Silence

In America, when you see ants crawling through your office you immediately take action to get rid of them.  People shy away from bugs and insects; running from them, screaming at the sight of them, or stomping on them with your foot to kill them.  In Thailand, a whole slew of ants is no cause for alarm.  Yesterday afternoon, I looked down from my desk to see about a hundred ants roaming around the floor near me.  Normally, this is where I would have gotten any liquid I could get my hands on and drowned them.  In the past, ants that are indoors have grossed me out like no other, but now they are a way of life.  I have trails of ants that walk through the wooden house that I live in, and I often have to brush them off of me if I sit in one space for too long.  Now, this is not to say that I have become an ant lover, but I have begun to accept that they are a way of life in Thailand…just as many of my fellow PCers have had to accept hand sized spiders and scorpions in daily sightings.  

Silence takes on a different meaning in Thailand as well.  I think the only time that I have experienced true silence was one time in training at about 1am when I woke up to the lights suddenly going out.  For just a moment, dogs stopped fighting, cats stopped yowling, and the insects were shocked into silence.  It was only a second, but, I didn’t realize until that moment, that I had not had a silent moment since coming here.  Since then, I have experienced different types of silences, just as you do if you live in the country or in the city.  

When it rains, I mean really pours; you have a deafening silence as the rain pounds against the tin roof.  Lying in bed, I imagine that I would not be able to hear anything except the downpour even if I tried.

At night, silence consists of geckos calling out to one another, insects buzzing, dogs barking, and sometimes the occasional pounding as a neighbor works on a project at an ungodly hour. 

At 6am every morning, the speakers across the Tambon are turned on and various voices give the announcements for the day to each community.  People start chatting in their homes (There is no insulation in any homes so you can hear all of your neighbors), pans start clanking, and motorcycles start streaming down the street.  This is the silence that I attempt to sleep through for an hour and a half before I have to get up.  You know you have to get up when the national anthem plays at 8am sharp or you’re going to be late for work.

Silence is different here.  I wonder if I will miss all the noise when I travel back to the US in a couple of years…or will I sleep well for the first time in a long time…

Random Thoughts...

I was positive that Songkran ended on Sunday.  Monday and Tuesday were work as usual.  Wednesday, I came into work, opened up my notebooks, dictionary, and computer and sat down at my desk.  This is when Ron Muay walked in and informed me that Songkran was not quite over for our Tambon.  We were going to do another blessing of sorts and give a “bath” to a few select older people in the village right outside our office.  At the designated hour, I walked outside to discover that a pond (with fountains) had been erected outside in our parking lot.  Next to it we had a Buddha statue and many different types of flowers.  I figured this was just a short ceremony and that I would be going back to work after some food and prayer.  

I was wrong…first it was food.  Luckily, it was pretty good and I was sitting with some of the council members of my village so I got to get to know them a little bit better.  Then, we were each advised to grab a bucket of perfumed water and pour it on the Buddha (similar to what we did during Songkran).  After this, we formed a line and, in a procession, poured water over the hands of the elders in our community.  Some of them joked around and cupped their hands so they could throw the water back at us.  I thought that would be the end of it.  I came to work in “work clothes” and was not expecting anything more.  And, that is when it happened…the water fight began (AGAIN!).  Water was being poured over shoulders, down backs, and in your face.  Someone found the ice water and proceeded to empty the melted water over people’s necks and down their backs.  

This went on for about an hour when the karaoke started.  They asked me to sing a song, but I politely declined.  Instead, I had quite a few men singing songs for me and to me while telling me they love me (It’s always good to be loved).  I split a Sky wine cooler with a few of the girls from the office and the men drank their whiskey. Sneak attacks of cold water were present throughout the afternoon and karaoke lasted long past when I went home.  All in all, a strange, but fun afternoon.  …NOW Songkran is officially over.

In the wake of Songkran, things seem pretty mundane here in Bangrakam.  I spend my mornings on the computer, checking email, typing out questionnaires (in English – still working on my Thai translations), and writing a short bio of myself to present to people that I might just be handing surveys to.  At lunch, I head out of my Tessaban office and stroll the streets.  Sometimes I will grab my bike and head out, but I like to walk because it gives me a better chance to start conversations with people as I walk by.  I can’t walk for too long though because it is so hot out these days.  I usually am away from the office longer if I am biking.  I have been trying to bike outside of the Tessaban so I can get a sense of my surroundings as well.  It is fun to go down an unknown street, say hello to an unsuspecting child to have them run screaming into their house “Farang! Farang!”. 

