I'm dreaming of. . .

Mango
Papaya
Pineapple
Guava
Mangosteen
Rambutan
Lychee
Dragon Fruit

Fresh, cold, cut for 30 cents, all in a bag with a stick so you can eat it while walking.

Violence in Bangkok

All those pictures of violence in Bangkok are places I walked peacefully with thousands of people just a few months ago. Where much of the violence is taking place is within just a few kilometers of where I lived, ran, shopped, walked and socialized. Just five weeks ago, Harry was there and saw these places where there were peaceful protests.

It is sad to see that violence has prevailed over peace. That the world media is only now covering the violence and not the peaceful protests or the core issues that Thailand faces. Now that the US media is covering it, people ask about the "reds". They don't even know about the yellow shirts, let alone the pink shirts and white shirts. They think the King is just not doing his job, but they don't know he is close to death in the hospital. They don't know the long standing issues and how the country is divided.

Media perpetuates violence.

I am glad we left when we did. A good friend from the program I was in is still in Bangkok and was interviewed on BBC go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8684581.stm

What I missed about home . . .

Since I arrived back in Petoskey, a common question I get is "what did you miss about home". First and foremost would be my dog and then of course my family (sorry family, Hannah wins out. . .). But besides dog and family, the top 10 things I missed about home are:

10.Drinking Fountains
9. Free public toilets
8. Bagels
7. Big green salads
6. First Spring bike rides
5. Bathrooms with soap
4. Bathrooms with hand towels
3. Bathrooms with toilet paper
2. Drinking water out of the tap
1. Endless cups of coffee

Culture Shock

Home. Wow, after four months here I am at home.

Some immediate observations:
1. It is so quiet. Incredibly quiet in Petoskey. (no honking cars, people asking you buy something or go for a tuk tuk ride, no loud music, and no roosters).
2. Cars stop for pedestrians in a cross walk. Now isn't this incredible? What a concept and what a wonderful thing about small town America.
3. You have to think about what to cook before you are hungry. Hmmm, I just can't eat at a food stall when I feel the need to eat? I actually have to think about it. Hence, dinner has been a bit late the last few days.
4. Daylight. Wow, I forgot how much of it there is at this time of year. Near the equator you basically have the same amount of daylight all year round, with only maybe an hour fluctuation. So the whole time I was in Asia, the sunset around six in the evening. It isn't dark here until after 8 right now (and by the end of June it will be after 10). My timing is all off and combined with jetlag, I don't know when to eat or sleep.
5. You have to drive to a store to get food and things. No shopping on the street.
6. The temperature outside of 42 degrees is not Celsius, but Fahrenheit.

Did I mention how quiet it is?
All good. All very good.
Glad to be home.

A funny sign

Toilet Sign
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

This is a fairly typical sign in a bathroom stall in Asia, if it has a western style toilet. Thought some folks might find it humorous. (BTW, most all bathrooms in Asia have a butt hose, which is what the sign refers, it is not a shower).

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Angkor Wat
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples are incredible. The most famous being Angkor Wat but there are hundreds more to see. This area was just amazing. In my opinion a must see place in the world. The temples and other building to see are all very, very different, built between the 9th and 12th centuries with a mix of Hindu and Buddism influences. The detail work is incredible and the 400 year old trees growing in them is just amazing. Click on the photo to find a few more pictures from the Angkor area.

Siem Reap, Cambodia is the modern city that you stay in to visit Angkor Wat.

Mountains of Laos

Mountains of Laos
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

The mountains of Laos are beautiful and enchanting. We spent a few days in the tourist hub of Vang Vieng, enjoying some hiking, caving, biking and kayaking. We then went south to the laid back capital, Vientiene with temples, cafes and riverside dining.

Kuang Si Waterfall

Kuang Si Waterfall
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

A nice respite from the heat, Harry and I went to this waterfall to get away from the heat. AWESOME!

Slow Boat to Luang Prabang

Mekong River sunset
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

After the Gibbon Experience, we took a TWO day slow boat down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang. We stopped for the night in a small riverside community. I thought I would hate this trip, but it was quite relaxing and we could read and enjoy the scenery (in contrast to buses where it is impossible to read as the roads are super winding and twisty and rough). After two days on the boat we were thrilled to be in Luang Prabang. A beautiful city and with French influence; there was good coffee and pastries, temples, and great architecture.

