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.