Blabbing

I am currently writing from an internet shop in Kanchanaburi which is home to the River Kwai Bridge that was built during WWII as a way to successfully further Japan's plans to control Burma (I believe I have that part of history correct, but please write and tell me if I have misspoken). Hundreds of workers lost their lives here and there are several memorials as well as a large war cemetery. We woke up this morning (we as in all of the volunteers. We are currently in our second part of training several miles from town) and were taken to a local orphanage where we were to either plant trees, pick up trash, or cut grass with the kids. It ended up being entirely disorganized (no surprise there!) and we just walked around the school holding kids hands and playing large group games. The kids come to this boarding school for many reasons but, as a general whole, because their parents were not fit. It was very nice to see a successful organization in Thailand though it was almost shocking to see Thai children misbehave by pushing or hitting other children or, more shocking, adults. Tomorrow I believe we are going to a floating market and then hike to some waterfalls. It has been an awesome break from my home; to not have to think about translating, or how to work through the countless numbers of problems, and to see everyone again. We were sitting at a little hut across the street from the resort and a friend turned to me and said "You know, it's just like a family reunion. I come and I don't feel like I need to impress anyone, I can just be". We were told by staff that we have a very special group and I really feel that. It is quite amazing to get 56 people together and not have raging hatred and ridiculously incessant gossip (especially getting 28 girls together!) but we all like each other and though there is some gossip, everyone understands that there are no ill-feelings and it simply is the PC life - your life is theirs...there are some conflicts between personalities of course but everyone is mature enough to handle situations appropriately and we all WANT to hang out together instead of breaking off into clicks. I feel like I am just blabbing here. I've made no new discoveries but am having a great great time and tonight we will indulge in some adult beverages and dance the night away!

Amazing Mound

Kao Yaai, literally translated, is "mountain large" (but you have to say it with the right tone or it could mean rice grandma or white move). I have gotten into a couple discussions about the fact that Thailand's "mountains" aren't really mountains; that they are more foothills than mountains but they refuse to budge. After a couple rounds of "chai!" "mai chai!", "chai!" "mai chai!", I succumb to this mountain fight. I go gracefully but only so because I've got an image the good ol' Rockies in my head (That's the mountain range not the baseball team Matt W. No wise-ass cracks this time!) Pi Oi (the principal at school) and I were driving back from a meeting we had in Kao Yaai and we drive past a sign that reads "Amazing Mound" (yay for ambiguity). Pi Oi and I eventually get into a discussion about what constitutes a mound. I describe it in terms of size, that in, descending order, you have a mountain, then a hill, and then a mound. We then point out things on the sides of the road that could be considered mounds. After pointing out mounds of dirt, leaves, and trash, Pi Oi puts his hand on, and then gently caresses his stomach, and informs me that: "I have mound". Talk about application huh?!

When I did my internship with the 5th grade in the States, a lot of my time was spent with the students who were left behind, the students who, will in all likelihood, continue to be left behind. The teachers discussed these students frequently and questioned what exactly to do, how exactly to help them. These conversations usually always turned into rants about having to "teach to" the National Tests coupled with tired cries of the desire to spend more time on the lessons that the students have difficulty with instead of having to rush on to the next topic to ensure coverage. It is a breath of fresh air to say that this is not something that I need to worry about as a teacher here. To clarify, the Royal Thai Government does adminiter National Tests but as the nation knows that the students will not be able to actually do the test, it is seen more as a common cold - come winter, you will inevitably have to lounge in bed with a cold but before you know it, the bug passes with no lasting harm, never having to think of it again. (As a side note, my supervisor wants to write a district test within this year. I'll let you know how that goes...) Last week, one of my lessons was an absolute bust. It was too difficult, complex, and left most students with an unfortunate case of "furred eyebrows". Some were even stricken with "gaping mouth" as well. Sigh. As I don't especially enjoy being the cause of disorder and as I am a fortunate teacher in Thailand, I re-taught the lesson and today, they understood (most of them at least. I still had to work with some students after class)! So, that being said, here's the

equation I'm working with here in Thailand:

