Bus ride and Yaowawit School

Hi all,

This is one of the most beautiful places on the planet and I think it's even more so because of the children here. I wish you could see them and meet them. They have a zest and excitement about them that you don't see as much in the kids in the US.

Just to backtrack, here's a pic of the bus station from last night.











The bus ride was about 11 hours and although air conditioned I was fairly uncomfortable because I had my huge back pack on my lap or under my feet and couldn't get comfy. I also couldn't seem to get my A/C vent to work so I was still hot! Ugh. :-) The woman next to me was extremely helpful and patient and kind as no one spoke English so she helped communicate with me with gestures. Finally got some sleep. What's cool with the Thai buses is that if you are on an overnight one, they make a "dinner" stop at a place that provides hot meals as well as snacks and bathrooms. Yay!!! Although toilet paper has to be bought (3 baht). :-) When I got to my destination it was basically a quick - get off - grab your stuff and a drop you at the curb of what is called a bus station (where vendors were stirring and beginning their day and the morning sky was just beginning to get light). I of course was "harassed" (mildly) by a couple taxi drivers. :-)

Fiona, a fabulous Australian woman, one of Yaowawit's former first volunteers generously picked me up at 5:30 am!! I was able to shower and clean up at her place and she made me coffee and a wonderful banana smoothie. A VERY nice welcome to Takua Pa. She then took me on a little tour and we drove by the Andaman Sea. Her house is in an area that was hit hard by the tsunami. The buildings there today were rebuilt - nothing in that village withstood the wave. We drove to the beach where the memorial is. I took a couple pictures - we didn't stay long so I'll come back sometime to visit the memorial itself. The sea was beautiful. The boat is a fishing boat coming back in from a night out. Normally at this time of year it's monsoon season and the sea is too rough for good fishing. It's been a bit dry though this year. The other pic is looking north.










From there we drove the 30-40 km to Yaowawit School. The roads are actually great and well maintained (I'll probably be buying a bike). The valleys and small rivers are gorgeous. We drove by rubber trees which may be replaced soon by palm oil trees. The school is right across the road from a hospital. Turning into the gravel drive, you go up a couple hundred meters to where the laundry house is and my building and the buildings that house some of the teachers and others who work/live here. The dorms and classes and theatre are further up the hill.

Yaowawit School:
This is a view looking down the walkway from near the theatre and dinner building/library. The top floors are dorms for the children and the bottom floors are classrooms. For those that would like to visit, Yaowawit has a hotel onsite. If you are interested, we would love to have you!

The greenery is a picture I took near the office looking out over the valley.













My room: I'm in the top floor of one of the red buildings (not pictured). These are 2 stories. The bathroom and shower are two separate rooms on the first floor. My room is really nice. The first pic is a flag over my door. I think it's a prayer flag like the ones from Nepal but I'm not sure.

I have a large bed, desk, fan, lamp and armoire.























Today I just pretty much observed and participated a little with the kids. I will be teaching with the kindergarten age group. Tomorrow I'll get to do more and begin to see what other opportunities there are in the nearby community.

For those of you e-mailing or IM'ing me, the internet access is good here with the exception of when it's raining and thundering. Then we shut down the computers so they don't fry. The torrential downpour and storms are daily and as we get into monsoon season, it may become more difficult to be online at a regular time. Also, depending on my schedule I may not be able to access it as frequently although we do have wireless here so I'm on my laptop above the dinner hall blogging tonight.

(Dinner by the way was yummy! Rice with greens and a red and hot shrimp dish).

Best wishes from Yaowawit.
jaz