Candle Ceremony

Hello again, my dear Reader. 
I'm not sure if I've already told you that all schools in Thailand are affiliated with a neighbourhood temple. This stems from a time when monks were the teachers.  I think it is a lovely aspect of the Thai culture.
Friday will mark the beginning of Buddhist Lent here in Thailand. School will be closed on Thursday and Friday. In preparation for the holiday, community members have been preparing candles to present to the monks in the temples. At our school each class has had a turn adding wax to the candle mold. I also saw candle making outside the temple on our trip to Ayutthaya.
This morning I went to school earlier than normal so I could witness the candle ceremony celebrations. The children with special roles were dressed in traditional Thai clothing while the other students had on their school scout uniforms.  Some of my kindergarten cuties had the privilege of riding in the truck with the candle. There were a group of girls doing traditional Thai dance led by the school's dance teacher and a group of students providing the music and song for the march. I was not happy when I realised I had rushed out of the house without my phone to record all of this.  Pitsuda was great about allowing me to use her iPad to take a few photos. She's so kind!
There were also students carrying alms buckets and donation boxes.  Members of the community made donations in the boxes as we paraded through the neighbourhood. My heart raced a few times when some of the older students were playing around as we were walking on the main road. I had visions of preteens being hit by the crazy busy Bangkok traffic but it was all fine (sigh of relief).
We made our way back to the school yard and then in groups the children proceeded to the temple.  Carrying flowers and incense the students and teachers walked slowly around the main hall of the temple three times before going back to school.
It was a beautiful day and I am so grateful to have taken part in this special occasion.

The Problem With Being a Mother Hen

People who place an emphasis on the needs of others, especially in a fussy or overprotective manner, are often referred to as Mother Hens.  At times I've had students who neglect their work because they are too busy helping others. Bless their little hearts for wanting to help their friends!
Now picture it- Thailand 2015. A new group of volunteers enters the CCS Bangkok home base, one of these newbies will be rooming with me, Delainey and Dana. On the first night our new roommate goes out to meet a friend and returns around 3am. We later find out she was lost in a taxi for an hour trying to find her way home.  The next evening one of the other new volunteers informed me that our roommate was sleeping because she had been out so late.  Imagine my surprise when she wasn't even in the room.  Fast forward to bed time and there's still no sign of our roommate. We figured she might be out again so we left a light on for her. 
I am not a great nighttime sleeper. I can sleep like a hibernating bear during the day but I struggle to stay asleep at night. So at 3 o'clock in the morning for the second night in a row you can probably imagine that I was not happy about the fact the newbie's light was still on.  My first feeling was anger that she was being inconsiderate of the others in the room.  After taking a better look at the time I realised it was closer to 4:00am than 3 and that is when my Mother Hen instinct kicked in - what if she was lost? What if she had been hurt and couldn't contact CCS? What if something even scarier had happened? I tried to tell myself that I was overacting and force myself back to sleep.
It was pointless.  If I did drift off to sleep my dreams turned into nightmares of things that could go wrong in a foreign country - thanks to TV shows like Locked Up Abroad and movies like Taken, there is no shortage of story plots in my head. I believe I woke up at every half hour to see if she had gotten back yet.  Around 6:45am I gave up my attempts at getting some sleep and headed downstairs to see if anyone had heard from the Newbie. I asked one of the other volunteers and she was surprised her cohort hadn't returned yet. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it the day staff hadn't arrived yet and I had just missed our nighttime security guard.
Fact: Because the Newbie had left so early she hadn't needed to sign out.  If she had signed out there's no way Sak, our guard,  would have left without her being back in the house.
I went back upstairs to get ready and a few minutes later the Newbie bounded into the room loudly asking me if I could change a 1,000 baht. I felt bad for Delainey being woken like that when I was pretty sure my tossing and turning must have affected her all night. 
I guess all is well that ends well. The Newbie was back safely. Surely that was the important thing.

