Koninginnedag

May 3, 2012

For those of you who don’t speak Dutch that means Queen’s Day.  Queen’s Day is a national holiday celebrated in the Netherlands and that meant I didn’t have classes.  It’s celebrated April 30 every year (unless it falls on a Sunday) and it’s to celebrate the Queen’s birthday, but not the current Queen Beatrix’s.  Queen Beatrix’s birthday is in January; Koninginnedag is meant to celebrate her mother’s birthday, Queen Juliana. At first, I was a bit weary at the thought of celebrating Queen’s Day because it sounded like there would be a massive amount of people dressed in orange stuffed in the trains on the way to and from Amsterdam, kind of like Carnival, but this time everyone would be wearing the same color and instead of going to Maastricht, people would be going to Amsterdam.

After hearing several exaggerated stories, I was pleasantly surprised at how tame things were in Maastricht.  It was shocking that not a lot of people were wearing orange, but it’s always nice to see how supportive Dutch people are of their national holidays.  The day was nice (about 65 degrees and sunny) and the majority of people convened in the park for the vrijmarkt.  Luckily, I’ve become quite fluent in Dutch and can tell you that vrijmarkt is a flea market.  It was the biggest flea market I had ever seen in my life.  People apparently got there around 7 a.m. to get a good spot to sell their things.  There was something for everyone. You could literally buy anything and everything there.

People were everywhere!  It was a lot of fun.  My friends and I walked around for a while before sitting down and relaxing with some of our other friends who were selling things.  According to my Dutch friend, the flea market is such a big deal since there are very strict laws about selling things in the Netherlands.  The laws are quite simple and straightforward: you can’t sell anything anywhere without a permit (and yes, that means you couldn’t have a yard sale at your home either).  Koninginnedag is the only day that people are allowed to sell things without a permit, hence the large crowd of sellers.  It was a nice breath of fresh air from my daily routine and it was definitely nice to relax and learn a little bit more about the history of the country I now call home.

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The Finer Things in Thai Life

April 30, 2012

Thai people like to enjoy the finer things in life–those things come cheaper here than in the US, and after reflecting on the whole semester, I have realized that those small things that make life just a little bit more comfortable, really are available everywhere-and its difficult not to get hooked.  It is guaranteed that when you look around walking on the street, most people you see have some drink, some plastic bag, some coffee drink, or some food in hand.  Some of the most delicious food I have ever had in my life is at your fingertips on the streets at any time of night, clothing stalls fill the markets and streets all around the city providing cheap and very stylish clothing (which for the most part none of us foreigners fit into because Thais are tiny), and there is always some shake, or some delicious drink available within minutes.

This fact is particularly emulated in an area of the city called Siam.  Siam is the hub for shopping in Bangkok, for foreigners and Thais alike.  There are four or five huge malls, some connected, all within a block or two of one another.  Most of the malls contain every chain restaurant and type of food you can imagine, as well as every brand name shop you could imagine.  “The Pride of Bangkok,” as it is literally tag-lined, is Siam Paragon. Paragon boasts fountains, and waterfalls, music, and ushers opening doors for you, as well as some of the most expensive brands available in Thailand.  As soon as you walk into one of Paragon’s eight floors, you just think “glam.” So going to the movies there last week was quite an experience! We went to the 4DX movie theater, a concept that is now all the rage in Asia. The newest movie to come out in 4DX is Titanic, and let me tell you it was a crazy experience! The 4DX experience is just like seeing a movie at universal studios–bursts of air when there were bullets, sprays of water in your face when the ship was going down, seats shaking all over the place, as well as 3D glasses–amazing!  You literally feel like you are in the movie at times.  All the facilities are incredibly clean, and for Thai people it seems that going to see a movie there is really a glamorous event. There is no shortage of expensive food and Thai popcorn flavors, and certainly no shortage of well-dressed Thais.  To give you a better sense of the ambiance there, I would have felt under dressed in jeans!

