Cultural Immersion 

          During my time in volunteering in Thailand and Laos, I was really able to immerse myself in new cultures. Being from a Southeast Asian background I knew some about the Southeast Asian culture, but never have truly experienced it. One of the only ways to truly experience this culture is to go to the origin, which is what I did. 

          Throughout my trip I was able to interact with many tribes, foods, sports and traditions. ​In Northern Thailand I was able to learn about and stay with many tribes. In the picture to the left, I stayed with one of our local guides tribes, the Lahu, where we learned about their village and some traditional dances. In other villages, I was able to play soccer with local kids and was gifted a jersey of the local village soccer team from one of my local guides. In both Thailand and Laos we learned to make many traditional Southeast Asian foods such as Pad Thai, Khao Soi, and Chicken Larb. Lastly in Laos, I was able to be a part of a local tradition called Baci, where the whole village comes to restore the soul and bring good luck to those at the ceremony. At this ceremony, the villagers came to us and tied one bracelet on one wrist while thanking us for our work and restoring our soul, and then tied another bracelet on our other wrist to wish us good luck on our future endeavors. 

          I feel very lucky to have been able to take the chance to travel to Southeast Asia to immerse myself in such culture. I was able to further my knowledge of the culture and now I can understand those with this background. I hope to continue my travels to immerse myself in more cultures in order to further my understanding of the world and those all around me.