Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Hello Group 3 Rockstars,

I hope this letter finds you in good health mentally and physically. Have you processed this summer and the amazing experience we had with the elephants? Is your elephant rash healed? I am just beginning to reflect on the experiences of our trip, and I am very thankful to have shared such a unique experience with all of you.

We talked a lot about community in this program. Each of you contributed a special asset that helped create this community-whether it be you enthusiasm, intelligence, athletic ability, humor, illness, or crabbiness! We were all fortunate to meet one another and create a community for a short time. Always know that you can reach out to this community and share you ideas, thoughts, dreams, and struggles. This group had exceptional (and contagious) enthusiasm that you all brought to every activity. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for creating such a positive community for all of us to share in.

We have many things to be grateful for. Meeting each other, spending time together. Cheers to the amazing staff at Thai Elephant Home that took care of all of us by providing delicious food, keeping us safe around elephants, and showing us a window into their world. The true stars of the trip were, of course, the elephants. They are such interesting animals- cute, yet gross. Strong & dangerous, yet well trained and accepting of us. Elephants are endangered. They need people to care about and support their plight. Please never forget that, and think of them often. We saw and discussed lot of complex things on this trip, and at times it can be frustrating and feel hopeless. Just know it is not. You can make a difference now and in the future. Harness you power and get out there to make the world better.

Sending love to you all,

Laura

Favorite memories

SBD (powerful quiet girl) raft!

Phucome’s crazy antics ( and Evan and Cassandra’s bravery)

EVERYONE’S Enthusiasm

Rachael’s impromptu headstands (seriously dude, be careful)

Matthew’s quest to eat weird things

Enlightening discussions about elephants

Another Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Sabai di mai?,

was for me. It was a pretty remarkable and unusual experience that we shared this summer. Not many people know what it’s like to stand on a mountain in Northern Thailand and hunt for bugs while listening to the sounds of elephant bells clonking in the distance or understand how much the bellows of pachyderms sound like ferocious dinosaurs roaming the Mae Tang Valley. Not many people get to examine the complexity of environmental stewardship from such a unique and close up perspective. I hope that the lessons you learned about yourself and the world help inform the next adventures in your lives. Don’t forget to keep exploring, embracing the discomforts of personal growth, and using your critical thinking. It was a pleasure being your mentor this summer and I wish you guys all the best!

Sawadee Khrop!

            Sam

Summer Blog Posts

July 23, 2016

Day one in Thailand and all of the students have arrived! We spent the day completing orientation, and then took a city tour to two different temples. The students then went to Elephant Parade (An organization that emphasizes the creation and selling of art as a way to raise money for elephant welfare and care) and painted beautiful ceramic elephants to take home. That night, we went to the famous Chiang Mai Sunday walking street market for dinner and shopping. Laura, Sam, Mai, Joon, Honey, Chicken, and myself are so excited to begin with this group, and are looking forward for what is to come.

July 24, 2016

Day 2 in Chiang Mai was amazing! First we woke up and took an hour long fun-filled van ride to the first elephant hospital in the world! There we met Motala and Mosha, two elephants that got their legs blown off my land mines and now have prosthetic legs. We also learned about the uniqueness of the hospital and everything the Thai government does to conserve this sacred animal.
From there we took a trolley to the Elephant Conservation Center. We watched a short film about elephant conservation and the history of their museum and learned more about elephant biology and history. Fun fact: Only the king can own white elephants which cannot be seen by other people.
Then we went down to the river and got greeted by a line of elephants and their mahouts! It was very emotional for everyone to see and interact with elephants for the first time. Then we watched a demonstration on how the mahout work with and train their elephants. It was amazing! We even watched the elephants painting and we got to buy some of our own at the end, with all the money going to elephant conservation!
At the end of the visit, we got to talk to a representative of the center who answered many of our questions about working with the elephants as a career. After returning to our hotel, we ended the day discussing the rest of our goals for the trip and how we felt when we met the elephants for the first time (each of us felt on top of the world!). We can’t wait for what the rest of the trip will bring!

