January 2012
8 posts
11 tags
“What was strange was that this was but one tiny aspect of the dreadful human...”
– James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room
12 tags
“3. It’s my feelings that I like women. I was born like this- liking the same...”
– 18 year old female CMU student/interviewee
In response to
Q3: where do you feel like you can act like your true self/perform being third gender outwardly?
Q11: What importance or meaning does being third gender have to you?
“Inelegantly, and without my consent, time passed.” -Miranda July
whenyouhiccup:
“What a terrible mistake to let go of something wonderful for something real.”
—
Miranda July (via hellotera)
8 tags
That one rare rainy morning in Chiang Mai
The one that goes and makes you all reflective and pre-nostalgic. It’s good, I’ve been meaning to post all week. It seems funny that standing on my balcony right now reminds me overwhelmingly of both November in Michigan and the rainy season here- rain like this all day e’eryday was all we knew for the first month or so of Thailand. I can’t help but picture myself in three...
6 tags
The start of a new era.
This is the stuff I’m missing out on by being out of the country, not election news.
10 tags
No better way to start the morning than with a handful of warm sticky rice.
6 tags
Welcome to ICRP
“As far as I can recall, I was fond of women long before I knew there were verbal terms to categorize people by the nature of their sexuality. It was long before I knew humans could be called heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian.”
The activist also argued against a common Thai myth that regards homosexuality as an aspect of modern culture imported from the West:
“I...
13 tags
December 2011
3 posts
5 tags
off to find me some jars.
1 tag
Watchmy soulmate. one of the nawng that lived nearby in my last homestay in Ban Jao Mai. You can’t exactly see him in this video, but you can hear him excitedly tell me about the moon. this child made my heart bigger. like so many of the people I have met here.
6 tags
November 2011
2 posts
7 tags
prawm bpai leow!
ooh. ready to go to the ocean. ready to keep up this momentum. ready to look in 3d and start working on my terrestrial bias. ready to miss wonderful people even more. ready to eat really spicy seafood every meal with the host fam in Ban Jao Mai, ready to have ears full of water for three weeks straight, ready to finish the semester/expeditions off by student leading with the one and only miss...
10 tags
time to write in your tgiving diaries!
Things are always changing here. I just finished my last Thai language class for the duration of my time in Thailand. I didn’t expect it to come so soon, there is so much more i’d love to know. It’s been so hard to notice the time passing here. Thanksgiving is today/tomorrow (depending where you are in the world) and that blows my mind. Always moving and always going, it feels a...
October 2011
3 posts
8 tags
oh baby it's a wild world
If you have to read this post over the course of several says, in chunks, I understand. but i’ll tell you that if you don’t read the whole thing you might miss out on something cool- like a pig slaughter or nostalgia.
To risk quoting Cat Stevens in two of my blog post titles, I reference Wild World here because it has been in my head ever since I heard the Burmese version on the...
I never wanted water once...
Yesterday, I at dinner with my host sister and her faen. The Thai man playing guitar and singing at the restaurant sang such classics as “where do the children play” and “the wind” by Cat Stevens. In fact, he played “the wind” twice. I am definitely listening to the wind of this guy’s soul, he does a pretty decent cover, Thai accent and all.
And I will...
September 2011
10 posts
4 tags
“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will...”
– Miriam Adney
6 tags
p and s mansion 2
This first week of our first field course has been challenging. It is the only seminar week and the next three are in the field, so it has been extremely front loaded. We have covered a considerable amount of reading and lecture on Agroecology and sustainable food systems. Even if I’ve only retained a fraction of what I’ve learned (hopefully, i’ve retained a bit more) then i...
WatchAt the beginning I am saying, “i am going to sing the song “Jan Jao,” because my Thai name is “Jan jao.” This is a song my mae taught me and was taught to her by her mae and her mae’s mae and so on. It is to be sung to the moon when you see it. The buttongs on my shirt are bells, by the way.
Thailand time: Fri morn, 6 am.
In the past week much has happened. Here are some highlights:
Last Friday, our school trip took us to hike up doi suthep, a beatiful mountain with a shiny and magnificent wat at the top. We also passed another wat along the hike, i think it was called wat pa lat. It was my favorite thus far, what with the elephant imagery and the laughing sculptures and everything....
10 tags
Summons
by Robert Francis
Keep me from going to sleep too soon Or if I go to sleep too soon Come wake me up. Come any hour Of night. Come whistling up the road. Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door. Make me get out of bed and come And let you in and light a light. Tell me the northern lights are on And make me look. Or tell me clouds Are doing something to the moon They never did before, and show me. See...
