every stEp.

Other Blogs

2011-09-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out my other blogs when you get a chance:
Updates to come on all... very soon... promise!

http://genevieveennis.wordpress.com/

http://genevieveennis.aminus3.com/

The Camino de Santiago, Spain

2011-08-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

El CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

I am currently in Spain on a trip down the way of St. James (El Camino de Santiago)
Here is my story so far:

2 years ago Molly, Max, Biaina and I met in Thailand.
The rest is pretty much history.
We have stayed in touch and have managed to see each other about once a year since..
Last year, more precisely 1 year and 5 months ago, they all came to California and we did a road trip down the Coast of Califonia all the way to Mexico..
This year we are walking along the Camino de Santiago,
and next year there is talk about traveling and hiking through Briish Colombia, Canada.

Well I guess I should go ahead and admit it. So far I have been in Spain for 13 days or so. I spent about 3 in Barcelona (which was amazing and I now would like to move there!) and should have now been walking for about 10 days on the Camino de Santiago...starting in Burgos...
On the 6th day on the Camino we had decided we would take a rest day.
Unfortunately for me, I got sick on the afternoon of the 5th day of walking... making my one rest day on the 6th a rest week.
I believe tommorow will be day 5 of resting... making my resting days and walking days equal... so it looks like Day 11 may just feel like Day 1 again. We will soon see.

Here is a little on how my trip has been so far.
We have been walking about 20 kilometers a day with our packs which we recently made much lighter by ditching things, cutting up soap, mailing things home and realizing we dont need 5 days worth of food in our packs for snacks along the road from town to town.
Our feet hurt among other things, but the walks are pretty great. We usually arrive to the town we will sleep in around 2ish.
We are sleeping in Alburges which are basically super cheap hostels for pilgrims along the camino de santiago.
They are great because they are filled with fellow pilgrims and everyone is courteous and nice.

I have written about the specific days in my journal that I may share if I manage to find enough time, most likely if I get back to the States in once piece and can live to tell the tale.

To catch you up to speed, I am currently in Leon, Spain recovering from some sort of stomach infection I needed a shot in my bottom for and a knee that makes a popping noise with every step. I took the train here and will wait for my friends to arrive (it is a 3 day modest walk from where I took the Train in Sahgun)-they should arrive some time tommorow. Then we will start the hike the next morning possibly at 5 30 am... or 7, depending on how many times we end up pressing the snooze button.

And now that I am back in America, I guess I should sum up the rest of my journey.
Here we go:
Tapas are wonderful, Spanish times for serving meals are not.
I walked a lot, hurt a lot, got random sicknesses a lot.
I had fun, saw lots and learned a bit more Spanish.
I am back to be back in the states for a while, I wonder where I will go on my next adventure.

Mom and the turtle

2011-07-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

Mom sends me emails from time to time from Chester the turtle...
Here are a few of the photos from the emails I have received

This one was titled "I step over this everyday"- I understand this is not a turtle, this is Shakespeare, the dog, but he is so cute, I had to add him in too!

Here is Chester the turtle, the animal my mom would like to live in my gross backyard "pond"

This one is titled "Help me Genny, Nana is chasing me"

Art in SF and a little side note.

2011-07-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of me, my brother and John Beaman when we were little.
My brother sent it to me.

http://www.artslant.com/

I would like to go and see more art in SF.
I would also like to start making this blog semi interesting to read again.
I lost myself there for a second...
more for a year.
I got so busy in a time consuming day to day job that I almost forgot who I am.
I am figuring it out again.

I am ready to make some changes...just not sure what those changes will be.
I think I like change because it is scary, new and I also hate commitments, so lots of change means little commitment

2011-06-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

I added photos to my photo blog, to see my portfolio, click here.

Locks for Love

2011-06-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20110513-locks-say-i-love-you

"“Don’t print our real names,” murmurs a man I’ve agreed to call Pedro, as the woman nearby looks away. “They fine you if they catch you doing this.”

We're standing on the Isabel II Bridge in Seville, a city renowned for its passion, yet one where the authorities seem to have lost their softer side. Uneven rows of padlocks glint beneath the sun, representing the lovers who signed them before flinging their keys into the river.

I thought I'd found a local tradition but then I stumbled across padlocks on the Pont des Arts in Paris, rusty padlocks in Spain's windswept Cabo de Gata Natural Park, and even sequined padlocks and handcuffs in the party city of Cologne.

The origin of the practice is unclear - padlocks have appeared in China for years at sacred sites, and there was a flurry of padlocking in the Hungarian town of Pecs in the 1980s, when university students locked them on a bridge next to the university either as a symbol of undying love or their determination to finish their courses. In 2007, the appearance of padlocks in the Italian film Ho Voglia di Te gave the tradition a boost, with reports of lovers' padlocks in Latvia, Russia, Korea, Italy and, some might say a little less glamorously, Southport.

So why do the authorities hate them so much? It all comes down to weight. Some structures simply can't support the bulk of 1,000 lovers' dreams, so every now and then sparks fly in Seville as angle grinders sweep the bridge clean.

This doesn't bother Pedro, though, as he adds another tiny padlock to one already there. He smiles at me. "For our son.""

From the BBC's website, see link above

cabbage art

2011-06-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

this Chinese woman is super inspired by cabbage

wind instuments

2011-06-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

these instruments are played just by the wind

4 year old artist

2011-06-06T22:18:00.001-07:00

bbc's link to a 4 yr old artist and her 1st art show

SKYPE is going to microsoft

2011-05-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13434352

happy hour anyone?

2011-03-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

http://mappyhour.nerl.net/index.php

travel writing job

2011-03-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

http://youplanet.com/ambassador/en

music

2011-03-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

Soma.fm

http://www.pandora.com

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/

2011-03-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

http://froknowsphoto.com/froknows/

2011-03-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

http://theshineclothing.bigcartel.com/

i like

2011-02-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

makemediamatter.com

2010-12-01T07:49:00.000-08:00

Journalists for Human Rights HUB Recruitment Prezi on Prezi

since I havent written in my blog in forever, here are a few videos

2010-11-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

The llama song

she shot me, she shot me, bang bang - she shot me--- this song has been stuck in my head for a while

fuck you, and fuck her too

i put more photos up

2010-09-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

go here:

http://genevieveennis.aminus3.com/image/2010-08-31.html

eco-tourism/volunteer tourism?

2010-09-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/2010/08/discuss-does-being-a-foreigner-make-you-qualified-to-help-in-the-developing-world/

I like this

2010-06-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Baking Soda and Homemade windex

2010-05-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Using baking soda instead of toothpaste, apparently, is a better way to brush your teeth.
* its more eco- friendly
*it's cheaper
* it gets your teeth whiter
DOWNSIDES: it doesn't taste as good as minty toothpaste, you run the risk of being made-fun-of, its less convenient than the tube
FOR MORE INFO ON BAKING SODA-CLICK HERE: the many uses of baking soda

FOR HOMEMADE WINDEX:
Next time you run out of windex, save your bottle and fill it up with half vinegar and half water.-Easy as that, then you are done.

this song makes ME happy

2010-05-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

websites I recently found

2010-05-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.instatravel.org/

http://www.ecotourismblog.com/

http://agdes.blogspot.com/
this blog has tons of info on international development and agriculture.
It has a list of schools to go to, places to find work and more- I think I might be interested in going down this route- and this blog is amazing for anyone who is because all of the research and info is compiled here, so researching is made that much more convenient.

The Coupon Lady

2010-04-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

This is the Coupon Lady, she is amazing. Watch the video- her bill was 150, after coupons it was like 9 dollars!
http://moneyning.com/video/coupon-lady-money-saving-madness/

props to Jenny Gerberding

4 Books Completed

2010-04-25T16:56:00.001-07:00

The World is a...

-Photographs of a ...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book-Photographs of a Sentence (Thailand)

The World is a...

Photographs of a S...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book-Photographs of a Sentence (Cambodia)

The World is a...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book- Photographs of a Sentence (South Korea)

THE WORLD IS A...

The Photographs of...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book-Photographs of a Sentence (Mexico)

to look at more photos, go here: http://genevieveennis.aminus3.com/

How to Live a Better life

2010-04-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some things I want to change to make a smaller impact on the world and that I think others should too:

Walk to places that are close instead of driving- this includes all the people that drive to a place to exercise and other things like that that kinda don't make sense.

Say no to Plastic bags- bring your own

toilet paper- use less (or none at all)-do it asian style- with a bucket or a water sprayer, and hey, while we are at it, if its yellow, keep it mellow, if its brown, flush it down

Recycle your Recyclables- yes, that's right. You have a paper bag? Great. Use it until you cant use it anymore, then recycle it. It saves even more trees.
Save those glass containers your salsa comes in, or whatever- make jam and put it in them, or put your seashells in it, or your change, whatever

Buy food and products with limited waste- like don't buy individual packets of things, you can save on waste that way

Use a real towel vs. a paper towel- pretty self explanatory

more to come soon...

Dilema

2010-04-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

So I have been trying to shop in an ethical manner, along with eat in an ethical manner. Basically, I have been trying to live an ethical life.
And for the most part, it's not working out that well.
I have made a decision to be a vegetarian for the month, but 2 or 3 weeks in- had chicken at a friends house ( I didn't want to be rude).
I have been trying to buy products that are fair trade- well I spent about 100 dollars at Old Navy today- I wouldn't exactly call them fair trade.
I have succeeded in one area I guess,I found a little farm where eggs are sold- free range and pesticide and everything free. Its nice, because I see the chickens and know they don't live in a box all day- they can roam free outside.
Basically, I need to make my actions match up with my words- something tells me- its gonna take a while.
In the meantime, I will walk around with my new gold sandals from old navy and eat cage free eggs.
Good thing I don't drink too much coffee, I do drink fair trade tea.

Mosquitoes are attracted to people who just ate bananas.

2010-04-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random facts for you:

Flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp.

Children grow faster in the spring.

Alaska has the highest percentage of people who walk to work.

Chewing gum while peeling onions will prevent you from crying.

Fish cough.

