Spoiled Rotten: Luckiest Girl in the World

Baby elephant by the pool?  Life doesn't get better than this!

This past week I was the luckiest girl in the world to have both Jon and Linda visit me in Thailand.  The entire week was a whirlwind and I have to keep pinching myself to remind me that it actually happened - I had an absolute blast!

Jon getting elephant kisses

We had a “getaway” weekend and went to the nicest Marriott I have ever been to.  We sat out by the pool (Ashley got sunburned!), ate the most amazing foods, people watched, and got to sleep in!  This was the first time I was able to actually relax since my exams and it took me no time to wind down.  Just looking at the place – you can imagine why!  It cannot go without mention that the beds in that Marriott are the nicest things I have ever slept on in my life.  You melt into the sheets and I had a battle with the comforter every morning as I did not want to get up and leave that bed!  The highlight of the weekend was getting to meet a 14-month old baby elephant that came to visit the pool twice a day.  She was absolutely adorable and Jon, Linda and I got right in there with little kids, petting and playing with her.  She was incredibly well trained and could wave, courtesy in thanks, and loved to drink the pool water and squirt water all over the place.  I also got to go to my first Hard Rock Café and ate - get this, a delicious pulled pork quesadilla.  It was amazing.

In my apartment - with one of the two CASES of Mac and Cheese they brought me!

I also had my first foot massage…ever.  For those of you that know me, you are already concerned, because I am one of the most ticklish people I have ever encountered, and I somehow was signed up for one hour of someone touching your feet.  I winched and giggled through it, but decided foot massages might be the next best thing invented besides Mac and Cheese.  They are amazing.  This was not the only foot massage that I was spoiled to on this trip and after the second one, it wasn’t nearly as ticklish.  Perhaps getting massages is a self-prescribed way to cure my ticklishness.  At least it is an excuse to get more massages!

Jon and Linda treated me and a few of my classmates to dinner at Benihana – one of my favorite restaurants since I was little.  I was shocked to hear they have a Benihana in Bangkok and elated to walk in and see the same famous chefs with their tall red hats twirling their spatulas and knives around.  We had a wonderful time and I was so happy that they got to meet some of my classmates.

Dinner with my Chula classmates and See's Candies!!!

 Tuesday was a very eventful day for us.  First there was a bombing in Bangkok, which happened to take place on the adjacent street near my apartment.  I was in class at the time, but was unable to return home for a few days.  You can read more about the bombing in the links I included below although I can assure you, the location of where I live is far from the commercial center of Bangkok, and the bombing of my area was completely accidental and in no way targeted.  They caught all three people involved (one of whom accidentally blew up his own legs with the bombs he set off).  It sure made for an explosive Valentine’s Day!  Articles covering the bombing:

CNN: Thai police seek 5th suspect after bombings

New York Times: Israeli Envoy Links Bangkok Bombs to Attacks in India and Georgia

Bangkok Post: Iranian Injured in Bangkok Bombs

More importantly, I was able to crash the coolest couple’s Valentine’s Day dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant.  We each ordered a different kind of risotto – all delicious of course, and exchanged Christmas/Birthday/Anniversary/Valentine’s Day presents.  I was stunned to get a beautiful white watch – which I have worn every day since.  

Linda and I went on an adventure on the BTS out to see the extremely large Jim Thompson warehouse where all of the finest silks in Thailand are made.  It was breathtaking – and they had over 5 floors of silks, purses, accessories, furnishings and clothing.  It was so much fun to run around and pick out different patterns, colors and designs of beautiful silk scarves, purses and even shoes!

Sitting in the classroom - ready for school

On Thursday I was able to show off my amazing apartment in Phra Kanong and Jon and Linda got a great view of the city from the roof.  We visited Chulalongkorn, my university campus, and took a shuttle bus around the grounds, seeing all of the main school buildings and offices.  I was so happy to be able to take them to see the university where I am currently studying – they even sat in my classroom for a bit, living the life of a student.

