MAIL!!!
If anyone would like to send me anything.. :) you know you would. Here is my address:
Hayley Heath
P.O. Box 300
Chiang Mai Thailand
50000
It would be warmly welcomed, and at this rate i'll share it with the bugs because we are becoming the best of friends...
zip line adventure post comin up shortly, gotta head to my Thailand church first!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Push It, Push It, To The Limit, Limit
Two words for ya
Thai. Massage.
Let me paint a picture.
Jungle all around, me in my white towel listening to the sounds of rushing water as I lie in peaceful bliss, dreaming of mosquito bite-less legs, and cold swimming pools
Oh shoot, wrong picture.
Me in purple Aladdin pants on the floor with my body getting yanked and pressed…in the middle of their Walmart equivalent
Yep, that picture is more like it.
Don’t get me wrong, moments were awesome. It was cheap, the people were SUPER nice, and it was a must do in Thailand, and guaranteed I get another one. But here is my story.
I walk in to this little shop in Big C (exactly like Walmart except with Thai writing and music) and the first picture I see is of this white girl in a diaper, I’m not joking, a diaper. Baby or sumo style, you pick the image you prefer, anyway, I am officially terrified. First of all, no one should see anyone in a diaper past the age of three let alone a full grown women, especially if that woman is ME! She was in the stereotypical position on the table with the massage people doin their job. Maybe I should have been content with the diaper…at least I would have known how to put that on!
So I walk into the back room where they hand me purple pants. Instant relief…until I tried to put them on. I had to call Anna back to help me, she sure got a kick out of that!! She came back and told me that first of all I had them on backwards, second of all they are NOT drawstring, and third of all I leave all my shirts on…once again relief.
So let the games eehem I mean massage begin. She quickly realizes I speak no Thai, and she speaks no English… I just knew we were in for a treat. She put my body in the WEIRDEST positions. No one could have told me how to put my body that way in English, so attempting to do it without speaking easily could have been on funnies home videos. You tube hit right there! It was hilarious, I was laughing, she was laughing, Attid (I’ll get to him later) was overly enthused, and Anna was trying to translate the whole thing.
Attid…oh Attid. That was the other massage dudes name, I don’t know how to spell his name but that is my attempt. It means Sunday in Thai. But he kept complimenting my chamuud (nose) saying that it was soi maag (very pretty). He also kept saying that I am no faalang (white person) because my skin is sii dang (red). Luckily he chose words I actually knew. But he was asking Anna my age and where I’m from and all that. Then he asked me my name and for some reason it is really hard for Thai people to say. So I said Hayley to which they all repeated Harry?? And one looks at me and goes “like Harry Potter?” and I said…kha (yes). Who wouldn’t want to be Harry Potter?!
Through all this talking I am in a constant interval of relaxation and extreme pain. She was pullin and pushin and pounding and I never learned how to say OWWW in Thai. She finally must have seen the pain on my face and she said “You hurt?” Woohoo I knew how to answer that one, “nid noi” (a little bit) I responded. She laughed and just kept on her marry way pounding and pushing as previously done. Potentially closer to a groin search than the full body pat down…just sayin. Also just sayin…good thing I was stretching a lot before I came to Thailand. She was making my body go into those positions whether it could or not. Carrie, you thought you could make my back crack?? Wow… this was on a whole new level.
Anyway….that is my first Thai Massage experience. Surely one to be remembered. Three extreme positives came out of this one
- I experienced my first massage. That alone is awesome
- They told me to put some cream on my mosquito bites (which they were amazed at) AND IT WORKED! I haven’t felt an itch since. Luckily they had some to buy and you better believe I did. It reminds me of Vicks Vapor Rub (it reminds me of you mom, you know I hate the smell) but it works like a champ. Okay so now that I’m thinking of itching, my legs have started again, but on a smaller scale so I’m content.
- This is the big one. I found Thai dance aerobics! Outside of Big C they have dance aerobics. Say what?? It is hilarious and awesome and I am stoked. It is every night and only a short bike ride away. I officially know what I’ll be doing every night from now on. I’ll keep ya updated...videos and all. That in itself will be a quality post.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Yesterday had a whole lot of firsts in it.... okay I guess pretty much everything is a first for me these days, but let's just go with it.
1st song I heard in Thailand was at the market, any idea what it was?....baby baby baby ohhhh, of course it was the Biebs.
