Final Blog!

In some ways, I feel like I’ve been gone forever. And in other ways, it seems like just yesterday that I arrived. But, the journey has been far more fulfilling that I ever expected and I head home in a few days a different person. Probably more hilarious. Actually, Dan told me this week that I lost my personality in Asia…so maybe less hilarious.

Anywho, since my blogs are glimpses into how I’m feeling each week, this blog reflects what I’m thinking about during my last few days – what I’ll miss and what I won’t.

Things I will not miss:

1. Emails like the one that I sent to my mom on Tuesday that said “Can you book me a doctor’s appointment when I get home? I think I might have a parasite. It’s not life threatening or a big deal at all but could become a problem if it goes undetected. Thanks!”
2. Thai, Nepali, Khmer and Hindi. Languages in Asia are not called romance languages for a reason. And yet, on every bus, they feel the need to blast the radio or even worse, play cheesy music videos. Clean it up.
3. Being stared at. For the love of god people, I’m white. With boobs. Get over it.
4. The Asian rumble.
5. American banks shutting down my accounts every five minutes because I’m completing transactions from a foreign country. Bank of America – for the 63rd time, please make a note that I am traveling in Asia for five months. You have become my primary relationship.
6. Realizing halfway through a meal what I’m eating. The other day, I ordered what I thought was chicken stir fry. After digging in, I realized it was chicken’s feet stir fry. Feet fry. I could see the toes. I’m really tired of this.
7. Cold showers. Bucket showers. Squat toilets. “Pillows”. “Beds”. Ants. Lizards. Stray dogs. Snakes. Mice. The fact that it makes sense to me that these are one point.
8. My backpack containing rocks and a dead body. Asian men suggesting that I ride on a motorbike with said backpack. Hey buddy, you want to pick this thing up before you drive 60 with me dangling off the back?!
9. People trying to rob you blind at every turn. It’s exhausting. I dream about price tags.
10. “Asian blunt”. I’m about as straightforward as they come. But here, they take it to a whole new level. Instead of saying “that’s cool that you are traveling solo” they say “Why isn’t your boyfriend in Cambodia? [snicker] You are in Cambodia alone. ALONE!” Or another classic, instead of “you look like you had a fun weekend!” they say “you look fatter”. My confidence is soaring.

Things I will miss:

1. The unmistakable feeling you get when you look around and realize you are truly living.
2. The food! (Sans India) This week, I ate crabs on the water with a nice, cold beer. It felt just like the crabfeast without the wiffle and BJ blacking out.
3. The beach. The mountains. The jungle. Summer in January. 1 day of rain in 5 months. Daylight savings, shmaylight savings.
4. Spending time with my cousin, Bekah. As I’ve mentioned, she is living in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer and it’s been such an incredible gift to spend this time with her.
5. Care packages from home. Dan, Lilly, Mom and Dad – you don’t even know how happy airheads, Swedish fish, trashy magazines, and hand sanitizer have made me these past few months.
6. Markets. Crab Markets. Vegetable Markets. Russian Markets. Open Air Markets. Floating Markets. They beat the hell out of strip malls and grocery stores.
7. When foreign people don’t get the English quite right and make a hilarious sentence. But then again, my dear friend Christian Barr from England does this all the time. One time we were having a small wine tasting in Denver and he actually said out loud, “I’m getting wood…”
8. The smells. The sunsets.
9. Feeling your perspective change. It feels amazing.
10. When a moment is so poetic that you are moved to tears. Like when I was dancing with volunteers and street children in the slums of India. Or the Nepali Headmaster’s joy after we told him we’d help rebuild his school. After I saw the most precious 3 year old Thai girl with cerebral palsy ride her therapy horse with “no hands” and grin from ear to ear at her small victory. Each time I’m welcomed into someone’s home like it’s my own. I will miss those moments the most.

I think that the greatest gift of travel is it helps you truly appreciate what you have at home. And over the past five months, I’ve been inspired and humbled by the support and love from all of you. You have made me stronger. Finally, I'd like to say an especially big thanks to my family – I wouldn’t be here without you.

Thank you for reading! I’m out…

Much love,
E

10 more days!

