I have just returned from spending 20 days away from my site. It started with a Teacher Training that lasted 4 days in Khon Kaen. When that finished, I took an overnight bus to Bangkok and then a bus north to Chai Nat where I would spend the next 11 days with Peace Corps at Reconnect. The first week was filled with language class and training sessions. I chose to focus on learning my local dialect which has the name Essan, also spelled Issan or Esan, or Isan or E-ssan. It's the name of the region I live in, the north east of Thailand. Sometimes it is referred to as Lao language, though it is not exactly the Lao language that is spoken in Laos the country. Issan language is very similar to Thai, though it is pronounced a little differently, and with some different vocabulary. For example: Pineapple in Thai is sa pa rote. In Issan it is Bag Nat. In Thai "how are you" is Sabaii dii mai ka? In Issan it is "Sabaii dii boh?"
It was great to be together with all 43 other volunteers. That's right, if you were counting, we have lost 8 volunteers since we boarded the plane in San Francisco. It seemed like most of us really appreciated each other much more having been away from one another for three months. We had a lot of fun reconnecting. At least I did. I feel closer to my peers now, than I ever did in the 10 weeks we were together in Si Prachan. Speaking (typing) of Si Prachan, Bridgette and I went back to visit our family on our day off. It was wonderful. What a great family I was fortunate to live with. My Yai (Grandmother) was so happy to see me. She hugged my neck tightly when I left. My family drove us back the 90 kilometers to our hotel and I saw some dewy eyes as they drove away. The same as with the other volunteers, I felt really close with them after reconnecting.
Next, my co-teacher Dork-Or joined my in Chainat and we began the second counterpart conference. I think it went really well. It was nice to have people available to help us communicate anything we needed communicated. Chai Nat was having a rowing boat race festival and we had a good time walking around the booths and watching some funny boat races. The CC ended on Wednesday at noon and it was TIME TO GO!!! I had decided that I would spend the long weekend going to Ko Tao and getting my PADI open water certification.
I had planned on October as my SCUBA certification month. I am glad I did it when I did, because I did it with friends, and the weather in October is supposed to be terrible. I also wanted to make sure I liked SCUBA before I spent a vacation planned around it. Unfortunately, it was a perfect storm for crowding on the island. For one, it is July, which means that western schools are on holiday. Secondly, it is the full moon, which means thousands have flocked to next door Ko Pangnan for the monthly full moon party. And, lastly, the full moon in July also means a big Buddhist holiday, which was Monday, and also Tuesday- Kao Pansa which is the beginning of Buddhist Lent and the "rainy season" though it has been raining for two months. For the rain retreat Thai monks are not allowed to travel. Many lay people are ordained as monks for the three month period. In Thailand, businesses will give you up to three months off to ordain as a monk. This meant this was a four day weekend, so, many local vacationers were also on the island. It meant it was CRAZY CROWDED>
I booked us two rooms to hold the group of four. It was a dive center with rooms. We were diving at the wonderful New Heaven Dive Center. Buddha View was where we were staying. The second day of our four day stay they asked us to move out because they "needed the rooms" We had nowhere to go. Stressful. But, the wonderful people at New Heaven told us not to worry and that they would find us somewhere to stay while we were on the boat diving the next day. Well, luckily as we were studying PADI, I saw many backpackers leaving their guest house and snagged us a cheaper, more awesome room right on the ocean on some rocks. We slept with the sound of the ocean, instead of the sound of backpackers slamming doors.
The first day of SCUBA open water training was about physics, equipment, safety, etc. and then we went into the water to practice. The next day we did two dives, practicing more, and then swimming around the coral. It was really beautiful. The next day, our first dive was CRAZY! The current was really powerful and a lot of stuff went wrong, it was really hard, but it was a great teachable moment. Glad I had it. The next dive was much calmer and nice. Then, final test and I am open water certified. Once I learned to relax and breathe slowly and deeply, I fell in love. It took a little coping and mind control. Self calming behavior. It is certainly not a natural feeling. But, it also is. For me I have always wanted to be a mermaid and live underwater. With a scuba tank I had a chance to experience that a little. I caught the SCUBA bug. Monday, I went snorkeling on nearby Ko Nang Yuan with my Moo Ban mate Molly. It was nice. There is a site called Japanese Gardens. I picked up a lot of trash from the thousands of tourists who swim in the coral garden every day. All of those years of diving for rings in the deep end came in handy so that I could dive for plastic bottles and snorkel and mask packaging.
As I write this I am on a bus heading to Bangkok full of non Thais (farangs) I have enjoyed traveling around Thailand, but I don't love being a tourist. I will add the photos as I get them. :)