Confessions of a Shopoholic

My dear Reader, you may have heard of Bangkok's famous weekend market, Chatuchak or Jatujak {can be used interchangeably}. My friend Talia recently travelled to Thailand and raved about the offerings at this particular market.  Of course during my prep for this trip I did some "research" on Pinterest and what I found excited me.  By all reviews it was basically a shopper's dream as long as you are into market style shopping. Now I love a good mall as much as the next shopper but I enjoy the barter experience from time to time as well.  Okay wait, I also love online shopping... maybe it's safe to say I simply love shopping! <-- br="" confession=""><-- br="" confession="">One of the articles I read said the food was equally as impressive as the goods for sale.  So when Heather, Sam and I arrived at Jatujak the first thing I did was purchase the yummiest looking mango and sticky rice I came across. Delicious! You might know that I have a sweet tooth so I don't think that'll count as a confession. 
Next up we located the Clock Tower so we all knew exactly where our meeting point was and made a plan to meet again at a set time.  Heather and I started off together with Sam going his own way - I don't blame him at all! 
About the actual shopping - as promised, this market had a little something for everyone!  I found myself picking things up for people I knew at home based on their taste but had to make myself step away from the goods!  I did not have the space nor funds to buy something for everyone.  I hope what they say is true and it really is the thought that counts. 
I had a few souvenirs that I definitely wanted to get so I had prepared a list to ensure I didn't forget anything. I like to have a list when I'm shopping for specifics and not just browsing. <-- --="" confession="" nbsp="" p="">

So it probably seems like the day was going as well as planned with no surprises, and it was.  Right up to that moment when I came across a school supply stall. {My teacher friends all know what comes next}. The time between stumbling across this lovely little piece of market heaven and the approaching meeting time was spent looking through the beautiful display sets and trying to narrow down a reasonable amount of items to take home.  I had to factor in the cost of many items which are inexpensive on their own but quickly add up when purchased together.  I also needed to think of the space they would take up in my luggage.  It was a struggle! I should confess that I had packed an extra duffle bag in the event that something like this happened. <-- a="" confession="" former="" girl="" guide="" i="" is="">always

prepared!<-- a="" always="" confession="" former="" girl="" guide="" is="" p="" prepared="">

Finally I made my purchase and headed out to meet the others.  We found a nice, air conditioned restaurant and had lunch before continuing our shopping. Sam had finished his shopping but he was a great sport about hanging out with the girls a little bit longer.  Since both Heather and Sam had completed their shopping I decided to stay behind for some solo shopping. I don't enjoy feeling like other people are waiting for me and even though they would have browsed with me I didn't want to make Heather and Sam wait on my account. 
I would tell you more about my purchases but this is more about the experience not the final result!
Verdict: Should you ever find yourself in Bangkok on a weekend, make sure you go to the Chatuchak Weekend Market - be prepared to be pleasantly overwhelmed by the amount of vendors and variety of goods and food, then get ready to shop till you drop! Happy Shopping!

The Day We Weren't The Early Bird

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

This weekend I decided to hang out in the Bangkok area and take it easy. I turned off my alarm and slept in relatively late.  Ada, Heather, Sam and I ventured out to a floating market. We skipped the well-known tourist attraction and visited one a little further out that was typically visited by locals.  It seemed like a good idea at the time. 
Our taxi driver wasn't sure exactly where to go, which meant we didn't use any short cuts and became victims of the Bangkok weekend traffic.  The drive seemed to take forever. When we arrived at our destination we were a little surprised to see that only a few floating vendors were on the water.  We signed up for the next longboat and wandered around for a few minutes. Later we found out that we had arrived too late to really see the market in full action.
Unaware of this little fact we boarded our longboat prepared to take in the sights of the floating market.  It did not take long to realise that we would only be experiencing a river ride, but all in all it was an enjoyable experience. Well, minus the splashing catfish!  The catfish were huge. People fed them with the provided bread sparking a feeding frenzy causing splashing of murky river over the sides of the longboat.  Heather and Ada thought my reaction to the water was amusing to watch.  It probably was a funny sight since I can tell you I was not a fan of the water!
Following our tour we had a look around the market stalls back on land.  After a few snacks we headed back to the house.  Although we didn't have the full floating market experience I enjoyed our little group outing.