1st time experiencing fruit trees on a whole new level. Call me naive but I had NO idea there were so many types of fruit. We went shopping for trees for the Life Development Center to plant at their organic fruit farm. The LDC has at least 35 different kinds of trees at their farm alone. I've only been here a few days and i've had more fruits than I have had my whole life. Marion berries, papaya, guava, passion fruit, dragon fruit, rose apples, jet fruit, pineapple, bananas, plus a few more that I don't even know the name in English. Yumm I love the fruit!
1st time to one of the HILL TRIBES!! I didn't know I'd be able to go to one so early in the trip so it was a nice surprise. I was able to go to the Lisu tribe which is about 20km from the Burma boarder. It is made up of about 45 families, most of which are immigrants from Burma. This picture is of the corn stocks we passed on our drive to the fruit farm.
This picture is of the trek we had to make to get to our cottages where we slept. We had to walk about 10 minutes with all of our stuff. Then we had to make the trek 7 or so more times carrying all the trees we bought. There is not a road to the garden so it was quite the adventure. Through streams, over walls and logs, through mud, let's just say I was so sweaty and dirty after. Isn't that beautiful though?!
Meet Anna everyone. I live with her and work with her and she is awesome. She speaks okay English. Everyone knows I start to ramble when I get nervous and I think I did that at the beginning here, I have now realized that she understood nothing of what I said...oops. Now I end up talking like normal and watch her face as she expresses her confusion. We are working on our communication problems.
If you close your eyes and picture a fairytale jungle bungalow held up with stilts and cushioned into the mountain, well if you look closely you would see me sitting on the porch. I seriously was in paradise (minus the bugs, dirt, and sweat...). That is where I slept last night. I was in the far left one.
There I am, the problem with going on a trip without another person is that there is no one to take the pictures of you...not like I really care but i'm sure my mom would like to see me sometimes or something. So there ya have it, me in all my sweaty and frizzy glory. I'm standing on my porch mentally preparing for my first bucket shower...
1st shower with a bucket. Anna was so confused when I stood there looking at the bucket full of rain water and not knowing what to do. She motioned for me to go, but I just didn't know where to begin. So lets just say it was a success? Sure, why not. The freezing water was warmly welcomed as an escape from the heat. And it was just preparation for many to come.
That is the view from the porch. I got to look at that as I wrote in my journal in my little wicker chair. It really was a scene from the movies. If I would have been sitting by some new found foreign love who would give me the smolder or something, I would have been on my way to being the next Disney Princess.
That would be my bed. They pitied me and all my sweet blooded whiteness and gave me the mosquito net.
Hello dinner.
Ohh, there I am again. Picking out all the prickly things in my foot actually. In case you were wondering...
1st bug fest. And that my friends is just one section of my legs, in the morning time. I stopped counting my bug bites at 100...on one leg. Yes mom, I was wearing bug spray. And no, it did not do any good. I have a feeling the status quo these days will be itching, non-stop, always, everywhere. Apparently these mysterious bug bites are prone to infection...lovely. I'll keep you all posted on that one, I mean, if you're curious about my infection status...
So there ya have it, that was my first hill tribe experience.
Ohh, I failed to mention that this morning, after I woke up from my jungle paradise we got to crazy hard work. The day before we carried about 50+ trees the 10 minute walk. And this morning is when we planted them. This involved digging holes, fertilizing, hiking trees up these super steep hills, planting, and voila. A lot of sweat later we had succeeded in our first Hill Tribe mission.
1st song I heard in Thailand was at the market, any idea what it was?....baby baby baby ohhhh, of course it was the Biebs.
1st time experiencing fruit trees on a whole new level. Call me naive but I had NO idea there were so many types of fruit. We went shopping for trees for the Life Development Center to plant at their organic fruit farm. The LDC has at least 35 different kinds of trees at their farm alone. I've only been here a few days and i've had more fruits than I have had my whole life. Marion berries, papaya, guava, passion fruit, dragon fruit, rose apples, jet fruit, pineapple, bananas, plus a few more that I don't even know the name in English. Yumm I love the fruit!
1st time to one of the HILL TRIBES!! I didn't know I'd be able to go to one so early in the trip so it was a nice surprise. I was able to go to the Lisu tribe which is about 20km from the Burma boarder. It is made up of about 45 families, most of which are immigrants from Burma. This picture is of the corn stocks we passed on our drive to the fruit farm.