Wow. As I write that title, it feels surreal to think that there are just 10 days left of this trip. I wouldn't say that I have mixed emotions as I know it's time to head home and I couldn't be more excited to see everyone. I picture sitting on my parents' couch the first night that I'm home in sweats, curled up in a big blanket with a fire and a massive goblet of red wine. It makes me too excited to think about so I have to stop. But, as it's the end of a pretty significant chapter, I can't help but become a bit reflective over the last few months. I think I'll save my reflections for my closing blog next week so stay tuned.

This week, I traveled throughout Cambodia to visit a few rural communities and observe work that was being done in those areas. Rural is rural, whether it's Nepal, India, Thailand or Cambodia. People stare at you like you are a martian. Shower heads are a luxury if you're lucky to find them. And few people speak English. But on the other hand, you feel like you are REALLY here. Not just in the tourist areas buying the t-shirts and knick knacks that everyone buys, but seeing how people live. Seeing their struggles. Although I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss western toilets and proper showers and variety in what I eat, I'd trade it all to spend time in the heart of any country. It just changes you.

Cambodia is no exception. I saw, quite possibly, the most extreme poverty that I've seen thus far this week. Families living in shacks that can't afford food. Kids that run around on the dirt paths dirty and without clothes. But I also saw kindness and generosity that is unparalleled.

On Monday, we visited a village about 15km outside of Siem Reap. Although Siem Reap has become a booming tourist hot spot, home to Angkor Wat, the surrounding villages are some of the poorest. Many NGOs are working to help the people in these communities since the government, as seems to be standard in this part of the world, could care less. One NGO that I worked with focuses on domestic violence as it has become a serious problem over the years. They empower women in the communities as leaders who are charged to intervene when trouble arises. I got the opportunity, through a translator, to chat with a 52 year old woman who has been working with this NGO for over 20 years. She is one of the most fearless women I have ever met - she's willing to put her own safety in jeopardy for the safety of her community.

When she hears that a man is beating his wife, or his children, she immediately heads to the house to intervene. I asked her if it ever scared her to walk into a hostile situation like that. She said sure, the husband often threatens her and tells her to get out. But she doesn't. She calls the police, takes the verbal abuse, and waits until help arrives. She told me about a story less than a year ago when a husband had beaten his wife so badly that she lost consciousness. When she arrived on the scene, the woman was completely out of it and the man was fuming and screaming that she needed to mind her own business and get off of his property. She stood her ground. The police finally arrived and arrested the man. She called the other women in the village and nursed the victim back to health as she couldn't afford to go to a hospital. Now, she's doing well and with the help of another NGO, they have taught her vocational skills so she can stand on her own two feet. That incredible woman, modest as she was, saves lives in more ways than one.

We went to another village where people can't afford rice and have lost the land to farm it. There are a few village leaders that are trying to create community plans to help those less fortunate. They have created a rice bank where instead of money, people trade services for rice. They have created a landshare program where the wealthier members of the village let the poorer members farm their land during dry season since they wouldn't use it anyway. They have created a women's empowerment group to teach women marketable skills so that they contribute finacially within their family. I was humbled.

It's impossible not to come over here with your own ideas on how to help a country develop. Americans are so well educated and surely, we know how to make things better. But that day I realized that I actually know nothing. I don't know what it's like not to have food. Or a house. Or money. So how can I possibly know how to fix it? But they know how to help each other. The way a community pulls together to make sure that everyone is taken care of is, well, shocking. They all sat around the same table as me at the community meeting, leaders and poor, and were so thrilled to report their progress over the last year and their goals for the next one. There is no sense of throwing hands in the air in frustration - they just take it one day at a time.

I think it's taken me five months to realize that the best thing any volunteer can do is support a project. There is no such thing as going somewhere to try to change the world. While poverty and violence and oppression exists, so does community. Where corruption breeds, so does kindness. The best way to help a society progress is to help them move on the path towards development in more efficient way. It's not our place to tell them how to do it.

At the end of day, I still feel lucky every day to be an American. I can't wait to come home to my country. But I will also fight hard to bring back some of the invaluable life lessons that I've been taught over here. Because in order to change the world, we all have to take a look in the mirror.

I miss all of you and can't wait to see you soon.

Love,
Erin

March 4th. Boston Beer Works. Be There.

