The Land of Smiles

Wow! I'm in Thailand. It's still feels kind of crazy to be saying that! I arrived in Bangkok 24 hours ago exactly, luckily with a fellow RP employee who I met in Bahrain. There is nothing like the immediate bond you share when traveling with someone who gets your situation! It was good we met because after our flight our hotel shuttle showed up 40 minutes late, which was extremely stressful! Bangkok is a HUGE airport! It was nice to have company :) When we finally arrived at the hotel we had like 20 minutes to change and meet the group for the tour. It was a little awkward at first standing in a room with 20 people you've never met before but that changed very quickly! It is a great group of people and I feel very understood here. A lot of them resigned from their jobs recently like me, are living at home again, and they just can't stop traveling. One girl who was here last year described how she hasn't felt like herself since she left Thailand and now that she's back, she feels whole again. It made total sense to me because it's exactly how I feel about Kenya! We took a van (20 people squished in), then 3 different "subway" lines and then a boat tour down the river Chao Phraya that runs through the city. Bangkok is an interesting city- very old mixed with very new. You'll see temples built in the 1600's right next to a modern high rise. We got off of the boat and ate at an INCREDIBLE restaurant on the river. The deck faced the river across from the most beautiful temple I have ever seen: Wat Arun. We ordered a massive amount of chicken pad Thai, chicken fried rice, chicken sate', spicy coconut rice, veggies, and the best spring rolls ever and all just dug in. Oh.my.gosh. Heavenly!

Wat Arun from across the river.

Afterwards we walked to a temple with the gigantic Lounging Buddha - we entered barefoot, as you must in all temples. Next we went to the Grand Palace compound where the king used to live. They LOVE their king. It was a huge compound with many buildings and our tour guide was quite funny. I had to borrow pants because my capris were two inches too high above my ankles =\ but it was funny. 9 of us had to cover up more.

At the Grand Palace compound (not looking so hot after 27 hours of travel!).  Do note the crazy pants they made me wear.   

 

 

 

We then took 60 baht tuk-tuks (glorified golf carts basically) to the road with all the shopping stalls. It's a pretty famous road (Edit:  I later found out it is called Khao San Road). I bought a shoulder bag as my small purse was exploding with pamphlets and such, and a pair of cinched-at-the-bottom loose Thai pants. We walked back to the river and took a water taxi back to the rails. For dinner we grabbed some very spicy pad Thai from a street cart and then came back to the hotel to crash. It was a longggggg day, but was definitely a fun way to get to know everyone. This is the first group of employees the company has done this for and they paid for everything! Which was no small pocket change for 20 people! In a few hours we will leave for Udon Thani by plane where we will get settled for staff training at the Ricefields base. We are all very much looking forward to the pool! Florida's idea of hot is a joke! This is a 24/7 sauna!

My first ever view of  Ricefields!

Departure Day!

Wow!  I can't believe it's already June 3rd and I'm leaving for Thailand today.  It's weird to think that I only found out I was going a short 4 weeks ago...so much had to get done before today and I somehow pulled it off (with the help of great friends, family, and boyfriend!).  We will be leaving around 1:00 to head to Miami, and my flight leaves at 5:40pm.  I am flying Gulf Air, which will be new experience, as well as the two connections in Paris and Bahrain (Saudi Arabia)! I'm all ready to go, so now I just have to wait *sigh*.  I found out yesterday that we will be staying two days in a hotel in Bangkok before taking an internal flight to Udon Thani where the base is where I'm staying.  One of the company's guides will be taking us around Bangkok to sightsee on the 5th - Yay!  Then, it's off to the Ricefields Base (Take a tour here!).  Don't be too jealous, I'll be working lol ;)

For those of you that don't know, I'm working for a teen travel and community service company called Rustic Pathways.  My job as Program Leader is to make sure the teens stay safe, have a great time, and get as much out of the experience as possible.  It won't be hard seeing as I'll probably be more excited than all of them put together!  When I was a teen I was constantly looking through catalogs of teen travel programs, but never had the oppurtunity to actually go.  So now's my chance...10 years late, but better now than never!  I'm excited to meet some cool kids and experience some crazzzzzzzzzy cool things there.  It will be hot and humid but hey, I live in Florida so what's new lol. 

In case you would like to send letters (You know you want to! I wouldn't send anything after July 20th as I might not get it before I leave), here is the address:

Attn: Christine Schmidt
Rustic Pathways Ricefields Base
c/o Panuwat Noikamkong
141 Moo 2
Tambon Chiang Yean
Udon Thani, Thailand 41000

Good luck spelling all that correctly!  I don't know how often I will be able to post, or if pictures are even an option, but I'll do my best :)  I hope everyone has a great summer, and please keep my safety, travel, and health in your prayers - I would greatly appreciate it!  I'll be back August 15, so I look forward to sharing stories and pics then!

Bye!