This picture is of the trek we had to make to get to our cottages where we slept. We had to walk about 10 minutes with all of our stuff. Then we had to make the trek 7 or so more times carrying all the trees we bought. There is not a road to the garden so it was quite the adventure. Through streams, over walls and logs, through mud, let's just say I was so sweaty and dirty after. Isn't that beautiful though?!
Meet Anna everyone. I live with her and work with her and she is awesome. She speaks okay English. Everyone knows I start to ramble when I get nervous and I think I did that at the beginning here, I have now realized that she understood nothing of what I said...oops. Now I end up talking like normal and watch her face as she expresses her confusion. We are working on our communication problems.
If you close your eyes and picture a fairytale jungle bungalow held up with stilts and cushioned into the mountain, well if you look closely you would see me sitting on the porch. I seriously was in paradise (minus the bugs, dirt, and sweat...). That is where I slept last night. I was in the far left one.
There I am, the problem with going on a trip without another person is that there is no one to take the pictures of you...not like I really care but i'm sure my mom would like to see me sometimes or something. So there ya have it, me in all my sweaty and frizzy glory. I'm standing on my porch mentally preparing for my first bucket shower...
1st shower with a bucket. Anna was so confused when I stood there looking at the bucket full of rain water and not knowing what to do. She motioned for me to go, but I just didn't know where to begin. So lets just say it was a success? Sure, why not. The freezing water was warmly welcomed as an escape from the heat. And it was just preparation for many to come.
That is the view from the porch. I got to look at that as I wrote in my journal in my little wicker chair. It really was a scene from the movies. If I would have been sitting by some new found foreign love who would give me the smolder or something, I would have been on my way to being the next Disney Princess.
That would be my bed. They pitied me and all my sweet blooded whiteness and gave me the mosquito net.
Hello dinner.
Ohh, there I am again. Picking out all the prickly things in my foot actually. In case you were wondering...
1st bug fest. And that my friends is just one section of my legs, in the morning time. I stopped counting my bug bites at 100...on one leg. Yes mom, I was wearing bug spray. And no, it did not do any good. I have a feeling the status quo these days will be itching, non-stop, always, everywhere. Apparently these mysterious bug bites are prone to infection...lovely. I'll keep you all posted on that one, I mean, if you're curious about my infection status...
So there ya have it, that was my first hill tribe experience.
Ohh, I failed to mention that this morning, after I woke up from my jungle paradise we got to crazy hard work. The day before we carried about 50+ trees the 10 minute walk. And this morning is when we planted them. This involved digging holes, fertilizing, hiking trees up these super steep hills, planting, and voila. A lot of sweat later we had succeeded in our first Hill Tribe mission.
Monday, May 9, 2011
I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
We got in so late last night we walked around a little bit, got our first ride in a red truck, and had our first Thai meal. It was a very quick introduction to the place I am going to spend my next 3 and half months.
Here we are in the red truck. It is a great way to get around because it's super cheap. We look like we've been traveling for 24 hours. And it is my hairs first introduction to the humidity, let the lions mane begin!
I'm going to the market now to buy all the stuff I need, so here is a quick look at my house for the next 3 months here at the Life Development Center
This is the view from my room out to the front office and little store where I work
The Kitchen. You have to warm up water if you need it, don't think about drinking anything but bottled water, and my eating habits have been officially Thai-ified
My shower. The bucket isn't in the picture, the above head thing doesn't work.
All my stuff for the next 3 and a half months
My bedroom. Not the homeyist thing, but it's home to me now!
My bed. Harder than my bed at school this semester, who knew it was possible?! I knew I had that hard bed for a reason, preparation! First thing to buy...a blanket
View from my front door thing. It's technically a pull down gate thing, but my front door nonetheless. Pretty right?!
There ya have it, sorry not much time to write about it all! I already have cool experiences, crazy stories, and interesting food encounters. And it's only day one!!
Here we are in the red truck. It is a great way to get around because it's super cheap. We look like we've been traveling for 24 hours. And it is my hairs first introduction to the humidity, let the lions mane begin!
I'm going to the market now to buy all the stuff I need, so here is a quick look at my house for the next 3 months here at the Life Development Center
This is the view from my room out to the front office and little store where I work
The Kitchen. You have to warm up water if you need it, don't think about drinking anything but bottled water, and my eating habits have been officially Thai-ified
My shower. The bucket isn't in the picture, the above head thing doesn't work.
