Da Bluhd!

Back from a wonderful few weeks in the mountains of Mae Hong Son Province.  It went so quickly- I cannot believe it is already over and almost time for our last course! Yikes.
We started and ended the trip with an extremely windy 8 to 10 hour bus ride to the small city of Mae Hong Son from Chiang Mae, and on the way there, I am pretty sure that we rode the World's Slowest Bus. It was truly shocking.  But we made it there without it breaking down, so that's a bonus.  The next day, my group had another crazy drive, only this time in four-wheel drive trucks along partially paved roads on beautiful (but so windy) mountain roads and ridges.  It is the only road that connects the villages to the city, and most people drive it on motorbike. I can hardly imagine. Oi.

Before we got to our first village, we had two meetings: one with the NGO that does a lot work with the Karen villages that we would be staying with, and one with the government subdistrict office.  It was really interesting to have these meetings back to back and to compare their (often contradictory) answers.  But before I get too carried away, here's a bit of background on the Karen villages:  all of the ones we stayed in were around 30 household or less, 3 out of 5 have community based tourism (CBT) set up, and they all rely on swidden agriculture as their main form of subsisitence.  Swidden refers to a slash and burn style of agriculture done on the slopes of the mountains.  It involves farming one plot of land for one year, then letting it lye fallow for around ten years before farming it again.  The idea is to let the forest reclaim the land, and usually it does, allowing it to be a pretty sustainable system (as long as the population is not too big).  One day, we went out into the Rai (ag plots) of Huay Hee village and did a biodiversity study on 5 different fallow plots- one that had been fallow for 1 yr, 3 years, 5 years, 8 years, and 25 years.  Each plot had such different vegetation and it was really interesting to see how swidden agriculture affects the landscape.
But anyways, our first village stay was in Huay Tong Kaw (village of fan palms) were I stayed with Pawti and Mugaw and their two year old son.  They have 3 other kids, but they are all off in the cities studying (either in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, or Bangkok).  This was a pretty common trend throughout our trip- the Thai government requires that all citizens graduate from 12th grade, but there are hardly any schools in the villages (and practically none past 6th grade), so pretty much all kids go into the city.  It is a pretty interesting predicament, with most students acquiring debt and not being able to return to village life becuase they must work int he cities to pay off their debt... but that's a story for another day. 
Huay Tong Kaw was a wonderful little village.  One day I went with Pawti and Mugaw to their rai where we (tried to) help harvest rice.  It was pretty ridiculous though, I could hardly walk up and down the slope without slipping and falling every few minutes, while of course Mugaw and Pawti never fell once and worked 4 times faster than us.  Per usual.  Everyday in the villages was full of new sights and beautiful mountain scenery.  Their Rai was right along a river bed which had since been planted with paddy rice (different from upland rai rice) and it looked like a flowing golden river of rice.  Other highlights of the village was learning traditional blacksmithing, herbal medicine, basket weaving with bamboo, and trying to learn a traditional Karen song.  Sidenote: bamboo is the greatest- you can really make anything out of it, i.e. cups, floors, walls, baskets, twist ties, steamers... the possibilities are endless!
The average morning in each village consisted of waking up around 5:30 or 6 (but reallly being awake since around 4 from the roosters).  Usually, we went to stay warm by the fire in the main part of the house- turns out it gets REALLY cold at night, as in wool hat and socks status.  who knew?  Some mornings, we would help pound rice or cook breakfast, or sometimes just simply sit by the fire.  It was always a pleasant start to the day.  I think I like the village sleep schedule- early to bed and early to rise, with a consistent afternoon nap.  Premium.
My favorite event of the Huay Tong Kaw was a cultural exchange.  the villagers and students took turns performing different dances, songs, etc. So obviously we taught them the makareena, some Cat Stevens, but most importantly the Limbo.   We got the villagers to join us, and it was such a scene, complete with traditional Karen garb, the medicine man and his wife limboing, and all the village kids.  Such a good image.
The next day we hiked through many different forest types, across a few rivers to Huay Hee (about 6-8 hours away when we walked with our packs).  This village was the first to do CBT in the area, and it definitely felt more like bed and breakfast than a host family.  But what can you do- we tried to help cook and wash dishes, but we really had to force ourselves in.  While in Huay Hee, we had midcourse seminar on the nearby mountain , Doi Pui.  It was absolutely beautiful as it is the second tallest point in Thailand with some awesome panoramas. 
Next we hiked over Doi Pui's adjacent ridges and through a bamboo forest to Nam Hoo, a tiny village of about 10 household with a fictional backdrop of mountains, caves, and tropical folliage.  I think this was my favorite village.   Stayed with the cutest 29 year old whose husband and son live in the city during the week.  Her house was made entirely out of bamboo, palm leaves, and a bit of hardwood and it had a sunporch that looked out on the mountains.  It was wonderful.  we spent a day with her cutting firewood from the forest, visiting the village cave, harvesting herbs from the rai, and taking a shower in a tiny waterfall.  Overall, great life experiences and a beautiful village with lovely people.
Unfortunately, we were only there for two nights before we moved on to Hua Nam. Highlights from Hua Nam include weaving lessons, more rice harvesting, seeing a tarantula in the road then seeing the largest regular spider of my life next to my bed, and eating wild boar.  The next village was Pakalo, which is only about 5 k from the town of Mae Hong Son, and it is accordingly developed. All of the villages had their defining characteristics and it was so cool to be able to see them all one after another. 
Now we're back in Chiang Mai for a week until the Oceans course.  Holy moly this is going much too fast.
Thai Thai for now,
Hannah

