drip drip drip

Today there has been sweat dripping down my body in places where sweat has never dripped before. Sorry for the gross details, but the weather and sweating is all part of my experience here, and that's what this blog is for, right?

So today I went to the massage place to do my video interview. Kendrick, our lovely programmer, designer, videographer, and all around jack-of-all-trades, came with me to help me with the camera. Chris Sinclair, a coach who just arrived from Bangkok yesterday also decided to come with me. In the van on the way there, we discussed my list of 16 questions and what would be the best way to ask them. Kendrick and Chris gave me some great tips about composing video and conducting interviews. It got me really excited to foray into video.

We got there, set up, and had Num prep Phom (the manager) for the interview. We figured it would take about 20 minutes, but it ended up going for over an hour! That's probably not a good thing because now I need to edit it all down into a 3-4 minute piece. It went really well though...Phom said a lot more than I expected.

Then we went to lunch where I had awesome fried rice and discussed the interview with everyone. After lunch, we went back to the massage place and interviewed Padet, the older massager that I posted a photo of before. I tried to focus more on personal things with him, like how he uses his senses, what life was like when he was younger, and how things make him feel. He gave a great quote at the end about how blind people need to come out and make themselves known so they can get the help they need. The interview lasted about a half hour. I think it was a good choice to interview him because he's so expressive and smiley.

Unfortunately, we had to turn off the air conditioner in the room while we interviewed because the video camera would have picked up the noise. After a while of talking, it got really hot in that tiny room with big windows facing the sun. Hence the dripping.

So overall I think it went really well! I left all the camera set up and control up to Kendrick. I'm not going out tomorrow because I need to start editing the video. Then I'll go back on Monday and work on getting even better shots and hopefully photos of them going outside of the massage place. Or I might stay over on Monday to get the night and morning shots. If I stay over, I'd stay at a hotel or homestay (kinda like a hostel) nearby.

To answer Sara's questions: The masseurs are very welcoming to me, but that's just the "Thai way." Thais are very non-confrontational, so they're always polite and will never tell you if you're doing something wrong. The masseurs are all really willing to talk with me through the translator, too. When I'm taking photos, I try to stay unnoticed, but they usually notice the click of the shutter. When they hear it, they laugh and start talking about the "Amerrricaaan." I often hear them say "tai ruup" when I'm around, which means taking photos. Occasionally, they'll try to make conversation with me, but they know so little English and I know so little Thai that it's nearly impossible. They were all REALLY excited about the video interview because they wanted to hear their voices played back.

I'm really liking a lot about Thailand. It's absolutely beautiful in this part (south) of the country...the plants and trees are HUGE and green because it rains so much. The resort is just awesome...it's like one giant tree house. All of the paths have stones embedded or leaf imprints so they blend in with all the nature. It's built on a hill on the water's edge, so you hear the waves at all times. There are a few pools, but I haven't had time lately to enjoy them. There is also a restaurant where we get breakfast every morning. Then there is a bunch of other stuff I haven't explored.

The people are, as I said, welcoming and friendly at all times. I had been warned that they were incredibly friendly here, but I never really believed it. Everyone is very quiet and just smiles all the time. I have not seen any sort of conflict yet. Apparently their way of welcoming you is to give you food, so other students who are doing stories with families have eaten some pretty crazy stuff. Not eating what they serve you is very insulting because they probably spent the week's wage to make it. Luckily, my subjects don't seem to be interested in cooking for me. I think the "Thai way" has rubbed off on me...I feel a lot calmer and happier all the time.

The food so far has not been too bad, but I think I'm running low on options. I can only eat fried rice so many times. There are a lot of different cuisines in town though.

The town of Khao Lak is okay. It's very touristy, meaning there are little shops with knock-off designer goods and Thailand-y souvenirs. It's not as bad as the crap you find on Caribbean Islands, though. Everything can be bartered for in those shops. I kind of wish we weren't in a touristy area so I could see true Thai culture and be forced to learn the language.

Things I'm not enjoying so much: The weather. It's constantly humid, but not really HOT...just warm. It rains at least once per day, and it's been raining a lot more lately. The rain is kind of nice though because it cools the air down. I'm getting tired of always being sweaty and my clothes stretching out. I can't go to bed without showering right before because I just feel that gross. Sometimes it's not so bad and I think I'm getting used to it...but then another day, I'll be achey and tired like the heat is weighing down on me.

I'm also not enjoying the roads. The van drives me an hour away to Phuket everyday, so I see all sorts of roads. One person described driving in Thailand as a flowing river...if you want to pass, you just move on by. The lines on the road don't really matter. And there are motorcycles/motorbikes everywhere...I'm surprised they don't get run over. There are also no seatbelts in the van. I noticed today, though, that all of this didn't really bother me as much as it would at home...it's either that I'm forcing myself to accept it or that I'm learning the "Thai way."

