Sunday, November 12, 2006
Update #6: From one developing country to the next!
Hola, from bright and sunny Mexico, right?! ACTUALLY, it's not bright and not in the least bit sunny, which is just about the most depressing fact there is. I thought I was coming to the tropics; instead I'm living in an ugly, gray wasteland of a city. The weather, however, even despite the sun's absence, is pretty amazing (perfect 70s warm during the day, and great cool sleeping weather by night), and I keep forgetting that it is the middle of November and that I'm pushing on my fifth month in DF! Time has certainly flown!
This update is extraordinarily late in coming, so I am going to be brief in some aspects. Since my return from beautiful Thailand, I have been running around like a crazy girl trying to keep up with work and figure out my future…
At IMIFAP, I have been doing the work I was hired to do, and, as a result, life has been just fantastic! Go figure, right?! Our president has officially dubbed me the "fábrica de propuestas" (the "proposal factory"), which is pretty darn accurate. In the past month, I have produced more proposals than I did in the previous three, and I am really getting the hang of the process! I just finished up a microenterprise proposal for the Interamerican Development Bank (which was a pain, but it's in!), and also submitted a proposal to UBS for a program using sport as a free-time activity for the prevention of substance use and violence among young people. I submitted another to the Kellogg Foundation for a program teaching life skills and health knowledge to women in Guatemala and Honduras, and have three others (Jacobs Foundation, Televisa – Mexico tv network, and Casas Geo – Mexican lower middle-class housing business in progress), awaiting responses from various individuals. Needless to say, I've been busy! Right now, since I am waiting on others, I am writing an article about one of our programs for submission to psychology journals. The work is stimulating, and I actually love my job despite its stresses and deadlines. I have a rare luxury, I suppose.
As for my life over the past month and a half: I've been to Thailand and back, to Puebla and Cholula and back, and to a birthday party for 10-year-olds, which was my most authentic experience yet! I will give you the highlights of each…
Thailand
Thailand was amazing. I am so happy that I sucked it up and spent the big bucks to get over there. Truly, the only costs incurred were for the flight, because, once in Thailand, Pier and I lived on about 20 dollars a day! Thank goodness for the Asian debt crisis!???… Ok, maybe not a funny joke. ANYWAYS, needless to say, I was thrilled to see Pier, and the moment I arrived in the week-old, brand spanking new Bangkok airport (and he actually found me), we were boarding another flight to the famous Thai beaches! Pier wanted me on the beach the night I arrived, and, besides, what was another 45 minutes in the air after 36 hours in the air?! Just another bump, and I finally had good company! I was in a haze for about the first 3 days of our trip, from crazy jetlag and pure excitement, but it was well worth it.
We first landed on Koh Samui, the biggest island of the three that we visited, and stayed on Big Buddha beach. My shower that night (the first in three days, I might add) was a swim in the Gulf of Thailand, and it was so refreshing after three months of being land-locked in the city. We didn't stay long on this first island, however, and, after one night, we boarded a boat to our second island, Ko Pah Ngan, and some how managed to stumble upon the most adorable hippie-European Bamboo Huts, which were bungalows built on the rocks overlooking the sea. I was pretty much in heaven, and then we discovered the Bamboo Huts restaurant that went with our "resort." I dined on cashew chicken and pad thai and sweet and sour chicken done right, and washed them down with cold banana shakes, which have since become a staple in my diet! I don't know how I didn't gain a million pounds on the trip because seriously our days consisted of the following: wake up with the sun, eat, lay on the beach, eat, return to lay on the beach, eat, go to bed with the sun. Heaven. I must say that the Bamboo Huts just might have been my favorite place because of the wonderful staff, all of whom were just so personable and interested in getting to know us, and the laid-back hippie-atmosphere, complete with topless sunbathing (although only Pier chose to participate in that;) and sitting on the floor to eat all of our meals (amazingly taboo and wonderful). We even had a pet cat while we were there, named Lolita, who somehow managed to weasel her way into our bungalow to hang out!
So we bummed at the Bamboo huts for two nights, then moved on to another beach on the same island, Hat Sadet. We did a fruitless hike to a waterfall here, which was very sad, because after a rough and treacherous hike, the only waterfall we found was pretty lame. Oh well. We ran back to the beach, and cooled off afterwards. We stayed in the Silver Cliff Bungalows, which truly lived up to its name: we stayed in a beautiful, big bungalow on the cliffs overlooking the beach! Beau-ti-ful! But just getting to our bungalow was a challenge, so we moved on to our final island after just one night's stay. We went to Koh Tao, the smallest of the three islands, also known to tourists for its spectacular diving and scuba prospects. We stayed on Freedom Beach for our first night, and, after ants infested my bag - and Pier's peanut butter (which, he continue to eat, I might add), we moved on! Freedom Beach was pretty, and we even got in a day of kayaking (which made Pier soooo happy to be back in his element for even just 2 hours, despite my complaining for just about the entire trip), but the beach itself was just awful for swimming, which was not good for this girl! (Can you believe that after our kayaking trip, Pier said that I did nothing to help?! Well, I was appalled to receive the news, and I protested, citing the pain in my (stick-skinny and atrophied) arms and back as evidence in protest.)
