Am exactly two months into my supervisory position. Love the new challenge and adore my new peers, but I needed a break from it all. I was literally dreaming about work and waking myself up at 4AM thinking about this or that assignment I'd yet to complete. Soooo, off my fiance and I went to THAILAND - the Land of Smiles - for a week of no work e-mails and pure REJUVENATION!
This is my fourth time to Thailand (what can I say...when I fall in love with a country, I do just that, FALL without any hope of recovery) and I haven't a doubt that it won't be my last. My first visit to Thailand was in 1999. My family and I were given such the royal treatment as guests of one of the most successful family of doctors in Thailand. Our hosts gave us a huge suite free of charge in one of the more posh areas of Bangkok. The suite was complete with two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a constantly replenished platters of fresh fruits and a maid who was always THERE instantaneously the moment you desired anything. The family took us to Ayutthaya where my brother and I rode elephants for the first time, the Royal Palace where everything sparkled and bedazzled, and the famous reclining Buddha. The finishing touch to that idyllic trip was that our wealthy friends let us spend our last couple days at their private condo on the beaches of Huahin that boasted this river like pool that took 15 minutes to swim from end to end.
My second trip was exactly ten years later as a graduate student at the Monterey Institute and fellow at the International Organization for Migration - BKK. That time around I spend six months in Bangkok and a month traveling up and down the Thai boarder completing research on Burmese refugees living in the then nine camps on the Thai side of the border. That was the year I was introduced to the world of "lady boys," as they call themselves - boys/men who consider themselves women (at least on the inside). If I was a bit shy around gay guys and queens at the start of that term in Thailand, I was one of their biggest advocates by the time I left.
My third trip to Thailand encompassed the most painful experience of my life. An eight year relationship that I had thought for the longest time would withstand any of Life's challenges ended abruptly. I think that's all I'll say about that trip...
And now my fourth trip is here. If I had to pick a word to symbolize our time so far, I'd pick 'beautiful.' World travelers can relate - there are some places we visit that just stick with us; that grasp hold of our heartstrings, leaving us in a perpetual state of always wanting to return. I've three such places - Japan, Cooperstown (Upstate New York) and Thailand. I'm particularly enjoying Thailand this time around because I'm getting to experience it through the fresh eyes of someone who is new to the enchantments of Asia. At the same time, we've come during the Sonkran celebrations - the annual Water Festival celebrations when Thais celebrate New Year. The streets are filled with dripping wet Thais and foreigners alike who, armed with water guns and grins spread across their eager faces, spray (or dump) water on all who pass before them. White chalk mixed with water is seen everywhere. This is painted on strangers' faces symbolizing purification and celebration of the new year (as is the water). Many Thais use the opportunity to drink heavily and dance in the streets. It is impossible to stay dry, unless you cover yourself head-to-toe with rain gear, but who wants to do that in such balmy weather (April is the hottest month of the year here).
Tomorrow we head to Krabi - a place I have always wanted to visit because of its clear waters and gigantic egg-shaped bolders that have some how erected themselves prominently along the shallow shoreline.
This is my fourth time to Thailand (what can I say...when I fall in love with a country, I do just that, FALL without any hope of recovery) and I haven't a doubt that it won't be my last. My first visit to Thailand was in 1999. My family and I were given such the royal treatment as guests of one of the most successful family of doctors in Thailand. Our hosts gave us a huge suite free of charge in one of the more posh areas of Bangkok. The suite was complete with two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a constantly replenished platters of fresh fruits and a maid who was always THERE instantaneously the moment you desired anything. The family took us to Ayutthaya where my brother and I rode elephants for the first time, the Royal Palace where everything sparkled and bedazzled, and the famous reclining Buddha. The finishing touch to that idyllic trip was that our wealthy friends let us spend our last couple days at their private condo on the beaches of Huahin that boasted this river like pool that took 15 minutes to swim from end to end.
My second trip was exactly ten years later as a graduate student at the Monterey Institute and fellow at the International Organization for Migration - BKK. That time around I spend six months in Bangkok and a month traveling up and down the Thai boarder completing research on Burmese refugees living in the then nine camps on the Thai side of the border. That was the year I was introduced to the world of "lady boys," as they call themselves - boys/men who consider themselves women (at least on the inside). If I was a bit shy around gay guys and queens at the start of that term in Thailand, I was one of their biggest advocates by the time I left.
My third trip to Thailand encompassed the most painful experience of my life. An eight year relationship that I had thought for the longest time would withstand any of Life's challenges ended abruptly. I think that's all I'll say about that trip...
And now my fourth trip is here. If I had to pick a word to symbolize our time so far, I'd pick 'beautiful.' World travelers can relate - there are some places we visit that just stick with us; that grasp hold of our heartstrings, leaving us in a perpetual state of always wanting to return. I've three such places - Japan, Cooperstown (Upstate New York) and Thailand. I'm particularly enjoying Thailand this time around because I'm getting to experience it through the fresh eyes of someone who is new to the enchantments of Asia. At the same time, we've come during the Sonkran celebrations - the annual Water Festival celebrations when Thais celebrate New Year. The streets are filled with dripping wet Thais and foreigners alike who, armed with water guns and grins spread across their eager faces, spray (or dump) water on all who pass before them. White chalk mixed with water is seen everywhere. This is painted on strangers' faces symbolizing purification and celebration of the new year (as is the water). Many Thais use the opportunity to drink heavily and dance in the streets. It is impossible to stay dry, unless you cover yourself head-to-toe with rain gear, but who wants to do that in such balmy weather (April is the hottest month of the year here).
Tomorrow we head to Krabi - a place I have always wanted to visit because of its clear waters and gigantic egg-shaped bolders that have some how erected themselves prominently along the shallow shoreline.