I'm really enjoying my story, my group, and all the coaches. It's great having a whole team of people who are working just as hard as I am. The coaches have been a great inspiration. I think I'm ahead of most people in my content gathering, which is a first for me....it feels nice :)

I wish I had more time to enjoy Thailand and just relax. The first few days were okay, but it's crazy and tiring now that I'm working on my story. I'm hoping that once we finish gathering content (the 6th is the last day to gather content) and start editing, we'll have some more free time. Or at least we will be in an area where we can take a short break.

So overall, Thailand is great! I think being a journalist is a good way to get to know a culture and a country...I wouldn't be getting so immersed into it all if I were here as a tourist.

Special shout-out to Grandma Litty: It's SOOOO cool that you read my blog! Thank you for all the love. I love you bunches...without your support, this trip would not have happened.

Time for the nightly meeting. I think people are previewing their work, which means it will be long. I just want to shower!!!

Teh Internets

5 points to anyone who understands the reference in the title!

Pat just got us all wireless internet access cards for our rooms, which means I can sit in my air conditioned comfy room instead of the humid workroom while I chat with all of you! It also means I don't have to lug my stuff back and forth all the time.

This means that I can possibly use skype! The workroom is usually too crowded and the internet too slow to use skype. If anyone wants to chat, you can either IM me on AIM or call me on Skype. Both screen names are RedAxelrod, or you can search by my name on Skype.

Talk to you all soon!

It's about time

Warrants: Men took Carson from her house
The News & Observer

Earthquake?

It's 9:48pm...we just had a meeting to brainstorm a name for the project. We threw out some good words, but the ultimate proposed titles seemed a little cheesy or cliche to me. Oh well, we'll see what they (the design team and coaches) choose.

At the end of the meeting, they informed us that a 6.7 magnitude earthquake happened off the coast of India about 2 hours ago. The center was almost due east of where we are right now. There is no tsunami warning yet and no deaths/injuries reported. I know it's fairly unlikely that another tsunami will happen, but it's definitely not a welcome thing to hear.

Now it's 1:23am. I've been sitting here way too long sorting through the 500+ photos that I've taken in the past two days. I just met with my coach, Pailin, and she said I'm doing really well and pretty much ahead of everyone else. She gave me some great tips so I can keep going back and getting better shots. I think I've got a lot of good shots and a handful of great ones. A few more days of shooting and it will be wonderful.

I woke up at 6:45am-ish today, got ready, went to breakfast. Then I was supposed to leave at 8am to go to Phuket, but Pat decided to put Zach in my van. Zach wasn't supposed to go out today, but Pat wanted him to go at the last minute. So we didn't leave Khao Lak until 9:30, meaning I didn't get to the massage place until about 11am. So I took some photos, then got lunch with Num, then more photos. Then I chatted some more with the manager of the place and got some great info.

The van picked Num and I up at 2:15 and then we picked up Zach and Jinda in the center of Phuket. We had to pick up one of the coaches at the airport, so we waited there for a bit. Then we drove home!

I went to dinner with 7 other people today and we ordered family style. Surprisingly, I could eat a lot of it. The fried rice was actually spicy, I have no idea why. Then we went to 7-11 and then back to the resort. That's when we had the meeting, and then I sorted photos and met with Pailin, and now here I am. Exhausted.

I'm getting better at speaking Thai, but I only know things like ordering food and saying thank you. I'm worried about not having a translator at the massage place if it comes down to that.

Tomorrow I'm leaving here at noon (yessss sleeping in) to go do my video interview. Kendrick is coming to help me and Num is coming to translate. It's my first time doing video, so hopefully I can figure it out.

I'll probably go stay in Phuket for a night so I can see the massage place at night and early in the morning. I wouldn't stay at the massage place because it's tiny and so gross.

Okay, I need to get some sleep. Sorry for the short uninteresting update, it's just been a long, hot day. I'll try to write a more in-depth entry soon!

First day in the field

It's getting late, so I'm going to try to keep this short. Plus, I'm exhausted. This weather just sucks the energy out of me.

I left at 8am this morning for Phuket. I woke up around 6:45 to get all my gear together, get dressed, and eat breakfast. As I was getting dressed, I was thinking "I don't want to offend my subjects, so I should dress somewhat conservative and nice." But then I remembered my subjects are blind....hahaha. I wore my wrap-around skirt anyway, which turned out to be SO comfortable. It's so light and airy, perfect for this weather.