Another amazing aspect of living in Bangkok is the endless number of food options–literally every type of international food you could imagine can be found here: Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, International, American, French–the list goes on! Often the best part of the dining experience is the view that you have–whether its the skyline of Bangkok, a little side street in which you have found a hidden gem, or a beautiful view over the Chao Phraya river and the surrounding temples.  Thais have become so accustomed to this consumer lifestyle, which is so normal for so many in Thailand, that they don’t realize that this type of accessible luxury isn’t commonplace worldwide, not even in the US.  After almost four months here I have certainly become accustomed to the lifestyle here! I can get an entire mango, or an entire pineapple completely cut and peeled on the street for $1.  I can find any type of smoothie, at any time of day, for less than a dollar. Street food is often better than restaurant food, and there is always something new to try!  I will definitely miss the food here in Thailand! Included are some pictures of my food adventures this week–enjoy!

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Reflection week part 2: Cheese & Delftware

April 30, 2012

Hello everyone.  So as I told you last week, I spent the first part of my reflection week in Berlin with one of my Sorority sisters.  We had a nice few days and it was really hard to say goodbye and get on separate planes.  I don’t think I realized just how much I missed my friends and family until I had to say goodbye in the airport.  After parting ways I went back home to Maastricht to relax for a few days and mentally prepare for period 5 (the second part of the semester and my new classes).  The day after I got home a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Alkmaar and Delft with her for a day trip.  I said “why not”, so we got up early and headed up north (still in The Netherlands) to Alkmaar.  Alkmaar is known for its traditional cheese markets.  They open in April and we were going on the first day they were open to see the cheese markets in action.  People were dressed in what seemed to be traditional clothes.  Two men ran back and forth across the market carrying cheese on what looked like a sled (see picture below).

It’s funny because before I left to come to The Netherlands, I stumbled across a TV show that was about traveling around The Netherlands (specifically Holland, which is a province in the north).  One of the places they went was Alkmaar.  These TV shows were a little dated, but the cheese market looked the same.  It was kind of cool visiting a place you’d seen on TV since that doesn’t happen very often; at least not for me.

After tasting a variety of some of the best cheese I’ve had in my entire life we got back on the train and headed to Delft.  On the way to Delft my friend and I literally jumped out of our seats and moved to the seats across from us because saw tulips!  So many colors and there fields of them everywhere!  It was so pretty.  Since the weather was just starting to warm up, most plants hadn’t bloomed yet so it was nice seeing all the colors.

After the fields of tulips, we made it to Delft, is known for its blue and white Delftware.  It’s pretty funny because during orientation at UCM, one of the speakers told us how the majority of the things The Netherlands are known for don’t actually come from here.  One of the examples was tulips which are apparently Turkish.  Another example was the Delftware pottery which he said is from China.  I figured since I can’t go to China, I’ll go to Delft.  They have several museums dedicated to showcasing the Delftware and of course just about all of the souvenir shops claim to have “The Best Delftware” or to be “The original Delftware”.  I took a picture of a variety of it so you have an idea of what it looks like and what types of things are made.

My favorite place was probably Alkmaar for the simple fact that you could taste cheese (for those of you who don’t know me very well, I absolutely love cheese).  After a very long trip, we made it home.  For the next two days I relaxed and started preparing for the next period’s classes.  This period I’m taking Theorizing Terrorism: A Philosophical Approach, Rights of the Child, and Strategy and Negotiation Skills.  So far, and it feels really weird saying this, but I really like my Theorizing Terrorism course; I think it may be my favorite.  Although we have deep discussions and terrorism isn’t a light, fluffy subject to talk about I’m learning a lot from this course.  For example, as an American, my idea of what/who is a terrorist is heavily defined by 9/11, but this course is causing me to think outside of that isolated incident and look at terrorism from different angles in order to shape my personal definition of terrorism.

Ok well I guess I should end on a lighter note than terrorism so with that being said, I recommend a trip to Alkmaar; cheese and music everywhere!

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Happy Thai New Year!

