Nong Tong.

I'm still attempting to make peace with my digital camera...we have made some strides, but are not friends yet...here are the results of our day spent together.(note: these are unedited photos)

Trip to Ajahn Amnuay's village.

The Teachers Who Have Shaped My Mind.

I'm sure most people have had that one special teacher that impacts them in a way that will change their life....I have been fortunate enough to have had a few teachers that have expanded the corners of my mind to bring me to a whole other level of wisdom. I'm not saying that I'm wise, by any means, but I would not look at the world with such admiration and curiosity had it not been for these people.

1st grade- Mrs. Wiegers (SW Chicago Christian)

Mrs. Wiegers took my puny impressionable brain and turned it into an organ that ingested information, processed it, and spat it out to the rest of the world. She read us stories and had the Mrs. Wiegers show (her microphone, a cardboard paper-towel roll, tennis ball, and duct tape). She would make us laugh and though I thought it was all fun and games, she was injecting us with all the necessary tools to learn how to spell, read, and write.

8th grade-Ms. Opie (SW Chicago Christian)

While I was not too fond of Ms. Opie she did improve my writing ability. Every week a new current event was assigned, dealing with politics, education, religion etc. We were to research theses topics and write 1-2 pages on our findings. As any 8th grader I would procrastinate the homework I was not looking forward to to the Sunday before it was due...current events. While I hated these papers, my mind was opened to the world, and writing about it became easier and easier. (She was the first teacher in my Christian education to force me to think outside of my teeny tiny Christian bubble).

Sophomore year-Mrs. Robare (Moraine Valley summer class)

Mrs. Robare, where to begin. She was one of the sweetest ladies you will meet, not to mention patient. Mrs. Robare was my first photography teacher. She trained my mind to work in a whole new way, through the lens of my camera instead of a book. I learned about people, neighborhoods, lighting, science, math.... She was the first teacher to give me feedback that would change the course of my future. Mrs. Robare told me I had talent (something I don't think any teacher ever told me)and that I should go to school for photography.

Senior year-Mrs. Look (Carl Sandburg High school)

Oh Mrs. Look, how you kick ass. Mrs. Look taught my A.P. English class...a class that I was terrified to start and wondered how I could even be placed at such a level. She did not believe in grades, but rather our thoughts. She pushed us to be thinkers and doers. Her education background was outstanding and it seemed as though everyone was her student at one point in time.

Sophomore year-Ames Hawkins (Columbia College)

Ames. Jeez louise how to explain Ames. 1st class-INTIMIDATION! Ames' knowledge of the world and how it works is unbelievable. She can pick it apart, critique it, throw it all back together again and make you realize it's ALL connected. I realized, through her class, how corrupt our world could be...and to critique it!...what a daunting task to take it on.

Ames knows her stuff and it's an amazingly overwhelming feeling to listen to her lecture. She twisted my mind inside out and made me think in a way I never thought possible.

Senior year-Ajan (Dr.) Amnuay Tapingkae (Study abroad in Thailand-Payap University)

Sweet sweet Amnuay. Wisest of wise...reminiscent of Yoda.

Ajan Amnuay has more than likely taught half the world's population, at least it seems. He has the wisdom of someone who has lived on the planet for 200 years, but looks like he's only in his 50's (we still have yet to uncover his true age). He is pretty much a Thai celebrity and as the days go on, I realize more and more how much respect this man deserves. His smile is contagious, and his big glasses make him appear smaller than he really is. I feel so honored to be in his presence and to call him my Ajan. (Amnuay is currently working on his memoir)

These people have stretched my brain, turned it inside out, and formed it to critique the world with love, empathy, and care. I have been taught to not stand for the ills of the world, but to be a voice for the everything I believe in.

Coming to Some Realizations.

Where to start...

When I began this journey to Thailand I sort of thought that my life in Chicago would be placed on hold. I pressed pause and left without thinking otherwise.

Well, reality found me this week to remind me that life in Chicago is in full motion and when I return I will find my life has been fast forwarded. While my apartment will still be there and my possessions on the shelves, there will be people who will be gone, and relationships that have transformed.

I have also come to realize that I used Thailand as an escape from the situations, discussions, and people I did not want to confront. bad idea. Please understand, I did not solely come to Thailand to leave my problems behind. I fully believed and still believe that Thailand is the best decision for my life right now, but I used it as an accuse to not deal with situations that needed to be dealt with at the time...I just thought, "I can't bring this up now, I'm leaving in a couple weeks, when I leave these problems will go away and I will come back to them resolved...they will magically disappear once I am absent." I looked to Thailand as a way to flee from stress and conversations that I truly needed to have. When I return, the need for those conversations will still be there, but the opportunity and relevance to discuss them, lost.

