Merry Christmas!

One homemade paper Christmas wreath: 2 hours of labor
A shave and a haircut for Garvey: 50 baht
A Christmas eve trip to the groomer for Manao: 300 baht (and a free Christmas bone!)

Being able to spend Christmas together in Thailand: pretty darn awesome!

Merry Christmas from Thailand.

Love, Meaghan, Garvey and Manao

Oh, and Merry Christmas, Grandma.  Garvey got his hair cut just for you!

A Year of Baking: A Culinary Self- Education

My dream is to open a bakery. And while I do listen and hear everything my mother says when she tells me about the terrible hours, I haven't been able to shake the dream. I think about names for my baked goods. I dream about chairs, tables, dishes, mugs and flatware that will be used. I try to imagine the type of menu board I will have. I listen to music and think of how it will sound in my bakery. But I know I have to go to pastry school. I research schools, programs, prices, course schedules, guest teachers, externship locations, and the list goes on.

I have been presented with a challenge. On one of my rants about my future bakery and my need to save money for pastry school, Paul told me I was being ridiculous. As he said, "I couldn't care less if someone went to pastry school, as long as it tastes good." Well, put. Part of my desire to go to school would be to learn the chemistry and techniques that can be considered a tedious part of baking. But why waste the time I have now? Paul has challenged me to a year of baking.
I have to bake at least one new thing every week. Each of my concoctions will be tasted by other people, usually my coworkers who are obsessed with anything I bring in. Everyone that tastes it must give me some type of feedback.

My challenge has begun. I have baked my first creation, chocolate crackle cookies. I don't love the name for my bakery, but I have already been given a few suggestions on the evaluation form I created. I have a pile of recipes that I am looking forward to baking, but nowhere near 52! Any suggestions? I know you won't be able to taste, but you can look, and I can tell you how it tastes. And with my coworkers' feedback, hopefully I can have it perfected by the time I am back in the States. Anything you are dying to have at the next Garvey Christmas? Because I promise, pinky swear, cross my heart, I will be home next Christmas.

Another New House

Yes, I have moved again.  And this time, I'm in love! 

The house is in the same neighborhood, but the house is exponentially better.  For one, I have a wonderful, rat free kitchen.  It is open, airy, and connected to the family room.  I can now carry on a conversation with my roommate as I bake!  The house also has a humongous yard.  Manao is in heaven.  She can dig, find creatures, and run, and run, and run.  And the best part of my new house: my new roommate.  I am no longer living with two dirty boys with many dirty lady friends.  No way, Jose.  I am living with Cait.  Cait is a girl!  She is clean!  She is fun!  And she is from America!  It's wonderful.

For those of you that would like to contact me via snail mail, which I adore, here is my new address:
Meaghan Dooley
625/55 Piman Chon 1
Klang Muang Road
Muang
Khon Kaen
40000
Thailand

Also, I never said anything, but thanks to the Regan family for the wonderful fall photos I received.  It had been one of "those days," and the card made everything a bit brighter!  Liam and Shannon are adorable.

Here is Manao, one of the happiest dogs in the world.  But what dog wouldn't be?  She has her raccoon, her bone, and her extremely noisy rubber chicken, it's any dog's dream!

Oh wow, Laos

Cat rhymes with mat.

Dog rhymes with frog.

Big rhymes with dig.

Cake rhymes with bake.

And Laos rhymes with wow.  

Yes, I know that the Good Morning America team likes to pronounce is with the "s" at the end, but I have news for them, they are wrong.  

I went to Laos about 3 months ago, but I am finally getting around to posting about the fabulous weekend. We had a four day weekend, and I would have been a fool to stay in Khon Kaen.  My work permit has finally been completed, I have a re-entry permit, and now the world, well, southeastern Asia, is my playground.  So Laos it was.  Living only about and hour and a half from the border, it was an easy decision.  We were going to spend my 23rd birthday in Vang Vieng, a small backpacker town known for its tubing trips down the Nam Song River.  Even though it would be the middle of the rainy season, we didn't mind the possibility of being caught in the rain.  If anything, it would be refreshing in the heat of summer.

Bethany, my friend in the Peace Corps, and I set out for Laos.  While we assumed it would be fun, we had no idea.  But we also had no idea the consequences there would be.