4 tags
Our house, in the middle of Mae Rim
For almost one month now, I have lived in Mae Rim with a Thai host family consisting of my host mae (mom) and one of my host sisters. In Thai culture, one refers to others around them with a relational and hierarchical title before one’s name. It is common when you meet someone for them to ask you what your age is so that they know what title is appropriate to use to refer to you and vice...
I just wanna dance at school dances!
Crossfit is the most ridiculous workout i’ve ever done. Fast, intense, “functional” movements. Ridiculous and yet, we do it, every Monday and Wednesday. Sometimes it can be fun, though, I don’t want to discredit it. For instance, yesterday we deadlifted five reps until failure. Meaning we did repetitions of 5 going up in weight, until we couldn’t lift anymore. Was...
Michigan seems like a dream to me now
1)There have been some requests originating in the USA for more likebells/samesame but different tumbling. I took these to heart largely because I had a dream the other night that Lori came to Thailand, the day after I talked to her on the phone and I jokingly suggested she come to Thailand. I don’t generally believe in signs, but I believe in Lori, So, here I am in my Thai house updating my...
4 tags
WatchA glimpse into the rainy season here in Thailand. I took this video where I stand and wait for my host family to pick me up when I get off the song teaow (general term for the taxis that are essentially two benches placed in the back of a pick up with a cover over it, literally translated- two rows) in the afternoon. Sometimes it rains so much in one night that the river in my area floods....
Jan Jao! (the real one)
This past weekend we made a trip to Mok Fah in Doi Suthep National Park. Lots of good old fashioned team building and leadership skill learning. We took a hike with a pair of park rangers who taught us about some of the plants. Learned some wild edibles, but mostly herbal medicines. I half expected hiking through the jungle to be a lot like hiking through the Pictured Rocks. and for one moment...
August 2011
9 posts
"I can do anything good"
This has been the first “real” week of Thai language class. After listening to a rousing rendition of Jessica’s daily affirmations on Youtube just now in the ISDSI office, i am inspired to believe that I can learn Thai and do crossfit training and hike through the mountains. Which is good, because I am and will be challenged to do all of these things over the next few days and...
5 tags
Wan sao salook tuk kon hey ha!
I just wrote the most extensive blog post of my life and then it all got deleted. go figure, i dobn’t think i was built for this blogging thing.
well, here’s the bottom lines:
1) I’m interested in the conceptual differences in the American and Thai clutures as shown through trying to learn the Thai language. Example: i’ve met people who want to finish their food because...
5 tags
3 tags
Waiting for the rot-dtangs (red car taxis) to pick me and my classmates up for our day of rock climbing. Everyday here is another adventure. Every minute, really. The Center for International Programs staff introduced us to the W curve that one experiences while abroad. I think i experience the ups and downs of the w curve every five minutes here. In a good way, though, at least, so far.
same...
11 tags
New city, new toothbrush
I have started a ritual for myself that has treated me well thus far. Everytime I go to a new city, I get a new toothbrush. Last fall in Philly, the Winter in Kzoo, Summer at Camp in the U.P. Fall in Chiang Mai. Proud to start my new toothbrush this morning in the youth hostel.
Today was the day to meet our host family. of course, i got some chicken shmutz on my shirt right before while i was...
6 tags
"She's going to Thailand"
And I did. or, here I am. remembering six months ago when Hannah Daly shouted that to everyone in the post office in Kalamazoo, Michigan, I think about how far I’ve come and how supportive everyone has been on my way to getting here. I think good things are in the cards for the next 6 months. I can feel it.
Thirty six hours of travel will make you crazy. and tired.
I am nervous to eat or...
2 tags
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/... →
3 tags
Things I should already know and am just learning
1) The first page of my Thailand guidebook reads:
“Thailand has a tropical climate with three distinct seasons: hot (March-May), rainy (June-October) and cool (November-February), with cooler temperatures in the mountains year-round.”
This is the most encouraging thing i’ve heard since the last time I read that book of Miranda July short stories.
2) It continues by adding,
...
3 tags
the boat for france/the plane to thailand
“Perhaps, as we say in America, I wanted to find myself. This is an interesting phrase, not current as far as I know in the language of any other people, which certainly does not mean what it says but betrays a nagging suspicion that something has been misplaced. I think now that if I had any intimation that the self I was going to find would turn out to be only the same self from which I...
June 2011
2 posts
2 tags
Plan-it-X Fest →
Where I am not right now. Check out tonight’s schedule. what!?
i sleep on my back cause it’s good for the...