2 schools

2 co-teachers

11 classes

350 students

Throw in some other things like lack of funding and absense of curriculum, I've got the most amazing opportunity to develop my teaching skills. And developing they are. As I teach the same lesson 11 times I have the opportunity to change and then apply what I have found to be unsuccessful...poor guinea pigs. Umm, I feel like that was an incomplete paragraph but I'm tired and ready to go home so I will go on to explaining the pictures. The first is some Bratome 5 students writing the words they learned in their notebooks. The second is a group of kids (not my students) from the second school. I was walking back to the teacher's break room after lunch and run into a group of kids jumping rope. I stopped, said a random sentence in English (they always laugh at the fact that it is so incredibly foreign), made a face, and then walked away. The kids all dropped their ropes and followed me. I quickly turned around, put up my hands like a monster, and as I walked towards them, they all ran away (laughing of course). After chasing them the length of the sidewalk, I turned around and proceeded to my intended destination. They followed me again so, again, I pretended I was a monster. This sillyness ensued for 3 more rounds until I was too hot to continue. I told them I had work to do and to go play. Of course they didn't though. As I took out my work I hear: "Kroo Sadie ka. Tam arai ka" (Teacher Sadie, what are you doing?) in a timid voice behind me. I turn around to see that three of the students (captured in the picture) that I was playing with in the front ran around the building to come watch me from the back. The next picture is of my first drink ever from a coconut. It had close to no taste but was so hot from the sun that it was almost discusting. This coconut came from the tree behind me. The last picture, da da da daaa, is of my house. Thats right. My house. This is a typical style in Thailand. The first level is open and has no rooms (though my kitchen, if you can call it that as it doesn't have a sink or fridge, freezer, or food for that matter - is on this level. I wash my dishes in the buckets you see in the bottom right hand corner). This area is oftentimes the only reprieve you get from the heat during the day. Pictures of the inside of my house to come. Oh, I almost forgot. The Harry Potter Contest has come to a close. And the winner is (drum roll please) my wonderful dad...and not wonderful because he is sending me a Harry Potter book, though that is fantastic, but wonderful because he is just a damn good man.

