Personal Feature: The Family Next Door

I've written several times about our neighbors. We were surrounded by many good folks who looked after us during floods, storms, illness, and household maintainance. Some were very loud, true, but for the most part we enjoyed our living situation. The family next door was very important to us throughout our time in Thailand, so I'll write about them today.

Who lived there, just a few feet south of our windows? The list included Ann (red sweater, in photo), her husband Rat, their son Nong Dae, Ann's mother Moon (flowered shirt), her father Som, her nephew Lek, and her older brother Boon. That list varied from time to time, because Rat is in the military and was often off at his post, and Ann sometimes went to join him for a month or two.

Ann was just a year younger than me. She came over to introduce herself on the day we moved in, and was pleased that we would be neighbors. At that time she worked a low-level job at the school district office. Nong Dae was not quite a year old, and he stayed home with his grandmother during the days. But when he started walking and became too much work for his grandmother to handle, Ann quit her job and had to find new ways of making money. During the course of our two years in town, she tried many different projects: making crepes to sell on the street and at local events, taking in laundry, making roasted corn and eggrolls to sell in the town where her husband was posted, raising fish, signing up with Amway to sell household products and cosmetics to the women in town... (It's true, I became an Amway member while I was living in Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I bought the detergent.) She never seemed to be able to break even, though, and was often stressed about money and how to care for her family. When we left, she was about to start a bread-baking business. We sold her our oven for a very low price, and I tried to find some recipes on the internet that could be modified for Thai ingredients.

Rat was originally from northeastern Thailand. He was one of the nicest Thai men we ever met. He didn't drink alcohol and was quite devoted to his family. He and Ann met in Bangkok and were married several years ago. He was usually gone for 2-3 weeks at a time, and when
he came home he would do all sorts of household projects -- building fences, stairways, and other quality-of-life remodels. He worked hard and didn't get much rest.

We had many happy times with Ann & Rat. Our first Songkran in Thailand, they took us to the parade in town, and guided us home when the drunken teenagers got too rough. Our first New Years, they invited us over for a beer at midnight. We helped celebrate Nong Dae's second birthday, and watched him grow from a crawling baby into an active three-year-old with a strong personality.

This past New Years, we traveled with several Peace Corps friends to Pai, a town in Mae Hong Sorn province that is popular with tourists. It also happens to be where Rat is stationed, as it's near the border with Burma. Ann, Nong Dae, and Mae Moon were living with him at the time, so we were able to all meet for a day and do some touring together. The photo was taken at a park nearby.

There isn't much about life in Thailand that I miss, but I do think often about the people that we knew there. I wonder how they are doing, if Ann has managed to make any money, if Nong Dae has gotten bigger, if there is a threat of flooding this year.

No Chopsticks with Rice!

We returned to the United States in mid-April, and it was seven weeks before we ate Thai food. Astonishing!

But before we left Washington last week, Robert's parents took us to a "northern" Thai restaurant in Everett. It wasn't very "northern" at all, but the food was still quite good. It made me feel excited about eating Thai food again!

At one point, I looked around the restaurant and noticed that nearly all of the other diners were eating their food with chopsticks. This both surprised and amused me. Here is the truth:

In Thailand, people do not eat rice with chopsticks!!! They eat it with their hands (if it's sticky rice), or with spoons (if it's regular white rice). NO CHOPSTICKS. Chopsticks are used only for noodle dishes -- primarily soups -- and Chinese food. Not with Thai rice dishes. If you used chopsticks to eat rice in Thailand, people would think you were very strange. (As proof, I have provided a photo of a meal in a Thai home, at which we are clearly not using chopsticks.)

To be fair, when our food was brought to the table, the waiter offered us chopsticks. I imagine this was done because so many diners ask for them. Also, our place settings originally included just knives and forks. Thai people don't use knives at the table, and they don't put forks in their mouths -- only spoons. We had to ask for spoons at the restaurant. I would not have been comfortable eating Thai dishes with a fork after living in Thailand for two years!

Also, to be fair, I think that I myself used to use chopsticks when I went to Thai restaurants, because I thought that was how it was supposed to be done, and I thought it was cool. But now I know.

McDonalds

Before I joined the Peace Corps, I lived in a great neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota. Within walking distance from my house I could find Thai, Nepalese, Vietnamese, Afghani, and Italian restaurants. If I hopped on a bus, I could reach Greek, Mexican, Kurdish, Cuban, and many more. I enjoyed being able to eat food from all over the world. I also enjoyed living in a city with a large immigrant population. I thought this spoke well of Minnesota – that motivated people could come from other countries and build themselves a new life there. And of course, those immigrants had no trouble finding food from their own countries, even there in St. Paul.