July 27, 2016
Today was our second day at Thai Elephant Home and our first day of service. We woke up early at 5:30 am. We helped our Mahouts clean each elephant’s area, bathe them, and feed them to get them ready for the day. After a delicious breakfast we divided into Emma’s Water Buffalo and Sam’s Bird Eating Spiders. The Bird Eating Spiders built dams deep in the jungle with only a shovel, a machete, and a saw. Other than that, the resources from the jungle were all we had. Chopping bamboo and filling dirt with bags, the group pounded their bamboo into the dirt and put the bags of dirt in between to keep sturdy. The other group cut tall elephant grass and bundled it for the elephants to eat. Although we over filled a truck, the food will only feed the hungry elephants for a little while. Everyone put in 100% effort and did not complain despite the heat. After service and a filling lunch, the Elephant Olympics began. We were split into groups and faced mental and physical challenges. The Cannibals won after a sudden death trunk war. In the evening, we rode our elephants to the water and bathed them. Some brave people did flips off their elephants into the water. After dinner we learned about elephant biology, and continued to broaden our horizons about elephant conservation. It was a fun and tiring day, and everyone is looking forward to more fun days ahead. -Maggie and Rachel

July 28, 2016

Today we woke up and cared for our elephants per usual, then after breakfast we split into our work groups. Emma’s work group went to grass plant, it was tough and took a lot of effort but the amount we planted was really satisfying to look at after it was done. The heat wasn’t terrible considering the rain, it cooled us down significantly. The truck ride there and back was magnificent, the breeze was refreshing and it was a lot of fun with all of my friends. We got Thai massages which were really relaxing as well. Next came the river with the elephants which is always the highlight of the day. A very relaxing day full of service and fun and friends.
-Mal

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

I hope this letter finds you in good health mentally and physically. Have you processed this summer and the amazing experience we had with the elephants? Is your elephant rash healed? I am just beginning to reflect on the experiences of our trip, and I am very thankful to have shared such a unique experience with all of you.

We talked a lot about community in this program. Each of you contributed a special asset that helped create this community-whether it be you enthusiasm, intelligence, athletic ability, humor, illness, or crabbiness! We were all fortunate to meet one another and create a community for a short time. Always know that you can reach out to this community and share you ideas, thoughts, dreams, and struggles. If I had to describe this group in one word, it would be “kind”. You were all very accepting, open, and extremely kind to one another, which was great to see.

We have many things to be grateful for. Cheers to the amazing staff at Thai Elephant Home that took care of all of us by providing delicious food, keeping us safe around elephants, and showing us a window into their world. The true stars of the trip were, of course, the elephants. They are such interesting animals- cute, yet gross. Strong & dangerous, yet well trained and accepting of us Elephants are endangered. They need people to care about and support their plight. Please never forget that, and think of them often. We saw and discussed lot of complex things on this trip, and at times it can be frustrating and feel hopeless. Just know it is not. You can make a difference now and in the future. Harness you power and get out there to make the world better. Don’t wait for someone else to take action- you must do it.

Sending love to you all,

Laura

Memories:

The amazing misty view every morning

Elephant Pants

Epic Bananagram battles

Mitch’s PMA mentality

Critically thinking about/discussing elephants

Coconut ice cream at the farewell dinner!

Another Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Sabai di mai?,

was for me. It was a pretty remarkable and unusual experience that we shared this summer. Not many people know what it’s like to stand on a mountain in Northern Thailand and hunt for bugs while listening to the sounds of elephant bells clonking in the distance or understand how much the bellows of pachyderms sound like ferocious dinosaurs roaming the Mae Tang Valley. Not many people get to examine the complexity of environmental stewardship from such a unique and close up perspective. I hope that the lessons you learned about yourself and the world help inform the next adventures in your lives. Don’t forget to keep exploring, embracing the discomforts of personal growth, and using your critical thinking. It was a pleasure being your mentor this summer and I wish you guys all the best!

Sawadee Khrop!

