Pictures

I finally found a WiFi location so I can upload! And my computer is having serious issues... hopefully it will last a little longer!

Hmmm - self shot on timer of me at the Hong Kong airport in one of the reclining chairs I slept in... I love airports - mostly for all the people watching and there are SO MANY people to talk to... and so little time! OMG OMG OMG! :-P Yes Sherri - I still talk to everyone!










Picture of my yummy hot tea at Nomad restaurant, where I'm at now not only because they have delicious food but also because they are the only place with WiFi that I can find. I'm sure there are others but I can't seem to locate them! Anyways, this tea is probably the best I've ever had. The stick is lemon grass and I don't know what the leaf is. The chunk you see in the middle is ginger and there are cinnamon sticks and cloves in it as well.












Rice field I walk by on the way to Narasoma Homestay.












Door entrance - at first I thought entryways like this were to temples or special places... this is probably the entrance to a house.












Rice fields on the drive from the airport












Small statues for sale at a local vendor

Ubud, Bali

Hello all,

I'm officially in Bali, Indonesia now in a small town of Ubud. From first glance I'm thinking this is a tourist town. So far the foods been excellent and my guest house is nice.

I'm staying at Narasoma Homestay. http://www.narasoma.com/

You know me... inexpensive but clean and nice.

I'm sick with some kind of chest/throat cold again. I'm hoping that not working directly with 4-7 year olds will decrease the number of cold/flu bugs I've been getting!

I'm still actively looking for volunteer opportunities in Bali. For the moment I'm playing tourist though and enjoying it here.

Ubud is absolutely beautiful. The stone work, carvings and temples are gorgeous and intermixed between houses and businesses are rice fields and statues... and somewhere around her is a view of a volcano but I've yet to find it. I did find a restaurant above one of the canals last night... very pretty.

I have a new Bali phone so please e-mail me if you want the number.
Hugs,
Joyann

Bangkok

Hello all,

I'm back at Asha Guest House in Bangkok. Dylan just left today. *sad* We had a lovely week of beaches, jungle and a few temples and I even took him by the school.

I leave for Indonesia on Wednesday (arriving Thursday). I have my Thai phone number until then and will purchase a SIM card in Indonesia.

Love and hugs to all.
Joyann

ps - sorry for the lack of response in contact lately. This last month's been crazy. Best to you!

"What makes your skin crawl?"

It seems fitting that today's lesson for the teachers was on things you like or dislike, what makes you happy, what annoys you, and for fun I taught them...

"What makes your skin crawl?"

Tonight, while stepping over my bedroom doorstep, on and across my mat, I happened to step over a small king cobra. I was already halfway over the mat when I saw it and did the leap-jump-SCREAM-crap-"where do I go!!!"-SCREAM-hit-the-landing-and-keep-running thing.

Luckily the maintenance guys were nearby. They've heard me scream before and this was definitely not the "OMG it's a big bug" scream. It was a "non-stop I'm freaking scared out of my wits" scream. They ran up the stairs and peeked around the corner and immediately backed up. When the Thai people think something's not good I listen. I stayed downstairs while they hit the snake with a big stick (from around the corner) and then knocked it off my landing onto the sidewalk below. Then they got two small sticks and pinned it's head and wrapped it around and between the sticks. UGH. Then one of them came upstairs to look in my room to make sure there weren't more. I am wondering about my suitcases in the corner though... zippers are open but I'm NOT touching them right now. I'll deal with that when I'm more "stable!"

It's taken over an hour for me to "relax" and get my heartbeat back to normal!

May I come home now?


This is after they hit it with the stick...








Blurry but gives you size perspective

Today

Beach in Khao Lak








View from main beach in Khao Lak...long boat at dusk









Lunch today with Tom and Sabrina at Cream & Kim restaurant on the beach - best green curry I've ever had for 80 baht and 20 feet from the water.









Happy Feet (I'm sneaking a spot on one of the resort lounge chairs) :-)









I've spent the day in Khao Lak and will go back to Yaowawit in the morning. I've been a little mopey/lonely/in a funk the past couple of days. Even swimming in the ocean and walking the beach didn't seem to cure my blues.