April 23, 2012

This past weekend I celebrated Songkran, the official Thai New Year (Thais observe the Buddhist calendar).  Students were given two days off from school forming a nice four-day weekend, so of course in true exchange-student style, this only meant an opportunity to travel.  The plan had been to go to Laos, but last minute travel changes, and completely sold out tickets for all of the days surrounding Songkran, instead sent me to Koh Tao, a small island off of the east coast of the Thailand.  Songkran is the most important holiday for Thai’s, so most locals leave Bangkok to go back to their “hometown,” wherever that may be.  We were disappointed we weren’t able to go to Laos, but Koh Tao was not a bad second choice!

Songkran itself is often described as one, huge, non-stop waterfight: and that is EXACTLY what it is.  We left from Khao San road on Thursday evening, the night before the official day of celebration.  Khao San is the official backpacker haven, so Thursday night the Songkran festivities had already begun.  We had a short walk on the actual Khao San road, but little did we know what was in store for us: one BIG water fight.  Involving baby powder.  What? Yeah, that’s what we thought too.  But part of the Songkran fun is mixing baby powder with water to create a nice white paste that you smear all over yourself, and strangers.  Let me try and set the scene for you: loud music…waterguns…buckets of water…young Thais and foreigners (but mostly Thais) jumping up and down in the streets throwing water everywhere…store owners and their children outside their shops throwing water on everyone…small children with squirt guns…small plastic pouches around each persons neck protecting valuables…hoards of people running through the streets…I’m walking, I’m hoping that people will take pity on a dry girl clearly prepared for travel, but no luck: squirt gun in the back, slap on the cheek smearing baby powder all over my face, shoved in all directions; no mercy.  Needless to say, in a country where the locals are so kind, normally shy and very conservative, this was a side of Thailand I had never seen before. (and because of the water….sadly I have no pictures of the whole event).

Koh Tao (a seven hour bus ride, and a two hour boat ride away) was also crazy the day we arrived, the official Songkran holiday.  Imagine there being no social rules about pouring water onto strangers, or drenching them with a water gun.  Everyone we walked by had a water gun in hand, many of them with a water supply on their back.  It was hilarious.  Those riding on motorbikes, small children, families: no one was spared.  Needless to say after Songkran was over things quieted down a lot –  and from there on we enjoyed an amazingly relaxing weekend: lying on the beach, enjoying the INCREDIBLE views, venturing over to a nearby island with an amazing viewpoint, and snorkeling.  We had delicious meals on the beach, and saw some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen!  Koh Tao is known for its scuba diving, and  while we didn’t have the time or the money to scuba dive, the snorkeling was breathtaking: just two feet off-shore on my first venture into the water and there was a school of about twenty rainbow fish: neon orange, yellow, pink, green, and blue: truly magnificent!

Enjoy the pictures from my trip!

Koh Tao

Samantha in Koh Tao

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Barbados, Week 12: The American gets a Cooking Lesson

April 23, 2012

Upon being notified that I would be living on Halls this semester, a certain idea crept up in my mind:  I may actually have to learn how to cook for myself.  I had no idea what sort of eating venues UWI would have, and my mother was extremely excited that her generally helpless son would develop some valuable life skills.  However, you can take me out of America but it is not as easy to take the American out of me; no sooner had I arrived in Barbados in late January than I made it priority number one to find where I could buy ready-made food to consume.  Thus my diet consisted of chicken, rice, and salad at the school cafeteria, pizza from the local Esso gas station, and snacks or microwaveable goods from the Campus Mart.  Now this was no particular issue for me, for as I’ve previously mentioned, the cafeteria food is very tasty and Esso pizza is probably the best pizza on the island.  But I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of longing and jealousy as I would walk by one of the girls’ blocks, ham and cheese sub in hand, and smell some of the most delicious aromas to have ever hit my nostrils.