Into Laos

Treehouse 7
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

After crossing the Mekong River from Chiang Khong, Thailand to Houey Xai, Laos on a small boat, we registered for the gibbon experience.The next day we drove to the Bokeo National Park and hiked in about 1 hour where we received our harnesses. We walked and "zipped" our way for another hour to our home for two nights. . .treehouse #7. It was a treehouse, yes, 40 to 50 meters in the air. Just spectacular. We saw gibbons our first morning and heard them sing our second morning. We hiked and zipped through the forest for three days. Just amazing, a highlight of the trip.

BTW: you don't pronounce the "s" in Laos.

Bottle Beach Resort

Bottle Beach Resort
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Harry and I have spent the last four days at Bottle Beach, a secluded beach on the north coast of Koh Pha Ngan in the Gulf of Thailand. It was hard to get to (18 hours to be exact) but well worth it. We haven't moved much since we arrived. Swim, walk, read, eat, sleep, repeat. We talked about going to one of the towns on the island by long boat taxi, but decided why bother, it is so nice here, no hassles.

Swim, walk, read, eat, sleep. Repeat.

E & H on the River Kwai

E & H on the River Kwai
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

After leaving Bangkok and the Red Shirts, Harry and I went to Kanchanaburi for three days. This town is directly on the River Kwai, known famous from the movie, the Bridge of the River Kwai. It is the main town along the "death railway" that prisoners of war in WW 2 were made to build by the Japanese. Lots of WW 2 history. Also in the area are many national parks, we went to one and climbed the seven steps of Erawan Falls and swam in three of the steps. It was really, really hot!! Like unbelievably hot.

Harry's first Pad Thai (in Thailand)

Harry's first Pad Thai (in Thailand)
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

On Harry's second day after touring the Grand Palace, we went to a typical street vendor to get his first Pad Thai in Thailand. Pad Thai is his favorite dish! He loved it. You can see the woman in the hat behind him is making it.

The day included Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun (my favorite), Thai Massage and river boat ride. Typical first tourist day in Thailand.

Harry Arrives; More Red Shirts

DSC03048
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Harry arrived safely early this morning. He is here just in time for more Red Shirt rallys. They are now rallying near campus in the midst of the mega shopping mall area nearby. This has closed down one of Thailand's biggest industries. . . shopping. In addition, campus has been in lock down mode again since friday. It is interesting to see how they do it, they just, in mass, park in the middle of the road so no one can move. They have been there for over 24 hours now. Might get interesting . . . Harry and I will leave Bangkok Tuesday and hopefully by the time we return in a month things will have settled.

Graduation!

DSC03018
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Can't believe it but we graduated with our certificates in Peace and Conflict Resolution just two nights ago. It was a long evening with our group presentations before speeches and graduation. Our group, Suhail, Darren, Tazeen, Dominos and myself developed a role play based on a case study we learned about in Northern Thailand. The role play is for high school students and adults to learn about peaceful solutions to conflict.

Our presentation was a short skit demonstrating how a role play might play out. We had some drama in our group, but in the end we all did a great job!

Fish Pedicure

DSC02987
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

My friend Susan who is a fish biologist took me for my first fish pedicure. What is that? You guessed it, you put your feet in a tank full of fish and they suck the dead skin off of them. It seems to be a Thai thing. Very wierd, but an interesting experience.

Thai Cooking Class

DSC02972
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

My Rotary Host counselor invited me to her house a few weeks ago and taught me some Thai Cooking. It was a great day.We made from top to bottom Son in-laws eggs, Papaya Salad, Sour Red Curry and Minced Pork with Holy Basil.

Home Stretch

Just a week left of the program, seems impossible really. We only have a day and half of classes this week, but lots of work to get done between now and then including papers and a group project.

It is getting sad as our group will seperate next saturday and most likely never be "one" again.

Unfortunately since we got back from Nepal I have had food poisoning. I haven't really eaten much in a week and feel drained and exhausted. Hopefully I will be fully recovered for our farewell parties and Harry's arrival.

Dogs of Chula

There are dogs all over the Chulalongkorn University Campus. They just hang out. They don't bother you but we were told not to pet them as they aren't used to it. They are healthy, someone feeds them. There are hundreds. They sleep in shady cool places like in all the buildings and grounds. My favorite is the one who sleeps on this table all the time.