Anyway...after breakfast, I got on a van around 8:20am with my translator, Nuum, and Abby and her translator, Meriem. It took about an hour to get to the pier where we dropped off Abby and Meriem. On the way, I saw lots of rubber trees, tons of green, the city/town of Phuket, elephants, and a bunch of other stuff. It's so different here. We dropped off Abby because she is going to a muslim village until Saturday.

Then the van took Nuum and I to the blind massage place. Nuum was awesome and introduced me and told the manager, Phom, what I am doing. Then we sat and talked with about 6 of the massagers for about 2 hours. I asked them all sorts of question about the massage training, being blind, their families, their lives, the challenges, etc. I got a ton of information, but I still need a lot more.

Twelve blind massagers live in this tiny tiny massage place. There is not a single seeing person that lives there, so they cook and clean for themselves. The whole place is about the size of an average classroom. It's very narrow and the majority of the place is taken up by the two massage areas. It's like two mirror image store fronts side by side, connected in the back by the small cement patio. More on the place later.

Squatting and eating in the hallway. This is the main area of the place. Off to the left is a bathroom and a small area partitioned off by a curtain. Down the hall on the left is a small room that they just keep dark and sit in. Down the hall is a door that leads to the massage area, where there are 6 beds. Behind is the patio, which doubles as the kitchen. There is the mirror image on the other side, except it doesnt have the dark room.

Nuum and I went to lunch at the restaurant next door where I had some great fried rice. I chatted with Nuum and he's such a cool guy. We've been teaching each other our respective languages, although he is GREAT at english. He plays guitar at a bar in Khao Lak and leads snorkel/diving tours to the Similan Islands (except in the rainy season). I learned today that on the day of the tsunami, he was out on the tour boat. The water kept rising and falling (not like waves...like a pool draining), but they didn't know what was going on. When they got back to land, he learned what had happened and that many of his friends had not survived. He went into the mountains because he and others feared it would happen again. His parents traveled from far away because they couldn't get in contact with him. They found one of his friends, who then found him. He said his mother just cried and cried.

Nuum sleeping while I took pictures...although he later claimed he wasn't.

So after lunch, we talked a bit more with the massagers and then I started taking photos. I realized that there really isn't much there to photograph. Since they're all blind, the walls are blank. When they're not massaging, they just sit around. Occasionally they make food, which is pretty interesting. They just put a bunch of stuff in a bowl, squat on the floor (as seen above), and eat right on the floor in the middle of the hallway. The massage is very slow and simple...they just find pressure points and apply pressure with different parts of the body for a few seconds. So I left feeling like it would be too plain and boring for still photography.

While I was there, I had to walk all around the tiny place and it was truly disgusting. To the point of being unsanitary. I had to take off my shoes before entering the place (it's expected here), so I was walking around barefoot. The front area where they do massages is fine. But then you go through a door and enter a new area where there is no air conditioning and it smells like straight up urine. They cook for themselves, so food gets left out or dropped or spilled all the time. They clean it up, but they can't really see if they cleaned it all up or not. There was a bowl of fish oil and chillies on a shelf with some spillage beneath it...and it looked like it had been there for days. There are bugs crawling all over because of it all. There is also a lot of loose hair on the floor, which we all know is a pet peeve of mine. The back patio area and bathroom is soaking wet and really dirty. I forced myself to get used to it and tip-toed around while trying not to smell or look down.

This is the kitchen. Out on the patio. You can't see the bugs or hair, or smell the urine.

The van picked us up around 3pm and we went back to the pier to pick up Miriem. We had to wait a little while at the pier, so we sat in a little shop. There was a cat in there with two kittens, so I played with the mama cat for the whole time. Then Miriem showed up and we drove back to Khao Lak. I slept most of the way.

When I got back, I talked with Pat and Pailin and they kind of restored my confidence. They said to focus on the themes of isolation and loneliness in my photos. I have to use the starkness of the place and the boringness of their lives to my advantage. I just have to make it look good by utilizing light, focus, motion, etc. They also recommended that I do it in black and white, which I think would definitely add something and set it apart from the other stories. Pailin recommended that I get a photo of blurry silhouettes to kind of show people what some of the blind massagers see. Later at dinner, I talked with Nacho and Selket about it and they also gave me good ideas. Nacho said to do a sequence of photos to show change (or lack of) over time. Selket recommended doing close-ups of their eyes or portraits. I really like the portrait idea. So now I'm feeling a little better about it, although it's going to be a BIG challenge for me. It's good though...it pushes me out of my comfort zone and forces me to do things I usually don't try.

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the disgusting back area. I'm going to bring a pair of "house shoes" to wear inside.

I'll probably stay in Phuket for at least a night so I can photograph what goes on after hours. I also hope to get them doing things outside of the massage shop, like grocery shopping or going to the doctor.

