Give me some sugar

I am now a volunteer!!!!!!!!!!! We were sworn in on Saturday which was not only a momentous day for my group but also for Peace Corps Thailand as a whole. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps Thailand/America relationship - which is no small deal. Our relationship with Thailand is the longest running and most successful relationship throughout the Peace Corps World. The ceremony was graced, as many of the Thai staff would say, by the Princess' presence and were told that having her there was one of the greatest honors. It is hard for me to gauge the true essense of her royalty and importance simply because I am still ignorant about the depth of the Thai government but I was no doubt humbled by the fact that we were there. More and more I come to appreciate the depth of my job here and the ceremony aided in the removal of one more layer of the things I take for granted. The ceremony supposedly made national news so if you want to do some searching, I'm sure you could find some more information. That very day though we were all swept off to our individual sites so goodbyes were very brief.

My site: I am currently staying with a host family, though I do have a house for rent waiting for me. I do not yet have the address but will get it to you as soon as I possibly can. So, if you were thinking of sending me anything for my birthday... dont sweat it - I'm in Thailand, that is birthday present enough :) My house for rent (baan chow) comes with absolutely nothing.....which is no surprise when comparing to the states but here in Thailand it is more of an exception. I am going to be moving into my baan chow on Thursday and am very excited....I get to run where and when I want and to eat when and how much I want....I can wear what I want to bed and I can just sit and relax! I haven't worked at all since I moved to site and it has been fantastic! I went to two parties yesterday - one was similar to an end of the year party in the states but so much more fun! The second one was for the new teachers so I got to give a speech and sing kareoke. I sang country roads. As I was starting my song I was told "By John Denver. He dead already". Country roads all right.

So I want to tell you all about a little holiday here in Thailand called Songkran. And when I say little I mean huge. And when I say holiday I say it with confusion because I don't understand what exactly is being celebrated....there goes my American mind thinking there needs to be answers. We've been told that April is so hot you honestly think the sun is going to kill you like it does the trees. The Thai's solution for reprieve is a couple-day holiday where they nearly extinguish all water supply to have a country-wide water fight. They say that you are soaked for days and farangs are an especially susceptible target.....yaaay. I am honestly really excited about the water part of this whole charade but I am mostly excited because I don't have to be riap roy.....and for those of you who know me well enough and know how much I love playing in water, being more excited about not having to be riap roy is a big deal.

So I think the bed that I am sleeping on at my host family has bed bugs. I am very very itchy and the bites are most definitely not from mosquitos.....

So the plan: I will be doing 2 three day english camps within the next two weeks, two teacher training seminars, lesson planning for the first six months of school, and working on the curriculum. Also, I learned yesterday at the party that meth is a very big problem in this area so I will think about that as a secondary project.

For my family. If you have not yet heard, Matt just shipped off to the Army yesterday. He is so incredibly excited and sees this as possibly the biggest adventure in his life - most certainly the biggest up to this point. I hear a happiness in his voice that I haven't heard for a while and through his happiness comes a point for me where I relinquish all my sadness and feel excitement for him. I think it is going to be good for him - very good. When I figure out where he is, I will let you all know. Could you be sure to let him know you are thinking about him and maybe send him a letter from time to time? He considers you all more family than is own. Through times full of challenge, support is so imporant - so lets all be there for him ok?

I feel like there was so much more I had to say, and there most likely is but I have come to a loss of thought right now. Considering it has been so long since I last wrote, this probably doesn't adequately fill you in....sorry :) With a smile of course cuz there is nothing you can do! But if you think of questions let me know ok....I like questions.

For Penny, yes of course I remember meeting you! I am so excited for you! Congratulations - sincerely. One thing that I have learned through experience already and have been told from other volunteers, is to not compare your service and self to other PCVs' services. They are so incredibly different and so incredibly unique. When I was assigned to Thailand, I was so sad. I wanted to go to Mongolia or South America - certainly, Thailand wasn't going to bring to me what I wanted and what I expected from the other countries. And now that I have spent three months here, I realized that I was right, Thailand doesn't bring me what those other countries could have. And that is more than ok - not because its Thailand (I would say the same for any country) but because it is simply what is it is. Eastern Europe is going to be fantastic for you. Enjoy it for what is has intrinsically for you. Keep me updated ok? good luck!!