Can you tell, I miss Hannah, the wonder dog. (She really isn't into skype.)

Rhinos and more

Chitwan National Park (7)
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

We did get to do a few things besides sit in meetings while in Nepal. We rode elephants into Chitwan National Park to see the Great One Horned Rhino. We saw eight! Plus two kinds of monkeys, three kinds of deer, crocodile, and lots of birds. The Rhinos are very interesting looking, almost archaic.

We hiked to a nice viewpoint in Pokhara to see the sunrise over the mountains. It was beautiful to see the mountains light up. Seeing the mountains made me want to be hiking in them, rather than just looking at them.

I also went for a bike ride with two friends in Pokhara after our classwork. We were all so happy getting out of town riding along the lake. About 6 or so kilometers out I knew something was wrong with by bike and gears. The next thing I knew I heard a noise and came to a halt. I thought the chain was caught. But beyond by belief the derailleur and chain broke in half! What to do. I told my friends to keep riding and I would walk back. But they came with me. We walked about 10 or 15 minutes to a lakeside restaurant. Drank beer and watched the sunset. We went out to walk home and a tractor pulling a huge trailer came by. We flagged them down, loaded all three of our bikes in the trailer and we rode back into town on the tractor! Pretty funny site.

Nepal Peace Process

Boudha Stupa (2)
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Just back from eight days in Nepal studying the peace process. After decades of Maoist attacks the monarchy stepped down and there was a democratic election a few years ago. They have until the end of May to sign a new constitution. So the program brought us there to study conflict transformation.

We spent about three days in Kathmandu, three days in Chitwan and a day in Pokhara. Lots of driving in between. A lot is going on at the local level in capacity building with women and youth. Women to take leadership roles which is happening (33% of the representatives in the Nepali govt are female) as well as youth to try and change attitudes and behaviors..

We also met with a bunch of national NGO's working on things like security sector reform and anti corruption as well as govt. officials working on peace and reconstruction. What we found is that people in general are positive and hopeful for peace, but the poverty is so great that if the people don't get something soon I am not sure if it will stay peaceful. It is also a very corrupt country and a report came out while we are there that some donors are pulling funds to some of the NGOS because there are no tangible results happening.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world and that was evident. People need clean water, disposal of waste, and food first. I keep thinking that you need to do that while also changing constitutions. It has to be happening at the same time. In any regard, it will be interesting to follow what happens there.

In addition, it made me sad how badly they are abusing the environment when it is what their economy relies (tourism). Massive deforestation, trash everywhere, even in the national parks, air and water pollution, etc.

On a positive note, it is a beautiful country and the people are warm and friendly (and the food is great!!).

I will blog more on Nepal soon. Click on the photo above for more pictures!

Lock Down

Chulalongkorn University was locked down at 8:00 p.m. tonight. All gates are closed, we are inside. There are protests going on in Bangkok. The Red Shirts are protesting. They support Thaksin who was overthrown in 2006 and believe the current government is not legal. The Yellow Shirts support the current government. Some say the Red shirts support the rural people and the yellow shirts support the wealthy.

We leave to Nepal tomorrow. We hope we can get to the airport as some roads may be blocked. We are leaving extra early to find a way there. . .

If you want to read more about it go to www. bangkoknews.com or look on world news on any of your favorite websites.

Bangkok Top Ten

Top 10 things I like about Bangkok:
10. BTS or Bangkok Sky Train. (It would be higher on the list if they finished it, but only about 1/10th of it is complete). It is fast and easy and gets you many places.
9. Free yoga classes (or tai chi or aerobics, etc.) in public spaces.
8. Street Food, everywhere all the time. Fresh fruit, juice, meat or squid barbecued on a stick, rice and meat in banana leaf, donuts, dried fish, you name it. Food, everywhere all the time.
7. Chulalongkorn University Campus, a quieter place in the middle of 12 million people. Lucky to be living here.
6. Chao Praya River, a place to catch a breeze and views while taking the river ferry to get around the city.
5. Shopping, everywhere all the time. There is so much shopping it is amazing. You can buy top end stuff to everyday needs on the street, along the transit lines, in malls and markets. Things are open seven days a week.
4. Noodle Soup for breakfast. This is just brilliant.
3. Lumphini Park, a green oasis in the middle of the city. I can run through campus to the park and back avoiding most traffic.
2. Meals are basically under $1, $2 if you splurge.
1. Thai Massage, $6 for an hour. Can't beat it.