All my stuff for the next 3 and a half months
My bedroom. Not the homeyist thing, but it's home to me now!
My bed. Harder than my bed at school this semester, who knew it was possible?! I knew I had that hard bed for a reason, preparation! First thing to buy...a blanket
View from my front door thing. It's technically a pull down gate thing, but my front door nonetheless. Pretty right?!
There ya have it, sorry not much time to write about it all! I already have cool experiences, crazy stories, and interesting food encounters. And it's only day one!!
Send Me On My Way
Well, this post is officially based out of Chiang Mai Thailand. I am sitting in my office/home for the next three months and i'm glad to say I made it safe and sound.
Day one was travel day. It was long, but not too eventful. My thoughts include:
1. Asian airline food... Avoid it. Maybe that is a trend among all airline food. It didn't all taste bad, it just sat in my stomach for the next 30 hours. Pretty sure it's still in my stomach, all packaged still. Pretty sure none of that stuff was biodegradable or real. The highlight was the cheesecake icecream from Korea to Chiang Mai. Yummm
2. Swollen feet. I did not know my feet could look so fat. All that sitting did wonders for me trying to fit them back into my chacos at the end of the flight. I thought it was a lost cause, I settled for letting them cut off my circulation for a bit.
3. Security...oh security. I wore the most harmless outfit possible. yoga type pants and a white t shirt. I thought it was harmless right?! Well... there was this TINY tip of metal on the end of the drawstring on my pants that went off in that full body scan everyone is talking about these days. Therefore it sensed something in my groin area (I hate that word, and easily hate it even more now). A guy came on the security guards walkie- talkie and I overhear him say "white female in white shirt needs a groin search." A GROIN SEARCH!!!! What the heck is that??? The guard looks at me in my tight outfit and sees this tiny little metal tip on my pants. She probably saw the fear on my face still present from hearing the words groin and search in the same sentence. She felt sorry for me so opted for the "full body search" instead... oh lucky me...
She proceeded to do the full body pat down opposed to this mystery "groin" one. She sure did full body, didn't miss one square inch that's for sure. Here are my thoughts through this process:
a. Why would you EVER want that job? Then I quickly decided I didn't want to know the answer
b. Good thing I am able to laugh through this whole thing because it could have been tramatic!
c. Whoever decided to name it the full body search must have had one...wow
d. How could the groin pat down possibly be any worse? Then I decided I don't want that answer either
e. I need to find scissors before my next security check
f. That poor child behind me in line saw anatomy 101 way too early in life
g. And finally, I think I would have rather walked though it again without my pants on. It would have been much less intrusive.
4. These blankets were awesome. It took all my willpower not to snatch one, even though it says not to...luckily I may lose my conscience by the way home...
5. 24 hours of travel. 30 hours total. Leaving at 8:00am on Saturday morning and arriving at 11:00pm Sunday night. We made it!!!
Sawadii Kha Thailand!
Day one was travel day. It was long, but not too eventful. My thoughts include:
1. Asian airline food... Avoid it. Maybe that is a trend among all airline food. It didn't all taste bad, it just sat in my stomach for the next 30 hours. Pretty sure it's still in my stomach, all packaged still. Pretty sure none of that stuff was biodegradable or real. The highlight was the cheesecake icecream from Korea to Chiang Mai. Yummm
2. Swollen feet. I did not know my feet could look so fat. All that sitting did wonders for me trying to fit them back into my chacos at the end of the flight. I thought it was a lost cause, I settled for letting them cut off my circulation for a bit.
3. Security...oh security. I wore the most harmless outfit possible. yoga type pants and a white t shirt. I thought it was harmless right?! Well... there was this TINY tip of metal on the end of the drawstring on my pants that went off in that full body scan everyone is talking about these days. Therefore it sensed something in my groin area (I hate that word, and easily hate it even more now). A guy came on the security guards walkie- talkie and I overhear him say "white female in white shirt needs a groin search." A GROIN SEARCH!!!! What the heck is that??? The guard looks at me in my tight outfit and sees this tiny little metal tip on my pants. She probably saw the fear on my face still present from hearing the words groin and search in the same sentence. She felt sorry for me so opted for the "full body search" instead... oh lucky me...
