So, I haven't had a chance to update my blog in awhile but SO much has happened. I love this country. Everything is so exotic and different. They drive on the left side of the road here, which just makes it even more dangerous when I'm trying to cross the street cuz I get all confused.
We spent our first week in a village last week, and we learned so much. They family didn't speak a word of english and thought we were hilarious. our bathroom was up a hill, and consisted of a hole in the floor. Our shower was a bucket of water. The jungle is extremely loud at night. I don't know how birds and bugs can make so much noise! We taught english in the afternoons to the kids and they loved it.
We go back tomorrow. We are going to take with us a few live chickens to kill while we are there. :) The family has a garden up the hill, and the mother can carry a huge bucket of water on her head with no hands all the way up the mountain.
The beach is very nearby and we can see high mountains all around us.
This weekend we went to some natural waterfalls/swimming holes. I jumped off of the 12 foot one, but it was more scary than it sounds because you have to jump far enough out that you don't hit rocks... then we did a natural water slide which was REALLY tall. the current was so strong it freaked me out a little... The last waterfall I will have to work up to. I didn't jump this time. It is over 30 feet high. :O (ignore this part mom)
That's about it for now. Thanks for thinking of me, and I am thinking of all of you.
<3
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Toilet Paper Angel
I thought I have been to crowded cities before, but I don't think anyone has until they come to Asia. We rode a train last night to dinner, and we thought it was crowded. That was BEFORE another 50 people smashed us into sardines in our train car....Me and 4 of my team mates clung to eachother and were inches away from eachothers faces, let alone smashed up against a bunch of men. Awesome. But, even though it was very uncomfortable and stretching our panic-modes, we found a way to be okay....we burst out laughing. We couldn't help it. No, it was not fun. But we better get used to not having any personal space. Every time the car would jerk the clump of the 4 of us would just bounce off other people. We couldn't even lift up an arm to hold on to anything! haha! Talk about bonding experience.
Well if that wasn't enough stretching for one night, apparently I needed a lesson in humility and trust as well. After eating a nice, clean, american restaurant, we walked back to the train station. It wasn't even that hot, but I just felt this wave of nausea and heat come over me, but I thought it would go away. We were waiting to get our tickets so I figured since it came back, I should tell the team leader (who was a man, of course). SO i ended up waiting in a small air conditioned little store while he got me a cold sprite, which helped some. We walked through packed lines and down an escalator to the train platform, then it hit again. Great. I need a toilet. Now. So I was like "hey J, I know this is great timing but I need to find a bathroom pronto!" So, we ran up the escalator, through the line, down a hall and found a bathroom. Phew! J said "im gonna warn you now, there will be no toilet paper..."
Excellent.
So I was sick for a bit, and I saw this white arm of one of my friends come under my stall with a HUGE BOX of tissue. praise allah! Apparently a guard or cleaning lady had given it to her, which is not normal. In fact, when I felt good enough to come out, J said "That NEVER happens....and if anyone DOES have tissue, they charge you for it" Also, the lady was no where to be found. We went to the janitor closet she had been in, to give the box back to her, but there was a man there instead, saying that no cleaning lady was there, it was just him. Hm. Weird.
So apparently I had a Toilet Paper Angel sent to me.
Not only that, but I learned that on this trip, things like this are going to happen frequently and we need to not be embarrassed. As a shy person I would normally have been mortified but I made jokes about it the whole way home.
AND, instead of having to walk from the station back to our house, I got to ride one of these babies:
Well if that wasn't enough stretching for one night, apparently I needed a lesson in humility and trust as well. After eating a nice, clean, american restaurant, we walked back to the train station. It wasn't even that hot, but I just felt this wave of nausea and heat come over me, but I thought it would go away. We were waiting to get our tickets so I figured since it came back, I should tell the team leader (who was a man, of course). SO i ended up waiting in a small air conditioned little store while he got me a cold sprite, which helped some. We walked through packed lines and down an escalator to the train platform, then it hit again. Great. I need a toilet. Now. So I was like "hey J, I know this is great timing but I need to find a bathroom pronto!" So, we ran up the escalator, through the line, down a hall and found a bathroom. Phew! J said "im gonna warn you now, there will be no toilet paper..."
Excellent.
So I was sick for a bit, and I saw this white arm of one of my friends come under my stall with a HUGE BOX of tissue. praise allah! Apparently a guard or cleaning lady had given it to her, which is not normal. In fact, when I felt good enough to come out, J said "That NEVER happens....and if anyone DOES have tissue, they charge you for it" Also, the lady was no where to be found. We went to the janitor closet she had been in, to give the box back to her, but there was a man there instead, saying that no cleaning lady was there, it was just him. Hm. Weird.
