Hello, สวัสดี (Sa wa dii), Hola

oh and I totally forgot to mention I saw my first elephant in Thailand on Saturday!!!! It was sooo cute!!! I bought some sugar cane to feed it and petted it and I love it!!! yay!!!!

This weekend in Nakhon Phanom it was the fireboat festival, which meant a lot of crazyness and fun! Let me start from the beginning. Friday night after dinner Jess (our field director) showed us a Thai movie, whose English translated title is Mekong Full Moon Party … odd yes but a very good movie! I highly suggest it to anyone who wants to see a portrayal of the culture I am living in this year. But I digress … The movie is about a myth in Thailand about fireballs that shoot out of the Mekong … some parts true some exaggerated … but in any case the festival this weekend was for the full moon in October. These huge boats were built and soda cans were filled with gas and attached to the structures to create ornate pictures that light up and float down the Mekong River … They. Are. Beautiful! … so Friday night we watched this movie and then Saturday morning we left Pla Pak at 7:30 to go to That Phanom Wat (the temple in That Phanom) to watch traditional dancers from High Schools in Nakhon Phanom Province. We legit piled in cars and trucks (yes there were people in the truck bed) with bedding and a change of clothes for each of us. The dancers were gorgeous and the temple is AMAZING. It was really hot so that was kind of a bummer since we were dressed up but whatever. It’s hot here all the time. And there were people in sweaters and sweatshirts! Thais are crazy! But in any case we stayed there till 11:30, then we went to lunch with Rambo (the police man who “is like the moon” because he patrols around us) and the director of Pla Pak Wittaya (the school we have been living with) at a restaurant legit on the Mekong River, where they insisted on getting us all ice cream but apparently we love ice cream! But who wants to pass that up?! It was deliciousss! From there we traveled into Nakhon Phanom City where we dropped off our stuff at on the volunteer’s housing assignment for the year. (Her roommate is a gem and invited all of us to sleep at her house for the fireboat festival) She then dragged us to the parade sweaty and exhausted hahaha … the parade was of these temples made of wax from each of the villages. They were awesome … people were walking along the floats spraying the wax with water so it wouldn’t melt. There were also some dancers and bands … sometimes just speakers in the back of a pickup truck with old guys dancing … hilarrrious!!! Then we walked around through some of the stands and went back to the house to freshen up for the night. We went to dinner as a group at a place called Good Morning Vietnam …. It was delicious! We got make your own fresh spring rolls with chicken, star fruit, garlic, chilies, this delectable peanut sauce, and these dry banana things. We also got this awesome spicy noodle salad and lots of other spring rolls and some fried egg with rice. Yummy! Then we watched the fireboats which was an experience in and of itself … it was just like being in a crowd watching 4^th of July fireworks only it was all Asians in the crowd. There were fireworks with the full moon right above them reflecting off the Mekong. There are no words to describe how cool it was. While stuck in a crowd at one point this little girl bumped into me so I looked down and smiled, which cause her to gasp because I am a white person and she then loud whispered to her family “farang” (meaning white foreigner) so then I was cracking up … it was special. And everyone here calls you beautiful because you are white and they think white people are gorgeous … so my self esteem is really going up here. One especially memorable encounter happened yesterday during the parade when a woman came up to me and said “Welcome to Thailand” (in English) and then she said “You are a very beautiful someone” … yesss!!!! Hahaha! After fireboats we all went out for some drinks and get a feel for the nightlife in Nakhon Phanom City. We went to the previous volunteers’ favorite spot, a place called Duck Pub. Rambo greeted us with reserved tables and whiskey as soon as we walked in. hahaha! We danced and drank all night! It was so nice to get to go out with everyone and let loose! We even found out that Rambos brother owns the bar … they’re a connected family ha ha! On Sunday we woke up and went to Meringue, a favorite hang out spot in NKP that has real bread and coffee , which are hard to come by around here. Then we piled in some trucks and headed to the former District Directors house (a man named Mr. Narong) for lunch. He did all of the beginning paperwork to get WorldTeach in Nakhon Phanom. His house is so nice and the food was delicious and he gave us all his number so we could call him and go to his house this year. He is a very sweet old retired man! We were Thai dancing with a bunch of women at the house as well … so fun! I am currently EXHAUSTED from a crazy fun weekend and gearing up for the last few days of practicum and the move into my house at the end of the week!

