The Beach

Here is a picture of the resort we stayed at for our AIDS converence....I feel awkward writing the word resort - this is supposed to be the Peace Corps after all - but it was a very nice place on the beach. Very nice. We needed the break. I thought I would have more time to write but I don't so just quickly, I am still doing well. I am living with mixed feelings of being ready to leave and start teaching and never wanting to leave Sakeo ever. We are working on an English camp that we will hold on Friday. This will be our first camp and have feelings that it will be a little hectic. Sorry this was so informative but it's lunch time and I'm going to go find some kao lam. Come visit me and you can find out what kao lam is ;)

Read the previous blog first!!

Ok, so, the fact that I am on my blog again says a lot about Thailand. My supervisor is not working. I'm not really sure what she's doing. BUT! You should know that our absence of work is not due to a lack of committment or care, in fact she is very dedicated to her work. This is just the Thai culture. Things move slowly, and if you aren't ready to sit down and talk about a 6 month plan, then you just don't. I came back from lunch and some of the supervisors in the office were reclining in their chairs taking a snooze. I should explain a little more about where i am. First of all, the Peace Corps asks me not to write my location on my blog for security purposes so if you really want to know where I am, let me know in an email. BUT, I work in a larger city and both of my schools are situated on the highway. I was extremely frustrated about all of this originally, and still am not entirely happy about it, but have come to terms with the fact that I am still a part of my community - even if my community is just a small section of this town. There are several villages situated around the main strip of road - most of which feel very dirty - (I have stayed with three different hosts while on my visit here and one the houses had a bathroom more disgusting than any I have seen in Thailand. I was litterally taking a bucket shower with swarms of gnats and had to watch my head so that my hair didn't swipe the spider webs above. Thai people are very concerned with cleanliness so this bathroom experience was a little surprising to me. So, I was frustrated at first because I wanted to live in a house with neighbors nearby but also with a little bit of space. In most of the villages in this area, you scream for help, and 20 other people will hear you. It's crowded. BUT, as I was looking for a house to rent yesterday (with 10 other people!!! They all want the best for me!) I found a house that I love love love. It has open space all around me but with neighbors still very close and a small dirt path that leads directly to one of my schools. The landlords were not sure if they wanted to put the house up for rent so I am not sure if I can live there yet but I have my hopes on it. After I saw this house and spent 3 nights and 4 days here I have really come to not only like this place, but feel excited for the next part of my life in Thailand. I am having a hard time though because this next step means saying goodbye to all the people that I have spent the last couple months with. I have made a home there and will miss is so much! The good part is I am only a 30 minute ride away and I can ask any person with a car to take me and they will more than happily do so. Oh! That reminds me! There are several national parks near here which is exciting but one of the teachers I work with is the Vice President of a biking club. It is usually 50 baht a month but he said that I will be a special member and won't have to pay (neat!). They bike around the area and up into the parks every Saturday. I look forward to my time biking with them. OH!! Before I forget! 80% of the people that live here do not speak Thai. They speak Lao. It is, thankfully, not very different from Thai, but needless to say, there has been quite a lot of confusion and "put eek ti see" s (say that again). But hey, when I get back, I will be trilingual! Too bad neither one of those languages are really transferable to the states.

