what i do

I am a health educator. That's why I'm here in Chiang Mai. I am working in a volunteer capacity doing HIV/AIDS prevention & outreach.

I'm super fortunate to be coming in at a time when the small organization I'm working with has just received a grant from the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations to do a groundbreaking research project with sex workers & the MSM community (that is, "men who have sex with men." More explanation later).

Working with gay men has its perks. They know how to laugh. They know how to have fun. & that is so important in the workplace! After all, it is where you spend most of your waking hours, so it should be something you enjoy doing. Even when working on such serious issues, there's nothing that we can't laugh about. The atmosphere is warm & welcoming, as it should be for an organization that is so keen on human rights & equality & open exchange of ideas. This is my outdoor office.

But being around them all the time, I think I'm turning gayer & gayer everyday. Like we burst into song in the middle of meetings & scream to the high heavens when a bug crawls across the floor. Check out my coworker Jit, entertaining us during a break time. Please excuse my heinous laughter in the background. Those are 4-inch heels he's got on by the way:

Just another day at the office.
(* edit: this video is taking for-fuckin-ever to upload. Damn this archaic internet again! Hopefully it worked, but if not will try again at a later date. Worth the wait, trust me!)

Right now I'm working on developing a survey to research risky sexual practices so that we can address them more effectively. This is already super challenging given the very complex & graphic content, but throw in the language barrier & it just boggles the mind. Much hilarious pantomime & charades ensues. For example, how do you explain oral sex in terms we can all understand? Or the 69 position? Or ejaculating inside or outside the body? Or casual sex?

Me: Someone you have sex with only one time.

(looks of puzzlement)

Someone: One person?

Me: No no. One time. A one-night stand? Someone you have sex with for one night only?

Everyone (bursting into song): One night only!
(you know, the song from "Dreamgirls"? Hello gayness)

Seriously. Wow. By the end of the day my head is bursting with the words "cock," "suck," "fuck," "come," "ass" & every other graphic word that's worthy of an entire sexual thesaurus. It's so draining & brain-frying, but at least they make it fun. :)