pictures galore!

P.S. I just put up a lot of pictures on the old FB if you are interested in seeing my life as of late.

And we're off (round 2)

Another crazy week has flown by in Chiang Mai.  Nothing too new and wild has happened- just lots of the ol’ HW and cruising around on my favorite yellow bicycle that I rented for a few days.  It’s the best (and probably one of the more sketchy) forms of transportation in the city.  

I just finished this week’s essay, so next on the agenda is tracking down some Halloween costume materials... to the market! This weekend, we’re all headed to Burma for the day to renew our visas. So we’re driving four hours and stopping just in time to  buy some pirated goods (greeaaat, just what I’ve always wanted...) and then we’re headed back to Chiang Mai. 

Monday, we leave for Mae Hong Son for another 3 week expedition.  Looks like we’ll have plenty of hiking between 6 small villages where we will stay with host families.  So excited to harvest rice and learn about hilltribe medicine! And great news- just when I am getting comfortable speaking Thai, the Karen don’t speak Thai! So we are trying to learn some key phrases before being thrown into our host families’ homes.  

Overall, I am really excited for it- and in the meantime, it’s Halloween! (even though no one celebrates it here but us...)

Thai Thai for now (and for the next 3 weeks),

Hannah

Pigs and Thai Peppers

We got back from our first field course yesterday afternoon to the terrential rains of Chiang Mai and a final essay to write.  Fortunately, both have finished now and we have a three day weekend!

But the field course was an awesome experience.  The first week we were living in a small agricultural town called Mae Ta, living with families who have switched from cash crop farming to organic/polyculture/subsistence farming.  My Paw was 60 years old and Mae was 55 and they have been proudly farming organically for twelve years.  They were so cute and kind (as was everyone in Mae Ta)- Mae was at least three times the size of Paw, both were very soft spoken, and they just love to farm.  I am pretty much in love with the community there- everyone is so excited about farming and the neighborhood was so friendly.  Some highlights of the week include: prepping live crickets for cooking, eating fried crickets for breakfast two days in a row (they were actually pretty tasty), hangi ng out with the neighbor family, exploring the community forest and watershed, and seeing how successful agroforestry and polyculture farms can be in subsistence farming.  The crazy part was that all of the farmers said they have lots of relaxing time (i.e. "Sabai" time) and the few days that we worked with our families on their farms definitely prooved that. I actually never worked for over an hour before it was time to take a break, or to start cooking lunch, or to take  an after lunch nap.  It was ridiculously relaxed (but I have to wonder if they were just letting us off easy...) Regardless, I love Mae Ta and I am really excited to visit my Mae Ta family at the organic market in Chiang Mai next week.  