Hello! I hope that everyone had a nice week! Since my guesthouse was 1km from the beach all week, I certainly did. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

I have to go on a brief paragraph tirade about how ridiculous dogs are in Asia. I know most of you out there are dog lovers. Hell, my friends in Colorado own 2 and a half each, but the situation here is out of hand. Practically all dogs are stray and they bark at you, they creepily follow you around, they poop on the beach, and half the time they have that crazy dangerous look in their eyes. Not surprisingly, this week I was minding my own business and window shopping a bit on my way to the beach when I felt something clamp over my calf. That would have been a STRAY DOG’S MOUTH. Even though I’ve been skeptical of the whole lot of them since back in September, I was still shocked that the thing actually bit me. And I was even more shocked when the stupid thing started following me down the road afterwards like we were pals. It didn’t break skin, luckily, so it spared me the ordeal of having to get 27 follow up rabies shots. But watch yourself travelers – these Asian dogs are no man’s best friend.

Other than that little episode and the tarantula like spider I saw in the middle of the night on my floor, things have been lovely in southern Thailand. (But seriously, this spider was like a robot. I threw my Thailand Lonely Planet at the thing full velocity and when I lifted it up, it crawled back into the crack in the wall. Sorry for bothering you tarantula hulk.) I’ve been in Bang Niang which is about 80km north of Phuket. It is one of the more touristy areas of stayed in which certainly has it pros and cons. Pro – I’ve been able to eat and drink what I want all week! Con – there are people constantly trying to get you to stop in their shop and buy something. Even when I’m walking on the beach and say no on my out, they act like they’ve never seen me before on the way back. Helllllooo.

For the past few days, I have been working with a grassroots NGO that works to promote education, human rights, and the development of safe, working environment for Burmese people in Thailand. The isolationist regime in Burma has been stripping their civil rights for years and the living situation there is intolerable. According to the ILO, in 2006 an estimated 800,000 people were subject to forced labor in Burma. As a result, many Burmese people come to neighboring Thailand in hopes of a brighter future. The Thai government refuses to recognize Burmese migrants as Thai citizens so while better than the cruelty in Burma, life is extremely challenging here, as well.

On the whole, there are limited opportunities for Burmese children to receive an education since the Thai government refuses to recognize them as citizens, no matter how long they have lived in Thailand. There is no access to health care and little to no knowledge in the communities about personal health care – how to prevent infection, how to eat to stay healthy, and how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Since many Burmese migrants are uneducated, many of them are victims of human rights violations on a regular basis.

The NGO that I worked with works to combat all of these issues. They have migrant learning centers located near the rubber plantation fields since that’s where many Burmese families are forced to work and thereby, live. These migrant learning centers focus on teaching Burmese children skills so that might, one day, integrate into Thai schools. But, they are also very careful not to forget their origins in Burma when designing the curriculum, keeping classes in Burmese at the forefront. They have a public health team that makes regular trips into the community and the schools to perform medical checkups and share basic personal health information. Finally, they hold legal aid and legal rights training sessions for community leaders so they can better help their immediate communities with any legal aid issues they encounter.

In sum, they provide support to the Burmese migrant community since the Thai government won’t. They are doing a great job, but as is the case with many NGOs, struggle with funding. They really look to their volunteers to help them with projects because they just can’t afford to hire the help. One volunteer is teaching English in one of the migrant schools in the mornings. In the afternoons, she has organized a library for the older students that want to pursue further education. Another volunteer is designing a database so that they can track the medical information in a more efficient way than pen and paper. Another volunteer is educating the community about personal health and developing curriculum so the teachers can teach the young students about how to take care of themselves. And so on and so on. This is the type of place where volunteers really make a difference.

I fly to Cambodia tonight! I’ll be sleeping in the Singapore airport (don’t be jealous) but I hear the Singapore airport is one of the nicest airports in the world. Is it weird that I’m kind of excited to check it out? Just a few more weeks! I’m looking forward to the next 2 weeks in Cambodia and of course, to coming home.

PS – If you are in Boston, mark your calendar for Thursday, March 4th at 7p. We are holding a fundraising for the Nepal Building Project at Boston Beer Works on Canal Street. Evite to come!

E

BEACH!

This week has been an action packed and full of overnight bus rides! But, I got to spend a few days with a cool art based volunteer organization in Northern Thailand, visit with my cousin in Bangkok over the weekend, and land 80 km north of Phuket today in Bang Niang. My guesthouse is 1km from one of the more beautiful beaches I’ve seen as of late so life is close to amazing.