Today was my first day of practicum (student teaching)! A few days ago we were split into groups of three to plan lessons and work ideas out with one another. During practicum we will be in the classroom together, to observe one another and help out! We teach for 2 hours a day for 6 days. Therefore each day 2 of the people teach and the other just observes. Of course my group decided that I would be the first person to teach … thanks guys! Haha I got over it quickly and was mostly just excited until … we showed up at the school this morning and there was not a soul in sight! Whhhaaaattt???? We immediately called our field director, who obviously freaked a little, called the Thai school director we work with and found out everyone thought it started tomorrow … awesome Thailand. But in the spirit of being in Thailand we all yelled “mai pen rai” and decided to go with the flow! The school was able to round up some kids and the 2 groups of teachers melded our lessons together and taught the random group of 20 … IT. WAS. SO. MUCH. FUN. I can’t even explain how fun it is to teach these little Thai children English! The experience I had this morning completely sealed the deal for me on what I am doing here, why I’m doing it and how much fun this is! We hear time and time again from Thai people who come to speak to us how happy they are that we are in their country and willing to help the children of Thailand. And while its nice of them to say these things to us, it means nothing until we are in the classroom working with the eager young minds, dressed in dirty American super hero pajamas. Seriously … the amount of misspelled American clothing is out of control! You see a lot of Mickey and Minnie mouse, hello kitty (obvs), Spiderman, and I even saw Stewie from Family Guy. My most favorite shit I’ve seen on a child so far is one that has a train on it and says “Reading Phillies” with a number on the back and underneath the number it said “sexy girl” … random! I would have taken a picture but we were at a restaurant and the little kid was playing and I didn’t want to be that awkward white person taking a picture of some random child! Haha but I digress … I LOVE teaching here and can’t wait till I’m at my own schools!

Since orientation is soon ending (my practicum starts on Wednesday) I decided to reflect on all of the things I have learned or noticed since being in Thailand … here are the 10 that stick out in my mind the most!

1. all bathrooms are wet … everywhere … hence the literal translation of “haawng naam” meaning “room wet”
2. bugs are your friends … there are daddy long leg spiders, mosquitoes, flies, fruit flies and things I don’t know what they are EVERYWHERE; geckos are clear and crawl on the walls
3. Colors have corresponding days of the week and people wear that color on that day …
4. you eat rice as a side dish for every meal … unless of course you’re eating noodles
5. Thais do not walk anywhere … so we get even more looks as if we weren’t getting enough for being “fa-rangs” (white foreigners)
6. Powder is the bee’s knees … baby powder, “sweetie pink” (for an oily/sweaty face), and most of all cooling powder (moistures activates it to tingle … for when you’re sweaty, which is all the time unless you’re in the cool season which we are entering now … THANK GOD)
7. Diet coke is nowhere to be found … Coke light can be purchased at Tesco Lotus and Coke Zero is a close second but is also quite difficult to find.
8. The internet has a mind of its own … sometimes it even chooses which computers it wants to work for
9. Although I am in a low income area everyone still looks “riproy” meaning neat, tidy, polite. All Thai people take appearances very seriously, this means you’re hair needs to be tidy and combed (difficult for me! LOL), you’re clothes must be pressed and stainless, and your shoes neat. You also take your shoes off to enter every room because you’re feet are considered dirty … and here they really are!
10. Lastly, nicknames are the way to go! EVERYONE goes by a nickname. I do not have one yet, but hopefully when I move into my house and start teaching I will get one! … my favorite so far is Rambo (the police man whose sole job is to protect us … even though we don’t really need it … bless his heart!)

Today we had a picture scavenger hunt in Nakhon Phanom City. It. Was. So. Much. Fun. We basically pretended like we were on an episode of the Amazing Race, briskly walking around the city, taking pictures and trying to be the first one done to call our Field Director and meet her wherever she happened to be in the city. My group dynamic was SO fun and it had just rained so we all kept sliding in our sandals and cutting it way too close to falling many times! Hahaha It really helped us get a sense of the city and I can find everywhere I would need to go now! After we finished the scavenger hunt we did some shopping and I bought another skirt for teaching seeing as they are very much into clothes and appearance here and I did not pack enough riproy (Thai phrase used to mean clean, put together, and fresh) clothing for teaching. The two skirts I have bought can be worn also as a dress so I’ll hopefully get more use out of them when I’m back in the states. We took a sawng tao back to Pla Pak in the afternoon and then stopped at the fresh market that is in town every night to get some dinner. I got a feast for 25 Baht which is less then 1 US dollar! My dinner included meat on a stick (2 pork, 1 chicken), fried rice, and fried bananas (my new favorite thing!). The food here is SO good, I don’t know how I’m not going to gain weight! Hahaha

Monday and Tuesday were fairly mundane days in terms of how things have been going around here since my arrival … a lot of class, actually getting out early, and adventures in night markets. We had our first Thai dance lesson which was SO much fun!!! I was clearly the star student in that class and totally in my element … I gotta get myself some Thai music so I can practice! Hahaha The night markets also have brought me a lot of joy; trying new foods and such. I’ve had Chai yen which is Thai Iced Tea, meat on a stick, an assortment of fried items, some sweet some savory, and the closest thing I’ll get to a rice crispy treat/ rice cake this year. Hahaha I also tried cooling powder which I believe with be my saving grace this year in terms of battling the heat. It is beyond me why I would decide to go somewhere so freakin hot and were not even in the hot season yet!