Frogs cannot swallow with their eyes open.

A sneeze travels out of your nose at 100 mph.

A “jiffy” is actually 1/100 of a second.

There is a town called “Big Ugly” in West Virginia.

You share your birthday with nine million others in the world.

No piece of paper can be folded more then seven times.

Until the 19th century, solid blocks of tea were used as money in Siberia.

Lizards communicate by doing push-ups.

When the moon is directly over you, you weigh less.

Panama is the only place in the world where you can see the sun rise on the Pacific and set on the Atlantic.

The first MTV video was “Video Killed the Radio Star,” by the Buggles.

In 1634, tulip bulbs were a form of currency in Holland.

Like the facts? Want more? go to: http://www.snapple.com/real-facts

Road Trippin Down the Coast

2010-03-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

March 24- 1
Yes, a roadtrip down the coast of California. Me and a few non-natives.
We will experience the coastal feelings of the PCH while we drive down the coast.
I have taken many trips up and down this golden state, but I tend to stay on the 5 when making my journeys.
This trip is all about the journey.
Here's to exploring my own backyard. Pictures have arrived at:
http://genevieveennis.aminus3.com/

Pics are up on facebook- well some, more to come soon

just go here.

2010-03-11T16:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

I don't care what you say, he could be a model

2010-03-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

This is for all of the people out there who don't think Shakespeare has what is takes. These photos prove them wrong.
He has luscious locks
very versatile
super handsome
and a good listener.
He would be the best dog chow model ever. They never even saw it coming.

OK Go- new music video

2010-03-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

the census is a little ridiculous and I agree with andy rooney

2010-03-05T20:22:00.001-08:00

Watch CBS News Videos Online
click here for the whole news article
on another note: I think the US government has wasted way too much money with the census, I think they could have been much more proficient and used million or two less tax dollars to get the job done.

Good Quotes

2010-03-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

"Change means movement, and movement means friction. I'm getting used to that".- Maxim Van Lyl

Before I die quotes, click here: website (scroll right)

Songs I Want That I Don't Have

2010-03-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

Just click on the song and it will play.
Diplomat's Son- Vampire Weekend

road to happiness-damien newton

Be OK-Ingrid Michaelson

If you wanna be happy-Jimmy Soul

Wishin' and Hopin'-by Ani Difranco

What the world need now is Love-by by Jackie DeShannon

Brahm's Lullaby-by Suzanne Santo from the band HONEYHONEY

Hey Soul Sister-by Train

The "girl" cell

2010-03-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

The under ground market- who's going.

2010-03-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

sign up here to go to the underground market this sat!
Underground Market link
for more info, go here
http://foragesf.com/

Don't wanna cross the bridge, no problem, check out the white elephant sale in Oakland:
White Elephant Sale Link

Blog Blog Blog

2010-03-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia says:
A blog (or weblog) is a website in which items are posted and displayed with the newest at the top. Like other media, blogs often focus on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news. Some blogs function as online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Since its appearance in 1995, blogging has emerged as a popular means of communication, affecting public opinion and mass media around the world.

Blogs that have caught my attention:
http://chateaulalinde.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog
http://jewelsharrell.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog
http://www.thebeerbuddha.com/?expref=next-blog

Zero1

2010-02-23T18:43:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before, I have a part time job working as a travel writer intern. The company I work for is working with Zero1 in San Jose for their big event in September, it is called the 01SJ Biennial. It's awesome because it is a contemporary art festival, which focuses on the intersection between art, technology, and digital culture. I am excited to be a part of it and really excited to go!
Go to Zero1.org for more info!

Virginia the Journalist

2010-02-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

My friend Virginia will be famous some day, and she will financially support me. That's the deal.
She wrote
"wanna hear something funny? Proof that im not a very good journalist..."
I told her of course.
Virginia: "I had to make this blog for a class and this is an excerpt from my first entry
Observations:

Hockey players are very tall.
Much cuter than their roster leads on.
Didn't know they were all foreign.
I still don't like hockey much
Miller light advertisements everywhere... hmmm only children in attendance."

I think it is fabulous, I would hire her.

A few photos from ValentinesDay

2010-02-23T15:30:00.000-08:00

I went and visited my college roommate for valentines and here are a few photos from our adventures. I had a great time and wish I were hanging out with her now!

3 cheers for green energy!!!

2010-02-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

check out the bloombox

it was on 60 minutes.

click here.

what is my name as a .com?

2010-02-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

i was bored, so I looked up a few peoples names and added a dot com at the end. The result was not as fascinating as I thought it would be:

genevieve
genevieve.com
it is a bus advertising site.

virginia
virginia.com
"Let Virginia.com aid you in finding all the travel, moving and local resources you need to make life a success in Richmond, Wytheville or anywhere in between."

dave
dave.com
its an electronic design website

then i got bored. that is all
I encourage all of you to look up your names as a .com and tell me what you found in a message right down here...

The Oakland Airport

2010-02-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

The Oakland airport has free wireless internet. I like that. I was in another airport recently, it might have been Seattle SEA or maybe it was in another country, who knows, but they charged for their wireless internet and it made me a little upset. I understand that internet costs money, but if coffee shops can afford to offer free wifi (other than starbucks- and don’t get me started with starbucks), then I think the airport should also offer it. Especially because passengers are forced to now arrive at the airport two hours in advance for domestic flights.
I have an hour flight today down to LA.
It leaves at 3:45.
That means I was supposed to arrive at the airport at 1:45, I arrived at 2:30, so I will admit I did not follow the 2 hour rule, but that leaves a lot of time for someone to sit around and do nothing. Internet is useful because it makes the act of going to the airport a little less hectic. It allows for more time to possibly catch up on work, or emails, or just watch a tv show online.
I think its very thoughtful for airports, like the one in Singapore, to offer computers for passengers to use free of charge.
Speaking of delightful times at the airport…..
I am waiting at gate 9 and there is a Chinese food place called silver dragon café and the man who works there is honestly the nicest airport worker I have ever met.
He gave me an extra cookie at the check out and then when he saw me sitting here working at my computer, he came over and gave me some free banana bread- okay, not your average Chinese food place, I know. But it’s in the airport, so not only does it serve Chinese food, but it also serves naked juice (similar to odwalla)
Anyway, my trip to La has started out good and I just thought I would share.

My dog Shakespeare

2010-02-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

My parents and I are going away this weekend (they are going to Texas, I am going to LA), so we brought the dog up to my grandparents so he could protect them while we are gone. I am my dog's favorite, but my grandpa is second on his list. Anyway, my dog has some weird habits. He only eats if you sit outside with him while he is eating. He is afraid of his dog food. And he will bark after every bite unless the food has been poured out of his bowl and onto the ground where it is "safe".
My grandparents have watched the dog in the past, but this time my grandma decided to put his food in the garage.
Bad Idea.
Apparently, she went out in the garage to check on his progress and he was just looking at his food. So she hand fed him.
This time he was also afraid of his water, so she had to hold the water bowl up for him too.
We told her that tonight she should just pour it on the floor, and as for the water, try putting it in a different container.
Who knew that feeding the dog would be the most difficult part?

2010-02-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

my mom sent me this link. I hope to read more articles from this section in the future

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/home-fires-shaking-all-over/

Another site worth taking a look at:

2010-01-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

Its "the world's first feature Rockumentary to expose the world's 27 million most terrifying secrets"
About present day slaves.
http://callandresponse.com/home.html

sleep talkin man

2010-01-25T18:13:00.001-08:00

This is seriously the funniest blog ever.
One of my favorite quotes:
"You can't be a pirate, you haven't got a beard. My boat. My rules."
and:
"Don't leave the duck there. It's totally irresponsible. Put it on the swing, it'll have much more fun."
and:
"Deedoo. It's a deedoo. A deedoo...Oh, it's not a deedoo. I have no idea what it is."

http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/

travel comics from max

2010-01-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

click and view on the links below, my traveling friends. click and view.

Least I could do (comic about china)

Least I could do (comic, a different one, but still about china)

Least I could do (comic about Jamaica)

Least I could do (comic about Nigeria)

Least I could do (comic about airlines)

3 books completed

2010-01-24T16:49:00.000-08:00

The World is a...

Photographs of a S...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book-Photographs of a Sentence (Cambodia)

The World is a...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book- Photographs of a Sentence (South Korea)

THE WORLD IS A...

The Photographs of...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book-Photographs of a Sentence (Mexico)

I have now completed 3 photo books, most recently the Cambodia book. They are for sale, if you would like to buy one or just look -you can just click on the links above.

Also, if you would like me to make a book especially for you, send me your photos and I can create it for you.

Bricking

2010-01-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

I have been laying bricks in the back yard of my parents house and wanted to take a few photos of the progress being made. Shakespeare wanted to be in one of the photos ofcourse.

playing with light

2010-01-17T14:55:00.001-08:00

the most random post ever

2010-01-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

I pass by this "hotel" off of 580 freeway a lot, I think it might be torn down some time in the future, so on a drive with lots of traffic, I snapped this shot.

My friend Biaina is working for this charity and i really like the video, the company is called CARE Canada.

Resolutions

2010-01-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

I have made a lot of promises to myself in the past that I haven't kept.
Hopefully with this resolution,I will follow through.
I was recently hired to work as a travel writer intern through a company called yourtour
its also called
decizium
Through this internship, I hope to get more experience and a better understanding of what I want to do.
So, here comes the resolution part.
I will try to update my blog at least once a week with something more interesting than simply a link and also update http://genevieveennis.aminus3.com/ more often as well.

I am pretty excited about this and can't wait to tell you more as my new job and the blogging continues.
However, I am still on the job hunt, both of these jobs are part time, so I am still looking for something that is a little more full time to help pay the bills or enable me to save up.

Here's to more frequent posts in the future.