So one night, as I walked back to my block with a sizeable bag of KFC delivery under my arm, the RA on hall stopped me.  “Man how long have you been here?  You need to stop eating this fast food and start making some real Caribbean food.”  I secretly agreed, but decided it would be easier to come up with excuses such as “I would…but I have no time” (a blatant lie).  As it turns out my blockmate Nickoy is something of a master chef, and the RA quickly roped him into teaching me how to make a West Indian dish to “impress your parents when you get back!”.  Nickoy was skeptical I would actually follow through when I told him that I would buy the ingredients if he taught me how to make a simple Caribbean dish.  He was happily surprised when, on Monday, I walked through the door with a bag of chicken from the local supermarket, proclaiming that it was time to make a feast.  We would be making chicken stew, Caribbean style.

As Nickoy and I cut up the chicken breast and legs into manageable sizes, he told me how he had been cooking since he was fourteen years old.  Needless to say I could barely create a sandwich at that age, much less become a self sufficient cook.  As we went along it became apparent that, with cooking, practice does indeed make perfect, as Nickoy effortlessly skinned and diced up three potatoes in the time it took me to completely mangle one into small pieces.  However, it was really cool to see how such a delicious meal was created, and once mastered probably wouldn’t even take too much time to finish.

My blockmate Nickoy hard at work preparing the chicken.

Instead of meticulously describing how we went about making the chicken stew, I will include something of a recipe below in case anyone wants to learn how to do it themselves.  Bon Appetit.

– Chop up chicken breast and legs into thirds or quarters (about 6 pieces), wash in a bowl with water

– pour a handful of vinegar in the bowl, then wash again with water to remove the “rawness”

– cut up into fine segments and add onions (two), garlic (3 cloves), hot pepper (one), and a pinch of ginger to give it “attitude”

– thoroughly mix together by hand before covering, refrigerating, and let sit for three hours

– put olive oil in a sizable pot (enough to cover bottom), and turn oven on high

– chop up three potatoes into fine segments and mix in with the chicken, then add browning sauce (for coloring)

– wait until oil is steaming, then put chicken (with onions, etc) and potatoes into the pot, mix up with spoon

– keep oven on high for a few minutes before turning down to below medium until stew sauce is boiling

– add pepper or other ingredients as necessary by periodically tasting the stew sauce

– after stew sauce is boiling, turn oven on high again for a few minutes and then let sit for a few minutes

The finished product – delicious.

I wrote this recipe from memory shortly after completing the chicken stew, so chances are I may have left out a few steps here and there, but if you follow the recipe I’m sure you’ll have a delicious chicken stew dinner nonetheless.  Nickoy and I made a pretty big pot of chicken stew and rice, so we decided to share some with our fellow blockmate Richie.  Per usual, my eyes were bigger than my stomach, and I ended up eating myself into a near food coma.  Somehow food tastes better when you’ve helped to make it with your own hands, and so it was with the chicken stew.  And gentleman, FYI, telling girls you’re making dinner/can cook at all makes them swoon pretty hard.  So if you don’t consider it a manly undertaking and refuse to learn, just know that Nickoy and I will probably be entertaining your girl this weekend.

Richie, Nickoy and Jevaughn digging in.

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Two Unforgettable Weeks

April 23, 2012

Five cities.  Two sunrises.  The Lowest Point on Earth.  One mud bath. Two Passover Seders.  Two rooftop hostel gardens.  A 5 a.m. mountain climb.  Seven long bus rides and one train ride.  Old friends and new friends.  Dancing across Israel.  Life advice from 71 year old Peggy, a dorm mate in a hostel in Jerusalem.  The best hummus in Israel.  The best hot chocolate in the world.  A literary café in Jerusalem. Spying on a wedding reception in Tel Aviv. Burning leavened bread in Be’er Sheva in preparation for Passover.  A shepherd with his flock next to the Sea of Galilee. Coming home to Haifa.

It is hard to know how to begin to describe my spring break.  Just as my friends and I thought as we were planning the trip, where do you begin a whirlwind tour of a country that has so much to offer?  All I know is I am convinced more than ever that studying in Israel was the right decision.  There are moments here that are hard and confusing, such as when I witnessed a young man hissing at an Israeli soldier in the Old City of Jerusalem. At times like these, I wonder what I have gotten myself into.  Who am I to be a cheerful, curious tourist when the reality of the situation in Israel is very serious for so many people?  But it is this confrontation with a human experience so different from my own that makes studying in Israel so incredible.

