Projects, Piercings and Ping Pong...oh my!

I have definitely had quite the hectic month, to say the least. I just got back yesterday from spending a week in Bangkok for a conference, committee meeting and general fun. I'm pretty sure my body hates me and I am absolutely exhausted.

The conference was from Tuesday to Friday were the CEC group and the HIV group teamed up to throw a conference for the local counterparts who are living with AIDS. The point of the conference was to teach these counterparts about basic business skills, for example basic accounting and marketing principles. We had games and activities each day incorporating these skills so they could have fun, hands-on experience working with these skills. We also had two Thai guestspeakers come and teach about business as well. Most of the conference was done in Thai, which was to directly target the counterparts, and in turn was slightly boring for the volunteers since we could only understand a sentence or two every now and then. There were a total of 7 groups at the conference and each group had one volunteer and two Thai counterparts from their sites.

This conference was held in Bangkok, which always means fun and craziness for the volunteers. On Wednesday night, one of my friends from the states was in town with her friend becuase they were beginning a 1.5 month tour around Southeast Asia. We met up for dinner and drinks, which was conveniently at a place with free margaritas for ladies from 6-8pm. Two other volunteers came as well and by the time it was 8pm, we were all feeling pretty good. After this, we decided to go to experience one of the many things that Thailand is known for, a ping pong show. These shows are all over Bangkok every night of the week. Thankfully we had just fully appreciated the free margaritas because this show as a little much to handle. To put it as politely as possible, they involve Thai women dancing on stage and doing tricks which involve various objects and their lady parts. The name of the show is a "Ping Pong Show." so take what you will from that. After that we walked around Bangkok a little and then I headed back to my hotel around 2 or 3 in the morning. The following day I had to lead a session that dealt with accounting, which I'm sure you can guess was a little interesting after the crazy night I had before. The session luckily went really well and then I spent the rest of the day recovering.

The conference ended on Friday, which was also the day that all the other volunteers got into Bangkok. There were probably about 15 volunteers that went out that night, on Friday. We went to a new bar on Kao San road call "The Club." We basically just hung out and danced all night until 4 am. Bars in Bangkok do not close at 2am like they do in America. Kao San road is where you find most of the foreigners who are in Bangkok. It is lined with bars, restaurants and guesthouses and pretty much open 24 hours. There are also venders all along the road that sell various goods, from arts and crafts to clothes and delicious thai food. So around 4 am when we left the club, we decided to get a late night snack, which for me, involved a delicious plate of phad thai made right there on the street.

On Saturday we spent most of the day recovering from the night before. I went with one of my closest friends here, Kim, to Kao San because I wanted to buy some new dresses for my beach trip in 3 weeks. I ended up buying 4 dresses and a swimsuit for about $30. You gotta love being in a 3rd world country, it's just SOOOO cheap. I also decided to get my nose pierced as well. I have never had any wierd piercings or anything, so I figured if I was to ever do it, now would be the time. It's really small, which I think is the cutest way to do it, so it's not too noticeable.

I am now back at site, and have a lot to do in the next few weeks before my vacation. I have been working on this recycling bank for a few months now, and it is finally coming to fruition. We having a half-day camp this Wednesday at the school where we will unveil the recycling bank that was recently made. A few people from the provincial evnironmental office will be coming out and teaching a 45 minute session about recycling and the environment. After, the vice principal, 4 workers from my SAO and myself will be leading two 50 minute activities to teach the kids about recycling. At the end of the day we will introduce the recycling bank to the students as well as tell them about the competition we will be hosting at the school. It will involve the 4th, 5th and 6th graders and will be a competition among them to see who can bring in the most recycled goods each month. The winning grade will get a prize, such as an ice cream social or something, and the rest of the proceeds from the selling the recycled goods will go towards the school. So it will not only be a new source of funding for the school, it will also be a fun and educational activity for the students.

After the camp, I will being going to Petburi, another province, with the local sugarcane factory. They want me to join them at this conference where I will give a presentation teaching them about farming in America. Coincidentally I have never farmed a day in my life back home. So this will involve a little research on my part before this weekend.

I will then have 2 weeks before I leave for my 1.5 week beach tour in the south. Linus and Joe, two of my close guy friends from home, will being flying over and joining me for the vacation. I am soooo excited and can't wait!!! I think this vacation will be much-needed and amazing! We will be going to 4 different places and seeing a few different islands at each place. These beaches are some of the top ranked in the world, so I'm pretty sure I will enjoy it. I will be sure to take a million pics so ya'll can see what you're missing and why you should come visit :)

Well I need to go plan my English lessons for the week as well as get ready for the one I have in 2 hours.