Haiti

2010-01-14T14:52:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine had a brother-in-law and sister in Haiti.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/3228388/Kiwi-womans-family-trapped-after-Haiti-quake

go here if you want to help
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

Success

2010-01-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Blog update

2009-12-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

I updated my photo blog, more to come soon, I promise. If you know anyone looking for art to hang in their home and might want to buy a photo from me, please spread the word!
http://genevieveennis.aminus3.com/

go here too
http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/06/the-ten-weirdest-things-lost-in-the-post.html

I made it on the front page! (of the electronic news)

2009-12-19T11:12:00.002-08:00

http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/play/top-5-ways-give-back-over-holidays-bangkok-873054
Check it out!

Here's what it says:
5 cool ways to give something back in Bangkok
We asked the founder of Bangkok’s most 'sanuk' charity organization to give us some new ideas on how to do a bit of good this holiday season
Tell others what you think!
Giving back in Bangkok
Every week volunteers teach English and play with kids in one of Bangkok's slums as part of the "Sanuk My Saturday" program, says Dwight (second from right).
There’s no doubt this is the best time of the year to give something back to society and there are plenty of opportunities for people looking to volunteer in Bangkok –- or just donate some cash. Here are my top picks on how to help out a few organizations that are doing great work but seem to fly under the radar all year long.
1. Give
The Bangkok Refugee Center helps care for displaced people from over 44 nations around the globe. The center is a place where families, often with several children, gather to learn, play and receive medical care. Since the Thai government doesn't recognize refugees, they are always in need of generous donors. Call +66 (0)2 768 356 for more information.

2. Burp
Cuddle up with some little ones who could use some extra lovin'. Meal time is the best time to visit the FFAC (Friends For All Children) Orphanage. The kids -- mostly babies and toddlers -- always need someone to lend a hand with feeding and playtime. FFAC is located in the city center about 15 minutes from Victory Monument (you can also visit them in Chiang Mai and Nong Khai). Map and details at Ffac-foundation.org.

3. Play
At “In Search of Sanuk,” we've started making trips to a small slum community every week. For about an hour we give brief English lessons and more importantly spend time building lasting bonds with the children who attend. This is ideal for those living and working in Bangkok who don't have time to join other activities during the week as you can volunteer on any Saturday. Sign up on the website.

4. Cycle support
Chris Roach is currently on the journey of a lifetime, circumnavigating the globe on his bike to benefit Oxfam. Now that he has finally reached Thailand, jump online and show your support. Donate by visiting his blog, Cyclestrongman.com, and send him a note of encouragement as he makes the long journey from the southern beaches into the beautiful mountains of the north.

5. Procrastinate
Do your last minute Christmas shopping online and save lives. This one isn't in Thailand but it's an incredibly great program. If you’re like me, you’re too young to remember the horrors of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's rule in the late 1980s. But 3,000+ kids there have been diagnosed with congenital heart disease, many of the cases due to his chemical genocide. Believe it or not, buying shoes, scarves, and t-shirts can help this backlog of kids waiting for a chance to receive life-saving surgery. Details at Buyshoessavelives.com.
Dwight Turner is the Bangkok-based founder of "In Search of Sanuk," which works to make volunteering more accessible and introduce people to the city's existing charitiable organizations. For more on his work, check out our CNNGo profile: "Bangkok's fun-seeking, volunteering, tweeting American."

Read more: 5 cool ways to give something back in Bangkok | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/play/top-5-ways-give-back-over-holidays-bangkok-873054#ixzz0aAcppyWg

A day in the life of Genny

2009-12-19T11:12:00.001-08:00

For you Max:

I wake up every morning, with a big smile on my face

Then I sit down at my desk and do some stinkin thinkin with the dog

Then,of course, we stretch

I start my drive to work, over the river and through the hills (my parents live out in the middle of no where, so i pass by cows and sheds before I make it to the freeway)

And lately I cross the golden gate bridge almost everyday

It looks pretty, but it costs about 5 dollars everyday to cross, so I am not a huge fan.

While in the city, I usually see things like this

and i see these, from Gyout Design-(they make awesome lids for nalgenes)...its a company my friend Mels works for.

I drive home, go over the bridge again and then through the rainbow tunnel

I make it to the parent's house

It's Christmas now, so we have decorated

I love Christmas

Then at the end of the day, I come home to Mom and Dad

Seattle

2009-12-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

I went on a little trip to Seattle to visit my best friend Miya. We had an amazing time reconnecting and going out to eat multiple times. We had a spa day, a touristy day and tried to cook a Cambodian curry -Amok (it didn't exactly work out, but we did have banana leaves!) and I put pictures of us hanging out on facebook, these photos are from walking around town.

I got locked in the bathroom this morning

2009-11-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

I have settled back into my American life and am finally beginning to make my way out into the world, today, before I went to target and bought a rubber chicken for my dog, and before I went to a taco truck for lunch, and before I had finished getting ready for the day, I took a shower and got locked in my own bathroom. Somehow the door locked and would not open, so I had to yell for my mom who was out in the yard to come to my rescue. After three tries, with three different tools, the door opened and I was free to leave the bathroom and get ready for the day (at least I was clean)

The World is a book- Photographs of a Sentence

2009-11-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

The World is a...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book- Photographs of a Sentence (South Korea)

THE WORLD IS A...

The Photographs of...

By Genevieve Ennis

Book Preview

The World is a Book-Photographs of a Sentence (Mexico)

America- I made it

2009-11-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

I was welcomed back into my home country on Monday morning after 30 hours of travel from Bangkok to SFO via Tokyo.
My mom was waiting outside customs for me and we spent the day in San Fransisco.
So far, I have experienced the joy of eating a burrito, the delicacy of multiple wines, precious licks from Shakespeare(my dog),the visual pleasure of crossing the golden gate,saw the family, started to unpack, used a dryer for the first time in a year and still had plenty of limes.
Good to be back.

Food poisoning

2009-10-29T21:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning at 3am I woke up with food poisoning. I had bought some pad thai from my favorite man on the street the night before. He is my favorite because he knows my order before I tell him and his wife knows to put two limes on the side for me because I have asked so many times. Anyway, something went wrong. From 3am till 10pm that night I couldn’t keep anything down. Luckily I got a good night sleep last night and woke up feeling much better. I went to do some laundry this morning so I could finish packing up to move home to America and I had to go to the corner store to buy a 10 baht mini coke so that I could get change to put in the washer. The lady at the corner store pointed at her sweet potatoes and told me “arrroy, arroy” (tasty tasty). She told me to take one, so I did, took a bite and told her “chai, arroy” (yes, you are right, tasty). Then she proceeded to take out as many as she could and place them in my hand. I said “kup kun kah” (thank you) and went back to do my laundry. I will miss getting free food when I am getting change. I will miss a lot of things here, but I am glad to come home.

2009-10-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the curry spice turmeric can stop cancer from forming.
"An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown. The chemical - curcumin - has long been thought to have healing powers and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8328377.stm
I have finally set up a blog account specifically for my photos. I hope you take a look
http://genevieveennis.aminus3.com/

Cambodian Photos

2009-10-25T02:42:00.000-07:00

2009-10-12T03:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiXmw5a9kiM

2009-10-06T16:47:00.001-07:00

http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.StoryDetail_VPage&pid=2TYRYD0XYE7P

Cambodia

2009-10-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

REAL LIFE
Day 1- September 30th
So I couldn’t manage to get my money exchanged in time, so I ended up taking a bus for 207 baht this morning at 11am after getting my Thai baht exchanged to US dollars for Cambodia.
I got to the bus station around 10:50 and left soon after. I had bought a salad from my favorite salad man (out of the back of his truck) at work the day before, so I packed that to eat on the bus, it was delightful. I got to the border, took a taxi for 80 baht to the border, no hassle at all, he did try to take me to some tourist help building, but I told him I didn’t want that and so after about a minute of telling him “mao auo” (I don’t want), we continued to the border. I have to say, all of this was way easier than I thought it would be; after reading people’s blogs and hearing everyone’s advise, I was prepared for the worst and my experience went pretty smoothly (this is probably because I knew what to look out for, I can see people easily getting trapped if they didn’t know).
I got to the border, there are people trying to say you need a visa before you get there (not true), I just ignored them and kept walking. I got my visa stamped to leave Thailand thanks to a paper I brought that my co- worker, Heather, told me I needed (I only needed this paper because it claimed I was finished working and done using my Non-Immigrant B Visa).
So I made it into Cambodia, it was raining a little, but not too bad, and almost no one was at the border, so there were no lines, it was great. I walked to the right side where you need to get the visa on arrival and gave them 20 dollars and a picture of me for my visa. The man told me that I had to pay 20 dollars and 100 Thai baht (a something or ether “BULLSHIT” fee), I told him no, he looked at me, then took my passport and stamped it…. I guess I was right about the fee was going towards his next beer. Then I walked a bit further and got my passport stamped again and was now officially in the country. I got my picture taken and filled out an arrival form at the next building and started to walk towards where I would catch a taxi.
I had heard lots of horrible stories about expensive taxis and buses and had read if you walk away from the border a bit that you can get better deals. I only have my little backpack here, so I didn’t mind the walk, and it was raining a little, so it wasn’t hot. Anyway, I started to stroll along the main highway/street of Poipet. I walked so far I got worried there wouldn’t be anymore taxis. I had managed to bargain my way for a 6 dollar taxi at the border, but thought that was too much, so I had kept walking. I was starting to wonder if I should turn around and make my walk of shame back to the taxi driver I had denied. Instead a moto driver asked where I was going and I told him I needed a taxi for Battambang and that I only had 5 dollars ( a little bit of a lie) anyway, he told me he could drive me to a taxi. I asked him how much the moto drive would be and he told me, “You decide”. I told him if he bargained for me for a 4 dollar taxi he could have the 1 dollar left that I had. It worked.
The taxi drive was splendid, and the driver knew English and the other people in the taxi seemed nice and tried to communicate with me a bit. The car had a tape deck and a tape with Khmer music was playing, it popped out of the radio deck and the driver turned it over to switch the sides to play the other half of the tape (remember those!) anyway, then the other side didn’t work, so he did what anyone would do, he took the tape out and shook it a bit and blew on it (oh the memories), but sadly, it still didn’t work.. So then I took the 1 and a half hour drive to Battambang and here I am. I am staying at the Chhaya hotel, its nice, the beds are soft, and the rooms are cheap. I walked over to the smoking pot and reserved a spot for the cooking course on Friday. I ate dinner at the White Rose (their smoothies are amazing!) and now I am at the gecko café because they “have” internet, but its not working today, maybe because of the rain.