Friday was a fairly quiet day … we had a lot of class but actually got out before dinner for the first time! A bunch of girls walked to the little store near by to get some school supplies and then we ventured to the night market where I tried bubble tea for the first time … not a fan of the little gummy treats floating around. Glad I tried it though. Then later that night we got all the projector equipment out of the classroom we use for learning and brought it down to the boy’s room and had a little movie party. Hahaha

Saturday we literally had an entire day of class. It was LONG. But as a group we decided that instead of going to lunch places all together (since it took too long and we seemed to scare the locals) we would pick numbers and go in smaller groups. My group ended up being really fun! It was all girls so we finally had a chance to have some good girl talk! Ha ha! The unpredictable internet has really gotten to me and I am debating getting an aircard which would work like a cell phone plan and give me internet anywhere for a certain amount of time depending on what I pay. I think I am just going to wait and see what the internet is like at my school and house and then decide.

Sunday was REALLY fun and also quite exhausting. Who knew it would be SO HOT here?! The day involved going into Nakhon Phanom city and getting a general tour of the place, doing some shopping, and doing a cultural observation. I went to a fresh market which is similar to Rices (for those Bux Mont people!) except that it is covered and the sensory overload goes from floor to ceiling (and there are actual dead animals just sitting on tables waiting to be purchased haha), an Indo China Market which is similar to the fresh market but indoors and is mostly clothes and electronics (it’s where we got our cell phones), a Buddhist Temple (I even went inside!) and walked along the Mekong River! Literally across the river is Laos. There is a mountain range in Laos that you can see from NKP that is absolutely gorgeous! On the way into the city and on the way home we rode Sawng Taos (meaning two benches) that are literally pickup trucks with two benches in the back. It was so wild and yet so normal. Of course since our group is so big and there was obviously Thai people on the Sawng Taos too that there was also a bench in the middle and the boys were hanging off the back! Too funny! While at the Indo China market I learned a little about bartering and even bartered for a mug all by myself!!! SO proud! It has two elephants on it … one mama and one baby … and the baby is tugging on the mama’s tail! We also went to Tesco Lotus which is as close to a Target as I will get to in a long time! Hahaha They actually had Coke light which isn’t quite diet coke but a good substitute … so I got meself a little treat since it was VERY hot and we had quite a walk back to the Sawng Tao. There was also a Dairy Queen inside the Tesco and a “Mister Donut” … odd. All in all it was a really great day of experiences! : )

After traveling for literally 45 I FINALLY made it to my orientation site at Pla Plak Wittaya (which is the high school in Pla Pak). At the Bangkok Airport I was greated by intense heat and an air conditioned van … which only helped some because at that point I had been traveling for 36 hours. But in any case I made it … we got to Pla Pak to find that our accommodations were really quite nice … a mat on the floor of an air conditioned room (one for boys and one for girls), 4 bathrooms in which toilet paper was actually being supplied for us (something that doesn’t happen in Thailand), and at least 1 western toilet (the rest are squatters, and all are manual flush, ie. Take a bucket of water to rinse away your pee). It may sound a little out of some peoples comfort zones and maybe even out of mine but I have adapted well and live by the thinking that if people here live like this why can’t I?

Sunday was a very relaxed day of getting used to being here, the weather has been rainy, cool and humid all at the same time but is actually a very nice way to be adjusted to Isan because it usually is quite brutally hot. Everyone in my group seems really great and we have a VERY funny dynamic which is making this a lot easier and a lot more fun than it could be. There are 13 of us, which right now seems like a great number!

Monday was the LONGEST day EVERRR! We literally had 12 hours of on-task activities. The morning began with our first day of Thai language lessons, then an impromptu field trip to the school’s rice fields where were learned how to harvest rice and play tunes (like a kazoo) on the stems of the rice plants. Of course I was the first person to correctly make a noise with mine, which caused a great deal of excited cheering! HA HA Then we had a long lunch and a LOT of TEFL training and Thai culture lessons. It was exhausting but fun.

