Okay so I know I haven't posted since like October but in my defense I've been really busy enjoying myself and learning insane amounts. Okay so from where I left off....We said goodbye to our Host Families in Tecpan and then went to Guatemala Enrichment Week. That was an absolute whirlwind. We went to Coban, Flores, and Livingston. We also saw Tikal, the huge mayan pyramids which was mindblowing. An insane sight to see. We also enjoyed the sunrise and sunset on top of mayan pyramids. One of the coolest experiences of my life. Then we had our 60 hour flight pattern from Guatemala to Bangkok which was absolutely exhausting but I love planes so it was really okay. Then we spent 4 days in Bangkok, getting over jetlag and chillaxing which was nice. I got my nose pierced in Bangkok!!!! Then we moved in with our first homestay families where we stayed for two weeks. We stayed in the Bang Chang community next to Klong Jinda, an hour out of Bangkok. Some highlights from that homestay: Our Thai host sister, Ping Pong, slept with us the first night. We had the cutest cat named Dumping in Chinese. My roommate was Caroline, btw. We went to insane markets and traveled to temples with our host uncle named Pi Tam and made some insane memories with him. We were dressed in all white and were taken to the full moon prayers which was so interesting. Oh our family and Tess's family were related so we did everything with her too!! I ate so much in that community that I think that I will be full for the rest of my life. I am also now obsessed with soy milk. Then after that community we flew up to Nan, the city in Nan Province and drove an hour up to a Hmong community in a national reserve park called Khun Sathan where we are doing our longer homestay. Tess joined us for this homestay and we are having a blast!!! We only have 4 more days in this homestay which is really sad but I have loved every second of it. Our host mom is named Pi Sia and she is so sweet and really very nice. They have a kid who is 4 named Banku who is the cutest kid I have ever seen in my entire life and a cat named Meow Meow and a puppy named Chi Ti. Our host dad is a teacher for students who drop out of school but want to still get a degree. Like a Hmong GED program which is so cool!!!! Some highlights from this homestay: We dressed up in traditional Hmong attire and participated in the Hmong New Year which is so cool. There was performances and we performed Jingle Bells and Panama Dance in front of the entire Hmong community. Yikes. Our host mom took us on a photoshoot in our Hmong clothes. In the middle of all of this we went on our Thailand Independent Student Travel where Emma, Clare and I went to Chiang Mai where we had a relaxing three days. I went for yoga both days in the morning which made me love yoga. I will defintely continue it in New York. We also went exploring the temples and ate some amazing food. (Photos taken by Clare Irene McKenna Photography of us in the Hmong New Year). For Christmas, we went to Nan and watched Star Wars and got Thai Massages. I also opened my surprise letters from friends and family so thank you to everyone who wrote me one!! It made me so very happy :). Oh my media project this time is about English Becoming a new global language. How do you guys feel about it? Comment below. We will be spending New Years in Nan and then travelling to Cambodia on January 2nd. Happy New Year to everyone!!!! Love you and Miss you all!!!
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AuthorHi! I'm Rhea Soni and I am going on a gap year before college!! Check out my adventures here! Archives |