The Thai Palace and Wat Po

me.



here is my crew minus 2.
the college and high school students both.
this is about as touristy as we get. we have to wear socks and skirts or long pants to enter the palace grounds. i don't know about you, but i feel goofy.

on this day we were present in the palace the day that Thais were mourning the loss of the King's sister. Hundreds lined up all in black to pay their respects.







the girls.
...and an amazing artist inspired by the murals painted around the entire inner palace walls, which depict the entire story of the Ramayana.

















the hall of Buddhas.











the palace and temple are saturated in detail like this.










i am growing this succulent at home.
this photo is basically showing off my new fancy camera and of course the incredible beauty of plants.

biting an eel.

Here I am. I made it. We made it. The Shanti lodge, Bangkok, Thailand. In a car, a train, two planes, three movies, and a van. Across the international date line, 15-hours in to the future. The length of the journey there to remind me just how far i am traveling. From frigid, icy thin air to sweltering, wet heat, so thick that it is a noticable presence you can almost hold in your hands. This heat forces humans to a greater awareness than ever before that we are made of 80% water, for this air turns our bodies into a sponge squeezing seemingly every last drop of liquid out of our cells.

i learned something yesterday. forced into it actually because of this fluid sucking heat.
on my first excursion with the high schoolers minus the guidance of the experienced trip leaders, to the Bangkok weekend market on a city bus with 12 in total. heat sucking, sun beating, people shopping. that is when the headache began accompanied by some nausea. yet i had already drank 3 liters of water and a big ol fruit and veggie smoothie that morning. agh, but this feels like dehydration. but how could it be? continuing to drink still more water, the pain in my head progressed as we waited for the students and then the bus. back in my bed the pain disabled me from movement or rational thought. justin to the rescue with an emergen-c packet and some wise words. you see the the filtered water here at the magical sanctuary in the city known as the Shanti Lodge is purified, clean and safe for us delicate Americans to drink, yet in the process it has also become null and void of any minerals. thus no electrolytes. essentially the water i have been filling up on is hollow, not able to be absorbed into my body. slowly, slowly, i chewed down some fresh fruit, more juice, more mineral water and my body returned the favor by releasing me from the grips of pain. no idea why this never happened to me any of the 7 other times i have been here. there is a first time for everything and now i know. should have brought the Tang. i took the day off today, my students are exploring the ancient Thai capitol city of Ayuthoya (with justin and colin of course) and i am in the shade drinking a variety of fluids. ooh and i just took cold shower number two of the day. Thais usually take about 3 a day.

Me, a trip leader, a guide, a facilitator of youth in Thailand and India. whoa. Am i actually ready for this? yes. I am here. I have to remind myself that I am supposed to be here. The joys and passions of my life culminating into one. A world traveling youth worker. my dreams wrapped up into one.
Student becomes teacher. Teacher is always student.
i send gifts of gratitude out into the world. With these new students and their fresh eyes, i am aware of my own broad and intimate vision expanded. able to see, able to feel, able to hear far greater things than before in this traveling space. i am more grounded in my heart, more saturated in who i am, more comfortable with the cells in my body. my awareness has become able to see more. with that, i suppose i am ready.
Being a trip leader is definitely a bit of a terrifying experience. ultimate responsibility for 11 lives in a foreign country. It is what I imagine being a lifeguard is like, except for all the time and in a country that is not our own, where we do not speak the language. Constantly counting heads. Needing to channel my inner Dalai Lama, able to be aware of all of my surroundings broad and close, of all living beings near and far. I am having to confidently jump right in to the things that i am personally still timidly nervous about. Maybe this is what all adults feel like, not really knowing exactly what to do, but acting as though everything is under control...because really it will all work out. i always thought i would really be an adult when i took a group of youth on a van field trip. i guess this really makes me an adult. although i still feel like an adolescent in the realm of trip leading.

the first full day in Bangkok, one of the students decided to eat a live eel, bit its head off and started chewing. This was of course after he put his steri-pen in the water to purify it. he was surprised and disgusted by the taste of blood in his mouth. i think there is still some eel blood on the wall. it is probably on YouTube already if you want to check it out....And we are off to a great start. really all of these students are absolutely amazing and i am thrilled to watch and support their continuous growth and learning. woooooo

the Z on this computer is actuallz the Y and vice versa, verz confusing. and quite funnz.

tomorrow we are off to our friend's house, Wan Pen, in Erewan National Park. An organic farm that supplies much of the fantastic food at the Shanti. mmmmhummm. yes, finally out of the city and into the farm community. hooray!

squishes and squeezes.
love,
jessica.

no, snow? know snow!

previously in my life i was down on snow. meaning, it was not my friend. it is cold and wet and people usually like to throw it at you for fun. i didn't get the love affair many other people seemed to be having with the cold white stuff. but, i'll tell you, i fell in love. yes it is true. it all happened with some very good looking mountains, some snow shoes, and lebn.

although it may seem that the white distant object is the moon, it isn't it is a bit of snow. it was freakishly windy and quite possibly the coldest i have ever been in my life. the moon however had risen in the sky and looked just like this, only on the other side.