            Sam

Summer Blog Posts

8/9/2016

Today we woke up and went downstairs in the Imm hotel to get breakfast. It was buffet style with foods like rice, fried eggs, pineapple, cereal, mini muffins, and chicken or pork sausages. At 8 am we had orientation so after breakfast we went to the presentation room. We started with a chow circle which is when we stand around in a circle and hook arms. We played a few name games and then sat down to start orientation.

We went over Thai culture and language where we learned the dos and fonts of Thailand and also how to wai (the standard greeting in Thailand). After orientation we went downstairs and met up before heading out to lunch at a different hotel. The food was very interesting and Delia tried curry blood soup with pork.

After lunch, we traveled to two Buddhist wats (temples). We took off our shoes before entering and kneeled in front of the Buddha structures. Each of the temples had intricate decorations with lots of color. We then went to the elephant parade which is a elephant conservation organization. There were elephant sculptures painted by artists that they sell and give some of the profit to elephant conservation.

Each of us painted small ceramic elephants to take home. After the elephant parade, we headed to the large Chiang Mai mall where we ate dinner at the food court. Most of us ate pad Thai, fried rice, or crepes (not Thai food but they were good). We walked around the mall for a little exploring the different stores on each of the 4 levels.

After we arrived back at the hotel, we broke off into groups to begin planning for our school exchange tomorrow! We will be presenting aspects of American teenager culture and they will share aspects of a Thai teenager’s life. The exchange will take place tomorrow afternoon.

-Danielle H.

August 13

So our morning started off with service for the elephants.  We cleaned the elephants dung and and swept it’s enclosure. We then got breakfast and breakfast was great. Afterwards we started our separate community service projects. One group went to go cut grass to feed the elephants with while the other went to go build dams to stop soil erosion. After the group projects we had some break time and proceeded to have a great lunch.  We then started the elephant Olympic Games. Six teams competed for ice cream and honor. We competed in a series of six games to see who is to see which team is the most physically, mentally, and architecturally adept.

After a fierce competition team Shia LaBeouf came out with a win. After some grueling competitions we had some break time to cool down and then we went to go watch the elephants. We walked the elephants down to the river where we then proceeded to splash water on them and get debris off of their skin. After taking showers to wash the river water off we then proceeded to our mentor groups where we were then reflected on what happened that day. Then we had a delicious dinner consisting of spring rolls, curry, rice and chicken. After dinner all the kids had their own general free time until 9 o’clock where we all went to sleep.
-Khyber and Mitch

August 14

The halfway marker of the trip!! A bittersweet moment for most of us here because as much as we miss home and our families, we don’t want to leave the family we have created here.

Today after cleaning our elephants, our service project group went down to see the two other elephant camps in the village. We all wrote down five good things and five bad things about each camp. This may seem like a small task, but it was challenging. We all found it very difficult to see these two anthropomorphic camps; treating the elephants more like an attraction or ride than a living creature. We were lucky enough to have Dr. Nick Kronilopogous teach all of us about the pros and cons of elephant tourism and how our generation can make elephant tourism better for the animals.

At Thai elephant home, the elephants never wear the heavy chairs that the elephants at the other camps have to wear. Those chairs are only for the comfort of humans since elephants are not supposed to carry more than 441 pounds on their backs. As much as this is a downside to the two other camps, it is clear that most of the mahouts truly care for their elephants and want to protect this amazing species that represents their culture. And probably one of the most delicious parts of today was the desserts we got after the presentation! As group leaders of the day me and Savannah decided how we should split up all the sweets so everyone could have a variety of snacks and ended up splitting everything in half. Today was a major day of bonding as a family at the Thai elephant home. From playing cards, to mentor group and hula hooping, all of us are becoming closer and growing together as people.

-Kerry

August 15

Today, after waking up early to care for our elephants as always, we ate a hearty meal and headed off to our service groups.

The grass cutting group moved on to grass planting, and we spent the morning putting old plant stalks in the ground and covering them with mud. We got the whole field done really fast and got really muddy doing it, and we had a ton of fun when it started raining playing in the mud!

