A series of long-overdue posts: Bangkok

This has literally been the longest week of my life. I've been constantly busy and only have today and tomorrow free before we go back to the villages. Okay. Let me recap.

Last time I posted, I was in Bangkok, awaiting orientation-y things. So, I did that. 8 hours of that. I met the other 9 people in my group, and they are all super duper. That night, I went to Siam Paragon, the now-biggest mall in Bangkok (RIP, Central World).

I had dinner with A and Pup from Thai Club at NU at some delicious Thai food place. Upon Pup's awesome recommendation, I had gang som pak + goong, which is like a soup with veggies and shrimp in a spicy/sour broth. Then, we went to iBerry, which was a sorbet stand inside of the mall. If there's one thing about Thai malls that I've noticed, it's that they love one-stop shopping and ice cream/yogurt/shaved ice while they shop. But more on that later. I had a Thai tea-flavored sorbet, and I thought I was going to die from the deliciousness.

The next day, I visited Chulalongkorn University, which is arguably the most prestigious university in Thailand. I heard a lecture by a professor from their political science department about the situation between the red shirts and the yellow shirts, which are two political parties in Thailand. Thailand is pretty strongly divided, so it was difficult to find a nearly-neutral professor to talk to us (I feel like she was slightly more pro-red shirt, but that's just me). From our perspective as a development & globalization program, it seems that under Thaksin, less policies were made that disenfranchised people in rural areas within Isaan. This may be a reason that the Isaan region is largely red shirt-dominated. Under current and past leadership, regardless of color divisions, policies were put into place that forced indigenous people from their villages in Isaan, where they had worked all of their lives, and put dams, eucalyptus tree forests, and power plants in their places. So, with that frame of reference, we're examining the lives of villagers affected by such policies and powers of development, among other things. And I still don't have a stance on whether I'm pro-yellow or pro-red, so please don't strike up an argument with me! D:

Anyway, after that, we went to see the Democracy monument and what was left of Central World, the largest mall in Bangkok which was burned down by the red shirts this past spring). Then, we drove to Thammasart University, another prestigious university in Thailand, had lunch, and toured the campus. We then visited the Grand Palace, which was really beautiful... Take a look!

I took some more pictures, but it was raining really hard (it's the rainy season here), so they didn't come out too well. So anyway, after that, I saw my dad, aunt, and grandma for a little while before I had to go to a mandatory dinner with the people involved in my program. There, my program, CIEE, paid for the entire meal, including cocktails for those who wanted them. There was a RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF FOOD. Also, the program director, Ajaan Dave, definitely had a jagerbomb with one of the other students in my program. Awesome.

Then, last Saturday, we left Viengtai hotel at about 7 AM and had an 8 hour van ride to Loei. I slept most of the time. :) Next post will be about Loei!