I had so much fun with them I didn’t want them to leave!  Jon and Linda - I cannot thank you both enough for a wonderful week to which I was truly spoiled rotten – massages, vacation getaway, baby elephants by the pool, delicious buffets (which I will be working off the rest of the month!), my first Hard Rock, tours around campus, and so much more.  I can’t wait for you to come back in May!!!

Outside my Faculty at Chulalongkorn University

Round Two: Ding Ding!

I wanted to give a brief overview of my courses and classes this semester.  Although I have been in them for several weeks now, it takes a bit of time to get a grip on everything, especially since we haven’t had a break in between semesters to recover.

This semester, I am enrolled in four classes and my Thesis seminar.  There are two compulsory courses – Globalization and the Politics of Public Policy, and one elective.  However, I couldn’t choose between the two electives and found them both so interesting; I am taking both Migration and Conflict Resolution.

We managed to find time to celebrate Chinese New Year!

Globalization is an incredibly interesting course with what appears to be an exceptional syllabus of topics.  In our second week, we took a field trip to Maha Chai, which from my earlier discussions and recounts of the trip in this blog, was incredibly educational, eye-opening and reinforcing.  We have weekly lectures in addition to weekly debates where students must debate publicly against one another – fielding questions from their opponents, professors and fellow students in the audience.  It is tough but very effective educationally and teaches critical analysis and argument, which are two very important aspects to understand in the real world.

Politics of Public Policy is my second compulsory course, and so far I am less than thrilled with the course.  Perhaps I had a misunderstanding of what this course was about: I assumed it had to do with the realist or practical application of public policy in history and the world today.  However, it appears to be much like the course I took in the first semester on Development Theory and Practice – where we are learning about the various theories of capitalism, neo-liberalism, Marxism, and more.  I am hopeful that it will pick up in the next few weeks and look forward to our guest lecturers that will contribute their unique field expertise.

Conflict Resolution is another one that has a very promising curriculum.  One of the lecturers and course instructors is one of the three authors to the first conflict resolution manual adopted by the United Nations, and comes in with over forty years of experience in conflict.  Our guest lecturers are famous peacemakers from all corners of the globe and I have found this course to be hands on learning – where the students are able to use conflict mapping and learn much more from a practical basis.

Migration is another promising course – with a visit to refugee camps in the North scheduled later in March.  I am fascinated by migration patterns around the world, and this course does an excellent job of covering the various types of migrations – be they refugees, internally displaced persons, or students studying in a foreign country!

Lastly, the dreaded thesis.  I have no idea at this time what I am going to write about, but promise to keep you posted.  There have been several complications with microfinance and given the recent politics, I think it is best that I explore a different aspect in the meantime.  If anyone has any fabulous ideas or thought-provoking arguments, please send them my way :)

A Broomstick Will Never Look the Same

On our way to the migrant worker factories in Maha Chai

February 7, 2012 our Globalization class embarked on our first field trip to Maha Chai – about an hour outside of Bangkok.  We met with the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation who briefed us on the situation of migrant workers in Thailand.  During the day, we got to visit the shrimp farms where migrant workers spend 10 hours a day shelling shrimp, we got to speak with Myanmar migrant workers, and visit their village and market place where they live.  We even had a run-in with a Thai “Mafia-broker” who called his supporters to come out and shoo us away from the village because he was told we were students and afraid we ‘knew too much.’

Due to the geographic location of Thailand, its temperate climate, and cheap living conditions, and constant demand for labor and sex workers, Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.  I was aware of the trickery that took place just across Thailand’s border with neighboring country Myanmar, where men, women and teenagers are coerced into relocating to Thailand for promises of better living conditions and higher wages only to discover themselves in some of the worst conditions and human rights violations in the world today.  Once they comply (or in many cases – do not comply) they are trafficked across the border and forced to work in labor camps or sex work with extremely harsh life-threatening conditions.