So apparently I had a Toilet Paper Angel sent to me.
Not only that, but I learned that on this trip, things like this are going to happen frequently and we need to not be embarrassed. As a shy person I would normally have been mortified but I made jokes about it the whole way home.
AND, instead of having to walk from the station back to our house, I got to ride one of these babies:
Monday, January 18, 2010
Hey everyone! i am here! (well not in my own country but in training somewhere else)...It is fantastic. I have an overwhelming peace that I cannot understand but i know where it's from! Tee hee...
The weather is gorgeous...the food is fantastic, and the asian people are so cute! The host workers are so inspiring and I want to be like them. I've decided one of my goals while here will be to kill and de-pluck a chicked! (don't worry i'll cook it for you all when I get back to America so you don't miss out)
I don't have much time, but thank you all for thinking of me...Love you all....
Oh! and I have found many street cats to adopt while I miss my own kitty.
Keep checking this....
miss you!
The weather is gorgeous...the food is fantastic, and the asian people are so cute! The host workers are so inspiring and I want to be like them. I've decided one of my goals while here will be to kill and de-pluck a chicked! (don't worry i'll cook it for you all when I get back to America so you don't miss out)
I don't have much time, but thank you all for thinking of me...Love you all....
Oh! and I have found many street cats to adopt while I miss my own kitty.
Keep checking this....
miss you!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Get Ready to Be a Gypsy.
Holy Wow!
I leave in a matter of HOURS! This is just quite fantastic.
I was informed today that I don't even need to pack a hair dryer, because there is not enough power in the area where I will be living to make it work! Ha! This is grand. I won't even be able to pay too much attention to what I look like for the next four months. (I think we could all use a little bit of that)
Also, I managed to fit everything in my suitcase so far and it only weighs 30 lbs (i can take up to 44). I'm planning on giving away most of my things when I come home, and filling my suitcase with Balinese puppets and trinkets to share.
Thursday morning, I will arrive in Detroit at roughly 2:10 in the afternoon, meet up with the gang, catch a flight about an hour later to Japan, have a 5 hour layover, hop on a plane to manila, stay there for a few days, catch a flight to the pac rim, get a shuttle to a hotel for 6 hours, go back to the airport at 5 am, and FINALLY, arrive in my final destination. I'm gonna be SO jetlagged. Can't wait.
I leave in a matter of HOURS! This is just quite fantastic.
I was informed today that I don't even need to pack a hair dryer, because there is not enough power in the area where I will be living to make it work! Ha! This is grand. I won't even be able to pay too much attention to what I look like for the next four months. (I think we could all use a little bit of that)
Also, I managed to fit everything in my suitcase so far and it only weighs 30 lbs (i can take up to 44). I'm planning on giving away most of my things when I come home, and filling my suitcase with Balinese puppets and trinkets to share.
Thursday morning, I will arrive in Detroit at roughly 2:10 in the afternoon, meet up with the gang, catch a flight about an hour later to Japan, have a 5 hour layover, hop on a plane to manila, stay there for a few days, catch a flight to the pac rim, get a shuttle to a hotel for 6 hours, go back to the airport at 5 am, and FINALLY, arrive in my final destination. I'm gonna be SO jetlagged. Can't wait.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A Week Away...
A week from Today, I will be on an airplane. I will meet up with 4 (maybe more) girls who I am determined will grow to be some of my closest friends over the next 4 months...I don't know them yet, besides a few quick email exchanges. But we all share one thing in common, and we are all going to the same place!
I am so excited.
I will miss everyone so much, but am thankful for the support my family and friends have given me. This is really a dream come true, but not only that, it's a command for me and something I am supposed to do and that just makes me excited!
I can tell you right now the biggest "culture shock" I will probably experience is having a lack of communication with people around the world and back home...But it will be good for me. I am taking extra sketchbooks to be inspired by!
I have been waiting for this for about a year,
and now it's coming up so quickly. I can't wait to see all of the things my Dad has been telling me about since I was little. And I can't wait to have my OWN experiences. It will be hard, but it will be worth it.
I am so excited.
I will miss everyone so much, but am thankful for the support my family and friends have given me. This is really a dream come true, but not only that, it's a command for me and something I am supposed to do and that just makes me excited!
I can tell you right now the biggest "culture shock" I will probably experience is having a lack of communication with people around the world and back home...But it will be good for me. I am taking extra sketchbooks to be inspired by!
I have been waiting for this for about a year,
and now it's coming up so quickly. I can't wait to see all of the things my Dad has been telling me about since I was little. And I can't wait to have my OWN experiences. It will be hard, but it will be worth it.
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