English Camp in Uttaradit

On Friday evening I took a TWELVE hour overnight bus to the Northern province of Uttaradit, Thailand. I had never been to Uttaradit (so was anxious to check it out!) and I knew that eight other Fulbrights were going for the weekend, too. One of the Fulbrights who lives in Uttaradit, Eugene, had an English Camp that weekend for his school that he was coordinating. I was very happy to find out that Gracie was on my bus, too! I was also happily seated in the upper deck, first row overlooking (everything), and the Thai woman who was sitting next to me reminded me of my Mom. She was so sweet and immediately smiled at me and asked me "bai nai?" (where are you traveling to?) I told her, and then asked her back. She told me a bit about her family, and asked me if I wanted more or less air being blown at me. It was lovely. When she got off at her final destination of Khon Kaen, a really dirty man who reeked of smoke sat down next to me. While I was resting he kept trying to nudge his leg against mine. Creepy pervy man! Bring back the sweet lady!

At the bus terminal, one of Eugene's teachers picked us up and brought us to his house for the next hour before we had to go to school. He had a bed in his house that was made for us, but when Gracie and I laid down on it we realized that we were lying on pillow upon pillow wrapped in plastic bags. Everything was covered in plastic, and you couldn't move without making a "crunching" noise. Hilarious. Oh, Thailand adventures!

Once at school, all of the Fulbrights helped out as sort of "counselors" at English Camp. English Camp was a weekend long activity for all of the school's 7th graders (can you imagine going to school on the weekend?!) The weekend consisted of English songs, scavenger hunts, games, and activities. It also included all of the durian (King of fruit), mangosteen (Queen of fruit), and long-gone fruit that you could possibly want, as well as sugary Thai drinks. I really enjoyed seeing the line of teddy bears that were the prizes at the end of the camp, as well as watching students run from Fulbright "counselor" to Fulbright "counselor" during the scavenger hunt, where we each had them spell out a different English word or spell words with their bodies. At night, I spent the evening with Kelly, Gracie, and Jane SLEEPING IN THE SCHOOL! The school had laid out 8 beds, all in a row Madeline-bed style (we won't talk about the fact that they used to be part of an infirmary), and there were tons of water bottles and snacks for us. It was so exciting to be sleeping in a school, Madeline-bed style (check out the pics!) with my friends. We had some heated politics debates before dosing off into a wonderful sleep!

In the evening, the school teachers took us to one of the most spectacular (new) sights that I've seen throughout my entire year here: a Buddha within a Buddha! I took about a thousand pictures because that's sometimes my response to when I encounter something so breathtaking. The story behind it makes it even more marvelous:

Two months ago, a wat worker was cleaning this Buddha when a piece of stone chipped away, revealing a Buddha concealed within a Buddha. It turns out that when Burma invaded Thailand over 200 years ago, Thais built this larger, less expensive Buddha in fear that the Burmese would steal or destroy it. 200 years later, the original Buddha is discovered.

How incredible is that! Just wait until you check out these pictures...

Buddha within a Buddha

Absolutely Magnificent!!!

Taking pictures with fellow Fulbright friends

Side angle...Wow

In this shot, the original Buddha looks dark

Here, the original Buddha is glimmering!

Closeup

The stones in the front here were the pieces of rock

that chipped away when a wat worker was cleaning,

revealing a Buddha within a Buddha.

Can you imagine discovering that?!

Fulbrights in Uttaradit!

From left: Katie, Eugene, Gracie, Jane, Me, Kelly, Rachel, Craig, James

I love this shot too...a glimpse inside the wat

from outside the temple entrance. Wow!!!

Our Madeline-bed style school sleeping arrangements!

Happiness and Coziness, a good combo.

Eeee!

James and Craig doing their hilarious team cheer

Me leading my team, "The Bombs" team cheer

(For those cheesy lovers out there, we slowly crouched 

down while whispering "tick tick tick" and then exploded 

by jumping up and yelling "KABOOM!")

Best time ever...explaining (drumroll..) 

THE BANANA SONG!

Pick bananas, pick pick bananas!

Peel bananas, peel peel bananas!

Eat bananas, eat eat bananas!

GO BANANAS! GO GO BANANAS!

Bananas Unite, Bananas Split!!!

Rachel and Eugene were hysterical as a team.

In case you can't read the sign:

"English is really hot! And super cool!" 

Also, my photo is on the poster behind my hand...I 

blend into a strange man's pants. WHY ME?!

Typical Thai school: Locked out of our classroom, 

so we played "telephone" in the hall. Moral of the story

"the turtle walks slowly" was way to hard for "telephone."

The Thai version of a corndog

So Thai- these napkins were daintily folded into triangles.

I have no idea what this activity was, but students were loving it!

Eugene, James, and Craig doing a dance!

At the bus station on the way back to Isaan.

I can't even take James seriously: stuffed animal keychains, Ukulele, 

and the basket his Thai host Mom always has him travel with...

All of the Fulbright attendees received 

unusually awesome thank you gifts: 

Formaldehyde jars of baby durians!

(Now that'll be a conversation starter at my apt. in NYC!)

As of today, officially less than one month left of teaching in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.

Time to  (continue!) to soak up every minute of magic!!!