October 1
It’s weird how time seems to pass. I could have spent the rest of the week in Bangkok sitting around in my apartment, doing laundry, seeing a few friends, and messing around online. Time would have passed by in no time and nothing significant would have happened. I have been gone 2 days now and already I feel like I have been in Cambodia for a long time. Different experiences, doing things by myself and just the art of traveling make days seem more significant (at least for me). Today I went to Wat Banan and Phnom Sampeau. Wat Banan (says local legend) was the inspiration for Anchor Wat. I don’t know about that, but there are 359 stairs to the top and it is worth it. It looks like it could be placed at Anchor Wat and fit right in, but its just a tiny little temple compared to the massive ruins of Anchor.

After I climbed back down the steps, I hopped back on the moto bike and my driver took me to Phnom Sampeau, which is a hill with a temple on top and a cave in the middle. This cave was used to kill many people during the genocide led by the Khmer Rouge. I hired a child guide (Shortie was his nickname) and he hiked up the hill with me and told me about the history of the hill. Then we went into the cave. There is a big massive tomb like cage (two of them actually) that hold the collected bones, skulls and clothes of the people who were murdered here. The Khmer Rouge Soldiers would kill the people at the top of the cave using bamboo and then would push them into the cave. It was eerie and creepy and I didn’t want to take any photos because it just felt so wrong. In the end after staring in silence for about 10 minutes I managed to take a few shots so that I could be able to better share what this cave was like and how horrible the killings were.
After this, I got on the back of the moto and my driver, who spoke English incredibly well with an Australian accent, drove me around the villages before returning back to Battambang. He told me that he was born in 1981 and he remembered as a child he would have to sleep in a bunker at night with his family for fear the Khmer Rouge would come into their village at night and kill them. He had an older sister whom he never met because she died at the age of ten from starvation. His family was originally from a different province in Cambodia but the Khmer Rouge had displaced them and brought them to Battambang. His father had been a French teacher before the war, so he could have been killed, but because they had been moved to Battambang no one recognized him and he pretended to be a farmer. When I asked my moto driver if after the war his father ever went back to being a French teacher he replied, “No, he was too scared, it could have been another trick. They would do that from time to time. The soldiers would ask for previous government workers to come forward and they could have their jobs back, just work for the new government instead. When people came forward, they were killed. Anyone educated was killed. No one was safe.”

October 2 and 3
I finished my time up in Battambang with a cooking course and on the morning of October 3rd got on a bus for Siem Reap. Its flooded. Hard core flooded... like i couldn't get to my guesthouse flooded. I am sitting on a bed at a cafe I remembered going to 2 years ago hoping that as I sit in here enjoying my sandwich and smoothie the sun will soak up some of the water from the streets.
................
I believe the quote is “the lonely planet sucks, but without it we suck more.” Yep, that’s it. The lonely planet does tend to be wrong about, well, most things, when it comes to specifics, but it does do a good job at leading you to the general area of where you want to be. Don’t trust it on prices, times, email addresses or telephone numbers. But it does know the good areas to be and some of what is cool to do and see.
Anyway, this all brings me to say that the lonely planet was wrong about every guesthouse in Siem Reap, so I went online at the Blue Pumpkin (an excellent restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet) to look for guest houses that might not be flooded… Oh yes, I guess this is the worst flood Siem reap has seen in decades. Anyway, I wrote down a few guesthouse names and numbers on the index page of my lonely planet and wandered outside to the flooded streets to try and navigate myself towards one of them. Low and behold I got lost and I was saved from the watery streets by a tuk tuk driver who asked me what guesthouse I was looking for and when I began to show him the list, he simply asked how much do you want to pay. I told him 5 dollars and off we went. Thank God for the lonely planet (he knew I was lost because I was wandering the streets staring down at my lonely planet looking at the map).
He stopped at about 4 guesthouses and showed me which ones were expensive and finally brought me to a perfect guesthouse for 5 dollars a night and gave me his business card. So I unpacked my things and wandered around for a bit, came back, took a shower and the lights went out….during my shower… and they didn’t come back on for about an hour… I failed to mention that yesterday when I went to take a shower there was no water, so I waited about an hour or two before successfully trying again.
Anyway, now I am showered and clean, thank God for head lamps. Gonna look in my Lonely Planet about what it says about Siem Reap.

October 4th
I am pretty sure I am sick. I have a bronchitis sounding cough and a possibly infected knee from falling about a week ago. I just hung out today, did not go to the temples- one because its 20 USD for one day and I want to use it to my full advantage, but also because I want to bike to the temples, and if i went today, there would be no way I could bike there because of the flooded streets... So, I applied to some jobs online for when I return to the states, did a little shopping, and just hung out. It was a good day none the less.
October 5th
The Friar family has arrived. Haha. I work with Nina friar (in Bangkok) and her sister Lotti also lives in Bangkok and I have become good friends with them both. Their parents came to visit them for the month and so they are traveling around Southeast Asia. I met up with them to explore the ancient ruins that are : Anchor Wat. It was great to spend time with them and have company to explore the ruins with, along with becoming their Christmas card photographer for the year 2009.
Here are some shots from the day

October 6th
I am exhausted. Anchor Wat wears me out. I am officially "watted out". I hope I took enough photos to leave me satisfied, if not, I do have one more day that I paid for that I could use to go back and see some more temples later on, but I don't think I can handle another wat at this moment. I need a wat break. Here are some more photos from the day- it is stunning, amazing and massive.... I am glad I was able to return and take more photos of this wonder of the world.

October 7th
We spent the day shopping, swimming, relaxing and exploring. It was a nice relaxing day in Siem Reap... I am getting sick.
October 8th
Today was a travel day- spent the morning at the Blue Pumkin and the afternoon on a bus to Phnom Penh. I found a nice cheap place to stay right on the lake (3 dollars a night)... its nice, and there are great smoothies down the street for 75 cents. yum
October 9, 10, 11, 12
Takeo- I went to Takeo in the afternoon of the 9th of October to visit Siphen and Mach Meas. I had stayed with them and their family when I traveled abroad two years ago with Pacific Discovery. I managed to get in contact with them and they were more than willing to let me stay with them for a short time during my travels around Cambodia.

Let me give you a little background. Siphen and Mach both lived through the Cambodian Genocide. I talked to Siphen more than Mach about it, so I will give you her history. She was born in Takeo province but she and her family moved to Phnom Penh when she was little because at that time there was fighting with the Khmer Rouge in the countryside and Phnom Penh had not fallen to the Khmer Rouge yet. She had 3 older brothers (much older) who were studying at that time in Phnom Penh. In 1975 the Khmer Rouge took over the city of Phnom Penh and forced all of the citizens to move to the countryside. One of her brothers decided to try and escape to Thailand instead and he was successful. The rest of her family went back to her home in Takeo only to find out that the Khmer Rouge had burnt it, for the second time. They were forced to live all together and harvest food together with the other villagers while the Khmer Rouge kept a very close eye. Siphen was about 5 and she only had one skirt and shirt to wear for the next four years. She survived on little food and no blankets, but her second older brother was killed by the Khmer Rouge because he had attended University in Phnom Penh and the Khmer Rouge did not like educated people.
When the war ended, she and her family returned to her home to start to build a new house to replace the one that had been burnt down twice. While they were away an American bomb had landed on their property creating a large hole. They managed to make a beautiful pond from the damage made.
Meanwhile, her brother that had escaped to Thailand was now living safely in America and had been trying to contact his family in Cambodia to see if they were alive. After 10 years of having escaped not only did he find out that most of his family had survived the genocide, but his family (who had believed he was killed) found out that he was alive and well in America.

Siphen went to college to become an English teacher and met Mach there. Mach had luckily passed the test to attend the university; otherwise he would have had to obey the draft that would have required him to be a soldier.
They now live in Takeo, close to family, and both teach at a local school down the road. They hosted a participant of the first Peace Corps group ever to be in Cambodia, Derek, and he also taught at the school that they both work at. Siphen and her niece have worked with the following groups of Peace Corps participants and she continues to succeed in many activities she puts her mind to.

So, back to the present times…… I was able to go with Siphen and Mach to school and helped Siphen to teach two of her 12th grade classes. It is a very basic, common, Cambodian school. There are no fans or air conditioning in any of the classes and if it rains too hard, the students to not come to school. The rules include not cheating, not being shy, wearing a proper uniform of black or blue pants (shirts for girls) and a light colored top that must be tucked in. Another rule is that if a cow enters the school yard, the students must lead it back out.
I was able to learn how to cook a few more things; and how to make pepper lime sauce- my new favorite thing!!! Mach showed me how Peace Corp introduced how to make some sort of gas to power the stove top with cow poop and how it worked and they also showed me their new additions and changes to their house since the last time I was there. I got to see their dogs, Dino and Lucky #2 (Lucky #1 died). I got to play with my old pal Pong, who was three years old the last time I saw him and now he’s five. I played with their son and niece and nephew, got to chat with them, visit the market, see their family’s restaurant and just feel like part of their family. Mach joked around with me as he laid in the hammock that lounging in a hammock was the most popular Cambodian sport, he is a very funny man.