So I want to explain to you all one of the turning points in my trip to visit my site. I got here and wanted to cry. I was, not regretably, pretty sad about my first impression. As I was sitting outsite at my first host site thinking about the whole situation, my host mom came up to me and told me we were going to the temple to pay respects to Buddha. I pictured a small gathering of people in a temple but oh boy was I wrong. There was kareoke (who's ubiquitous presence I have not only grown to love but grown to crave), and lights, and a whole talat. This was all so common to Thai culture so the lights, kareoke, and talat didn't surprise me as much as it did the fact that this was all set up at temple and on a day to pay respect. Buddhism is very important here but so is having fun. The temple is a sanctuary (just listening to the chanting in the morning is enough to make you cry) but also a place for parties and fun. So, we bypass all this and go to one of the most awesome things I have participated in. You first buy a package and contained in this package is a flower, pieces of gold leaf, a piece of paper with Thai script, a pencil, a canlde, 3 sticks of incense, and string. You first walk up to the temple and take off your shoes.....oh my gosh, i just can't even begin - I already feel so incredibly inadequate. The ambience was incredible. People were laughing, talking, singing, playing, just 100 feet away. You walk up the first step to the temple and people are thoughtful, respectul, and so incredibly real. There were tables of monks and some of them were talking on the microphone (occassionally I would hear the word farang and questions directed towards me but I ignored them at first). I had gone to pray with my host family before so I understood the ritual of lighting the candles and incense so when I knelt down on the ground before the statue of buddha I took it seriously. Because I'm not Buddhist or have anything in specific to pray to, I prayed to myself. I lit the candles and incense, placed each in their repective posistions, and then waied three times. On the third wai I stayed with my hands splayed on the ground, my head down and between my arms. Everything just hit me so hard that my life is good even if I am in a city that I consider ugly, even if I am really in a place so opposite from where I want to be. These Thai people, after one day of meeting them, are my friends. They are my family and I really could not be happier. I am in love with this place. But don't worry mom and dad! I am coming home in two years. This culture, there are some things that frustrate me, but my god! This culture is beautiful. Even something as simple as a greeting. We shake hands or hug each other. The Thai greeting, the wai, is so complicated, comlex, and wonderful. The people are so incredibly deliberate with their hello. I was at a party last night and sat back for a little bit to watch the people. The table in front of me had 7 people seated. One man wanted to speak to someone at the table so he walks up, closes his hands in prayer posistion, places his thumb on his chin, his fingers gracing his nose. He holds this position and holds a bow as he makes eye contact with every single person at the table. Everysingle person at the table waied him back - but more importantly, not just waied him back because they had to but carefully, slowly, and deliberately placed their hands together, moved them to their face, and then slowly bowed their heads. I hope you can come visit me and we can sit back and watch the Thai people together. It is quite amazing. I love the wai, I love it's intricate complexity, and I am going to hate the fact that people in the states don't do it. Maybe I'll start this as a new trend at home.

Oh oh oh!! I wanted to let you know that I ate gop (frog) and can honestly say that it is good. I only had one bite despite this fact simply because it still is frog and it just seems wrong to eat it. Ok, I think I need to be done for now. Love to all.

Kroo Faang

Hello all. I unfortunately don't have a lot of time but I just wanted to get out a quick word because it has been a while. I have been doing A LOT and have been through quite a bit of ups and downs. As a summary, I visited my new home. All I really can do now is just sigh. I am writing this at the end of my frustration so I feel more ok with my new home but a couple of days ago I was on the verge of being angry with the Peace Corps for placing me where they did. I had two requests: to not be in a city and to not work in a big school. I now live in a city and work in two big schools. BUT my coteachers are fantastic and I have met some absolutely amazing people - all of whom want nothing but to take me as their own. I haven't spent a single baht in the past 5 days. I have been to two large parties, one of which is called a bettoong. It is located at a temple and - gosh, I'll have to explain more later. The teachers from one of the schools at which I am working gave me a new Thai nickname (nicknames are huge in Thailand): "Faang" (said with a rising tone instead of a mid tone! If you say faang with a mid tone and shorten the a sound then you are saying "listen") It means rice tree. And it was explained to me that this name was chosen because like the rice is a staple for the Thai people, so am I useful to and wanted by the country. So I thought that was pretty neat. My supervisor is back and now we have to actually work!! We have been traveling around all day - going to the talat, going to the post office, and then lunch, now it is 2:00 and we will finally get some work done...or maybe not. The picture included is of me playing soccer with some of the kids that live around The Chang (the shack where we like to hang out when we meet in the city) . I'll write more when I can!!

Pasa Thai and Pasa Angrit

Hello again! It is nice to be on a computer not so much because I am ON the computer but because being on the computer means I am on break! Whoo hoo. So I wanted to start by telling you all that I had a horrible scare the other day. After lunch with the kroo (teachers) and Rong Rian Tah Yaek (Tah Yaek School) I started to feel hot and my skin was beginning to take on that sensation where the slightest rub of clothing hurt. So I went home and took my temperature. It was 103. So I text the Peace Corps Medical Officer to find out later that the reason he didn't return my text was because he was in Indonesia scoping out the place and determining whether it will be a suitable location for Peace Corps. Anyway, I was scared. I have quite a bit of mosquito bites and though Malaria is not common out here, Dengue (break bone fever) is. So I was terrified, not only because I've never had a temperature that high but also because I was afraid I might have dengue and because I couldn't communicate with my family about what was happening. I took some medicine and attempted to sleep but because the walls are wood slats, it seemed as if all the people talking outside, all the dogs running, and chickens bawking were inside my room. So I didn't sleep but instead just lay on my hard bed. When I did finally wake up the next morning, my temperature was 97. I don't know what happened....thankfully I was ok the next morning because we all went to Pangsida National Park for sports day! In other disease news. I got a blister from my shoes and it got infected so my whole ankle is swollen and red and my shoe doesn't fit but eh, mai ben rai :) It's all good.

