Thailand: Overseas slumber party 2011!

Tonight I've been trying to dust off my old gopro/upload some of the movies but I couldn't figure out how.  So I searched my computer with "gopro" to see if I could find the manual or software I thought I saved on here, and found this old stream-of-consciousness word document gem that I forgot that I had kept from when I was in Thailand.

It's awkwardly written, but kind of fun.  I started writing this as though it were for my eyes only, but I've tried to go in and fill in the gaps so I can share bits and it'll all make sense.  I become less and less diligent about posting towards the end, but maybe I'll fill those gaps in later.

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Sunday night arrival in Phuket: August 28, 2011

Hello Sawatdee kha

How are you? kuhn sabai dee mai?

fine- sabai dee

My name is Mandy Rau Cheu Mandy

I am from Texas Rao maaa jahhk Texas

One of my favorite things about traveling is being able to immerse myself in a different language.  I am pleasantly surprised to find out how little English is spoken here in Thailand.  I've memorized these stock phrases, and every morning I want to write down 3-5 phrases or words that I think will be useful for that day-- and for anything else I need I can just act it out.  So far, it’s been a non-stop game of charades . 

5 star treatment!

Just checked in

1. rainy
2. cushy hotel
3. used a showertoilet

Phuket 8/29/11

thank you- korp kuhn khaaa

does this bus go to phang nga?- rot may kun nee bai Phang Nga mai?

1. breakfast buffet/Australian woman
2. tired… why am i at another beach! was going to phuket but ended up getting ticket to phang nga
3. just as i arrived saw students getting out… went to office and found teacher who contacted michelle
4. took me on motorbike to park/Monday Market/ night market- got pad thai and cha yuen
5. donuts from Market, pandan filling pancakes, shitty Chinese sweets, peanuts, etc

On my first morning, I caught the first bus I could to Phang Nga.  I learned that charades should not be relied on to cross language barriers.  On the bus ride to Phang Nga, I learned that no matter what, you must always know how to ask where the bathroom is in any given country's language.  

I also learned here that toilets outside of fancy hotels are all holes in the ground, and they don't have toilet paper, just basins filled with water and a cup.  You do the math.

I was going to visit my friend Michelle who had been teaching english there. She had sent me a facebook message saying there was a bus stop right in front of her school, and without a phone I figured those were good enough directions.  I got there just in time to see hundreds of Thai kids getting out of various schools.  Somehow I stumbled across the right one, and the “disciplinary chair” called Michelle to put us in contact.  Lucky!  (or maybe because I was the other token white girl)

Michelle at her school

Within a few hours of being with her, she took me to various markets, introduced me to pandan leaf custard, showed me monkeys and a beautiful park, taught me how to say Toilet… where!? and how to properly order “thai iced tea”.

Monday night market

We cruised around town on her motorbike, and the town cop tried several times to stop her and tease her flirtatiously about the time he gave her a ticket for not wearing her helmet.  And Michelle just laughs and goes along with it, even though I’m pretty sure neither of us could understand what he was trying to say, only that he wanted her attention that much longer.   And even with all that we did in the first night, we still had time to catch up on where we’re at in our lives. 

We talked about boys, and about music. Michelle showed me this Best Coast music video (that would later narrate many relationships to follow):


As I'm trying to piece these memories together, I just remember feeling like a teenager at a slumber party.  I had been so intensely trying to learn Thai/memorizing my guidebook, but being with her put me at ease.  With my head and shoulders on a Strawberry Shortcake blanket, and the other half of me feeling the coolness of the tile floor, I stared at the ceiling listening to Best Coast and dreamed about boys.

Thailand: A day in the life of Michelle

Phang Nga Tuesday 8/30

Toilet… WHERE!?- horng nam tinai

sorry- hart hot

i don’t understand- mai kow jai

thai iced tea- cha yuen

1. lunch with michelle- som tam—was going to get a ticket to james bond
2. bought socks/ ice cream… then more ice cream!
3. long walk to park
4. watched monkeys with locals
5. rice milk at market
6. michelle’s students interviewing me
7. dinner at pizza place with michelle/seth/sudjit? crepe on the way to bus stop
8. ticket to Bangkok
9. middle of night binge on pocky and rice snacks

following Michelle to school

Breakfast!

in her classroom

Monkey bidness

The next day we had a fun time trying to order some really good som tum… we just let them surprise us and ended up with little mini crabs in it.

And it was so good! While she was at school, I found myself returning to the park.  It was a long walk there, so when I got there I just picked a spot that was semi shaded to just sit.

walk in the park

monsoon-ish

There were other families there, and I suddenly felt awkward.  This stinky sweaty farang… female… and alone! In a public park! Anyway, this turned into a highlight as the awkwardness and guardedness between parties subsided.  Watching the monkeys play nearby, it became like a theater where we all watched the monkeys with anticipation, and laughed together at key moments.  The baby trying to sneak past the momma, who would then grab it by the tail and yank it right back.  That’s  a universal  comedy, I guess.

