Chi-Town

I've been getting ready to go home to California, but before that happens I really wanted to go to Chicago(A top place on my list to visit). This past weekend I got to see that dream com true. I took a long weekend and got to see all the city had to offer. I went shopping at a traditional German market called ChristmaskindlMarket, I strolled the famous Michigan Ave, rode the trains all over town, stepped off the ledge at the Willis Tower(formerly Sears Tower), saw the Zoo lights at the Lincoln park zoo, oh and I got to see Usher's OMG tour. An emotional roller coaster, but an amazing weekend nonetheless. I would go back in an instant.
Here are 10 things I learned from this weekend:
1. You know you are getting old when you are sitting at an Usher concert and all you can think about is how loud the music is.
2. Full body scans at the airport really aren't that bad.
3. Maps were invented for a purpose and are not meant to be disregarded.
4. People in Chicago are super friendly, I didn't meet one grumpy person.
5. I really am terrified of heights.
6. Usher is shorter than I imagined.
7. Hats do keep you warmer.
8. Snow is miserable when you have to walk long distances in it.
9. I have a secret wish to live like Tarzan and Jane.
10. The word SALE gets me every time.

When does it end?

How come no one ever tells you that applying for schools is actually the easy part of going to college? Everyone kept telling me that it would be smooth sailing after I got accepted...WRONG. The sleepless nights of wondering whether or not I should change the last word in the middle paragraph so that my application essay sounds just right are over, and yes, I am glad, but at the same time it now feels like that was much easier than what comes now. Now I have to find a place to live in a state that I've never been to, get a job, fill out millions of overly complicated forms, register for classes even though most of them are already full, but I can't do that until I've attended an orientation amidst being here in Illinois, and not to mention the $50,000 that it's going to cost me to attend. Whew, now that was a much needed rant. Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining because I feel so blessed to be able to go to a university, but man, When does it end? When do I get a little bit of peace from the chaos of life?

What's Next?

You may be just dying to know what is next for Katy. You are sitting, anxiously awaiting where I will be off to and the answer is finally here. I checked my voicemail this morning after missing a call from my mom in the middle of the night. I was nervous because my dog has been very sick and I thought she might have been calling to tell me that he died or something traumatic like that. I finally listened to the message which revealed that I had been accepted to the University of Washington, my top choice for college. I jumped out of bed and called my mom back to make sure it was real and that I wasn't still dreaming (by the way it was 5 in the morning her time). You can image my giddy laugh when she confirmed that, yes, I am going to the University of Washington. Soooo excited right now! I really feel like this school is so much better for me than any school I previously thought about attending. So in just the next few weeks, I will be off to California then off again to find housing in Seattle!

I tried to get all artistic with my new photos, but I'm not quite sure I pulled it off.

New Pictures

I went with my aunt and uncle to help them take some pictures of their family and decided to take a few of myself, but I'm not sure if I'm loving them. Let me know what you think. Keep 'em or retake? Obviously this is just one, but I wasn't going to take the time to edit them if I'm not going to keep them plus I'm being extra lazy today. I got to bed so late last night that I just slipped my shirt off without taking off my sweatshirt (I know...pretty impressive) and it's been that way ever since. We even went to run errands today and yep I'm still just wearing my sweatshirt. I need some motivation. Give me some good news!

A Little Explanation

So you may ask, what am I doing out here in the middle of nowhere anyway? Well my aunt emailed me while I was still in Thailand and asked if I would be willing to fly out and watch her kids while she and her husband went to Hawaii. My first thought was, "how about we all go to Hawaii," but after a thirty-seconds I thought, "sure, why not? I'm always up for a new adventure." Without even looking up the place where I would be living for awhile, I set off on a plane and found myself here. My aunt has gone and come back from Hawaii yet I can't bring myself to leave just yet. Now I spend my days helping my aunt with her business and launching her new website. What does she do you ask? She designs and sells vinyl graphics for walls and other such things. You should visit her website at http://www.simply2inspire.com/, it's pretty cool. She also has a blog with craft ideas at http://www.simplytoinspire.com/. I'm in charge of helping create new ideas and I have found ti to be a lot of fun so far. I designed and created this Merry Christmas sign all by myself. I was very proud of my accomplishment. Vinyl really can be used to do anything. If you have an idea just let us know and we can create it.