While I have read several statistics and articles on various stomach-churning conditions and mistreatments, nothing prepared me for today.  One statistic that stuck with me particularly was the number 4,000.  By the time the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN) saved two Myanmar women who were trafficked into the sex trade, they had been working for two years, each having to have ‘seen’ over 4,000 clients.  That is roughly 2,000 clients per year or perhaps more strongly stated that is 5.48 men a day.  While the details of the treatments of the workers that the leader of the LPN were saying were nothing new to me…it was new to several of my classmates, and one in particular.

At one point, the lecturer was discussing the methods and tactics that brokers or labor wardens used to keep their workers bound to their labor.  Their workers were not allowed to leave the establishment, they were confined to small rooms, they had limited food supply…etc.  He described how when workers were sick – they were never sent to the hospitals for treatment because that was too expensive and simply replacing laborers was cheaper.  He then also stated how women who were pregnant were forced to undergo abortions…by a broomstick.

All of a sudden, my classmate and close friend Ei Ei began to shake.  I couldn’t see her face because I was sitting behind her, but I started to hear soft sobs.  Although I had no idea what happened, I quickly grabbed my Pooh bear Disney tissues from my purse and took her outside.  Once she calmed down a bit, I asked if she was ok, and what had happened.

Ei Ei with her new friends on our field trip - Myanmar shrimp farm migrant workers

Ei Ei has worked with NGOs in Myanmar for several years and is a very established professional in her field of environmental preservation for the Myanmar people.  She has seen incredible hardship in her country, is a proud Myanmar citizen and is an unbelievably strong woman.  But, as she explained to me, this was the first time she was learning about the horrible conditions of her people who were brought across the Thai border, and it made her sick.  She was so upset to hear, she became extremely emotional.

I sat there for a second, like a deer in headlights, unable to process what had just happened.  I began to justify her reaction by “oh well it’s the first time she has heard about this” or “wow she took this all really personally…”

Then, I realized I had been justifying my reactions to these stories.  I figured I was emotionally “OK” with what was being said – because I had heard it before.  But that does not make it ok, and it does not make the 10,000^th case any less important than the first.  Thailand has (unsuccessfully) battled human trafficking and the mistreatment of migrant workers for over thirty years.  Billions of dollars with countless government and civil society efforts have been thrown into the region in hopes of making a difference.  While there has been progress, there is much to be done.  And just because it has been covered in the news or exposed to the world – does not mean the fight for humane treatment is over.  

Ei Ei continued, gasping out a rhetorical question about many people from her village who had gone off to Thailand in search of a better future and she wondered what happened to them, as the statistics were grim against the hope of a positive outcome.  She asked, what she, as an educated Myanmar native, was supposed to do to help them – and how she could help them.  As Ei Ei hunched over on the bench softly sobbing overwhelmed, I realized that perhaps I had tried too hard to distance myself from the realities of human trafficking, human rights violations and the situation here in Thailand with these migrant workers.  And I needed to be more upset – like Ei Ei.

As she composed herself, she tearfully out loud thanked our program for bringing her here to learn about these workers, their situations and their needs and promised that she would do everything she could to help them.  In that moment – I thanked the program for bringing me Ei Ei – who forced upon me a reality that no statistic, lecturer or documentary could while demonstrating tremendous strength, passion and courage that was insurmountable.

Rotary One Day

With DG 3350 on Rotary One Day

We were excused from class one Monday morning to volunteer with Rotary’s One Day program at a local school in downtown Bangkok.  And in the early morning of February 6^th, I realized that although Rotary is based in over 200 countries with 1.2 million members its international volunteering transcends all geographic, cultural and linguistic barriers.

Perfect smiles but Jon Grant: How did we do with our brushing?!

Rotary One Day is an event held six times a year by District 3350 where Rotarians travel to a school and offer incredible services such as dental, medical, eye and ear exams, haircuts, cooking and public speaking classes, and a plethora of carnival games.  Both Megumi and I (Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Yokohama Japan and fellow MAIDS classmate) were able to get the complete tour, assisting with teeth, eyes, ears and more!  It was wonderful to see so many Rotarians taking off their Monday morning to help with the event.

Yikes!  In the Rotary mobile dentist's office!