24th Revolution Around the Sun (and other things that make full circles)

I had a good birthday. I went to see the Avett Brothers live in Charleston, SC with my friend Michelle.

Michelle (Misa) was one of the twelve palagi who studied in Samoa with me-- who was branded with me, and who pulled me through the trauma of my drowned iPod. Some of my happiest memories in Samoa were just singing with her. We'd pick a random song (usually 90's... often Weezer) and just sing our hearts out, and even though neither of us were outstanding vocalists, singing with her was better than listening to any danggone iPod. I discovered music in a new dimension-- a "non-verbal" form of communication that forms real bonds between people.

I'm proud to say that I turned her onto the Avett Brothers. I sat in our "computer lab" all day (literally) just to download two songs (Nothing Short of Thankful and Colorshow). Then we sat in our ofisa and listened to them on repeat in dead silence. The Avett Brothers' music will probably always make me nostalgic about Samoa (as I've said before).

It was only fitting that Michelle and I would reunite for the first time since Samoa at an Avett Brothers concert.

Footage from that concert:


And here's a lil' clip of one of my campers singing to me when I came home:

27 years lived!

Birthday Post!!


**First and foremost, I want to honor my momma.  Once a year, I get all the glory, cake and presents, when she was the one who did all the work. **

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Yesterday  my "plans" of hanging out under the sun and playing music at the Springs had been rained on, and I had no idea what to expect.  I met with a varied group of friends (from college, Barton Springs, music-making endeavors, and even some brand new friends from Egypt and France joined the party!)

The following questions were asked
1) How were your last 3 birthdays spent?
2009-- Working at Eckerd in NC (watch the video at the very bottom! so sweet!) then meeting with Michelle in Charleston, SC to see the Avett Brothers
2010- Looking for a job on the North Shore of Hawaii
2011- Sleeping on an overnight bus in Thailand.  Being the only American on the bus, and being sung the birthday song in German and Thai.  Then meeting with Michelle (again! on the other side of the world!) in Railay.

After eating an awesome Thai dinner, he asked me "no matter how unrealistic, what is the one dessert you could have now if you could?"

After eating nothing but Thai food for weeks,  I replied  "that's torture! Because there's no way I can have what I really want... but it'd be a hot fudge brownie sundae"

And then walking home from dinner, lo and behold! We come upon a Burger King with a picture of a hot fudge sundae in the window.  Magic. 

2) What is your wildest realistic fantasy?
Sailing (traveling) around the world to random places.  Picking people up who want to join, dropping people off who want to stay.  Showing up and not knowing how to speak the language at all, but making music and dancing with all kinds of people at any given location.  I want to learn how to adapt to all kinds of music. I want to smile with people I've never smiled with before.  Yep.  I'm a grown ass woman and I still just want everybody around the world to hold hands and sing together... I guess I've got 3 more years to have a heart, according to Winston Churchill...

3) Do you have anxiety over getting old?
Sure. My anxiety is best described through a They Might Be Giants song

"Now it's over, I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do"
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So anyway... I had more thoughts to connect here, but birthdays are exhausting and I just want to post this and sleep.  So here's a snippet of what happened on my birthday. 

I'm back from Nicaragua. Enjoy some video clips:

Our treehouse for the first 3 nights:


Trying to see how many cartwheels I can do without losing my gallopinto:


Nick playing soccer with some locals at sunset



PS Happy Birthweek to two awesome people-- Michelle and Thanasi*!

*I don't know why I don't have anything written about Thanasi on here, but he's just a good old soul. I met him around a year ago in Wilmington at a CouchSurfing event, and then we became surf buddies and then realized we're just meant to be best friends forever.

Here's a lil montage (mostly of seatbelt-restrained dance parties):

LEAF Fall 2009

I met my friend Michelle again at the Lake Eden Arts Festival on October 17th-19th. This is a bi-annual hoodang and as a music festival junkie, I feel qualified to say that this one is unlike all others.

Here's a montage of some clips I took at the festival this Fall:


I love this shindig because:
1. It has brought in some of the most talented international artists I've ever seen and has introduced me to a variety of other cultures' indigenous instruments.
2. It's an interactive experience. From didjeridoo workshops to contact improv dance classes, the festival pulls you in as a participant so that you are not merely an observer/critic. Everyone is encouraged to bring their instruments and there are jam tents set up all over. Every stage is set in front of a dance floor to encourage anyone and everyone to contribute artistically.

