Monday, June 16, 2008

The beginning

It was exactly one year ago I arrived in Kigali, Rwanda. I remember stepping off that plane after a grueling 32-hour journey, admiring the flat-top trees and green hills as I walked across the tarmac. I couldn’t’ believe it: I was in Africa. I had no idea that this would be the beginning of the best year of my life so far.

I will be honest that when I was young, I thought about traveling the word, but not in the same way I do now. Rwanda ignited something in me. I am obsessed with world travel now. My heart races when I just look at a map. If you count my trips to and from Ottawa for school, I have boarded 21 planes this past year. It still amazes me how different my life could be if I had chickened out and not boarded that plane to Rwanda.

I probably would not have gone to Hong Kong. If I had not gone to Hong Kong, I almost guarantee I would not be sitting here in southern Thailand.

I would say time has flown by, but I would be lying if I did. It has to a certain extent, but at the same time, it also feels impossible that I could have done so much in just a year. I have seen giraffes, zebras, and baboons in eastern Africa. I have been within inches of a group of 15 gorillas. I have gone whitewater rafting on the Nile in Uganda (and nearly drowned in it!). I have danced with a group of inspirational African women who I don’t even share the same language with. I have kayaked on the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, California. I have seen the Hong Kong skyline from a helicopter in the sky. I have seen the biggest outdoor bronze statue of Buddha. I have enjoyed a boat ride through a fishing village near Hong Kong. I have prayed at a Buddhist temple in Asia. I have eaten Pad Thai where it was first eaten probably hundreds or thousands of years ago. I have touched an elephant. I have been in the Andaman Sea. I have seen the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen. Most of all, I have met incredible people who have taught me so much about the kindness of strangers. All this makes me the luckiest person in the world.

If I have done this much in one year, I can only dream of what I can do in a lifetime. Still, I know that I can’t be greedy in my lust for the world. What I have seen and done so far others will never get to experience. I will always be grateful for whatever powers that be have granted me.

Next week I am having dinner with a woman I met on a travel networking website. She is over fifty years old and has been to 108 countries. Her goal is to visit 150. Besides being a globetrotter, she is also a single mother. Her kids are older now, so she is traveling again and is going to be in Phuket for one night. I am so excited to meet this inspirational woman. I can’t wait to hear her perceptions about culture, peace, war, the human spirit, and the world. Who knows? I could be her 30-something years down the road! I sure hope so. But I know I’m still one lucky girl if I do not.

Lady what??


I have copped a feel of a transvestites boob . . . Just one more thing to put on my life list under the “unexpected” category.

The unwarranted sexual experience happened at about 10 p.m. Saturday night in Patong, the centre of nightlife in Phuket. They call it the “Devil’s Paradise” around here. Imagine flashing flights, scantlily clad women everywhere, the scent of sewage and cheap beer, blasting music, and people handing out pamphlets of questionable content yelling out “Ping Pong show?” (hint: that show is not of the table tennis variety)

I went out with some girls from work who said they would show me a good time. We stuck to Bangla road, the heart of all the madness. We were walking around and that’s when I saw them: a huge group of provocatively dressed women parading down the street. Jeab and Gem asked me: “Do you think those are women or men?” Umm…women??? Wait no…are those girls what I think they are? They can’t be….are those LADYBOYS?!

Ladyboys are Thai men who have decided to live as a woman. I thought it was just men who have undergone a sex change, but it actually encompasses men who like to dress up in drag to the ones who choose to go under the knife. The ones I met MUST have had surgery because they were actually quite beautiful! Almost no hint of masculinity…well there were some small hints.

I was standing in absolute awe as they danced around trying to get the tourists’ attention. I still was not 100 per cent sure if they were indeed ladyboys because Jeab and Gem would not come right out and tell me. “You tell us!”, they kept saying. Then a woman in an elegant white gown came up to me.

“You want picture? You come!”. The voice was a dead giveaway. That is DEFINITELY a man.

