In my attempt to be productive today and get my camera fixed, get more baht, and put more baht on my phone, I got caught in the most epic monsoon. I thought I could brave the rain and make it out alive but I had my computer in my backpack and no umbrella. Essentially I went into the 7-11 bought three butter croissants, ate, them waited, tried to scurry to the bus stop, it was leaking then I suckered up and got a 1 dollar taxi back to my dorm. I should be working out, but its so rainy that I don't want to move. I should be writing in my journal before we go out tonight because I haven't written in it for two weeks, but my handwriting is atrocious and I need to upload pictures.
Yesterday was great because we went to the snake farm. They showed us how they caught snakes and got the venom out of them so they could create antivenom. The snakes were moving pretty fast in the pits and the walls weren't high enough for my liking so when a particularly angry one tried to slither up the slide and snap at me, I ran away and stared at the young thai children instead. they were simply adorable. we then went to the aquarium. its just like in the us but it was still fun i like looking at fish and sea creatures. we then went to jim thompsons house. he was a man born in the US, studied architecture at princeton, was stationed in thailand for the war and fell in love with it. he moved back and would buy silk form his neighbors and sell it to fashion houses in europe. he was the one to singly revive the silk trade. he built a mansion from 6 old style thai houses on the river and thats what we saw. it was simply gorgeous, he had all the traditional thai elements with a touch of european in it. He had china and silk, and sculpture, pottery, and tapestries that were to die for. unfortunately one day he took a walk in the woods alone and was never to return again. no one knows what happened but many speculate that the thai government suspected that he was a cia informant and offed him. who knows, the house was tight.
we then went home to change and go out to our good friend nandini's 20th birthday party. this is was the first real dose of culture shock that I got. It was a bar called hyde and seek, of course me felicia, carla, and lucy were about an hour late because our cab driver got lost and we couldnt communicate to him that we wanted to go to the sky train that was closest to us. So when we got there they had ordered mad drinks and let me tell you the drinks and food were not inexpensive. we are talking 345-500 baht for drinks, thats around a good 12-15 dollars, which is hard to pay if you only pay for 3 dollar drinks. so anyways me felicia and carla are looking at the menu like dang, but lucy wants in on a monster drink (little did we know it cost 2,900 baht). so carla ordered a caesar salad bc it was the cheapest food on the menu and felicia orders fries, which were equally as cheap. Felicia ends up getting a salad and I cave and get a piece of chocolate cake but it was only 5 dollars so cool. Nandini wants felicia and i to have a sip of the monster drink, so we do, but decide we can't have anymore because we can't put in. anyways the dinner was chill until the bill came. Essentially nandini and them split the bill like 9 ways. and i was literally shocked, it came out that we each owed 845 baht, which in actuality is ridiculous because I owed 200 for the food. I ended up putting in 600 baht because thats all I brought. Felicia just puts in for her food and its essentially super awkward at the table. lucy ends up overpaying as well and puts in 900. carla put in around 500-600. I just wanted to leave at that point because it sucked that I payed 3 times as much as I should have and it was awkward, but people insist we go to the club. we take an awk taxi ride with nandini and her boyfriend though they are being very nice, we end up finding out that they are very upper/high class and it makes sense they are ok on dropping that amount on food. she pays for the 39 baht taxi ride. we get up to go in the club and even though they go there all the time, they are forcing them to do bottle service. (i mean its not the same in us its about 1,400 baht, around 50 dollars but again when I stress to you that a meal is like a dollar, this is a monsterous amount of money) nandini throws in a thousand and we just have to split the rest. essentially no one wants to pay and the only reason that they are making them do this promotion is because we were foreigners and they really take advantage. we also had a hard time because these kids though they grew up in thailand learned english first because they went to international school and thus couldn't hold us down in thai. It was a purely thai bar, with absolutely no foreigners by the way so carla wasn't feeling it anyways. we all just left because we were overwhelmed.
ok so long story short the night wasn't as crazy as we wanted it to be. it was also clouded by awkwardness because of the socioeconomic tensions and also a cultural misunderstanding. essentially in america we split the bill. as people who are tight on money/exchange students we just pay for what we bought because it isn't usually extravagant and we get what we can afford. because she was rich, she just thought it would be cool to split the bill equally and then everyone could just pay. i ended up putting in more because it must be annoying to feel like you have to take out foreigners. she was doing us a favor by showing us thai nightlife and though I really didn't want to I just did, for the sake of it not being awkward anymore. essentially i just remember having recruits and putting in for them, or when people visited me at school paying more for them, so i just thought I would ease the tension and just put in. WE won't be making this mistake again, though it was a learning experience.