Our weekend was perfect.  We stayed in a small, quiet hostel nestled in the beautiful hills of Laos.  The scenery was breathtaking.  We spent our nights sleeping on the top floor of a treehouse listening to the river rush by below us.  The backpacker feel was a welcome difference as we spent our mornings lounging in open air restaurants, propped up on pillows, watching hours of Friends.  Yes, every single restaurant played the entire Friends series on repeat.  It was heaven on earth.  We sat, eating baguettes, drinking Beer Laos, loving life.

The day we decided to go tubing we picked up pink eye drops, as recommended by other travelers.  We were told that a day in the river often led to pink eye, so we started drops immediately.

Our day was wonderful, even if the river was VERY fast, and we floated down in about a fifth of the time it would normally take.  By the end of the day we were exhausted, slightly sunburnt, and pink eye free... or so we thought.

We spent another day in Vang Vieng lounging before Bethany and I headed to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, for one night.  By the time we arrived in Vientiane, the pink eye was quite obvious.  Bethany's eyes were slightly swollen, and painful to even look at.  I kept using my personal bottle of drops, set on avoiding the pain she was dealing with.

When we arrived back in Khon Kaen, Bethany was a hot mess.  Her eyes were terrible, and she simply felt sick.  While in my bedroom she pulled up her pant leg to show me a burn she had on her inner calf.  She had acquired the injury a few weeks prior while riding on the back of a motorbike.  As soon as I saw it, I gasped.  It was bright red, oozing, and her skin was burning hot.  Thanks to a quick phone call to Dr. Dooley Stateside, we were off to the hospital.

After many jokes of amputation,  few mentions of gangrene and other unmentionables, Bethany was admitted to the hospital.  She was immediately hooked up to an IV, and given the corner room with the view.  I decided to spend the night with Bethany, on the couch, counting my blessings for not having pink eye.

I spoke too soon.  I awoke the next morning with the worst case of pink eye I have ever experienced.  Both eyes were redder than the clothing of the Red Shirts.  I was in pain, and I was not pleased.  I finally had to go back to work, and that was definitely not happening.

Bethany ended up spending four days in the hospital.  I had two days off from work, and became completely bored out of my mind.  The recovery process was long and slow for both of us, but we are now healthy, with beautiful, white eyes.  And we both agree that it was totally worth it!  But if you ever go to Laos, wear goggles.

Happy Thanksgiving from Thailand!

The American After School Program is back in full swing.  And of course, we had to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I showed the students parts of parades past, but they became quite giggly when they realized that the Rockettes "wear only underwear!"  So, I ditched the parade, and went straight for the turkey crafts.

We discussed what each student was thankful for, and crafted away.  Check out the sweet photos.

mmMm... I said sweet photos, sounds like sweet potatoes.  Gosh, sweet potatoes sound really good.  It's okay, I had noodles, curry and rice on my Turkey Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm now off to Vietnam for two weeks... this should take my mind off of missed turkey, thankful tablecloths, Rockettes dancing in underwear and turkey trotting.

So long, America.

It has been a wonderful two weeks.  My apologies to the people I was unable to see and visit with.  And for those of you I did see, thank you!  I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful, exciting, and fun two weeks in the States.

I'm currently sitting on the floor of the Anchorage airport waiting to re board the plane and exit the country.  See you in April, America!

Puppets galore!

One of our activities in this session of the American After School Program was a puppet show.  All of our students are incredibly talented artists, and the puppets blew me away.  Here are a few photos of the kids hard at work, and performing their shows. 

Above is the T. Meaghan and T. Paul puppet.  We are walking Manao.  Manao is the dog coming out of the lime, because manao means lime in Thai.

Meaghan's Magical Mystery Forest

Where in the world am I living?

I now live in a house.  I live in a humongous house, in a great neighborhood, next to a wonderful lake.  But, what is going on in the yard?!

I don't have any grass.  My entire property is tiled.  It's a bit ridiculous, and quite confusing for the dog, but it's been okay.  Until the crazy animals started showing up!

Paul is convinced that I have a monkey.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a monkey.  The very first day I moved into the house, Paul peered through the cutouts in the wall and into the neighbor's yard.  He was trying to see the neighbor's pool, but he saw a monkey!  He jumped back from the wall and made a crazy sound.  He swore it was a monkey that climbed up the wall in front of the cut out, and I swore he was crazy.  That was until I had my own monkey sightings.

