Laos Border and Tropic Island

Since the last time I wrote I have been mostly caught up in project work. The science experiments that we developed for the schools are going okay but definitely caught a few snags along the way. Whether its the teachers not being familiar with how to run an experiment, the students being unfamiliar or us making a mistake there have been multiple things gone wrong. Along with that we are only in the Sakon Nakhon region for 5 weeks. Its definitely a short time and requires constant attention to the project. I have been probably working 16 hour days with a break every so often. Its intense but I guess thats how its supposed to be.

I have made some great relationships with students, teachers and other people we have interacted with. One of the teachers has really gone out of his way to take care of us. His name is Ajarn Pornsin ( or Professor Peter in english). He brings us places on weekend, brings us to the grocery store when we need to go and he even hung up a hammock next to our house for me! He is really just a great example of how welcoming and friendly Thai people are. Its going to be a weird transition back to U.S. life, where everyone is caught up in there own life and typically dont go out of there way just to make sure you are happy.

I have taken a couple of trips over the past two weeks. First we went to a province on the Laos border called Nakon Phranom. It was actually really beautiful. We looked across the Mekong River to the Laos side which is not developed and really typical of what you see in Asian Landscape pictures. It has mountains that seem to rise out of nothing, very abrubty. During that trip we visited a few Wats. We then visited a Christian church where 6 people have a shrine built after them. Many years ago Christians were persecuted in Thailand for their religion and these 6 people did not hide it. Unstead they chose to sacrafice their lives and become martyrs. When we arrive to a place we were going to have dinner, the director of one of the schools we work with spotted me. I didnt even know that he was supposed to be coming. He called me up to this resteraunt up on the porch overlooking the Mekong river. He explained to me that he had been waiting there since noon for us and drinking the entire time. He then order more bottles of beer and insisted I sit with him and drink.

From there we took a boat crusie on the Mekong river. It was about 2 hours long and they served some appetizers. Many teachers from the other science teams schools were present. When we finaly got off the boat we had some dinner. My group then stayed over in a hotel that night. We went and sang kareokee ( thai people love it for some reason, there are rooms you can rent out with tv's and machines, they bring you drinks, its an intersting experience). The following day we went to a indo-china market which was anti-climatic. I thought it was going to this extravagant place but it was not better than most of the fairs we have already been to. (Redcross fair and Seo Festival).

This past weekend I went to Koh Samed which is a tropical island. My group partner Sofia and another student Miguel came also. We stayed in Tonsak resort which is directly on the beach. We stayed in a garden bungalow which was very nice. We did pay for it though. It cost $120 usd a night to stay there. I think it was worth it because it seems as though the hotels that arent on the beach or dont cost a lot are really the opposite end of the spectrum. That weekend we explored the island on bikes and went snokeling in a coral reef area. I have never seen water so blue. It was absolutely gorgeous and just like the pictures that you see in magazines. The water was also as warm as bath water which was a nice change of pace from New England ocean water.

Each night we went out to a few bars. The first night we stopped where there was a large gathering of people on the beach infront of a place called Ploy Resort. There were people there doing a fire show. Atleast 10 teenage boys were throwing around these metal poles which had been drenched in some sort of fuel. They could throw them 50 feet up in the air and catch them on the only part that wasnt burning. They were doing acrobats and standing on each others shoulders while throwing these things around.

On the day before we left Sofia and I got Thai Massages. It was absolutely amazing. It cost around $9 usd and I got a full body massage for an hour. The lady who owned the place was so nice and the people were friendly throughout the whole thing. Personally I think I would get sick of giving people massages. I dont know how they do it. At the end we got to sit down with the lady and her daughter and just talk.

Koh Samet was definitely alot of fun but I think 2 nights was enough. Any more and that island might have started to get a little boring. It was small enough to go across on bike and basically everything was throughout the island was the same.

Now since there are so many deadlines coming in the next week for my group, we are going to be working the entire weekend. Its not exciting because Id like to enjoy Sakon Nakhon, the people, and the fresh air for the last weekend I am here. My project grade is definitely important though so I guess I have to make a sacrafice. In less than 5 days I will be back on my way to the streets full of tourists and polluted air of bangkok.