Top 10 things I don't like about Bangkok:
10. 12+ million people
9. Disparity of incomes
8. Shopping everywhere all the time (see #5 above)
7. Noise, it is never quiet
6. Unknown "parts" in food. Do I have to explain more?
5. HEAT 90+ by 9:00 a.m.
4. Plastic Water Bottles. So many plastic water bottles.
3. Cockroaches
2. Traffic, it is SOOO bad you really can't even try to take a taxi between 4 and 8 p.m., you just don't move. You have to strategically think about how and when you might try and get somewhere.
1. Pollution. Miss the clean air of Northern Michigan.

Ahh, the beach

Koh Samet (20)
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Finally after two months in Thailand I was able to escape the city for three days at the beach. We went to Ko Samet which is the closest island to Bangkok and gets a lot of Thai people going there for the weekend. (Whereas a lot the islands in the south of Thailand are primarily touristy beaches).

We went to one of the quieter beaches on Ko Samet and it was perfect for a weekend away. I called Harry one night as I was on a hammock and realized I was twenty feet from the beach, twenty feet from my bungalow and twenty feet from the bar. Can't beat that. In the picture above I am sitting at the bar.

The water was warm enough to swim for hours, we even went in for a midnight swim. I finished a novel, sat in the sun, swam and even went for a snorkeling. Beer at 4:00 was a requirement.

The Thai people don't like to be in the sun so the beach would be empty until 4:00 in the afternoon. Most swim in their clothes too, very few were in bathing suits. Also, people seemed to come to the island for about 24 hours, most getting there Saturday mid day and leaving Sunday mid day. We, on the other hand, got there late Friday and stayed until midday Monday. I was with a great group of seven peace fellows from six countries. Pretty cool.

Ayuthaya

Ayuthaya 087
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Went to Ayuthaya last weekend for a night. It is just an 1.5 hour train or van journey. Ayuthaya is an ancient capital of Siam from 1350 to1767 when it was invaded and destroyed by the Burmese Army.

The current city has developed around the ancient one so as you ride around town you see all these old ruins. Ride, yes I mean Bike ride. The temples are so spread out and large the best way to get around is by bike. So beater one speed and me had a great time pedaling for the first time in months.

The large temple grounds are quiet and peaceful. Many people come to Ayuthaya for the day from Bangkok so spending the night was wonderful. We took an afternoon boat ride around the island (the old city is on an island where three major rivers come together which is why this town was an important port city for trade). The boat stopped at few of the temples that were not on the island. The lighting in the afternoon made for some amazing photos.

Whenever you say Ayuthaya to Thai people they always say "it is hot there". Boy, were they right. It was hot. But it was a great little getaway from the urban world.

If you click on the photo above you will find a bunch more photos from Ayuthaya on my flicker site.

Rotarians

Above is my Rotary Host Counselor, Crystal. She is wonderful it has been fun getting to know her. Local Rotarian's act as host counselors for us, really just as a person to help us out if needed. It is also a nice connection into Thai culture. At the top is me with the Rotary Club of Don Muang in District 3350. They are a small club that meets in the evenings. I went to one meeting and did a short presentation and exchanged the Petoskey flag for the Don Muang flag.

I have spent some time with Crystal too and even attended a welcome party for a Hawaiian Group Study Exchange. This is the same program I went on to Japan and I tell you, it brought back a lot of memories. What an amazing experience I had and I kept thinking what an amazing experience they will have.

When we were on our field study we had two nice meals with Rotarians, one with the Rotary Clubs in Chiang Rai and one with the clubs in Chiang Mai. I am sure we will meet with Clubs in Nepal too. The rotarians are always so welcoming, generous and supportive.It is a great way to meet and understand local culture and issues. Thank-you Rotarians.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Thai Style Ice Cream Sandwich. Ice cream Yum, on slightly sweet white bread, not so yum. But ice cream. . .yum. This post is in honor of Jeremiah, Max, Gabe and Annie, I miss you kids and think of you all the time!

Liquid Joy

Every afternoon there is a group of us that get a Thai iced coffee, today it was Leda and Marieke and I with extras for others. One day when a Leda and I were sipping down the incredibly refreshing drink on a hot afternoon, I said, hey this is like . . . liquid joy. . . and hence the name was born.