roo mai chai....khun sap.....arai godai

Hello :) So much has happened since last time I wrote. We had our English camp which was a tremendous success! Oh, I have a funny story to relate to you all. First, a little insight into the structure and logistics of how the camp worked. There were about 8 volunteers and 150 students and we each taught 2 different lessons/songs to 6 different groups of kids who were grouped by fruits. In addition to this, we did large group activities in the morning and then at the end of the day. When we did the large group activities we all sat under a large outdoor pavillion type thing in a awkward concentric circle as to fit all kids under the same roof. It is the end of the day activity that I want to relate to you. So, at the beginning of the day we introduced body parts in English so at the end of the day we played a game called person to person to review those parts. So each kid had to find a partner. The MC would call out a body part and the two kids would have to tap those body parts together to the beat of the music in the background. We were successful with leg, arm, hand, head, foot but came upon an extremely awkward moment when the MC said mouth to mouth. Our MC's name is John and in fact I'm not going to blame this awkwardness on John because it wasn't really his fault. I was watching him when he said mouth to mouth and he didn't tell the kids to do it, he just asked the Paw Aw (principal) and she was all gung ho! So the kids (and John and the Paw Aw) awkwardly did mouth to mouth but more so in a style resembling a French greeting. Usually we would move on to another body part but not this time! The Paw Aw had everyone sit down. We all sat down in our strange grouped circle and waited while she ran off stage. She came back with a large water bottle (similar to the water bottles that office staff have "water cooler talk" around). She set this large bottle in the middle of the circle and proceeded to play spin the bottle. She was speaking in Thai and I had no idea what was going on but the kids were screaming and laughing and thinking it was sooooo hilarious......me, I was confused as all hell. As I was sitting there attempting to catch my co-volunteers' eyes for a moment of shared "what the hell?" , I noticed that the Paw Aw pointed the bottle at me. I stared at the bottle for a moment but only a slight moment because she made me get up and spin the bottle. I spun the bottle with such hesitation that it didn't even go around in a complete circle. The bottle landed on John. He was just as confused as I was. We look to our Ajaans for help who tell us to just to the chicken dance Thai style (which is way more fun that the chicken dance American style). All ended up without harm but my god was it a very strange moment in Thailand. The day ended up with autographs and dancing. Some of the kids that live in my village were able to come to the camp so I was blessed with hearing the new things they learned during camp. It was quite wonderful to see the fruit of our hard work but after hearing "what is your name, how old are you, and what is your favorite food" for the 20th time.....well....yah, enough said.

Today we just finished a teacher camp which consisted of 100 teachers and 10 volunteers. It was not as much of a success but it was still a very good experience. Let me explain to you all that I am not in Thailand to teach. That is not my purpose in Thailand. I do teach. I will spend a good amount of time teaching but I am here to teach teachers how to teach English. Most of my time will be spend working one on one with the co-teachers of my two schools. In addition to this, however, I will be working very closely with my supervisor who is also the supervisor of the English Program in my province. Our goals are to work in detail with the curriculum (and ultimately change the curriculum to better suit the needs of the students, and in all honesty, to be effective in general because at this point, it frankly sucks) and to create teacher clubs and teacher camps in order to get all teachers in our province on the same page. I didn't know that my job was going to be on such a large scale but I am sooo thrilled that it is. Thailand wants to improve their English program and I can't do that effectively by working at only two schools. So, today we held a Teacher Camp mostly as practice for the volunteers but also to give the teachers some ideas. The hardest part for me, and something that really put my job in perspective was when a teacher came up to Scott (my teaching buddy for the day) and me and asked for help, for advice on how to get her Paw Aw's to listen. She seemed to be a very energetic and devoted teacher who already had a fantastic grasp of student centered learning. She came to us because her Paw Aw is on a completely different page. Her Paw Aw wants her to teach from the curriculum and and the level she was teaching (Matiome which is like high school) includes grammar. The problem is, the kids don't even know the basic letters, the sounds they make , or how to answer a question as simple as what is your name. I suggested she go to the ESAO which is the level of government that I will be working with, the ones that have the power to change, but the problem here in Thailand is the power struggle. She comes with little power to change so it will be difficult for her to be heard. I found a great appreciation for my supervisor at that point who wants to listen and who wants to change and to start from the ground up. I told this teacher to keep doing what she was doing, that change is slow but it is coming. Thailand is in a state of reform in terms of education. Some teachers are oblivious, and those seem to be more common but I find it so much more difficult to see the teachers who are lightyears ahead of their country. They are in some ways being held back by their government and it is very frustrating for them.

I want to end here by commenting on my title. It means "or not, ya know, whatever". This is not a common pharse in Thailand. A friend and I translated it because it happens to be said quite a lot by him. It means so much for us but for the purpose of this email, it falls in line with "may ben rai" which actually is a legitimate Thai phrase that means "its all good". We find ourselves caught up in so much sometimes - you can answer for yourself what you get caught up in - but sometimes, being caught up in those things is a waste of our precious time. Sometimes it is so helpful to just remember that life has a way of working out....

I teach without shoes on. When I sweep the 100 dead bugs up from the floor I don't use a dust bucket (english words have escaped me already - I hope you know what I mean by dust bucket) because the floor is made of wood. I simply push the pile of bugs through the slats in the floor. For 3 days I studied Thai at a Wat. Life is good.

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.