The term “globalization” is thrown around a lot these days, often in a negative way. Many people blame “globalization” for job losses in America, because American corporations often hire workers overseas to save money. Other people worry that “globalization” results in a loss of local culture, because more and more people adopt a common lifestyle or consume the same products.

When I taught social studies in Minnesota, I tended to side with these arguments. Living in Thailand and witnessing some of the other effects of “globalization,” however, changed my understanding of the term and its real-life meaning.

While I in no way would want a local culture to lose touch with the elements and traditions that make it unique, I think there’s also something to be said for the spread of positive behaviors and traits from one culture to another. For example, the idea that women have rights and should be educated has a very visible and, in my opinion, positive effect on life in Thailand. I knew many strong, smart women there who benefitted from this relatively new development, and I thought about it often when observing my female students.

The fast food industry is often held up as an example of the less positive effects of globalization. Both in American neighborhoods and in other societies around the world, fast food restaurants are a symbol of a rather sterile, homogenized environment, in which individuality and variety are replaced by standardization and sameness. I don’t frequent fast food restaurants in the United States, primarily because I don’t eat meat and I prefer healthier options (though I’ve recently discovered that Burger King makes a fine veggie burger, good for a quick meal during an airport layover). There are times, though, when there’s something to be said for being able to walk into a place and knowing what to expect. I’ve been known to choose Pizza Hut after a long day of driving rather then venturing into an unfamiliar neighborhood in search of vegetarian food.

I wasn’t sure what to think when I discovered that Thailand, particularly in the cities, has no shortage of American fast food. KFC and Dairy Queen are easy to find in almost any province, and select areas have plenty of Starbucks, McDonalds, and Sizzler to choose from. Did this mean that American culture was “invading” Thailand and displacing the locals? Were the Thais who ate at such places being “forced” to do so as a result of local economics, or were they doing it by choice?

Thomas Friedman writes in The Lexus and the Olive Tree that globalization involves both “push” and “pull.” He describes a Taco Bell in Qatar as being appealing to locals on account of its “clean bathroom, international sanitation standards, smiling service and quality controls – all at a cheap price they could afford.” Kentucky Fried Chicken in Malaysia was popular because it symbolized “modernity.” While McDonalds in Thailand was certainly more expensive than a typical bowl of noodles on the street, it was also cheaper than many of the full-service sit-down Thai restaurants I visited with co-workers during my two years. And it was, most of the time, cleaner. Local people around the world have their own reasons for choosing American fast food, and who is to say their reasons aren’t valid?

I consider myself a world traveler, and certainly a USA traveler. I’ve been lucky enough to visit lots of different places and cultures. I know I won’t have the chance to go everywhere, though. I’ll probably never get the opportunity to see Ethiopia, for example. Does that mean I should never have a chance to experience Ethiopian culture, on any level? I don’t think so... and fortunately for me, there’s a few Ethiopian restaurants right here in Seattle to choose from. Friedman quotes a Malaysian describing attitudes in her country: “‘Elites here say, ‘You should not have McDonalds,’ but for the little people, who don’t get to travel to America, they have America come to them.’” Perhaps its overly elitist for any of us to say that those “little people” shouldn’t have that opportunity if they want it.

When we were visiting Malaysia, one of our last nights in a quiet beach town we chatted with a family from Sweden. The parents talked about how Indonesian beach resorts had been “ruined” by the arrival of tourist-oriented business, including fast food, and how they expected Malaysia to go down the same path before too long. I agree that serious efforts should be made to keep beautiful natural places from being spoiled by uncontrolled development. At the same time, those of us who are wealthy enough to go on vacation at beach resorts ought to recognize that other people have the right to improve their own economic situations, and perhaps they see starting a McDonalds franchise as their best opportunity for doing so. Do we deny them that opportunity? Friedman writes, “[Fast food franchises] proliferate because they offer people something they want, and to tell people in developing countries they can’t have it because it would spoil the view and experience of people visiting from developed countries would be both insufferably arrogant and futile.”

In summary: globalization is maybe not all bad.

Updates

I have found that keeping up with this blog while living in America is more difficult than I had expected! Between buying a car, visiting with family and friends, traveling between Minnesota and Seattle, and applying for jobs, I have little time left over for writing. I’m determined to write at least once a week or so, though. Same goes for my other blog, describing our various travels.


