A long overdue update

It's been basically forever since I've written on here, but in my defense I've been a busy traveler. Here's a recap of events:

My first visitor from America came and it was so much fun! We hung out in Bangkok, then traveled down the southern coast of Thailand, and hit up the beach. We stayed at an amazing resort in Hua Hin, probably the nicest place I have ever stayed. It was right on the beach and it was incredibly beautiful. We relaxed by the pool and got massages and drank wine by the ocean. Then we continued down the coast and met up with a group of volunteers on Ko Phangan, an island where the infamous Full Moon Party is. It was quite the beach party that went until dawn. Then we spent the next day recovering on the beach. After that, my friend and I headed back to my site where he was bombarded with chickens, rice fields, and the squat toilet. It was great to show someone around my village and see my village life through a fresh set of eyes. Then we were off to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, and Phenom Phen, the capital city. It was really interesting to experience a taste of life in Cambodia. It is vastly undedeveloped compared to Thailand. I'll have to write more about that later. Cambodia was the end of our adventure vacation and it was back to being a volunteer for me...

I spent the last week in Bangkok for the HIV/AIDS Business Development conference. I brought 2 women with AIDS from my community to the training to help them learn about business skills for the PHA group (People Having AIDS). My 2 counterparts were really involved and active in the conference so I hope to work with them in the future. Perhaps finally a potential project... !?!

Now I'm back at site after quite the trip home. I was traveling back to site with Beau and the bus left Bangkok an hour late, not really a big deal. Then a couple hours into the journey, there was a huge bang and the tire went flat. So we stopped and they replaced the tire. Then a few more hours into the journey, Beau woke me up to a bus filled with smoke. Apparently something was on fire so we had to evacuate the bus. We all stood there with our belongings as the driver took off his shirt and crawled under the bus to attempt to fix the bus. A typhoon hit Southeast Asia and the sky was an ominous shade of gray as we stood there waiting for the rains to come and the bus to be fixed. He was successful enough because we continued on our way in the bus that now smelled of burnt rubber.

I'm back at site for just a few days and then I will be heading back to Bangkok for a PC training. I will be helping as a resource volunteer for the new group of volunteers arriving in January. Odd, I know.

So that's the past month in cliff notes form. It's been a rollercoaster of events, feelings, and experiences that are so difficult to articulate. More to come...