My "Family":
Kan's Wedding!
DISHES:
The Songkran festival:
Last days in Bangkok:
sábado, 27 de abril de 2013
Last days as a volunteer
Dear
journal,
Today’s
date is Friday, February 21 2014. My gap year is coming to an end.
I can’t
explain how amazing this experience was.
First of all, I was able to teach to little
boys and girls how to speak Spanish, but at the same time, they tried to help
me to learn their native language, Thai, which is really difficult by the way.
They stayed after-classes to help me with my Thai, they taught me how to count,
and the letters of the abecedary. I’ll really miss them!
Then, my family: at first, It was difficult
for me to live with another family, I really missed mine, and my habits, but I
got used to theirs really quickly. The last months, Kan’s parents called me “do dek” which means “daughter”. I got really
close with the family; they’re already planning on visiting me at the end of
the year!
The best part of the trip was the friendship
I established with Kan and her brother Suchart. Kan was planning to get married
with her boyfriend Khalan this June in Phuket, however, she had to change it to
January because she wanted me to be her bridesmaid!! That was very sweet of
her! The wedding was amazing; it was at the beach during twilight. Everybody
dreams with a wedding like that!
Suchart
took me to the other cities I wanted to go. (Kan couldn’t go because she was
really busy organizing her wedding) we became very close, and he reminds me of my brother a lot, which makes me miss him even more!
During
this trip I became Kan and Suchart’s sister.
I tasted lots of new dishes which I hope to be able to cook once I’m back in
the U.S. For example Pad Thai that is Chicken noodles with lemon, Phat
phak ruam: stir fried combination of vegetables, Tom yam goom that is a hot & sour soup with meat and
shrimps, Kaeng
Phanaeng that is a mild creamy coconut curry with beef, chicken,
or pork with some roasted dried spices and my favourite dish: Khanom thuai talai- steamed sweet coconut
jelly and cream.
I was very lucky to be in Thailand during Thai’s new year named: The Songkran festival that goes from April 13 to April 15 where people use to walk down the streets throwing water and chalk to each other (in a good way, of course) and at night every street is crowded with people playing music, dancing, eating, throwing fireworks etc. And hundreds of parades have place within those two days. It was really fun.
I was very lucky to be in Thailand during Thai’s new year named: The Songkran festival that goes from April 13 to April 15 where people use to walk down the streets throwing water and chalk to each other (in a good way, of course) and at night every street is crowded with people playing music, dancing, eating, throwing fireworks etc. And hundreds of parades have place within those two days. It was really fun.
I can’t believe I’m about to come back to
the U.S, I’m happy because I’ll see my family and friends again, it’s been a
long long time! But I don’t want to leave Thailand! It was such an amazing
experience, I’m looking forward to coming back and visit Kan’s family, maybe
not a year next time, but at least two weeks. And I really want them to visit
me in the U.S, I would be delighted in hosting them!
A Gap year as a volunteer is an
unforgettable and uplifting experience. I recommend it to everyone!
miércoles, 24 de abril de 2013
My Trip Map:
Though I
know this is a volunteering trip, I really want to visit other Thai cities than
Bangkok.
As a courtesy, my family already planned an itinerary with all the dates and the cities we’re going to visit and they even marked them down on a map that is now posted on the kitchen’s wall.
As a courtesy, my family already planned an itinerary with all the dates and the cities we’re going to visit and they even marked them down on a map that is now posted on the kitchen’s wall.
I’m going
to visit the following cities/islands in this order:
(A)
Bangkok
(B)
Phucket
(C)
Nan
(D)
Songkhla
(E)
Chumphon
(F)
Prachuap
Khiri Khan
I have
already been to the first 3 cities.
The first
one was Phuket.
Oh my God!!! What an amazing city! I spent three entire days alone with Kan relaxing and sunbathing at the beach. The weather was ideal, 33 °C approximately every day. The water was also warm, but it was so crystal clear that you could see your feet while taking a bath. The landscape was dreamy! I’m really looking forward to going again before my trip ends.
Oh my God!!! What an amazing city! I spent three entire days alone with Kan relaxing and sunbathing at the beach. The weather was ideal, 33 °C approximately every day. The water was also warm, but it was so crystal clear that you could see your feet while taking a bath. The landscape was dreamy! I’m really looking forward to going again before my trip ends.
Then, with the whole family I visited
Nan. We spent there three days also, but this was completely the opposite of
Phuket. This city was in the middle of the countryside. It had some beaches
though, but the aim of the visit was not going to beaches again, but to
discover how people lived in the countryside due to the fact that I only knew
how people lived in Bangkok. The experience was good though, people were very
kind and I saw landscapes I’ve never seen before.
And last but not least, we all went to Songkhla. This is the province where Kan was born and
lived until the age of 13. So they wanted me to visit her “homeland”. It was a
really nice place, the took me to the house where they used to live, and we
visited Kan’s grandparents that live there that as the rest of the family, were
extremely kind.
I hope the other cities are as nice as these were!
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