I'm leaving at 8am again tomorrow and probably staying until 5pm. Nuum is coming with me again because I want to ask more about their lives and meet the other massagers.

After meeting with Pat and Pailin, a bunch of us went to dinner in town. I ordered massaman curry "mai (not) ped (spicy)." It turned out to be the spiciest thing I've ever eaten. Usually I don't eat things that spicy, but I really had no choice. I figured out that soda water really eases the pain. Fortunately, that dish was the only thing I've had a problem with so far!

We have a nightly meeting at 9pm where we talk about the vans and translators for the following day and any announcements. Since then, I've been sitting here talking with people and blogging.

My laptop just started shocking me. There is a little edge around it and every time I touch that part with my forearms, it gives me a tiny shock. But when I touch it with my hand, nothing happens. Who wants to explain that one?

My eyes are barely staying open, which means bedtime. Please leave me comments or e-mail me to let me know how you're doing! Sa wat dii ka, all.

(note: I had originally typed "home" instead of "open" above, and I have no clue why. Obviously I need to get some sleep.)

Padet, who had a wonderful smile and great expressive face.

Photos!

Photos take a very long time to upload, so I'm not going to post them as often as I expected.

This is the "workroom" where we gather often to do (you guessed it) work! It's the only place where we get internet, so everyone sits around a lot at night talking to friends and family. It's surrounded by giant trees and vines.

A good not-too-spicy dish we had yesterday. They put these purple orchids in, on, and around everything!

Long-tail boats

Boat repair center built by K.I.Asia

More boat repair.

Sea Turtle!

Selket and the 1-year-old sea turtle.

Beautiful beaches.

The room that I share with Selket.

Our balcony.

Today is Kate's birthday! Too bad she's sunburnt, stomach sick, and exhausted. Happy 21st Kate!

Busy busy

So I finally got my story assignment today. I will be going to Phuket Town (about an hour away) to a blind Thai massage place. Thai massage is an ancient practice that requires special training. Thailand is not particularly handicap-friendly, so many blind people have taken up the massaging profession. The place I'll be at is (according to what we've been told) entirely staffed by blind masseurs. Some of them (or maybe all) live above the shop.

I'm a little worried about the story because I won't have the translator with me most of the time. The translator will come for the first day and when I do the video interview. Otherwise, I'll probably be on my own. Since the masseurs can't see people, they depend on their other senses to help them interact. I don't speak Thai, so they cannot really use their hearing to figure out what is going on. And I cannot use my body language and motions to communicate, which is what I've been depending on for talking with native speakers. So it's definitely going to be a challenge. At the same time, though, it's the ultimate fly-on-the-wall situation for me to take photos!

All but two of the people in the group went out to start their stories today...I was one of the two that had to stay back. They hadn't established contacts/access as of this morning, so I wasn't able to start yet. I spent the day learning how to use the HD video camera, eating lunch in town, and shopping in town. I got a new shoulder bag and a wrap-around skirt with elephants on it, $6 each! It started pouring as we were walking back from town, so Kendrick and I spent some time sitting under and awning and talking. I'm pretty happy I didn't have to go out today because that meant I had the day off before I start working hard. It also gave me extra time to mull over the story.

A translator, Miriem, teaches Abby how to properly wear a scarf.

We have since gotten in contact with the manager of the place and I will be going tomorrow. I am getting really nervous because the logistics of me getting to and from Phuket Town are all up in the air. I'll be going with a translator, but he/she might not stay with me the whole time. Then I'll probably have to find my way to the bus station (possibly in a tuk-tuk) and take a 2 hour bus ride back. I might stay late and catch a ride back with some group members who are arriving at the Phuket airport around 12:20am. Or I might stay overnight, which I really would rather not do. I didn't think I'd have one of the stories that requires an overnight stay, so I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's a completely foreign place, public transportation is not very organized, and I don't speak the language. But I guess I'll just have to put on a brave face and jump right in.

The people that went out for their stories are all back now. I don't want to give away too much about the stories so that you all can enjoy the finished products, but I'll tell a little. My roommate, Selket, is working with the elephant trainers. She said she ate some real traditional (and weird) food with the trainer and his family (Thai people offer food as a sign of respect and maybe be offended if you refuse or don't eat it). Julie is working with Burmese immigrants and came back with lychee fruit (yummm). Grace is doing something with birds and got a huge hanging bird's nest. Phil left this morning and won't be back for another three days or so; his story focuses on a village built in the middle of the water. Abby didn't go out today, but she has to wear a full head covering for her Muslim-focused story tomorrow. Zack is working on Muay Thai, or Thai Kickboxing. There are a few others, but I'll leave them for surprise!