So, where does that leave me and my unresolved conversations?...you tell me.

You Know You Live in Thailand When...

--There are ants crawling EVERYWHERE!

--There’s a frog in the washing machine.

--There are lizards hanging from the ceiling.

--You see elephants walking through parking lots.

--The water for the shower and sinks works about 40% of the time.

--When the water does work, you sweat while taking a shower.

--People looked at you strange when you're riding your bike down the street.

--Taking off your shoes before entering a house, store...pretty much any building becomes normal.

--Pointing your feet at someone is rude.

--Rice is served with every meal.

--You can eat a lunch for less then a dollar.

--The power goes out at least once a day.

--Snakes cross your path as you walk outside to your room.

--When a spider crawls in your shirt and you don’t care to get it out because that would require moving, which would then lead to more sweating.

--Your tongue is on fire after most meals.

The joys of living in Thailand. I love every little difference and inconvenience.

Jenna.

Jenna Alice Loerop is my roommate.

We have been friends since the 5th grade and though we have experienced separation before (jr. and senior year of high school, part of freshmen year of college) this month apart has been more difficult than I anticipated.

Today I got to see her beautiful face.

....this is a little pay back for her plastering my distorted skype face on her blog. (this is the best worst photo I could take of her).

Friday Night in the Red Light District.

As we walked down the neon illuminated dirt path I didn't know what to expect. We passed girls of all ages. Girls who have been led there through different journeys, stuck there for the same reasons. We entered into the faux tiki hut where they quickly arranged the tables and plastic chairs. The only light a black light. As it revealed all the fuzzies on my pants I wondered what else it might unveil.

We said hello and asked them their names. They brought us fruit and served us Coke and Fanta. The floors were dirty and the walls displayed torn posters of scenery that these girls will never see.

A pointing finger towards the karaoke machine led to a night of singing. The language barrier crumbled as we danced and sang. Smiles and laughter filled the compact space. The circumstances and setting drifted away creating an atmosphere of friendship. After dancing and sweating to death we all sat down and continued to laugh. But, all good things must come to an end and so they did. As 3 men walked in the mood drastically changed, the attention directed towards them. The circumstances and setting crept upon us once again and I remembered our differences. While their night was starting, mine was ending. While they were stuck, I had the freedom to leave.

I began to feel the my hair stand on end, goose-bumps on my neck, my blood beginning to boil. It took all the strength I had not to approach those men. Not to tell them that what they are doing is rape. That they should be ashamed and go home to their families. But I couldn't. All I could do was hug the girls I met and thank them for their kindness. All I could do was leave.

Who knows if I will ever see them again. Who knows what will eventually happen to them. All I do know is that I am sick of going to class across the street from these bars and watching men from my own country walk right into them. I am sick of learning, watching, and reading rather than doing.

It is time to act.

2 Bike Rides. 1 Day.

Today we received Bicicletas!

Safety first

Ryan and Jordan

View from down the road

A case of genocide.

Today has been one of those days.

Those days where you feel incredibly insignificant. powerless. ineffective. hopeless.

Yep, that was today.

Today was the day we learned of the Hmong (mong) people of Laos.

We learned of their suffering. sorrows. plight. despair.

We watched documentation of a very young boy who had been stabbed so deeply that his intestines spilled out and hung externally from his left side. "Mommy my tummy hurts" were the only words he could mutter.

Through this documentation we heard of a mother who had was forced to flee her home in the jungle because the Lao military was bombing her village....she had just given birth...she didn't even have time to see if it was a boy or girl, let alone cut the umbilical cord. She just ran with new life in her arms.

The most difficult thing for me to deal with right now is that it was our fault. The United States of America contributed to their affliction.

In the beginning of the Vietnam War the CIA recruited the Hmong men to help protect their soldiers, to fight communism. The Hmong fought and died alongside American soldiers and as soon as the war was over the U.S. abandoned them. While they did resettle Hmong people in California, the majority were left in the jungles of Laos. They have nothing left. No homes. No food (they eat the roots of trees to survive). No families.

The Laos government is wiping them out through bombs. bullets. starvation. rape. mutilation.