October 12, 2009
I am back in Phnom Penh,I took a bus back from Takeo at 9:30ish this morning that played a memorial of Michael Jackson DVD the whole ride. I am thinking about just fooling around with the internet today ( I just arrived this afternoon from Takeo). I need to email a few friends and check my email, apparently some people are worried about my whereabouts. I think I will go to the old Russian market and find a little café with internet. I am currently sitting at a little restaurant by my two dollar a night guesthouse (happy guesthouse) that makes smoothies for 75 cents that I have now had 3 of (total, not all today). I should hop on a motorbike taxi and go over to the market, maybe I will buy a few gap shirts fresh from the factory for a fraction of the price they will be in America.
Well, I went, and purchased some goodies, but no internet, my wireless on my computer is being weird, but now I am at an internet cafe with my computer plugged in, so I am happy.OH..... and i gave my watch to a man on the side of the road today....its a Seiko watch (from my grandma), but he was a watch repair man and my glass was cracked. He said come back tomorrow....
i hope my watch is there.
October 13th, 14th
My watch was there! And it looks wonderful! I have been working at an orphanage for the past two days, its called New Future for Children, I am working on their newsletter. You can look at their website here: http://newfutureforchildren.com/
October 15th
I went to the national museum today and ran into the friends restaurant (proceeds go to a local charity for children). I tried to meet up with a friend last night, but it didn't work out. Oh and today the power went out in the whole city for about 2 hours- random. Anyway, I bought a bus ticket for Kep for tomorrow at 1:15, I will wake up early and go and get some presents from the market before I head to the beaches. I ran into some friends from teaching this evening- Katie and Tia (and another girl they befriended while traveling), so I am going to have dinner with them and then hit the sheets.
October 16th, 17th and 18th
On the morning/afternoon of the 16th I managed to get out of bed and go over to the central market to purchase a fake Luis Vuiton (unsure of spelling) wallet for a certain family member who requested it (I am not naming names so maybe you will think it is real if you ever see her with it)
Afterward I jumped on the bus headed toward Kep. We passed by Takeo on our drive and I was able to look out the window half way there and know exactly where I was. Two people got off the bus at Kep, myself and a 26 year old french physiotherapist. We decided to share a room together at our guesthouse the tuk tuk driver drove us to in order to make our 6 dollar room just that much cheaper (ie 3 dollars each).
Kep was nice, I guess....it was pretty expensive and not much going on, so in the morning we both went for a walk in search of a money exchange booth and or an ATM. We eventually were given a free lift on the back of a moto after wandering around aimlessly. Then we got on a boat that took us across the water to a place called Rabbit Island.

Rabbit Island has nice beaches and 5 dollar basic bungalows. Basic- ie no running water, squatter toilets and a generator for lights between the hours of 6pm and 9pm.
It was a lot of fun. My french friend and I met an Irish physiotherapist and two dutch girls from Holland and we all shared a duplex of a bungalow. It was a lot of fun and we all had a little too much to drink.

This morning (the 18th of October), we took the boat back to the mainland of Cambodia and said our goodbyes. I got in a tuk tuk with a Chinese tourist towards Kampot where I then rested, fixed some computer problems, bought a plane ticket home to America, and got a 4 dollar hour massage by a blind man.
October 19th
I spent the night in Kampot at blissful guesthouse and it was blissful, I will leave today and head to Sihnoukville.
October 20th and 21st
Yesterday and today were about the same- lie on the beach, tan, eat lunch, read, chat with fellow travelers, dinner, read and bed. This has been a great way to end a trip with a little vacation after traveling (I think this can only make sense if you have traveled, and even then it might be confusing).
Tomorrow I will leave Cambodia and make my way back to Bangkok via the beaches of Trat. I had a good lazy last day here, lying on the beach (getting a tad bit sunburt) and doing some last minute errands in preparation for tomorrow. I will lie on the beaches of Trat for a day or two and make it back to Bangkok by the 23rd or 24th of October.
I finished reading a book called “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi. It was okay, apparently a New York Times bestseller, but not exactly my cup of tea. I bought it in Phnom Penh because I needed a distraction from the original book I bought, “Escape”, by David McMillan. It’s about the prisoner who escarped Bangkok’s prison, nicknamed the Hilton, its good, but not the page flipper I wanted. Anyway, I am still not finished with this one, but I promptly traded in “Reading Lolita in Tehran” to the local bookstore to snatch a copy of “Lonely Planet Unpacked” which is a book with mini passages from multiple travel writers about their trips ‘gone wrong’. It’s pretty good so far.
Anyway, back to my time in Cambodia. I am glad I came to this country again, explored the places I had yet to go and revisited the places I had already been. I feel satisfied and good about this trip and I am now ready to get back to Bangkok.
My time spend in Sihnoukville was good but the guesthouse I stayed at was a bit basic ad dirty, but for 3 dollars a night I can’t really complain. Anyway, I am ready for a deep cleansing and my first hot shower of the month.

Back in Thailand, my trip continues (atleast for a few more days...)
October 22nd
Well, my alarm clock that I bought one month ago specifically for this trip has now stopped working, so far I believe I have used it 3 times. Anyway, I decided I would be able to sleep lightly and wake myself up for my 7am bus ride. I was successful. The bus ride was a hot and messy one from Sihinoukville to Trat, the air conditioning was minimal to say the least and I believe the one bus ticket I bought involved an actuality of 4 different buses and vans. I was a little worried about crossing the Thai border because the Thai stamp in my passport mentioned something about visiting the Thai embassy before leaving Thailand which I ignored and refused to do. I was now hoping this would not be a problem, and it wasn’t, but my passport did take longer than usual to stamp because the immigration official had problems copying my passport with the electric reader (because my passport has recently survived a flood) and he had to enter my information by hand into his computer. Nevertheless, I was greeted into Thailand with open arms by some guy who so kindly brought my backpack across the border asking for a few baht for his services whom I promptly told no and took my backpack free of charge (its not too heavy and had I known he wanted a tip I would have carried it myself). I arrived in Trat hot and tired and proceeded to Ban Jaidee guesthouse where I took a warm shower, rested in the hammock and eventually made my way out to buy some Thai pants and dinner (rice, fish, mango and sticky rice, dragon fruit and a weird plum drink I like that everyone else thinks is disgusting)
October 23rd
I spent my day in Trat. I relaxed, walked around, took some photos, found an awesome little café, ran into a co-worker from my job in South Korea who will start work here and just hung out. I will make my way to Bangkok tomorrow.

I will be traveling back to America on November 1st and arriving in San Francisco at 9am on the 2nd. It will be 13 months and a few odd days since I have been on America’s soil and I will be glad to return to the luxury of sourdough bread, Mexican food, good wine and chocolate, a non-bargaining supermarket, drinkable tap water, washing machines and dryers, free public restrooms with toilet paper, bathtubs, and television with more than one English channel.
Keep your eye out for jobs for me, I have yet to snatch one of those, but if all else fails, I have some leads on becoming an aupair in Spain (traveling is addictive).

. Itinerary for Cambodia .

2009-09-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

So I am off to Cambodia. My plan is to backpack around the country and do it cheap. I want to be able to travel around for as much as I want until I want to go back to Thailand and then HOME to America. I bought a tiny little laptop that
I plan on bringing with me so that I can go online more easily
& so that I can upload and edit the photos that I take. It will be
Lotti’s birthday on the 6th of October, so I plan to meet up in
Cambodia with her and her family then. I will also meet some
Other friends along the way, but for the most part this will be a
Solo journey and a time to reflect. I am bringing with me my backpack, camera, computer, a toothbrush and journal. I hope to take some amazing photos, hang out with myself and figure out more about what I want to do with my life, and of course watch out for landmines!!!! Since I will be traveling by myself, the chance of my updating my blog is a little more likely because I don’t think I will be as busy as I would be if I were traveling with friends, however, I am not making any promises, I have lived in Thailand too long and am defiantly on Thai Time, none the less (mai pen rai “no worries”) it will get done and eventually my blog will be updated, so keep a look out, in the meantime, here is my itinerary, so Mom doesn’t worry and if any of you want to live vicariously through me or snag this itinerary and do parts of it yourself. I think its pretty rockin’.
October 1
Thailand to Cambodia- by train Take the train from Bangkok Hualamphong
Here’s where it gets a bit sketch…..
At the Border: go to Thai immigration departure passport stamp 20 USD + 5 USD for corruption, bring a picture, get the form, pay, get the visa label, and at the next building get the stamp in your passport, and then get another form, another stamp, and get your photo taken
From the border: go to Battambang
Take the free taxi to the transport station; pay 10 USD to go from Poipet to Sisophan
Or: try and walk to the bus station that is out of town should be 2-3 USD for truck or 4-5 USD for the bus to Battambang, so says the guesthouse I want to stay at…..
If I cant figure it out I will take the 10USD bus and sleep in Sisophan (Serey Sophorn) and sleep at the saratorn guesthouse
Sleep:
Chhaya Hotel: 118 st. 3 tel : (012) 733 204 (855) 53 952 170 (855) 16902512
Activities: Gecko Café- free wifi with any purchase
October 2
Battambang
Sleep: Chhaya Hotel
Activities: Cooking school- Smokin Pot 7USD
October 3
Battambang
Sleep: Chhaya Hotel
Activities: Go to Phnom Sampeau- limestone caves with wat where they killed people during the war- mot driver can be found outside Chhaya Hotel- $4 to 1, or go to all 3- wat ek Phnom and wat Banan also and bamboo train- moto driver 8 USD all day
October 4
Battambang to SiemReap- by boat 15 USD
Siem Reap
Sleep: Price Mekong Villa/Prince Mekong Hotel Thapul Village /House 415 –email ahead free pickup from boat, free laundry, bike, breakfast
Activities: Angkor Wat, Massage: seeing hands massage 4USD, swim at Aqua 2 USD
Internet: Blue pumpkin cafe
Volunteer/ give to charity- singing tree café- yoga studio/community center
October 5
Siem Reap
Sleep: Price Mekong Villa/Prince Mekong Hotel
Activities: Angkor Wat, Massage: seeing hands massage 4USD, swim at Aqua 2 USD, bike around Angkor wat
Internet: Blue pumpkin cafe
Volunteer/ give to charity- singing tree café- yoga studio/community center
October 6
Siem Reap- Lotti’s 23rd Birthday
Sleep: Price Mekong Villa/Prince Mekong Hotel
Activities: Angkor Wat, Massage: seeing hands massage 4USD, swim at Aqua 2 USD
Internet: Blue pumpkin cafe
Volunteer/ give to charity- singing tree café- yoga studio/community center
October 7
Siem Reap
Sleep: Price Mekong Villa/Prince Mekong Hotel
Activities: Angkor Wat, Massage: seeing hands massage 4USD, swim at Aqua 2 USD
Internet: Blue pumpkin cafe
Volunteer/ give to charity- singing tree café- yoga studio/community center
October 8
Siem Reap to Phnom Phen (Bus 6 hours)
Sleep: Boodi tree 12 USD, royal guesthouse 6 USD, okay guesthouse 2 USD, Sunday guesthouse 5 USD
Activities:see Rattana (a friend from volunteering at the Mirror Foundation in Thailand)
October 9
Phnom Phen
Sleep: Boodi tree 12 USD, royal guesthouse 6 USD, okay guesthouse 2 USD, Sunday guesthouse 5 USD
Activities: Museum, volunteer
October 10
Phnom Phen to Takeo
Sleep: Siphen and Mach’s house
October 11
Takeo
Sleep: Siphen and Mach’s house
October 12
Phnom Phen
Sleep: Boodi tree 12 USD, royal guesthouse 6 USD, okay guesthouse 2 USD, Sunday guesthouse 5 USD
Activities: shop
October 13
Phnom Phen to Sihanoukville
Sleep: Monkey Republic Bungalows monkeyrepublic.yahoo.uk
Or Serendipity beach
Activities: Sala Santepheap- massage by donation- goes to starfish project
October 14
Sihanoukville
Sleep: if want to go to kamput: 2 hr taxi (shared 3 usd one way) blissful guesthouse 5 USD
October 15
Sihanoukville
Sleep: Monkey Republic Bungalows monkeyrepublic.yahoo.uk
Or Serendipity beach
October 16
Boat to Krong Koh Kong- 8am
Moto to Hat lek
From there, walk to the border, minibus to trat every 30 minutes, 1 hr ride
Sleep: Windy Guesthouse Tel: 039 524 419
October 16
Trak to Bangkok- pack, hang out, fly home to America soon after… like November 1stish??? Thai time has taken over my way of thinking.