Things are a bit disorganized because we have to schedule vans and translators for the students that need to go out. There are only 6 or 7 translators and 12 different stories going on at once. So for the past few hours, they've been trying to figure out how it's all going to work tomorrow. That's why I don't get much of a choice in how long I stay in Phuket. It depends on the budget, who else is doing a story near Phuket, when I need to be there, when other people need to be elsewhere, when we can get the translator, etc. It's a bit hectic.

Right now I am really tired, but I'm sure the people who were out working all day are even more exhausted. I didn't get much sleep last night because my roommate sort of disappeared. She left the room around midnight while I was in the shower and still wasn't there when I got back around 1:30. So Kendrick and I searched the whole resort, then woke up Grace and Julie, then woke up Nacho and Eileen. It ended up being a six-person search party until about 3:30am. We combed the entire beach and resort. I was about to go to sleep and hope for the best when she walked into the room. She had walked down to the beach and accidentally fell asleep. I'm still not sure what she was doing there all alone, but I was just happy she was okay. We went to sleep at 4am and woke up at 7.

The weather was a little more uncomfortable today. It was so humid that my body ached. Now it's been raining for a while, which thankfully cooled everything down. It's making me very tired though. I've come to accept the constant moistness and sweating. I go through 2 shirts a day because I just feel gross half way through. Despite the weather...this is still a beautiful, wonderful place to be.

Yesterday was a really busy day. We started with some more language lessons. Then we went to a restaurant on the naval base and ate some good Thai food. Jinda (one of the coaches) taught me the correct way to eat Thai food...you hold the fork in your left hand and the spoon in your right hand, then use the fork to sort of shovel food onto the spoon. Each spoonful should have a good combination of rice and meat and veggies, or whatever else is in the dish. After lunch, we toured a pier where fishermen unload their boats. K.I.Asia, the organization we are working with, built a repair shop for the fishermen to repair their long-tail boats. It is part of their initiative to help locals and revive the local economy. I even went on one of the boats (docked)!

The restaurant at the Naval Base.

Charissa steps onto a long-tail boat.

Next we went to the Sea Turtle Conservation Center at Phang-nga Naval Base. The sea turtles are endangered, so the Thailand government set up a conservation center right on the naval base. They bring in new turtles every 15 days and release them after a year in captivity. They release about 10,000 turtles into the wild each year. I got to hold a 3-month-old tiny turtle and a 1-year-old medium turtle. I practiced speaking to the turtle raisers through the translators, which was really fun.


After the turtles, we drove to a government building where the local leader welcomed us and thanked us for our work. Then they drove us to a spot on the road that overlooked the Andaman Sea and one of the translators told me about the dead bodies he saw on the shore the day of the tsunami. I talked a lot with the translators, which was awesome. We also went to a beach a few kilometers from the resort and a translator told me it was the worst hit area in Phang-nga. The buildings were very spread out and there were big open spots of land where no one had rebuilt yet.

Kendrick and Julie get soaked!

The last stop of the day was a monument for the tsunami. After the waters washed back to the sea, a police boat was found 2km from the sea, just washed up in a field. It was HUGE and incredible that it could be carried that far. We climbed up a macgyvered rope ladder on a tree to get up on the boat and it felt really special to be a part of it. It was a really great way to commemorate the tsunami.


After the day of touring, we came back to the resort, had one more meeting about language, and then free time. I went straight down to the pool which was the perfect temperature. I ended up staying by the pool for about 6 hours, just chatting and laughing with friends and drinking tropical drinks. We made friends with the two bartenders, En and Auy (I have no idea if I spelled those correctly, but that's how it sounds). I practiced counting in Thai and managed to count all the way to 31 by myself! The bartenders got a kick out of it. Selket went behind the bar and made her own shot for all of us, which the bartenders then named the Selket Cocktail. I wonder if that will be on the menu someday...haha. After that, we all waded in the ocean. Then I went back and showered, and that is when the search party began.

So all in all, yesterday was a great day! I will post photos another time...I'm just too tired to do it right now. It's 9pm and we're supposed to be having a meeting now, but Pat isn't here yet. I just woke up from a nap and now I'm groggy. I'm going to go to bed extra early tonight, hence the lack of pictures.

Okay, meeting is done. I'm taking a van to Phuket at 8am tomorrow, and the van will pick me up again at 5pm.

A bat just flew around the room! And I saw an elephant standing around near the road yesterday.

Julie's blog

Okay, so now I'm the only one left in the workroom...everyone else went to bed.

Just wanted to let you all know that another girl from my group, Julie, is also keeping a blog and she has already uploaded a few photos. You can see it here.

It's getting hot in here...

So I finally got some internet access!! We have a "workroom" (a conference room...except not like anything you imagine) at the resort that has wireless internet, so there are 8 of us sitting around e-mailing and blogging.