Yesterday, my Balot presented me with a task that is due in the middle of next month.  The fiscal year in Thailand starts in October.  They are currently working on our budget for next year.  They have tasked me to think of projects that I can do in the community (different than ones already discussed) and write up a proposal for how much each will cost so they can approve it.  They have given me the option to use 20,000-30,000 baht total for the year out of the budget.  I know what I will be doing the next two weeks.  I have to get out and find out exactly what this community wants me to do.  I have some ideas already, but I don’t know if they are things that are already in place, are wanted, or if they have already been thought of….I guess I will find out soon.

I have only had the chance to look at one house so far.  It is a little apartment behind my Tessaban office.  It is smaller than any apartment that I have ever had.  I told them that I would prefer not to live there unless we can’t find anything else for me.  Things are not looking too promising, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can find a place for me.

Sidenote: If you were wondering, which I doubt you are, this is how you would write my name (first name only) in Thai:  เมแกน

This Sunday I am going to get to experience my first Sports Day.  I am super excited (even though it’s cutting into my weekend).  I think they might have me play volleyball, but I don’t know.  There are going to be a lot of sports going on all day.  Definitely a day where it would not be good for me to forget my sunscreen (although, now that I think of it, I think it’s supposed to rain – mud futbol anyone? ).  I hope its going to be a blast! 

Songkran: Sandcastles and Water Fights

Songkran is finally over.  It is officially celebrated from April 13-15, but Bangrakam starts the celebration on April 12^th with building sandcastles and ending on April 17^th by bathing the monks in scented water.  Singing, dancing, competitions, and of course, water fights fill in the gaps between these two events. 

Tuesday:

I left work in the early afternoon with my Balot to go to lunch.  Instead of seeking out a restaurant, he took me to our local Wat.  There I not only discovered a large pile of sand, but there were 8 sandcastles being created; one for each community in my village, and 1 for the wat itself.  It was amazing to see how great these sandcastles looked.  Professionals were not brought in from outside to help create these.  All I can say is that the people of my Tambon are very talented. 

I came back later in the evening to help kick off the celebration of the celebration of Songkran.  I have the pleasure of having a status high enough in the community that I get to stand up in front of everyone and have myself introduced during every community event, but a low enough status to where I don’t have to speak (some of the time).  So, of course, I got up on stage, wearing my brand new pink flowered shirt and wai’ed to the crowd when I was introduced as a volunteer for the community. 

Afterwards, I got a chance to walk around and check out the activities.  Monks were handing out bucketfuls of sand to individuals and families.  Families were building there out sandcastles as a tribute to their ancestors.  They could purchase flowers, incense, candles, and more to help decorate.  I didn’t know that my Wat had novice monks until this point.  A Wat can have children be ordained as novice monks.  They don’t have as many rules to follow as normal monks, but they live at the Wat and get an education there as well.  These children often can get a better education than most children in their village depending on the area that they live in. 

Of course, following the sandcastle competition, there was a singing competition.  And, as in all competitions, there are those that are good, and those that, well…are not.  The 7 year old boy was excellent.  Everyone was amazed at the voice that he was able to project.  My Nayoke, on the other hand, made me think of my old pastor from high school.  This is not to say that my old pastor couldn’t hold a key (where my Nayoke can’t), but he had a very unique voice.  My pastor would insist on doing a solo for the congregation every once in a while, and I would always hope that I was not in church on those days.  It took everything in me to not burst out laughing every time I heard him sing.  He sounded just like Kermit the Frog…EXACTLY!  I wonder if he ever did any voice over’s for him?   Anyways, the person I was sitting next to asked me if I thought my Nayoke had a good voice.  At this point, I didn’t think so, but since he was singing in Thai, I was hoping that maybe there was just something I was missing, so I just shrugged…and then asked her what she thought.  She tentatively nodded her head yes, said yes, but rolled her eyes and made a slight face….this is the Thai way of saying “no”.  We both started laughing as soon as she realized that I understood what she meant.  Ah, the small glories of me being able to understand the indirectness of the Thai people.

