This last weekend... I didn't have internet

September 9, 2008

Hello friends! We do not have internet on the weekends which is hugely disappointing to me as I had hoped to be able to research other organizations for my other two volunteer stints and to potentially look at grad schools.

I’m finding the remoteness of this location to be challenging and yet perhaps it is good. It forced me to look at my reasons for being here and to consider my goals. It would be easy to pack my bags and leave. It would also be easy to not work very hard at volunteering and not be satisfied with my effort.

My reasons for doing this are to expose myself to several different volunteer organizations and opportunities and to find out if I want to work in non-profit work in the U.S. (or internationally) and if so apply to grad school OR decide this is not for me and stay in insurance. Insurance is a good career and I’ve met a number of really great people through working in insurance. So I hope to decide this year what I want long-term.

I had to regroup Saturday night because I was completely out of sorts and overwhelmed and angry and frustrated and having myself a “happy” little pity party! Crazy I know. I’m fluctuating between incredible happiness and appreciation and love and the desire to crawl into bed and never leave – or at least long enough to pack my bags and come home!

I think much of the overwhelmed feeling also has to do with the physical need to acclimate and feeling a little unwell. I’m not sick but I’m struggling. I had a headache much of last week (minor) and then today I woke up with pain in the lymph nodes in my armpits. I’m not alarmed as I’ve had this at home occasionally and it’s usually when I’m fighting a cold. I’m making sure I get enough sleep (too much probably)! I’m trying to drink a lot of water too. The heat is draining and the rain was overwhelming although I’m really enjoying the rain now.

So enough of the touchy feely stuff! I’ll give you the run-down of the weekend’s events.

Friday evening Yaowawit School held a goodbye party for the family manager, Kellie, who was the person I was in contact with to come to Yaowawit. She’s an incredible gal. Kellie loves ballroom dancing so to surprise her invited the local ballroom dancing group as well as taught some of the teachers and children ballroom dancing. (The dancing I posted last week was the one session that I attended). The headmaster of the school loves dancing and music and so he taught us how to dance. It was absolutely beautiful. Much of the music was traditional Thai music.

The other Thai teachers dressed up in beautiful summer evening dresses and outfits. Fiona (the former volunteer from Australia who lives here now – she’s the one that picked me up from the bus station) was attending and she invited several other people. I met Amanda from Australia and Yuk (?) from Norway. Amanda and her husband have been trying to establish an elephant sanctuary and have had many road blocks preventing them for success. They recently had the final news this week that it wouldn’t go through so she and I were talking about things such as trying to make changes and being incredibly discouraged. I told her about Greg Mortenson’s success with helping children and building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and how her reached his life work through a series of repeated failures. So I asked her to remind me when my goals are not working out to remind me of the same thing! She actually just received the book from a friend and finished reading it and so we had a good conversation about dreams bombing and trying to find other ways to reach them or do something else. They are terribly disappointed right now and rightfully so.

Dinner was served and it was absolutely wonderful. I’m sorry – I have no idea what it was but there were a number of lovely dishes and then there were snacks of dried fish – what I think of as sardines and peanuts as well as dried shrimp “chips” that look like pork rinds. They were ALL delicious – and yes – I love the dried fish!! Although at home I also love sardines so it’s about the same, just dried.

The dancing and music was amazing. I danced to some of the ones I know and hung out with the other teachers and the cooks. These women are so sweet. They are all very helpful. Much of the dancing and music later was karaoke style. Traditional Thai music for ballroom dancing and various individuals would get up and sing the songs. FUN!! They asked me to sing but I suggested I sing another time in the hospitality room where no one can here me practice!! Hee hee hee!

I took pictures and video but much of the video is probably too long. I will try to post it but no guarantees.

There was also alcohol which turned out to be wine, wine coolers and a variety of hard liquor such as vodka and whiskey. I had a wine cooler (or two) and a tiny shot of whiskey. Fun!

I went to bed about midnight (turned in early comparatively and could hear the singing for a while longer after I went to bed).