After taking the truck back to camp, we showered off and ate lunch while we played games. After we ate, we wrote thank you cards to our mahouts and we got Thai massages from women in the village.

The dam building group took a trip to visit the Thai Elephant Home Nursery, where we spent the day hiking and playing with baby elephants. We started out by meeting the babies and feeding them sugar cane and longan. Then we trekked up into the surrounding jungle with the baby elephants, their moms, and their mahouts, so that they could have some time to romp around. While we were in the jungle, it began to rain which was very refreshing and fun for both ourselves and the elephants!

After the hike, the elephants had some time to rest while we ate lunch and played some games. Once we finished eating, we went into the river with the baby elephants to wash them off, since they were very muddy from our rainy nature hike! We had a great time playing with the elephants in the rive and splashing each other with buckets of water.

The groups then got together again to go bathe the elephants in the river. As always, the mahouts splashed us as much as they could while we tried to defend ourselves. We trekked back up to camp, where we showered off and regrouped for an all student discussion group before eating dinner and tucking in for a good nights rest.

-Aria and Delia

August 18th

Today, our team visited the grass planting fields. It was a 10 minute drive in the back of a truck filled with pre-sprouted stalks and lots of cute little snails. Once we arrived (9 am) we began loading the grass stalks off of the truck and into the heavily flooded field.

After about 5 minutes all of us abandoned our hope to preserve the cleanliness of our tennis shoes and stomped around in the mud with no worries. We completed 3 fields within two hours. On our way back we stopped to buy some refreshments (ice cream and tea!), where we received some strange looks for our mud covered bodies. At the elephant home our showers and lunch awaited us.

After our much deserved rice, tofu and banana spring roles, we prepared for our THAI MASSAGES! Not to brag, but it was quite outstanding.

The rest of our day was regularly scheduled; elephant washing in the river, group activities, dinner and a movie. It was the end to yet another memorable day.

-Codi Gambino

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Hello Mini Mahouts,

I hope this letter finds you in good health mentally and physically. Have you processed this summer and the amazing experience we had with the elephants? Is your elephant rash healed? I am just beginning to reflect on the experiences of our trip, and I am very thankful to have shared such a unique experience with all of you.

We talked a lot about community in this program. Each of you contributed a special asset that helped create this community-whether it be you enthusiasm, intelligence, athletic ability, humor, illness, or crabbiness! We were all fortunate to meet one another and create a community for a short time. Always know that you can reach out to this community and share you ideas, thoughts, dreams, and struggles.

We have many things to be grateful for. Cheers to the amazing staff at Thai Elephant Home that took care of all of us by providing delicious food, keeping us safe around elephants, and showing us a window into their world. The true stars of the trip were, of course, the elephants. They are such interesting animals- cute, yet gross. Strong & dangerous, yet well trained and accepting of us Elephants are endangered. They need people to care about and support their plight. Please never forget that, and think of them often. We saw and discussed lot of complex things on this trip, and at times it can be frustrating and feel hopeless. Just know it is not. You can make a difference now and in the future. Harness you power and get out there to make the world better.

Sending love to you all,

Laura

Memories:

Students thinking the mangosteens were a tray of brownies

Hula hooping skills

The amazing misty view every morning

Phucome’s zit

Critically thinking about/discussing elephants

Talent show!

Another Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Sabai di mai?,

was for me. It was a pretty remarkable and unusual experience that we shared this summer. Not many people know what it’s like to stand on a mountain in Northern Thailand and hunt for bugs while listening to the sounds of elephant bells clonking in the distance or understand how much the bellows of pachyderms sound like ferocious dinosaurs roaming the Mae Tang Valley. Not many people get to examine the complexity of environmental stewardship from such a unique and close up perspective. I hope that the lessons you learned about yourself and the world help inform the next adventures in your lives. Don’t forget to keep exploring, embracing the discomforts of personal growth, and using your critical thinking. It was a pleasure being your mentor this summer and I wish you guys all the best!