Procrastination and Anticipation

So this is a picture I took of a sunset in Sakeo a couple months ago. This was just one captured sunset but this was my bliss every day biking back home after training. For some reason, though, the sunsets in Kabin just don't have the same passion. I really don't have much to say today; I am simply just online attempting to divert my attention away from the work I should actually be doing (I've always been a procrastinator). Let me tell you a little bit about that work though. We are currently working on family at the Bratome level (ages 8 through 11). We are still working on introductions at the Mathayome level (ages 11-15) . I was again struck with a fever which turned into a horrible sickness that I had to endure for a week and a half (and for those of you who know me, being sick again - three times in a 5 month span where in the States sick for me meant a strange sore throat that lasted 1 or 2 days every 1 to 2 years - is quite ridiculous. Pre-Thailand I questioned my human-hood. Maybe I was some sort of amazing freak of nature whose immune system was simply beyond all attack. Watching Unbreakable really put some power behind that thought...but now I know, sigh, that I am penetrable - damnit! How I so wanted to be a freak of nature!) and my co-teacher had meetings that she needed to attend. So, needless to say, we are a little behind where we should be. Regardless, I have discovered, through brilliant teaching strategy I must humbly admit ;), that the Bratome 4 students still don't know basic family vocabulary, so I am working on creating worksheets and lesson plans to help the students practice these words as well as basic sentences that introduce family members. I say "I am working" and this may cause you to slightly cock your head in a manner similar to a young puppy and wonder innocently as you stare at the glowing computer screen: "well, gosh Sadie, (or as my new European friend Jess might say: blimey) I thought that you were supposed to be doing this with your co-teacher". Yes. Yes I am though because I have had many a revelation about the condition of Thai thought processes, I have decided that lesson planning with my co-teacher is going to take longer than I thought and doing it on my own at this point in time is simply what I am going to have to do. I will spare you the analogy and thought processes that went into this (though they ARE good, so if you are curious, drop me a line letting me know that you would like to be privy to this genious discovery...and, hey, while you are at it, you might as well let me know how you are doing...come on people, if that's not a hint I don't know what is. My email address is Sadierae1@hotmail.com :) ). I feel like this is a good time to let you in on a little secret: the picture to the left was not taken by me or any of my friends...it is a picture that comes stock on every computer and as I didn't want to lose your attention and I have no pictures of my own to share because the computer won't let me upload my own, I had to resort to using that one. Have no fear, the first picture is legitimately Thailand. Anyway, back to my work. The text books that the Thai students use here are... [clears throat] horrible. I would say that they do contain a good amount of accurrate information. Thankfully, that is not the problem I have to deal with. The problem comes when you see that the text books are years beyond where the students actually are (and sadly, will most likely ever be. I hate to be so pessimistic about that but as this is still an agricultural country and most people don't feel the need to leave their birth homes or families, there isn't, or at least they feel there isn't, much need to learn the language). So, one of my long term project goals is to create a text book that is linguistically efficient and written specifically for each level or what we would call, grade. I would like there to be a teacher guide as well filled with lesson planning ideas and teaching strategies. My hope is that my co-teachers will be able to help me create it so that it can be in English and Thai. I am shooting for it's completion near the end of my service. I have many more long term goals but as they are long term goals, I set them aside and focus instead on the smaller baby steps that will facilitate the sucess of those long term goals...like helping the students to answer "How are you". Actually, this is one of my biggest frustrations and I believe my explanation of it will help give a little bit if insight into the good ol' Thai school system. Every time a new class starts the students are to stand up and say "Good morning/afternoon teacher. How are you?" The teacher is supposed to respond that he or she is good and then reciprocate the question. Regardless of the fact that they practice this everyday, several times a day, when I ask them how they are doing they stare at me blankly like I am speaking a foreign language....ha, well, what do you know! Glaringly obvious proof that rote memorization is not the best method of teaching. Wow, I started off this blog by saying that I didn't have much to say. Well lucky you :)

Ok, I feel like I have written a sufficient amount of information for the time being about my work so I will move on to other, more thrilling news...Harry Potter and the world of books. I feel like I probably lost some readers at the mention of Harry Potter but I don't care; I'm in love. As some of you know, the next movie AND the next (and sadly last) book are coming out next month. Fortunately, I will be in the discusting city of Bangkok (returning from a two week training session - part two - with my fellow volunteers in the not so discusting province of...damn, I've forgotten but there are waterfalls, forests and rivers galore, and air conditioning) so indulging in two hours (maybe three as book 5 is one of the longest books!!) of Harry Potter is most definitely on my list of things to do within the next month. Oh, as another side tangent, (boy, digression has become quite the frequent demon) movie theatres are very similar to American movie theatres. The only difference, besides the lack of english of course, is that before the movie starts, all present people are to stand up and praise their king. There is a short silent movie that shows images of the king as he is working with the people and, if I remember correctly, the king's song is playing as the background music. The current king is in his 61st year of reign and is 80 years old. People are very concerned about his health and I fear his death while I am here. It will devastate the country. In all respect of course, back to Harry Potter. I need, however, some help getting the book. I don't think I would have a problem finding the book in English in Bangkok though the cost of new books in general here in addition to travel costs would make it quite expensive. I implore you, I feel like the guinea pig dog when Pavlov rang his bell; I hear July and my mouth, and that little (and by little I mean large) place in my heart saved specially for Harry Potter, waters with anticipation. I love Harry Potter, yes, but I would hate to be burdended with the weight of 10 Harry Potter books in 2 years...so, in the spirit of good ol' capitalistic competition, whoever tells me they will help me out first, is the true lucky one. I will announce the winner in 1 weeks time. I was desperately hoping that Deathly Hollows would end up 2,000 pages but, alas, I think Rowling has managed only 800 pages - weak. Also, as if I haven't written enough today, I just finished the book titled "The Time Travelers Wife". I picked it up because the cover's praise read "The next Lovely Bones" which is one of my favorite books. It is, after devouring this book, in no way similar Lovely Bones but it is, none-the-less, quite a fantastic, and now another favorite, book. Audrey Niffenegger writes about a man who is sometimes blessed, sometimes cursed, with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel. Through this admirably and amazingly well done weaving of the past, present, and future, a love story develops. Niffenegger writes with such true and passionate understanding of human emotion that the couple becomes one you would envy were they real. Through this story also comes philosophical discussion of chaos vs determinism, what time is exactly, and the potential role god plays in it all. A must read :) So it is almost dark and I fear I have nothing else to say ... haha, I laugh that THOSE are my reasons for needing to go, not because I need to do work. Isaiah, if you are miraculously still reading at this point, will you please write me an email? I don't have yours and I have some things to say to you. Ok, love to everyone. Oh, and Marla, if Josh still works there will you please ask him to send me Holly Huggins email?