The organization that I volunteered with in Chiang Mai has such a cool edge. The founders, one Irish woman and one American woman in their late 20s, were living in Chiang Mai for a few years doing odd jobs when they decided they wanted to start something that would contribute to the community in a meaningful way. They also had art backgrounds so decided to infuse art into development work. Two years later, they are running a very successful volunteer organization that matches volunteer’s skills to the relevant project in one of their ten or so local partner organizations so that they can impact the organization quickly and effectively. They also have art volunteers that host workshops 3-4 times per week for the members of those local partner organizations to strengthen the support even further.

I know it’s tough to picture so I’ll give you an example. Sarah from Canada is going to school for architecture but has decided to take a year off to decide if architecture is really for her. She has been an avid horse rider for years but never done much with it. One of the local partner NGOs is a center for children with cerebral palsy and they have a few horses that have been donated for animal therapy, but nobody to train them. Enter Sarah! She has spent the last several months working with the horses and getting them ready to ride. The other day, I watched her take several children with cerebral palsy around on the horses to help with their motor skills. One 6 year old girl who has just thrived under this therapy starting taking her hands off the horse to show off – no hands!

We were there because I was part of the art team (I don’t have a creative bone in my body but was willing to do whatever!) and we were holding a workshop for the children. We had bubbles and play dough and were paired up with the kids to help them make shapes, blow bubbles, and of course, have fun. Between their horse ride and their morning of art, the kids were engaged, excited, and learning. After hearing about where the kids were developmentally when they arrived at the home to where they are now, I was floored by the progress in such a short amount of time. It is clear of the direct impact of the creative ideas from the staff and volunteers on the children. The other local organizations worked with empowering single mothers, the gay and lesbian community, orphaned children, and Burmese refugees.

On Friday night, I took the overnight bus to Bangkok to meet up with Bekah who was in town for a Peace Corps mid-service session. Thanks to Dan and Lilly who gave me the AMAZING birthday gift of a night at a nice hotel during my trip, I cashed in big in Bangkok. My room had hot water, water pressure, clean sheets, clean towels, air conditioning, TV, a phone, complimentary shampoo and soap, and comfy pillows! It was Mecca. It also had a relaxing outdoor pool so Bekah and I divided our time between the lovely room and the lovely pool. We did venture away from the Royal River (doesn’t it just sound incredible?!) for a big Saturday night out. We went to Subway where I got the usual – a turkey and cheese foot long with extra, extra, extra pickles. It was a taste explosion. Then we returned back to our hotel to drink beers and watch The Office and The Hangover on the computer. If that’s not your perfect evening, I don’t know what is.

I took my final overnight bus from Bangkok to Bang Niang last night. When I arrived all tired and groggy from yet another night of freezing my butt off while trying to sleep, I felt sorry myself for the entire 11 minutes it took me to walk from my guesthouse to the coastline. As soon as I saw the little catamaran floating out in the ocean, I smiled from ear to ear. Nothing like a good dose of paradise to change your mood at 7.15a. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited for my morning walks on the beach for the next week!

The countdown has officially begun – just over 3 weeks left!

Miss you!
Erin

Tropical Thailand

About 5 years ago, my parents "downsized" from our childhood house at 2219 Hearn Road to their new pimp riverfront pad in Old New Castle, DE. Of course, there were mixed emotions for all five of us in saying goodbye to the house that contained so many wonderful memories. However, the first time I sat with my mom on their new roofdeck with a big glass of wine overlooking the Delaware River, I mumbled "what old house?" My mom and I have enjoyed many glasses of wine on that roofdeck. We've chatted about life, love, success, failure, friendship... Some nights, after a few glasses of wine, I'm quite certain we've solved most of the world's problems.

This summer, I spent a few weeks with my parents before traveling to Asia and decided to investigate their marriage [note to self: get a life]. They are like the happiest couple I've ever met and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Of course, they bicker and lose their temper with each other from time to time [blah, blah] but in general, they are each other's biggest fans. One night, after our lips started loosening up on the deck, I decided I was going to find the skeletons in my parents closet once and for all. Their marriage couldn't be this perfect. I asked my mom a series of questions but finally, when she wasn't giving me any dirt, I asked her if in 35 years of marriage, when things got tough, she ever thought about giving up. Hell, I've been on this trip for 4 months and I'd say I've thought about giving up at least once a day. Without hestiation, she simply said "No." That was it. No explanation. No dramatics. Just No.

