Abroad Trip Day 9 and 10

Today was our first overnight visit. We got to sleep in, but I got up at 7:45, ate breakfast and headed to 7-11 for water and snacks and flashlights. Good idea, too. Our ride there were 3 vans, which were super comfortable, because the seats reclined. One of our running jokes on the trip is “This is more comfortable than our beds!” because anything with a cushion is more comfortable than our beds.

We left at 10am to head to a dara ang village. It was only a little over an hour away, but we stopped for lunch on the way there. ISDSI staff ordered us several kinds of food for us to share, such as papaya salad. That is actually the only thing I recognized, but the rest of it was good, too. I also got a coffee, which turned out to be iced heaven in a glass. Cold and sweet and caffeinated. Amazing!

When we got to the village, we dropped our stuff at the longhouse where we would be sleeping, and sat outside in the picnic benches for a lecture from UHDP, Uplander Holistic Development Project, which works with uplander farmers to create a sustainable farm and lifestyle. Instead of a corn monocrop with a lot of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, they rehabilitate the soil and grow local plants in a way the local plants are supposed to grow. They have fruit trees for a canopy level, coffee and rattan for a mid-level, and pineapple and lemongrass for a ground level. They are all integrated into each other, so there isn't one area that has only one kind of plant. The areas that grow corn also grow rice and beans so the soil doesn't get depleted, and the family is still able to feed itself. We also talked with local farmers about the dara ang culture and how they live.

After, the farmers gave us a tour, and we walked along the beautiful mountain path to the farm, where we ate coffee berries fresh from the tree, and they knocked down a papaya to cut up for us. They even gave us lemongrass to repel mosquitoes. It was so cool to see this beautiful area where all the plants were useful. Even the bamboo was helpful because it controlled the moisture in the ground so plants wouldn't rot and needed less irrigation during the dry season. They could also use it as a building material.

Then we went back and were fed. Hill rice (short grain) and chile bean paste, with fish tail palm sprout soup. It was delicious and filling. After dinner, we did a cultural exchange. Some local girls did songs and dances for us, and we sang and danced American songs like the Hokey Pokey and the Star Spangled Banner. All of us from both cultures knew Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes, If You're Happy And You Know It, and the Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

Then it was an awkward bedtime. It gets dark at around 7, so the candles came out during dinner. By the time we had to go to bed, we had to coordinate flashlights and squatty potties, teeth brushing and face washing, then bed-making and finally, the couple hours between when we were ready for bed and when we were tired enough for bed. The squatty potty wasn't bad, except toilet paper doesn't make it down, so we had to keep a bag with dirty toilet paper next to the bathrooms. We can use the water to wash our faces and shower (Thai shower=dumping buckets of water over yourself, scrubbing, then dumping more buckets. Needless to say, no one took a shower there), but not to brush our teeth. So we have to somehow get toothpaste on our toothbrush, pour water on it, brush our teeth, rinse off our toothbrush all while holding a flashlight. Good times.

The longhouse is a one-room building with a lower middle aisle and two long sleeping platforms. It's made from bamboo with the roof from fan palm leaves. The village set up 18 areas with mosquito nets, thin mattresses, 2 blankets and a pillow. ISDSI also brought sleeping bags for us. It was fine sleeping at first, but by the time 1 or 2 am rolled around, we were freezing. Luckily I brought my winter coat, which was a good blanket, but my feet and legs froze. Also, the roosters started crowing at 4am. There are probably 100+ roosters in this village. It was impossible to sleep, but no one wanted to get up because we were tired and couldn't see anything. We got up around 7.

We were fed a breakfast very similar to the night before, with delicious squash along with our rice and greens soup. Then we went to the K-6 school, where we split into groups of 2 or 3, and went to different grade levels. Katrina and I went to 1^st grade. They already knew the ABCs and how to count to 10 in English. So we taught them animals, colors, body parts (Head shoulders knees and toes was sung around 5 times). It was very fun and cute.

Then we had another hour or so of Q&A with the villagers, lunch (again, delicious rice, squash soup and fishtail soup), and then back on the buses for a relaxing afternoon. In an hour or so, we're going to a party at an Ole alums house. She teaches English at the University here, and invited us over for the evening. Should be fun!

Day 8 and 9 - Venice!

So, my free weekend in Venice started off weird. I slept through my alarm. I still got up on time, but I didn't get a shower. Sad morning.