One morning, as I was letting the dog out, I saw a figure.  It was a dark figure, hunched over, monkey-like.  It was sitting on top of the arbor in the yard.  The entire structure trembled as this thing bounced across it, and back over to the neighbor's yard.

Then, there was the evening sighting when I was watching television.  Manao started barking.  At first I didn't think much of it, until she started going crazy.  Something was going on.  I went outside and heard a great crash as this same monkey-sized figure hopped from the roof on the storage space to the roof over our outdoor bathroom and then back over the fence.  I was petrified.  And thoroughly convinced that I have a monkey.

Paul has attempted to trap the monkey, but he has had no luck.

While the monkey is scary, we have had a variety of other creatures roaming around the house, inside and out.  One morning after Manao and I walked around the lake we came home and I began watering the plants.  Within moments Manao was hopping around whining in pain, tossing her head about.  Upon closer inspection I noticed that she had a crab clinging to her snout!  The tiny thing had it's very strong claw stuck on her wet nose, and he was not letting go.  A crab.  In my tiled yard.  What in the world?

Then there was the snake.  Well, one of the snakes.  We have green snakes, black snakes, big snakes, and small snakes.  But this snake was different.  When I found it, it was constricting a toad.  Yes, we have toads as well.  According to my roommate, a snake fanatic, there are only a few types of snakes that constrict their prey, and none of them are safe.  Well, that was a comforting little fact.  Thank you, Andy.

Oh, and then there was the tokay in the bathroom.  A tokay is a very large gecko.  A very fast, large gecko.  The three of us spent at least 30 minutes trying to catch it and get it out of the house.  Luckily, Andy wasn't scared, and he grabbed it, let it bite him, and threw it outside.

The most recent creatures have been the creepiest by far.  We have rats.  They live behind the house in the water shed.  But, that area opens up to the Thai kitchen.  The kitchen was an addition to the house, and we usually keep it completely closed from the rest of the house when we are not using it.  One morning I went into the Thai kitchen to find a huge mess.  Rat footprints and tail marks covered the kitchen.  The top of the vegetable oil had been gnawed off, and it was spilled everywhere.  My container of very expensive Hershey's cocoa was chewed open and cocoa covered a large portion of the floor.  The tiles around the sink were broken.  It was disgusting and scary.  What filthy creatures.  It gives me the chills to think about it.  But once again, thank goodness for the men in my life.  Paul came to the rescue.  First he did research on the internet and told me about a rat's ability to reproduce 7 times per year.  And assured me that I probably have an entire colony of rats.  Well, thank you for that fact!  But, he found that peanut butter would be the best bait for the trap.  And unlike his attempt at monkey trapping, he was successful this time.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Paul trapped a rat.  What did he do with the rat?  I'll tell you when you're older.

Teacher Paul, my hero.

You swing those arms! You go, girl!

As I was running this evening, thinking about life, my future, my present, my goals, my dreams, and various other unimportant running thoughts, something awesome happened.

Now keep in mind, this is all happening at the end of my very long week, the evening of a very long Friday.  I am tired from work, tired of work, tired from life, tired of life in Thailand, and just plain tired.  And then it happened.

As my iPod played the same 8 songs I run to every day through my right ear, my left ear pod is broken, "California Gurls" came on.  For those of you that don't know, "California Gurls" is by Katy Perry and features Snoop Dogg.  I have learned every word by heart, and no, I'm not entirely proud of it.  But tonight, as the song went in one ear and out the other, and my thoughts floated somewhere in between, the whole world clicked.

I was running with pep in my step, my back wasn't hurting, and as the song hit the chorus...

California girls

We're unforgettable

Daisy Dukes

Bikinis on top

Sun-kissed skin

So hot

Will melt your popsicle

Oooooh Oh Oooooh

California girls

We're undeniable

Fine, fresh, fierce

We got it on lock

West coast represent

Now put your hands up

Oooooh Oh Oooooh

 ..... the woman walking in front of me on the path started swaying her arms.  As in perfect Thai style, swaying arms and swinging hips is considered fitness.  And walking while doing both is supahhh fitness.  So, as the Thai woman swung her hips and flung her arms about, I continued to run, watching in amazement as she did it all in perfect sync with the song.  It was all too amazing.