I thought about it a lot afterwards because I believe her. I think that's the real secret of their marriage: once they said I do, 35 years ago today, they only looked forward. I just want to take this opportunity to wish them a very happy anniversary. While nobody is surprised that they reached this notable milestone, everyone is impressed by their loyalty to each other and commitment to the other's happiness. I hope to find in life what they treasure.

Now, back to Thailand. I thought this might be a good week to bring back the win/loss board. Let's get down to business.

Losses

• Upon my arrival in tropical Thailand, my cousin told me that the Thai people are obsessed with comfort. Well, Bekah, then how to do explain my arctic 12 hour bus ride last night? The bus driver was either A. trying to recreate the current conditions in the Northeastern U.S. or B. drunk.
• Another one for you BEKAH. I don't particularly find it comfortable sleeping on a wooden plank for a mattress every night. But that's just me.
• Thai pronunciation. In Thai, tone means everything. You can have the same word spelled the same but pronounced 8 different ways (literally). Of course, most normal words have an awful, insulting word that is said the exact same way.
• The word Farong. It means foreigner in Thai. "Hello Farong!" [giggle, giggle, giggle] I started giving my creepy smile again and saying "Hello Thai."
• In that vein, the 9 year old girl that stared at me for 70 minutes straight on the local bus. I timed it. I tried everything. Smiling, rolling my eyes, looking away, staring back at her. Thai: 1, Farong: 0.
• The fungi that was growing in Bekah's boyfriend's "street" pineapple [meaning we bought it on the street]. I want to eat fruit, I do. But that concerns me.
• Technology. My computer crashed this week. It tells me that my C drive is full. I don't even know what's on my C drive so when I try to open it, it won't let me and then when I try to delete things off my C drive to create space, it tells me that I need space to delete programs. WELL HOW CAN I CREATE SPACE IF I NEED SPACE TO DELETE SOMETHING. And then it had a meltdown. As did I.

Wins

• What the buses lack in temperature control, they do make up for with treats.
• Building! This past weekend, I worked on building a library for an orphange made out of mud. It was awesome. There were about 4 volunteers and 20 local high school kids working together to put the finishing touches on the structure. Although we couldn't communicate with words, it was such a team effort to get everything finished. It made me VERY excited for the Nepal Building Project!
• Despite my complaining, teaching. It's not for me - I've come to the conclusion that more than 5 kids at a time drive me nuts. But, the Thai kids [after they stop calling you a Farong] are just so well behaved that it has to be a win. They pay attention in class and even seemed to learn something!
• Thai host families. Early in the week, I stayed with an 18 year old student and her younger brother. Their parents work and live in Bangkok, over 6 hours away by bus. When I walked into their home, she said "Please think of this as your home". At 18. Later in the week, I stayed with another family that were adorable. The parents, who had limited English, tried so hard to chat with me in the few English words that they knew. Hey - they know I like my coffee with milk and sugar.
• Chiang Mai. It's my favorite part of Thailand [see last week's blog]. I arrived back here after my Arctic blast this morning and guess what?! The computer lady thinks she can fix my computer! Chiang Mai is a magical, magical place.
• Jude + Paul's 35th Anniversary - PARTAY!

I fly back to the U.S. one month from today! I'm very excited to see you guys soon :)

XOXO

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a wonderful year! I hope that everyone had a blast on New Year's Eve. I was fortunate enough to skype video call into Dan, Lilly, Reynolds and Sarah's NYE celebration...felt almost like I was back in Boston. And then I remembered that I was sweating in a t-shirt.

This week definitely ranked in the top 5 weeks of this trip. It started on Sunday when I took the bus for 15 hours from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand. While a long day of travel, it was great to cover so much of the Cambodian (and Thai) countryside. The border was relatively painless but you realize that it's really only westerners crossing. The Cambodia bus drops you on one side and then you have to walk the 500 feet across and then a Thai picks you up an hour or so later on the Thai side.

On Monday, I took a bus from Bangkok headed north 5 hours to Phitsanulok, the city closest to where my cousin is stationed in the Peace Corps. I got emotional as soon as my cousin walked up at the bus station - it's just such a crazy juxtaposition to meet up with family in a rural area of Thailand. But a wonderful one. We had a great night of catching up, drinking beers on the river that flows through the city, eating legit Thai food since my cousin now speaks fluent Thai, and sharing funny travel stories.