I got to spend time with over 400 children playing games racing carts (blindfolded!), popping balloons with darts, bowling, and shooting basketballs.  I helped demonstrate how to properly brush my teeth and got to help with an eye exam.  I even held one student’s hand through an anemic blood test – which for those of you who know me, blood is NOT something that is easy for me to do!  

It was an amazing day.  I am so thankful that I was able to participate, and learned a lot about Rotary and its work worldwide.  While there are certainly many world hardships left to face, I am confident Rotary will continue to provide quality and effective programs to achieve a better world.

Ayutthaya Field Trip: 24-25 January

Part of our group in Ayutthaya for our two-day field trip

For two days, in the middle of finals, our class traveled to Ayutthaya for a field trip.  It was our first big outing as a group, and we bonded quite a bit.  We saw the aftermaths of the flood water on the historical sites of Ayutthaya, where water levels were over 3 meters (aka 9 FEET!), we visited an industrial site that was also underwater, an elephant camp, and many other stops.  Naturally, the parts that were my favorites were the baby elephants, cows and puppies that we encountered along the adventure.

I attached a few pictures of our times together as a group.  I apologize for not being able to provide more detail – but my memory is failing me already having spent several weeks after this back in the library studying!

I never had to go far without finding a puppy!

Megumi and I getting our first-ever fish "massage."  It TICKLED!

Safe and I with our one month old baby elephant

Petting a very friendly cow

Urbanization Field Trip - 22 January

The following is an excerpt from my field notes during my Urbanization class field trip which took place early one Sunday morning, January 22nd.  We explored Bangkok on foot and plunged into the depths of disagreement over the current slums in the center of town.

Exploring Min Buri slum with our new friends...

“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not our circumstances.” 

- Martha Washington

As a child growing up in the United States education system, I had always been taught to be thankful for what I had, and was then shown pictures of children all over the world who were miserable, malnourished and uneducated.  I was taught about slums around the world and shown horrible footage of children playing in massive landfills and scavenging the ground for food.  I was told to be thankful for the opportunities I had been given, and constantly reminded of how lucky, fortunate and happy I was.  

Slum community in downtown Bangkok

While I do not disregard that slum conditions around the world are horrific, there is something to be said about the overall level of happiness and values that one can find amidst such discouraging conditions.  In such ghastly environments, it is difficult to comprehend how people can survive, let alone be happy.  However, after having traveled to slums around the world, most notably in Mexico, Africa and now Thailand, I am constantly surprised by the cheerfulness and upbeat attitudes of its residents.  

In Bang Kapi I watched children performing acrobatics in the common center of the building complex – with mothers and grandmothers looking after young ones.  They clapped as their daughters cartwheeled over thin wire and sang to their toddlers who were stumbling around.  In Min Buri, children played on the recently constructed playground and rode around the village on their tricycles.  While they rode past three-walled huts with leaky roofs and piles of what appeared to be abandoned garbage dump sites, they genuinely seemed happy.

As an American, I was always taught that we should “share our wealth” with the rest of the world, helping others to their ‘fullest potential,’ preaching democracy and spreading capitalism.  However, while I agree there are critical elements that must reach the slums – such as adequate food, water, sanitation, health and education for its residents, I am not sure if ALL of the “White Man’s Burden”[1] should be imparted.  I look at my own country, where families don’t have quality time to spend together because they are constantly working, and where children don’t have the option to ride around on a tricycle because they live in an overcrowded, concrete city.  The level of happiness is attributed to the number of expensive designer purses and exotic cars you have, and your “success” in life is measured by your monetary accomplishments.  

The highlight of the transportation was the surprise karaoke button we found on our minibus...

After our field trip to the Bang Kapi, Klong Sam Wa and Min Buri communities, I reflected on just how much the villagers’ values and happiness might chance (for better and worse) with the introduction of “The West” and foreign aid.  I truly hope that an opportunity is presented to these community members, to create advancement and prospect, while preserving their happiness, sincerity, and livelihood.  My question and concern however is, is it possible to bring them medicine, improved housing, education and technology – without instilling a ‘Westernized value system?’

