Thailand n stuff

So, it's been a while...

I haven't written in a few months. I place complete blame on the fact that my computer cord is broken. I do all my 'blog writing' at home, but without a computer, cannot. So, what have I been up to? I'll take you month by month:

January- I found out in the beginning of January that I would be going to Thailand for a little while. Only 5 days(ish) later, I was on a plane to Bangkok. When talking about Bangkok, where to begin is a constant dilemma for me. I'll just give an overview. I got there not really knowing anything about Bangkok, or Thailand. My hotel was in a very central area, so on the first day/night I simply walked around. I ended meeting a lot of people and learning a little about the city and where I was. My hotel was right next to "lil Arabia", across the street from "sleezy street" and down the way from big fancy malls (these are my own nicknames). I met Saudis in McDonalds and some women in the 'big fancy mall' area... now known to me as the central point for the skytrain (cuz i forget the real name). Anyway, the women that I met were selling jewelry made by women who had been helped out of being trafficked and out of prostiution. Though illegal, prostitution is rampant in Thailand, as most people are well aware. They informed me a little about the city, and of course, my first question was.. "how do I get to the beach?" I wrote down a few places that they'd suggested in and around the city, thinking I'd only be there about a week. The next day, I began my self-guided tours of the city. Bangkok is HUGE and there's sooo much to cover! It was wonderful to be in a place where you really can get by without knowing a single word of the language. People were really helpful, and I wasn't afraid to ask. I felt pretty safe in the city and didn't get nervous walking around at night. Forms of transportation in Bangkok are: taxi, tuk tuk, bus, sky train, river boat, canal boat, and i think there's a subway, though I never saw or used it. Anyway, of course, I headed straight for the river boat. It's crazy how much you miss water when you are sooo far removed from it.

A few days after my arrival in Bangkok, I learned that I'd be there a little longer than intended. To no surprise I'm sure, I B-lined for the Beach. I had met a Peace Corps Kirgestan (sp?) volunteer in the PC office and we headed out together, antsy like two children waiting in line for the bathroom.

Most of the busride, I stared out the window, knowing I wasn't going to be doing a lot of traveling in this trip to Thailand. I watched the scenery and the people go by and stared at everything green (another thing we lack out here). I find that I have completely know sense of direction but I can almost always point in the general direction of the beach, and I ALWAYS know when I'm real close. The girl I was with kept saying she thought we were close and maybe we should get off, I sat tight and simply stated, "i'm not getting off this bus until I see the ocean". As the ocean became visible, I felt all the troubles of work and travel and everything else slightly lift. It's like they were there, but I had MUCH MORE important things on my mind: 1. Get me off this bus 2. where do I get in 3. are we going to make the last farry?

It didn't take long to learn that we had to wait to see if there were going to be enough people for the final farry of the day. I'll tell you what, I was determined to get myself on that Island. I realized I hadn't brought sunglasses to Thailand with me and purchase a huge sunhat instead. We waited, and I starred out into the ocean, my eye on the island in front of us. Just as the sun was getting ready to set, we paid extra money to take a farry across (i didn't mind).

We found a place to stay and kinda parted ways for the next few days, though running into each other for some dinner here and there.

For me, the next few days were absolutely glorious. In Mongolia, I was kinda having a tough time and on my way to using my "mental health" days to take a little breather. The ocean does WONDERS for the mental health! There are very few things sooo physically different from January in the "lower-hungai" (where i live) and the beautiful white sands beaches, warm "cold season" sun, of Koh Samed. I spent the days laying by the beach, eating delicious fruit, swimming, a Thai massage on the beach at sunset, and simply enjoying the free feelings of warmth and no obligations to anyone. I met some people but preferred my time to myself. I was unbelievably sad when my available beach time came to an end and it was time to head back to the BIG city.

I got back and spent the next days running around seeing all the cool sites and monastery's... and of course, riding the river boat wherever I could. The Monastery's were amazing, but after a while they all start to look similar. And I secretly get pissed off when they charge so much for foreigners and nothing for Thai people. I'd be happy to leave a donation for the benefit of your monastery, but since you already forced it out of me, I'm just gonna walk around and people watch til I'm over it and feel like leaving.

I ended up staying in Bangkok for just short of a month and after running around when I first got there, I had time to relax and just enjoy the city afterwards. The rest of my trip was filled with discovering all the different sides of a city of contradictions... and good food! It is interesting how in one city you can have the very poor and the rich Thai people, destinct arabic and african areas, the european expat bars, the sleezy areas, rampant with sex trade and unfortunate females. A place where you can see people selling themselves, either by choice or not, and across the street is full birka-clad women following the men in a train.