The next day, we went to her site. She lives in Wat Bot, about an hour outside of P-Lok (as they call it). Her site is everything you picture rural Thailand to be - dirt roads throughs rice fields with palm trees sprinkled throughout. She lives in a very nice house - apparently, the mayor moved in with his mistress (also a common practice in Thailand) so his lovely house was open for renting. Bekah is on an education project for 2 years so she teaches in 2 schools, one in the mornings and one in the afternoon. She teaches English but she is encouraged to do more with both the schools and community at large so she leads an art club, tutors other teachers, and has initiated several public health projects.

I was fortunate enough to visit her primary school on "Soap Day". Since many of the students don't use soap, and they use water for the toilet rather than paper, they are constantly sick because of all the bacteria floating around. Bekah decided to teach them how to make bottles of liquid hand soap from scratch using local materials that are cheap and easy to find. The day that I arrived, the soap was finished and they were all putting labels and last touches on their work. For the rest of the day, the kids played games that revolved around the idea of cleanliness and, well, soap. It was a bacteria-free field day!

That evening, Bekah took me on a 40km bike ride through the neighboring villages. Even though I haven't exercised in months, and was a bit painful by the end, it was the most beautiful bike ride I've ever been on. As the sun began to set, you could see the reflections of the palm trees in the water that lay still in the rice fields. You could smell the fried garlic pouring out of the wooden Thai shacks that remind me of tree houses in the woods. And I soaked up the conversation as we biked along and the scenery each step of the way and reminded myself how lucky I am to be exactly here. That bike trip is something I’ve never been able to do as a tourist and like many other instances on this journey, it was an incredible view into a completely foreign world through a local’s eyes. This is the first time, however, that local is an American.

I’m so proud of my cousin for becoming just that – a local. She speaks Thai like she’s lived here her entire life, her neighbors adore her and were constantly inviting us over for their version of Korean BBQ, and the students in her schools are clearly learning English and beyond. I’ve been able to spend time this weekend with other Peace Corps volunteers and not everyone is enjoying their experience as much as her. There is the common frustration, as there is with many volunteer opportunities abroad, that the program lacks structure and it’s easy to coast without accomplishing much. Many of these volunteers, like my cousin, are fresh out of college without any real work experience. I give my cousin a lot of credit for finding blazing her own trail rather than waiting for one to be carved out for her. It’s what you have to do be successful in this type of unchartered territory. It’s inspiring.

In the middle of the week, we took the night bus up to Chiang Mai, one of the more popular and touristy areas of Northern Thailand. Bring on the tourists! Tourist areas mean western food and wine! I have been here just over 48 hours and have had a Starbucks latte, buffalo wings, brie cheese, many glasses of red wine, iceberg lettuce, tacos, waffles, and a late night burger with fries on NYE. When you write it down, it seems less healthy... Whatever.

New Year’s Eve was pretty cool here. Hanging out with 23 year olds for the last few days has put into glaring perspective how old I am. When they stayed out dancing until 5a and I snuck away at 12.15 to head to Mike’s Burgers, I knew I had officially left my 20s behind. Figures fatty… BUT, before my embarrassingly early departure, we helped light up the sky. Reynolds tells me that they do this in the movie The Beach, so if you’ve seen it you might know what I’m talking about, but the Thais send these lanterns up in the air for special occasions. Basically, it’s a square made out of thin paper, kind of like the Asian decorative lanterns that you can buy in the states, and you light a ring on the bottom and let it heat for a few minutes. The lantern becomes like a hot air balloon and takes flight, soaring up into the sky like a balloon gone free. Since thousands of people were buying these on the street, including us, the sky was painted with beautiful lanterns. At midnight, as we stood on the roof of a bar in the thick of the action, the fireworks erupted into the already lit sky. I felt like I was in a James Cameron movie. (PS - just saw Avatar yesterday…run as if on fire to see this movie – it’s awesome)