And this was no in-sync-turn-signal-situation.  You know what I mean, when you are stopped at a light, and the person in front of you has his blinker on that is perfectly in time with yours, but after a few clicks you are out of sync again?  No way, Jose.  She just kept swinging and swaying, and she stayed in perfect rhythm.  I slowed down my run just to see how long it would last!

Pretty lame story, I know.  But it sure did put a smile on my face.

Click here for the song!

It's coming to an end.

I am quickly approaching the one year mark on my time in Thailand.  But I am also quickly approaching my return to the States.  My friends have made it quite clear that they know I am leaving, and they aren't happy about it.  One of my friends has already begun making a slideshow for my departure... in eight months!  While I think he is jumping the gun a bit, it has made me think about my time here and the things I will miss, and the things I definitely will not.

Things I will not miss:

1. Driving a motorbike- Driving here is super dangerous to begin with.  Put yourself on a motorbike, and things get crazy.  People weave and swerve and do not obey rules of the road.  Correction- there are no rules of the road.  And with the rainy season in full swing, I hate having to plan my day, night and life around whether or not I can drive there without swamping my bike in my flooded neighborhood.  Just give me a car, with a windshield, a seat with a back, and maybe even a radio!  Gosh, that sounds nice.

2. The people- The people here can be brutal.  Let's just say that in the land of smiles, after 10 months, people aren't so smiley anymore.  I'll spare you the stories for now, but I have had some pretty wicked run-ins with a handful of teachers at school, and boy, they changed my whole perspective!

3. The rainy season- Just let me go to work without getting soaked!  Let me run around the lake without ending up knee deep in water and ruining my ipod.  Let me be able to drive through my neighborhood without putting my motorbike out of commission.  Let me walk across the school without wiping out on the soaking wet tile.  And seriously, in a country where it rains for three months straight, why is there so much tile?  Shouldn't we have thought this through...?  Let it stop!

4. The food situation- Street food?  Salad bars on motorbikes?  Can't I just eat like a normal person?  How about a nice bowl of pasta that I prepared for myself?  Or maybe a sandwich?  Is that really so much to ask?  I'm over noodles, sticky rice and chicken on a stick.  I'm just plain sick of the impressive selection of goodies at 7-11.  Give me some good ol' American grub.

5. Teaching- Why won't the students listen to me?  Oh right, because they don't understand a good portion of what I am saying.  Enough said.

6. My friends and family back home- Well, it's true.  When I am back in the States, I won't have to miss everyone there.  I'll be able to text message and visit.  Heck, I'll be able to talk to people within a 3 hour time difference!

Things I will miss:

1. Driving a motorbike- Driving and feeling the wind in my hair is a feeling that I don't want to give up.  Driving the motorbike with Manao perched between my feet, loving every second of our drive to 7- 11 is something I don't want to forget.  Being able to park just about anywhere, oh it's so nice.  Having the ability to weave through traffic, passing hundreds of cars and completely missing all jams, I know I will miss that!

2. The people-  People know me around here.  They may not know my name, or have any idea how to communicate with me, but they know me.  They recognize me.  And they always smile.  Sometimes I get the occasional "hellloooo!"  Or the whispering as they tell each other, "oh, it's the farang!  The farang!"  But, they are always kind.  They remember what I like to eat at certain food stalls.  They know that I don't like my iced coffee too sweet.  They know that I always get 100 baht worth of gas.  They know that I always get 300 baht phone cards.  And they know that I drink Leo beer every Friday night.  They just know.  They always are kind.  And I will definitely miss them.   

3. The rainy season- What a relief.  After months of intense heat and burning sunshine, the rain is wonderful.  All of the trees are green again.  Everything is lush and beautiful.  The storms are the most intense storms I have ever experienced, and they are thrilling.  The entire house shakes as the thunder rolls, and I can read a book with the amount of light emitted as the lightening strikes.  To be able to sleep with the windows open and the cool breeze blowing through is absolutely wonderful.

4. The food situation- Fruit vendors on every corner?  That's pretty sweet.  Pad thai?  It will never be as delicious in a restaurant as it is on the street.  Sticky rice?  Som tam?  Mango?  Fried bananas?  Ice cream from a bicycle?  Fried chicken on a motorbike?  I need to go eat something right now.  Just the spice in general will be missed back in America.  

