Hug a Teacher

I've just finished doing a lesson plan for next week's English classes. That's right, I'll be spending 10 hours next week teaching 11-12 year olds, who speak very little english, about greetings and basic conversation skills. Aside from being a bit daunting, it should be an amazing experience. Writing lessons is excruciating, but hopefully I'll be able to teach the students a few things they can use. I'll also be working with a Thai organization called the King's Project. They do tree planting and other conservation work, so I'll be in the jungle most of the day. I thought we'd be tree planting, but apparently the guys get to the more manual labour that will probably require brush clearing. Good times. I thoroughly expect to drop several pounds, return with calloused hands and hopefully a little better Thai vocabulary. I'm really excited and it should be a great week. Even the lack of hot water and the sleeping on the floor shouldn't take away from the incredibly unique experience.

I'll take heaps of photos and hopefully have them up when I'm back to the hard-wired world next week. I'll be back in Chiang Mai next Sunday and then it's off to Laos on Monday night. Until then...take care.

Stoked

Beginning on Monday morning, any feelings of being a tourist in a foreign land will be quickly dashed. Next week all the interns will be immersed in Thai culture, every hour of the day for the whole week. I don't feel like a tourist in Chiang Mai, but living, eating, working and sleeping like a Thai will completely erase any "farang-ness" that still exists. All interns will be teaching english for about 2 hours a day, and all interns will be working the jobs that the host families with whom they are staying work. I unfortunately am not with a family for the week, but that was made of for, at least with me, by my placement. I will be spending the week working at the King's Project about 25km outside of Chiang Mai at the foot of the mountains.

As the name implies, the King of Thailand started the project to help replenish trees int he forest, decrease carbon output and help renew the local watershed. In addition to spending my days planting trees in the mountains, I'll help build firebreaks to aid in stopping wildfires. In addition, I will be teaching english to about 20 11-12 year olds with a guy named Sam, who goes to school in NYC and is from NC. I am really excited about the placement and can't wait to get dirty. I'll spend the week sleeping on the floor with the others who have been placed at the King's Project, and will enjoy no hot water. I can't wait!

Thanks for taking the time to read the blog. I really do appreciate it. I want you to know what I'm doing, but I just realized that as much as I'm doing the blog for that reason, I really want to make sure that I'm educating you. I've been here and have been somewhat stunned about the way some things are. Regardless of your level of knowledge about developing countries, I know that in reading this you have learned something new. Much like I'm doing here, if you learned something new tell someone else about it. Tell you friends, tell your co-workers or your professor. My awareness of these issues has been greatly heightened, and I hope that yours has as well.

It's early in the morning, and I need to run to bed. If you have any questions, just ask me.

Still Here

I now realize the importance of a routine. I was trying to keep updating this thing regularly, but a few long days left me without the desire to update at the end of the day. Of course, now there are things I wanted to talk about that have become somewhat blurry over the past week. Hopefully this post will cover most of what I've done over the past several days.

Today marks my first full week over here and I have already learned so much. Tons of info about the human rights concerns that exist in the region as well as more than I ever thought I would have learned about teaching english and law.

Last week we heard from a local partner organization that works with male sex workers. The group, M Plus, is working to provide more rights for these men as well as help them understand the consequences of HIV and the spread of HIV and AIDS. Many of the men who work in the sex trade are migrants from the surrounding villages in northern Thailand and don't believe they can contract HIV from having unprotected with another man because they are not gay. The men who do consider themselves gay are subjected to much discrimination. There are also many men in Thailand who consider themselves transgender and dress and act as women. A man who is transgender spoke to us about a diversity parade that was planned to take place in Chiang Mai, but was stopped by local officials. I don't care what you think about lifestyle choices, but hearing this man speak of the bigotry he was subjected to because of being himself was quite troubling. There is no way someone would continue to choose this lifestyle in the face of hatred if it was as simple as a choice that had to be made each morning. Hearing M Plus' presentation was really moving and really made me think. Instead of trying to eradicate homosexuality, something that unfortunately some people think is a possibility, M Plus is working to educate these men and make their working conditions safe so that the risk is HIV infection is kept to a minimum.

We also watched a video that was shot very recently in Phnomh Penh, Cambodia as the government and a development company bulldozed a community in the center of the city. The people there lived in very modest homes, and are quite poor. The company wanted to develop hire rises in the area, and the neighborhood had to go. The company did offer some compensation by moving the families to very meager home about 30km outside of the city. They did not offer anything to people who were renting. Some of the people in the community had lived there for almost 80 years. This was also quite moving as the video was presented by one of the BABSEA staff who is Cambodian and was there the day the demolition occurred. The community tried to stop the destruction via legal channels, but lost their case.

In many of these countries there are laws and regulations that pass the international test for fair and democratic, but in practice the laws are not always honoured.



