Site Placement

*Alot of time has passed since site placement and I've since been able to read up on my site and visit it. I am actually very excited to begin working in my community and I think it is the perfect fit for me. But for whatever it's worth, I thought I'd post this little entry I wrote right after site placement anyway. Looking back, it's pretty funny seeing how I felt that day.

It could have been the 4 Am wake up calls by my community rooster, or the head-splitting Thai language lessons, or maybe all the Thai beer I've consumed, or maybe a combination of all these things but for whatever reason, I actually believed--expected even--that I would live either in a beach resort, a mountain villa, or close enough to Bangkok for the duration of my 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer. Well, I exaggerate. I was well aware that the Peace Corps life would not be a posh vacation nor would it be defined by my actual site placement (the slogan "it's about the people and not the landscape" danced in my mind) but a big part of me did want to be placed either in the South, Central Plains or the North of Thailand so when I needed a little break from it all, the beach, Bangkok, or the mountains weren't too far away. The one place I was NOT too keen about being placed in was Isan, the North East region of Thailand. Why I did not want to be placed there, I don't even know but somehow, everything I had heard about Isan was exactly what one of the 3 other places was not: it was hot (the north of Thailand was supposed to have better weather coz of the mountains) it was dry and the scenery wasn't too exciting (again the north would be better in this department plus the south had all the pretty beaches) and it wasn't close to the two major cities everyone talked about (placement in the central region of Thailand would mean frequent trips to Bangkok while Changmai was the place to be in the North)

So of course site placement day comes around and everyone is anxious to hear where the next 2 years of our lives will be spent. I spent the previous day turning the wonderful Thai phrases "Aray Gaday" (whatever) and "Mai Bpen Rai" (its all ok) into a personal mantra (though I definitely had my wish list). We walk into the room and there is a giant outline of Thailand on the floor. Beginning with the South and moving up, various provinces are called out along with the names of the lucky (though lucky in this case was very relative) volunteers.

"The South..." I'm all excited....
"Tina! Vince! Guy!" Nope, no mention of my name. Its ok. I'm ready for Bangkok.
"Central!..." Here we go baby, good times in Bangkok.
"Sheila, Jeremy" Still no Anton. Mai Bpen Rai. The North was my first choice anyway. Bangkok is a bit too polluted.
"North!..." Oh yeah, I'll be busting out the hoodie.
"8 volunteers by ChangMai province...." oh boy, mountains, waterfalls, occasional trips to old hill tribes
"Garret, Mike,......... Gabe!" Still no Anton. At this point my heart starts to sink a bit. But its ok. Nan is still up north. Ill need a sweater along with my hoodie. Plus the waterfalls are beautiful I've been told.
"Tara, John" Omg, this is not good.

We move south again but this time in the east.

"Chantaburi!..." We were just there for the AIDS conference. It was beautiful. I didnt even know some people would be placed there. This is it!
"Only one volunteer in Chantaburi..." It's me! it's me!
"Melissa!" No way!

Now we start moving up entering into Isan territory.

"PraChanaburri!" That's close to Sa Kaeo where we currently are. I like Sa Kaeo. I've become close to my host family. Sa Kaeo would be a nice place to chill during the weekends. Maybe visit my family for home cooked meals.
"Sadie, Juliana!" There goes my home cooked meals.
"Surin!..." Surin has elephants. I could use their ears for shade or as a giant fan! I want Surin!
"Maria!" At this point i didnt even want to hear my name.

And so of course...

"Roi Et!..." She is smiling at me...
"Anton" Oh boy...

So of course I walk over to my spot in the map and there, right smack in the middle of Isan, far away from the south, far away from the north, and a decent distance from Bangkok is the beating heart of Isan: Roi Et. I muttered Mai Bpen Rai and Aray Gaday a couple of times under my breath but I knew I did not feel okay. In fact I was a little frustrated...annoyed even. I looked around me and saw people huddled together in their provinces, all fairly close to one another and there I was in Roi Et, the only volunteer in my province. A bunch of us had joked around earlier that site placement day should be called Black Tuesday. It most definitely felt that way for me...