KearAWW

The first full day...

Okay, first of all, sorry for all the spelling errors and quick cut off at the end of my last post. I need to buy an adapter when in town so my laptop won't die on me. Mai Pen Rai. Last night my laptop died and then I went all Rambo on them bugs. The Mosquitoes were the meanest, but there were some very scary looking creepy crawlers all around. So I fought them off as best as I could. Oh and just a quick note for the parents, you don't have to worry about me not taking my anti-malarial pills. Screw side-effects, there are too many squeeters bitin at me to take a chance. My bathroom doesn't have a light in it, and it's attached to my room but it basically is just 4 walls in the  dirt and so it is completely open. Therefore if I try to go to the bathroom or brush my teeth in the evening all the bugs come in. Not fun. So when I went to bed last night I was just hot and slightly frustrated, being completely honest. I slept pretty good despite my fear of being eaten, but being sticky and sweaty kind of prevents an ideal night's rest. Mai Pen Rai.

They let me sleep in this morning. So I woke up on my own about 7:30. I cleaned up my room a bit (consisting of me sweeping out the corpses of the bugs I massacred the night before) and then took a shower. A cold shower. No hot water. No warm water. Just cold. Mai Pen Rai...I guess. haha! So when I was dressed and ready for the day I met the kids in one of their classes. Opor, a student-turned-teacher, made me breakfast (I missed breakfast with the kids which is at 8 every day), which consisted of rice and a soy sauce omelet. I'm definitely not an egg person, but it was pretty good.

After breakfast Che, one of the main directors had me introduce myself to all the kids. Here in Thailand everyone pronounces my name as Kear-AWW, it must be an accent thing or something. It's pretty funny. So after my introduction we played some games and then Che asked me to stand in front of the group again. He said that they knew I was Mormon but no one knew what that meant, and so he wanted me to talk about that and teach everyone. Was not expecting that. But I just went for it, and with Oh as a translator I think I got the basic message across (possibly first discussion?). It was really cool to be able to share my beliefs with everyone and even cooler that they were all legitimately curious about my beliefs and religion.

At our staff meeting today Che told me about the Foundation and what he really wanted me to do in my time here. So that was pretty cool. I will be teaching a lot of English as well as a mix of other classes like math or geography every once in awhile. I won't just be teaching the kids, but for an hour everyday I will work with teachers like May or Dtoi, so that should be good. I hope I can do well at this seeing that I have never been in a teaching position before. I guess some good practice before the Fall when I start teaching Anthropology 101 to fellow students :)

The kids started warming up to me today. And when I mean warming up I mean I had kids hanging on every limb practically the whole day. That or they were constantly poking me looking at my white skin. They are all so friendly and sweet. But I wish so bad that I could better communicate with them. It can be challenging to not be able to carry out the most basic conversation. All the kids have some rough history. They were either severely abused or just abandoned because of poverty. For example, there is one boy from one of the hill tribes. He has a skin disorder and because of that he was locked in a room by himself for the first 14 years of his life. But you would never know that if someone didn't tell you. All the children are so sweet and loving and very happy. It really puts my life into perspective.

We went into part of the village today and bought some icecream for all the kids. That was a great hit, especially because it was so dang hot. Then I played some soccer with the older boys at the orphanage. We were playing on a field that was right above the swimming pond, so the ball kept falling in. The boys thought it was hilarious when they had to keep jumping in to get the ball back. I might go swimming some time if the water rises. As of right now it looks like a bid mud pit :)

My rot dang came early so I rinsed off quickly, grabbed my things, and headed for the city. I snapped some pictures on the way here but had to quickly put my camera away when it got super bumpy. Didn't want to lose my cookies :) My driver got lost for about 20 minutes and he ended up asking a random guy, who led us to the right place on his bike. So then I arrived here, at Manop's house. His family is the host family I will be staying with every weekend. They are the nicest people ever. They welcomed me right in and I feel super comfortable with them. Two girls from my programs were here too, so it was very nice to swap stories and just talk to other Americans. I didn't realize how much I would miss that last detail. His house is great and I am enjoying this brief escape from those monstrous bugs. That is something that is going to take some time getting used to...

The plan for tomorrow is to wake up early and go to a service at the Sikh temple nearby. So that should be fun. Stay tuned for pictures, but they will all be on facebook. I'll start taking more I promise.

The adventures just keep on coming. I may be hot and sticky with a slight stomach ache, but I am doing well. I'm fending off culture shock as best as I can. But some is inevitable I guess. I mean, I am on the other side of the world and is so different than anything else I have ever known before. All I can really say is Mai Pen Rai.

Until next time,

Peace!