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. . .