Saturday and Sunday are my free days so I slept in until 9:00 am. I chatted with Kru James for a bit. I wasn’t feeling well so I decided that I needed to start exercising to fight off any crud I might be getting. Sally, you will be proud of me! From my door to the main road is about a 10 minute walk and from there I jogged for 20 minutes and then walked the 10 minutes back. By the time I was done it was pouring which felt WONDERFUL as I’m pretty out of shape! It was actually rather “cool” yesterday so running at 10:00 am was tolerable. Most days it probably wouldn’t be!

Afterwards I ate lunch which consisted of the spicy fish dish and the cabbage and chicken soup (and rice) and a desert of some kind of green jello/pudding droppings in coconut milk. Excellent desert!

I finished reading the rest of the children’s stories which are heartbreaking. Some of the children are orphans, some just needed educations and have absolutely no access to it – they may have parents that both are alive and love them but they are gone much of the time and the children have no help with foraging for food or getting to school. For some of the children that come from one of the fishing tribes, getting to school involved trudging through about 1-2 feet of water at low tide to another part of the island and then walking about 4 kilometers in the jungle. There was a boat they could use but they were too small to use it. My guess is neither option is very safe and the parents are gone for a week or two. Other children here were left with a grandparent or aunt or someone who could barely make their own ends meet without having the extra ability to financially or emotionally take on children.

I had hoped to do research as well as make my plans for teaching for the week but the internet was down (both the computers with cable access) as well as the wireless for my laptop. The signal was strong but the connection was no turned on? I’m not a computer person so I found this to be confusing!

Instead I spent about half an hour with a couple of the girls, showing them my pictures from home and my pictures on my phone from the US. They had me repeat them for about 4 times before I finally said… “finished!” They are like little sponges. They love attention and getting to look at pictures and to talk.

I also had to request a blanket as I’ve been cold at night. I have one regular cotton sheet and a blanket that is a silk sheet and I’ve been wearing my sweats and the two sheets/“blanket” to stay warm. They brought me a large beach size towel so I was confused. We got out the dictionary and looked up blanket. What I am thinking of is a large towel is what they are using for blankets. (Terry cloth). It definitely helped me stay warmer!

Saturday afternoon I came back to my room and laid down thinking I’d get rest a few minutes and then work on lessons for the 5^th/6^th grade class for Wednesday. I passed out for 2-3 hours! When I got up I felt quite recalcitrant. I didn’t want to eat any more rice, I didn’t want to listen to any more Thai music, I didn’t want to listen to the rain, I wanted the internet and phone service, I wanted to be anywhere else besides the middle of the rain forest with nothing to do! I was BORED and over it and annoyed with myself and asking myself why the heck I’d done this! All I wanted to do was to be home on my couch eating Tostitos chips and cheese dip and junk food and MUNCH and watch American TV. So I ate trail mix and yoghurt for dinner and pouted and read a book. Whiner I know!

Then I decided that I needed to get a grip and refocus on my goals for being here and what I really wanted to gain and give with this experience. I won’t be happy if I do a crummy job so my options are to whine and go home or to switch gears, bust my butt and work hard and try to do a lot for these kids and the community in whatever way I can find. Gave myself a tad bit of a pep talk!

Today, Sunday was market day. The trucks load up at 7:30 to go to the market which is about 2 miles away? So I had to get up at 6:00am – I had a nice surprise call from my mom. Yay! I miss home and my friends and family! We chatted for a bit – if you want to call let me know and I’ll e-mail you my number. You can get an international calling card – I’m not sure what other options you have? Anyways, we got to talk for about 20 minutes which was great.

At 7:30 a ton of children and several teachers besides myself loaded into two trucks and drove to the market. The market is amazing! There are a ton of fish and even skinned frogs and fresh vegetables and fruit, clothes, shoes, sweets, pans and kitchen stuff, and my most valuable purchase… toilet paper! Although THAT is another story entirely! One of the children tagged along with me and helped me so I bought her what looked like cotton candy.

