THAILAND – Cultural Kaleidoscope – June 21

Sawatdee kaa (hello) from Thailand!

After many hours (or even days) of travel, everyone has arrived and is ready to go! Our first day in Chaing Mai was full of food, fun, and making new friends.

On our walking tour in the old city we visited temples and learned about Thai culture from our amazing local staff.

At first of many market visits we learned about what ingredients are used in Thai cuisine and tried our hand at making some typical Thai dishes like green curry, pad Thai, and tom kha.

Today we embraced the Thai saying that, “We only eat one meal a day. It starts when we wake up and ends when we go to bed!”

Day 3

Cultural Kaleidoscope began with an artistic twist to several thai pottery factories. There, we took a group lesson and were given the opportunity to create our own “masterpieces” of sorts, imitating the other beautiful Thai pottery surrounding us. All the while the amazing Thai staff discretely found amusement in our mishaps.. We extended our day of relaxation to _____ lake where partook in bonding activities and enjoyed another taste of Thai cuisine in the Buegaios. After returning to the base we engaged in more group activities where we got to learn about our peers through our newfound skills– active listening. For the final act of the day we were split up into mentor groups where we were asked to contemplate our reasons for being here, Overall, it seems that Thailand is shaping up to be our greatest adventure yet!

By: Maria, Biancat Ethan

June 25, 2017

We began our day with a Monk chat at Wat Suan Dok. Praha KK taught us about the four noble truths and the noble 8 fold path along with the other fundamentals of Buddhism. Afterwards, the group had a long Q&A with KK and asked many important questions they had about Buddhism, KK, and Thai culture involving Buddhism. We also learned Praha KK’s favorite method of meditation and cleared our minds during a group meditation with Praha KK following with a small your of the temple including MCU Buddhist University. After our special time with Praha KK, we went for the lunch the boat restaurant. Once we were all filled up, we headed over to House of Blessing Children’s Home to begin our FIRST DAY of service!!! Julie and P’Nut gave us a brief history of House of Blessing Children’s Home before we split into two groups. One group sanded down old playground structures in order for the sets to get a shiny new coat of paint! The other group helped start construction on a new laundry facility by digging large 6 foot holes and painting beams (with plenty of girl power involved). Everyone had a great group sweat while working hard for the kids on each of their projects. Finally after working super hard in the heat and sweat, the kids arrived back at the home after their long day of hard work at school. As they drove in on the buses, every kid had the biggest smile, waved, and ‘waied’ to all the GLA students as we returned the gesture. The kids all exited their buses and immediately ran to greet us. All of us GLAers we’re just as excited to meet and play with the kids as they were to meet and play with us! The playing commenced and games of ping pong, soccer/football, tag, and duck duck goose all broke out. There was laughing; so much laughing. Each child was grabbing for one of our hands and a couple GLAers developed some pretty cool fan groups. Every single human there had the largest smile plastered to their faces throughout the entire time we had together. To wrap up our day, we split up into mentor groups and discussed how rewarding all of this service would be after working there for four days.

By Meg Fordyce

June 30, 2017

After a lovely breakfast we made our way to the Regina Coeli all girls high school. Once we were at the high school some of the girls preformed a traditional Thai dance that was beautiful and we had a few performances ourselves, including two songs and a dance. We then learned how to weave fish out of ribbon which was quite difficult but fun. After that, we toured their lovely school and made some great friends!

After the school we went straight to service site where we worked extra hard to finish our projects. All the hard work was definitely worth it! Leaving the kids was so especially hard but knowing we have a fun day planned with some of them tomorrow is exciting. We ended our night with a big face mask and snack party in the hallway where many unforgettable memories were made!

