Naga!
I decided to come back to Chiang Mai for the night. A couple of the group of kids who started on Monday are leaving, so we decided to come back in, have a nice dinner (use the internet!!) and then go to a bar. Only have a minute though. Ok, let's see. WHERE DO I BEGIN?????
Everything is still going really well. I'm learning more and more about elephants (the specific ones at the park and the animal in general) and 'the situation,' which gets more and more depressing the more I learn, and it seems that the only real answer is massive education for the entire Thai society which, um, is difficult to say the least.
On a brighter note, I've acquired 2 nicknames since the last blog update. First one, "Bad-Time-Beth" from a lovely Canadian named Matt. This was based on the fact that I don't like playing this terrible game called Mafia where your success is based completely on how well you can lie and trick other people into believing you're not "the Mafia". The best player always seems to win just by saying, "Seriously guys, I'm not the Mafia, ok?" And for some stupid reason everyone believes her. It's evil, really.
My second nickname is naga, which means "serpent dragon" in Burmese. I picked it myself after making friends with Kopi, a very sweet 17 year old mahout from Burma. No one (from Burma or Thailand at least) goes by their real name so I didn't want to go by mine either. I looked through his Burmese-English dictionary and picked naga because 1) I could pronounce it and 2) I've never been a serpent dragon before and it seemed pretty cool. In addition to his phrasebook he also has Lonely Planet's Burmese Phrasebook which features an additional section titled, "Should you go?" (Neither my Thai nor Japanese Phrasebook had that section. ) How strange it must be to have come from a place that the general public is advised to just stay away from.
The other mahouts all speak Thai and I've learned some Thai from them but they can be a bit much at times so the first phrase I figured out was, "I have a boyfriend." Very handy! And since then I've been using the phrasebook a lot! The mahouts have one they share too so we sit around and communicate with a lot of pointing and bad pronouncing on both sides.
Ok, back to the elephants!!! They're getting cuter and cuter, it's going to be really hard to not try to shove one in my backpack when I have to leave. This morning I got back from "The Elephant Haven" which is this beautiful area where the elephants can just roam around. At the camp they get put in pens at night because they only sleep 4 hours a night and if they wander into a farmer's crops the camp will get fine and the elephant might get shot. Eeek!!! No good. So we went to the haven! We hiked to the river (stopping for beer, ice cream and potato chips), rode the elephants across the river then hiked up a really steep hill until we got to a tiny hut. We set up camp and the elephants were on their way! Totally free! We had an amazing meal cooked on a campfire and sat around the campfire. I 1/2 taught English to the mahouts with Helen (a lovely British girl who says, "Oh bless him!" and "That's absolutely gorgeous!" every five minutes) and then 1/2 learned more about depressing situations all over (Burma, elephants, aahhhhh, the list goes on).
In the morning after another awesome meal we went out to hike through the jungle with the mahouts to find the elephants!!! For being such huge creatures they do blend in quite well. We eventually found them all and then headed back to camp. These hills were soooo steep!! The humans were slipping and sliding all over the place, the elephants looked like they were walking on flat ground. Man, they're good at getting through the jungle.
I have a bazillion photos but this internet place is about to close. I may try tomorrow morning.
So yeah, update... Everything is still really good here. My super coughy roommate Stacy was replaced today by a girl named Rachel who is English but has lived her whole life in Singapore and went to some famous international school. Crazy accent, and she really liked my Old Navy pajama pants. She asked if I got them in a market in Chiang Mai and was surprised when I said they were pajama pants. I also learned they don't have Old Navy or Pepto Bismal in Singapore. My super coughy roommate was actually a blessing in disguise, I ended up sleeping outside on this balcony for two nights and it was really nice. The weather's perfect (at night anyway) and then when I woke up there would be an elephant family within feet of me, just over the railing. It all still seems so unreal.
And, let's see, what else, oh, for the hour and something drive into Chiang Mai tonight a bunch of volunteers I started with (some leaving for good, some going back tomorrow with me) and I rode in the back of a pickup going no less than 60 mph on every possible kind of street from complete mud to highway to city street. Singing showtunes.
It was fun.
Mom, don't worry, I'm pretty sure I get to sit in the passenger van on the way back tomorrow morning.
This next week I'm going to be going on "The Jumbo Express" which is Lek's project that goes around to small villages and gives medicine to their sick elephants. And I heard a rumor that the park is getting THREE new elephants!!!!
I'm so happy I'm here for 2 weeks.
Everything is still going really well. I'm learning more and more about elephants (the specific ones at the park and the animal in general) and 'the situation,' which gets more and more depressing the more I learn, and it seems that the only real answer is massive education for the entire Thai society which, um, is difficult to say the least.
