Hello, สวัสดี (Sa wa dii), Hola

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! : )