Wednesday

It was pouring.  I thought the rain, lightning, and thunder were awesome in Thailand before, but nothing compared to this.  Sheets of rain pounded the tin roof for hours starting in the early morning.  Streaks of lightning snuck through my closed windows lighting up my ceiling.  I could hear the thunder rolling toward me before it finally crashed into the house shaking it profusely.  Rolling thunder…love it.  The house starts hum with vibrations when you hear the thunder rolling down the road toward you.  As it passes house after house, the hum turns into a dull roar.  Vibrations turn to shaking, and the dull roar becomes deafening as the thunder strikes your house sending a small earthquake type shake through it.  AMAZINING!

We weren’t sure if the rain was going to stop.  It started at about 3 in the morning and at 11 am it still had not let up.  My Ron Nayoke, Muay, and I were supposed to make our way to Phitsanulok today so I could check out the big water fight of the region.  So, of course, what did I do?  I opened up all of the windows on the top floor of my house and listened to the rain and thunder as I read a book (Thanks for the recommendations Denise!).  Loved it.  I almost hoped that I could do this all day, but alas, at 1pm, the rain and thunder disappeared, the sun reappeared, and you could here children already hitting the streets with buckets and squirt guns.  Muay called me and said we were going.  I packed my purse with my phone and camera wrapped in a plastic bag and headed out.  Muay surprised me with a squirt gun for me and when we reached town I found out why.  People were EVERYWHERE.  Water guns, buckets, hoses, fountains, everything that you could think of.  It was chaos.  

We got out of the car and I was immediately assaulted by people yelling “farang, farang!!” and being doused in buckets of water.  As we walked down the street, I quickly discovered that I was at a disadvantage.  Not only did Muay not have a water gun, but she was also Thai.  I was a foreigner (always an amusement), and I had the squirt gun…who were people going to be aiming for…me.  Everyone wants to be able to say that they hit the farang.  Within minutes I was soaking wet.  It was crazy.  Muay was loving it…she kept coaxing people to hit me instead of her. 

They also have this paste, comes in all sorts of colors, that people rub on your face during Songkran.  I’m not sure what it is.  Sometimes it is talcum powder mixed with water, but, most of the time, it just seemed like people wanted to paint your face.  I think there is some kind of symbolism behind it, but I think that might be lost to the younger generation that just like to soak people and paint peoples faced.  By the time I left the streets, I think I had white, red, green, and blue all over my face.  I wish I was able to take more pictures, but I was so scared of my camera getting wet in all the water fights going on.

All in all, super good day (especially since it ended in me getting pizza)

Thursday

Nice and relaxing.  I woke up early to go to a monk ordination.  This was different than most I have gone to because usually I meet up with it during the dancing in the streets, drinking, and eating period.  This time, they let me into the temple and actually watch as the monks ordained the new monk.  It was a great experience and I never tire of hearing monks chant.  I think it sounds amazing.  After he was ordained, we all gave merit to him by putting money in his new “monk bag”.  We couldn’t touch him, being woman, so you had to be very careful as he passed that you didn’t brush against him as you were giving him merit. 

The rest of the day was chilling in my room (yes the A/C was on ALL day) and reading some books.

Friday

Friday was non-eventful for the most part.  I got to chill at home most of the day.  I went out biking for a little while and enjoyed dodging the kids with buckets flinging water at me.  We laughed at each other, I let them get me once in a while, but I was able to make it back to my house without being soaked.  *Score*

In the evening, my host family took me back to Phitsanulok.  They showed me the night market there.  It is definitely impressive.  Booth after booth line the road next to the river.  One side of the street is merchandise; the other side holds all different types of food.  I will definitely be going back there to check it out.

After leaving the market, we hit the streets to head back to where all the water fights have been going on.  This is the final night of Songkran for Phitsanulok, so we wanted to check it out.  It was still as wild and crazy as I remember it, but even more so, because since it had gotten dark, more drinking was going on, music was louder, and most of the people still in the streets were the younger crowd.  At one point, masses of people suddenly came running toward me screaming.  As this was happening (and I was moving out of there way), police began descending upon the crowd.  A fight had broken out and some amateur muay Thai was being practiced.  My host family decided to not stick around and see the results of this altercation and instead, for the second time this week, we went and picked me up some PIZZA!!!  What a great day!