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[1] Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden,” although argued to have been originally written in a different context, has been used by United States imperialists as a characterization for imperialism that justified the policy as a noble enterprise.

Hello Life – Remember Me, It’s Ashley

Carolina, Megumi and I celebrating THE END of first semester with ice cream!

I have successfully completed my first trimester in Graduate School.  I can say, without a doubt, that was the most unpleasant race to a finish I have ever participated, and although I have crossed the finish line, my body still is all too familiar to the pain it endured the past month.

Now – for those of you skeptics who think I am over exaggerating (Dad), let me try to paint my world for the last month.  Because of the floods, my semester was crammed and condensed even more than the original plan of a 2 year Master’s crammed into one year.  I found myself taking midterms within the same month of my final exams and term papers, all the while still taking a minimum six hours of class every day.  This translated to over eighty pages of written term papers, four class presentations, six proposals, two group projects, and three other submitted assignments with over a hundred and eight hours of class.

So, what did my life look like for the last thirty-five days?  (Of course I kept count!)  It consisted of – the library, class, canteen for a dazed recharge of food, the library, and 7 Eleven late night tuna fish sandwiches.  When I was in class, it was a grueling six hours of lecture, before I would pack my bag and head to the library, working until it closed.  On the weekends, when I didn’t have class, I would typically arrive at the library around 9am, work until 1pm, stumble to the cafeteria to try to refresh my brain or at least wake it up with some seriously spicy papaya salad, and then I would work until the library bell closing alarm would rattle, nearly giving me a heart attack, at 8pm.  Then, I went to 7 Eleven every night with Megumi and Carolina, to get our dinner which comprised of one pizza sandwich and one tuna fish sandwich.  Our days became a blur of papers, research and assignments, and soon those sandwiches at the end of the day became the highlight of the night.  In total, I had over 57.5 7 Eleven sandwiches, consumed over 30 papaya salads with sticky rice, and illegally ate over 18 pineapples in the library (they don’t allow food in there).

Megumi and I enjoying our 7 Eleven Sandwiches late one evening!

Despite all of the chaos, having made it to the other side, I am darn proud of what all of us were able to accomplish.  Most of the 26 of us have finished at this time, with a few others nearly complete.  I feel that the final papers that I wrote are some of my finest accomplishments in writing to date.  I have never been more proud of the amount of effort, thought, sweat, tears and toil that went into each and every word on those pages.  For me personally, the topics that I was able to write about were incredibly interesting, causing me to get lost for hours in material wanting to learn more.  This only further reinstated that I am in the right place, studying something I truly love.  My paper topics ranged from:

·        “Fanning the Embers of Marxist Idealism” - exploring whether instances of socialism and Marxism can exist in the current capitalist world

·        “Caste In Stone” – analyzing India’s universal education policy and how it transcribed to exclude Mumbai’s slum children, a population of over 9 million, and;

·        “Exploitation for Exaltation” – examining development projects that do not succeed, perhaps due to self-interest motives

There are a few others that I wrote but some were seen as controversial and I have withheld from including them on this public blog

For me – this was also a personal mile marker.  Every student loves to complain about how difficult their life is, or how many papers they have to write, or “you just don’t get how hard this is.”  While at Lehigh, I would have bitched with my classmates about how much work there was to do, how unfair life was, and how much life sucked.  I would have called my parents and complained about how hard school was, and get frustrated with them when they told me to ‘Suck it up and do your best.’  While I certainly cannot say I made it through thirty five days without complaining, I can say that I tackled this stress with a level of maturity I wasn’t quite sure I had and I’m not sure if it will come back!  But I treated each assignment as a challenge, acknowledged that it sucked, but realizing that once I made this acknowledgement, I could move on from complaining and start researching and writing.  I understand that this sounds like a novelty to most, and it is.  But it is very hard to do.

I wouldn’t be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel were it not for several people who were extremely supportive and behind me even when I was doubting.  Thank you so much for pushing me and giving me that extra kick when I needed it.

Here’s to doing it all over again in the second semester (which started two weeks ago already!)