Contact:
I will have my computer, so my skype phone will be usable (510) 931 7916
US Embassy: Tel: 728000

****Dates are an estimate, I could very well decide to stay longer or shorter in different locations and I might choose to go to multiple locations not listed in the itinerary, but this is what I have made so far. I am sure adjustments will be made to fit what I want to do better once I am there and know what is going on.

2009-09-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

More books

2009-09-21T01:11:00.000-07:00

eleven minutes- by Paulo Coelho

The neighborhood

2009-09-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

Good Bye Kasintorn

2009-09-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

I am finishing up with testing the kids and on September 30th I am done teaching in Thailand! I am going to backpack around Cambodia for a bit and then come back to Bangkok, pack my things, and then make my way home- sometime in early November, I still have yet to buy my plane ticket....
Anyway-
Today, while testing I called this little boy named Mel (pronounced Mail like mailbox) and I said
"Hi Mel"
He replied
"I Mel" (Mail)
I said
"I know"
then........he said
"I 'mail'.com"
It was the greatest moment of teaching yet, I laughed while he smiled and thought he was cool and then I gave him his test and continued with the other kids.

please watch this!

2009-09-18T06:18:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ezfk7s1NyY

Testing, testing 123

2009-09-15T22:08:00.001-07:00

So it's that time of year- again... We are conducting final exams with the kindergarteners for the next 3 weeks. This week was my first week of tests. It invovled each student spelling Fox, Dog, Fly, One, and Ant while I held up a flash card of the picture and word spelled out... so basically it was a "copy this" test- the scores however do not all add up to 100%, they are 3, copying is still hard.
The other test I gave to my kids this week- same kids, different day, consisted of me telling them commands in english: sit down, stand up, march and dance, and then asking them what their name is and "how are you?" The kids seem to be better at this than the "copy this" test.
Anyway, today during the "spelling test" I had some extra time in the classroom and we played some games. I taught them how to jump really high and then separated them into groups and picked a few children out of each group to jump for the camera. They absolutely loved it, and it was a nice fun game for them to play after the test!

2009-09-14T09:15:00.001-07:00

I went wakeboaring again this last weekend with my friend Lotti to Lum Luk Ka THAI WAKEPARK. Basically, I love it and its pretty cheap- respectively. We do it on cables, not by boat, and today I am sore and really should buy some weights so I can get more muscle and do more tricks. Lotti and I decided we are going to be pros. We have been twice by the way.

Random dog photos

2009-08-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

Bangkok has a lot of stray dogs
here are some photos of my favorite ones

ps, check this artist out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8197790.stm

News from Space- the toilet is broken (BBC news). Haha, the news is ridiculous.

My weekend was AWESOME

2009-08-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

The way they separate us from the Thais at work, is kinda wrong.
But at least we get the smart cooler

I am discovering awesome places and neighborhoods i like to photograph in Bangkok

I love wake boarding!!!!!!!

Please check this out
On Wednesday it was Thai Mother' Day, so we did not have work, hence a crazy Tuesday night out. We also hardly worked this week because our students were either going to assembly or practicing for it. So , once again it was a "rough week"

I volunteered with an organization called In Search of Sanuk this weekend- and met a ton of awesome people and then today (Sunday)
went WAKE BOARDING
http://www.thaiwakepark.com/
SO0o0o0o0o0o0o Fun!

Yesterday was Monday- and I taught 9th graders in the afternoon...
one named Bell ( short for Jingle Bell- no joke) came up to me and said
"Teacher, you look b.............." (like she was about to say beautiful)......and then what came out of her mouth was "okay today" hahahaha. I guess I was not wearing the right outfit, dangit.

Khao Yai National Park

2009-08-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

This week flew by-- did i mention I once again did not teach on Thursday or Friday because the students needed to practice sitting nicely for the assembly next week? Yep, its true. Thailand IS ridiculous. It's Thai mother's day next Wednesday- so that is what they are practicing for-we even get the day off, so it is pretty important.
Anyway, so a while back I put my pink Thai pants in the wash with the rest of my clothes, and all of my whites became pink. Well I have been trying to make them white again ever since.. I bought some bleach for the second time yesterday and put my whites in a bucket and let them sit in the bleach water overnight, but I forgot to take them out this morning... apparently if you leave clothes in bleach too long, they deteriorate.
So... I left work early so I could go home, take the clothes out of the bleach and then rush over to the bus station.
Almost all of my clothes are now no longer pink by the way... just in case you were wondering.
So, I made it to the Mo Chit Bus station on time and grabbed a Leo beer with one of the girls that was going on the weekend trip and then we got on our bus. We got to Pak Chong- where the park is located and the guesthouse we called was full, so we ended up meeting a man at 7-11 who gave u a ride in the back of his pick up to a cheap hotel (170 baht a night)- about 5 USD...
Anyway- Katie and I share a room on the 7th floor with a squatter toilet in the bathroom and 2 holes in the door without a lock, I slept very lightly that night, but also amazingly because the bed was nice and soft.
The next day we made our way to Khao Yai and rented motorbikes and toured around... in the rain.... and we had a genius idea to rent a tent and camp, so we did that- tents were about 3 dollars. And then we explored some more, saw monkeys, snakes, deer, and leeches. We were in bed by 9 because we didn't have a flash light, and so there wasn't much to do.
The next day we toured around some more on our motos and went to a view point and a spirit house in the park and called it a day. We hitch hiked from the park to the bus station in the back of a pickup and then went to 7-11 for lunch and got on our bus for home- smelly and tired.

Apparently in America- in San Diego, you can get a hotel room for 19 dollars if you sleep in a tent...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8192101.stm

These are pictures of the park, believe it or not- it was cold and rainy all weekend!

Ayutthaya

2009-07-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

I managed to leave the house this weekend, for the first time since I had the swine flu (other than making it to Chiang Mai)--- I don't really count that because all I did was sit around because I was too tired to do anything else.
Anyway- here is how the weekend went down.
Friday was payday and we got paid at the end of the day- after teaching the "fluent English" class outside on the bench....that is a story all in itself.
we got home and finished packing and were on our way- we walked about 20 minutes from our apartment to a random gas station that has white vans that go to Ayutthaya for 70 baht.. a little over 2 dollars. Awesome.
We hopped in a van that took us there right away.
We got there, had a few beers and then went dancing all night long, some of us danced a little more intensely than others (ie jumping up on stage with the band-uninvited...) It was a hilarious sight to watch. The next day we woke up an slowly made our way onto bikes to go to the temple with the face in the tree!!!!!!!!!! and then to bike around a bit more around the town. It is an awesome cute little town. Then we took a boat around the river and went to the elephant coral and another temple for sunset. We came back, had an amazing dinner and sung karaoke all night long. I took a white van home early in the morning and slept and emailed all day sunday!

Also: Apparently a Japanese astronaut wore the same underpants for a month (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8177743.stm).

Yeah School

2009-07-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I put a kid on time out and when i told him he could get out of timeout, he cried, not during time out, but after.

During the next class I was tickling a little boy who kept tickling me, he thought it was hilarious to tickle me and somehow i made his hand hit his own lip and i gave him a bloody lip- he didn't cry though, just kept tickling- actually he didn't even know it was bleeding, but I stopped him and tried to make him realized he was hurt, but he just kept trying to tickle me.

oh, and i thought them the word bee (we are learning a few animals this week), and then I would run around the classroom like a bee and say buzz buzz buzz...i would go up to a kid and pretend to sting them and put my butt in their direction- the LOVED it

Oh, and check this out...
http://www.djmick.co.uk/really/panda-painted-elephants-10-photos/

Day by day

2009-07-23T04:21:00.000-07:00

I learned something new today, according to the dictionary, when a person is talking abut a computer mouse and there is more than one, the plural word to correctly use is Mouses, not mice. huh, who knew.

