Holidays in Thailand (Part 2)

Thanksgiving

Speaking of giving thanks, exactly two weeks after Loi Kratong, I celebrated Thanksgiving in Thailand proper American style with other volunteers.

Besides the usual but no less important parents/ family, friends, home, food, etc., I am thankful for:

• My co-teacher - after watching me teach my Thanksgivingl lesson all week, my co-teacher took me out to dinner the evening before Thanksgiving and told me even though it might not be an American meal, this would be our "Thai Thanksgiving."


• My PC family - during a time when I'm much more vulnerable to feeling homesick, they made this Thanksgiving feel like a celebration in a new home away from home.


• Two of my students in particular who were so thoughtful to text/ call me to say Happy Thanksgiving while I was on my way to celebrate Thanksgiving with volunteers. I was so touched!

There is so much more that I can't list them all. Even though certain situations can feel frustrating to say the least, I feel so blessed with everything: my site (I always think back to training when I was asked what kind of site I wanted - I didn't know, but it's everything I could have asked for), the people in my life, wherever they are in the world, and the direction life is taking me. I might not know where this path will lead me, but I know I'm going the right way.

Holidays in Thailand (Part 1)

Loi Kratong (Festival of Light)

During the second week of November, we celebrated Loi Kratong, or the "Festival of Light." ("Loi" means to float and "kratong" is the boat-like thing that floats on the water.)

Originally, the kratong was made of banana leaves or the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant and contains food, betel nuts, flowers, sticks of incense, a candle and coins.

But the Festival of Lights isn't just for kratongs; it's an excuse to light anything:

"Khom Loi" (floating paper lanterns)

Candles along the sidewalk which reminded me of Luminaria back home

Sparklers

Fireworks

Every year, Loi Kratong is on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month. This year, that date fell on Thursday, November 10. People know how to party in Thailand - they celebrate for 3 days, from Tuesday until Thursday (and even through the weekend in bigger cities like Chiang Mai).

On Wednesday, my co-teacher took me to the temple in Mae Hong Son where they were setting off fireworks, balloons with candles attached to them, and paper lanterns.

On Thursday, I went to Chiang Mai to celebrate with friends.

We lit the candle of our kratong, made our wishes and let it float away down the river among the thousands of other kratongs. We set off our own "khom loi" too and let it float into the sky. The candlelight from the "khom loi" drifting up into the sky above us seemed to reflect that of the kratongs in the river. (The flame of the candle is said to symbolize longevity, fulfillment of wishes and release from sins.)

Origins of Loi Kratong:
http://www.thailand.com/travel/festival/festivals_loykratong.htm
"Different legends surround the origins of Loi Kratong. The most popular version is it was an expression of gratitude to the goddess of water 'Phra Mae Kongka' for having extensively used, and sometimes polluted, the water from the rivers and canals. It is also in part a thanksgiving for her bounty in providing water for the livelihood of the people.

"Some believe the festival originates from Buddhism. They say the offering of flowers, candles and joss-sticks is a tribute of respect to the footprint of the Lord Buddha on the sandy beach of the Narmaha River in India, as well as to the great Serpent and dwellers of the underwater world, after the Lord Buddha's visit to their watery realm. It is possible that this is derived from a Hindu festival that pays tribute to the god Vishnu, who meditates at the center of the ocean. Others believe that the floral kratong is offered to the pagoda containing the Lord Buddha's topknot, which was cut off at his self-ordination and is now in heaven.

"Another explanation is that it is a way to pay respect to one's ancestors. Whatever the true origin, the practice of Loi Kratong first began in the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai in the 13th century. A young queen named Nang Noppamas was believed to be the one who made a small boat laden with candles and incense and floated it down the river. The name Nang Noppamas has been associated with Loi Kratong ever since."

Rice Harvesting

My first weekend back at site after the October vacation, I helped harvest rice in a neighboring village.

Rice fields waiting to be harvested

Rice, rice and more rice! That eventually ends up on the breakfast, lunch and dinner table

Cutting the rice

Rolling the rice into bundles

The farmer showing me how it's done

Beating the rice

Beach Bound October

We had three weeks of vacation in October (the difference between the Thai and American academic calendars still throws me off) so I went to the beach for the first time since arriving in Thailand 10 months ago!

I tried my hand at Muay Thai on Ko Samet.

Ready... go!

Did you expect any less of me? ;) Although to be fair, we were probably not so evenly matched.

There were fire dancers on the beach while we were eating dinner.

This boy couldn't have been older than my primary school students.

And what better way to end a day at the beach with good food, good company and good entertainment than with a spectacular sunset over the ocean?

Life is good.

Lizards, Gibbons and Scorpions, Oh My!

(I think every volunteer's blog has a similar post title of some sort.)

The hiking boots that were a gift from my tennis group back home came in handy during my trip to Khao Yai National Park in September (thank you!):

Khao Yai National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) province (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khao_Yai_National_Park)

Leech socks - some leeches managed to get in anyway!

Luckily I kept my blood but a couple others in our group weren't so fortunate.

Lizard

Our guide could somehow spot creatures while driving around the park. I don't know how he did it.

Monkeys

(We did see gibbons but I don't have anything besides blurry photos of them.)

Scorpion, oh my!

We let it take turns crawling around on our chests.

Unfortunately we didn't see any elephants, but they left big footprints!

Haew Suwat Waterfall, the waterfall featured in the movie, The Beach

This and the next photo do not have anything to do with Khao Yai itself but it was my first time eating steak...

and salmon in Thailand. It was delicious. I was happy. :)

What I love about Northern Thailand

It's beautiful.

(Photos taken in/ near Pai)

World Map English Camp

Last weekend I helped out at another volunteer's World Map English Camp. This was a genius two-in-one combination of an English camp (goal: students learn English and have fun - oh wait, that's supposed to be every day at school) and World Map project (goal: students learn about world geography while painting a world map mural).

Before

This is what I imagined I would be doing when I joined Peace Corps.

After - not quite, but almost finished!

Food!

Tofu noodles from the Chinese village

Chinese style Burmese noodles

Mmm... Sandwiches from Juicy4U in Chiang Mai

Big Bowl Florentine

Words can't describe how nice it was to have a proper salad.

Dessert. Enough said.

Who doesn't scream for ice cream?!

Japanese ramen in Bangkok

Moroccan food! You really can get anything in BKK

Moroccan bread

Some delicious vegetable Morrocan dish (don't ask me what it's called)

There was couscous (not white rice!) underneath too

Happy 4th of July!

(Our awesome director and her husband baked these for us)

The salad section of our 4th of July dinner

I was so excited that I took a couple of bites before I remembered to take a picture. Looking back at the photo, this does not look very appetizing, but let's face it, this blog post was more for me than for anyone else. :)