So, it was hot again...and now its cold again. BRRRRR!

Written March 29th

I have now been in Bangrakam for almost 1 week now…that is very hard to believe.  My new host family has a mom, dad, and brother.  Both my mom and dad work at one of the local schools, mom as a teacher, and dad as a coach and referee.  They are both very nice and super accommodating.  I was freaking out a little bit because I didn’t learn to wash my clothes by hand at my previous house and this was something that I would have to do here…well, that is no longer a problem.  My new mom is insisting on washing my clothes because school is on summer break and she has nothing to do.  Thank you!!!  Although I love having my clothes washed for me, I feel very strange giving her my underwear to wash.  I haven’t even let my real mom wash my underwear since I was at least 16, if not sooner.  I just have to suck it up and let it go I guess…ah, the hard things I must do. 

I was initially a little freaked out about moving into this new house because it is a wood home (more bugs) and it gets very cold and very hot.  But, my biggest thing I was worried about was the fact that there was a space about 8-10 inches between the walls and the ceiling where it is just air.  This means bugs galore, which in turn means mosquitoes…there are a lot of mosquitoes here.  (Side note: I’m feeling pretty lucky right now, because I got bitten multiple times by a mosquito the other day that had white stripes on its legs.  I haven’t gotten Dengue yet, so I am going to assume that had some other more horrible disease that I have gotten shots for – yay!)  Well, in the couple of weeks that I was gone from Bangrakam, my host family put in a false ceiling, screened all the windows, and the day after I moved in, they put in an air-conditioner (love them!).  I feel like I am living in high class at the moment.  Did I mention that I get to sit down on my toilet (it doesn’t flush though) and I get to stand under running water to take a shower (which is still massively cold on a freezing day like today – 64 degrees).  I am living the high life for the next month.  Can’t wait to see what I will be living in for the next 2 years.  I am willing to give up the western toilet and A/C for some additional privacy…yes, I would love to be able to come home from work and just chill out and not have to worry about anyone else.  And, on an even brighter note, I will be able to eat whenever I want.

Currently, I am sitting in my room, eating some super yummy papaya and mango wrapped in 3 blankets.  Earlier today, I was able to snag a real cup of coffee when my Ron Nayoke (in English, I guess you can consider this the person who holds a position right under the mayor) took me into town and I am content (forgetting the fact that I have a massive headache right now that I am attempting to ignore).  Before that, I was working on teaching myself to read Thai.  It is a crazy language to learn because there are 44 consonants and 28 vowels.  There is a lot to learn, but I think I am getting through it ok.  I was able to read one part of a sign today while we were driving; I would consider that a success since I have only been doing it for 3 days.  Go me!  I still need to work on my speaking skills.  Once it gets sunny again, which it will tomorrow I believe, I will be able to start going out and talking to the leaders in the communities and working on my speaking skills.  I checked out the weather for the next week or so, and I think we are going to have at least one day when we almost hit 100 degrees; won’t that be very different than the cool 64 I have going on now.  

The pictures are out of order, but oh well...

 This is the river at my new site.  You can see a house on stilts in the distance.  During the rainy season the rain will come up to and probably flood that home and others around it.

 Thai receptions for weddings are slightly different than American weddings.  You most likely would not find colorful, rotating lights at a wedding in the states.

 Ok, not my best pic, but it was a pool party.  We were able to find a pool at some guys house.  Only like 6 people went in the pool because it was freezing that day; and raining.

 My grandma and grandpa of Thailand.  My grandpa would ride his bike every morning and evening.  They were super cute.

 This was taken at my farewell party the day before I moved to site.  I am with my mom and little sister.  I am definitely considered tall in Thailand.

 These are all the people that lived in the same Tambon as me for training.  One last picture before we separated.

 Me and my new counterparts having dinner on a boat that was taking a 2 hour tour.

 Some of the ruins at night...love them!

Another picture of my new site.  Looking out into some of the rice fields.