Silent Companion

My sleep is disturbed in the early morning hours, every morning, to the premature cawing of roosters. The night is still penetrated by deep darkness and I know I have many more hours to sleep. I wait with closed eyes under my mosquito net for the roosters to stop their calls and then, frustratingly, for the dogs to stop howling their responses to the roosters and to again find peace within the night. I know that in any number of hours this routine of noise will commence again but that the next time I will have to get up and begin my own routine. I sigh deeply because my heart is tinged with a desire to not have to get up, to not have to go through another Thai day. Sometimes I just want the day to be over, for it to already be the next, and for time to just move so quickly that before I know it, I'm ready to say goodbye to Thailand and move on with the next part of my life. Yesterday morning, however, started off differently. I woke in the early hours of the morning, as any morning, to the sounds of the roosters but this time a small, sinister smile formed on my lips as I rememberd that I didn't have to go into school that day. I slept in, took my time that morning getting ready, and ended up at a restaurant eating some of the worst fried rice I have had in Thailand thus far (the chicken that I asked to be put in the dish was more bone and fat than it was meat). Through the pure simplicity of freedom that day I found inspiration to inspect my life and through those thoughts, I have renewed and refreshed my life in Thailand....this, in an attempt to summarize, is what I discovered:

Time is a beast. One of those close-your-eyes-don't-look kind of beasts that imminently lurks within your shadow fueling you with the desire to beat it back with a superfluously thorny, oversized stick. Throughout my my meek 23 years of life (meek in the sense that 23 years just doesn't exactly tip the scales in the whole plot of of existence itself) the beast has ineludibly dragged me by my arm and no matter how often or how hard I fight back, it's gruesome entity just won't let go. As I was sitting in the restaurant yesterday I realized, with flaberghasted shock, that I have already been in Thailand for almost half a year! Oh how the beast and I are inexorably intertwined!! Along with this realization, however, came another: I have, through my loneliness and thoughts of home, ashamedly forgotten this transparent and obvious fact. I currently want the beast to move me along quickly while at the same time entirely disregarding the fact that the beast ALREADY IS moving...and at exponential speeds at that! This zinger came at me pretty hard. I sat back and realized that if I keep wanting the beast to move more quickly I will end up, two years from now, entirely regretting the fact that I didn't take my time; that I spent my time instead wishing it to move faster. Enjoy the time for what it is in the here and now right? We've all heard this many times before but it came at me differently yesterday. I told myself that I need to chill out and enjoy what Thailand innately has for me. I asked myself what that was and my response: My life. I don't know all of what Thailand has for me but the plain and simple fact is: this is my life! How could I continue to live with myself knowing that I have actually been stroking the beast, tempting it to pull me along faster while my whole life before this point I had been battling the beast back with a stick? I still see time as a beast - it just inevitably is. But now instead of the beast lurking it is more so the silent companion that sits with me on Song Tao rides (public transportation of sorts). The beast isn't exactly my best friend but I have an appreciation for its company because I know that without it, I wouldn't be living my life.