In other news more on the exciting side, I find out where I will be placed within two weeks and then I get to go visit that location for a couple of days. I am so excited. Next week we get to go to the beach for an aids conference which I am not as much excited for. Picture one is all of us eating lunch at Antons house for the ceremony I told you about last post. Picture two is a woman at the Talat selling polomai. Who can guess what polomai is?? Speaking of pasa Thai, we did a mock interview with the language coordinator the other day which went very well. It is amazing how much I have learned. I was able to carry on a conversation for a good amount of time and my ajaan says that I am at the intermediate low level which is already passed the level at which I am supposed to be in order to be sworn in. Yay. It's just exciting to see how much more I get to learn. So I say that I was able to carry on a conversation with my the language coordinator but that is with both of us speaking only the words I have learned. When it comes to speaking at home or trying to communicate with my co-teacher, it is much much much more difficult. Speaking of my co-teacher. I have received quite a few comments about the Peace Corps in Thailand and whether our arrival was wanted or was it more of a push from the American government onto the Royal Thai government. Well, what I can tell you is that two representatives from the Ministry of Education came and spoke to our group. They both made it abundantly clear that they not only needed our help but desperately wanted it. We were given two articles written and posted in a Bangkok newspaper about how much they needed farangs to teach english - people who actually spoke the language instead of the method they operate under currently. I wish I could show you all the English classroom they have here. The school I work at has 130 some students and though I'm not sure how many teachers, they are missing a couple to teach 3rd and 4th grade. One teacher is responsible for teaching all subjects to each grade. So there are basically several Thai teachers teaching English who don't even know how to answer how are you when asked. So yes, the Ministry of Education wants us here and after working with the teachers at Tah Yaek, I see the teachers want us here too. Now of course, you never really know what goes on at the government level. The fact is that the Peace Corps has been in Thailand for 45 years so it does make me question the amount of impact the Peace Corps had on the RTG and their implementations of change. I would venture to guess that had the Peace Corps never been here, the RTG would not have made the changes within the education system they did but is this a bad thing?? I don't think so. The Peace Corps is very sensitive to culture and while they train us how to teach within a student centered classroom, they also teach us about the Thai culture. They teach us to maintaining what Thailand stands for while at the same time integrating a new teaching style. It is feasible to make learning more integrative and sanuk for the students while leaving every bit of who they are in tact. We have this idea that Thais are very quiet and live by the standard of saving face which is true but my god do they relish in the sight of energetic games and making mistakes. I say the teachers want us here but the kids want us here 10 fold more. When Bekah and I go into the library to lesson plan, they follow us with smiles on their faces and watch us from the door. When we close the door they run around to the other side of the building to watch us from the window. Every house I pass all the way from school to my house is a kid yelling Sadie. I'm not sure if they wanted to learn english before we got there but I can tell you that since we got there, they want to learn. They want to know the next time we will be teaching, the next thing they are going to learn. Some of the kids who live in my neighborhood who also go to school at Tah Yaek bike home with me and one day one of the kids asked me "how much" and pointed to my bike. I didn't know how to communicate that I had no idea, that the Peace Corps graciously gave it to me so I tured my head to him to say "mai sap" but then realized that the kid who asked me (Beer, one of my favorite kids) is also in my class and we had just taught them how to ask how much something cost. I almost fell of my bike with excitement at not only his application but his attempt to try to speak outside of class. Ok, so I'm a better bike rider than that but my god, this is good stuff.

So, in closing, if Thailand doesn't kill me, it will make me really very strangely sick, I am learning a lot of pasa Thai, teaching a lot of pasa Angrit, and in response to some comments from last post, still not drinking Chang and swear I never will. Love to all.