Purchases:

Dragon fruit (purple and looks like a white kiwi on the inside): 48 baht (40 baht/1 kilo)

Bananas: 10 baht per large bunch – these are small and REALLY tasty!

Cucumbers: 9 baht for 3 (15 baht for 1 kilo)

Toilet paper: 8 rolls for 45 baht

Head band: 25 baht

Pants/capris: 100 baht – yellow ones that didn’t look nearly as ugly mustard yellow when I bought them

Sweat shorts/capris: 75 baht.

Cotton Candy: 20 baht

My little friend purchased some kind of shrimp and seaweed/greens thing for 10 baht and another sweet treat kabob for 10 baht.

The market was a great deal of fun and they had to come find me to tell me it was time to go! I felt a tad bit bad about that! Both truckloads of children and the couple of teachers were already loaded up waiting!

I ran into the primary school teacher (from the 5^th/6^th grade class I’ll be teaching once a week) and a couple of Yaowawit teachers with their children.

Enjoy the pictures… heh heh heh!

Once back from the market I hung out with the kids and took pics of them and let them use the camera. Then I tried the internet again (one can hope)! No luck. So then it was off to my room for some reading. I got a call from my boyfriend which was an absolute treat! Dylan I miss you! I opted to skip lunch again and just eat yoghurt and a granola bar from home and to sit and read for an hour on the patio.

I snatched another nap this afternoon and then woke up and went outside. There are four engineers – the men building and maintaining the place – who live in the house building across from me. One of them, Perapon, invited me over. He’s been playing American music (yeah!) such as Elton John and John Denver and Whitney Houston and Peter, Paul and Mary… yes you get the picture… sad American love songs! He served me water and we tried to talk using my Thai/English dictionary. Fun! Then I went to the house building kitty-corner to mine where the laundry woman lives. Her name is Kimsri and she and the cook who lives in the other building across from me, Numthip, chatted with me. I’m enjoying showing pictures from home of my step-daughter (that’s a fun one to try and explain)! And my dog and cat and friends and boyfriend and postcards of Seattle… We had fun chatting.

Then Numthip invited me to go to Takau pa with them. Turned out to be a trip for noodle soup and a couple stops at 7-11 and such. “Uncle” Jew drove us and another cook, Pannapa and her 9 year old son Wasin and Kimsri (the laundry gal) went. We drove a pretty nice Toyota truck. Right hand drive of course on the left hand side of the road.

Dinner was noodle soup and is a lot like Pho in the US. It may be “Vietnamese” in the US but my guess is the basic concept of the noodle soup with the sprouts and basil is actually an Asian thing. The meat we had was pork or beef balls. The pork balls taste a little like sausage. This dinner was delicious. We also had “Thai French Fries” as Pannapa called them – fried pork skin/rinds which are yummy! I also had a “chai” tea that was made by the Muslim (?) shop/restaurant next door/ The restaurant/outdoor vendor where we were eating was VERY different from any in the US. It was pouring rain and we’re sitting at a picnic table under a large awning/carport area and the soup is made in a cart near the street. Essentially eating outdoors. It was fun! And the company was great. I can’t understand most if anything of what they say and they speak very little English but they are very kind. Kimsri just won the lottery so she bought us all dinner!

We hit a 7-11 on the way back.

Purchases:

Pen: 7 baht

Small notebook: 9 baht

Potato Chips: 20 baht

Washcloth: 29 baht (Obviously not an essential)!

It takes about 30-40 minutes to drive to Takua Pa which is the nearest city/town. Kapong is the village nearby and they have a post office and such but no 7-11. I need to purchase an international calling card and these can be found at the 7-11’s but the one we stopped at didn’t have any. Bummer! So I’m still without phone access. I can receive calls but I can’t make any. ARGH.

Anyways, I’m typing this in my room so that I can just post tomorrow when I have internet. I need to head to bed. It’s 9:15 and I want to get up early and exercise.

Have a fabulous day!