Over 30 years later the sons and grandsons of those Vietnam War veterans are still trying to survive. With only a few guns leftover from a war that occurred in the 70's they have nothing to protect themselves with. Surrendering is not an option, for as soon as they do they are jailed or killed. All they want is to live in peace.

The Hmong people need our help. our prayers. our love. It is up to us to try to make it right. To put pressure on Governments, United Nations, the ICC.

A little bit of peace and some love from Thailand.

Learn with me:

I have been trying to find a way to relay the massive amounts of information that I am learning about to the world....a phone call or one time conversation is not sufficient enough, therefore, after I learn something from each day I will post the documentaries we watched, articles we read, organizations we have met with, or books that have been recommended so that you can follow this semester with me...and so we can put a spotlight on these atrocities.

Please take the time to check out at least a few.

Documentaries to watch:

"Hunted Like Animals" (plight of the Hmong people..graphic, but so are their lives..they see these things everyday...I think we can handle it for 1 hour).

"Trading Women" (trafficking of women)

"Sacrifice" (prostitution in Thailand).

Books:

"From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey" Pascal Khoo Thwe

"Bangkok Boy"

"Conflict" Nelson Rand

"Tragic Mountains: the Hmong, The Americans, and the Secrete Wars of Laos" Jane Hamilton-Merritt

Organizations:

Garden of Hope

Development and Education Programs for Daughters and Communities

Free Burma Rangers

Thailand..the land of many skies.

Good morning Thailand.

Hello rain.

Best rainbow ever.

Goodnight everyone.

Insert. Process. Regurgitate.

After spending my first week in Chiang Mai I feel that I should take some time to emit the things I have been processing during these 7 days.

Where to begin? The good or the bad?...let's start with the bad and end on a happy note.

Burma.

My heart is has been ripped out by a breast ripper and placed on a rack to be stretched and torn apart into billions of pieces. I'm in emotional pain for the people of Burma and most of all the Karen hill tribe. It's not fair. Living on less than $2 a day is not fair. Running for your life is not fair. People being destroyed by land mines is not fair. Watching your children skinned is not fair. Seeing your mother and father killed before your innocent eyes is not fair. Mothers, sisters, daughters, and children are being raped and it's not fair. Being told you are not a citizen of the country where your greatest of great grandfather was born and lived until his death is not fair. 50 years of war is not fair. Living in fear of your government is not fair.

I am paralyzed and it's not fair.

Mekong Region. (Burma, Thailand, Souther China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia)

Why is it that my education is revolved around other people's atrocities.

At the age of 12 years old a Burmese girl was brought to "work" in Thailand. When she was told that she had to sell her body she thought it meant that she would have to cut off parts of her body and sell them for money. She quickly found that selling her body meant being raped by

6-10 men a night. In a years time she had 1,000 customers...she was stuck in prostitution for 6 years. She could not figure out how many customers she was forced to sleep with since she was never able to go to school. For those of you who haven't been able to attend school either, the number is 6,000 men. At one point in those 6 years she found out she was 6 months pregnant. She begged for the doctor to take the baby out..to get rid of it. The doctor told her he couldn't because she didn't have the money. When she returned to the brothel she took pills until she blacked out and woke up in the hospital. When she touched her stomach the bump was gone. She was successful in killing her child. She rather take her unborn daughter's life than to have her grow up to be sold as a prostitute.

These are the realities of the people of the Mekong Region.

These are becoming my reality.

On a happier note...

There are wonderful things about Thailand that have made me fall in love with the place. The citizens of Thailand are magnificent. The land is simply magical. and the food is mind-blowing! I have found a piece of my home. Chicago to me has not felt like home for probably about 4-5 years now...I have found that there are multiple locations for my home. Thailand is just a slice of it.

My home is where the majority of language spoken is not English. Where the people work as one. The weather is warm. Where there is no t.v. The internet is slow. Where rice is served with most meals. Where there is sand, lakes, oceans, and mountains. My home is where I can help the oppressed. Where I am friends with those who have no one left.

Our House

Living with 10 other people has opened up a whole other learning experience for me. Books, films, technologies, opinions etc. have been revealed to me. I was worried about living with 10 other people because for the majority of my life I have been alone. I enjoy my solitude more than I do groups, but these people I am experiencing life with isn't so bad after all. I'm enjoying watching movies with them, reading next to them, sleeping in the same room as them, showering side by side with them, eating my meals with them, and learning the difficult subject matter with them. We are our own community here in Doi Saket and I wouldn't have it any other way.