I think what it comes down to is this. I'm sad to leave Yaowawit. I'm nervous about my next step (and the thought that it's all not lined up yet). I'm nervous about what I'm going to do back home. I miss my step-daughter and my dog and friends. I miss my life and yet I don't want to miss my life and friends here too.

The Thai culture is one that I'm falling in love with. The generosity and gratitude of the people I've become friends with here - both Thai and non-Thais - never ceases to humble and surprise me. Thai culture has good and bad - every country and culture does - but there's something about Thailand that I don't want to leave. Heat, bugs, long bus rides and all. I will miss Thailand. I will miss Thai people. I will miss my friends. I will miss my comfort zone and life here.

Tonight I sat and talked to a Thai tour guide staying and working here at Sri Guest House. He had asked earlier if I would mind talking to him in English anytime I have time. We talked for almost two hours. We talked about his life. We talked about my life. What it comes down to is this. Money can help make you happy. Money does not define whether you are happy or not happy. My friend sold his tour bus and business to give his father money. His family has had problems. They use to have money. Now - there is no money. Now things are not good. He thought that I must be really rich to take this trip. If you can travel to another country you are rich. He didn't understand that I make an average income in the U.S. I have friends that make so much more than I have and some that make less. I told him that low income is about $1,500 - $2,000 per month in the U.S. That blew him away. But I said... yes - if I can make $2,000 and live in Thailand I am rich. But when I live in the U.S. and I make $2,000 and live in Seattle, I have expensive food and housing and if you have a car or a family.... I told him that in Thailand there are many poor people. In the U.S. there are poor people. It's different but it's same-same. Maybe there are more poor people in Thailand. But I do know there are some very wealthy Thai people here as well. I told him that I've been at points in my life where the money came in easy. I've been at points where there wasn't enough food on the table - try buying food for the week with $10-20. I've sold cars to be able to eat and pay bills. I've worked and gone to school at night to get further in my career. I'm making the sacrifices financially and emotionally do explore a year of other countries and volunteering - not just to help others but to help my future career.

He was very surprised. There are many rich people that come through here. It's a tourist place. But what it comes down to is that there are rich and poor everywhere. There are good and bad people everywhere. My new Thai friend and I are both very lucky. We have our health. We have jobs (I had one and will again). We both can talk and learn and most important of all - we can laugh. I told him, "look at you, even though it is bad - you smile."

Money can help change our world. But being able to smile and share a kind moment - that is beautiful.

I've also been talking to a few friends about working hard. What I find interesting is that each of us thinks that we work harder and try harder than others around us. We focus only on our path and don't really hear or recognize that another person has it so much more difficult - it's not obvious because at the moment we're 'surviving' our own hard work or challenge. They may put in more hours or have to be "on" 24-7 or have some difficult family or medical stuff going on but we are oblivious because all we see is our own nose. I'm not saying I don't do this - I'm just observing it elsewhere at the moment. I'm not perfect either and I have and do still take things and others for granted. I hope though that when it comes down to the important things or to people that could use help - that I recognize that it's not all about me and my trials and my work and my life. Others have challenges too. Many times much more than mine or yours. I hope that I can be better in this area and I hope that you will take a moment too. We can always grow.

I am learning gratitude from my friends here. Gratitude for the simplest act, one that might be such a small thing in my eyes and yet to them it was difficult or out of their way to do. And yet... they give it or do it or say it. I'm seeing it in my U.S. friends too - maybe more so now because my perception is widening...

Thank you.

A funeral and a goat

Last Monday started off normal. Well as normal as I can get! I got up, moving slow lately, was late to teach K1 (WOW what an example... although I'm now 'up to speed' on Thai time!), and started off teaching my week on "family" (sister, brother, mother, father, etc.). Normal day.

At 10:00 one of the teachers asked me to go with them at 12:00 as Nong Pee one of our kindergarten kid's father had died.

