Hello from the Land of Smile!

I finally have some time to share something about my first week in the Land of Smile! And here, now, using my head to hold up the mosquito net, there’s nothing I can do but smile. 

My trip started on the 31^st, last Sunday. Turkish Airlines (good choice, Laura! :D), good food, and quite nice neighbors. But really bad weather all the time, the plane was quite shaky. In Bangkok (“Waiting Room for Buddhist Monks” is a must) I met my friend Sotiria (who’s trying to sleep wrapped in mosquito net now), and we flew together to Chiang Mai. The hotel was quite interesting, and I got to realize that the first challenge anyone going abroad has to face are the freaking doors. We had to call the guy at the reception to understand how to lock it. Wherever I go I find myself fighting against doors, now that I think about it. Nah well, we met out coordinator in the evening and went to the Sunday market – LOVELY. Even the way to get there was awesome, we took one of those red fancy vans, too bad they all were on the wrong side of the road. You Brits, exporting bad habits – but, was it really your fault? The market was incredibly nice, we had good food, took a look at clothes and jewels, and found everything so damn cheap. I understand why there are so many expats around, I really do. Smiley peaceful nice people, good cheap food, pretty cheap clothes. And a lot of cute geckos geckooooooing all the time. I love them, they look so smart, but the 2-feet-long one I saw today was a little bit too much. At the market, it was the only time I got to understand we’re having martial law, as there were plenty of police with creepy weapons around. Nonetheless, they were taking pictures with tourists and giving money to some kid singing and playing the guitar.

After a long night of I-can’t-sleep-save-me-from-jetlag, we had the first meeting with the organization. It’s called WEAVE, and has the prettiest office ever. The orientation, that lasted for two days, was really interesting, and I found out a lot about Fair Trade, the situation of Burmese refugees on the Thai-Burma border, culture, and much more. Also, we got to meet the staff and another intern and had some more good food. Chiang Mai is really nice, full of cute corners and shops. I will hopefully manage to go to the temple on the top of the hill once I’m back there.

Our next destination was Mae Hong Son, and we completely fell in love with it. The way to get there is terrifying, we were sitting in a small van and experienced something like 1800 curves, which made us quite car sick.  But the landscapes are just sooo beautiful! The town is amazing, the guesthouse where we were perfect (POOOOL!) and they had Western food. I never thought I could miss bread and milk that much, after only a few days. Finland spoiled me in this sense! There, WEAVE staff told us about the ongoing projects they have in the refugee camps, which are mainly about education

Then we moved to Khun Yuam, and from there to Ban Mae See Pee Tai, the village where we are now… And well, things are crawling everywhere. Tons of them. I’m too used to my life-free environment, I guess. Huge geckos, small shouting geckos, spiders, worms, and ants. A lot of huge evil ants. Ach. Apart from the crawling things, this place is awesome, kids are super sweet, teachers nice and helpful, and everyone is cooking for us, which is good.

Let’s see what happens next, tomorrow is the first official day of work!