As referred by the women I met the first night, I headed to a place called Kousan Road. This ended up being a place that I frequented a few times a week.... and especially on Shabbat! That's right... I SAW JEWISH PEOPLE! haha. I was walking along Kousan watching the hippie paradise going on around me and trying to figure out what gave it that certain vibe... when, to my surprise, I saw a sign in hebrew, "bait chabad" it said. We have chabad house throughout America, but I was not exactly to find it in Bangkok... little did I know they are all over the world! Not knowing really what it was, I walked up and started asking questions. It was funny, the guard was very suspicious of me and it took me a while to convince him that I'm Jewish. Due to my Mongolian learning process, I find that I no longer know any Spanish or Hebrew and honestly could not even put together a sentence in Hebrew. By the end of my trip, it started coming back to me.

Shabbat in Thailand:

I returned to the Chabad house for my first legit shabbat in a LONG TIME. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but somebody had told me to come for shabbat, so I did. I arrived and the place was empty. I found some stairs towards the back. I walked up, into a post-prayers room of eating and talking Jews. It was amazing! There must have been about 400 people there! I sat down in a free seat and had already gotten used to explaining to people, "I don't speak hebrew" ( i need to learn!). It was funny because when people found out that I don't speak hebrew, they immediately assumed that I don't know anything about Judaism, including the American I met. Most of the people were Israeli, with a few other foreigners. After dinner and singing (the same songs we sing at home), I met up with some people I had met earlier in the week and we joined the group for Oneg Shabbat. There was UNLIMITED amounts of food. It was such and interesting feeling to be back in a room full of Israelis. Keep in mind, I was in Israel right before I came to Mongolia. For Oneg Shabbat, we sat and talked and ate for a little while, and then the rabbis started asking people to stand and introduce themself and tell a story, or sing a song. Everyone was speaking in Hebrew, when he looked at me and asked me to speak. My friend told him to wait ask someone else to go, while he explained to me what was going on (something I'm WAY used to). After, I understood that the Rabbi was just asking me to say something, and some of the things others had said, I informed my friend to tell the Rabbi that I wanted to share a story. I can teach any lesson without feeling any amount of nerves, but for some reason, in this situation, as I do when called upon in a class, I get really nearvous. Despite this, I stood up and apologized that I don't know Hebrew and would be speaking in English. Of course, everyone in the room knew English, and were just happy that I was going to share. I introduced myself, explained that I live in Mongolia and celebrate/acknowledge each Jewish holiday on my own. A room full of travellers who make sure to spend every shabbat with either resting, or with Jews, were absolutely shocked. I could hear people saying things about how horrible that was. I continued to describe a tiny bit about life in Mongolia and began telling them the story of when I first discovered this Chabad House: After convincing the guard that I am infact Jewish, and showing him my passport, per his request..... as if there's JEW stamped across the top, I proceeded through the kosher restaurant, immediately engulfed in smells and sounds of Israel. I walked up the stairs towards the back and observed the people around me; reading, chatting, drinking tea, on the internet, sleeping, and calling Israel. I was completely mesmorized by all the hebrew and shocked at how this whole exprience was effecting me. At first, I didn't even want to talk to anyone. I walked towards the back where there is a small synagogue/ study room. I looked at the tallitot strewn about the chairs, books on the tables after an obvious study session, and I peered inside the modest ark with a single Torah resting inside. I sat down in the back of the room, continued to the listen to the bustling hebrew outside the door, and to my absolute surprise... my eyes started to water. I was that moved by the whole scene, how much I've missed the Jewish community, and the fact that I found this in place where I wasn't expecting. Coming to Thailand, I knew there were more likely to be Jewish people in Thailand than Mongolia, but I didn't expect to just run into them.

After sharing this story at Oneg Shabbat, a lot of people approached me telling me what the thought. Some were inspired, others felt bad for me, others were mad at the guard for making me convince him I am Jewish, some had questions about Mongolia or were planning trip to Mongolia, and others simply wanted to speak English. Turned out there was one other person who didn't know hebrew, one canadian, and on American who had made Aliyah. For maybe 5ish hours people sat around, telling stories, talking (and translating), eating, and singing songs. There came a point where I knew that if I was going to come back the next day, I would have to go to bed. Unfortunately, I could not completely keep Shabbat, due to my hotel being far away from this place. I returned the next day in time for lunch, singing, conversation, and prayer. By then, I was familiar with a lot of people from the previous night. After Shabbat, a group of us headed to a World Music Festival that was going on in Bangkok. The following two nights were filled with good company, wonderful music, and good food. I even ate crocodile ribs! And it was delicious.

I can't possibly write about everything I did in Thailand, but let's just say... it was awsome! I really hope to go back one day and see more of the country. While I was there, I met some of the Peace Corps volunteers in the office and learned a little bit of another side of Thailand. I never really considered myself the "lone traveller", but I learned in Thailand that I love it! I met people everywhere I went, and I think that you see things in a different way when you are just wandering around by yourself. Though, there were a few Peace Corps friends who passed through Bangkok while I was there and some people I met in the Airport in Korea on my way back from the states were also there. Some of the coincidences and ways I have met people in the past 2 years is a little bit crazy... just the world working in mysterious ways...