Home stay update

Written 2/22/14

Sorry about the loong silence. I"ve been without internet really since I got to Thailand, and it looks like my access will be between once every week or two. What that means for the blog is that I'll write/prepare blogs in my journal and just type them up when I get my hands on a computer. So I'll probably put up two or three posts at a time. So yeah, I guess there will be periods of silence and then of barrages of posts. Fun!

(Also, don't forget that the group I'm traveling with has a group blog that you can read as well--this blog is written by different members of the group each week and should be updated at least once a week, so keep an eye out for that--there will also be pictures almost certainly).

What have I been up to that has kept me away so long? Well, my dears, let me tell you.

My first few days here, I was in Chaing Mai, getting to know the group of people I will travel with over the next 3 months and wandering the city. The nature of this trip is rather different than what I've one so far this year. I'll spend the next 12 weeks traveling in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam with an awesome group of people my age. So not only am I traveling in a new part of the world whose culture and language and geography is so very different than anywhere I've ever been, I'll bee doing what with constant companionship.

Group travel, isn't necessarily a bad thing--traveling alone can get kinda lonely. and Being in a group such as this means that I get to do a lot more than I'd be able to if I came here without a group: home stays, Thai language lessons, volunteering for some amazing organizations.

After Chiang Mai and after our first two Thai language lessons, we piled into a van and drove 30 minutes out of Chiang Mai to a little town called,  Mae Rim, where we'd do a 2 week home stay with Thai families.

So far, I'm about a week into that time and it's sure been a challenging but wonderful time.

The language barrier has been plenty frustrating. While I can function pretty well in class, it's mostly because we're only asked to talked about things we've learned about, whereas at my home stay, their vocab isn't quite as limited as mine, so when talking with me they use all sorts of words I know know and don't know how to answer.

It's frustrating being reduced to simple sentences. I can only say I'm hungry or I'm not hungry, no "
I'm sort of hungry, but it' really not that big of a deal, so I can definitely wait until we can all eat dinner together." I can hardly tell my host mom what I learned in school that day, only recite m ynew words, but I can't explain that we only practiced or reviewed the words we'd learned in the last few days.

But there have been good moments, many of them, scattered between my hapless communication and I'm-so-sorry-I-don't-understand looks. My host sister, Melody, a nine year old girl whose spirit is as beautiful as she is (and she is really gorgeous). it's been so fun getting to know her--despite my paltry attempt at Thai and her little English. Cheesy as it sounds, I suspect I've gotten a look at what it would be like to have a little sister--although I suspect that real sisters might not braid each other's hair each night. Also, usually I'd think the younger sister looks to the older sister for help, but I definitely rely on Melody to help me out when it comes to things like proper ways to eat a dish that I've never laid eyes on before.

That's a taste of what it's been like over here, the next posts, when I get them up, will give you even more details--about my home stay, the food, and the places I've visited so far.