Another occasion in the past two weeks that showed me the high intensity of life in Israel was when my friend and I had Shabbat dinner with a lovely, generous Orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem. They had an eighteen year old daughter named Shlomiya who was preparing to begin her army service in a few weeks.  Army service is mandatory in Israel, women serve for two years and men for three.  Observing Shlomiya and the mature, thoughtful way she spoke and acted throughout the evening, I thought of myself when I was eighteen, and how the most important thing on my mind was my next Spanish test.  Constantly living on edge, young Israelis must mature quickly as they are faced with challenges that never crossed the minds of me and my American friends as we were growing up.

I spent the majority of my break with my friends Emma and Heather, fellow international students who attend Brandeis University in the U.S.  I met Heather during the intensive Hebrew Ulpan at Haifa University at the beginning of the semester, but she is now doing a complete Hebrew immersion program at Ben Gurion University in Be’er Sheva, during which she is not permitted to speak in English.  To be completely honest, after the first day we spent together I did not have a very good attitude toward the situation.  What was I thinking, spending my spring break with someone I can’t even have a normal conversation with?  But within a couple of days, I was amazed by how Hebrew really started clicking for me.  I had always thought I learned almost exclusively from reading and writing, but I was proved wrong as I learned more from a few days of conversations than I had in weeks of classes.

This semester has held some challenges for Heather.  On top of the difficulties of having to speak Hebrew all the time, several weeks ago she had to run to the bomb shelter in her dorm several times as over ninety rockets were fired at Be’er Sheva from the Gaza Strip over the course of a few days.  She said the Israelis in the shelter with her would sit and count the booms as the Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defense system, destroyed many of the rockets in mid-air.

I accomplished a lot of bucket list items over break – climbing to see the sunrise on the desert mountain fortress of Masada where almost one thousand Jewish rebels committed mass suicide rather than be taken by the Roman army, floating effortlessly on the buoyant salty water of the Dead Sea, and seeing the sun rise over the Sea of Galilee and set over the Mediterranean in the same day.  Most importantly, though, I had a lot of time for reflection, and when new thoughts to ponder came my way I was able to soak them in, trying to expand my understanding of what it really means to live in Israel.

Sunrise over Masada

Standing on Masada

Sunrise over Sea of Galilee

Mud bath at Dead Sea

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Cooking with Poo and Thai Massage

April 23, 2012

What a FANTASTIC weekend! I checked two things off my Thai bucket list that I have been wanting to do since arriving in Bangkok: a cooking class, and a Thai massage.

This morning I cooked with Poo and it was fantastic! Poo is an incredible Thai woman living in one of Bangkok’s slums, Khlong Toei.  She was given a microfinance loan through the “Helping Hands” organization, and using that loan she has become incredibly successful operating her cooking school.  The morning started off with a small tour of Klong Toei’s market.  It is an extensive market with everything and anything you could imagine.  We started by going through what Poo called the “Issan” area.  Issan is a Northeastern province in Thailand, and the food there is quite different than the food in Bangkok.  That row of the market has everything and anything strange you could imagine: live frogs, skinned frogs with hearts still beating, an endless assortment of bugs, eels, catfish, cow innards, skinned chickens etc… I did not once breathe in through my nose that entire walk. The rest of the market contained more “normal” items – beef, vegetables, and every possible exotic fruit.  Poo explained that most stall owners start work at 2am, and don’t stop until 6pm, they only way they can scrape by to make a living.  This market is incredibly cheap and has a wide variety of foods.  As a result it is the source of product for many of the street vendors and many of the hotels in Bangkok.  What an experience!