Now, I realize that when I write my blogs on a good week, everyone probably wants to punch me in the face. So, I thought I’d also send you a sonnet from mid-week that balances the vision of life on the road in Asia. After our amazing bike ride, Bekah and I went to her pseudo host family’s house for dinner. Mr. John cooked us a HUGE spread of 5 or 6 Thai dishes that looked beautiful and smelled even more incredible. In Thailand, meat is much more common and there were different types of unknown meats in each dish. You may know where this is headed. About halfway through dinner, my stomach made the Asian rumble. Now, based on the first set of stomach pains, you can generally determine how long you have before things get ugly. I waited about 10 minutes before I shared the situation with Bekah – talking about these things in this part of the world is like talking about the weather. We decided to head back to her house which is a bit more westernized, if you know what I mean, which only takes 7 minutes by bike. I was doing OK, not comfortable but OK, until about 5 minutes into the bike ride. About 5 minutes and 30 seconds into the bike ride, I went from OK to EMERGENCY status. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean. And, at about 6 minutes, and a few doors down from Bekah’s house, I christened her neighbor’s lawn because I physically could not make it any further. All that I have to say is thank god it was pitch black out.

Now folks, THAT is the real Asia. I’m not proud of this story, and can hardly believe I’m writing it on my blog, but if you visit this part of the world (as I would encourage all of you to do), it’s only fair to know both sides of the coin. I also thank god that Dan is taking a month off from blogging so there is no way this story can appear on WEEI.

Happy, Happy New Year! Happy birthday to Dean, CONGRATS to Abby + Chris on their recent engagement, and I look forward to catching up with most of you in a matter of weeks.

Love,
Erin

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas! I hope that each of you had a fantastic holiday filled with family and loved ones. I had a nice Cambodian Christmas but certainly did miss being home for all of our Guttenplan traditions. I’m already looking forward to holiday season 2010!

I arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on Tuesday evening after a hellish day of travelling. I was thrilled when my luggage miraculously made it through three connections and I escaped the customs mania into the welcoming tropical breeze. There is just something about Southeast Asia – the climate, the smells, the vibe – it all came rushing back to me as soon as I stepped foot outside the airport. The last time I was in this part of the world was 2002 and there are moments where I feel like I’m 16 all over again.

While I did miss home this week, I was spared missing it too much because it feels like mid-July here. It is hot as hell. Earlier in the week, I reported 80s during the day but after walking around today during the heat of the afternoon, I’ll update that to 90s. It’s “winter” here so while I’m dripping sweat in shorts and a t-shirt, locals are jaunting around in sweaters and long pants. Today I caught myself mumbling under my breath that the people here are dressed inappropriately and it’s making me hot just to look at them.

There are many things about Cambodia that I love – primarily the food! It’s DE-licious! There is tons of seafood/meat/chicken/noodles/rice everywhere you turn that is cooked in the best sweet and sour sauces. The people here are quite friendly, the country is relatively clean for the developing world, and it’s easy to get around because of the volume of Western tourists. The negative, as always, is being hassled every 2 minutes to take a rickshaw or buy a ridiculous souvenir. I’ve lost what little patience I began this trip with and when, for literally the 67th time today someone said “lady, lady, lady…need a moto/rickshaw/ride?”, I again caught myself mumbling at an audible volume that there was no need to say lady three times, I’m not navigating with a map for my health, and if I needed a [inappropriate word] ride I would have asked for one. Note to self: apparently, traveling alone has turned me into Rain Man.

I’m headed on a 15 hour bus ride to Bangkok tomorrow! It’s hilarious how these things seem perfectly reasonable when you are halfway across the world but at home, I wouldn’t be caught dead on a bus traveling further than New York. I am meeting up with my cousin Bekah on Monday – she’s been in the Peace Corps in a small village a few hours north of Bangkok for almost a full year. We’re making mac and cheese to celebrate our reunion! We’re heading up to Chiang Mai, one of the northernmost cities in Thailand, to ring in the New Year with some of her friends. I’m so looking forward to seeing her and catching up – perhaps I’ll stop talking to myself…

I definitely miss you guys and did find myself a bit sad this week since I didn’t get to be with any of you. But as I started to wax sentimental, I also realized that I got to lay by a pool today while everyone else suffered in the freezing cold so told myself to suck it up. As many of you have reminded me throughout this trip, everything will be waiting for me when I get home and I have many years ahead of stockings, snow, and fires in the fireplace ahead. So, as we approach 2010 this week, I look forward to a year filled with loved ones, laughter, and adventure. Be safe and happy new year!