It has been a looooooonnnggg day. After blogging in the morning, I went to breakfast at the resort's restaurant and then sent a brief e-mail to let everyone know I had arrived. Then we had to meet with the whole group for the beginning of orientation. From about 10am-4pm, we were sitting in a conference room type thing listening to all sorts of presentations on Thai culture, the area we're staying in, language, the 2004 tsunami, history, geography, etc. The room itself was just beautiful; they make everything look so nice here with fancy folds and fresh orchids placed all over the place. Throughout the presentations, waiters came in with coffee, water, and finger foods. We took a break for lunch where I actually was able to eat a lot of the stuff (they had masaman curry!).

The presentations were very interesting and informative. We learned the basics of speaking Thai, including the greeting sà wàt dii kâ (or kráp instead of kâ if you're male), which I decided to make the title of this blog. The language is very different because it doesn't really have grammar...there are no conjugations, gender, plurals, etc. The most important part is the inflection. One word spoken in a different tone can mean so many different things. The accent marks above the letters tell you how to say it; a downward sloping line means your voice goes low, upward sloping line means voice high, and the "V" shape and upside down "V" shape mean your voice goes down and then up, or up and then down, respectively. It's pretty confusing. Plus, there are TONS of vowels and the time that you hold the vowel sound changes the word. But alas, I now know how to great someone, say thank you, order something, and any other common phrases I might need are typed up on a little cheat-sheet.

The other presentations provided massive amounts of information. We learned all about the history of Thailand, the government, and the religion. The government has changed a lot throughout time and is currently a bit controversial. We also learned about the 2004 tsunami, which is the main part of our project and the reason we're here (I'll explain more later). Basically, an earthquake started in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004, and sent deadly waves crashing into the coasts of 12 (I think) different countries. Thailand was one of the hardest hit countries, and Phang-nga (the province that we are in) was the hardest hit area in Thailand. Over half of the casualties were foreign tourists because this was/is a popular tourist destination.

I guess now is a good time to explain what I'm doing here. We are partnered with Kenan Institute Asia, a non-profit organization linked to the Kenan Center at UNC. They started the branch in Phang-nga after the tsunami with the hopes of returning tourism, revenue, and quality of life to the levels they were at before the tsunami. So far, they've had success; the levels keep climbing, but are not back to pre-2004 levels. My group is here to document the area and the culture and then create a website that can provide information and hopefully generate tourism. There are 13 students (some grad, some undergrad)...we will each be doing our own stories with photos, audio, and/or video (I'll probably be doing photos and audio). Our topics haven't been assigned yet, but there is a list with things like religion, sea gypsies, sea turtle center, fishing boats, rubber farming, village life, etc. All of the stories will be put into a multimedia website with photo/audio slideshows, videos, lots of writing and links, fancy transitions, graphics, interactive graphics, etc.

Tomorrow we have some more orientation stuff, and then we start working on Wednesday. We will spend the first week or two gathering content and then the last two weeks editing and putting together the website. We have to share translators, which is probably going to be hectic. Each person will be dropped off at the site of their story in the morning and not picked up until a long time later. Then we have to come back each night and review our work with the coaches. Every couple of nights, we present our progress to the whole group. This is going to be LOTS of hard work and long days.

So after the presentations, we had some free time. I went on the internet to figure out how to make my cell phone work. I managed to unlock it really easily, and now I have a working phone for local calls! THANKS SARAH! All I need now is a charger. I can get an international calling card for calls to the U.S., but I'd rather use Skype. So if anyone wants to talk, e-mail me at night and we can talk sometime the next day. Just remember, I'm 11 hours AHEAD of the U.S., which actually works out well. Late at night is probably the only time I'll have to talk online, which would be morning/afternoon for all of you!

I decided to log off the internet after I unlocked my phone and walked down to the pool where a bunch of my groupmates were. I put my toes in and the water felt great...I can't wait to go swimming tomorrow. It was happy hour (5-6pm) at the pool bar, so I got some Thai beer called Chang (pronounced kind of like shaaaan) and talked with everyone else. I tried to order the beer in Thai, and the waiter gave me a confused look, pulled out a Chang beer and a Coca Cola, and asked which one I wanted. I managed to thank him in Thai though! The beer was 75 baht, about $2...everything is cheap! One of my friends got a pina colada, and i was served in a hollowed out pineapple with fresh fruit and an umbrella...and man was it good! The Chang beer was also really good.

After some time at the pool bar, we went back to the room to change clothes. I'm happy I packed so much because I think I'm going to go through at least 2 changes of clothes each day. Then we walked into town, which is only about a 10 minute easy walk. The town is pretty small and touristy, so we had no problem with language or food. I wanted authentic Thai food, but everyone else wanted to go to the Swedish (I think?) pizza place. It started drizzling as we were crossing the street to go to the place, and less than a minute later, it was pouring! It was actually really good pizza and I had a good time sitting around talking with everyone. $210 baht, about $7, for half a pizza and a beer...not bad, not bad.

