Tremors, Elephants, and Insects!

Last night, we felt out first earthquake in Thailand! I was chatting with Bee and I noticed that the table and mirror were shaking in our room. When it didn't stop right away, I knew this was probably a tremor from an earthquake. Bee thought it was windy outside at first and then realized that it wasn't the wind ;) lol We both stepped outside of our room only to find a few of our other Habitat team members who also felt the same. Who would have thought there would be earthquakes in Thailand? Somehow everyone was "invited" to our room to research the earthquake (I guess my netbook came in handy) We found out that there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Burma which is 250 km away from Chiang Mai. If you look at the picture above, you can tell that me and Bee were not expecting guests. We both had our laundry hanging on the window curtains. wonder what our team thought of the new decor althought we had a few questionable looks...I'm sure they were thinking "Those Asians!" lol ;)

So today, we went elephant trekking. It was soooo good. I'm usually nervous with animals but the elephants were so gentle. We randomly chose elephants out of a straw but somehow we all ended up with elephants similar to our traits. Bee got a very obedient elephant (61 years old). I got a foodie (55 years old) - my elephant wouldn't stop eating! She was a little stubborn and a bit hard to command but it's only because she wanted to keep eating. I still loved her! She was adorable and I was happy that I was able to stay on the elephant. I had a bit of trouble getting on her but I got the hang of it by the end of it.



Last but definitely not least, we went to a local Thai market. Believe it or not but I ate a deep fried caterpillar and a grub >< Never would I have even considered eating insects but let's just say opportunity presented itself and I didn't say no. The catepillar was deep fried and seasoned so it tasted a like a chip. The grub was pretty gross. After the first bit, I realized that there was no crunch. I could taste something oozing out and I immediately swallowed and flushed it down with water. At least I can say I tried these bugs (ewww) and check it off my list (though it was not on my list to begin with) but I probably would not eat them again.

Habitat Build Day 3!

Today wasn't any easier but still another awesome day! We started off with putting together a mortar mix which sticks the bricks together. The team started building the walls for both the outside and the inside of the house. We are about halfway done! Woot woot! Tomorrow will be a day off so that we can go elephant trekking and we will resume the rest of the wall-building on a Saturday. Yes, I will be working on a Saturday but with the amazing work that we're doing and me enjoying myself, it doesn't feel like work at all. That's the way it should be. Here are the before and after shots and the wall that me and Holly put up!

Second Day on the Build!

Wow, I'm so beat! It's only the 2nd day on the job but I'm exhausted right now. Today was definitely tougher in terms of physical activity than yesterday. Our task today was to mix the concrete and lay it out on the floor. Sound easy? Well, it's not - each concrete mix contained 10 buckets of sand, half a bag of concrete, 8 buckets of gravel, and 3 buckets of water.

The team made at least 20 batches of the mix...all by hand, no machines whatsoever! We had team members continuously shovel sand and and gravel into the buckets while others took turns mixing the concrete. Stirring the concrete mix was a lot more work than I expected. The mixture is very stiff and you definitely have to use all muscles of the body - back, legs, arms, etc. I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow! Bee and I wanted to go for a Thai massage today but we're even too tired to do that. Ended up doing a Thai cooking class instead...details to follow. :)

Here's some pics on what we accomplished today! We initially planned to be finished by 4 or 4:30 pm today....we started strong kept that energy and ended up finishing around 1:30 pm...just after lunch. I think that is a new record for the Habitat teams in Thailand. Go team! :)

Before the concrete mix was laid out on the floor


After the concrete mix was laid out on the floor

First Day on the Build!

The day has finally arrived. It was my first day on the build site! After waiting for months and wanted to do this volunteer work for years, I'm finally in Thailand with a team of 10 for Habitat for Humanity. So far, so good. We've all gotten along very well and I think we work well together. We started with a very hearty breakfast at the hotel. Bee and me both ordered the French Toast with Banana Syrup. It was deee-licious and definitely hit the spot.

Afterwards, we headed to the build site. Our main task today was to shovel all of the dirt inside the home-to-be so that we can level off the ground. We must have worked very efficiently because we ended up finishing early today at 2:30 pm. What does this mean? We get to head back to the hotel early and shower. Whoo hoo! =) We also met the family who we are building for - a single mom with 2 little boys aged 9 and 14. They seemed very nice and cooked lunch for us.

Here is the 'before' picture of the house that we are building. I'll keep you posted on on we progress :)

Finally in Chiang Mai!

After a long day of traveling, I am finally in Chiang Mai! Bee and I flew in at about 5:00 pm and caught an airport taxi to our hotel. 15 minutes after we check in, Bee and I get a knock at our door and it's our team lead Eloi! Dinner is in 5 minutes...can we make it? Of course we can! :)

We met the rest of our team and both ate some yummy Thai food. I took a picture of the Porpoise at the front of the restaurant. So some of you may be wondering about my blog name. I had created a blog on the fly at the Bangkok airport. I was going to name it 'Traveling with a Purpose' but my friend Bee thought I said 'Traveling with a Porpoise' so that's what it became. Here's the first porpoise on my trip. Funny how it was there to greet us at the restaurant as soon as we landed in Chiang Mai. Enjoy!

Random Fact: Chiang Mai means 'New City' in Thai

My first blog

My first blog! I am at the airport on my way to Chiang Mai for Habitat for Humanity I'm going to build a house for the next 2 weeks. Feeling good and excited but tired at the same time. Been up since 6:25 am (Brenda woke me up 5 minutes earlier...hey, every minute counts! ;) to catch our flight from Saigon to Bangkok. We're both waiting for about 4 hours until we can catch our next flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. I hate waiting at the airports, but I know it comes with the traveling package so here I am...waiting...