Got to get a Squirt Gun!

By:

Breanna Bang

Published:

Countries

Demographics

,

Majors

Regions

Hello Again!

I am so excited to be back in Chiang Mai! I got a birthday package when I got back (I am now 21 years old!). It also had my computer charger in it so now I can actually upload all my pictures from Rivers as well as Forests. I need to get a super soaker or something because Thai new years is this week and it’s a city wide water fight apparently. I heard it gets pretty crazy. I also am expecting gross moat water to get dumped on my. Wish me luck.

So, speaking of Forests, it was pretty amazing. We drove from Mae Hong Son in North Eastern Thailand to a village and spent four days there. We hiked the rest of the way from one village to another for a total of 6 villages over 2.5 weeks. We learned about forest management, local and national struggles/perspectives on forest management, participation, ect. We met with the Royle Forest Department, the previous and current sub-district headmen, and many village headmen and members. We stayed in homestays, got to see life from a new perspective.

I am not really sure I can tell you more than that. We also had a one-eyed dog follow us for the last 3 villagers. You feed a starving dog and they will follow you to the ends of the earth apparently.

Doing so many tree identifications and hikes made me realize how much I wanted to learn about the ecology back home in Arizona. I also realized how much I do know about the ecology back home just from growing up there.

Well. I am going to upload all my pictures now from forests.

I also know what I want to write about next time in a day or two. I got inspired by another students blog post about being an African American student in Spain and thought that the many ways that I am a minority in this study abroad program but also at my home University and in the United States is something I should write about. It’s one of the reasons I am even in Thailand writing this blog was because of getting a Scholarship for under represented students in study abroad programs. So I hope you’ll look forward to that post and really read it and try to understand me and what it means to be me.

Thanks for reading! Sorry it wasn’t very detailed. It is really hard to write about the last two weeks because we just did so much.

Til Next Time ;)

Breanna Bang

Hi! My name is Breanna Bang, and I am a sophomore at the University of Denver. I was born and raised in Arizona. I am bi-racial: half Caucasian and half African American. I am also a first generation college student from a low-income family. I have two older brothers and an older sister, ranging from eight to sixteen years older than me. I also have a twin sister. I am planning on studying abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan during the spring semester of 2012. Before this, I will be studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. I’ve studied both Chinese and Japanese for three years and am extremely excited about the opportunities that I have to study in these countries. Besides my obvious interest in Asia, I am also interested in dance (modern, ballet and hip hop), reading, running and films.