Next I went to a mini-mart with Erin and I slipped as we were walking in...hooray for my first injury! I fell straight down on my left knee, but I think I just bruised it. Now I know not to wear my flip-flops anywhere because the soles are too worn down. I tried to get some money from an ATM, but apparently it was broken and wouldn't give me any. Then I walked back to the resort with Erin, who has really long legs...my short little legs could barely keep up. The resort is very hilly and we do a lot of walking...my legs are going to be awesome after this trip!

At 9pm, we returned to the workroom for a brief meeting about how things are going to work once we start gathering content. Then Phil gave me all my equipment from the Journalism school (two professional camera bodies, three different lenses, four batteries, two cards, and an off-camera flash...my oh my!) and now I'm here, writing to all of you :) It's pouring outside, which cooled everything down a bit. It got really hot and sticky around dinner time. I've been drinking lots of water and sweating it all out...I noticed that I pee (please excuse the nitty gritty details) a lot less!

I feel very calm and at-ease here because everything is so natural and everyone is so friendly. I think it's bringing out my hippy side; no make-up, not caring about my hair, sweating and smelling, wearing tevas everywhere, walking everywhere, and just taking in the scenery. I've been craving the outdoors a lot lately, so this is perfect.

I'm going to try and stay relatively disconnected during this trip. Instead of talking to people on AIM, they can all just read up on my adventures here on my blog. I'm not going to read unimportant e-mails and I'll try not to check facebook. I think staying disconnected will ween me of my sick, sad obsession with the internet (although I bet I'll fall right back into my habits when I get back to school). Pleeeaaaase send me e-mails and leave comments on the blog though!

I also decided that I'm going to try and open myself up to new things during this trip. Food especially is going to take some openness for me. I'll have to get used to spicy things and take my chances on peppers. Just in case, I learned how to say "not spicy." So far (knock on wood), I haven't had much trouble with my stomach yet. Apparently the southern region of Thailand (where I am) has the most authentic and the most spicy food.

Alex just signed online...that warrants some connection :)

I really like all the people in my group. I've been spending a lot of time with the grad students, who range in age from late twenties to late forties...I guess I usually choose the older-than-me crowd. Everyone is extremely talented and hard-working. In fact, three people are currently planning the website design and programming right now. It's 11:49pm and we don't have to do anything like that for a while, but they're already working on it.

I'm going to try and get photos up sometime soon!

Fortunately, I'm not jetlagged at all. The 30+ hours spent on planes and such was like a perpetual nighttime, so my body didn't know any sort of time zone. I'm tired now because it's been a long, hot day...but then again, it's almost midnight.

Throughout the day, I thought of things I wanted to write about, and now I forget it all. Basically, all I want to tell everyone is that it's lovely here. I love the laid back, happy, non-confrontational lifestyle. I'm even getting used to the humidity...the scenery makes it all worth it. I can't wait to explore more!

Okay, it's midnight and I must get some sleep (and a shower). We have another long day of presentations tomorrow starting at 9am. We're scheduled to go into a different area of Phang-nga and meet with fishermen, naval people, and government officials.

Will write again soon! Hope all is well...please send me e-mails with updates about life in the U.S.!

Sà wàt dii kâ!

(I wrote all of this on my laptop before I had internet connection)

Monday, June 23, 2008 8:00am
After about 30 hours of traveling, two planes, three movies, one long car ride, and lots of Korean people, I have finally made it to Thailand!

As I write this, I am sitting on the balcony of my room overlooking (and listening to) the rolling waves of the Andaman Sea beyond the bungalows and palm trees of the resort. It's 8am, usually an hour I spend drooling on my pillow, but I just had to get up early...who could sleep in a place as beautiful and calming as this?

So it all started yesterday around 10:30am when dad and I left for Kennedy Airport. The drive there wasn't too bad...we only hit a little traffic and got there by about 12:15. I said goodbye to dad and headed into the airport. I flew Korean Air the entire way, so I checked in there, went through security, and then went to my gate. Kennedy Airport is huge!

I got to my gate and it was so nice to be greeted by all my groupmates. They had a flight from Raleigh-Durham Airport at 6am, so they all had been awake since about 3am (or some who just hadn't gone to sleep at all). They all looked exhausted already, but excited to see me. I did some yoga and stretching in a corner with a few of my friends, and then it was time to board the plane.

