic fail). Here is a timeline of what I've been up to~

Jan. 31: I started volunteer teaching in English at a school for migrant workers - which I love! Most of the students came over to Thailand from Burma - which is a disastrous mess right now - to find work in Thailand and be able to support their families. There are many ethnic groups in Burma that are being attacked by the Burmese in Burma (not all people in Burma are Burmese - if you'd like to know more about this, click here). Most of 'my students', for lack of a better term, are from the Shan state in Burma. While the Shan state is being attacked and hundreds of thousands of people are being internally displaced within Burma itself, Thailand does not consider them refugees because it would have to fault trade with Burma, from which Thailand imports teak, jade, and other resources. Thailand will take in a certain number of Shan, but they do not have any paperwork and may be shipped back to Burma at any point. It's a tough, confusing issue.
Anyway, my students are wonderful! I teach every weeknight when we're in town from 6-8pm, and I'm really enjoying helping them with their English. They're also teaching me a lot in the process. I've learned that making a fool of yourself is a must if you expect your students to put themselves on the line when they're not sure how to say something, and because of this class has been a lot of fun! I'm hoping to really get close to these guys and girls and help them as much as I can while I'm here. I knew I liked helping people learn before, but now I know that I can handle it too. (And by handle, I mean that I can at least think of something to do on the fly!) The students range from around 14 years old to older than myself, so it's a good mix of ages, personalities, and abilities. I plan to get a group photo before my time is up there, and when I do I'll upload it ASAP!

Feb. 3-5: Novice Camp Weekend
For anyone who's seen my Facebook photos, you've probably noticed a lot of pictures of young boys in really bright robes. Like these!

These guys are Buddhist novices. The idea would be that they're training to become Buddhist monks, but they can disrobe at any time and are not eligible to become monks until they are 20 years old.

This is an amazing group of kids. The youngest is around 14, and the oldest was 21 and deciding whether or not to become a monk. (Monks live under much stricter rules than novices do.) Several of these boys are from the IDP camp near the Novice camp (IDP stands for Internally Displaced People, which is what I've been calling it since the Shan are not technically refugees). Some of them have lost loved ones in the fighting in the Shan state, and one of them is now an orphan. But you would never guess the hardships they have been through because of how happy they are.

Sorry, I've got to get going. It's Nick's birthday today - he's a Valentine's Day baby! - and we're taking him out to dinner. I'll try and finish up after we get back.

~Abby