Last Thailand post, I promise.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle in Bangkok, we got out of the city for a day and spent some time in Pattaya. After a two hour bus ride, we found ourselves in front of the Holiday Inn Pattaya, a hotel that we were ecstatic to find had pancakes and bacon and cereal for breakfast, strong wifi that could be used in places other than just the lobby, air conditioning that was cold (what a concept), and an unlimited amount of toilet paper. Our first steps off the bus took all 12 of us straight to the infinity pool overlooking the gulf of Thailand, and then to the first and closest American restaurant we could find. For the most part, we had our group order memorized: 12 bottled waters, 11 hamburgers, and one pad Thai or seafood or some other random dish for that one exotic person who hadn't yet lost their appetite at the sight of Thai food like the rest of us had.
The next morning we slept in, feasted on many servings of the hotel breakfast, and made our way down to the beach to find Thai locals scattered along the sidewalk sitting in lawn chairs next to large tubs of gasoline, awaiting their next customer. We paid these guys less than 10 dollars a person to take our group of 19 people on a half hour boat ride over to an island called Koh Larn for the day. Sure enough, out of nowhere came a very large two engine speed boat to meet us a couple yards into the water with 19 fluorescent orange life jackets. We piled on, raced to the front of the boat, carefully ducked under the glass windshield, only to stand back up to a breathtaking view of wide open ocean with little green jungle-looking segments of land piercing through the ocean horizon.
As we approached Koh Larn, boats and jet skis lined the shores, zipping in and out in every direction with loads of tourists. Organized chaos is definitely a theme here. Our boat maneuvered its way through and dropped us off in knee deep water on the shore of this incredible little island with one large beach, a long row of little markets and vendors that wrapped around the edge of the island, and hidden pathways and roads that traveled to smaller beaches.
The tropical green of the island landscape contrasted so perfectly with the deep blue ocean water. Lily and I both agreed that no picture could adequately portray just how beautiful the island really was. We walked up and down the strip of markets, bargaining with locals for their cheap Thailand souvenirs and drinking coconut water straight from the coconut. I learned that I'm pretty darn good at bartering and that my pale pasty skin is STILL terrified of the sun so walking around in a swimsuit top and shorts was far from being a good idea. Towards the end, Lily and I ran for cover and rented some beach chairs under umbrellas to protect what was left of our sensitive skin while Taylor Hughes and Taylor Nelson sprawled out on the sand to absorb every last ray of sun.
For most of the day, we all lounged around, drank smoothies and spent more time getting to know each other. All but three of us have at least one tattoo, Yazzy Mo and Kaz are some of the funniest people you'll ever meet, Lily is our team Mom/extreme tourist/journalist (you'll always catch her taking a picture of something), Taylor Hughes was once a cheerleader and spent her childhood on a farm being chased by her siblings with duct tape and pickles, and Micaya is interested in studying people with mental disorders. We have girls who want to be FBI agents, physician assistants, anesthesiologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, journalists, major firm accountants, and criminal justice workers. Some of us dread running but love lifting weights, and some of us would rather run ten miles before even setting eyes on a weight. We come from nine different universities but we all have one common goal of one day playing volleyball professionally overseas. This trip may very well have been the first of many for many of us, we shall see.
We finished up the trip back in Bangkok. We played in one last match, had a Thai seafood dinner with the president of the FIVB, visited the coffee shop and fruit stand one last time, and just before leaving, came together as a team to create a priceless gift.
There is a Thai man named Aon (he's in my pictures) who traveled with us through all of our adventures as our translator, guide and friend. He has the sweetest soul and the biggest heart and hanging out with us brought him an overwhelming amount of joy. Turns out, he doesn't have a whole lot, like many people on this side of the world. The annual income is around $400. Let that sink in. We gathered a bunch of t shirts from our universities and came up with 4,000 baht between all of us (which is about $125) to give to Aon. I cannot explain his reaction well enough to justify how thankful he was. His emotion was so raw and real and genuine, I know I speak for all of us when I say it absolutely broke our hearts. What we did for Aon, in my mind, sums up the entire Thailand trip in just one kind gesture. Giving without expecting anything in return is the greatest gift of all.
And that leaves us here, at the Bangkok airport awaiting our 20 hour travel day back to the states, but my heart could not be more full. Only 10 days spent in a foreign country and I can still feel how much I've changed because of it. I really haven't done much international traveling, but from the little I have done, I can tell you this. Experiences like this are what you decide they are. You can complain and whine or you can make the choice to take a step back and see life from someone else's point of view. You can look in disgust at how dirty and hot the gym is, or you can see how content they are with simply having a net to play on and a gym to play in. I can count down the days until we finally get to go home, or I can try to wrap my head around how many other volleyball players out there would die to be here in my place.
A huge thank you to USA volleyball for continually opening my eyes to see what it takes to be an outstanding volleyball player and an even better person.
And to the coaches on this trip; Erin, Alex, Jerrett, Paula, Alyssa, and Deann, thank you for your wisdom and for investing in us and taking time out of your lives to be here walking us through all of it.