And now, I am happy to announce that I’ve been accepted at graduate school starting in September. Hooray! My life has direction once again. Life after Peace Corps is starting to take some shape.

Funny Toast

I haven't posted in a while, as we've been busy getting settled in Seattle and buying a car. The lovely cold weather, both in Minnesota last week and in Washington now, have been wonderful. This is the time of year that Jae Hom, our town in Thailand, breaks 100 degrees nearly every day. Yikes! I don't know how I survived.

Anyway, I was flipping through photos from this time last year. We had just spent a week on the beach of Ko Chang, Thailand, with Robert's cousin Karin. One morning at breakfast, we enjoyed this funny toast. Nothing like being greeted by a cat on your plate!

Reflections on Buddhism and Peace Corps

Today Robert and I attended a discussion of The Tibetan Book of the Dead (TBD) at my father’s church. I don’t know much about Tibetan Buddhism, but I did live surrounded by Thai Buddhism for two years, so it was interesting to share perspectives and make comparisons.

In a nutshell: The TBD was probably first created around the 7th or 8th century AD. According to the introduction in our translation, it is read to a dying person as they are making their exit from this world. The book describes the challenges they will face as they transition towards either nirvana or reincarnation, and attempts to help guide the person towards a meditation on nothingness, or enlightenment. (Forgive any glaring errors in my summary; as I said I am no export!) It is clear from the text that enlightenment is the preferred outcome, but also that it is very difficult to attain, and made even more so by the karma that the person has earned during their life.

Robert and I had many discussions about our experience with Buddhism while we were in Thailand, especially in comparison with our own background and experience as Christians. What most stood out to us, consistently, was the Thai Buddhist preoccupation with making merit by giving to the temple in order to store up a good account for the next reincarnation, or afterlife, in contrast with our modern Catholic/Episcopal traditions of social justice here on earth to make life better for other humans, with faith that we’ll be in heaven after this life.

In other words, the Thais that we met were concerned not with the plight of fellow humans, but with their own next life, which was unrelated. In fact, Buddhism says that to ignore worldly concerns is the way to attain enlightenment. We, as Christians, have faith that we don’t need to worry about life after death – that’s already been taken care of, more or less, by the resurrection of Jesus – and we are encouraged to go out and do good works in the meantime. Although many Americans are not Christian, I nonetheless think that the constant desire and motivation for personal and societal improvement that is part of Christianity is also part of modern American culture.

I think that this opposite worldview, as evidenced by a comparison of religious traditions, had a direct impact on our Peace Corps experience. Robert and I were motivated – by a variety of factors – to want to do the best that we could for our students, most of whom we saw as the less privileged members of society in terms of their poverty and lack of opportunity. We saw improved education, health awareness, and access to advanced skill development as the best ways of helping our students. Our Thai counterparts, on the other hand, did not show much interest in these issues. In their worldview, the students were born into their current status, and a focus on change or improvement was an unnecessary distraction. This is not to say that they didn’t want to help the students at all; I knew many of good teachers who wanted their students to be able to read, write, do math, and brush their teeth properly, out of a genuine concern for the students’ well-being. But if the goal changed from maintenance to improvement, most of the Thai educators we knew lost interest.

Disclaimer: This blog entry is not intended to be a criticism of Buddhism. It is merely a reflection on how religion might influence one’s worldview and desire for improvement.

A Return to Civility?

I recognize that I live in a pretty nice part of America. Minnesota is a great state, and my neighborhood is just about the best. All the same, during my first 12 days home, I’ve been continually surprised by the politeness and civility of the people I encounter.

Since we haven’t yet purchased a car, we’ve spent a lot of time walking around on various errands and family visits. There have been exactly two times that, while walking, I have had someone shout something at me. The first was last week, when walking with a friend and her 2-year-old. A car of young-ish appearing males drove by and shouted something I’ve now forgotten. The second was a few evenings ago, when I was out walking for exercise. Another car of young-ish men drove by and shouted something that I think was, “Run faster!”

In my pre-Thailand days, both these experiences would probably have bothered me a lot. “Why are they shouting at me?” I’d have thought. “What did I ever do to them?”