At about 10:30 Sabrina a volunteer from Germany and Tom her boyfriend and I met with the headmaster to discuss a goat. Sabrina and Tom had found a goat that was trapped in the rocks about 3m above the ocean in Khao Lak. They had tried to get it help for a couple days and decided to see if the school could help and maybe then the school could keep the goat and if it all worked out... the kids might enjoy it and yay! goat milk. Really nice idea but we needed to figure out how to help the goat before any plans were made for housing a goat at the school.

Kru Yai (headmaster) contacted someone who worked for animal rescue and/or the police and made plans for Sabrina and Tom (and I - for help?) and a driver from the school would go and (1) make sure the goat was still there and (2) rescue it from it's rock prison. Uncle Jew was to drive us at 1:00pm the 1.5 hours to Khao Lak to help the goat.

At noon we loaded up and went to the funeral lunch for what turned out to be Nong Pee's grandfather - his dad is doing fine - thanks! In Thailand or at least the two funerals I've been to in this region of Thailand, the family invites everyone to a huge lunch and provides food for free. A casket with the deceased is in an area with flowers and candles and incense. Individuals or groups make donations to the family. In this case the donations were to go to the local monastery in Kapong. (Sometimes the donations go to the family). After we ate, the teachers and I made our way to the casket. We each lit an incense stick, and one by one knelt and gave a prayer. I'm not sure if there is a specific thing here - we just knelt, put our hands together for a moment and then put the incense into a large incense stick holder (don't know the proper names). Then we wished the family well, I hugged Nong Pee and then back to the school.

At 1:00 we left for Khao Lak to get the goat. It was at a beach south of Khao Lak. The day was pretty hot and the sand was NOT that pleasant! We walked to the end of the beach only to find that the goat was not there. Sabrina and Tom felt really bad. We walked back to see where Uncle Jew was and found him coming down the beach with the rescue people from the National Park in Khao Lak.

Sabrina decided to show them where the goat had been and while they were looking, they spotted the goat running around on the hill. Eventually he was caught and brought back to the truck to determine what to do next. (Turns out he was a male so no milk options there...)! The park people suggested that he be taken to the park where there was a female goat so we drove to Khao Lak Natl Park. Wait... nope - the goat isn't kept there - it's a pet of one of the employees. (Ongoing Thai communication goes like this - when you've understood something, it's really NOT what you understood)! So we chatted a bit and Sabrina called the headmaster to see if we could take the goat and give it to the school. At this point having the children care for the goat and all would not be that beneficial because of the work involved, etc.

The park employee said his place was no problem. He would be happy to have a male goat. Sabrina was worried they would kill it for food so I piped up and asked "No eat?" And when I got questioning looks I repeated "No eat?" and pointed at the goat. The employees started to laugh so hard and the woman I was speaking to laughed and confirmed... "No eat!" But for the next 10 minutes this was the big joke... "you no eat?"

For the trip back we stopped in Takuapa. Uncle Jew and I had talked that morning about getting pictures developed and he took us to Takuapa so I could get them done. One small detail... I was just asking questions... he thought I had the disc with me! So we drove an extra 30-60 min to get oh... a Thai newspaper. Since we were still in civilization though we had to make the necessary trip to 7-11. I needed the normal basics... yoghurt, cold cereal and milk and the extra special item... a SLURPEE! :-P

Back at the school Uncle Jew and I had a conversation about "no eat goat." I told him I'm not a good one on that topic because I eat meat and to be selective with one goat for me is a little hypocritical. I said if I didn't want to kill animals I would have to stop eating meat and really act on it. I asked for Sabrina because she has a bigger heart for this than I do. "Yes Eat" should be the t-shirt message I could wear! "Yes Eat Meat... " Although somehow I think that doesn't quite ring with the same meaning!

These are backwards... this is the goat in the back of the truck. Sabrina and Tom are on the right.


Getting the goat off the beach... Sabrina and Tom are on the left. I'm down in the water keeping my burnt feet cool!

Teaching last week

Last week I started teaching the teachers English and also began to teach "Open Learning" to 16 kids from Grades 1-3. I'm very excited even though it was exhausting coming up with more lessons and ideas for two completely different groups.

