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.!