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!