The book I managed to finish this week at work is She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb.
This week was my first real week back at work for a while now. I actually taught, which was new, and I am feeling better day by day- almost no cough now.
I am teaching my kids a few new words, such as dance!!!! Its so fun, I walk up and down the little isles i make them stand in (with 40 kids, you have to have some order) and then I dance with them like on the Ellen show, haha, its soo fun! They love it.
Earlier this week when I had them work in their god- awful book that the school insists that is so important (when really its the worst learning tool ever) a little boy peed his pants and tinkled on the book..... haha, i guess he doesn't like it either.

Oh by the way, did i mention I just had two of the best classes EVER!
The first class was in the morning- 8:30- 9:20, or 9:15, or something, i am not too sure to be honest.... anyway, it started about about 20 minutes late, as usual, welcome to Thailand.
I had a few games I wanted to play with them (they are a group of 9th graders I see once a week, but the class has been canceled for the past 5 weeks, yes,i had not seen them in 5 weeks)
Anyways, there are 7 students in this class, much smaller than a class of 40, and they can actually speak english... well, they understand more... a common sentence is "I going to the park", but they get the jist of it.
Anyways, about the greatness...
I am sitting in the class waiting for them and they finally come in (Belle, Prince (a girl), Bee, Aek, Fern, Typhoon, and Ice)
Ice tells me she is happy to see me, it was really cute.
Then we play never have i ever (G rated)... like you start by holding up all of your 10 fingers AND then say something like never have I ever been to Singapore, if you have, you have to put a finger down, the first person to loose all fingers is out, they loved it, and they ganged up agianst me and got me out.
They LOVED IT.
Then we played the game where you say 2 words and then the next person says 2 words, and the next and the next and you have to make sentences and a story out of it.
THEy loved that too.
It was just a lot of fun and I love that class

Then I went back to the kindergarten building and taught a class, another great one, the kids paid attention, had fun and we finished way earlier than expected, so we played a bunch of games.
Good day, so far, 2 more classes to go, how awesome would that be if they went great too!

News update

2009-07-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to apply to Cal State Long Beach for grad school, but because of the Californian bankruptcy, they are no longer accepting applications. Bummer. I am still looking into it, hoping the economy will change, but I just kind of thought it was hilarious that when I started to look into it there was a little side note on the website that stated it would not be accepting applications because our state is BROKE! Oh man, well, needless to say, I am looking into Duke University, again, because Long Beach is currently not looking promising, but I fear Duke- its cold there.

Chaing Mai

2009-07-16T03:41:00.001-07:00

r
So for Buddest lent, a while back now (shortly after being released from the hospital....) I went to Chaing Mai with a friend. We had 5 days off from school and I really wanted to get out of the city, so we took the long bus ride up to a place we had both been before and were dying to go back to. I managed to take a few photos while up there and am finally getting around to posting them, I was still pretty sick, so there arent many, but these are some of what I've got.
We went to some temples, ran into a flower market, purchased a bunch of gifts and other little Nic-nacks, and even managed to find a really neat bookstore(I have already forgotten the name) where all books were 100 baht (about 3 USD).

Just a little update

2009-07-15T04:14:00.000-07:00

I read the news today, apparently an Indian tiger park has admitted to not actually having any tigers- BBC News.
I also finished reading 2 books at work…
How to Change the World (that book I bought a while back about social entrepreneurship)
And
The Five People you meet in Heaven
Yes, I read them both today, at work, it was my second day of doing absolutely nothing at work because of mid term tests, yes that’s right, my 3 year old have a month long mid term test….
Oh, and swine flu is back, tomorrow it is mandatory that all people at our school- students and teachers, wear masks….
I am still sick, but I am doing better every day- drinking lots of Gatorade and trying to steer clear of street food minus my morning fruit and the man I buy spring rolls from out of the back of his truck at school.
Speaking of school, this has been my work schedule, just to make it clear:
After I got sick for 4 days, I went to work for one, then we had our 5 day vacation, then I went back to work for Thursday and Friday and I gave my kids the beginning of their test.
Then it was the weekend again, then I went to work on Monday, continued giving them the test, but for the past 3 days, they have been taking a "Thai test" so I sit in my office and read books and watch movies, ect, basically don’t do anything

Sick Sick Sick

2009-07-12T03:44:00.000-07:00

Well about 2 weeks ago now I went to the hospital about 3 times in the course of 3 days. On the third day I stayed overnight, it was that bad.
I went in barely able to walk, and they iv(d) me up, gave me lots of antibiotics, drugs, ect. I had pneumonia. I have now missed all 5 days from work I am allowed to miss (paid) until the end of the term in late september, but I am doing much better than I was when i visited the hospital.
While in the hospital, they asked if I was hungry, I told them no, even though I hadn't eaten in 3 days, but then they asked what I would like for breakfast... so they showed me a menu and I pointed at the toast. They then asked...
Toast now?
No.
Are you hungry?
NO.
Toast now?
No, toast breakfast.
Toast now, curry breakfast?
No.
Toast now?
No, toast breakfast.
What now?
How about some crackers?
confused looks, thai words, then she points to random food
crackers? (pointing to the toast)
no, toast
Toast now?
no, toast breakfast....
In the end, i did get toast for breakfast which i didn't end up eating, but i did not get any crackers.
I left the hospital the next morning, well afternoon with about 200 pills and a bottle of cough syrup I finished within the week.
And I am still sick- I am going to work though, but basically just sleeping aside form that. I have managed to finish about 2 books in the course of 4 days, but now i need to buy more books. You win some, you loose some.

Ps, the books were:
A million little pieces- James Fray.... non fiction, but there is controversey on how non fiction, about a man who entered a treatment facility for alcoholism and drug at the age of 23 and his time there- really well written and honest, real dialouge

Stolen Lives -twenty years in a desert jail- Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi.... also non fiction about the life of Malika Oufkir and her family, she was a princess in morocco who was adobted out of a family close with the king, her real father tried tried a military coup that failed and was killed and Malika and her family were to become prisioners (for life), but they escaped. It is a story of their time as prisioners.

Work Post Swine Flu

2009-06-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

I came into work today, first day in 6 days, and I have bronchitis ha ha. Also I taught my first class, well played with them, and then went to my next two classes- both canceled. Work is rough.(me and my sarcasm) I love it!
Tuesday- all classes we canceled. Wednesday, my morning classes were canceled, also on Thursday my morning classes were canceled, and on Friday 2 of my 4 classes were also canceled. Yeah, work. haha, i love it, it is now, once agian the weekend, but we were not paid on friday, so, I dont have as much money as anticipated, hence why I am updating my blog currently instead of going out and potencailly spending money...

Swine Flu Vacation

2009-06-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

THE JIM THOMPSON HOUSE- wEd- STOP 1

M0n- I went to Work and found out we did not need to come for the rest of the week because of the swine flu
Tues- Siam Paragon -bookstore, and freedom cafe- I researched and bought my GRE book

On my walk to my discovery of the freedom cafe, I passed by a milk store
This was actually the window display for an artsy cafe.

Wed- I went to a bunch of places----Tom Johnson house, art exhibit (after which I convinced a tuk tuk to take me to lumpini park which he said would be 150 Baht or 20baht if I let him take me to his friend at the clothes shop, so i went and pretended that I wanted to buy something and got my tuk tuk driver a gas coupon and then went on my way to lumpini park, lumpini park- tai chi in the park, siam paragon drum show by stanford- random, art exhibit, bus ride home.

THE JIM THOMPSON HOUSE- wEd- STOP 1
THE FIRST ART EXHIBIT- wEd- STOP 2
THE FIRST ART EXHIBIT- wEd- STOP 2 (all done with ink pen)

THE FIRST ART EXHIBIT- wEd- STOP 2
Lumpini Park- wEd- STOP 3

Lumpini Park- wEd- STOP 3 (thi chi in the park- AMAZING)

Lumpini Park- wEd- STOP 3 - i went to the library in the park in search for a restroom, i didn't find it here, but I really liked the library....

THE Second ART EXHIBIT- wEd- STOP 4- I saw this place on the way to Jim Thompson's house and managed to find my way back to it
THE Second ART EXHIBIT- wEd- STOP 4

THE Second ART EXHIBIT- wEd- STOP 4 - randomly most of the pictures of the undersea wildlife were taken in Canada, i dont think this one was though

The Drum concert- wEd- STOP 5
So this was a concert at Siam Paragon, played by a club from Stanford for Thailand, Random. But really good though.

Thurs- I felt like I had seen too many art shows at this point, so I had made alist of places to see and threw it away. I went to the mall in the morning, then got some sushi- amazing, and then I went to the Vimanmek Teak mansion (the biggest in the world I guess) and then i took the bus, to the metro, to a white van that drove me to my friend Katie's house in a village where I went to dinner and hung out with her and slept.

Fri- On friday I came back home from my friend Katie's house in the morning (she had to work, i was still on my swine flu vacation).Then I had a few quick skype dates and then went to Khao San Road to find white thai pants and go to a wat to meditate. Well I found the pants- got the lady down to 150 baht and then tried (TRIED) to find the wat. I walked around this wat and talked to the monks and other people who tried to send me to the grand palace because they thought i was just a tourist but then i told them i was there to meditate and they would send me to someone they thought would know where to go.Ends up I went to the wrong temple. A monk that I met had told me to go to the one i needed to go and gave me directions only after offering me to meditate in his room (a bit creepy i thought).

Some people waiting for the bus on Khao San

I made it to the right temple, and told them a friend and I wanted to come next week and spend the night, but that I just wanted to try and practice meditation today. So then a lady boy comes.....Yep, a lady boy taught me how to meditate. And I hate it.You have to clear your mind, so no thinking allowed. Impossible you say? nope, all you can think about is breathing in and out, and your stomach is your heart..... It was rough, you are supposed to keep your eyes closed too, for sitting meditation at least, but I cheated and opened them up and looked around. I hated it. The standing one is a little better because they let you think about walking and lifting your feet and stuff, but man, it was rough. So basically what I thought would be relaxing, defiantly is not.
Then I came home and grabbed my packed bags that I had packed during my skype date and went with Orlagh and Rachel on the 511 bus to get to Victory Monument, we took the wrong bus, ofcourse, but we got off when we saw the sign that said Victory Monument and walked about 20 minutes and we were there. It was hot though, so we got a little sweaty and we ran into a friend randomly there as well. We then had to find a van that would take us to a place called Angtan... or something like that. Yeah, that took about an hour, there are so many vans there. We got in the van and were on our way (the van was meant for 10 passengers, this one had 15.
They added an extra seat in back with literally no leg room. Myself and 4 outer thais sat there (one was a mother with a baby on her lap.))A bush wall I found on the walk to the vans at Victory Monument

We went to visted our friends on friday night in this place called Angtan, and when we got there, there was a house party and a eventual walk to a bar which was super small. The bartender was only used to 5 customers at a time, so when we brought about 15 of us in, he had to make a 7 /11 run to buy more alcohol to sell.

