1-6-07

How quickly plans can change

After three days in Ayutthaya seeing more Wats, Buddhas and Chedis than I knew what to do with I'm back in Chiang Mai. The original plan was to get down to Ko Phangan for the half moon party but then I met some people going back up to Chiang Mai and I noticed I only had about a week left on my tourist Visa. So the new plan is to go up north into Laos with Doug, get an extension on my tourist Visa, head down to Ko Phangan for the party then back up to Laos where I'll hang out until Christina arrives. Then I'll start making my way east towards Cambodia and Vietnam where it's cheaper and more rural.

I was talking to a friend yesterday and realized that it's about time to get out of the real touristy areas. I know Chiang Mai isn't nearly as touristy as Bangkok or some other places but there is still a pretty large ex-pat and tourist population. Not that I don't like ex-pats and tourists, they're cool but I think it's about time I got back to a rural place: no lights, running water or white people. Of course this time around I can't speak the language and have only a very basic understanding of the culture, although I have learned that the kids are very shy in class and try to hide from answering questions.

One of the the things I realized about myself in the Peace Corps is that I take things for granted very easily when they become availible. I know it's an easy concept to grasp and I never really understood it until I become overwhelmed with emotion when I got a care package on Tongoa that contained Reeses Pieces. I appreciate things so much more when I don't have them all the time. I've tried to limit myself to things like Western food, drink and posessions for this very reason. If I don't have them now I'll appreciate them so much more when I allow myself to have them. Of course this will be problematic when I eventually move back to the States because everything I want will be right there, in front of me, in the same isle as 15 different kinds of bread and 20 kinds of peanut butter (smooth, crunchy, extra crunchy, low sodium, no sodium, no sodium and no sugar, mixed with jelly etc.

It will be so easy to slide back into a routine, eating the same foods as before and acting the same way. I know if I want to maintain the island mentality in America it will take a lot of effort on my part, but I'm ready for that. The question is how easy will it be for me to adapt back to my own culture while keeping the lessons I learned in Vanuatu. I don't think there will be much chance to make my own rawhide or chew kava around a fire.