So there you go. That isn't exactly detailed about my day to day activities, in fact, I still don't think you really know what I do. Maybe I'll explain that in the next blog. For some reason I have been unable to transfer any pictures so I will have to put on pictures that friends sent me. Hope it suffices for now. The first picture is of our 119 group during the Swearing In / 45th Anniversary Celebration. The Princess is in the middle. The second picture is of the school that Bekah and I worked at in Sakeo during training. Ok, love to all :)

Tornados and Farts

I am going to start with this picture as a tribute to my brother. He just graduated from high school and I am so proud of him - not so much because I think high school is a terribly hard task but because I just love him so much and am proud of anything he does. This picture is for him because he told me once that he wanted to travel to other countries and take pictures of the not-so-common sports that the natives play. I thought that was such a fantastic idea and as I have no intention of stealing that idea, this home made checkers board simply made me think of him.

In the states, I hated crickets - granted, far less than I currently hate ants, dogs, chickens, and those obnoxious flying bugs that I have to fight with for shower space after it rains - but the crickets seemed to be more of a disturbance to the otherwise quiet and peaceful night. I've discovered that the crickets here in Thailand now mean something completely different - and I don't necessarily mean different in the sense that they are now edible and, supposedly, delicious - but that they now are a representation of silence to me. I realized this last night has I layed down to write in my journal. I didn't hear people, cars, barking dogs, or incomprehensible Thai music. Just silence.....and crickets. I was taken back by the novelty of this sense of silence for me. It was then my 14th hour of being awake and my world was finally slowing down. Even my runs, which I cherish as my release from the day, are still filled with noise: saying hello every other two minutes, telling people that I'm going back home, or though it is quite obvious what I am doing, responding to the question: "What are you doing?". But the noise does not only flood externally. Even more so, my mind is a constant Niagara Falls of thought ranging from "what the hell am I doing in Thailand" to "go Sadie, go, don't stop". The constant urging to keep pushing applies to my running of course but even more so I (the random picture is of one of my students who was displaying the word monkey) find myself applying those words to my work in Thailand. I have been placed within a tornado of a school system. It is, to put it bluntly, a wreck - but of course, to be fair, it is a wreck by American standards. I say that because I sincerely want to leave room for the cultural differences but then I realize, and am thankful to remember, that someone else thinks it needs improvement or else I wouldn't be here. Let me just tell you a little bit about my frustrations. Teachers don't teach. Ok, thats not entirely fair; they teach sitting at their desk listening to the students rotely read from their books. But even that is hard to come by as most teachers will sleep, read, or take an eating break during class. Classes never start on time. During one blastedly hot day at the high school my co-teacher and I were sitting in the classroom waiting, eagerly mind you, for the students to come. 10 minutes had passed so I, as politely as I could, asked where the students were. She replied that they were downstairs getting their hair cut. Indeed they were and consequently the lesson planned for an hour was cut down to half an hour. I could go on and on and on.......an on but I won't because I have to pay to use this computer and I don't want to bitch forever.

A PCV and I were talking about the job we have ahead of us. She shared that she was discouraged when her co-teacher told her to "stop being so serious" after wanting to sit down (this picture is of Liow and myself riding to the market to go watch the fish. He and I shared a seat and laughed the whole way as he asked me if I liked to eat farts) and lesson plan. Surely, we can take a page from the Thai book in terms of slowing down but oh how much we wish we could tell her back "but education is serious! Stop being so careless!" As I said we feel as if we are in the midst of a tornado, finding stable ground seems an impossible feat but we remind ourselves of the countless number of people we have randomly met in Thailand who, after hearing that we work for the Peace Corps, have exclaimed that they were taught by a PCV years ago and were changed by the experience. The kids are our stronghold - they are the flying cows caught within the same tornado that we can grab ahold of :) Ok, so a tornado analogy isn't exactly fitting here in Thailand...and it isn't the best analogy to begin with but there ya go.

This picture is of one of my high school classes. There are 40 students, 25 desks, and a room small enough for some Americans to consider a bedroom. I'm sure you all can grasp the innate difficulties imbeded within that statement.

