It's Official...I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer!!!

On March 23rd, it all finally made sense. Not that it didn't to begin with. But whatever "what in the world am I doing?" moments I've had over the past three months...forget them... because now, I AM A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER!!! Yup, after three months of language training, and sessions, and flip chart papers, and cross cultural training, and medical training, and more sessions, and techincal training, and bike riding, and more sessions...I, Antonio Eduardo Reyes Taruc, am now an official Peace Corps Volunteer!

Peace Corps Thailand Group 119 had our official swearing in ceremony 5 days ago, on the 23rd of March at the Thai Hyatt Erawan and what a ceremony it was! Not only was the ceremony to swear-in the new volunteers but it was also to celebrate 45 years of strong partnership between Thailand and the Peace Corps. Former Peace Corps volunteers flew in from all over to attend and that made the event all the more memorable. There were a couple of amabassadors around (one of which was a former Peace Corps Thailand volunteer) and so was the foreign minister of Thailand (who told us, in a speech, that he first learned English from a Peace Corps volunteer back in the day.) The Crown Princess of Thailand was the guest of honor and let me tell you, here in Thailand, having royalty attend any function is a HUGE deal.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures during the ceremony (Thai palace regulations) but it was a beautiful ceremony with wonderful speeches--all short and sweet. The man of the hour however, had to be my fellow group 119er, Scott, who literally blew everyone away with his Thai speech. Even the princess, who had just flown in from Cairo and was very tired (yet was gracious enough to attend), was impressed. EVERYONE was. People in Thailand wonder whether I am truly American because of how I look. I think after his speech, people should wonder whether Scott is actually Thai!

Anyhow, it was a fun affair and it's great to be official! (Which of course means I now have 2 years of hard work ahead!) Here are some pre-ceremony pics. Enjoy!

With K. Rumpai, our most excellent Training ManagerSadie, myself, and Bekah--Best Language Class Ever!With my principal and one of my co-teachersWith Garrett and Peter

Last Day in Sa Kaeo

My last day in Sa Kaeo was a busy one. Not only did I have to say good bye to the family I lived with for 10 weeks but I also had my Language Proficiency Test with the Peace Corps in the morning and the Thank You Party at night. For the Thank You party, I was in charge of the slide show and I was involved with the Isan traditional dance. Somehow, I also got asked to be one of the flag bearers for the Northern traditional dance! Needless to say, it was a long day. But it was a memorable one as well!

The day started off with some people from my community coming over to my house. I wasn't sure what was going on and I thought they were all over for some sort of festival (there's always a festival going on in Thailand.) As I was packing my stuff, I noticed that they were all just sitting around and all seemed to be waiting. After a while, I realized that they were waiting for me to stop packing so they could say goodbye! So I finished up pretty quickly and soon, I had everyone in the house coming over and tying pieces of string around my wrist. I'm not sure what they are called exactly but I like to think of them as "blessing" strings. As each person ties the string, they give you words of well wishes. It was all done in Thai so I didn't fully understand but I could pick up on a few words. Despite the lack of communication, it was very touching. I was glad that Ahm, my little buddy from the village (whose face is always powdered white), was present to tie a string on my wrist as well (though after a few minutes, his grandmother had to help him out with the knot.)

I gave a little thank you speech in Thai that they all enjoyed--more for the funny accent than for the content--and I was off to the hubsite for my language exam. My exam was actually not till 10:00 AM so I got to check in the hotel early and enjoy the AC and a nice shower! I was hoping to do some final review but ended up hanging around and talking with a couple of trainees.

Surprisingly, when the time came for my interview, I wasn't nervous at all. The lady interviewing me was very nice and before I knew it, my 30 minutes were up! I took that as a good sign though I did butcher a part of the interview when, in a lack of concentration, I answered "yes" to the question, "do you help around the house?" Answering "yes" led to more follow up questions on the subject and with my limited Thai vocabulary, I ended up saying I helped cook meals during my stay with the host family. Of course, she asked me what exactly I could cook so I just blurted out one of my favorite dishes--Tom Yum (Thai soup) And of course she asked me to explain the process of making Tom Yum. I probably would have pulled it off had I not forgotten the word for "boil." To make things worse, in a desperate attempt to explain the process, I started making bubbling noises with my mouth while using my fingers to give a visual representation of what boiling water looks like. Not a good idea. But ey, the rest of the interview went well and, as an affirmation that the world we live in is indeed very, very small, I found out that my interviewer was actually the debate team trainer of a friend of mine from Thailand who I met 6 years ago in Japan! And we found all these out while speaking in Thai! Craziness!

After the interview, the Isan dancers had a final run through of our presentation. We had a few drinks for lunch (it was St. Patrick's day after all) and that made the practice pretty entertaining. It was also the first beer I had in about a month because of all the medication I was taking for my asthma. Frank-the-Tank had it so right when he said, "It tastes so good! The moment it touches your lips, it tastes so good!"