right now it really is torentially downpouring. i actually thought I saw a cat fall out of the sky. like i said I got caught in it and it was awful because I hate the rain lol. it hasn't stopped which is weird because it usually rains for at most 15 minutes and the clears up.
anyways tonight we are going to an all thai bar that has a performance at 12 that is supposed to be super cool. we are going with the americans in the program so I really won't have to worry about the awkwardness and there is a safety in numbers more than 4. i will def post about it and now i will post some pics for you!
ps. we tried to go to the red light district the other night, yet essentially the people who were all gung ho chickened out. they were saying something about feminism, but they wanted to go to research for their project on sex tourism. so it woul dhave jsut been me lucy and carla and dylon. i didn't want to take a free taxi and see a p**** ping pong show for only 100 bht because i was afraid id become a human trafficking statistic because there just wasn't enough of us going. also the guys wanting to take us dumb americans there could have easily just taken us somewhere else for 100bht. as much as i love dylon he isn't very intimidating so we didn't go. we talked to our program director who is thai she said it would be safe to go in more numbers and just take a taxi straight there. i just think we aren't going to go, but it was interesting learning about this culture in thailand.
peace love and chicken pad thai(land)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Sex Workers
Today was the best day ever because our program director finally arrived. John Loike is really cool and so excited about this program, he even cancelled tomorrows presentations and is taking us to the snake farm, aquarium, electronics store, and then tim johnsons home. So anyways todays first lecture was on human trafficking. sadly that adorable young child that we bought roses from probably came from cambodia along with 2,000 other kids. they will go back there but their parents for whatever reason (no vehicle, work, etc) will probably not be able to pick him up and he will roam the streets with thousands of other kids. i found out that sex trafficking amounts to perhaps 1% of all human trafficking cases yet it gets around 49 million in funds a year. the disproportionate amount of money is because the media portrays it as being the worst form of trafficking, while the amount of men that are trafficked is actually higher because they travel with friends instead of family, are more wreckless, and are in thailand more because of the sex industry anyways. also the reason most people are trafficked is because they need people to work illegally, and the worst is the fishing boats because if you refuse to work you are pushed over the side or shot, and it is really like slave conditions...
our next field trip was to the foundation empower (i think i am volunteering there next week). it is for sex workers and it was really a lot different than expected. the picture that is always portrayed is that these women are sob stories, not being able to pull themselves out of their misery and they needed to be saved. this place showed me the exact opposite for this location, the women felt empowered because this was their form of work, they were annoyed that people asked them stupid questions because they were just people like you and me. they were usually the breadwinners of their families and some were lawyers, doctors, and even public health officials. we met a particularly friendly sex worker who showed us some strip moves on the pool they had installed at the space. she brought her mom who had worked during some war.
all in all it was a very interesting and eye opening day. the red light district is interesting it is composed of three streets with one only being for japanese people. when we were leaving it was around 4 and people were setting up the place for the night market outside the clubs. they worked so fast because they do it every night and it was truly extensive. the stores around there were so expensive because the tourists want to buy the sex workers nice things so hey. i am ordering kfc to the dorm, working out (intensity workout for the first time since feb 28), then knocking out because after that long day planned for us tomorrow we are going to our thai friends birthday party tomorrow night, the floaty markets at 6 am on saturday, out with our thai friends at a hang out for northern thailanders, and then followed on sunday by the largest open market in the world, jay jays. seeing as i wont be sleeping on the weekend, I need my rest now.
also shoutout to nantale, she is the one who encouraged me to make this blog and i love her to death.
best,
hopefully pictures come soon
also email me if you want a souvenir, eaa2123@gmail.com and also what you want
loves
our next field trip was to the foundation empower (i think i am volunteering there next week). it is for sex workers and it was really a lot different than expected. the picture that is always portrayed is that these women are sob stories, not being able to pull themselves out of their misery and they needed to be saved. this place showed me the exact opposite for this location, the women felt empowered because this was their form of work, they were annoyed that people asked them stupid questions because they were just people like you and me. they were usually the breadwinners of their families and some were lawyers, doctors, and even public health officials. we met a particularly friendly sex worker who showed us some strip moves on the pool they had installed at the space. she brought her mom who had worked during some war.
all in all it was a very interesting and eye opening day. the red light district is interesting it is composed of three streets with one only being for japanese people. when we were leaving it was around 4 and people were setting up the place for the night market outside the clubs. they worked so fast because they do it every night and it was truly extensive. the stores around there were so expensive because the tourists want to buy the sex workers nice things so hey. i am ordering kfc to the dorm, working out (intensity workout for the first time since feb 28), then knocking out because after that long day planned for us tomorrow we are going to our thai friends birthday party tomorrow night, the floaty markets at 6 am on saturday, out with our thai friends at a hang out for northern thailanders, and then followed on sunday by the largest open market in the world, jay jays. seeing as i wont be sleeping on the weekend, I need my rest now.