So we moved on to Aow Leuk, just around the corner of the island, which I feel safe in saying was the prettiest beach we visited. Getting there, was another story. We took a "taxi" (aka, sat in the back of a pickup truck) to the top of a road, and they told us "we'll see ya" (just like Kitsie!) and dropped us there and left for a hefty price. Little did we know that there was a mile-long unpaved dirt road lined with boulders (ok, maybe just rocks) waiting for us before we could get to the beach. So just imagine me with my little, snobby roller suitcase, loaded down with bottled water, trying to get down the rocky, uneven hill. All Pier did was laugh and take pictures of me stumbling along. I mean, he was carrying the weight of my load, plus one of me on his back, too, but I guess the humor was enough to get him through it! As it turns out, the trek was worth it. The beach was isolated and beautiful, and it was one of the best spots for scuba/snorkeling in the whole of the Thai beaches (at least that's my guess, after pretty much every big name diving company brought their students there to scuba). Not wanting to shell out the big bucks (because you know how rich I am), Pier and I opted to snorkel rather than scuba, which, I'd imagine, was just as awesome, since the waters are crystal clear, and there's absolutely no need to dive down deep to see everything that we saw! I think my favorite moment was when Pier decided he needed a swim cap to prevent his head from burning, so he wore my Princeton swim cap that I'd packed along with his snorkel-wear, and looked like a champ. I just love nerds:)
So after two nights at Aow Leuk, it was pretty obvious that I was sick of being dirty and sandy and wet and ant-infested (by the way, we had a giant tarantula-like spider in our shower, which reminded me so much of the DR, Andrea! Although, I think Andrea's attempts to save me was much more exciting than Pier's!), so we went to the "big," touristy beach, which turned out not to be busy at all since we were there during low season. Well, we stayed about a 15 minute walk from the beach to avoid high touristy prices and to avoid the tourist feel, and were the only people staying at this resort overlooking the sea. The family that owned the place took great care of us, delivered us delicious food, and it was so quiet and peaceful that it is my new happy place! Because no one else was there (they all wanted to be right on the beach), we got the biggest and most beautiful bungalow for pennies, and it was so nice and clean, and I was happy!
Sadly, that was our last night on the beach before returning to Bangkok for my inevitable return home. So we took an overnight bus back to the city, where I had another cultural experience. I stood out again, since we're re-entered "real" Thailand, but, luckily the 6'4" man to my side absorbed much of the attention! That, and Asians, like Mexicans, will stare, but will stop once they see that you actually notice--very much UNlike Mexicans! We made the most of our one full day in Bangkok, and did what is a must for every visitor – went to the Grand Palace, which is a collection of colorful and just spectacular Buddhist temples and relics. I was appalled, however, by the discrimination. Thais didn't have to pay a cent, and there were special charges for "foreigners" only. Even worse, they had a special shoe rack for "us," I guess since my shoes might contaminate the Thais' shoes? Right. Anyways, Pier and I rebelled and put our shoes on the Thai rack. I mean, were they going to throw us in jail? And, besides, Pier is half Thai now. So that was amusing. We saw the mural of the birth of Buddha, and the famous Emerald Buddha towards which you'd best not point your feet while you are sitting a meditating, or something bad might happen! It was most definitely a new experience! I loved it (minus my utter and complete bitterness towards Thais and their discrimination now)!
Then I had to return to Mexico, and I was pretty darn sad. The trip home was so much easier than the trip there, so that was the only positive. But I hit the ground running once I landed back in Mexico at midnight, and went to work the next day, battling the intense jetlag and trying to catch up (which wasn't bad actually since I'd prepared!)…
So that was Thailand. It was a happy adventure, and I am so pleased I went, especially since I don't know when I'll return next, if ever. All I do know is that everything worked out in putting me in Latin America. I like being able to speak the language (Pier's Thai, by the way, is excellent, considering he'd only been there for 3 months), knowing the culture (at least a little better), and being closer to the States than a 24+ hour plane ride. I guess everything does always work out…
So I've reneged on my promise for brevity, so I am going to save the stories about Cholula, Puebla, and the birthday party for my next installment. Mamaschaff and my daddy will come next Saturday (yay!) for a Thanksgiving week visit to Mexico, which I'm sooooo excited about! I will take them to Cholula and Puebla (because my first visit was great), and I want my mom to see something that she has not already seen! We'll also do the typical things you do here in DF, which you all know about from my previous installments!
Until next time...
Abrazos y besitos!