New Adventure

I have been back from Thailand for several months now and I'm already off on a new adventure. Sure it's not anywhere glamorous like Fiji or Thailand, but it's very different from what I'm used to. I'm currently living in Mascoutah Illinois. Yes it is a real place. I've never seen so many corn fields, but I'm actually quite liking it. The people here are really nice and welcoming. I've even made some friends. I went to a Halloween party last night and it turned into a dance party. Guy's were actually dancing. I know, crazy right? I am only familiar with girls dancing like you know what and guys leaning against walls and watching. I think I'm going to enjoy being here even though my time is almost over. Where to next?

Thanks again for everyone who has supported me thus far, I know I tend to be unpredictable, but isn't kind of fun trying to keep up? What did she do? Where is she going? Didn't she just move somewhere else? Well at least it's fun for me. I guess I'm just a wanderer.

Last Day

Well I'm very sad to say that today is that last official day that I will be in Thailand. I am deeply going to miss all the kids that I have worked with in Thailand and I hope to be able to come back soon. I closed out all my projects and I'm going to write them all off as a success.

Yesterday was the last day teaching the leadership course at DEPDC and I was pleasantly surprised with the kids. We completed the last lesson and then gave them time to write their own biographies. We were worried that it would be hard for the students to open up, but they all decided to share their stories which pretty much brought me to tears. These kids are so remarkable and have been through so much. I'm proud of the young men and women that they have become. We gave each of them a certificate of completion in the course and then they gave each of the four teachers, Matt, Ryleigh, Dave, and myself a letter signed by each of them. The point of the course was to get them thinking about the future in ways that they hadn't before and to examine themselves. I really feel like we accomplished that. I would like to go back to the states and raise money to provide scholarships for these kids to continue their education after DEPDC. Thank you to all my team members who helped make this project happen.

What a way to leave Thailand, my last weekend was spent on top of an elephant's head, holding on to dear life to an ostrich's wings, at a Thai BBQ(which was really hard to actually get food), oh and I got bit by a dog. I love this place. Goodbye sweet sweet Thailand.

I survived

I can officially say that I have seen most of the far reaches of Thailand. I have been all the way from Burma to the southern tip of Phuket. It took nine days and I used all of my vacation days, but I did it. It only took 7 buses, 7 mini-buses, 8 moto's, 7 taxi's, 5 sky trains, 4 boats, 6 tuk tuk's, and 1 airplane. It was an exhausting trip, but I met some really great Thai people along the way and they reinforced my love for Thailand. But I'm back now and getting down to work for my last week here.

The week before I left, we had a great anti-drug presentation in a distant Hmong village. We taught kids that were around the ages 13-16. I'm really not sure how much they got out of it because much of it was probably lost in translation, but I'm writing it off as success.

I forgot

I added new pictures, but I forgot to give an update about what's going on here. These past few days have been a little crazy. We have gotten a new volunteer each day for the past three days and we are running out of places to put them. I'm lucky that I don't have to share a bed. I finally unpacked some of my things...it's about time, it's only been five weeks haha. I can't believe I only have four weeks left already. This trip is going by so fast and I feel like I have so much left to do here. I guess that means that I'm just going to have to come back and finish what I've started.

I have taken on the task of preparing a leadership course for the youth group at DEPDC. We had our first class this week and the theme was "Modeling the Way" which is adapted from The Leadership Challenge. We talked about clarifying your values and being an example of those values. We also played "simon Says" because simon models the way-Get it? Well I thought it was kind of clever. I think this class will be a huge success and it's turned into being my favorite project.

I'm also currently working on a anti-drug presentation for a school in one of the Hmong villages up north. In Thailand, Meth is a huge problem. It comes in a tablet form mixed with caffeine and they call it "yaba" which translates into crazy medicine. This presentation is going to be modeled after the "Just Say No" program that is taught in the United States. I'm really not an expert on Meth so I hope I can get the facts straight. Thanks goodness for the internet!

