Deep Fried Farang

I wrote this in an e-mail to my parents, and thought it was a pretty good update. You, however, probably have absolutely no background in what's going on in my trip. After 3 weeks of meeting people, traveling to local villages, planting mangroves, leading conservation activities with school kids, making batiks and soap, talking to local village leaders and NGOs, it's time for our final projects with the program:

We had our first full day of research today, and I'm exhausted. It's about 6.30pm and we've been up since 4.30am. We got to the market around 5 and hung out there and talked to vendors until about 10am. Then nap time. Lunch at 12.30 and a few more interviews with restaurant owners, a shopping break at the Friday evening market, and then more interviews. We quit around 5, but are going to try for a few more tonight, as well as translating a couple of menus that some of the restaurant owners gave us.

I guess I should probably explain the project. We're going to look at the impacts of tourism on Kura Buri, with a case study on the morning market food vendors. Based on the information we gather we're going to try and figure out ways to help (translating menus, Thai-English phrasebooks for the vendors, more marketing, etc.) and pass on our information to Andaman Discoveries, the organization we're working with in town.

I can't believe our trip is almost over, it's all gone so fast. I'm starting to get really excited about seeing Maisarah in Singapore, not only to see her but also because it's a city. Quaint small town life is nice for awhile, but I miss bright lights and mass transit and streets that drain properly in the rain. I keep wondering if I'd be cut out for working in a town like this (like for an NGO or something). Some days I think yes, others no. Today's in between. Everyone's so nice and flattered that we're interested in their businesses and that we're asking them questions -- we've received so much free food I've already eaten 3 times what I normally eat today -- but at the same time I'm tired of smiling and saying hello to everyone we pass on the street to make a good impression. I guess this city girl just needs some anonymity sometimes. And a decent record shop.

And that's all folks. I left my camera transfer cable in my room so you'll have to wait on the pictures. I'm not really committed to this blog thing right now. The internet is like drugs, the more you use it the more you want to use it. At the beginning of the trip I was getting away with checking e-mails every 4/5 days, and now it's back to almost every day again. Oh well. I'm keeping a good journal and I promise to fill you all in on the details.