Hello again! It is nice to be on a computer not so much because I am ON the computer but because being on the computer means I am on break! Whoo hoo. So I wanted to start by telling you all that I had a horrible scare the other day. After lunch with the kroo (teachers) and Rong Rian Tah Yaek (Tah Yaek School) I started to feel hot and my skin was beginning to take on that sensation where the slightest rub of clothing hurt. So I went home and took my temperature. It was 103. So I text the Peace Corps Medical Officer to find out later that the reason he didn't return my text was because he was in Indonesia scoping out the place and determining whether it will be a suitable location for Peace Corps. Anyway, I was scared. I have quite a bit of mosquito bites and though Malaria is not common out here, Dengue (break bone fever) is. So I was terrified, not only because I've never had a temperature that high but also because I was afraid I might have dengue and because I couldn't communicate with my family about what was happening. I took some medicine and attempted to sleep but because the walls are wood slats, it seemed as if all the people talking outside, all the dogs running, and chickens bawking were inside my room. So I didn't sleep but instead just lay on my hard bed. When I did finally wake up the next morning, my temperature was 97. I don't know what happened....thankfully I was ok the next morning because we all went to Pangsida National Park for sports day! In other disease news. I got a blister from my shoes and it got infected so my whole ankle is swollen and red and my shoe doesn't fit but eh, mai ben rai :) It's all good.

In other news more on the exciting side, I find out where I will be placed within two weeks and then I get to go visit that location for a couple of days. I am so excited. Next week we get to go to the beach for an aids conference which I am not as much excited for. Picture one is all of us eating lunch at Antons house for the ceremony I told you about last post. Picture two is a woman at the Talat selling polomai. Who can guess what polomai is?? Speaking of pasa Thai, we did a mock interview with the language coordinator the other day which went very well. It is amazing how much I have learned. I was able to carry on a conversation for a good amount of time and my ajaan says that I am at the intermediate low level which is already passed the level at which I am supposed to be in order to be sworn in. Yay. It's just exciting to see how much more I get to learn. So I say that I was able to carry on a conversation with my the language coordinator but that is with both of us speaking only the words I have learned. When it comes to speaking at home or trying to communicate with my co-teacher, it is much much much more difficult. Speaking of my co-teacher. I have received quite a few comments about the Peace Corps in Thailand and whether our arrival was wanted or was it more of a push from the American government onto the Royal Thai government. Well, what I can tell you is that two representatives from the Ministry of Education came and spoke to our group. They both made it abundantly clear that they not only needed our help but desperately wanted it. We were given two articles written and posted in a Bangkok newspaper about how much they needed farangs to teach english - people who actually spoke the language instead of the method they operate under currently. I wish I could show you all the English classroom they have here. The school I work at has 130 some students and though I'm not sure how many teachers, they are missing a couple to teach 3rd and 4th grade. One teacher is responsible for teaching all subjects to each grade. So there are basically several Thai teachers teaching English who don't even know how to answer how are you when asked. So yes, the Ministry of Education wants us here and after working with the teachers at Tah Yaek, I see the teachers want us here too. Now of course, you never really know what goes on at the government level. The fact is that the Peace Corps has been in Thailand for 45 years so it does make me question the amount of impact the Peace Corps had on the RTG and their implementations of change. I would venture to guess that had the Peace Corps never been here, the RTG would not have made the changes within the education system they did but is this a bad thing?? I don't think so. The Peace Corps is very sensitive to culture and while they train us how to teach within a student centered classroom, they also teach us about the Thai culture. They teach us to maintaining what Thailand stands for while at the same time integrating a new teaching style. It is feasible to make learning more integrative and sanuk for the students while leaving every bit of who they are in tact. We have this idea that Thais are very quiet and live by the standard of saving face which is true but my god do they relish in the sight of energetic games and making mistakes. I say the teachers want us here but the kids want us here 10 fold more. When Bekah and I go into the library to lesson plan, they follow us with smiles on their faces and watch us from the door. When we close the door they run around to the other side of the building to watch us from the window. Every house I pass all the way from school to my house is a kid yelling Sadie. I'm not sure if they wanted to learn english before we got there but I can tell you that since we got there, they want to learn. They want to know the next time we will be teaching, the next thing they are going to learn. Some of the kids who live in my neighborhood who also go to school at Tah Yaek bike home with me and one day one of the kids asked me "how much" and pointed to my bike. I didn't know how to communicate that I had no idea, that the Peace Corps graciously gave it to me so I tured my head to him to say "mai sap" but then realized that the kid who asked me (Beer, one of my favorite kids) is also in my class and we had just taught them how to ask how much something cost. I almost fell of my bike with excitement at not only his application but his attempt to try to speak outside of class. Ok, so I'm a better bike rider than that but my god, this is good stuff.

So, in closing, if Thailand doesn't kill me, it will make me really very strangely sick, I am learning a lot of pasa Thai, teaching a lot of pasa Angrit, and in response to some comments from last post, still not drinking Chang and swear I never will. Love to all.