Post-Thailand, however, all I could think of each time it happened was, “Wow, that’s the first time someone has shouted at me in America!” and “Wow, that’s only the second time someone has shouted at me in America!” Living in Thailand, I had just gotten used to being stared at, shouted at, and pointed at all the time. Sometimes it was benign or even friendly, and sometimes it was most definitely not. It was just something that all of us Peace Corps Volunteers learned to live with, eventually, though I can’t say I knew anyone who liked it.

The other thing that has amazed me nearly every day since our return home is the way that people stop for us when we are crossing the street. We have a pretty good crosswalk law here, and a few years ago there was a lot of publicity about how cars that didn’t stop for pedestrians risked getting ticketed for it. I guess it worked, because I keep stopping at corners and intersections, waiting for cars to go by, and they keep stopping for me. It’s a little unsettling, but in a good way. I don’t think I ever had a vehicle stop for me in Thailand. Most of the time, I was on high alert, trying to make sure I didn’t get bowled over by a flying motorcycle, noodle stand, or pickup truck. Even in our little town, traffic could be pretty scary.

People talk all the time about the rude manners of Americans, but I’m giving high marks this week for the USA being pedestrian-friendly!

By the way, don't forget to check out my blog about our Cambodia-Malaysia travels at Kate's Travel Blog!

What's Inside...

Way, way back, during our Peace Corps training, one of our Thai training directors commented on the sad state of Thai education. “I see schools spending huge sums of money to have a beautiful sign made,” he said. “But when you go inside the school, there’s no teaching going on. I think this is what needs to change in Thailand.” We were still idealistic at that point, and didn’t know how hard it was going to be to promote “student-centered learning” in Thailand. But the comment stuck with us, and two years later in Minnesota, I’m still thinking about it.

Much of Thai society operates this way. A gleaming structure is beautiful to look at but has nothing of substance inside. A student from a school wins numerous awards, bringing honor to the school, but none of the other kids in his class can read. A shiny new airport is built at the cost of billions of dollars, but the runway is on top of a swamp and starts to sink. A ceremony is held for a new library, but there’s no books inside that kids actually want to read. Where is the thought? Where is the deliberation? Where is the meaning? Where is the real benefit?

This photo shows me sitting with three neighborhood kids outside the local elementary school in our training village. From the sign, and perhaps even from the nice plants behind it, you’d think that this school is a well-run, attractive spot, probably with some good education happening inside. In reality, class sizes were in the 40s and kids had few materials. Teachers often didn’t show up for class. And this was one of the better-run public schools that we saw in Thailand.

It’s often said about Thailand that the people there value social harmony and evenness. They don’t like having debate, disagreement, or anything that isn’t “beautiful.” (“Beautiful” was one of the words we heard most often in Thailand, right after “delicious.”) While this has its benefits, it also has some drastic consequences, because circumstances or situations that should be challenged are not. Airports are built on swamps, and teachers go shopping instead of teaching.

I’m now reading The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman, a book published in 2000 about globalization. My understanding of globalization is vastly different after two years in Thailand than it was before I went, and I’ll probably have several blogs on this topic. I chose to write about the school signs today, though, because of a particular quote in the book. While discussing the Southeast Asian economic crash of the late 1990s, he writes, “[The SE Asian countries] had replicated the outward configurations of the Western financial systems, but in many cases in was replication by rote. There was something missing inside.” In other words, while Thailand and other countries had appeared to transition to a free-market economy, in actuality there was no substance behind the change, and the transition failed. The fancy sign was on display, but no teaching was going on.

Home

We returned home on Sunday and have been spending several days recovering from jet lag and enjoying American food. Here is a short list of things we’re happy to be experiencing once again:

– spring weather, cool temperatures, and sweaters
– quiet traffic (hardly any motorcycles!)
– cereal and bagels for breakfast
– being able to state our opinions
– dry bathroom floors
– running paths
– family and friends!

I’ve started a new blog for descriptions and photos of our Cambodia-Malaysia trip. You can visit it at Kate's Travel Blog. I’ll continue to write more about Thailand at this site.

Sidficious and Friend Swim in the Straits of Melaka

Sidficious, the world traveler, appears again.

He enjoyed the water.

Good luck Ian and Calin!

And hello Liz!

Monkey Attack!

Ok, so it didn't actually succeed at attacking me, but it would have if the water hadn't been just a couple of feet away!

Today we rented a double-seated kayak for three hours, and eventually found ourselves on the most lovely little beach ever. We were the only people there. After some fish-watching, cookie-eating, and sunscreen-re-applying, we ducked back into the crystal clear water for a final swim before returning the kayak.