Until next time, see ya Thailand.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle in Bangkok, we got out of the city for a day and spent some time in Pattaya. After a two hour bus ride, we found ourselves in front of the Holiday Inn Pattaya, a hotel that we were ecstatic to find had pancakes and bacon and cereal for breakfast, strong wifi that could be used in places other than just the lobby, air conditioning that was cold (what a concept), and an unlimited amount of toilet paper. Our first steps off the bus took all 12 of us straight to the infinity pool overlooking the gulf of Thailand, and then to the first and closest American restaurant we could find. For the most part, we had our group order memorized: 12 bottled waters, 11 hamburgers, and one pad Thai or seafood or some other random dish for that one exotic person who hadn't yet lost their appetite at the sight of Thai food like the rest of us had.
The next morning we slept in, feasted on many servings of the hotel breakfast, and made our way down to the beach to find Thai locals scattered along the sidewalk sitting in lawn chairs next to large tubs of gasoline, awaiting their next customer. We paid these guys less than 10 dollars a person to take our group of 19 people on a half hour boat ride over to an island called Koh Larn for the day. Sure enough, out of nowhere came a very large two engine speed boat to meet us a couple yards into the water with 19 fluorescent orange life jackets. We piled on, raced to the front of the boat, carefully ducked under the glass windshield, only to stand back up to a breathtaking view of wide open ocean with little green jungle-looking segments of land piercing through the ocean horizon.
As we approached Koh Larn, boats and jet skis lined the shores, zipping in and out in every direction with loads of tourists. Organized chaos is definitely a theme here. Our boat maneuvered its way through and dropped us off in knee deep water on the shore of this incredible little island with one large beach, a long row of little markets and vendors that wrapped around the edge of the island, and hidden pathways and roads that traveled to smaller beaches.
The tropical green of the island landscape contrasted so perfectly with the deep blue ocean water. Lily and I both agreed that no picture could adequately portray just how beautiful the island really was. We walked up and down the strip of markets, bargaining with locals for their cheap Thailand souvenirs and drinking coconut water straight from the coconut. I learned that I'm pretty darn good at bartering and that my pale pasty skin is STILL terrified of the sun so walking around in a swimsuit top and shorts was far from being a good idea. Towards the end, Lily and I ran for cover and rented some beach chairs under umbrellas to protect what was left of our sensitive skin while Taylor Hughes and Taylor Nelson sprawled out on the sand to absorb every last ray of sun.
For most of the day, we all lounged around, drank smoothies and spent more time getting to know each other. All but three of us have at least one tattoo, Yazzy Mo and Kaz are some of the funniest people you'll ever meet, Lily is our team Mom/extreme tourist/journalist (you'll always catch her taking a picture of something), Taylor Hughes was once a cheerleader and spent her childhood on a farm being chased by her siblings with duct tape and pickles, and Micaya is interested in studying people with mental disorders. We have girls who want to be FBI agents, physician assistants, anesthesiologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, journalists, major firm accountants, and criminal justice workers. Some of us dread running but love lifting weights, and some of us would rather run ten miles before even setting eyes on a weight. We come from nine different universities but we all have one common goal of one day playing volleyball professionally overseas. This trip may very well have been the first of many for many of us, we shall see.
We finished up the trip back in Bangkok. We played in one last match, had a Thai seafood dinner with the president of the FIVB, visited the coffee shop and fruit stand one last time, and just before leaving, came together as a team to create a priceless gift.
There is a Thai man named Aon (he's in my pictures) who traveled with us through all of our adventures as our translator, guide and friend. He has the sweetest soul and the biggest heart and hanging out with us brought him an overwhelming amount of joy. Turns out, he doesn't have a whole lot, like many people on this side of the world. The annual income is around $400. Let that sink in. We gathered a bunch of t shirts from our universities and came up with 4,000 baht between all of us (which is about $125) to give to Aon. I cannot explain his reaction well enough to justify how thankful he was. His emotion was so raw and real and genuine, I know I speak for all of us when I say it absolutely broke our hearts. What we did for Aon, in my mind, sums up the entire Thailand trip in just one kind gesture. Giving without expecting anything in return is the greatest gift of all.
And that leaves us here, at the Bangkok airport awaiting our 20 hour travel day back to the states, but my heart could not be more full. Only 10 days spent in a foreign country and I can still feel how much I've changed because of it. I really haven't done much international traveling, but from the little I have done, I can tell you this. Experiences like this are what you decide they are. You can complain and whine or you can make the choice to take a step back and see life from someone else's point of view. You can look in disgust at how dirty and hot the gym is, or you can see how content they are with simply having a net to play on and a gym to play in. I can count down the days until we finally get to go home, or I can try to wrap my head around how many other volleyball players out there would die to be here in my place.
A huge thank you to USA volleyball for continually opening my eyes to see what it takes to be an outstanding volleyball player and an even better person.
And to the coaches on this trip; Erin, Alex, Jerrett, Paula, Alyssa, and Deann, thank you for your wisdom and for investing in us and taking time out of your lives to be here walking us through all of it.
Until next time, see ya Thailand.