It is the perfect afternoon pick you up as it icy cold, it has caffeine and sugar, it is made with the perfect sweetener, sweetened condensed milk. It is so tasty and refreshing you slurp them down before you know it.

The best are made at a coffee shop with espresso as seen in this picture.

But out on the street you can find them made with instant coffee. Which even for those of us coffee snobs, it is still amazingly refreshing and worth it if you need an afternoon pick me up.
As you can see, I am quite happy with my liquid joy (sitting in our classroom ready for an afternoon of lecture)!

Doi Inthanon (51)

Doi Inthanon (51)
Originally uploaded by emilymeyerson

Above is Darren, Susan, Tazeen and I at Doi Inthanon National Park, for more photos of the park click on the flicker badge.

After 3 1/2 weeks in Bangkok and a week travelling with 22+ people a few of us thought two days of nature R&R on our days off was necessary. So after the field study we took a rickety bus 60 k south of Chaing Mai (took 1.5 hours!). Then got a ride up to Doi Inthanon National Park. We got off at the headquarters and found our little cabin for two nights. We had a beer and dinner at the park canteen and toasted to the fresh air, trees, birds and freedom.

Of all funny things is we went up there to get away and it ends up it was the annual bike race up Doi Inthanon (2500+ meters). So there were lots of folks around to get a ride to the top of the mountain. It was pretty fun watching some of the race. Doi Inthanon is the highest point in Thailand and the mountains are considered the foothills of the Himalayas. We visited the King and Queens temple just below the top, took a photo at the "highest point" sign and hiked a few nature trails.

One trail went through four ecosystems and took us out on the savanna with amazing views. We all felt free and cleansed by the air and the views and the lack of people and man made stimulation. I even hugged a tree or two.

After getting a ride back down to the cabin we decided to walk to this nearby waterfall. It was a surprise really as no one at the park said we should see it. We figured it was just a quick picture and a small falls. But it ended up being a 25 meter drop and a beautiful little park with trails. Another surprise was a cute little restaurant that uses all the vegetable grown in the area (there were a lot of green houses near us growing flowers and vegetables). So we enjoyed a great meal before returning in the dark.

We were all sad to have to head back to the city. We enjoyed relaxing and reading and having a slow morning and then headed back down the mountain. We stopped at two more waterfalls and both were just as spectacular (but different) then the others. We even enjoyed a quick dip in the river. We even made it back with enough time for a quick massage (massage here only costs $6 US for an hour! hard not to go for that before our flight).

So it was back to Bangkok and classes. . .but savoring the beauty of Doi Inthanon.

Class

I realized I haven't blogged about class at all. . .and since that is why I am here I thought I would tell you a little about it. Now that we are through four weeks, it seems a little easier to process. The first week was an introduction to peace and conflict, mediation and negotiation theory. We looked at nature and types of conflict as well at root causes. There was sessions on gender roles that first week too, which might sound odd. It was included the first week because gender needs to be considered at all levels of what we are studying and therefore needed to be discussed early on so it would always be addressed or considered.

The classes were not all lecture. There would be lecture and q/a and then a lot of self study and group exercises. Self study included things like rating our own gender bias and group work including case studies and a 1/2 day negotiation. It was our first week of getting to know one another, 22 people from around the world, it was interesting. Most of you know, I love group dynamics.

The second week was on conflict analysis. A lot of lecture, which was a hard change, ending in a case study on Darfur using what we had learned that week. I really learned a lot in the second week and could begin to see how you can use conflict analysis to more thoroughly and deeply understand a conflict. A big discussion point was about connectors (not just dividers) and working with what connects people.

We then had to write a paper using our own conflict (we picked a topic we were familiar with before we came here, mine being land use issues in Petoskey area) and doing an analysis on it. I actually enjoyed writing the paper because it made me use the knowledge and brought it all together. (We will continue to add to this paper throughout the course, adding more material too it from what we have learned).

The third week things started to change. The whole week was based on culture, mediation and facilitation. Again a lot of self study and group work. We looked this time at our own cultural bias as well as understanding our own individual perspectives, looking back at what creates our own perspective as individuals. This is important to understand when working in mediation and facilitation. We also did a full day interest based facilitation, which I enjoyed. The topic, instead of violence, was actually a land use issue and the process was slow moving but ended up being very productive. Basically we find common interests between parties. We also did active listening and mediation exercises.