Sawadee Khrop!

            Sam

Summer Blog Posts

Day 2

The GLA staff started our morning by teaching us about the Thai culture and language. We learned the basics like hello, thank you, excuse me, sorry, asking for names, and numbers. We exercised our new knowledge by visiting temples and shopping at a local market. The temples were so beautiful and we even got the chance to talk to a monk who spoke English. There were so many wax statues of ancient monks and it took us a while to figure out if they were real or not. Elephants are a huge part of the Thai culture and that is shown by the number of statues of them in temples and around the city.

Then, we ventured to the markets which are so different from the US. First of all, thai markets are so much cheaper. 35 bahts equals about one dollar and one could buy a pair of pants for 100 bahts. Food such as: sushi, fried fish, fruit juices, squid, and vegetables can be found in the market along with handmade crafts and jewelry.

We had an adventurous day of trying new foods and bonding with other students.

-Anna-Kate and Emily

Day 3

Today was another amazing day in Thailand! Our group traveled to an elephant hospital, the first ever created in Thailand, and got to meet two very famous elephants using prosthetic legs. Listening to their stories and actually getting to be within ten feet of them was something I and most of our group has ever experienced before. After interacting with the elephants in the hospital we traveled around the corner to a museum where we watched movie about the treatment of elephants in Thailand and got to walk around the museum which was full of very interesting facts about elephants. I learned that they are pregnant for two whole years, they can run up to 30 mph and that they really have horrible eye sight and use their trunks to get around because their sense of smell is amazing! After learning as much as we could about the elephants we ate another authentic Thai meal and it was amazing yet again! Next came the part we were probably all the most excited for! We got to get up close and personal with several elephants! We got to touch them and feed them and watch them bathe themselves. For many of us it was the first time every touching or coming this close to an elephant. It was a very emotional experience for almost all of us. These animals and truly amazing and to be able to touch them and connect with them is something that can not be described is words. Everyone should get the opportunity to do this!

We then got to go watch the elephants perform their tricks for us such as walking on logs, pushing them with their heads, pulling up a flag on a flag pole, throwing balls into a bucket, and painting pictures! These are huge creatures performing all of these tricks and it was amazing to watch! After thw show we walked to the nursery part of the conservation center. There was a baby elephant with his step mom! Let me just say this step mom was massive, like all elephants are big but she was huge. She kept putting her trunk in our faces and grabbing our hands! Then came along the little baby elephant who was climbing the fence desperately try to get closer to us. He had so much energy and loved throwing dirt on his head. Unfortunately after the nursery it was time to leave so we saod good bye to the elephants and traveled all the way back to our hotel. For dinner we walked to a little restaurant and all ate different versions of pad thai. These little authentic restaurants are so fascinating and make such good food. After dinner we went home and finalized our plans for our presentation for the highschool kids during our school exchange! Today was a full day of excitement and adventure! For many of us it was our very first encounters with elephants which made it a very emotional day as well. As the rest of the week goes by there will be hundreds of more memories but today was definitely a good one!

-Ashley

June 22

Today we went to Chiang Mai Christian School. As the vans pulled in the lot and we exited the bus, we could seek out Thai students poking their heads around corners, over walls, and through windows with excitement to meet us. We entered the school, taking off our shoes and were greeted with around 30 high school students and flower necklaces. They presented us with their principal and two traditional dancers. After, we presented to them about American High School and dances for them. They thought the dance was hilarious, and we thought it was rather funny that we were doing it for them. We were granted some time for a break and snacks when we got to meet and talk with them. There was a very strong mutual interest in each other which i think both groups were able to recognize. The students taught us how to make paper jellyfish, which were described by the Thai students as “suoy” – beautiful. They taught us some words and we taught them some recent cultural movements like selfies, the dab, and hand gestures. We were provided with a traditional Thai soup for lunch; very spicy! We had some time to go out to the courtyard and play basketball and soccer. There were so many kids outside that it was hard to keep track of them, but we all had so much fun! We split the teams to make Team America vs. Team Thailand. Even though Team America got beat decisively, everyone on the sidelines cheered for both teams. We parted ways and say goodbyes, sorry to see each other go. The weather was very hot and humid, especially around the school, so luckily we got to go back to the hotel with time to shower. We went to a place called “Elephant Parade.” Here you paint small porcelain elephants. A part of the money raised is donated to elephant conservation efforts. They work with the elephant hospital that we went to yesterday.
Tomorow we go the to Thai Elephant Home, our home for the next week. I’m so excited.