Joyann

Okay ladies and gentlemen… it’s time for the delicate lesson in Thai toiletry which was given to me by the British volunteer, James. Heh heh heh! The Thai teachers have not had this conversation with me so when I ran out of toilet paper and asked James where to get more he had the honor of giving me the spiel. First and foremost, you buy your own toilet paper which can be purchased at the market. He generously loaned me a roll(!) and then proceeded with the lesson…

Toilet paper is not supposed to be flushed as it clogs the toilet. If you need to pee, you pee and then shake yourself off (or have a quick rinse). You do not use toilet paper. If you need to “poo,” you use the faucet/hose next to the toilet (which is similar to what you find next to a kitchen sink in the US), spray yourself clean with this and use toilet paper to dry your “bum.” The toilet paper is only for drying, not cleaning, and is to be disposed of in the garbage can next to the toilet. BWWWAAHHHHH!!!!! I was cracking up! Especially when James did a shake to show me how it’s done! (Fully clothed of course). Awe well, when in Rome, do like the Romans, eh? According to James it is much more sanitary anyways and he had a faucet installed in his home in New Zealand when he lived there. Much to the chagrin of his plumber!

Enjoy the pictures of the bathroom and shower! At least I have one I can sit on and not one of the squatting toilets that others have here! They make some generous allowances for us foreigners!

Me running Saturday. The roads here are pretty well maintained. I just need to get used to what side traffic is on!!

I want to post so many more pictures but the take forever to load!!

On the left is Pannapa (cook), Numthip (in the middle, cook) and Kimsri (Laundry person). These are the women I had dinner with last night. They are very sweet. (Picture is from the party from Friday).










Some of the purchases from the market. The purple/red fruit is the dragon fruit. Similar in some ways to a kiwi. Yum!










A ride in the truck back from the market. You can get about 20 kids in the back of a Toyota!









Picture from the Sunday market












Mmmm Can you guess what this is? Frogs!









The teachers all dressed the party for Kellie on Friday. Kellie is on the left in white.









My favorite! Dried crunchy fish and peanuts and "shrimp" chips in the background.












A video clip of an example of the ballroom dancing. Sorry - it's pretty difficult to see! This is from the party on Friday.

5 September

I miss you all. I miss my family and friends, my step-daughter, my boyfriend, and of course my dog... I appreciate all the love and support you are all sending me. Thank you. You mean the world to me.

Dylan sent me a link... check it out: http://www.globalrichlist.com/
Thanks Dylan!

I miss home and in particular my people who I call home. I hope you all are having a great week. Happy Friday to you! Literally - hey we are on the same day right now!! It's 2:40 pm Friday afternoon here and 12:40 am Friday in Seattle.

Today Professor Reinnoldt from the University of Washington (Seattle & Bothell) stopped by with a business class. It was great to see the students and to talk to Americans. I'm finding that my English is already after one week becoming gestures and partial phrases. I've been saying less full sentences so that I can be understood and it was funny making the switch. Kellie the family manager gave them a tour of the school and the hotel. Yaowawit has a beautiful hotel. Please come visit. The cost is 900 baht to 1500 baht per night. The rooms are beautiful. We are not your typical resort but this is a really nice place to stay in paradise and to also contribute to helping the school become sustainable.

Yaowawit School and staff have already done so much in three years and yet there is much more that is needed. This school provides a launching pad for children to get an education and to be able to go to universities or colleges or get vocational training. There are organizations that are linking with the school to provide scholarships in hospitality education and various others. The school currently relies on outside funding but the hope is that within several years the hotel and restaurant will relieve some of the reliance on donations.

I am grateful for the opportunity to help here. In addition to teaching the kindergarten class and 5th/6th graders occasionally I will also begin to help the staff to learn English. As the hotel gains greater recognition we will need more staff to speak English to help the guests. I hope to be able to help in other ways too and will begin to find my way with this. It takes a little time to find what skills and talents one has that can be most helpful.

Big news of the day... ? Not a lot except for the UW visit. Last night I did not blog because I wanted to spend time with the children. They have free time in the evenings and can be found playing games (similar to some played more in the US 20 years ago). There is a rope game where the kids jump in and out of the rope that two kids are holding. I can't remember the name of this game but do remember it was played when I was in school. There were children reading books so I jumped on the chance to read to them. This was one of my favorite things as a kid and as a babysitter in junior high, going to the library myself as well as reading with children. Cuddle up, grab a lap and let's read!! They loved it! And so did I.