Anyway, we left at 8am so four students could get to Venice by 11 to take the train to Milan for a soccer match. They didn't make it, but there were more trains in half an hour or so. One reason, even though it's a three hour drive, we have to stop to register the bus to go to Venice, and we had to break for half an hour in the middle. One reason: bathroom break. Main reason: one of the girls was really hung over and puked in the back of the bus, so Paddy had to clean it up during the break. He was not happy. Nor would I be.

Anyway, once we got over the mountains, the view got really boring. Just flat vinyards with some cottages and villas. Same as what was on the other side of the mountains, but flat instead of hilly. Ergo, the second half of the bus trip was naptime!

It also started raining after the mountains, which made us sad. However, once we got over the causeway into Venice, it stopped raining and the sun came out! Fantastic timing! We then got on a boat from the parking spot to the main square, San Marcos Piazza, or St. Mark's Square. It took us 30 minutes to walk the few blocks to our hotel because we all wanted to take pictures of every building.

The hotel, not so nice. Tolerable, but not nice. I slept on a cot, but it was bigger than the other two beds in the room which I shared with two other students on the trip. The shower was a tiny corner and the shower doors slid together at the corner. The water didn't drain very well, so I had a foot bath.

Anyway, as to what I did in Venice. We went for a short tour of the city with our guide, Janos, who is 6'9˝. He gave us good info about visiting Venice but not so much about Venice itself. He told us where to eat and how to get back to the hotel (which is very difficult to do at night, more so than anticipated). Meichen and I left the tour early to go to the Galleria dell Academia, where Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man was on it's last official exhibit day. It's the first time in 7 years it's been on display.

I was surprised at how small it is. I know it's just a sketch, but I expected more than a notebook-sized sheet of paper. My reaction was similar when I saw the Mona Lisa, as well. They're such prominent images in our culture that I expect them to be huge and splendorous.

I secretly took a picture of the Vitruvian man. Many of us did. As it is January, there were no huge throngs of tourists pushing and shoving to see it. We were able to take nice flash-less pictures. Museums aren't like in the US. They cost money and there aren't guards in every room.

After, we wandered around aimlessly. We decided to head to the ˝round stuff˝ which turned out to be the Bascilica of St. Mary. We walked around inside, where it was so cold we could see our breath. It wasn't that cold outside. After, we headed to a gold ball, which turned out to be a statue/wind vane. While finding that, we also found a statue of a naked boy holding a frog. Not what we expected to find in Venice. It's apparently part of a new museum in Venice.

We ate at one of two chinese places we found in Venice. It took us 2 hours to find a place to eat, though. Finding a place cheap enough with stuff Meichen wanted to eat was tough. She doesn't like cheese, and she'd been craving Chinese food for a long time. It was probably the cheapest place to eat in Venice, too. It only cost €15! I got curried duck, fried rice and spring rolls. Plus water. I wish water was free here like it is in Europe. But they don't serve tap water, but bottled.

It was getting dark now, so we decided to start meandering back to the hotel. We stopped at many shops along the way. I bought 2 masks, which are part of the Venecian cultural festival in February, and also important items in the souvenir shops. I also bought a nice shirt. Everything is on sale because of the after New Years sales that take over Europe. Good time to travel, imo.

We got really lost heading back. It probably took us an hour to find our hotel. Venice is confusing. While shopping, we accidently took a road that brought us north instead of east, so we ended up across the island from where we needed to be. Hella confusing. Driving in St. Paul : Walking in Venice :: Learning division : Linear Algebra.

Anyway, the next morning, we went to the Guggenheim museum. Fantastic. Normally, I don't appreciate modern art that much, but there were actually painting that held meaning to me in some way. There were Picassos and Pollacks and many other artists I recognized. It was fantastic.

After, we went wandering more, and shopping. We had trouble finding someplace to eat again, but eventually settled on a nice family-owned restaurant. I ate fish and tomato salad. After we went to the Venecian Jewish Ghetto. There are only 5 Jewish families in Venice left, but the area is well preserved.

Meichen has a goal to eat McDonalds in every country, so I tagged along with her as she ate a Big Mac. After, I bought some awesome boxers. There will be pictures on facebook in February.

After we headed back to the hotel, and back on the boat and back on the bus and back to Piran, where two strange men came into the hostel and asked one of the girls to meet them tomorrow morning for a photo shoot. She naively said yes. After they left, we scolded her thoroughly.

Anyway, presentations tomorrow. Woot!