market

The second portion of the morning was the actual cooking.  The class is not meant to transform you into a Thai chef, but it gives a nice introduction to basic Thai dishes and lets you cook your own portion each time.  We cooked three dishes: Som Tham (papaya salad), Tom Yam (a delicious spicy soup with many different flavors), and Pad Thai.  The food was delicious, and now that we know how easy it is to make these foods it is definitely something I will take back to the US with me.  The only obstacle in the US: trying to find all of the ingredients.  What was most fascinating to me, is realizing what goes into the dishes I have been eating all semester.  For example, one of the strongest flavors in Tom Yam soup, comes from lime leaves.  Before putting the lime leaves into the pot, we broke the leaves apart which emitted the strongest and most delicious smell.  All the taste from this dish comes from breaking a green leaf apart–AMAZING!  Part of the fun of the experience was Poo herself.  She is a hilarious and kind woman, with completely broken English, yet she is sweet, enthusiastic, and eager to share her story, and the story of Klong Toei.  She explained to us that following her great success, she has also seen a change in the people in her community, and deliberately tries to uplift them as well.  For example, some of the ingredients we used to cook were handed to us in small cups made of banana leaves.  Poo said she purchased these from a woman in her community who is very sick and strapped for cash, so she thought she could help her by buying her product.  For each need of her business, Poo employs a member of her community, and tries to evenly distribute where she buys things so that as many people in the community can benefit from her success.  It truly is an incredible project.

The other event of the weekend was getting a Thai Massage: two hours for $12.  Yes, really, it’s that cheap.  But my goodness, that was a massage like nothing I have ever experienced.  First of all, I was in pain the first 45 minutes.  My masseuse literally dug her feet/fingers/hands into ever inch of my leg, almost as if she was trying to separate every muscle fiber.  Because the massage is two hours, the women can thoroughly cover every part of your body.  They also stretch you in every which way which was quite intense, because they completely ignore whether you are flexible or not.  They are also very hands on – you are lying on a mattress, and they sometimes use their whole bodies, for example contorting you around them to stretch you.  Not necessarily relaxing in the same way as a typical massage, but I certainly feel like I had a work out! Our fantastic evening massage ended with some Thai tea, before heading home.  I have to say I feel so content after such a fantastic long weekend.  Yes, some people may complain that Bangkok is crowded, or that the city is too dirty and smells bad, but I love the fact that there is never a dull moment in Bangkok: there is always something new to do, something to learn, and something incredible to experience, and I LOVE it!

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Barbados, Week 11: Joining the Tennis Team

April 23, 2012

When I first came to Barbados for study abroad, joining a sports team on campus was literally not even on my priority list.  I hadn’t played any sort of organized team sport since high school, and it didn’t seem realistic to me that I would start up again on a Caribbean island three quarters through my collegiate career.  But mid-February rolled around, and a couple things began to happen:  I started to become socially and physically complacent, and I started to put on some pounds.  Luckily, one of my hall-mates walked by me one day, tennis racket in hand, and a solution began readily forming itself.  Eager to figure out what opportunities there were to play tennis on UWI campus, I discovered that there were Intermediate level practices every Monday.  Recognizing that joining the tennis team would solve both of my current issues, I told him I’d be there next Monday ready to go.

I cannot speak for all of UWI sports, but from what I have experienced and heard, sports practices are a bit different at American colleges as opposed to the University of the West Indies.  If you want to play sports on the varsity level in the United States, you’re going to most likely have to be recruited, regardless of the sport.  Practices are generally everyday, with strict workout regimens and rules about attendance and conduct.  If you play football for the University of Richmond, for example, you’re more or less eating, sleeping, and breathing Richmond Spiders Football.  Here at the University of the West Indies, multiple exchange students have just shown up at practice and walked on the basketball, field hockey, and volleyball teams.  The sports facilities on campus consist of a field hockey field, the cricket oval (duh), cricket batting cages, an indoor “coaching center”, one tennis court, one basketball court, and a soccer field down the road.

Now one thing I need to make clear before I continue is that I am in no way saying that UWI sports are a joke compared to collegiate sports programs in the United States, but rather that they have a refreshingly laid back approach toward most of their sports programs.  You won’t find UWI students having meltdowns or burn-outs over sports-related stress (save cricket, maybe), like many United States’ students will have before they even get to the collegiate level.  I find most students with which I talked about their experience playing sports for UWI love it, and some even get the chance to play in games throughout the Caribbean.