The party that night was held in the provincial hall which felt strange because that was the very first building we set foot on in Sa Kaeo. It was also where we met our host families for the first time so there was a definitely a bittersweet feel to the party. We were all excited to be moving on to the next phase of our journey but at the same time, there was a sadness about syaing goodbye to our "home" in Thailand. Nevertheless, we all had a good time and, believe it or not, the Isan dancers did a GREAT job! I know the Northern dancers and the American dancers won't believe me but a couple of staff came up to say they enjoyed the Isan dance the most. I just won't name names :-)

After all the ceremonies--which included a couple of speeches from some trainess (in Thai!), a dance train, and a lot of certificates--it was time for our final good byes. I don't ever recall seeing emotion from my host parents (or from any Thai person for that matter) but as she said goodbye, my mom just grabbed me and started bawling! It was actually the first hug I have ever seen aThai person give or receive (Thai people don't even shake hands--they wai) and it caught me by surprise. My dad wasn't doing much better as he had tears in his eyes. The sudden outburst of emotion startled me and I'll admit I got choked up a bit. But such is life and as I walked them to their car and said thank you for everything, I found myself in a good place emotionally and mentally. I was sad, yes... but at the same time I was also very excited about everything that I had just accomplished. It's not easy living with a family you just met for 10 weeks (especially if you don't speak the language) but somehow, with alot of patience and A LOT of openmindedness, I survived...thrived even. It was a very enriching experience and definitely one of the best aspects of pre-service training. The whole experience was something I doubt I will ever forget.

On a funny note: my host parents have called me every other day since I have left Sa Kaeo. Our conversations always revolve around the same things--whether I have eaten yet (and if so, what did I have to eat) and if I feel hot.

Khrup khrua kong pom

Monkey Mountain

On my last Sunday in Sa Kaeo, my host family finally decided to take me on a trip to MonkeyMountain. I had heard stories from several volunteers about the mountain and I was excited to experience it for myself. We also passed it on our way to Chanaburi for the AIDS conference about a month earlier and the mountain's distinctive outline--a steep slope between two peaks--made quite the impression on me.

Since Tara's family was related to mine, my host parents invited her, her mom, and her little niece as well. So we set off at 8:45 AM (just a little off our original planned time of 8:00...45 minutes late is pretty impressive for Thai time) and 30 minutes later, we could see the mountain.
We were greeted by a huge monkey statue upon arrival and further on the path, we were greeted by what seemed like a thousand monkeys! I knew that we would see monkeys but I did not imagine anything quite like this: Monkeys ran up to you expecting food, monkeys chased each other under and over parked trucks, monkeys fell from trees and landed next to you...monkeys EVERYWHERE!

There were stalls set up that sold peanuts and bananas for visitors to feed the monkeys and pretty soon, Tara and I found ourselves between packs of monkeys either throwing food at them or having them come over to get it themselves. It was pretty cool holding the food in your hands and having the monkeys actually walk up to you and grab the food. Their appetites were pretty amazing. Several monkeys--among them a mother with her baby clinging to her belly-- wrestled eachother for the bananas.


The highlight of the trip however, was a climb up the side of the mountain unto a cave. My ashtma was bothering me earlier that day but I just could not resist climbing the stairs up to the cave. At that point, I didn't even know what lay inside but from the ground, it looked pretty cool. Inside the cave, was quite a pleasant surprise. At the very entrance, a couple of golden Buddha images were there for blessings upon visitors. There was a monk as well though I wasn't sure if the monk actually lived there.

Further up, for those brave enough, were some wooden stairs that didn't look all that secure. Tara and I saw a couple of people on it though so we figured it was safe. Turns out, it wasn't the stairs that we should have been worried about but the monkeys! At the bottom of the mountain, the monkeys were used to seeing people and while they were agressive in their search for food, they did a good job of not getting "too"close to the visitors. Up the mountain however, it was a different situation. I saw a monkey pull on the sleeve of a little kid and it would have bitten the kid on the arm had the child's mother not screamed and taken a swing at the aggressive little primate with her purse. Tara got attacked on her leg and I had a monkey go for my arm. Fortunately, we did not get bit but it was a little scary (The movie, "Outbreak" came to mind several times) The view from the top, however, was worth the scene with the little buggers. At the very top was a sitting Buddha overlooking what seemed like all of Sa Kaeo. It was great just sitting there enjoying a breather after the climb and the wild monkeys--very peaceful.

After a while, we started heading down and while the serenity of sitting atop the mountain with the Buddha lingered, a couple of monkeys attempted to shatter the peace once more. Thankfully, Tara found that she had a few peanuts in her purse and we used them as decoys, throwing them to the side and making our escape as the monkeys greedily went for their food.

When we got back to the bottom, we met a monk who lived inside a cave and he gave all of us a few well-wishes. We hung out for a little bit longer in the park (I got to take a picture of a monkey taking a late morning siesta) before heading home. It was a fun "Bai-tiao" (excursion) and I'm definitely glad I got to experience Monkey Mountain.

Tara hiking up to the cave My host mom close to the topThe sillouhette of the BuddhaInside the Monk's home within the cave (check out the television and the fridge)The outside of the monk's homeSiestaGood way to spend a last Sunday with the folks