Yesterday I got the chance to make dolls with a couple teachers and students. It was fun and they are so sweet. I am struggling with remembering their names! Which I think must be frustrating to them as well! Oh - and while I was taking a picture of them I leaned out the window against a bush full of ants that BIT me! I touched it for a second!!!

I also did my laundry last night. The washing machine is the old style (works better than mine at home)! You load one side with water with the faucet (making sure the drain is plugged), add your soap and clothes, turn on the wash cycle and then turn on the machine. This takes about 15 minutes. Drain the clothes, add more water to rinse and wash, then drain again. Then remove the clothes and put them on the right side of the machine in the spinning part. Turn on the spin for 5 minutes and it spins the clothes better than my machine! We have two working washing machines and lucky!! we have two dryers. A treat - otherwise you have to dry your clothes on the line or clothes rack and with the volume of rain we get and the quantity of children's clothes that have to be washed, this would be impossible to get them all dry. I missed out and didn't get the dryer before someone else and didn't want to stay up too late. I took all my clothes back to my room and laid them out for the night. Most were dry in the morning.

There are puppies at the house/room next to my building. They are CUTE but they squeal occasionally at night. I can sleep through the people noises and the music (sappy US songs and Thai music) but puppies at 1:00 am no! Sound carries really well. I am on the 2nd floor of my building but when people walk by or talk it sounds like they are on my doorstep.

I will probably not be posting every day as I want to spend more time getting to know people here and acclimating. I'm finding the internet to be a bit detracting from what I'm trying to do. SIGH. Although I'm enjoying blogging. Maybe what I'll do is just type in my room at night and post later.

Tonight is a huge goodbye party for Kellie the family manager at Yaowawit. She is going to Bangkok shortly and will be missed!

I hope things are going well for all of you.

Love and hugs,
Joyann

Rain this morning... Dylan this is what kept interrupting the connection!! Bugger rain!! And yes... for those that want to know... my English is turning into English with a British accent!!









Hibiscus Flower (I think)










Puppies at the house room next to mine. (There are 9)









Ants on a tree... like the ones that bit me. Ugh! And no - the bugs are NOT in my bedroom thank goodness. Although an occasional small gecko gets in!










Kru I and I - making yarn dolls. Roll up a ball of newspaper, wrap yarn around it, sew the face, take sticks (a special kind) and wrap yarn around them ... cute!































The bug from the other night... to give you perspective on size!









A class from the University of Washington visiting. James Reinnoldt was my professor for the Global Environment of Business. He is in the back row in white between two tall students - about 4th or 5th in from the left.

Kellie, the family manager who is leaving Yaowawit (and a wonderful lady)! is in white, second row behind the children next to the woman in the blue shirt.
Her dog is the little terrier named "Mafia."

More...

Okay, let me start of with the bugs. If I was able to get the video to load then you got to meet my happy little friend. I am completely grossed out right now.

I'm sitting in the restaurant portion of Yaowawit so that I can be in a quiet area with lights... and what do the lights draw? Bugs. Big, small, ugly - not pretty. Bugs.

So back to the huge bug. I'm sitting here checking e-mail and this monster flies in and gets stuck. The windows have plastic rolled down to keep the rain out and this bug got through and can't get back out. He flapped around hitting walls and fans and making the most awful noise. The thing chirps and makes a noise like a locust. YUCK! Then he flew onto me! I screamed, brushed him off and got up and stomped around to find that he landed on my computer chord for my camera. GREAT. I went off to get help and everyone is either busy or off meditating with the children. UGH. So I'm stuck here with this lovely bug! If the video actually worked… you got the story twice. :-)

There are frogs and snakes and bugs. I saw a squished spider earlier that had a leg span of about 4 inches (body was only 1 inch but it had nasty long little legs)! There are also millipedes/centipedes here that can cause a nasty bite and leave your arm or leg numb for a day.