Tennis practices, however, are tough.  If I had managed to convince myself that I wasn’t out of shape before I joined the tennis team, well, that changed fast.  The Intermediate level team is composed of about 10-12 students, about 9 boys and 3 girls, on any given practice day.  Needless to say the coaches have a tough job trying to get 12 players sufficient playing time on one court, but they do a great job of creating a program beneficial for everyone.  They’ll have four stations, for example:  One station will be a ground-stroke or volleying drill, another two will be some sort of cardio exercise (think burpees or frog jumps), and the last might be hitting against “the wall” (the tennis court is right next to the indoor coaching center).  The Intermediate group was a great bunch of people and I made friends quickly, but one of the coaches, Raymond, decided I needed a bigger challenge.  Thus about three weeks after joining the team I was bumped up to the Advanced group.

The multi-sport court used for our tennis practices.

Now, I’m a competitive dude and was  thrilled about getting more playing time with the Advanced group, but I was also pretty nervous.  What if I showed up on Wednesday and just got absolutely thrashed?  Well, it turns out a little bit of pressure can go a long way when it comes to motivating me.  I crushed a red bull after my Wednesday night class and headed over for my first practice with the Advanced group.  This was a smaller, more intense group, with only about 4-6 players per practice day, and it quickly became apparent that they were good.  But as I said, I was extremely determined not to embarrass myself, and I played my guts out for two hours in an attempt to win their respect.

A month later, and I am like a giddy child before Wednesday and Friday night tennis practices.  The coaches really want to see us improve, and are extremely constructive in their advice.  One of them even plays on the Davis Cup Team for Barbados!  I feel incredibly fortunate that I am more or less getting semi-private lessons twice a week for free.  And my teammates are awesome- we’re all extremely competitive but it doesn’t take much for us to break down and start laughing when someone shanks a ball over the fence.  It’s not uncommon for us to stay an hour later after practice hours and just hit around, even though we’re all exhausted from the two hours of drills and cardio beforehand.  There have been many incredible things that I’ve done and seen in Barbados, but I would say joining the UWI tennis team has had the biggest impact upon my study abroad experience thus far.

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Waterfalls and a little bit of history

April 9, 2012

I just got back from an amazing weekend getaway in Kanchanaburi, Thailand.  Kanchanaburi is about two hours (by bus) northwest of Bangkok.  The city itself is quite small – it is most frequented by visitors on their way to Erawan Falls, but the city does boast its own attractions– for example, the Bridge over River Kwai, which we visited the morning we arrived.

The bridge was commissioned by the Japanese during World War II in order to secure a better supply route between Thailand and Burma.  The bridge was built by both local Thais and prisoners of war, thousands of whom died during its construction.  The bridge is primarily famous because of the movie “The Bridge over River Kwai.”  There is not much really to see– it is quite literally a bridge over a river–not too thrilling.

The rest of the day we saw two more sites: temple caves and a World War II allied cemetery. The temple was an incredible labyrinth of underground, natural caves–very claustrophobic at some points! Each cave contains a shrine or Buddha.  Near the caves, our tuktuk driver took us to see the most incredible view of Kanchanaburi – the beautiful river surrounded by greenery and mountains on either side.  The natural beauty in Thailand is magnificent, and that was particularly evident this trip.  After spending so much time in a city, it is refreshing to see a more rural side of the country.

Our last stop of the day was to an allied war cemetery, which serves as the resting place for many of the soldiers killed building the bridge.  It was actually quite intense walking around and seeing all the name plaques – reading the quote written on the headstone, each name and nationality engraved, and particularly reading the soldier’s age; most were between 20 and 25, around the same age as I am.  I have to admit after my four months in Thailand I don’t know that much about its role in World War II so this was certainly a glimpse into some of Thailand’s history.

