Monday, May 28, 2007
11:42:31 PM

Today was an awesome CI day. This morning, after some honey eggs and nutella on bread, my host dad and I set off for my school for the day. On the way, we found Jeremy in a Tuk Tuk, pulled over to the side of the road asking for directions, we just waved them to follow us. Upon arrival, Jeremy and deduced that we still had a fair amount of time to kill, so we walked to a store we had passed on our way in to get our fixes; he bought some cigarettes and I bought some more minutes for my phone so I could text Miranda seeing as its the only line of communication that we have at the moment. Anyhow, soon after all 10 of us were ready to start our CI. Our energetic contact person at this school, Billy, got us all excited and pointed in the right direction. Our CI has 10 UWP people. In the morning each morning, 4 of us go with him to a school to teach English to the students. The rest of us stay here and play games with the children, sing songs, and also teach some basic English (abc, 123, ect). I was in a classroom with Wouter, from the Netherlands. We also did some clay modeling with the kids after we taught some numbers and letters and “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” to help them learn Time. We eat lunch with the children, usually something spicy, served always with rice. In the afternoon, we all worked outside on a new project filling and stacking sandbags in order to hold back a swamp so that a cement retaining wall can be build so a terraced garden can be built to teach the kids about agriculture and to help reduce the costs by growing their own food. It was very hot and sticky work outside in the bright sun; on the plus side, I’m getting a great tan and finally some exercise .
In the Evening, back with my host mom, we had some some sticky rice and fried chicken liver on a stick. Afterwards, I went to my host mom’s cousin’s house to use the internet it was really slow but I got my post up. Later on, when my host brother returned from school, we walked to the market to buy some bread. I also got to try the original Thailand “Red Bull” drink. Also, for some reason or another, the people at my CI site have taken to calling me “Bull”


My CI Crew
Wouter Teaches ABC's
Students' clay art
Rice For Lunch!

The Construction project blueprints

Sandbagging to build a retaining wall










Supper With my Host Family

Thai Red Bull; the original.


Dew, my host brother, and Greg's Host brother.

Sunday, May 27, 2007
11:34:20 PM

Today was a crazy day! This mornig my host dad drove me to our facility again after a breakfast of eggs and honey. We all loaded into vans (9 total) and drove up into the mountains for about an hour. First, we got to go river rafting. Now, when I say rafting, I mean rafting in the true sense of the word, not some inflatable dingy, while we were getting ready, they were lashing together long bamboo poles with cut up bicycle tires in order to make our rafts. I got to stand (or at least try to) at the back of our raft with a long bamboo pole to help our guide navigate down the river. The hardest part was keeping balanced because the poles were only lashed together, I eventually got the hang of it and it was quite fun. At the end, I even got to go over a small water falls with just me and the guide an I didn’t even fall off.
Next, we all loaded back into the vans and drove out to where there were elephants. Yes, I rode an elephant today!, those animal are huge! The one I was on with Jorge and Simi quite liked to eat bananas and bamboo. They are actually quite versatile animals, the ultimate all terrain vehicle. Afterwards, we drove to a village for lunch, lots of rice and fruit. Continuing on, we headed out further into nowhere in search of some waterfalls. All around the landscape was what I had really expected it to be, with lots and lots of hillsides covered with terraced rice patties. After some more driving and about a half hour walk we arrive at the waterfalls, lots of people went swimming. All the way back pretty much everyone in my van slept as the guides and driver on the front watched Karaoke on a screen they had. My host brother was waiting for me when we arrived back. He, myself and Ryan and his host sister went to the mall for supper where I got to try some more traditional Thai food. It was quite a nice mall, there were many shops including Dairy Queen, food is so cheap so I had a blizzard, it was quite the same as in Canada, except here they add whipped cream on top. It was all good.

Unfortunately, the internet seems to not be working anymore so we’ll update as we can.


Gabby, ready for his Safari
Doi Satem Mountain
Khan, our guide
Literally building our rafts






Jorge and I ride the elephants!







They really like bananas!