July 1, 2017

This morning we were all very happy to have a late breakfast, which started at nine instead of seven. After breakfast, we started some lesson plans so we could present our plan to our mentors, ensuring our plans were okay. Then we went to the Chiang Mai Night Safari with the kids from House of Blessings, and no it was not at night, it was a walk around zoo. Afterwards we went to the mall to get some KFC, which is a treat here in Thailand. The children were all very excited to enjoy some tasty food. Some people who like veggies went to go find subway but we found out that it actually moved, so we ventured around the mall to find some good thai food. In this insane mall that people were mistaking for an office or hospital, there was a bowling alley so we took the kids bowling and it turns out none of them had bowled before. It was pretty chaotic as the kids crowded together to get their turn, but eventually we had a system established and all was well. We then slowly made our way out the mall trying not to say our goodbyes yet. Too soon, it was time to leave and some tears were shed as we said goodbye to the children we’d spent the past week with. back at homebase, we watched a documentary called the Last Elephants in Thailand showing the treatment of elephants in tourism in Thailand. We found out that a lot of cool things happen and that there are people working to save the elephants and protect them. This one lady Syriah had opened the first elephant hospital and has an elephant with the prosthetic leg after it was blown off after stepping on a landmine. We discussed how we felt about the video and then talked about what we’re going to do at the elephant place tomorrow. We ended the night was some more teaching prep and are all excited to meet the new children.

July 2, 2017

Everyone was exhausted but excited at our early wake up call the morning of our elephant adventure. Many of us had been eagerly awaiting this day from the beginning of this trip, and it was finally here. We piled into the vans for a hour and forty minute ride through the jungles of Thailand. As we arrived, excitement bubbled as we began to see the elephants from the windows of our vans. We all piled out of the vans to be greeted by mahoots with baskets full of bananas to feed the massive creatures that awaited our arrival. Huge smiles spread across every student’s face as the elephants harassed us for the bananas. After the all the bananas had run out, we got a safety briefing and a change of clothes. Before we left, a mahoot lead us in a prayer to the elephant, and then we were off. We walked alongside one of the biggest, most graceful animals on the earth in the jungles of Chiang Mai, Thailand, halfway across the world from our homes. It was surreal. Once we approached the river, the mahoots motioned for us to ride the elephants. Getting up was an ordeal, but once we were up, we were on top of the world. The elephants carried us across the river, up, and down a mountain showing us amazing views along the way. Some of us were scared….ok most of us were scared, but we were also having the time of our lives. The elephants dropped us off at a secluded lunch spot by a mud hole somewhere on a tall mountain again in THAILAND. We all enjoyed a delicious lunch while we discussed how unreal this whole experience was. Once we finished eating, the mahoots motioned us over to the mud hole. They offered us the opportunity to rub the mud on our faces and bodies as it would supposedly be amazing for our skin, and some of us took the opportunity…. and some did not. Despite that, the elephants began to lay in the mud as we rubbed the magical mud all over their extremely large bodies. It was extra special because one of the elephants we massaged was pregnant with twins! We felt her babies kick while we continued to give her a luxuriating mud bath. After the elephants were completely covered in mud, we hopped back on for another ride on the mountain back to the original river we crossed. As we rode, a slight drizzle began to sprinkle our mud covered faces and elephants. We arrived back at the river and the elephants dove right in… with us on top of them. We all slipped of the mighty beasts and into the chilling water. Then began the chaos. We had water fights, elephant washing, elephant kisses, elephants lifting us up on their trunks. It was by far the best way to end the best experience of our lives. After we all took a group photo with the elephants, the mahoots jumped on their backs and rode away as we all waved, regrettably knowing it was over. Next we all tried our best to rid ourselves of the lingering smell of elephant poo poo. We were then shown a beautiful slideshow of all the photos the photographer took on the ride as we were stuffed with pineapple. Every student left the Thai Elephant Home with a smile because they knew they would never forget the experience they had that day. The hour and forty minute ride back to the home base went quickly as most of us were knocked, and once we arrived everyone took a long, well deserved, necessary shower. We finished our long, exhausting, life-changing, beautiful day at the vibrant ‪Sunday Night‬ Market. For me, it was the most amazing day of our already unreal experience here in Thailand with GLA, and I know most students feel the same way.

~ Meg Fordyce

July 3, 2017

Today we started our first day of teaching! After splitting up into two schools, every group taught two classes within the span of three periods. The children were adorable, grades 3-6. After we went to a 3D museum and took a lot of pictures. Now it’s time to prep for our second day of teaching.

Written by Charlotte

July 8, 2017

Today we went on a bike and kayak adventure!

– 17 kilometer bike ride where we saw friendly locals, rice farms, and mountains!
– 8 kilometer kayak adventure!
– Bouncy slide in lake and jumping platform!
– “Shout out circle”where we shared things that we love about each other!

THAILAND – Cultural Kaleidoscope – June 21 – July 11, 2017

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