In really exciting news however, I went on my first trip with the Kabinburi Bike Group and it was awesome! There were some serious bikers and some that went solely because they had nothing else to do. We rode 60 kilo (about 30 miles) to Gang Hin Pung where we ate sticky rice and som tam. Some of us then went mountain biking further up stream. It was so dense and dark in some places that I had to put my camera on night flash otherwise the pictures simply wouldn't come out. The trail was more so a hiking trail than biking trail and most of our time was spent getting on and off our bikes to carry it across rivers or over impassible jutting rocks but it was an absolute blast. The picture is of one of the kids that I met on the trip whose name I can't remember :) Now that I have a camera I need a place to store them online...does anyone have any ideas? Amy, what was the site you kept all of your Germany pictures? Ok, all for now :)

Picture update

So I bought a camera. A nice camera at that - and I feel both extremely guilty about the purchase and extremely happy. I never made large purchases like this in the States so making one in Thailand, where I wasn't even expecting to see ice, leaves me feeling undeserving....but I am happy that I now get to share pictures from my life with you all! The picture to the left is where I get to run every day. A couple of weeks ago I needed to go to school and instead of being picked up by someone, I needed to get there by myself. I wasn't entirely sure which roads through my village led to the school but as I was exploring the area, I found this forest and an incredible expanse of green fields. I feel like I have written about this somewhere so excuse me if it was through a previous blog. I was told not to come this way though because "it is dangerous". Why is it dangerous? I asked "because there are bad men that drink whiskey" they replied. Me: But you are drinking whiskey right now (and in fact everyone drinks whiskey at every opportunity they get) Them: Oh it is dangerous because of the dogs. Me: The dogs in the village chase me more than the dogs over there. Them: Staring at me "it is dangerous over there, don't go". Needless to say, I still run over there. The next picture is at one of my schools. This is the school that is in my village - Baan Kok Udom. I love being here. I get such an amazing feeling when I walk into the building. I WANT to come to school to work and to be with the people. This was on one day I just came to do some lesson planning. It started to pour just before I wanted to leave so I waited for a while until it passed and decided for a photo op instead. While I am on the topic of school - I have spent the last week and a half lesson planning with my co-teachers. Here is the list of what we have actually planned: Let me just say that if this were the United States, our lack of planning would not fly. It is quite a challenge for me to not have an organized plan, but this is through my own choice. I have so many ideas of what to do in the classroom -l esson plans, games, songs, classroom organizational tips - but I don't want to just tell the teacher my ideas. I want them to, at least in part, come from her. So I hang out. We talk about what we think about the curriculm and how we should start the school year. I throw out questions in an attempt to get my co-teachers to think about other ideas but if they don't necessarily get to my idea, thats ok. For example, I think it would be a really good idea to start of the year with some sort of syllabus so that the students have a wide angle lens at what the school year is going to kind of look like. The problem here is that there is absolutely no concept of a syllabus. There is absolutely no collection of strategy teaching from previous years. So in addition to it being impossible on the teachers part to come up with a syllabus, it is impossible for me to even help come up with a syllabus because there really isn't even a curriculum. It is all so scattered and brain boggling. On the first day of school there will be no teaching - not because of our lack of plan but because in Thailand the students are required to do the maintance of the school alongside the teachers. Most of the classrooms, with three days before school starts, are not anywhere near ready - but that's ok because the first day is designated to clean and organize which the students must help with. Students are also required to clean and sweep the grounds of the school as well. At the school I worked at in Sakeo, classes were cancelled because things needed to be cleaned. Anyway, enough of that. The above picture is of one of the bathrooms at Kok Udom. The next picture is of me and some of the kids in the village. The little boy that I am holding is just about the cutest kid I have ever met in my entire life. He has the biggest smile on his face all the time and asks me question after question - most of the time they are repeats from previous days but it is adorible nonetheless. This was taken the day I got my camera. They love taking pictures and were