New Pictures, Old Info

Well my mom has been complaining that I haven't put any pictures on my blog yet so here they are. One of the pictures is of the Akha village that we stayed in over night. They taught us about their culture and traditions. It was very enlightening and I felt so thrilled that we were not only teaching them, but they were teaching us as well. Elephants came and picked us up in the morning and we road down the mountain on them. I got to ride on the elephants head and I just about died with fulfillment of one of my life-long dreams. In case you didn't know, elephants are my favorite animals and I've always wanted to ride one.

The other picture is at DEPDC. We were teaching the kids square-foot gardening. I'm still waiting to see how this project turns out.

Now that the rain is gone

This week has been rewarding, frustrating, happy, long, complex, challenging, and pretty much any other adjective you can think of. It has been very hot here since the rain stopped coming, but every time I see a cloud I try and you my mind to make it rain, sadly it never does-just kidding, but seriously. Anyway, as volunteers we have finally entered into the stage of the summer where everyone feels the need to be really competitive. I have tried to step back and realize we all have the same end goals, but it has been difficult for others. It's rather very funny to watch on the sidelines. Some people tell you that you can't go to one project because it's full even though the people in charge say there are more openings and then the person that doesn't get to go does that to someone else and so forth. I don't know why this happens, but my theory is that the constant heat reverts many people back to the age of 5. I really hope that we can overcome this challenge as a team and focus back on what we actually came here to do and not focus on how many projects that one person can be the leader of. Sorry for my little rant, but I am watching this happen almost everyday so I felt the need to share it. I am really trying to post pictures for you to see, but my card won't read in the computer. Sorry.

On Friday, I was able to travel to the Akha village and check on the adobe stove we made to see how it is drying. Turns out that we made a great stove, well at least as far as I can tell. It will be another week before we will take out the banana stock and check out how the hollow piping turned out. After that we spent the rest of the day working on finishing the walls for a sauna down in the free clinic that we have been helping to build. At the end, we were asked to write all of our names in the cement so I have officially left my mark on Thailand.

The weekend was nice because we got to unwind from such a crazy week. We traveled all the way to Big C, which is where everyone hangs out and I would say that it is the equivalent of Wal-Mart in Thailand. We went there to get KFC and a Dairy Queen Blizzard which was surprisingly good considering the rest of the food here has been making me sick and sorry that I ate it. Then I went to a driving range and hit some golf balls for the very first time. Everyone said I was a natural but I think they were just being nice. At one point I even managed to hit one behind me. Sunday was great because it was the 4th of July which is my favorite holiday. I was a little sad to be out of the country for the second time in a row, but the group pulled of an awesome day. We had pancakes for breakfast and had hamburgers for dinner and of course as Americans we were able to get a hold of some fireworks. It turned out to be a festivity for the neighbors and we sang and cheered as the fireworks went off. What a great Day that was!

A few of us went up to DEPDC on Monday to teach a leadership class and a compost lesson to the agricultural students. I mostly observed the leadership class to see what we could change, what worked, and I ended up with a huge daunting project at my hands-to create an entire leadership course with a clear objective and I am only given 4 weeks. Yay me! haha, we'll see how this turns out. The compost lesson went very well and we created a little spin with the square-foot gardening. We separated the kids into groups and assigned them each a box and their own compost pile. They are each responsible for adding to it and to maintaining their boxes. Whoever proves to have the best garden/compost pile at the end-wins. We're just not exactly sure what they will win yet, but it definitely lit a fire under them and they loved it. I've never seen kids work so hard.

Yesterday I spent planning out lessons for English as well as working on a leadership program and I think I am off to a good start. Today we met with the organization called SOLD. You can check them out at TheSoldProject.org. It's a very moving organization that focuses on preventing children from entering into prostitution. They provide scholarships for children who are at risk. They are currently building a resource center which they hope will draw in many members of the community and we are going to be doing square-foot gardening with the kids there. It was a pretty amazing meeting and I'm really interested in this organization. I'm hoping that I might be able to come back to Thailand and get involved or even help them with fundraising back in the states.

Whirlwind

We started projects in a rural village outside of town. Phii Tee, which turns out to be the correct way to spell his name, wanted us to build adobe stoves. We have also been helping to build a free clinic for the tribal people to make healthcare more attainable. It turns out that I'm the only person to ever build a stove before because of my experience in Fiji so the group turned to me for direction. Man did I ever feel inadequate. I was made a co-lead on the project and the pressure was on. Luckily I think I managed to pull through without letting anyone down.