The market kids in Angton

Well the next day (SaturdaY)we woke up and took another van, and then a train to (I dont even know where) and stayed at a random couple's house that invited us to stay and we had an actual house party in a house there (first house I have been in for a while, minus the huts in the villages). And then we went to a random "bar"- ie 3 red tables outside a shop and drank with a bunch of police officers...? ( Biaina: Thai cops?Whoooaa)

Then finally the next day (Sunday) we woke up and took a songthao like huge car truck thing to the waterfalls, which were really in a river stream-like thing. I defiantly was expecting bigger and the whole weekend to be spent there, but the house parties we super fun and wer played around in the river "waterfall" all day and would jump off each little waterfall into the river below. It was fun, we would climb trees and jump off into the water and there was one bigger waterfall, maybe 20 feet, i dont know, I am not good with numbers... that we jumped off and then underneath it was a cave underneath that we swam in. So it was a fun swine flu vacation to say the least.

Graduate School and New Careers

2009-06-16T00:50:00.000-07:00

I have been looking at graduate schools and have decided I want to go something with

Art

Sociology

and International studies or relations or something

I want to work with tourism and non profit and

I want to eventually work or create work that will make people's lives better

I am not sure what to call this in a "major", so I am having problems researching schools because I dont want to study communications, or economics, or another generic major they have set up for qualified individuals. Mine is a little more individualistic in itself and there in lies the problem.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions, please send them my way.

Well, school is off for the week because of the swine flu, oh man do I love it.

I went to a luxurious mall today called siam paragon and bought 2 books-

a GRE practice book and a sociology book called how to change the world- typical, i know.

Anyway I have been researching all day at this really cool cafe across from the Siam BTS metro station called Freedom cafe- great food, free internet and computers, books, everything.

Here is some of the organizations I researched today, I found out about most of them from the resource guide in the book I bought today...

http://www.opportunityknocks.org/

find a non profit job here for the US only I think

http://www.nptimes.com/

http://philanthropy.com

cool news websites for the non profit world

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

find a place to volunteer in the states with this

http://www.acumenfund.org/about-us.html

really neat

http://ashoka.org/internship

intern here in Virginia

http://avina.net/web/siteavina.nsf/page?open

spanish and cool looking

http://www.casefoundation.org/about

http://draperrichards.org/

I think they give money to non profits

http://www.changemakers.com/

looks pretty cool and liberal

http://purposeprize.org/index.cfm

looks like an older non profit

Swine Flu

2009-06-15T02:20:00.000-07:00

My school has canceled classes for the rest of the week! I came in to school today, taught all day like any normal day. It was an okay day, it will be teachers appreciation this week and next, so they were perparing. My last class went late and I walked back into the teachers room. They told me I would have a long vacation- I didnt believe it. We get the rest of the week off for swine flu (my new favorite disease!) I am now planning a vacation!

Work is a breeze

2009-06-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

Today I have a 4 hour break in between classes. 4 hours. Usually I have 2 hours. Today I have 4. This morning I played sherades with my class (the 9th graders) and let them write down some things to act out..... doctor, policeman, office, dead octopus, taking off your clothes,fool... those were some they acted out.
Pretty much work is real rough (sarcastic comment thrown in there). The country of thailand is now requiring that to teach you must not have shyphillis.
So i had to get get tested and get a paper signed. I am shyphillis free.
Every week I read an entire book at work. Yes, i have a lot of free time, I am actually writing this while at work as well..
My book of the week is: The weekenders- travles in the heart of africa... its alright. not the best- easy read. Aboout Sudan.
Last week it was a book a friend loaned me about a muslim lady who went to go and be a doctor in the middle east before 9/11( 'In the Land of Invisible Women - by Qanta A. Ahmed')- thanks Max!
The week before it was The Broklyn Follies

This weekend= Hua Hin Jazz Festival ON THE BEACH, its where the king lives too! only a 3 hour buss ride, 150 baht..............YEAH!

Goodbye Mirror Friends

2009-06-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

Makzim, David, and Bernadette all left within the last 12 hours to go back to their home countries of the US and Belgium. I had an amazing time with them visiting (sleeping on our amazing couch and futon) and wish they could have stayed and traveled around with me This past week I have been a bit under the weather with a stupid cold, so there is really nothing that new to report, still teaching babies, they are still cute; still eating Thai food and using chopsticks and spoons to eat (no forks); still managing to get caught in the 15 minute downpours of the day; and still using Baht to get the foods and other “necessities” for myself. Pretty much, I am still having a great time, even while I am sick, but I am eating lots of Thai bananas and weird looking leeches fruit along with taking vitamin c pills from 7 eleven. Pretty much doing great.

- Anyways, as I am writing this, I am currently sitting on my couch because I ended up taking the day off from work, - I didn't feel good yesterday so I told them I was going to stay home today, I got home yesterday and felt fine, of course, so then i debated going to work this morning until about 6 50ish when i started to feel sick again, and of course now (for the moment that I am writing this) I feel fine again... So here's to my sick day, enjoy the photos and videos and check out my facebook for pictures I managed to put up today aswell.

A few farewell videos....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdCpASsqPuk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmtzQCSh6xk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inXk8_0n1hk&feature=fvst

Teacher by day- Tourist by weekend

2009-05-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Today is friday and as soon as I get off work I will get on my way home so I can pack my bags and get on the road and explore Thailand. The plan is to take a 3 hour 8 pm bus from the southern bus terminal which is extremely close to where I live and go and visit museums, waterfalls, and WW11 sites this weekend. We are going to sleep on a raft guesthouse... not sure what this entails yet, but it sounds awesome..... more to come soon!

----pretty much, yes it was amazing, we slept on a raft, there was a fat cat there that couldnt even walk on its own... I dont know what I am doing telling you this, but it was fat and lovable, we named it fatty. the owner told us we could take it in the room and let it sleep with us, but Max told him that he was afraid it might eat us.
What else did we do, well we went to the bridge at the river Kwai (WWII) and we went to some ancient ruins and slept in, looked at the floating disco bars pass us. Oh and we went to a really neat thai bar with a live band and it was someones birthday which meant cake!
Fun weekend!

Teaching Babies

2009-05-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

Today I played this game is class with my babies (my group of 40 4 year olds). I drew a remote control on the board with the up and down sign and three buttons. The objective was to teach them sit down, stand up, quiet, stop, and turn (just for fun). It went pretty well and they seemed to really like it, so I eventually told them to sit down for the last time and I was going to review with them how to count to ten before I passed out their worksheet. All of a sudden, one little boy got sick and threw up. I quickly got the other teachers and we cleaned him and some of the others up and I skipped the review and had them all start their worksheets. For the rest of the class I taught a few naked kids sitting on a hand towel. Welcome to thailand.

Work/Life/Thailand

2009-05-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

I have successfully finished my first week of school now and I have quite a few odd stories.
On Monday, I believe it was some sort of Buddist holiday because school was canceled.
On Tuesday I went to work (got picked up by the work van) and realized I will be teaching 10 classes twice a week of 40 4 year olds in each class. By the time we finished the teaching day it was pouring down rain. And our bus was no where to be found. So we waited for about an hour, hoping it would come, but eventually took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and walked through the flooded streets to find a taxi to slipt the fare. After about 30 minutes of swimming through the flooded streets we managed to find a taxi which we squeezed 5 wet bodies into and paid our 30 baht (1 usd) each at our destination. After every day of work I would quickly make my way over to Co San Road where I would meet with friends from working at the Mirror Foundation and we would get some pad thai and hang out for the night.This particular night we went to this place called MBK and saw X men in VIP seats. The seats were comfy like a couch, red, and reclined. There was a cute little airplane like blanket on them aswell and we ordered popcorn and had it delivered to our seats. It was the best movie ever.The next morning on wednesday our bus picked us up, not realizing it had forgot us the day before and we went on our way to work. Afterwards I made my way back to Khoa San Road and met with the same friends, said goodbye to a few of them who would be going back to Canada. Yesterday I taught a class that was going to go swimming after my lesson, so the entire class I taught naked 4 year olds as the teacher tried to dress all of them into their bathing suits during my hour class. After work I returned home and watched some tv with my two roomates, told the apt manager about our bathroom issues (the water from the shower doesnt understand it should go down the drain) and went to bed. Today is finally friday and I have yet to teach 2 of the 4 classes should teach today because supposedly we dont start to teach those until next week. So I am sitting here, twiddling my thumbs, and have already read 157 pages in a novel at work this week.Heres a photo of my apartment complex. pretty nice huh?

2009-05-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

taking the 511 bus

2009-05-11T02:05:00.001-07:00

Since moving to Bangkok I have managed to have gotten lost quite a few times, and it all revolves around the 511 bus that i have semi learned how to take. I have taken this bus to multiple locations a good 10 times now and i would say I have about a 50% chance of getting lost on it. There is a bus with a yellow sign in thai in the front and one with a blue sign. I have gotten on the bus with the yellow sign twice, both times I had to get off and switch to the blue. I have learned to never take the yellow sign bus. i have also managed to miss my stop multiple times to the destination i was trying to arrive at, even with the help of the people on the bus.... oh and one time i waited 30 minutes for it and it didnt come, so i got on a different numbered bus a man recommended to me and got lost because it brought me to where i wanted to go, but the wrong side. Pretty much, i see why i am now on "thai time" - I am always late because of the 511.

every stEp.

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