Mixed into the first three weeks was a class on eastern philosophies on peace and background information on the conflicts in Burma and Cambodia. We also had a day of background info on our field study, which was going to cover Thai issues of statelessness and human trafficking. The reason for that is the fourth week was field study in northern Thailand where we would need all this background info.

So our field study, it was a not a vacation in any sense of the word, went to Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. We spent seven days straight driving around northern Thailand learning about difficult issues. We met people from all sides of conflict and were able to ask them questions and gain more insight. They are difficult issues to hear about and process and I could go on about, but I won't. In general there is an issue that many people in northern Thailand have no citizenship in any country, they are stateless. They have no rights in Thailand but live and work here. A lot of the clothes you find "made in Thailand" are cheap because they have been made by stateless workers who get paid below regular wages. . .

Human trafficking in my mind is just another word for slavery and is awful; often being young women and girls in the sex industry here. Very hard to say the least.

Our last few days was on a resource conflict regarding water. Same issues here really as in other places when it comes to land use and resource management. All very interesting. All unresolved conflict.

So I am studying and working here really I am! I did have some fun in the north. They took us to a few tourist sights. We did have two off days before coming back to Bangkok and I was able to sneak off to a national park for some quiet R&R in mountains. I will post on that next. . .

Dorm living. . .

This is Viddhaya Nives, the dorm/housing I am in. It is funny to think back to when I was eighteen living in the dorm on North Campus. Remembering how we hung out in the hall, we did a lot of spur of the moment things, we ate dinner with different people, we came in and out of each others rooms to touch base, borrow things, and gossip? Remember having only a hot pot and mini-fridge and ifyou were lucky you had a toaster? I remember one friend of mine had a rice cooker/steamer, that was deluxe, we could make ramen noodles in it.

Well, here I am, 23 years later, doing the same thing again (see my not so exciting room below). And you know, it is sort of fun in ways. It really simplifies life. I have a limited amount of things so there isen't a lot of choice in what to eat or wear. I have no television (well there is one but it is all in Thai). I do have the internet which is nice and I could watch TV on that but have really been too busy to even consider it.

Since I am really here on such a short term basis, i can't really spend too much time decorating. I did hang a map of Bangkok (surprise, surprise) and a few pictures from home and I bought a cute little bedside lamp too. But otherwise, can't really be bothered. (Remember when we thought three months was a long time? I don't really count this as living somewhere, it is just a long stay!)

Dorm living, it does have its qualities (for a long stay!)

Another "living" note. Food here is so cheap it is cheaper to eat out then make food, so consequently very few people eat at home. For us, we can go anywhere for dinner, the closest place is across the road at the student canteen. The canteen has seven different vendors selling various foods, drinks, snacks etc. It is very cheap, we usually eat there for under a dollar! With drinks and dessert it is maybe $1.25. We often have no idea what we are eating. It is all in thai and you just point to things. Over time I have learned to follow the students and if it looks good ask for the same thing. It usually is tasty. . .usually.

Below is the canteen and a picture of typical food choices. . .

Feeding the Monks

I have so many things to write about but not enough time at the moment. BUT, I did have to share an amazing experience. This morning I went with three others from my program to feed the monks. We had no idea what that meant. Tori found it on a tourist map that if you get to the Grand Palace a 6:00 you can feed the monks. We didn't go out last night so we thought, hey, why not, we will get up at 5:30 and get there by 6:00. We went by taxi and we got to the Grand Palace and there was no one there. We had the taxi driver drive us around the palace and back and we decided to go out. We all had envisioned a line of monks.

We happened to get out at the right moment when a monk was walking by and we asked about it. It ends up he has a temple in Tuscon, AZ and he was back taking care of his mothe and he spoke very good English. He said we could follow him. So we did. We walked around behind him and one other monk and watched as people came out to give them food. They come forward, take there shoes off, touch the food to their forehead and make a wish, and then offer the food, do a deep wai (a Thai greeting of respect) or get on their knees. Then the monks do a prayer for you. See the video below on how it is done. (I did it, I used the video everyone, thanks bunches!)

