Muang Samsip - New home

After an amazing month in Chiang Mai it was time to come back to reality and start teaching again. I have now moved to a different project - working in a secondary school - in a slighter bigger yet still very rural and poor town called Muang Samsip. It's only the start of my second week here and I already feel very at home - thanks to my new partners Amy and Nicole who have kindly welcomed me into their not so pleasant house. Got to hand it to them though, their painting and de-cockroaching of the whole house makes the place that bit more attractive. I arrived here after an 18 hour bus journey last Sunday and started teaching on the Monday. The past week has flown in and I have been busy exploring the town and getting to know not only the school and my students, but some of the community as well. Everyone here - like most Thai people - are very friendly and welcoming.

At the weekend we attended a party that was going on at the school, which allowed me to meet more people. Like all the parties we have been to there was all sorts of amazing food to indulge in and beautiful Thai dancers. We were also invited to visit a ceremony at a temple in the neighbouring town Phana. We set off early and arrived at the temple, were we got several pictures taken and were made to carry a banner at the front of the small parade before entering the temple. We sat through the meditation and watched the monks receive offerings of new robes and money before they each spoke and chanted. It was a very interesting experience and I'm glad we had the experience to go and join everyone.

Really enjoying teaching  my secondary classes, planning lessons and also learning lots as I go.

"In learning you will teach; and in teaching you will learn"

Chiang Mai - October

From the start of October up until a week ago, all of the Thailand volunteers were staying in the north of Thailand in the beautiful Chiang Mai. The city, although very touristy still holds a strong sense of Thai culture - monks wonder the streets that are lined with fabulous markets and food stalls. While we were there we attended a Thai language course with lessons from Monday to Friday from 10-3. Thai, as we soon found out was not the easiest of languages to be learning, but having completed the course I am able to string a few small conversations together and should be able to get by to an extent - I hope.

After long weeks of being students again, we were very thankful to have the weekends off and to enjoy them as we pleased. We filled the time exploring everything Chiang Mai had to offer - from the jungle to the city - and of course taking full advantage of the amazing nightlife the city had to offer. The first weekend Hollie, Ellie and myself didn't hold back and straight away booked a bungee jump for the Saturday morning. Sensibly we didn't stay out too late on the Friday night in preparation for the early start - we were picked up at half nine, feeling slightly nervous yet excited. We arrived at the X Centre, filled out numerous forms and headed to get strapped up. We were lucky enough to watch around 5 other people jump before us which calmed the nerves and increased my excitement. After being weighed, legs strapped (extremely tightly) and briefed it was time to make our way up the massive crane to the top. We weren't allowed to go up together, so it was each of us on our own with the instructor. Me feeling strangely eager went first- I hopped in the crane and began ascend. The higher I got the more the nerves kicked in, but the strong sense of excitement remained. As I stood on the edge of the jumping platform I looked down over a line of tree tops, surrounded by mountains and covered in clouds - all of which was beneath me. "3,2,1 BUNGEE" the instructor shouted, and off I went! It was the most incredible feeling ever, I flew straight down towards the small lake of water  and was pinged back up into the air numerous times before my body could touch any water. It's definitely the craziest thing I have done since being here and  I will definitely be doing another one before returning home. As if that wasn't enough for one Saturday, we then travelled to Tiger Kingdom, where we spent the rest of the day cuddling tigers! The day finished with a plate of pad thai and a big night out - one of the best days of my life!

 

 

The next weekend was just as jam packed - 9 of us decided to book a jungle trek, which included; trekking 5 and half hours through the jungle, staying over night in a tribal village, elephant riding and bathing, a zip line, swimming in waterfalls and white water rafting. The trek was brutal (torturous at times in the mid day heat) yet beautiful and uplifting all in one. The views made up for the hours uphill and being able to see first hand the depth of the jungle and its wildlife made the walk go quicker. We arrived at the village where we were staying, which was literally in the middle of nowhere, deep inside the Thai jungle. We ate rice (of course) and sat round a big campfire, before hitting the hay in our wooden shack. Can't say it was the best sleep of my life, but what the next day had in store certainly made up for it. We awoke around 7, packed up our stuff and headed onwards. Elephants was the first thing one the list and probably the one we were all most excited for. We boarded the massive animals and set off for a 45 min stroll, taking hundreds of photos and loving every minute. We then bathed and washed the elephants which was also incredible - I now want a pet elephant haha! White water rafting and swimming in the waterfalls were just as amazing and very funny - especially Beth's face when she was falling out of the raft haha. It was a wonderful weekend and something I'll never forget!

 

The last week was spent sitting a Thai exam, celebrating hard and saying goodbye! 

Definitely been the best month so far, made so many memories with all these amazing people.

Roll on the reunion at new years!