Saturday

This was a usual Saturday.  It was nice and relaxing. 

Sunday

I woke up and forgot I was supposed to meet with my Nayoke and Ron Nayoke to give the elderly in the community a gift.  When I got the call, I quickly put my pink flowered shirt on and headed out the door.  What I didn’t realize, is that this was going to be an all day event.  First, I was in a parade.  Of course, I was the only person from the Tessaban in a pink shirt (it was purple day) because we couldn’t find the right size purple shirt for me.  I wish that I had gotten to watch more of the parade, but since I was in it, it was not possible.  Needless to say, I was soaking wet by the end of it because people still had there hoses and buckets out waiting for us. 

The funniest part of the parade was that they didn’t take into account how low down the power lines hang when they created one of the floats.  The float ran into about 7 lines at once and from then on, a guy had to run ahead of the float and lift the lines before the float passed.  They don’t worry about electrocution here as much as in the US; they seemed perfectly fine not using any sort of protection as they handled the electrical wires.

Halfway through the parade, we stopped at my favorite local lake.  We paid tribute (to something) by releasing 50,000 fish into the lake.  We each got a bag full of a few hundred fish and we dumped the bags in one-by-one before continuing on with the parade.

The parade ended at the Wat where we ate some food, watched some singing and dancing, danced ourselves (because who doesn’t get a kick out of the farang dancing) and then of course, went up on stage and had ourselves introduced again.  I’m pretty sure it is an honor to be introduced at every event, but I would rather just sit in the crowd…I think everyone knows who I am now; I stick out a little bit.

About half way through the day, I was given a bucket with scented water and flowers in it.  The elderly of the community were sitting in lines of chairs set up.  As a sign of respect to the elders in the community, we poured water over their shoulders and hands, “bathing” them.  I think this was my favorite part of Songkran in the respect to the tradition of it.  I think that the elderly are discounted too often in all communities and not respected as they should be.  They may be old, old-fashioned, and maybe limited in their abilities, but they hold a wealth of knowledge that the younger generation cannot even imagine to have. 

Later one, we do the same thing to the monks of the Wat.  This is when the real water fight begins.  The fire truck had been at the Wat all day dispensing water through the fire hose (which every once in a while someone gets a hold of and sprays the crowd), but when we all line up to bath the monks, someone gets atop the fire truck and proceeds to turn on the hose up there and sprays the crowd.  This is some hard core water coming out at us.  It’s at this point that everyone starts dumping water over every person that they can see; children and adults alike.  Everyone is soaking wet and covered in scented water and flowers. 

After this, I go home, discover I am sun burnt from my hours in the sun (I thought I would be home by late morning) and am ready for bed.  I think I was asleep by 8pm.

Darkness at noon?

It’s about noon on Sunday.  The sun is out. Sweat is slowly making its way down my back as I sit reading my book.  The roof over my bench casts a cooling shadow over the bench that I am sitting on as I read a Ken Follett book.  I am relaxed.  A breeze gives me a slight relief from the scorching sun, and the view of the lake in front of me gives off a feeling of peace. 

I look up from my book, thinking that maybe I heard something, or saw something.  Instead, I realize that I have a strange feeling, one that I don’t quite comprehend.  It is not until the landscape in front of me turns to shades of gray that I understand what is going on.  The gray scenery is now being interrupted by streaks of black that interrupt my view, then, everything is back.  I am conscious, but I cannot see anything.  I am alone.  Not to worry, this has happened before (although, not when I have been sitting).  Luckily, I am already on a bench and I lean back to lie down.  Within seconds my vision returns.  Whew!  I lay there for a couple of minutes then I sit up; I should have stayed down longer.  I can feel the blood draining from my head, being pulled down into other parts of my body.  Then, the darkness comes back again.  Of course, I lay down again; this time for about 15 minutes.  I sit up again.  I wait.  No weird sensations, no darkened vision.  YAY!  I stand…still good.  I take a short walk across the street and buy a bottle of water and head back to my bench where I sit for another 30 minutes.  Things are looking good.  Success! – well, except for a headache J