also shoutout to nantale, she is the one who encouraged me to make this blog and i love her to death.
best,
hopefully pictures come soon
also email me if you want a souvenir, eaa2123@gmail.com and also what you want
loves
Monday, July 18, 2011
Pictures
Shoutouts
Today we went to the financial district in Bangkok, twas interesting. WE went to a bar called iron fairies and it was so cool, once my camera stops trippin I will upload the pics. WE also went to a thai diner. I had french onion soup and egg noodles. notsatisfied i ordered a burger, then i got a chocolate croissant, all of htis added up to 9 usd. smh it was a problem
Weekend swag
So the resort was amazing! We get there and book a hostel and so I have seen the movie hostel and was really really scared because in that movie everyone essentially dies and its like not a nice place. Jings guesthouse was anything but that! It was gorgeous, I have pics but my camera is acting shady. It was gorgeous it looked just like a hotel, for two nights I paid 33 dollars. So it was a win all around. SO getting there...
Well the night before me, felicia, carla, and lucy went to bangkok/kaorsarn road. Essentially it was the craziest night of my life, I will put up so random pics. Essentially we were at a bar, people kept selling us things, a small child sold us flowers, we went to a european club which was rave music and then a thai club that was michael jackson music and 90s music. It was the best djed party I had been to in a while. When we went to a bar the first night we got here, a thai band did their own rendition of michael jacksons biwie jean so I know they love them some MJ, which is quite perfect in my mind.
So essentially I went to bed at 530 and we were supposed to catch a bus at 6. Needless to say we woke up at 9 to find that our whole program had left us essentially which was odd because Lucy had planned the trip and we had specificially said wake us up we want to go with you. But cool so we get to the train station as planned for 6 dollars we caught a bus for 2 hours to Hua Hin which is a beach resort. Essentially the bus ride was long but what put the nail in teh coffin was when we were like 20 mins away we pull into this gas station, we wait there for 45 minutes in line for gas. They made this announcement in thai so we had no idea, when we found out we got out and got a taxi. Essentially the taxi driver was yelling to all the motorcyclists and random people on the street to ask directions because he didnt know where to go...twas a fail. Essentially we finally walked there and we got there at 530 only to find that the people in the program had gotten a program bus to drop them in front of the guesthouse. We were pissed so we got thai massages.
thai massages are no joke. these women are so limber, one second her legs were on my calfs the next they were on my shoulderblades, it was crazy. at some points i thought my legs were going to break, so i don't know how more inflexible people handled the situation. at one point i kicked her in the face, she laughed at me it was unreal. anyways it calmed me down then i had this bomb french onion soup, attended to my bug bites and was on my way.
the next day we woke up for the sunrise. it was gorgeous it was a religious holiday as well when the monks sit in the temple and lock themselves in there so we saw the monks traveling there. We then went elephant riding. i love elephants so it was joyous. iw as saddened though becaus ethe elehant riders hit htem on the head with a metal hammer looking thing hwen they were bad so i was said. i heard one get whipped and i have never heard a sound like that. sigh but the elephants were beautiful and majestic. me and lucy's elephant loved posing for pics, when we were getting tired of picture taking it was just getting started with its photoshoot. we got a free soda and pinneaple afterwards then headed to the beach! It was gorgeous, a lot of little crabbies though. it was interesting because all the westerners and europeans were in the sun while the thai people were under a canopy of darkness. this was the first time we had actually seen non thai people.
then the nezt day we layed on the beach again and then we left and caught the program van back. it was a much easier trip. me and lucy left our presentation on bioethical issues of extreme premaurity to teh last minute so i stayed up late and did it. We just finished our presentation it was pretty good. Other people did performance enhancing drugs for students, trans issues, end of life issues, nursing strikes, and jewish perspectives of cosmetic surgery. It was a good day.
Now we are going to bangkok to the iron fairies which is a bar and eating because im starving. i will post my pics and all my shoutouts once I return in a few hours! love yalls miss yalls.
Well the night before me, felicia, carla, and lucy went to bangkok/kaorsarn road. Essentially it was the craziest night of my life, I will put up so random pics. Essentially we were at a bar, people kept selling us things, a small child sold us flowers, we went to a european club which was rave music and then a thai club that was michael jackson music and 90s music. It was the best djed party I had been to in a while. When we went to a bar the first night we got here, a thai band did their own rendition of michael jacksons biwie jean so I know they love them some MJ, which is quite perfect in my mind.
