visuals. pictures. images. photos. snapshots. memories.

close encounters of the thai kind

this might be my most clever pun yet. and totally applicable to my first week in thailand.

i write to you, dearest follower, while remixes of thai and american pop songs shake the walls of the school's computer lab. it is aerobics time. this will be the theme of this blogpost. since i have arrived in the country, i have participated in thai aerobics twice. it's the new yoga. rebecca riddell generously took me to my first "class," a gathering of around 50 thai men and women on the shores of phitsanulok's mighty river. a visual, stolen from the interwebs and not actually our aerobics class, opens this post. to successfully participate in one of these, shall we say, gatherings, one must be incredibly coordinated. like to the point where one can predict the spasmodic movements of the tiny instructor leading the group. imagine contorting your body to do the grapevine (like high school soccer practice), then tae bo-esque punches, then high kicks, then running up, down, to the left, and to the right. yet really only sweating because its 100 degrees. not because you are actually gaining muscle mass or increasing your cardio. all to the beats of a remixed "barbie girl" and that song about going to san francisco with flowers in your hair.

my first monk's funeral in chiang mai additionally inspired this blogpost's title. a group of kids staying in my hostel encouraged me to go, promising a rager. and indeed it was. fireworks, bonfires, free food. fireworks so close that you were sure your death was imminent. bonfires so large that the burning ashes fell over the entire crowd, with no escape. did i mention free food??

i tried to include pictures from the fiesta/funeral, but i can't find the cord that connects my camera to the computer. i'm not freaking out. really. i'm sure it's just lost in my backpack that i've already unpacked. right? i can't possibly have forgotten it at home. or already lost it.

this week has also marked my first foray into teaching. i am to specialize in english grammar. my opening joke, an attempt to make the students comfortable, totally flopped. i said i totally split infinitives still. silence. we can only hope for improvement.

heading out this weekend to camp in the surrounding mountains with my fellow volunteer, a guy from oregon who has been out here for six months, and his friends. i can only hope for a new insight into the world of thai camping. dearest follower, you must wait with bated breath.

until next time.

*addendum: after much "alone time" at the school, i've set up a skype account for my thai mobile. i bought an american number that you, follower, can call and reach me. anytime! anywhere! contact me for further details.

**postscript: one of my students just took a picture of me writing this post for photography class.

***off the grid correspondence: it looks like i can't receive mail. so total reliance on the post is a no-go. but i will still try and compose letters. i guess this newfangled system of "e-mail" will have to be utilized.

the big reveal....dum dum dum

due to the traumatic and premature outing of this blog (ACHEM rebecca riddell, you rat) it is now time for the big reveal. i know that all of you out there in the interwebs are dying to know WHY exactly i am writing this blog, and if the title, "off the grid," has anything really to do with reality.

indeed it does. i am off the wilds of thailand. specifically, to a small village called nai soi, around 5 kilometers from the burmese border in northwest thailand. i will be volunteering for the Ban Nai Soi Community Learning Centre, a small nonprofit dedicated to educating high school-aged Burmese children from the neighboring refugee camp. i have been assigned to teach english and community art (yes, this worries me as well) classes.

i will be staying at the BNSCLC for roughly two months, until March 18th, and then hopefully trekking to india until i to return to the usa on April 1st. while I am not bringing the laptop that has survived four years of college and beyond, i do hope to periodically update this blog. so i won't be too far off the grid. but still. i've packed many novels that i have been meaning to read since the beginning of time. starting with 100 years of solitude.

wish me luck.

happy national bird day!!

thanks to my father, an avid bird photographer, i have learned that today, January 5, is national bird day. let's take a moment to think about the birds.

mere coincidence?

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/01/03/education/20100103TREND-ss_index.html

a stranger's resolution for the new year

zig zag wanderer

by Captain Beefheart, 1967. musical inspiration and/or soundtrack for this blog. one might even go so far as to say the heartbeat of this blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD4-O8LfwZY

oh, and HAPPY 2010 dearest followers! new year, new ideas, new moon. a very rare new moon. a blue moon. won't happen again until 2028. craziness.