Last week was not all moving testimonials. We continued with Thai lessons, went shopping at the food market and tried our hand at Thai cooking. Naturally, I was quite adept at the stir frying part. We also hiked up to Wat Doh Suthep, which was draining in the heat, but a great way to spend Sunday morning. Sunday night was spent at the amazing night market in Chiang Mai, followed by a brief stop at Wat Chedi Luang to view the Flower Party. We had one of the Thai BABSEA workers with us, and she walked us through purchasing flowers which were then laid by the Buddha. The party is ask Buddha for a good rainy season. After the skies looked heavy with rain the past few days, but no rain fell, we thought we might have jinxed the offering. But, today we had a very nice shower.


I've worked into a really great groups of folks who come from London, Canada, California and Russia. Naturally, I found a jazz club for us all to go to the other night. Before the club, we stopped in for a bite to eat at the restaurant next door. The food was great, and better yet they had an amazing CD collection. After inviting me to take a closer look, I was offered the role of DJ and proceeded to get the party going. It was heaps of fun and the Thais who stopped in seemed to enjoy the farang DJ. The jazz club afterwards was also really fun. So, it has not been all work.

Later on tonight, I find out where I will be placed for the immersion work, which begins on Monday. I'll have a week of living and working with Thais. It should be quite interesting. I'll fill you in on the details, and hopefully will have many stories to tell at the end of what will be a long week.

Attached are some photos from Doh Suthep, another wat we passed on the hike to Suthep and the from the rooftop of my hotel. Suprisingly, I've not really taken many photos. More to come, I promise.

Marching Orders

This afternoon I found out who I will be working with in Laos. There are about 14 interns headed to Laos working with about 4 groups. I will be working with CARE, along with another intern, who is from Georgia State. CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. They place special focus on working alongside poor women. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives. CARE's main goals in Laos are rural development – training people with the skills and tools they need to find long-term work and to look after their land; running reproductive health schemes to ensure that men and women understand major health issues such as HIV and AIDS; and preventing the spread of bird flu by educating people about the risks and how to prevent it. Specifically, Melissa, the other intern, and I have been told that we will be working with female sex workers and female factory workers. The group does not have much of a legal arm, but BABSEA is encouraging us to help encourage a legal tie-in with the great statistics CARE compiles. We were told that because CARE is a very large NGO, and very visible, the government keeps a close eye on what they are doing surveying factory workers or sex workers. So, the interns, always getting the plush jobs, go in to these arenas and, posing as tourists, run surveys. Laos supposedly has legal equality between men and women, but in practice this is often not the case. They survey's are meant to help close this gap.

For those of you who know me, would probably have never of guessed I'd be running covert ops with Lao sex workers or factory workers, but I'm really excited about my placement. I've never really thought hard about women's issues, but I'll be seeing them up close day to day starting in a few weeks. Each day I am realizing more and more how this summer will have a huge impact on my life and how I think about the law's power and the gross inequities that exist, and are allowed to exist, in nation's that the West considers democratic.

No pictures yet, but on Sunday we are doing a hike, so there should be some shots coming soon. We've been in training most of the day, so not a lot of time to indulge in my shutterbug urges. I've been in Thailand for 3 days, and haven't even been in a wat (temple) yet. This is almost impossible to do here.

Below is a link to CARE's website if you're interesting in more information. I hope this finds you well.

CARE International

Ahhh

I had my first night in bed since Sunday last night, and it was great. The bed was a little hard, but very welcomed. Today was my first full day here, and it was great. We're doing workshop/orientation stuff for the rest of this week and into next week, but I am learning a bunch.

Fortunately my knowledge on torts or contracts has not been required yet, but we've been learning how to write lesson plans and then putting plans together that will be used by interns staying in Thailand. We've also had a few Thai language classes and classes on how to teach English as a second language. Not what I saw myself doing, but very interesting.

After admitting to another intern that I was still a bit foggy on what it was we would be doing, I was reassured when she wasn't exactly sure either. But, from what we've gathered, we will be teaching some english as well as teaching classes on substantive law in and around the towns we'll be living in. I never saw myself teaching anything, partially because my attempts at teaching a friend to ski resulted in tears, but I'm excited to teach and empower my future students.

I know that there are many weeks ahead, but I have already been reminded of how much we take for granted in the States about what people know about the law and their rights. Not that there aren't many shortcomings and examples of gross lack of knowledge in some places of the States, but many of these people literally have no idea that they have any rights. The countries in Southeast Asia are ruled with security as priority number one. This very often means that the actions taken by police are never questioned. As a result, the populace is left doing what they are told, regardless of whether rights are being trampled on. For example, several years ago the Thai government waged a war on drugs which consisted of police finding suspected drug dealers/users and killing them. Effective policy, but in complete disregard to any form of due process or human rights.

Anyways, all that is to say that I am really excited about the work we will be doing throughout Southeast Asia. Human, political or legal rights should not be reserved for only the well-off or the well-connected, and I'm really honored to have the chance to play a part in ensuring that the poor and marginalized know the rights they have.

I'm writing this from the roof of my hotel, looking out over the mountains that are the backdrop to Chiang Mai, enjoying a Chang and looking forward to a night out. I hope this finds you in good spirits as well.