5. Teaching- What's not to miss?  The kids are hilarious.  They adore me, and I adore them.  We have tons of fun, and my job is never boring.  Why would I give this up?

6. My friends and family in Thailand- Simon and Paul.  New and Sang.  Kar and Mom.  Pae and Mameaw.  T. Sue and T. Sow.  These are the people that have become my family here.  They take care of me.  They make sure I am eating well, but never too much.  They make sure that I always know what is going on in school and outside.  They are my social life and my work life.  These people have made my life here what it is.  And I honestly don't know how I will say goodbye.  But yes, Mom, I will.

   

Manao is an animal.

We have always had dogs.  But dogs have always been another member of the family.  Manao has been a wake up call.  She has reminded me that dogs are animals.  Straight up animals.

Before I really came to terms with Manao's animal status, she would sleep in my bedroom.  She always slept under my bed, but I gave her the luxury of sleeping in a sometimes air-conditioned, but always fan- cooled, room.  One night while I was brushing my teeth, I came back to my bedroom to find this:

The two of us have since had our fair share of traumatic experiences.  First there are the street dogs.  Every morning on our run we are attacked by a pack of barking, growling and teeth- baring mongrels.  We try to sneak by along the outside of the path and go unnoticed, but we are often unsuccessful, and are confronted with these cuties.  Seriously, it is really, really scary.

We have also had two tick incidents.  Despite my obsessive anti- tick medicine application, the use of a tick collar and various other techniques, Manao's fur has become infested with ticks on two occasions.  Here is a picture from when I shaved her, and took matters into my own hands.  Luckily, we have been tick free since this photo.

But today takes the cake.

Every morning I wake up at 5:10 to take Manao on a run around the lake before work.  This morning was no different.  She ate breakfast, I laced up my running shoes, put on her leash, and we were off.  As we were about fifteen minutes from the end of our run, a pigeon flew out of a tree next to the trail.  Before I could comprehend the situation, Manao had the pigeon in her mouth.  She had leapt into the air and grabbed the pigeon mid flight.  She had only caught it's wing, so she maneuvered the pigeon in her mouth, and sunk her teeth directly into it's chest.  I screamed bloody murder.  I dropped the leash, covered my mouth and continued to scream.  I tried to tell her to drop it, and to stop, but I knew it was too late.  By the time she dropped the pigeon on the side of the path, it was long gone.  I grabbed her leash again, and yanked her away from her prey.  Boy, was she proud.  She thought I would be proud too!  It was clear the way she held her head and pranced along, she knew she had done a good thing.  I just ran, unable to come to terms with the fact that my dog is a killer.  The man sitting at his stall along the path had heard it all, and just chuckled as I tried to tell and mime to him what had just occurred.

I brought Manao home, the end of our run being a complete blur.  I dropped her off and went for my second loop, camera in hand.  This is what my adorable, golden retriever is guilty of:

Shocking.  Absolutely shocking.  And disgusting!

But this is what I came home to.  She is just so darn proud.  Come on, it just doesn't add up!

I'm a makin' me some bahts.

Work, work, and more work.  

I work at school.  I work after school.  I work weekends.  I work evenings.  Lately, I do a whole lotta working.  

On Mondays and Tuesdays I teach after school with Paul at my house.  We started what we call "The American After School Program."  (Put the word 'American' on anything here, and it sells itself!)  It has gone wonderfully, but it has kept me super busy.  The first session of the program lasted 8 weeks, and it was great.  The kids were a ton of fun, and the projects were awesome.  Basically, Paul and I ran a summer camp.

At the end of the session I created a DVD for all of the students.  It was a twenty minute video filled with adorable photos from our weeks together.  I have tried time and time again to load the video onto the blog, but no luck.  So, I have to go old school and stick to the photographs.  

The photos are:

1. Spray paint t- shirt day

2. Chocolate chip cookie day

3. Pun Pun being silly

4. Aun Aun with her pop- up father's day card

5. 4th of July barbeque day

6. Pun Pun wearing T. Paul's helmet

7. T. Meaghan and Aun Aun

8. The three 5th graders after their skit