There are tiny ants and every other tiny bug imaginable. I have no idea what they are but they are everywhere.

During my break yesterday afternoon when I wasn’t teaching or online finding tools on how to teach little kids, I took a walk down below the school. This is where a plantation is, a small playground and a pond (or two?) and a creek. It’s beautiful. Definitely jungle here. There are palm trees, coconut trees, mango trees (by the way – green mangos are YUMMY) and a ton of other plants I don’t know the names of. If I’m able to post them, you will see a few pics from that walk.

Today I planned to teach K1, K2, and K3 however I was told that at 9:30 (after teaching K3) I would be taken to the primary and secondary school nearby to teach there. We drove about 3 miles (?) in a truck to the primary school where I met the teacher. We were told that I could come back later today for two hours, beginning at 12:30 and teach 5^th and 6^th grade). We also found out that the secondary school is on break for a week so I won’t be teaching there today.

We drove to the village of Kapong to drop off a couple letters and then to the hospital which is across the road from the entrance to Yaowawit School. I was very excited to see the hospital. Some of the children from our school were getting dental work done and the dentist was blowing up balloons for them. I took a couple pics of this. We then took this group of children back in the truck.

It was fun to get out and to see what else is nearby. The village of Kapong is probably 3-5 miles from us? And in this heat that would be a crummy walk. I’m still thinking of getting a bicycle as the roads are fairly smooth and the traffic isn’t bad (and it’s not too fast). There is a telephone about 1 mile from the school at a stand/vendor and definitely another one about 1-2 miles away.

Once back I rejoined my kindergarten class of K1 and K2. My goal today was not so much to teach them as to have them put their names on cards and take pictures of them because I am having a terrible time with their names! There are a large number of students anyways, but I’m also not familiar with how to say Thai names which makes it even more difficult. Each student put their name on a card (as best they could) and then I asked them what color they drew with. (Again… the lesson is on colors in English… so why not learn a little more, eh)?

After that it was time to have lunch at 11:30 so that I could leave the school by 12:15 to get to the primary school by 12:30.

Lunch was cabbage and chicken soup with rice and pork (both sliced as well as a type of sausage… YUM) with green mango for dessert. Green mango is wonderful. I sat with the teachers, Kru Noi and Kru Tan and really enjoyed their company. Kru Noi is helping me so much both with understanding the class as well with translating!

At 12:15 I road to the school – a driver comes and picks me up (one of the workers at Yaowawit) and we take a truck (Nissan or similar) and he drops me off. They keep asking me if I drive… at least I think that’s what they are asking. They are hilarious! I say I can drive in America with a steering wheel on the left but in Thailand… no way! The steering wheel is on the right and you drive on the left side of the road. I’ll pass for now! Thanks! My driver is funny though and we both exchanged words. He tried teaching me to count and I bombed. Some teacher! I can’t even learn to count in Thai and I expect the students to learn English?

OMG… big bug is moving now… he’s been hanging on my computer chord for an hour and a half. YUCK. It has huge red eyes and it’s UGLY. It’s repositioned itself from it’s back to upright and looking at me. I may freak out shortly but I’m not moving it until I leave!

Once we got to the school I started in the fifth grade class. They had a chance to ask me questions. These included:

- How old are you?

- Where are you from?

- What is your favorite animal?

- What is your favorite color?

- What is your favorite food? (ALL food! J )

- Do you have brothers and sisters?

- What is your religion? Try answering that you don’t have one! Hmm… I just said I was raised Christian. Keep in mind many in this area practice Buddhism.

I asked the teacher what she wanted me to teach and she said to teach anything. And then handed me a workbook with English words in it. I opened it to a page with animals and sea life and after asking them to tell me the words and pointing to the pictures, I remembered the Hang-Man game. We played hangman with animal names and then I had them draw them on the chalkboard. They laugh at my drawings. Can’t imagine why! These kids are good little artists!