The executive director of HELP, Mike, came to Thailand this week. Everyone made sure to be on their best behavior and turns out he is very chill. We went to Chiang Mai for the weekend to show him around (FYI, we get weekends off, except for the occasional saturday that we need to work, but I promise we are still working very hard and the weekends are hardly a break from working). It was a ton of fun, we got Thai massages for $5, went rafting in the dirtiest river you could ever imagine, and Mike ended the day by buying us all dinner. It was definitely an adventure filled with many bonding moments.

I', still sick and trying to recover, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. I have focused my efforts on becoming more organized with all the different projects that are going on. Right now, we are still getting set up so it's been chaotic and I'm trying to fix that. Mike and I had some good conversations about how to go about doing that and I'll keep you updated.

Last night, the girls found out that I love to dance and they pressured me into dancing in front of the group. It turned into a crazy sort of dance contest where we were given topics to dance out. It started raining and got super silly, but I'm glad that we are all getting along so well.

I have to go but I love you all and I will talk to you soon!

Cough, Sniffle, Cough, Cough

Turns out that you can still get a cold when it's over a hundred degrees. I started coming down with something yesterday and now I have a full blown cough, sore throat, and stuffy nose. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night so I've been in a daze all day.

I did still have to work though. I went to Soccer school yet again and I really wish I knew what the actual name of the school, but I don't so that's too bad. The kids were amazing today and were able to keep up with all my little English teaching experiments. With the older grades, I worked on sentence structure and taught the difference between nouns and verbs. In the younger grades, we talked about colors and telling time. I also made a new friend. I like to call him tramp. I realize this may sound mean, but you have to take into consideration that he is a dog. He is also a very dirty dog and reminds me of tramp from the Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp. He has already pinned me down for a sucker and follows at my heels while I'm eating. Awww, I miss Dilly and Cruiser. I felt like it was a very productive day regardless of the fact that I felt so sick.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

I never really understood the expression "it's raining cats and dogs" until I came to Thailand. We jut entered into the rainy season and we find ourselves in the most inconvenient places when the weather suddenly changes and the heavens open up soak us down to the bone. It's been fun though so I can't complain. It's actually kind of funny because people here will still ride their mo-peds in the rain, the only difference is that they carry an umbrella in one hand.

I've started to pick up the language which has help make me a better teacher in the process. That's pretty much what I've been doing the last two weeks--teach English nonstop. Everyday we try to come up with a new way to teach to keep it interesting and enjoyable for the kids. The kids just tend to laugh at us when we speack Thai to them and I've realized that when I respond with the English slang "yea", in Thai it means something bad, so i've been trying really hard not to say that.

On Monday and Wednesday we worked on square-foot gardening at DEPDC. This nest week we will be teaching the agriculture students a lesson on compost which should be fun because we are going to start our own compost pile at the volunteer house to show them what compost begins to look like and what to add to it and what not to. Mr T, a local Thai, was telling me about a really awesome project that has been started in Thailand and I think it goes right along with our square-foot gardening. It's called FAITH which stands for food always in the house. Maybe we can get involved with it.

Well I'm off to teach another English lesson...talk to you soon...

Oh, I've also found out that I'm not a very good speller without spell check so I apologise for any errors.

Another Day...well actually week

It's been awhile since they last time I wrote and for that I am sorry, but if you think about it, it's actually a good thing because that means I'm really busy working and doing what I came here to do. This past week has been crazy and exciting along with frustrating, but also rewarding. This is the first year in Thailand so we are starting from square-one and it's been difficult getting projects off the ground. Luckily there are many new possibilities that we came across this week. There are several groups that we are looking to partner with that are involved in combating human trafficking and I really hope that all pan out. So everyone rides motorcycles, scooters, mo-peds, or whatever you want to call them. And I do mean everyone. When we walk by the high schools here, there is literally a sea of them. Today we got off the bus and had to find another method of transportation to get the rest of the way to our project. Next thing I know, the other two volunteers hop on the back of what appears to be a mo-ped taxi service and signal at me to do the same. I was wearing shorts along with a t-shirt so I took one last look at my arms and legs and said "well it was nice knowing you" and then we were off. Much to my surprise, I arrived with not even a hair out of place, but let me tell you that I am so thankful for helmets back in the states.