The next few days after Mae Ta were part of Mid-Course Seminar.  For some reason or another, it was at the fanciest resort with little bungalos and delicious food.  Very unexpected, but very lovely indeed.  The day we got there, we had gotten up at 3 am to go to Chiang Mai and sell produce with our families at the Market, and then we had a paper to write.  So unfortuately, I didn't have much time to explore the surroundings, which consisted of lots of awesome cave-filled mountains.  

After two nights in the most comfortable best of all of Thailand, we headed off on a hike to a very small hilltribe village.  The next day we hiked to another village and explored their political/social situation.  Both villages were in pretty bad states of food security, but UHDP (the organization we went to next) was working with them in terms of sanitation, food security, citizenship/land rights, etc.  It was pretty interesting, but it felt kind of weird to just pass through and not really spend time getting to know the places.

Next we went to the UHDP agricultural center- a big demonstration area, almost like a small village- there were houses and a meeting hall and a few agroforests, etc.  We stayed here for a week studying more of the science side of things- identifying species, prepping seeds for saving in the seedbank, etc.  

A main highlight of the week was the pig harvest.  Saturday, after learning about the ceremonies that different hilltribes use pigs in, we had the chance to participate in the slaughter of a pig.  Definitely more intense than a chicken.  Much more intense.  We spent the entire afternoon slaugthering, then prepping the meat, then cooking dinner with the UHDP staff and it was quite the experience.  The staff did the actual stunning and killing of the animal, but we had the opportunity to participate in as much of the rest of the process as we wanted.  I will leave the rest up to imagination and maybe some pictures later...  For dinner we had...Pork! what a coincidence.  And the Thai eat every part of the pig- they were loving the intestine and liver, and I tasted a bit of ear, which was perhaps one of the more disgusting things I have attempted to chew.  But an experience nonetheless.

Another day, we split into groups and forraged in the agroforest, caught catfish and ducks, and cooked it all with bamboo and rattan for lunch.  It was pretty cool to see a meal prepared entirely from the few acres around us. 

Overall, I'd say it was a pretty great trip, one more week and we're off on another adventure!

Thai Thai For Now, Hannah

Off and away

We're off on our first expedition tomorrow!
My group will be in Mae Ta for the first week living with host families and farming with them.  The village used to be a major supplier of baby corn to the world market, but then recently decided to completely switch to organic, sustainable farming, so we'll get a taste for their lives.  I am real excited.

Then we will go to UHDP (I think it stands for upland hilltribe development project) and learn a lot of agroforestry/ecology while hiking to different villages.  So much to look forward to and many adventures to come!

News as of Late

Exciting things from the past week:

1. Host family farewell party.
Everyone was all dressed up in their traditional Lanna (Northern Thai) outfits.  It was really entertaining and there was the whole spectrum of dressiness.  For example, a few girls' families took them to get their hair and make up done and their clothes were super shiny and metalic.  Loved it.  Then there were people like me, who came straight from school and had a pretty basic outfits on.  Definitely the ugly step sisters of the night.  Also, to make matters even better, I had a Lanna headwrap of sorts on which made me look like I had a serious head injury. But I just let Mae do her thing.  So we both looked like we had just been in a serious accident.  We had a talent show with lots of dancing by ISDSI students with their little host siblings, and a few song performances.  Overall, a very fun night.

2. Moved into the dorms!
I have three roommates: Jamie (from Kalamazoo), Mckenzie, and Kelsey (both from CC) and we have been having a wonderful time.  After gathering some supplies this weekend (specifically a lot of fruit), our home is complete.  Saturday night we wandered around the city for a while and ended up at a funny club/bar.  Naturally, we proceeded to dance wildly and scare off all the thais.  Oops. But very worth it.

The week has been fun but super busy.  I'm so conflicted- there's a whole city to explore, errands to run, and tons o' reading, and an essay to write.  But I'm attempting to fit it all in.  The other night we found a market near by, got dinner for 15 baht (50 cents), super sweet and delicious rotee, and took a tuk tuk home.  It was great fun.  And on the way, we passed the Chiang Mai University Alumni Center which hosts aerobic dance every night! So we are definitely checking it out tonight.  Last night, a few of us hit up some karaoke, which proved very entertaining.  The eight of us had our own room- different than an American karaoke bar, but still a great time.

Now, it's time for some post-class yoga, and then off to the market!

Playin some tunes