After 5^th grade I was introduced to the 6^th grade class. I teach each for an hour. The 6^th graders asked a number of the same questions. I also went around the room for both classes and made each child tell me their name. I try to repeat them and they laugh at me! I get them really wrong! Some of the kids are shy and I have to ask them to repeat…and repeat… and repeat which then has the class rolling because I screw it up repeatedly! We played hangman in the 6^th grade class as well but I gave them harder words. They know some of the countries in Europe so I picked Germany. They had to guess almost half the alphabet to get it and it’s hysterical because I’ll fake that they got a letter or pretend I don’t understand what letter they’re telling me so the get louder and louder! For example they will say “P” and I will say, “What? D?” … “no, P” … “Oh… C” … “NO, P!!” … “Oh… G!” “NOOOOOO… P” … “Oh, I got it! P!” and then they scream “YESSSS!”

After class the teacher poured water over my hands to wash off the chalk and she gave me a glass from bottled water and gave me snacks as a gift. She is very kind. Her grammar is excellent. I may not know where an apostrophe goes for the name of a holiday but I can speak which somehow translates into qualified to teach. These kids deserve so much more than what I can give. I’m going to do my best.

The driver (same one I had on the way to the school) picked me up and we played the word game coming back. We were both laughing! My cheeks hurt from smiling so much with the children and my face muscles are sore!

Once back at the school I forgot that I was going with Kru Ish to learn how to dance! At 3:00 we danced for over an hour before I finally quit! Here’s a picture of me dancing with Kru James, the long term volunteer. They keep putting the foreigners together, although when I dance with the Thai women, they have me be the boy because I’m about 6 inches taller! This was SO much fun but I was exhausted.

After dancing I was able to break away and go shower (about 5:00 pm). I got back up to the dinner area around 5:45. Normally dinner is at 6:00 pm but tonight the children were suppose to provide honorary guests with dinner in the restaurant at 6:30 as practice for working in a restaurant. Unfortunately when I got to the restaurant for dinner at 6:30, the children told me that the restaurant was closed and that they had set aside dinner for me in the kitchen.

I’m getting used to this Thai time thing. Sometimes things happen and sometimes they don’t and sometimes they aren’t at the time we thought and sometimes we’ll do something completely different! Love it!

Anyways, I was able to eat with a couple of the teachers and I enjoyed chatting with them. We had what I’m going to call “Spicy fish” (this is called “keng som” if I got the spelling and translation right), which includes the WHOLE fish (multiple small 4-6 inch fish) and veggies such as green beans, cabbage, onion… mmm, rice and an egg omelet type of dish. Yum!! Although tonight’s spice was finally too hot! By the time I finished the dish my mouth was on fire!

Then it was off to find a quiet spot to answer e-mails and blog… It’s almost 9:00 pm and I need to go to bed soon. I struggle to get up at 6:00 and end up turning off the phone every half hour until 7:30! I don’t have to teach until 9:00 but want to get some things done in the morning.

And on that note… my friend the bug is still here.. 2.5 hours later! Ugh. That means I have to get him off my chord to go to sleep. Ugh. And now I’ve been joined by some giant bee! Sigh…

Lah gorn ka!! Good bye!

Be “hawpee”!!

jaz

As for the pics... they aren't in order so good luck and I'm too tired to figure it out right now. And ... perfect timing... the thunder is rolling in! Better jet before it kills everything!

Dinner

Some of the K3 group and Kru Noi









Visit to the dentist









Dancing and Kru James










Dancing with Kru Tan and other teachers.









Birthday cards from the kids.










View from my doorway (2nd floor up a steep flight of stairs)












Another view of the school












From my walk yesterday (valley below the school)

Story and picture time

This picture is from my walk from yesterday. I'm having trouble getting more to load because of the video so I'm going to post this and then add more...









FYI... this bug is still here an hour later!

Thoughts... take it or leave it...

I am rich beyond measure.

I have an incredible amount of people in my life who I love and trust and who love me. I have family and friends who would help me in a heartbeat. I have family and friends I can help.