Then the monk took us back to his temple and shared the food with us for breakfast, showed us around the entire temple and took us to the meditation class we wanted to visit. It was quite an amazing experience. Here are a few more photos walking with the monks. My friends in the photos are Tori, Darren and Tazeen.

Chinatown

A quick trip to Chinatown last week, always fun stuff there. Here are a few pictures of the delicacies including lots of dried fish and fruits, the yummy (jk) durien being hucked right there for consumption, bugs, and some deep fried instestines of some sort.

Durian

Dried fish and fruit
One of many markets in Chinatown

Bugs anyone?

Deep friend intestines

YUM!

Trip to a football match

Just a quick note about the football game last week (that means soccer). It ends up the first Saturday I was here was the big game of the year, equivalent to the Michigan/Ohio State Game. It was crazy. We heard we needed to be there by 2:30 to get tickets when the gates open. There was an hour and a half processional coming into the stadium, I think it was each department and class having different floats. Then there were the card cheer sections. At each end of the stadium there were the "card crowd" (I have no idea what you call them). It is when they have a different color card and make a pattern, sometimes they do it in the States. But they had hundreds of different ones; the picture above is of the King of Thailand. Instead of chanting nasty things, they would just have them written in the cards when they didn't like a play. Each school had the the card sections.

Also there were bands playing and dancers the entire game and the cheerleaders changed clothes regularly into all these incredible fashions (none US cheerleaderish at all); see picture above. You could buy "shade" tickets or "sun" tickets. The shade tickets cost twice as much but all the available seats (the empty seats in the picture) were in the sun. The Chula crowd was all in pink. Oh, there was also a soccer game too. Ended in a tie at the exciting score of 0 to 0.

Fish for dinner anyone?

Had a wonderful dinner the other night with one of our classmates who is Thai. He took us for some great street food and ordered up a feast. It was awesome.

Class has started and it is really interesting. It is lectures broken up by a lot of different group exercises, games and role playing. There is a lot of talk and debate with the teachers, it is not a top down style of teaching at all. I had a great conversation with one of the professors yesterday; I had been feeling like I didn't really fit in because I wasn't working on any international peace issues. But as I was talking to one of the professors about what I do and what I plan to do with what I learn in the program she was very excited about it. If you all don't know, I really believe planners should be trained in conflict resolution because we deal with community conflict all the time. What often ends up happening is we build consensus instead of solving conflict. So basically I see consensus building as a short term solution where usually everyone compromises and no one is truly happy with the outcome AND it doesn't solve the the root of the problem. That problem just continues to cause problems in the future.

So there I was explaining this to this amazing woman from the Philippines who is working on major conflict issues in Mindanao and she got it. She got it exactly and she called me a pioneer in my field and that I needed to publish something about it! So I thought, hey, maybe I do fit in in my own way!

Bangkok is a HUGE city, over 12 million they think but with homelessness and commuters not being accounted for I guess an unofficial number during the week is over 16 million. It is much more cosmopolitan than it was when I was here 18 years ago. (Can't believe it was 18 years ago!) There was not sky train or metro then and there weren't a million mega shopping malls either. BTW, of all strange things the campus is right near these crazy, famous shopping malls which I have to go to often. It is where we go grocery shopping,get coffee, eat dinner often, etc. etc. The malls are all interconnected with sky ways and they are busy all the time. One of the malls is set up with little vendor areas and one whole floor has cell phones, another electronics, another of fabric, etc., etc.

I have found a great 4.5 mile running route from the dorm to Lumphini Park, a great urban oasis. Cultural note: They have public outdoor exercise classes such as aerobics, Ta chi, yoga in the park and just in parking lots around campus.

First Day

Our orientation is now over for the Peace program. The group is 22 people, 12 men and 10 women from all over the world. We each had to give an 8 minutes (not long!) presentation on a conflict we are working on. We will then apply the knowledge we learn each section of the program to that conflict (i.e analysis, strategies and transformation).

Folks are working on interesting issues from Taliban in Pakistan, child trafficking in SE Asia, Refuges in Bangladesh, ethnic conflicts in NE India, tobacco smuggling in Poland, First Nation land issues in Canada, poverty in Guatemala and political issues in various places in Africa. So my little land use issues in rural northern Michigan seem irrelevant but I guess conflict starts somewhere!