So essentially I went to bed at 530 and we were supposed to catch a bus at 6. Needless to say we woke up at 9 to find that our whole program had left us essentially which was odd because Lucy had planned the trip and we had specificially said wake us up we want to go with you. But cool so we get to the train station as planned for 6 dollars we caught a bus for 2 hours to Hua Hin which is a beach resort. Essentially the bus ride was long but what put the nail in teh coffin was when we were like 20 mins away we pull into this gas station, we wait there for 45 minutes in line for gas. They made this announcement in thai so we had no idea, when we found out we got out and got a taxi. Essentially the taxi driver was yelling to all the motorcyclists and random people on the street to ask directions because he didnt know where to go...twas a fail. Essentially we finally walked there and we got there at 530 only to find that the people in the program had gotten a program bus to drop them in front of the guesthouse. We were pissed so we got thai massages.
thai massages are no joke. these women are so limber, one second her legs were on my calfs the next they were on my shoulderblades, it was crazy. at some points i thought my legs were going to break, so i don't know how more inflexible people handled the situation. at one point i kicked her in the face, she laughed at me it was unreal. anyways it calmed me down then i had this bomb french onion soup, attended to my bug bites and was on my way.
the next day we woke up for the sunrise. it was gorgeous it was a religious holiday as well when the monks sit in the temple and lock themselves in there so we saw the monks traveling there. We then went elephant riding. i love elephants so it was joyous. iw as saddened though becaus ethe elehant riders hit htem on the head with a metal hammer looking thing hwen they were bad so i was said. i heard one get whipped and i have never heard a sound like that. sigh but the elephants were beautiful and majestic. me and lucy's elephant loved posing for pics, when we were getting tired of picture taking it was just getting started with its photoshoot. we got a free soda and pinneaple afterwards then headed to the beach! It was gorgeous, a lot of little crabbies though. it was interesting because all the westerners and europeans were in the sun while the thai people were under a canopy of darkness. this was the first time we had actually seen non thai people.
then the nezt day we layed on the beach again and then we left and caught the program van back. it was a much easier trip. me and lucy left our presentation on bioethical issues of extreme premaurity to teh last minute so i stayed up late and did it. We just finished our presentation it was pretty good. Other people did performance enhancing drugs for students, trans issues, end of life issues, nursing strikes, and jewish perspectives of cosmetic surgery. It was a good day.
Now we are going to bangkok to the iron fairies which is a bar and eating because im starving. i will post my pics and all my shoutouts once I return in a few hours! love yalls miss yalls.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
resort
i'm going to the resort...
hopefully lots of pics and a few posts to come but im leaving my computerrrrr
when i get bak on sunday me and lucy have to work out our presentation for sunday
we are thinking about abortion issues across cultures but more specifically how to determine when to terminate pregnancy at a specific hotly contested gestation
more to come!
Hi mommy, hi daddy! Hi caracita. I family, thank you for reading my blog, I miss you all so much and am thinking of all of you!
to the homies, i miss u tooooooo, shoutouts to Jananana for sending me that long email, now if she only sends me a pic of Huey, so I can be a proud aunt. Shoutouts to Jam and Melesa bc i love em.
Soutout to Talia Caldwell for being the best creeep ever.
Peace and Love!
Erin
hopefully lots of pics and a few posts to come but im leaving my computerrrrr
when i get bak on sunday me and lucy have to work out our presentation for sunday
we are thinking about abortion issues across cultures but more specifically how to determine when to terminate pregnancy at a specific hotly contested gestation
more to come!
Hi mommy, hi daddy! Hi caracita. I family, thank you for reading my blog, I miss you all so much and am thinking of all of you!
to the homies, i miss u tooooooo, shoutouts to Jananana for sending me that long email, now if she only sends me a pic of Huey, so I can be a proud aunt. Shoutouts to Jam and Melesa bc i love em.
Soutout to Talia Caldwell for being the best creeep ever.
Peace and Love!
Erin
Harry Potter 7: Part 2
I saw it
19 hours before all of you
i cried the majority of the movie
it was brilliant
peep at the end the black boys in quidditch uniforms, too bad those were the only black kids...why they gotta play sports...emh
oh the movie and popcorn and water was 5 dollars...i cannot move back to the us
19 hours before all of you
i cried the majority of the movie
it was brilliant
peep at the end the black boys in quidditch uniforms, too bad those were the only black kids...why they gotta play sports...emh
oh the movie and popcorn and water was 5 dollars...i cannot move back to the us
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