The first flight was about 14 and a half hours! I wasn't sitting next to anyone from my group, but they were all nearby. As soon as I stepped on the plane, I was absolutely amazed by how big it was. I knew it was going to be big, but TWO FLOORS? I think first class was upstairs. My part of the plane had three seats across, then an aisle, then four seats, then an aisle, and then another three seats. Each seat had a screen on the back so everyone had their own interactive in-flight entertainment system with movies, music, games, a map to follow the plane, etc. I don't know what I would have done without that thing!

I watched three movies on that flight: "Definitely, Maybe," "The Other Boleyn Girl," and "P.S. I Love You." Two romantic comedies in a short period of time was enough for me! I tried to sleep, but had trouble at first. I'd say that the first couple hours were okay, but it's around hour 7 when I got a little antsy and started thinking "how can I survive another 7 hours on this plane?" Eventually I was able to sleep, though.

Let me just say...Korean Air really takes care of you! The flight attendants had these adorable uniforms and they were so friendly. They came around a bunch of times with juice and water. They handed out headphones and a little pouch with socks, a lanyard, a sleep mask, and a travel toothbrush and toothpaste. The meals were huge and served in kind of nice dishes on trays. My first meal was bibinbap, a Korean dish that my sister's friend Esther has made for us a few times. When they said "bibinbap or chicken?" I was so excited that they had it!

One of the flight attendants brought over a little instruction sheet that told me how to mix it all together....it was deeeelicious. We got another meal and all sorts of snacks. They offered wine with every meal and beer was free of charge....compare that to the U.S. airlines that are planning to charge for juice and soda!

So we finally landed at Seoul Incheon Airport in Korea, lugged all of our carry-ons and camera equipment to the new gate, and then I went for a walk with some people. I immediately went to Smoothie King and then we all sat around and talked. One thing I noticed...couples in Korea purposely match each other. We saw SOOOO many couples walking around in matching or coordinated outfits. It was adorable, but we were all like "wtf? whyyyy?" I just kept thinking "what would Alex do if I told him I wanted to match at all times?" (I later found out that the matching couples were honeymooners...still weird).

I walked around a little more and then sat down to have a beer with some groupmates. It was two girls I didn't know too well, so it was good to sit and talk with them. Then one of our groupmates came to get us because we were boarding.

The second plane was EMPTY. I got a whole row of four seats to myself. There wasn't a personal entertainment system, so I just layed down across the seats and went to sleep. It was so nice to sleep! We got another big meal on the flight and lots of snacks and drinks. By the time I woke up, we were almost to Phuket. I read some articles on the 2004 tsunami, listened to some music, changed my clothes, and then we were there!

We had to go through customs, where I got my very first stamp in my passport :) ! Then we gathered all our luggage (mine was the second biggest suitcase out of everyone...woops), and headed outside where someone was waiting for us. We piled into 3 different vans and then drove about an hour to Khao Lak Resort.

We got to the resort and went into a little meeting room where they gave us hot tea and cold towels. Man, that cold towel felt good. They had already paired us up randomly for rooms, so I got placed with one of the girls I had sat at the bar with in Seoul. I didn't know her well before the trip, but we get along really well. In fact, she's waiting for me to go to breakfast right now, so I need to hurry this up.

We walked through the resort to our rooms, which are all in one beautiful building. Everything looks natural and blends in here. The resort is giant and right on the water's edge, so it's really just paradise. Selket (my roommate) and I dropped off our stuff, explored our room and everyone else's room, and then headed down to the sea with some other people.

WOW. It was about 3:15am local time and the sea was rolling. It was amazing to just put my feet into the cool water and feel the sand between my toes. All you could see for miles was the open water meeting with the dark clouds. I just stood with my feet in the water for a while, taking it all in. It made the past 30+ hours of travel fade away. Selket and I agreed that we felt like we were in a dream and bound to wake up at home as soon as we went to sleep.

We came back to the room, showered (we have 2 showers!), and went to bed around 4:30am. Now it's 8am, and I'm tired, but we need to get breakfast. We have to meet with the rest of the group at 10am for some sort of orientation to the area, the culture, etc.

Unfortunately, I don't have internet access yet...we need to buy a time card to log in. I'll figure that out later today.

There are tiny translucent lizards crawling around the walls of the balcony and our room...they're really cute.

It's warm and sticky, but not unbearable. Leaving my hair down is out of the question here! The scenery and friendly people make it all worthwhile, though.

Okay, time to go get some breakfast and then start orientation. I miss you all and wish you were here. I'll be sure to post some photos soon!

Monday, June 23, 2008 9:45am
Just got back from breakfast. The freshest fruit you can imagine, fried rice, eggs made to order, and the best orange juice I've ever tasted...all with the ocean in view, surrounding by giant palms and trees, and listening to the waves. What did I do to deserve this?