Tuesday I learned the most important lesson for living in Thailand – “Mai pen rai” – It literally translates to “No Problem” and is used as ‘you’re welcome’ but it is also a state of mind/philosophy meaning “Do not worry about what you cannot change” – There are a lot of things you cannot change while living here and while the people are SO welcoming they don’t always have an exact plan or tell you the plan ahead of time. We met with the directors (principles) of our schools today in a surprisingly formal event which consisted of the library being turned into a board room complete with a giant square of tables with microphones on each side. We were formally introduced to our directors (while knowing a day’s worth of Thai) and had to speak to the whole room. (AHHHH!!!!) But then I remembered … mai pen rai … and I learned to laugh it off, smile, and just have a good time because the people of Nakhon Phanom want us here SO badly to help with their English that we are treated like celebrities and after all this is the land of smiles. After all of our working papers were properly filled out there was a huge banquet set up for us in the auditorium … and when I say huge I mean huge. Tables and chairs with many beverages at each table including, whiskey, beer, wine coolers, Coca Cola, and water with a bucket of ice. They brought out a legit 5 course meal for each table including two whole fish, a chicken dish, a salad, tom yum (which is a soup), a huge bowl of rice, the most amazing egg rolls I’ve ever had and another dish I have no way of even describing. For dessert we had fruit (even watermelon). Set up on the stage was a band, karaoke, and Thai dancing. There was also a huge banner that read:

“Welcome to Nakhon Phanom with warming and friendly On 5^th Oct. 2010”

It was beyond precious! We got up and sang many songs on karaoke as a group and danced all night! It was so much fun! Earlier in the morning during our Thai language class the head of police came to introduce himself to us and tell us that he will work very hard to keep us very safe in Thailand and that he is very happy we are here. (He speaks very good English). But in normal Thai custom he has a nickname which is Rambo! So clearly we all laughed and love him! … He sang a LOT of karaoke.

Wednesday was a fairly quiet day, which was much needed. It was still very long because our trip to the hospital to get working papers signed took much longer than anticipated. Usually doctors just sign your papers and take the money but they actually took all our blood pressure, pulse, and weight and then we went into a separate room where we met with the doctor who listened to us breathe and then we were done. This process seems simple but when there are twelve of us who have to go through it, it takes a while. So then once again we had class after dinner.

Thursday we had our first Thai quiz! Ahh hahaha … it was our teacher Oa dictating words to us that we had to write in Thai! So crazy! But I only got 3 wrong out of 10 so I’d say that’s pretty good! And I am working really hard at learning basic vocabulary so I think I’ll be able to learn a lot very quickly, especially once I am working at my schools. Which brings me to the second thing we did today – school visits! In about 4 groups we went to each other’s schools and living accommodations. It was very exciting and very fun! I am working at 2 elementary schools – Choom Chon Nong Hee and Phon Tan. The latter is very small and has only about 55 students in the whole school. Nong Hee is a middle sized school with about 300 students. I will actually have 2 classrooms at Nong Hee which are side by side. One has desks and the other doesn’t. I am living with another girl in my group named Michelle at her high school. The house they are renovating for us is REALLY nice, especially by Thai standards. I do believe there is a western toilet but we didn’t really get to look around since they are working on it so I will update more with pictures at the end of the month when I actually move in. There are two teachers at that school that speak really good English as well so that is a nice comfort, though after today I am feeling confident with the language barrier and actually finding it quite fun to try to communicate with people and learn each other’s languages.

Ok so I know this is a VERY long entry but I promised to keep everyone informed and with unreliable Internet this is what we gotta do! Mai pen rai!

Sitting in the Philadelphia International Airport chewing mint mojito gum, hungover, had been crying all morning, thinking about how I don't speak Thai and why do I think I can do this - I should get my head examined instead - my entire body is numb, I'm sweating - ALREADY - my hair is frizzy because its humid as shit here, OF COURSE ... my original flight was canceled and so I was put on a new flight transferring in Detroit - ew - instead of Minneapolis- St. Paul (the sin cities) - forgot my watch and my confirmation number, what a ding dong! They do not sell watches at the CNBC news store but you can purchase 20 different kinds of headphones there - just in case you were wondering - AND i got meself some Philadelphia and PA postcards - YES - Buy 3 get 1 free! There is also this painfully obnoxious beeping sound that happens every so often ... BUT despite all of these things I am beyond words or explanations EXCITED for this adventure and to teach because I love to teach and when I get to mix the two things I'm passionate about (teaching and traveling) this is what you get! Hopefully I'm making the world a better place in the meantime ...