I have money and the skills to work. I have a place to live and food that I can be choosy about. I don't have to boil the entire body of a fish or a chicken to get nourishment. I live in America where we can choose what we want for dinner based on our mood and desire. I can choose where I work and what I do (for the most part). I can choose how to get to work. I can choose... choose... choose... and why? Because I was born into it.

Here I meat children who have nothing. They come from homes that don't exist or don't have families or have families that have abandoned them. Yaowawit is an opportunity for them to survive and be educated and to be loved. It's a gift. Many may not finish high school. Many have learning disabilities. Many have significant obstacles that may never be overcome. Do they even have the option or choice to go to college or to learn a skill outside of what is before them?

**I'm updating a note here as I have better information now. (Sept. 5, 2008): the children that do well here have the opportunity to go to college or get vocational training. There are scholarships donated by various programs. The local schools are also working with Yaowawit school. Various programs in the area help find children who have little opportunity or family or chance of education or survival and recommend or send them here.

Today a teacher said something that really quieted me. I had no response really because there is no response. I was teaching 6th graders and we were talking about hair. So I mentioned that I got my hair cut in Bangkok. They asked how much. 150 baht. They said that's too much. In Kapong I can get a haircut for 50 baht. They asked how much in America. I said 900 baht (about $27 which I realize is cheap... I didn't mention it goes up from there). I said something about working and paying higher prices such as the haircut or rent, etc. The teacher said, "you work to come here. I work hard and no money to go to your country." What can I say? At the end of class she gave me a gift of bought dried bananas and treats and gave me a glass of bottled water and helped me wash my hands (from the chalk). How can I accept this gift? And yet you cannot reject it as that is disrespectful. I should be giving her gifts. She is doing the greatest work and teaching these children to give them hope and options in their life. I am merely a foreigner skitting through with my happy thoughts and brief kindness for what? To leave them with what? A few words that are different in sound from the accent of the last foreigner? A few thoughts about somebody from somewhere else in the world? But for what? What can they do with my English help that they can't get from a teacher here other than the sounds? What will it really give them?

I have so much and I don't have a clue how to truly give back to people that need so much.
And not just in money or things, but in love. These children need love and kindness and attention.

Lots to think about today.

Teaching

Hello friends!

Today was my first official day teaching. I have a lot to learn. In the morning I get to work with K1, K2 and K3 (the three levels of kindergarten). We are working on colors (in English) and numbers and animals. I have a lot to learn with entertaining and teaching and keeping them engaged.

You would fall in love with the children. You can hear their laughter and yelling all over the school. I love their happy voices. They give you so much love too. I'm getting mauled and loving it! They sit on my lap, hug me, grab my hand... ask me to sit with them... they are very sweet.

This school is really an alternative to an orphanage. Many of these children come from the poorest of the poor and have no other options or family. I'm going to put in a plug here, you can sponsor one for $30 a month. There aren't huge admin costs etc to take the funds away from the kids. You can also get info on the child you sponsor and send them things that would go to them specifically. They need school supplies too. We recycle paper and write on the backside of pages that aren't used. Basic reader books would be extremely helpful for the little ones. I bought a box at thrift stores and 2nd hand stores and had them shipped here.

Tonight I'm sitting in the dining hall (yes... there's a restaurant and hotel... please visit)!! It would be fun to see you and you will love it here! I'm plugged into my laptop and using the wireless internet. It's harder for me to break away during the day as that's when we're teaching and I can be learning things to help. I may get a chance to work with a highschool class nearby or help with things in the village. Not sure yet what I can help with but as I get my routine down I'll keep you posted.

The weather is generally hot and muggy with at least 1-2 good rain storms during the day. Usually involving a torrential downpour and thunder at some point! I love falling asleep listening to the rain!

I had a wonderful birthday today! The kindergarten kids sang me "Happy Birthday" repeatedly and each made a picture card for me that said "Happy Birthday kur Joyann"
"kur" is teacher. It was very sweet. One of the things they are taught is that when someone asks you how you are, you answer "I am happy."

I am happy and I hope that you are happy too.


Have a great week.
Cheers!
Joyann

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