The mattress is always softer on the other side

Whew!  Another week has gone by.  It was just as busy as the last two…

Language classes:  I am starting to feel a lot better about my Thai.  I am able to understand the topic my family members are talking about and can tell them where I am going and what I did during my day.  We started focusing a lot more on reading Thai this week.  I am struggling the most with this.  Sunday (my day off) will be spent making flashcards and memorizing symbols.

Technical training:  Good news first… We had a resource volunteer, Morgan Sprinkle, come and spend the week with us.  She gave us so many amazing ideas and resources for lesson planning in the future.  I am really excited about all the tools I have to use in the classroom once I get moved to my site.  And the bad news…we started our practicum this week.  I went to meet my Thai co-teacher and observe her classroom this week.  But, she was not there and word on the street is that she speaks little to no English.  So I will be teaching with her for the next two weeks.  I have to start planning to teach an unknown topic, to an unknown grade of children, with someone whom I may not be able to communicate with.  My plan is to just go with the flow and see what happens.

Thai day:  Saturday we celebrated “Thai Day.”  Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) put on several musical performances for everyone.  My group taught the electric slide and cotton-eyed joe.  The other group performed songs throughout the decades.   The Peace Corps staff also sang some American and Thai songs for us.  We got to eat some amazing food and wear some traditional Thai clothing.  We had the afternoon off and got to spend it shopping in the market and having a Leo by the water.

Family time:  This Friday I got home from class and was told by my family that I was going to a party with them.  The party was celebrating a monk being ordained.  It was so awesome.  The place was decorated like Disney World – covered in lights, hundreds of people, outdoor tables, a huge stage with dancers and singers.  Every 15 minutes or so a new dish was brought to the table.  Sooo good.  I drank some whiskey (Thais LOVE this) and bonded with my mom.  I was also asked to dance by every man near our table, but I politely declined all invitations.

Sometimes I feel like I am back in middle school.  I had to have my Thai mom call my friend's Thai mom to see if she was allowed to come hang out with us this weekend.  But it worked!  Speaking English on my day off was such a good end to the week.

The whole time I have been living with my host family I have not been sleeping well at all.  And I have been complaining about this mattress A LOT.  It’s so hard.  I figured Peace Corps was just being cheap and bought us really really horrible mattresses.  Last night I found out that my mattress was upside down and I’ve been sleeping on the wrong side this whole time. …

Less than 3 weeks til we find out our site locations (this is where we will be placed for the two years after training.)  Fingers are crossed!

peace corps sex ed 

traffic jam on my way home from class

partying it up with the fam

thai day!

 this does not look as amazing as it tastes.  best dessert ever!!

our weekly celebratory beer

my ride.

some more Thai day

first taste of cheese in weeks. so good!

sunday funday!

Rice, rice, rice, and noodles

2 weeks down, 8 to go!

I still can’t believe I have only been in Thailand for a couple of weeks.  We have done so much already.  Pre-service training (PST) is not a joke.  I am up at 6 every morning then 4 hours of language class, 4 hours of technical training, and I am home by 6 in the evening.  In my free time I spend time with my Thai family, do laundry, and study…a lot.  The days are exhausting.  I am just holding on to the fact that this will all be worth it when 124 officially becomes Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) in March!

I am sure you are dying to know where I am living.  I am one of the lucky few (this is sarcasm) who landed a home without internet and with a squat toilet.  But it’s not all bad.  My room is separated from the rest of the house.  I have my own little living room/kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom – and TWO fans.  I am really enjoying the fact that I have my own separate space and that I get private time every night.  I live with my Thai family – my mom, grandma, cousin, and two puppies.  My mom and grandma do not know a word of English.  I am not exaggerating when I say that.  I spend most of our conversations just smiling and agreeing to everything they say.  My cousin knows a little English and I am so thankful for that!  She is home about ½ the time because she works a lot, but she gets to act as translator when she is here.