Suddenly, I saw a monkey come out of the trees and head straight for our stuff. When this happened on Tuesday at a more populated beach, I just walked out of the water toward the monkey and it ran away. Today, no such luck. I exited the water and walked towards it, assuming it would run. Instead, it bared its fangs and lunged towards me!

Shocked, I spun around and ran back into the sea. Apparently monkeys don't like getting wet, because it stopped shortly before reaching the water. It then returned to peruse our stuff.

After some quick consultation, we decided that it wasn't going to give up access to our things without a fight, so we came up with a weapon: rocks. From our position down at the water, we began throwing rocks at it. It bared its fangs a few more times, but didn't charge again and instead crept back into the trees. We then took turns standing guard while reassembling our belongings. The last we saw of the monkey, it was smuggling a coconut from the water's edge into the jungle.

Enjoying Malaysia

We've continued to have a fantastic time on our post-Peace Corps travels here in Malaysia. After leaving the Cameron Highlands, we visited the island of Penang in the northwest. Penang has an interesting history of British colonialism combined with Chinese settlement (as do other parts of Malaysia), which we enjoyed learning about at a couple of museums and by walking through town. We tried some local cuisine, including "laksa" -- a spicy, sour fish curry, as well as a rather bizzare potato/tofu mix covered in red sauce and eaten cold. I'll describe more when I can post pictures!

Now we're settled at the beach for a couple of days. It's a little rainy at times, but still very beautiful and relaxing.

Here are a few things we like about Malaysia as compared to Thailand:

1. People here drive more slowly and less crazily.
2. This is a truly multicultural society, with Chinese, Indians, and Malays all interacting and socializing.
3. There are multiple cuisines to choose from.
4. It is green and clean, compared to the dusty dry place we left in March!
5. Things seem to work pretty well here on the whole.
6. There is usually soap in the public bathrooms.

It's a great place to be!

Beautiful

We're now in what must be one of the most beautiful places on earth -- the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia. Sadly, our internet cafe doesn't have USB ports so I can't put up any photos yet. That will have to wait until we return home.

In the meantime, however, we're having a wonderful couple of days hiking, looking at roses, drinking tea and eating scones. The weather is remarkably cool, so we wear sweatshirts and socks and shoes. Vacation is good.

Kuala Lumpur

We've landed in another world. Yesterday we arrived in Malaysia, and the differences between here and Thailand (and Cambodia) are almost overwhelming! It's Southeast Asia, but then again, it's not the Southeast Asia we've become familiar with over the past two years. I have to say that we are enjoying it very much!

Today we toured some of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city. It's an amazingly clean and green city -- filled with parks, well-maintained streets, and beautiful buildings. Perhaps we just haven't seen the more run-down parts, but it has really been lovely to us.

We started with the Petronas Towers, of course, because how could you visit Malaysia and not stop by the world's tallest buildings? They didn't really look all that tall to me, but it was fun for taking photos anyway.

From the towers, we rode subways and monorails to the starting point of the Lonely Planet's "colonial district" walking tour. British and Islamic architecture combine to make some fantastic buildngs. We also visited the National Mosque, where we learned a lot about Islam in Malaysia. It was really interesting. As you can see, my clothing was not entirely suitable, so I had to cover up a little more. (I had been wearing capri pants and a t-shirt.)

At intervals, we've also enjoyed several delicious Indian meals. The Indian population in Malaysia is about 8% of the total, and I think that's even higher in KL, so finding cheap Indian food is very easy. I can't get enough!

Tomorrow, we'll start exploring more of the peninsula. Stay tuned!

Cambodia: Place of Contrasts

We've been in Cambodia 5 days now. I'll be writing fuller descriptions with photos of our travels after we return home, but I wanted to at least say a few things while we're still on the road.

To sum up Cambodia, I have to say that it is a place of contrasts. Wealth and spendor (a bit) contrast with grueling poverty. Delicious food contrasts with trash on the roads. The kindness of the people we meet today constrasts with the brutal history they experienced in their immediate past. The vast number of tourists from all different countries here in Siem Riep (site of Angkor Wat) contrasts with our bus rides through the countryside to get here, during which we saw almost no foreign faces. The amazing beauty of Angkor Wat contrasts with the 100+ degree heat that you must move through to explore it.