thrilled at the idea. I really wish I could tell you their names but I can't. Thai's all have extremely long and difficult names to pronounce so all are given a chu len (literally name play - nickname) at birth as well. If I can't remember their one syllable nicknames, I don't think I'm ever going to remember their full names either!! Whenever I meet someone and tell them I live in Moo 9 (which is the village number) they always respond with "Oh, there are many children there!" My god are there ever! I don't think I could be placed in any better village. I have such a great opportunity to continue learning after school for the students if they want and also to be connected to the families of the students as well. Apparrantly, divorce is a very prominent problem here and it seems, similarly as in the States, any support the children can get is needed. I have so many ideas of things to do in my village outside of school and I look forward to the progression of things in general to initiate my ideas. This next picture is one of the garden I made in my backyard. Not only am I a teacher and a community worker but also "dichan ben chow suan" (a farmer!) I planted cucumbers, tomatoes, papaya, and green beans (which are just about the best vegetable here in Thailand!) I made this garden about a week ago and already (thanks to the constantly pouring rain) all have already begun to show leaves. the green beans are already about an inch tall. I had a fun experience making this garden though. One neigher comes up to my fence and though it is obvious what Im doing she asks "what are you doing?" I tell her I'm making a garden and that I'm planting these things. She said "Oh no you shouldn't do that. If you bend down you are never going to get back up because you will have a sore back". I told her I was young and that I won't get a sore back but even if I do, its ok, I'm just planting for fun anyway - I have nothing else to do today. She responded "Oh no, you shouldn't be planting. The manwees (gnat like bugs) are going to eat everything all up". I told her that if the manwees eat everything all up, its ok, I'm just planting for fun. I have nothing else to do anyway. Then she says "Oh no, you shouldn't be doing that. you should be sleeping or reading. that is much more fun" I told her sometimes, smiled and then walked away. In a couple of weeks, I'll bring her some of my green beans. The next picture is at a wedding that I went to a couple of days ago. I had no idea who the people were - I just get dragged to these things. Thai weddings are all the same - well, I should say, all large Thai events are all the same. A large stage is set up, a singer and dancers, and a catering group is hired. The dancers dress up in very non riap roy clothing and dance in a style more reminiscent of MTV rather than traditional Thai dancing. The music is ridiculously loud and obnoxious and the food is served in the same fashion - Chinese family style where appetizers are served first and rice served last. Without fail the appetizers include some form of egg, typically boiled, some sort of port, usually hot dog type blobs, some other strange things that I choose not to eat, and peanuts. We are given a spoon, a bowl, and chop sticks. In this picture I am eating a peanut with chop sticks. The girl next to me is named Bao. She is the daughter of the landlord and the one that I mentioned in a previous blog. I said that she was 27.......yah, she 17. I don't know how I mixed up "sip jet" and "yee sip jet" She could pass for 27 though don't you think? The wedding ended up being quite a frustrating night, as many Thai events end up being. Thai events become a place to drink and pretty much everyone partakes in drinking whiskey. I was told many times by men that I was going home with them which is very frustrating but I can simply say no and walk away but the drunk women pose more of a frustration simply because it is appropriate for them to touch me. So they will grab my arm and pull me where they want me and constantly talk in my face. This is a strange place to end but it is almost dark and I need to get on home so I hope that everyone is well!!

Fruit Roll Ups

Hey everyone :) So, I thought that I should sit down for at least a minute and get something out to you because one, well, my last blog was kind of scary!!! and two because I've been having a great time and I want to let you all know. I started working with my co-teacher which has been fun - for a lot of reasons I suppose - but mostly because it is a challenge. But we work very well together and though we haven't made a lot of progress, we have made some, and I see good things for our class. The only problem is we don't have any time to plan!! We'll see. Tomorrow I am getting some people together to help me start a garden in my backyard and today I am going to make the Thai version of a fruit roll up. I had one that was made out of mango but I am going to make mine out of mango, pineapple, and banana....mmmmmmm, delicious. Ok, well, I have a lot to do so I'm going to have to end here. Write to me people!