The next day we made the trek to Erawan National Park, located two hours from Kanchanaburi.  We had no idea how incredibly beautiful the national park would be! We literally spent four and a half hours walking along a path through the jungle, passing waterfalls as we went.  There are seven primary waterfalls that make up the national park, though there are small ones spread throughout.  There were tons of people – both international and Thai – and like everyone else, we walked from one waterfall to another and jumped in whenever we couldn’t stand the heat anymore.  It was incredibly beautiful, and so nice and peaceful to spend an afternoon just walking through nature, and enjoying it.

The most intense part of the trek was the 7th waterfall – much less crowded than the others because not as many people make it that far up.  As we approached the waterfall, the friend I was with, Rebecca, pointed out the monkeys overhead.  We had seen signs throughout our trek warning us to be careful of the monkeys because they can be dangerous, but hadn’t actually seen any monkeys until this point.  They were adorable climbing all over the branches, a mother and her babies.  While we were swimming in the waterfall, however, a large monkey got a little too close for comfort and started hissing at anyone who came too close.  It then went over to someone’s backpack, unzipped it, and started pulling out every piece of clothing in there and flinging it to the side.  Just as we were leaving, Rebecca pulled out a bag of peanuts, and within .2 seconds, the monkey was right in front of her, looking threatening as ever, moving exactly as the peanuts moved.  Completely scared, Rebecca just threw the bag of peanuts at the monkey – as we hurried off, we looked back to see the monkey rip the bag of peanuts open, and one by one, pop peanuts into its mouth, as he sat on the ground looking for his next target.

Leave a Comment » | Samantha in Thailand, Spring 2012 | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by samanthainthailand

Reflection week

April 9, 2012

Hello everyone!  Period 4 is done, and now we have a one week break.  Most international students refer to this break as spring break, but at UCM, it’s known as reflection week.  It’s my understanding that reflection week was just implemented last semester. I decided to spend the first few days of my reflection week in Berlin, Germany.  My sorority sister is currently studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, so we decided to meet up in Berlin and see all of the wonderful pieces of history in the city.

The first day we were there, we visited the Victory Column, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and a monument dedicated to Atlas Shrugged and other mythological figures.  Below is a picture of the Victory Column.  My sister and I walked all 285 steps, and I must say, we were feeling the burn after the walk back down.

This next picture is of me with two “German soldiers” at the Brandenburg Gate.  Being at the Brandenburg Gate was a lot of fun; there was music and people everywhere.  As you can see in the picture, there were also people dressed up in a variety of costumes (most of them looking to earn money).  In my opinion, these two “soldiers” were by far the best dressed.

Being able to see the Reichstag in person was an experience that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to explain.  Just knowing that I was at a building that, for a period of time, basically served as the headquarters for Hitler and the rest of Nazi Germany left me speechless.  This building is truly a part of Germany’s history and I felt privileged to be able to see it in person.

Seeing a version of Atlas and being able to recognize him as someone I’d learned about in school was a really good feeling.  Below is a picture of me and my sorority sister in front of Atlas, Sybil, and some others.

The next day of our trip, we visited the zoo, the aquarium, and of course, the infamous Berlin Wall.  The zoo and aquarium were both nice, but if I had to pick, I’d say the zoo was better, since it had a larger selection of animals and more variety.  Below is, in my opinion, one of the nicest pictures I took while at the zoo.

Last, but certainly not least, was our visit to what’s left of the Berlin wall, which for so long divided Germany into East and West.  I knew that if I didn’t do anything else while I was in Berlin, I couldn’t leave without seeing the remainder of the wall.  As I walked along both sides of the wall, I honestly couldn’t imagine that this wall, which is currently beautifully decorated by artwork, was a source of division. It was mind-boggling.  Non-tourists walked, biked, and drove past the wall without really looking at it, but for me, this was a piece of history that people will probably learn about forever and, once again, I just felt privileged to have been able to see this in person.  In the following picture you can see a glimpse of the wall from both the East and the West side.

1 Comment | Spring 2012, Whitney in The Netherlands | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by whitneyinthenetherlands

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