Apparently I was wrong, there really is soccer at soccer school. We also teach a dance class and English. On Wednesday, half our volunteers left for Bangkok suddenly and without notice, including the girl that normally teaches the dance class. Being one of the only volunteers left with any dance experience, I got the opportunity, or one could say was forced into teaching the dance class to about 30 students. I tried earnestly to think of a dance that would be easy enough for them to learn and much to my dismay, all I could think of was the electric slide. As it turns out, it was a huge success. So much so that even the school teachers came in to try and learn it as well.

In the middle of the week we went to a place called DEPDC located near the border of Burma which is essentially a small community for children that have been or are at rick for human trafficking. This is one of my favorite projects because the kids have such sweet spirits and they are so eager to learn. We teach English, leadership classes, host an English radio show, along with teaching square-foot gardening. It takes almost 2 hours to get there by bus among various security checkpoints by the police. I learned that hard way that you really do need your passport with you. Anyway, I would love to put up pictures for you to see, but due to safety reasons, the school does not like us to take pictures of the kids, maybe I'll put some stick figure drawings on here so you get the idea.

Over the weekend, a small group of us traveled up into the hill to stay overnight with a tribe there. It was probably one of the single most amazing experiences of my life. They have such simple lives, but yet they have such a profound sense of who they are and I'm sure we can learn much more from them then we could ever teach to them. Mr. T, our driver, tour guide, and pretty much group leader for the weekend, shared some humbling talks with us. He took us to site where another organization developed a green energy station. They have their own elephants that they care for so the idea is that you scoop up the elephant poop and put it into a chamber where it turns into gas which is an awesome idea. The downfall is that the community was not invested in the project so they didn't know how to maintain it so it just sits there. He showed us several of these projects and we realized the importance of working alongside the locals and not just shoving our ideas and goals down their throats. They really need to be involved or else we are wasting our time and theirs.

I have written so much that I think I should probably stop for now, but I'll leave you with my thoughts on Thailand after this first week. I have deeply fallen in love with this country and have developed a great deal of respect and understanding for the people, the culture, the people's love for their king, and the king himself. I am tempted to change out my plane ticket and stay here this next year, but shhhhh don't tell my parents.

Not In Kansas Anymore

Traveling was rough. Arriving in Bangkok was worse. Massive confusion and the urge to curl up into a ball and stay there for the rest of the 9 weeks. Somehow I managed to pull myself out of it though and I seem to be adjusting well. I had breakfast and lunch for only 75 cents so that cheered me up quite a bit. We seem to have a really great team this year and I'm exited to work with them. Crazy thing...showers make up the entire bathrooms here, there is no separator or anything like that so I'm trying to learn not the soak the toilet paper when I shower. I never knew spicy until I ate here and I've learned that my lips can sweat. It turns out that in Thai, if you are a girl you say things differently than guys, but I didn't know that so for the past few days I've been saying things as if I was a guy...I could not for the life of me understand what I was saying wrong to make people look at me funny, but now I know. I'll keep you updated on all the cultural changes that I experience because I find them to be quite fun. You really have to have a sense of humor here.

Today was the first day of projects and not all that eventful. We went to the hospital in the morning and found out just exactly what it felt like to be in the I Love Lucy episode where she works at a chocolate factory assembly line and can't keep up so she starts shoving chocolate in her mouth and so on. We were given orders to compile what they call "one packs", which contain 1 folded strip of gauze, 6 cotton balls, and then sealed airtight in little plastic bags. Our instructions were that we could only assemble 120 at a time, but the best part was that every time we thought we were finished, the lady brought more materials to do another set. 1, 2, 3, 4...120, 1, 2, 3, 4...120, 1, 2, 3, 4...120 and on and on and on. I wanted to start putting them down my shirt just so we could catch. I'm only joking, I know how important even the littlest things are here, but seriously, it was a long day. I also had a meeting with my country director about possible projects with human trafficking victims, cross your fingers and hope it all plays out. Tomorrow I'm teaching at soccer school and I just want all y'all to know that I've never played soccer a day in my life so this should be interesting. Actually from what I hear there is no soccer involved, they just call it soccer school. That makes sense...right?