We have really enjoyed our time here so far, in part because the examination of these contrasts is so fascinating. We have spent most of our time on the beaten path, but did have the opportunity to spend a few hours one evening with a friend from Peace Corps Thailand who has been living and working here for a year. She gave us more of the story behind the scenes that most tourists in Cambodia see. Hearing her real stories of life here, and contrasting those with our tourist experience, reminded me of what it was like to live full-time in Thailand and contrast our experience there with what was usually written in guidebooks and seen by visitors. There's a world of difference between visiting a place and living in it. I'm glad that we've gotten the chance to do both here in Southeast Asia.

Now, we're off to some more good Cambodian food and Angkor Beer!

Phnom Penh

This morning Robert and I left Bangkok at an early hour and flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We'll be spending a little bit of time in this new country.

What I can say right now is that it's VERY HOT here. Bangkok was hot, too, but at least had frequent air-conditioning to help keep things feeling semi-normal. Here there doesn't seem to be so much AC. I can also say that there are lots of tasty baguettes. Ah, bread.

We did enjoy our ride from the airport to our guest house. Lots of new sights and sounds -- very different from Thailand! I haven't taken any photos yet, but I'm sure they will be forthcoming soon.

Chinatown

On Sunday, we visited Bangkok's Chinatown with our old Thai language instructor, Pi Lin, from Peace Corps training. Her family is Chinese and lives near Chinatown, so she was able to show us around and explain everything. It was my first time touring a Chinatown, and very fascinating.

We visited two major temples, and we learned that Chinese Buddhism has some differences from Thai Buddhism. For example, Thai Buddhism has just one "Buddha" god, but Chinese Buddhism has many, of which some have female attributes.

The second wat we visited was extremely smoky because so many people were burning large handfuls of incense sticks as they walked around. It made our eyes tear up!

Pi Lin also walked us through several lanes of market stalls. Since it was probably over 100 degrees F yesterday, this was very hot, but at least they were mostly shaded. It was cool to see the different kinds of food -- fish stomachs, large ocean worms, dozens of varieties of teas and mushrooms -- and multi-lingual signs. I recommend Chinatown to anyone who wants a new southeast Asian experience!

Fancy

On Friday, we got to attend the 45th anniversary celebration of Peace Corps Thailand. It was a very big event. Former Thailand volunteers flew in from different places around the world to be present for the ceremonies. The Crown Princess of Thailand also attended and spoke! We wore fancy Thai clothes all day, and boy are they hot.

On Saturday, many of the former volunteers were kind enough to participate in a panel and small group discussions for us newly finishing volunteers. They talked to us about returning to the USA, applying for jobs, considering graduate school, and keeping up a connection with the Peace Corps experience. It was very interesting and helpful. Thank you RPCVs!

It's now Monday afternoon, so we've got just 31 hours remaining of our Peace Corps service. The check-out process includes lots of paperwork and errand-running. Then we'll be on our way to parts yet unexplored...!

Airport Farewell

We left our site for the final time yesterday morning, in style and with an escort. For two years, we've traveled to Bangkok by riding a songtaew or bus into the capital of Lampang province, then boarded another bus or train for an 8-12 hour ride. For our last trip out, we were driven to the city in an air-conditioned van, and taken to the airport instead of the bus or train station (thanks mom!).

Our landlord, Robert's principal, had arranged for a large group of teachers to see us off. I think about twenty people in all, including Ajaan Warangkana and Pi Noy, were there. We were presented with jasmine wreaths and necklaces (14 total) and stood for dozens of photos. Since we arrived at the airport a full two hours before the flight, there was plenty of time for chatting and saying goodbye to those who had joined us.

When our boarding was finally called, and we walked through the door to the security screener, it was a little difficult to wave goodbye for the last time.

Goodbye Northern Thailand

I'm sweaty, covered in dust and grime, and pretty tired after many hours of cleaning and scrubbing the little pink house. But it's nearly time to go, so I wanted to make one last post from our site. In just 16 hours we'll drive away from here for the last time!

Several people have asked if our departure from Thailand will be the end of this blog. The answer is No! I've still got much more to say about our time here, and at least 1,000 more photos to show. I'm also sure that being back in America will make me think about some different things, and start reflecting on this experience in some new ways. If you want to keep learning about Peace Corps Thailand, keep coming back.

We'll be in the country for a few more days, doing a little celebration and a lot of paperwork. Then we're off on some travels to other parts of southeast Asia for just a couple of weeks before finally flying home to the USA mid-April. I don't know how often I'll be writing, but keep checking back if you're interested in seeing where we are and what we're up to!