The photo is of our class and the younger Thais are students at the university who gave us a tour and will be giving us Thai language classes if we choose.

Cultural notes: The university color is pink; this is because the King Chulalongkorn was born on Tuesday and the color of Tuesday is pink. I guess a long time ago Thai's would wear the color of the day (this is no longer practiced). Also, Thai university students all wear uniforms.

I made it!

I forgot how brutal that trip is. 30 hours of total travel time between my house and my room. Plus 12 hours time difference (ahead). So arrived about 2 a.m. this morning. My room is bigger than a dorm room but smaller than a hotel room. But it is barren like a dorm room. I can't really be bothered to make it that homey for three months either. . .

After sleeping for a bit I went for a walk checking out the campus and eating a bowl of noodle soup. I am so happy that you can eat noodles here for breakfast lunch or dinner! I then met a few of my fellow class mates and did some shopping for a few needed items.

I hope to get a full nights sleep tonight and then maybe be a tourist tomorrow before the orientation starts.

A quick note: I forgot what it feels like to be illiterate. . . it is so strange not being able to read! I can't even imagine going through life that way.

Applying

I was at a party the other night and a friend asked me when I started the process to apply for the fellowship on peace and conflict studies. I told him last January. He then asked, isn't that when you were diagnosed with Lupus? I laughed, I said "you picked right up on that". This peace program (more info on the program under the post "What is a Peace Trip") meant more to me then just going to Bangkok. The application process really gave me focus last winter when I was going through some difficult realizations about my life and health (see earlier posts about 2009 and Lupus)

I had planned to apply for this program long before I got sick and when I did get sick, I focused on it even more. It gave me an inner peace to continue my life the way I saw fit regardless of having an incurable disease. It gave me something to look forward to and the application process itself gave me a peaceful focus. In some ways it was my own type of meditation and I looked inward to my future and my life dreams and goals.

So yes, I did start this application process last January and found out I was accepted just two months ago. I am often asked why the process took so long; it is because the program is very competitive on a WORLD basis. My process started with contact to the local Rotary club and then the Rotary District. Then my challenge was to write a three page narrative explaining not only why my profession deals with conflict but also I had to explain what my profession is! Most people do not know what Planners do. Writing the narrative really helped me determine within myself why I wanted to study Peace and Conflict Resolution. Then there was a Club interview and a District interview and then the application went to Rotary Foundation. They pick the 25 people who will participate.

The entire process really gave me some much needed internal peace. Even if I had not received the fellowship, I would have been thankful for the opportunity to have applied as it helped me focus on the future. So for me, it is not just an experience to study peace, but to also find my own inner peace.

What is a “Peace Trip”?

I am literally going to Bangkok, Thailand to earn a professional development certificate in Peace and Conflict Resolution. In early November (after starting the application process last February) I found out I was going to be a Rotary Peace Fellow studying with 23 other people from around the world at the Rotary Center for International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. It is quite an amazing opportunity. Of the 23 people I will be studying with, seven are US citizens and folks from all over the world including places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ukraine, Nigeria, Argentina, Poland, Australia, Canada and The Netherlands.

To learn more about the program go to www.rotary-chulu.org or to learn more about rotary go to www.rotary.org.

I will be living in student housing near the campus and the program is very academic, in class every day (taught in English). Part of the program includes a week long field study in Northern Thailand and also a week long field study in Nepal. The program is three months long starting in mid January and going until early April.

Harry (my husband) plans to come over in early April and we are going to travel for a month; not sure where yet. I’ll let you know when I know!

Looking ahead to 2010

Finally its 2010. A big relief to get 2009 over with. Now it is a time to look ahead. I leave to Bangkok in 9 days. I now have my plane ticket and my visa, most of my medicine and have partially packed. Since this is a Rotary program, I will have a host family there so I also have a bunch of gifts for folks, Rotary flags and pins from the club and district here in Michigan. I hope it all fits! I also have paperwork like you wouldn't believe. We have already received a reading assignment which I plan to do on the plane or my first week there. I also have to prepare a presentation on a conflict. I have decided to do it on Land Use issues in Petoskey. It will be more general since most of the issues create similar conflicts. So I also have been creating maps and data to bring with me, in between the rest of my work. I look forward to having only the program to focus on, it will be good for me.

So as you might have guessed, I have been too busy to really think to much about what I am getting into, which may be a good thing!