3. Bon fire drum circle dance party. 'Nuff said.
4. It's a big camping trip in a beautiful location. It's centered around a lake with a zip-line and water slide
5. It's community/family oriented, and it's rather small, so I would recognize familiar faces all weekend rather than feeling like I was swimming in a mob at all times. This small community feeling seemed to hold people accountable to their actions. Much like the whole don't-fart-in-an-elevator-because-everyone'll-know-you-did-it rule, people were very considerate and kept the campgrounds clean.

Here's another video that someone put together of this fall's festival:

Branded

Out of respect for my parents, I decided to save this news until I got home. Who wants to find out their kid got a tattoo through a blog? Anyway, the rumors are true. That I'm home, and also that I got a tattoo.

Philosophy of the tattoo
I realize that it's not exactly culturally acceptable for girls to get tattoos in the States. I mean, it is... but I've known a number of guys who have said they would never date a girl with a tattoo... and a number of employers who would not hire someone with a visible tattoo. Almost as though "pure"/"untampered" skin... is preferred and praised...

Nevertheless (alwaysthemore), mine's out in the open for everyone to judge. And it's even crooked. So not only will the upper-class judge me for branding my "pure" body with something that symbolizes a marginal part of my life, but even the tattoo-elitists will look down on me because it's crooked!

To me, this tattoo does symbolize a part of my life that I don't want marginalized. My experience with the South Pacific was just a small period of my life as far as time goes, but I don't want the things I've learned to become just a part of the "me" I left in Samoa.

I like my tattoo. I like that it's visible. And visibly crooked. And I like telling the story around it.

Samoan Tattoo (Tatau) 411
Polynesians invented the Tattoo. "ta" means to strike something... hence the tapping noise when they give the tattoo. The traditional tattoo is given with razor-thin pieces of a boars tusk that are dipped in ink and then tapped into the skin of the recipient.

There's typically 4-6 people working at a time. In our situation, one person was giving the tattoo, one spreading out the skin, one wiping away the blood and excess ink, one was fanning away the flies. Traditionally, the design of the tattoo would be entirely up to the artist. As described of Queequeg's tattoos in Moby Dick,

"this tattooing had been the work of a departed prophet and seer of his island, who, by those hieroglyphic marks, had written out on his body a complete theory of the heavens and the earth, and a mystical treatise on the art of attaining truth; so that Queequeg in his own proper person was a riddle to unfold; a wondrous work in one volume; but whose mysteries not even himself could read" -Queequeg and his Coffin

The Story
After an hour-long car, ride, we finally pulled up to Sulu Ape's house. He is the best tattoo artist in all of Samoa, but as he was in American Samoa, we agreed to be tattooed by his son Peter. We entered the fale and talked for a while (not about the tattoos). Finally, we got to business, and Andrea went first. She got a big one on her outer thigh. Then was Michelle with one on her wrist... here's some footage:

(At the end he said "where you going?" to which I replied "faleuila" which literally translates to house of lightning but means the restroom.)

Then I had my turn. It's a fish. And if you ask me what it means, you probably won't get a straight-forward answer. First, because I don't know that I can even articulate it. Second, because I don't know that I'd want to.


And here's me playing it safe with my tattoo... you're supposed to keep from submerging tattoos in water immediately after getting them...


But who am I kidding, fish can't be out of water for too long...


After I had my tattoo done, I felt like a new person. I really do meditate on it everyday, and will continue to.

Interesting note: in "A Bower in the Arsacides", Ishmael has the dimensions of a whale tattooed to his arm...

What the white whale was to Ahab, has been hinted; what, at times, he was to me, as yet remains unsaid...- The Whiteness of the Whale

The Peanut Gallery

P3241188, originally uploaded by mandy.mantzel.

Better known as SIT Samoa Spring 08. This is my study abroad group in a nutshell.

Left to Right:
Jessica "Sita" is reading.
Rachel "Lasela" is dancing.
Michelle "Misa" is also dancing, and it's just funny because she seems to be more shy and yet the Samoans love to oil her up or pull her out in front of crowds to dance for everyone.

Meredith "Mele" is flying. She drew the picture so she gets the cool skills.
I'm underneath her. O igoa Samoa o "Meni". I'm in the ocean. Shocker, right?
Chris "Kilisi" is the token boy doing god-knows-what in the fale. Just kidding guys, he's doing hip stretches.
Laura "Lola", Andrea "Lea", Allie "Sona", and Anna "Ana" are all thinking about Hot Boys with rat-tails and mullets. But let's face it, we're in Samoa, so who isn't?
And then Kathy "Kati" and Taylor "Teila" are riding the bus while Teila in particular has made a "friend". She may or may not have been molested on her first bus ride.

And then we have our puppet-master Sieki who is pulling all of our strings. Silao is smokin, drinkin, and just doesn't give a rats.