My lessons for the kindergarten kids last week was on the "bedroom." We've been working on vocabulary for the kitchen and colors and numbers and such but I thought we'd amp up the vocab with the full house topic and do it room by room. My best lesson was on Thursday when I brought my own bedding up from my room along with clothes and a hairbrush and toothbrush and towel and a picture and a book and things you would find in your bedroom. They loved it when I acted out going to sleep in my bed, waking up, yawning, stretching, making my bed and were in stitches when I "showered" and put on shorts and a long sleeve shirt over my pants and blouse. I also pretended to take a bucket shower which had the teachers dying! Anyways, we worked really hard on the English words for pillow and blanket which are really hard for them to remember at the moment. This week we'll work on "family-member" topics like mother, father, sister, brother which might be interesting know that many of our kids have very different family structures. We've also been practicing not only answering "How are you?" with "I am happy/wonderful/sad/angry/fine/very good!!!" but also to add "...thank you and how are you Kru Joyann (or whoever)?"

The lesson for the teachers is one hour four times a week with most of the teachers getting 1 or 2 hours in a week. We are working on conversational English. A number of them speak and understand English pretty well but are timid with using it and with the variety of different accents and people coming through it's really hard for them to understand the answers they get - it's not so much that they don't know English - it's more that they need more confidence. Thursday I had 6 teachers and we worked on "About Me/Who Am I?" What questions would you ask to get to know someone? We had some fun with it and even made up answers! They have me laughing so hard! Friday I only had 3 teachers and one had been in class on Thursday so we did a review of "About Me" and added in telephone conversation and what they can say to people who call the school. Because the school also has a small hotel we have to be able to talk about it in English to someone calling. I'll be making up a list of questions based on what we talked about in our Friday class as well as a few vocab words. Each class I brought candy and Friday the teachers brought cookies. And one teacher in particular has now started greeting me with "Hello Teacher!" I love these gals and will miss them so much!

Open learning is a little more challenging for me because I don't know the students in Grades 1-3 as well as it pertains to teaching them because I've never had a chance to teach them before. The class is also at the end of the day and they REALLY do not want to participate so it has to be fun. Monday we did a fun word puzzle with words for parts of the body. Wednesday we did animal Bingo which was a hit with all but two of them (I think because the words were actually too hard for those two). Thursday I showed them how to play "Red Rover" which involves a lot of running. Then I had them playing the game I play with kindergarten - "Duck, Duck, Chicken" (my version of "Duck, Duck, Goose" to better fit the birds that actually live here... although I've been told that there ARE geese in Thailand...hmm).

I also taught Grades 5 and 6 at the local primary school on our Wednesday time. Before New Years the boy and girl "Scouts" went camping so I made the lesson around them telling me about their camping trip. We worked out sentences and got to practice past tense with things like... "I slept in a tent..." and "I walked 7 km" etc. Then they wrote three sentences they liked on one side of their paper and I had them draw their experience on the back. At the end I gave them candy cuz I'm a softie! We also talked about what they did on New Year's... "Where did you celebrate?" Funny, I was the only one stuck in bed with a fever! They all had fun - YAY!

Anyways, this week is about to start and I'm looking forward to it. I only have two more weeks here at Yaowawit and Bang Kow (the local primary school) and I'm a little sad. I love my new friends here and the children are amazing. It's going to be hard not being able to take a quick flight over to visit when I'm back in the U.S. Some of the staff don't have e-mail because they are very poor as well so it will be really hard to stay in touch even without the language barrier! My friend Buzzy doesn't speak English and I'll miss walking up to her and getting and giving a daily hug. She's very sweet. And the cooks speak some English but writing a letter just won't be the same as joking with them and laughing at ourselves in person! The Thais here are amazing and beautiful people. Maybe it's the culture, maybe it's because we're in a small village, maybe it's because we're at a very special school - who knows - but it's different from the friendships I've made at home and I will be sad to leave these incredible people.

Even the village people I've "bumped" into are different than people at home. I was walking the 2km from the bus today and a woman in a truck pulled over and asked to give me a ride to the school. She refused to take money from me and told me she'd seen me at the weekend market a number of times. The generosity of these people never ceases to melt my heart. They are kind in a million little ways and I love them!

Happy week to you!