New Raffle Items

Avila Golf Course donated a package including 2 free rounds of golf and golf cart rental. Slo Athletics donated a 1 month gym membership including a month of free personal training sessions worth $400. Bladerunner donated a hair color and cut worth $125. Items were also donated from Los Osos Fitness, Salon Red, Hearst Castle, and Giancarlo's Restaurant. Hopefully more to come tomorrow.

I realize it is very late but I'm wired on Dr. Pepper and Macaroons and probably some anxiety for this event mixed in. These past few days have been...hmmm...what's the word I'm looking for....fun. My car, which I love dearly, gave me trouble for the very first time in all the time I have owned it. All of a sudden I noticed to temperature gauge was in the red and moments later it literally started smoking. I was so sad and I still am, but I do have an appointment to get it checked out tomorrow. Yesterday I met with some potential sponsors and let's just say they were not very pleasant, but as always, I smiled and thanked them for their time and consideration. Today I had a scramble to get fliers donated, but Staples came through so YAY! I did manage to squeeze in time to stop at Sun-N-Buns Bakery to pick up some fresh baked doggie treats for my puppies and they absolutely loved me for it. I feel very accomplished today.

Oh and by the Way

So it turns out that yes, I did break my nose on Saturday. I would like to thank everyone who has been concerned, but I promise that I'm fine, it hurt my ego more than my face. Also Grandma and Grandpa arrived last night and grandma brought her apron so she is ready to whip up some sweet treats for Friday night. Dusty from New Frontiers was awesome when we called yesterday and told us that he had ordered all the lettuce before we could even remind him, YAY Dusty! Oh and one of the guys that works at Moondoggies donated a brand new skateboard for the raffle. This event is really coming together.

Farmer's Markets

This past week has been a whirlwind. Friday we went to the Cambria's Farmers Market and let me tell you what sweet spirits they have up in Cambria. An older man convinced me that his dog was a racoodle, part raccoon part poodle. Maybe that's just how gullible I am, but he was so serious. Anyway, we had some hits and misses. Some people were pro's at avoiding eye-contact and other's looked at every booth for updates on events in their community. We handed out over 40 fliers and we had some people commit to attending the fundraiser on Friday. I think I'll check this one off as a success. On Monday my awesome mom and sister were so great in handing out even more fliers at the Farmer's Market in Los Osos while I was out of town. I don't know what I would do without them. Now we just have to sell tickets like crazy.

Here's the turnout for the garage sales. We totaled the money earned from 4 different garage sales at 3 different locations and we earned almost $600.00. It was a ton of work, but every dollar counts and I am that much closer to my goal.

I thought I should post the video from last year in Fiji. It kind of got cut off on the side, but I think you can get the picture. To see the full video go to youtube.com and it is listed "Help International Fiji 2009". Enjoy.

Busy Day

Thanks to Tom Keffury, I was able to announce the fundraising efforts on the radio today. I think I'll stick to fundraising from now on because I couldn't catch my breath during the whole interview. I'm posting the Interview for all of those who missed it(Well I'm trying to at least). As soon as I was done at the radio station, I went all over the county to get items donated for the dinner. Strawberries for Dessert - check, bread - check, pasta - check, and thanks to New Frontiers for coming to the rescue we also now have lettuce for the salad! All of that and I still managed to watch the final episode of Lost, whew!

Latest Fundraiser - Dinner, Raffle, and Bake Sale

There will be a Spaghetti Dinner, Raffle, and Bake sale to be held on the evening of Friday June 4th from 5:30 to 8:00. The event will be held in the Red Barn next to the Community Center and Skate Park in Los Osos on L.O.V.R. It will be a great night for a great cause. Tickets are $7.00 per person or $25.00 for a family ticket. Check back soon for more information on the awesome raffle prizes that we have been able to accumulate for this cause. Hope to see you there!

Cheesecakes

Fundraising has been rough this year, but also surprisingly well considering the economy that we are up against. We just made cheesecakes - 40 to be exact. Let's just say that 40 cheesecakes in a day is not the easiest thing to accomplish. It turned out to be very successful. It was all thanks to Cookie Crock Warehouse in Morro Bay. They were so willing to help out and donated all the ingredients for the cheesecakes. I'm very grateful for all the help that we received to make this fundraiser effective.