She proceeded to do the full body pat down opposed to this mystery "groin" one. She sure did full body, didn't miss one square inch that's for sure. Here are my thoughts through this process:
a. Why would you EVER want that job? Then I quickly decided I didn't want to know the answer
b. Good thing I am able to laugh through this whole thing because it could have been tramatic!
c. Whoever decided to name it the full body search must have had one...wow
d. How could the groin pat down possibly be any worse? Then I decided I don't want that answer either
e. I need to find scissors before my next security check
f. That poor child behind me in line saw anatomy 101 way too early in life
g. And finally, I think I would have rather walked though it again without my pants on. It would have been much less intrusive.
4. These blankets were awesome. It took all my willpower not to snatch one, even though it says not to...luckily I may lose my conscience by the way home...
5. 24 hours of travel. 30 hours total. Leaving at 8:00am on Saturday morning and arriving at 11:00pm Sunday night. We made it!!!
Sawadii Kha Thailand!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Always On My Mind
A whole lot of things are on my mind right now. I can't keep my mind from wandering to all things good and bad involving Thailand. Ready or not though, here I come!
What are these things on my mind? Well...
First thought: how is all that stuff supposed to fit in that little bag? And WOW my room is messy. I honestly sat on my bed for an hour willing it to shrink with my mind. Needless to say, it didn't work.
Second thought: I should be a professional packer. Who knew?! Let's be honest, I sort of surprised myself
Third thought: I may need to pack another white shirt...that just might not be enough...ha!
Fourth thought: I'm sick of packing, I should watch Hook. So I did, and I loved it as usual. Easily one of the best movies ever. That sound track kills me every time.
Fifth, Sixth....Hundredth thought: I GO TO THAILAND IN LESS THAN TWO DAYS!
Of course this thought has many sub-thoughts such as: fear, nerves, excitement, anxiousness, happiness, sadness, adventure, rats the size of cats, rice, airplanes, elephants, Biebs (oh wrong post), homework, packing, did I mention nerves?
So that about sums my brain up right about now. I'm stoked on life paired with an equal serving of nerves. But like I said, ready or not here I come!
Next post will be from across the world in good ol Thailand. Just you wait! Something actually worth reading ha. Cool story Hansel.
What are these things on my mind? Well...
First thought: how is all that stuff supposed to fit in that little bag? And WOW my room is messy. I honestly sat on my bed for an hour willing it to shrink with my mind. Needless to say, it didn't work.
Second thought: I should be a professional packer. Who knew?! Let's be honest, I sort of surprised myself
Third thought: I may need to pack another white shirt...that just might not be enough...ha!
Fourth thought: I'm sick of packing, I should watch Hook. So I did, and I loved it as usual. Easily one of the best movies ever. That sound track kills me every time.Fifth, Sixth....Hundredth thought: I GO TO THAILAND IN LESS THAN TWO DAYS!
Of course this thought has many sub-thoughts such as: fear, nerves, excitement, anxiousness, happiness, sadness, adventure, rats the size of cats, rice, airplanes, elephants, Biebs (oh wrong post), homework, packing, did I mention nerves?
So that about sums my brain up right about now. I'm stoked on life paired with an equal serving of nerves. But like I said, ready or not here I come!
Next post will be from across the world in good ol Thailand. Just you wait! Something actually worth reading ha. Cool story Hansel.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
I Guess I'm Just A Sucker For...
...The Biebs
I, a 20 year old college junior have caught the fever…Bieber fever.
Yep, Justin Bieber has stolen my heart. His teenage, 5 foot something self has got me sayin, baby baby baby ohhhh!
I want to be his one less lonely girl
When he smiles, I smile
Imma tell you one time, me plus you Biebs= happiness and joy
His world is my world, his breath is my breath
I want to be his favorite girl
I won’t be no eenie meenie minie mo lover
I was a heart breaker when I was little, but now I’m bigger. We have that in common
I just need somebody to love. And that somebody has got to be the Biebs.
Justin! That should be me holdin your hand!
Love me, Love me, Say that you love me!
Thank you Ellen, for accompanying me to Never Say Never. No better way to spend my last Tuesday on US soil for a few months. 
We got to enjoy it with hundreds of screaming girls, oh wait. Nope. We got him ALL to ourselves (pretty much)
We got to be stylin in our Bieber designed 3D glasses. And I got to experience the Biebs first hand as he reached out to me through the screen. I know he was only lookin at me. I just know it. 
Never Say Never, Bieber. I’m comin for you, once it’s legal….hate that.
Okay, enough of that. In all seriousness LESS THAN THREE DAYS!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)