The First Farewell

Today marked the first official farewell of the trip.  We unfortunately had two volunteers leave a week earlier due to unforeseen circumstances. Today was the last day for my roommate, Allison, and travel companion, Amanda. In the morning they'll be flying back to the States.
I'm glad our paths crossed and Allison has already pencilled in Bermuda on her places to go list!  I look forward to our reunion.
When in Bangkok, there's no better way to end things on a high note than by going to a rooftop restaurant. We enjoyed our night out at a lovely place called "Octave". Sometimes I forget that Bangkok is such a big city but looking out over the city lights tonight makes me think this must be the biggest city I've ever been to in all my journeys. I guess I'll have to check out the statistics and get back to you on that!

Allison S., Allison G (Roomy), Me, Amanda and Heather

Today we visited the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya, the former capital back when the Kingdom of Thailand was known as Siam or the Siamese Kingdom.  It was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in December 1991.  Our tour guide for today was a very warm, cheery and knowledgeable man named TicTac, I promise you I did not make that up, my creativity isn't that good! According to the video TicTac showed us in the museum there are a few things you should do in Ayutthaya.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• Maha Ut Chapel
• Take in the many Buddha images and paintings
• Visit the Reclining Buddha 
• Admire the Royal monuments, ancient palaces and architecture
• Visit any of the various museums, including the Bang Sai Arts and Crafts Museum
• Explore the history of the foreign settlements
• Browse Ayutthaya's markets
• Cruise around Muang Islet
• Take your choice of tour by elephant*, bicycle, tram car, tuk-tuk or rickshaw
• Enjoy a Thai meal at a riverside restaurant

Despite the intense heat, I enjoyed our day in Ayutthaya.  The highlight of my trip was seeing the Buddha head surrounded by Bodhi tree roots.  I had seen photos before coming to Thailand and it was amazing to see in person.  It didn't look exactly like I expected and when reviewing my photos from today I realised it reminded me of a particular Disney movie.  I wished I had noticed before so I could have posed more appropriately 555. I hope you enjoy my photos from today. 

How good is your Disney knowledge?

* I would not endorse the elephant tours.  While I would like to spend all of my time with the lovely ellies, these ones are made to wear harnesses which makes me sad. 

Students visiting a temple at Ayutthaya

My second Reclining Buddha of this trip

Head of a ruined sandstone Buddha image surrounded by tree roots over the years

Feelin' hot, hot, hot!

I do believe I've mentioned the heat prior to this post, but this post is not about the infamous Bangkok heat. This post is actually to say thank you to my darling not-so-little cousin, Brittany.  You might be wondering why she gets a special thank you post and I'll quickly get to the point.  Back in May, Brittany and I took part in the cancer fundraiser, Relay for Life.  At this event a local cellular company was selling handy hot weather items like fans, cell phone carry cases and flip flops.  The fan reminded me of an updated version of something my Grandma would have used in church before the air-conditioning was installed. I wasn't completely convinced I needed it though, I was pretty sure I needed all of my money for the cake pops that were being sold at another tent! My stomach almost always gets priority. :-) 
Back to the matter at hand, Brittany decided to buy me a fan seeing as I would be travelling to a very hot country during the summer. 

Pop-up Fan from Brittany

THANKS, BRE!!!
I've carried my fan almost daily and I have almost always regretted it whenever I haven't.  It folds up to a size that conveniently tucks into the pocket of my bag and produces a pretty refreshing breeze when needed.  I am glad that Brittany had the foresight to provide me with such a handy gift. 

This is my "I'm so over this heat" face