June 24

GLA students woke up at 5:30 to get ready for their morning taking care of the elephants. At 6:00, students walked down the hill to see the elephants. They had to scoop the elephants poop, then wash the elephants with the hose and finally feed the elephants corn and other grasses. Students ate breakfast and started their service work for the day. Half of the group worked at building a dam to stop the water from eroding the hillside and to conserve the water. The other half of the group worked at cutting grass for food for the elephants. Students would use machetes to chop down grass then put them into bundles so they were easier to transport. After service, students are lunch and then had a few hours of mentor groups. During this time students watched a Ted talk on single stories and the power of how only hearing a part of a story can change a person’s perspective of another. Students shared their stories so that we could learn more about each other.
After mentor groups, students took the elephants to the river to be bathed. Students had the option to ride the elephants or just walk alongside them. When students returned they enjoyed a few hours of free time until they had dinner. Students hung around the community area by playing guitar and listening to the rain until it was time for bed.

June 26

Today I woke up in a room with 3 new friends at 5:30am and pushed snooze as the other girls and I groaned in response to the early hour. The sun wasn’t out yet and we were exhausted from a week full of adventure. Five minutes later the alarm went off again and we prepared for another great day.

It was one of those remarkable days where the sun never went away and there were rainbows in the sky when you rode your elephant to the river. The day started with the usual poop scooping and elephant bathing, followed by breakfast which consisted of delicious sugary cereals, toast, and salad. After our morning routine, we divided into our two groups and I went to plant grass with Group A. We were all in agreement that after two days of ruthlessly hacking grass down with machetes, it felt good to give back and make our mark on the land in a positive way.

Post completing our community service many of us got massages from local Thai women at Home Base. At around 4:00pm the two groups merged once again for the daily walk to the river to bathe the elephants. Some of the elephants were unable to join the group, but we all worked together and found everyone an elephant to ride, if one so desired. I hopped on (literally) Phu-come, the larger and feistier ellie with fellow student Anna Kate and we rode P-c down to the river for a cold bath in the river. The bumpy walk to the river was filled with singing and story sharing with our mahouts and a distant rainbow appeared over the mountains. A Kodak moment for a picture perfect kind of day.

Exhausted from community service, the sun, and killing mosquitos with our electric fly starters, we all relaxed before dinner and had brownies generously supplied by the local GLA coordinator. A plethora of veggies and rice was served for dinner along with curry. Later in the night the students divided into mentor groups and discussed goals we had set and how we were achieving them and what we could do to fully accomplish what set out to do when we came to this side of the world. All of us students have different reasons for being here and different goals and ideas about what will come of this trip but each student had truly reflected on their experiences and how they have effected them.

9:30pm came sooner than any of us wanted but we all headed to bed and easily fell asleep, knowing another busy day in this terraqueous country awaits.

July 2

Today, at the Thai Elephant Home, GLA had a fantastic day of planing grass, building a damn, and participating in the Thai Elephant Olympics.

We started the day by waking up at 5:30, and from there we cleaned and fed the elephants. After breakfast our volunteer groups split and went to their working stations. Group B, the group I was in, left for 3 hours to plant grass for the elephants to eat. After a successful day of planting we were rewarded with ice cream. Next 4 teams competed in the first ever Elephant Olympics. Unfortunately, the championship was claimed by the blue team were they were prized with ice cream. Next we did our daily elephant washing down by the river. Finally we ended the night with a half our of bug hunting and star gazing.

-Luke