She dragged me over by the arm to her other ladyboy friend dressed in a very revealing red and black corset and black fedora. Just then, the one on my left grabbed my hand and put it on her boob. No hesitation. AHH! Well, now I know what implants feel like.

The pictures taken after this moment were quite hilarious as I tried to avoid caressing her chest again. I actually wish the girls had taken a picture while I made the grab because the look on my face would have been priceless!

Ladyboys, also known as Kathoey’s, are actually very well-accepted in Thailand. I read on a website that there are probably about 200,000 in the country. Some of them work in bars, others in the sex trade, and some are just normal people working in restaurants and beauty salons. Buddhism, the main religion in Thailand, encourages tolerance, which explains why Ladyboys and homosexuals can be open about who they are. That’s not to say there isn’t any discrimination, but it is still a very open society. Absolute fascinating. We could learn a thing or two about acceptance from Ladyboys.

Who knew a chest grab could turn out to be a cultural learning experience!

Taking the wheel

Oh god. I’m going to die. As melodramatic as they sound, those were my thoughts on the first day I started driving in Phuket. I gripped the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles hurt by the time I made it back to my room.

That was about two weeks ago. My work cut me some slack and has given me an automatic car for about a month so I can get used to the roads before I give manual drive another shot. Already, I am getting used to the precarious roads of Phuket, probably a little too used to it.

My first drive all by my lonesome was the longest ten minute drive since I got my license at 16. I kept telling myself “Drive on the left, Drive on the left, don’t forget” because I was so afraid I would turn into oncoming traffic. Thankfully, it’s almost a straight-shot home, except for a few turns. First I had to make a right turn. I went to turn on the signal light and then all of a sudden my windshield wipers go on. Flustered, I tried to figure out what was going on. I was looking down trying to reorient my knowledge about my car’s buttons and switches when I hear a honk. Ahhh! It’s a green light now. Okay my windshield wipers are still going. Wait am I going right? Another honk. Okay I’m going already!

Alright turn number one was a success! No near-death experience. I proceeded to go straight for about eight minutes. But lanes kept appearing and reappearing out of nowhere! I’m confused. Can I go straight or do I have to turn here? Then I freaked out because I got stuck in what I now like to call an “auto-sandwich”. That’s where there is a motorcycle, car, and huge truck across just two lanes of traffic going in the same direction. There is about a foot in between each car. One slight turn, and you would sideswipe someone!

Almost home, I was once again reminding myself to stay left. Then there is a car coming full-force, head-on towards me. I had to double check to see if I was indeed in the left lane. Yes, I’m not crazy! It’s THIS guy driving over the yellow line that is nuts! Just when I was about to take emergency driving action, he swerved back over where he belonged. I guess he was passing someone and decided he felt like going into opposing traffic to do it. Now I know that this happens all the time here. Usually, they will switch on their blinkers to warn oncoming traffic of their intention to defy common sense and stare death in the face.

Switching lanes is ten times harder as it is at home thanks to traffic congestion and motorcycles weaving in and out. I checked my rearview mirror, side-view mirrors and blind spot about three times before I even considered changing lanes on that first drive home. Now I am used to the craziness and I just check it all once! I will admit though that a couple of times I changed lanes when I never would have considered it safe at home. I guess Phuket driving really is having its effect on me! I am being careful, but you have to be aggressive driving here or you’ll never get where you want.

I made it home in one piece that day, and I only accidentally drove on the right once: in the parking lot. No harm done. For the next three days, I refused to take the car anywhere else other than the roads to and from work. Now, I have ventured off to places I have never been with map in hand. I have discovered how to get to some of my favourite beaches on my own. Alright, so I have gotten lost a few times, but I always find my way! You know what they say: getting lost is the best way to figure out where you are. The areas I have gotten lost in are the ones I know best!

Driving here is scary as hell, but it’s also given me a great sense of independence. The next challenge will be learning the rules of the road all over again in a manual drive. Better bring along some Aspirin for those soon-to-be sore knuckles again!