On a brighter note, I've acquired 2 nicknames since the last blog update. First one, "Bad-Time-Beth" from a lovely Canadian named Matt. This was based on the fact that I don't like playing this terrible game called Mafia where your success is based completely on how well you can lie and trick other people into believing you're not "the Mafia". The best player always seems to win just by saying, "Seriously guys, I'm not the Mafia, ok?" And for some stupid reason everyone believes her. It's evil, really.
My second nickname is naga, which means "serpent dragon" in Burmese. I picked it myself after making friends with Kopi, a very sweet 17 year old mahout from Burma. No one (from Burma or Thailand at least) goes by their real name so I didn't want to go by mine either. I looked through his Burmese-English dictionary and picked naga because 1) I could pronounce it and 2) I've never been a serpent dragon before and it seemed pretty cool. In addition to his phrasebook he also has Lonely Planet's Burmese Phrasebook which features an additional section titled, "Should you go?" (Neither my Thai nor Japanese Phrasebook had that section. ) How strange it must be to have come from a place that the general public is advised to just stay away from.
The other mahouts all speak Thai and I've learned some Thai from them but they can be a bit much at times so the first phrase I figured out was, "I have a boyfriend." Very handy! And since then I've been using the phrasebook a lot! The mahouts have one they share too so we sit around and communicate with a lot of pointing and bad pronouncing on both sides.
Ok, back to the elephants!!! They're getting cuter and cuter, it's going to be really hard to not try to shove one in my backpack when I have to leave. This morning I got back from "The Elephant Haven" which is this beautiful area where the elephants can just roam around. At the camp they get put in pens at night because they only sleep 4 hours a night and if they wander into a farmer's crops the camp will get fine and the elephant might get shot. Eeek!!! No good. So we went to the haven! We hiked to the river (stopping for beer, ice cream and potato chips), rode the elephants across the river then hiked up a really steep hill until we got to a tiny hut. We set up camp and the elephants were on their way! Totally free! We had an amazing meal cooked on a campfire and sat around the campfire. I 1/2 taught English to the mahouts with Helen (a lovely British girl who says, "Oh bless him!" and "That's absolutely gorgeous!" every five minutes) and then 1/2 learned more about depressing situations all over (Burma, elephants, aahhhhh, the list goes on).
In the morning after another awesome meal we went out to hike through the jungle with the mahouts to find the elephants!!! For being such huge creatures they do blend in quite well. We eventually found them all and then headed back to camp. These hills were soooo steep!! The humans were slipping and sliding all over the place, the elephants looked like they were walking on flat ground. Man, they're good at getting through the jungle.
I have a bazillion photos but this internet place is about to close. I may try tomorrow morning.
So yeah, update... Everything is still really good here. My super coughy roommate Stacy was replaced today by a girl named Rachel who is English but has lived her whole life in Singapore and went to some famous international school. Crazy accent, and she really liked my Old Navy pajama pants. She asked if I got them in a market in Chiang Mai and was surprised when I said they were pajama pants. I also learned they don't have Old Navy or Pepto Bismal in Singapore. My super coughy roommate was actually a blessing in disguise, I ended up sleeping outside on this balcony for two nights and it was really nice. The weather's perfect (at night anyway) and then when I woke up there would be an elephant family within feet of me, just over the railing. It all still seems so unreal.
And, let's see, what else, oh, for the hour and something drive into Chiang Mai tonight a bunch of volunteers I started with (some leaving for good, some going back tomorrow with me) and I rode in the back of a pickup going no less than 60 mph on every possible kind of street from complete mud to highway to city street. Singing showtunes.
It was fun.
Mom, don't worry, I'm pretty sure I get to sit in the passenger van on the way back tomorrow morning.
This next week I'm going to be going on "The Jumbo Express" which is Lek's project that goes around to small villages and gives medicine to their sick elephants. And I heard a rumor that the park is getting THREE new elephants!!!!
I'm so happy I'm here for 2 weeks.
posted by beth at 12:35 AM
2 Comments:
Dear Naga,
So HAPPY to see your blog. Since you're not in a position to write daily, each one is so special!
Your mood was very "Beth" ..er sorry, Naga.
I'm glad you've met people you enjoy spending time with. The work sounds wonderful. ..what a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn,appreciate other species, and have fun doing it.
I can't wait to see the all pictures you've taken.
Stay well and happy. Looking fwd to seeing more posts when you're able.
Love,
Barbara- and Randy in Memphis
Deear Beth aka Naga:
Just happy to hear that you're doing well and having a great time. Everything sounds great as to what you're doing. I'm not surprised that you'd want to sneak an elephant home with you. Stay well and hope to see you soon!
Take care,
Donna
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