The food!!! The first week when we were at the hotel I was convinced I would die of starvation by the end of PST.  I hated everything.  But now, everything is amazingggggg. I am getting fatter by the minute.   I still lack the communication skills to know or remember what I am eating most of the time but I love it all.  Fried bananas, sticky rice desserts, iced coffee, pad thai.  Everything is so good.  My mom feeds me so much.  She started by giving me about 15 oranges and some sliced watermelon every day to keep in my fridge just to snack on.  While I have been writing this she just walked in and re-stocked my already full fridge with about 30 oranges and 10 apples.  I keep filling my backpack with fruit and taking it to friends because I would never be able to eat it all.

Favorite moment of the week:  I was getting ready to take my nightly bucket shower last night when I noticed something above my bed.  It was a spider about the size of my palm.  I ran out of my room screaming “help me” in Thai.  My mom rushes in and takes a good look at the spider.  We moved my mattress out of the way and without even hesitating….BAM!  She grabs the spider and crushes it in her bare hand. 

I miss all of you! Hope everything is great back home in the USA!  Next time you get the chance to sit on a toilet, please think of me and make sure to enjoy every minute of it.

J

This is where the magic happens.  The pink thing in the back is my toilet.  You stand on the sides, squat, and go.  The little bucket next to it is full of water that you scoop into the toilet to flush. I do my laundry in the two buckets in the middle of the picture.  And the big trash can is full of water that I dump on my head to shower. How do I brush my teeth without a sink? I just spit on the floor.

This is my room.  The mattress is literally as hard as a rock.

Another view of my room

My "kitchen" where I eat in the morning and make ovaltine

 tv and chair that i don't use

Friends!

being american at 7-11

This is my thai mom.  Her name is pronounced "moo"

 my cousin "oat" and i eating bread and butter on a stick

i tried to buy this puppy but sadly didnt have enough cash on me

market!

When in doubt, Wai

After today, I will have been in Thailand for 4 full days.  Only 4.  It feels like a lot more than that.  We have been going non-stop.  Safety and security lectures, medical interviews, shots, language classes, bike training.  It has been crazy!  Here are some of the highlights:

Language training:  I was terrified to start learning Thai.  But our language class has been one of the best parts of this week.  Our teacher was so much fun.  We learned the basics about money and introductions.  I had to introduce myself to the governor of Sing Buri in Thai.  Scaryyy.  I also was able to go to a market and ask how much something cost and I actually understood the answer. 

Bike training:  We got our bikes this week! Today we got to go on a couple rides around the town and see where some of our potential home-stays might be.  It was so much fun to see the people and houses and finally be doing something active (and not just sitting in a classroom.)  I can now officially change a flat tire too.

Cultural demonstrations:  Tomorrow we move in with our home-stay families.  We will be living with them for the next 9 weeks.  To prepare us for the move, we were taught all this crazy stuff.  I learned how to wash my laundry by hand, use a traditional squat toilet, eat a Thai meal, and prepare my mosquito net for bed.

This week has gotten off to an amazing start.  I am so happy to be here with 51 other amazing people.  I am scared/excited/nervous/happy for the move tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Breakfast!

Thai beer

 so official - meeting the govenor

friends (after a long day of biking)

Leaving on a jet plane..

Leaving for the airport in about 6 hours.  I should probably be sleeping but I’m not.  Instead I am sitting here looking at my luggage, wondering how much extra Delta is going to charge me for them.  Both checked bags are a few pounds over and the carry-on bag is too big.  But maybe they will be nice.

Tomorrow I land in Detroit just in time to make it to staging.  All 53 people in our group will be there – filling out paperwork, learning about safety and security, and who knows what else.  My main goal is to never step outside because it will be freeezinggg.

Monday we officially leave for Thailand.  I expect the next couple of weeks to be exhausting.  Jet lag, lack of sleep, new food, a million hours in the classroom.  But there will also be new friends, good times, and tons of picture taking.

I still don’t know what the internet access will be like but I will try to keep this updated.  Next time you hear from me I will be a bike riding, long skirt wearing, Thai speaking Peace Corps Trainee!