Cheers!

Arrived in Chiang Mai

Sawadee kap!

After travel which began at 11am on the 18th in Augusta, with stops in Tokyo and a night at the Bangkok Airport, I finally made it to Chiang Mai at roughly 10:30am EST on the 19th. It's about 11am on the 20th here, and already quite warm. I'm settled in my hotel, which will be my home for the next few weeks. I have a Thai cell phone that probably has some crazy ringtone. I checked out the BABSEA and dropped by where our workshops will be over the next few weeks, but have not met any of the other interns and only a few of the staff. I'll join up with them at lunch and dive in to the afternoon session, which will be discussing HIV/AIDS. I'm thinking I'll dominate that talk with my in depth knowledge of the Feres doctrine and Parker test. Thank you Prof. Ritchie, making me look good halfway around the world. I can't believe that's the first topic I'll sit in on. I thought all the substantive law I learned in legal writing could be stowed away for the time being.

Anyways, there are some fun activities in the coming days including yoga at 6:45, a hike in the mountains and a trip to market to pick out ingredients for Thai meals that we'll cook. So, hopefully some of the posts in the coming days will be more interesting and include some photos. Now, time for my first shower in several days and a bit of a nap.

Laa kàwn.

the charlie saga continues

My brother, bless his heart, had the wonderful job this afternoon of dropping charlie off at his summer home in Thomson, GA. For those not familiar with the story of Charlie, he's a dog that my friends and I found outside a bar in Macon. The intention was to keep him for the weekend until I could transport him to the humane society. Well, that never happened and now he's grown on us. Mark posted this comment, but it was too good to risk being overlooked.

Boy have I got a good one for you. (From the top as the story was told to an outside observer).

We are waiting and waiting as finals approach and as we are getting through them hoping that we will find someone to board charlie. One of dads nurses knows a vet who recommended this girl who boards and trains them. Eureka, right? Not so much. I take Charlie out there yesterday after Davis left. When we get there he is fine with their dog (a plus). But then here comes the cat. The cat, clearly opposed to Charlie, hisses at Charlie most definitely getting his attention. Charlie jumps back unsure of where to go. The cat, meanwhile, decides that anything in Charlie's proximity is fair game and decides to take on an easier target and latching onto my right calf. Before I knew what was going on, I had cat embedded in my leg. So i jump and pull charlie with me trying to get away from the cat while at the same time trying not to be too frantic. After all, I don't want him or this girl to react adversely to the situation and escalate it. So I move about six or eight feet from my car under which this puffed up feline is hiding, hissing, and growling. When i turn my back to the cat to take charlie inside his summer home, the indignant cat lunges at me a second time, and ike a gray lighting bolt this cat is once again attached to my leg and going for blood.
While the girl subdues the cat, mild panic sets in that I will have to endure this a third time, so I rush Charlie inside. This is all fine for a little while until Charlie realizes there are deer heads on the wall and a stuffed turkey within reach. Needless to say, he climbed on anything and everything to get to them to the point that the girl had to put the turkey in a closet to keep him from eating it or mating with it. All seemed well at this point and Charlie finally seemed to be calming down when I heard the worst part. The girl says, "Man, my daddy's gonna kill me! He still dudn't know I'm keepin this dawg for the summer." That's when it hits me. Not only is she certainly no dog trainer, but she is just as certainly not a dog boarder. So Charlie and I both start to hesitate about whether he will be summering in Thomson, GA or not. I am trying to claim him some territory by telling her that he is normally calm, well mannered, and truly a pleasure to have around.. He, on the other hand, tries to claim some territory by lifting his leg in salute to not one but two of their sofas. The house of cards fell at that point. Charlie was going to spend no more time in Thomson than I was at that point. Charlie's evil plan worked. So as we drove away, the entire half hour ride back, Charlie sat in the back seat, his back turned to me facing out the rear wincow, barking the whole way home. He could not have been more pleased, and it was hard to stay mad at him seeing him that happy.

Swine Flu Test - PASSED

After receiving my yellow paper that certified I was fever free and had no swine flu symptoms, I was able to make it through Japanese customs. I successfully suppressed every cough or sneeze that crept up for fear I would be placed in bubble and made to stay in Japan for a week. In Thailand, I had to walk through a checkpoint where a thermal scanner was aimed at me before going through customs. I think the last time I saw this many surgical masks was when I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy. They were even handing them out on the airplane. It was obvious on the flight from Atlanta to Tokyo that fears of swine flu have affected traffic. There were whole rows open on the 747 and many empty seats in business class. Much to my disappointment, they did not need anyone to fill that void.

So, after many hours on planes, I am in the Bangkok airport for the night awaiting my flight in the morning to Chiang Mai, where I will begin the internship. This marks the third time I've slept in this airport. At least it's quiet tonight.

Just landed in Tokyo and the plane was met by a quarantine team checking for swine flu. They walked through the cabin with a visual thermal scanner checking for fevers and wore the requisite X-Files type gear. A warm welcome to Japan.