I have had this happen to me before, but it has been a long time.  Normally it has occurred when I was in the shower, at the gym, or in the last move of my hot yoga class.  I never thought it would happen when I was just sitting and reading a book, and I didn’t expect it to happen while I was in Thailand.  I decided to call the PC doctor this morning to get it checked out just in case.  We had a good conversation where it was decided that I probably have Orthostatic Hypotension.  This is where for some reason, my blood pressure suddenly drops dramatically and my blood does leave my head and my body attempts to pretty much make me faint so it can fix itself.  Apparently, eye sight is the first thing to go when you have this.  The doc said its nothing too serious, and I just need to make sure that I am sitting up and standing up slowly and to lay down whenever I feel an “episode” coming on.  We are going to check in again in a week just to be sure, but all should be well.  Woo Hoo!!

Other than that, I had a pretty eventful weekend.  My mom was going to take me to a monk ordination on Saturday, but when she found out it was going to be at 3pm instead of noon she decided against it because it would be too hot and sunny.  So, instead, I chilled in my room (with the A/C on) and read a book…ah, to relax…love it.  I have been buying myself a lot of cereal to eat lately.  I love eating my American food in the evening.  Fantastic!  I’m working on looking at the bright side of things again at the moment and I am hoping this is going to be a fabulous week.  Tomorrow, I am going to witness the creation of a wat out of sand…super excited!

Hope all is well for everyone else! Have a fabulous week!

Rough Week...

Sometimes I wonder if I am doing enough.  Yes, I have only been here two weeks, and yes, my skills in the Thai language are limited at this point, but should I be out there doing more?  The answer is probably yes.  Yes, I could be doing more right now, I am sure.  I could spend more time in the community.  I can spend more time talking in Thai, learning the language, and I can be more insistent in meeting all the people in the community.  But, the fact of the matter is, is that I am exhausted much of the time from trying to speak Thai and understand what is going on.  I am exhausted from telling my host mother for the 4^th or 5^th time that ‘no, I really am not hungry…yes, I will eat this huge bowl of rice anyways…’.   The people here are wonderful, kind, and accommodating (except when it comes to food), but I move at a different pace. 

Overall, I am a quite person.  My friends may disagree, as I don’t exactly have a shy, quiet persona in front of them, but I am a person who likes to sit back, take things in and process before I finally decide to act.  In order to make it through my day-to-day life, I need moments where I can be by myself.  I need time to read, watch a movie, and just chill out.  These are the periods of the day the get me through the next.  Going through training, I didn’t really get to have these moments, except in the confines of my room right before I would go to bed.  That was ok, because I knew that I would get them soon enough.  Well, I have now been in Thailand for three months, and I am just getting worn out.  I am counting down the days until I am allowed to have a house to myself, and I am praying that I will get to move into a new place at the very beginning of next month.  Then, I can make my own food, eat when I want, sleep when I want, and not have to worry about jumping out of bed, putting on an appropriate shirt (tank tops are not considered appropriate), and answer my bedroom door before my mom yells my name and knocks a million times.  Yelling “just a second’ in English doesn’t help at all here.

Yesterday was amazing, because I had almost the entire day to myself.  No one forcing food down my throat (ok, once), no yelling my name throughout the house, and I didn’t leave the house until 5pm (where I proceeded to go out and get bitten my many mosquitoes because my short walk with my mom because a long walk with a few stops).  The best part was stopping by the 7-11 on the way home and picking up my dinner.  What did I have for dinner last night?  Cereal! I had me some good ol’ fashion frosted flakes.  Yum!  Best meal ever in the last few weeks. –maybe I’ll have that again tonight…hmm…

I only came into work for half days on Monday and Tuesday and yesterday was a holiday.  I am finally starting to feel better, and am trying to start doing things again.  Hopefully, this afternoon, I can convince myself to go do aerobics again.  I am not sure if I should wait one more day to go out and attempt to kill myself with some amazingly awesome dance moves in the middle of the 100 degree heat…maybe one more day J

I spent Tuesday morning drawing a rough community map of my tambon.  Once I finalize it, ensuring I have all the correct roads and everything, I will start to fill in information regarding where key people in the community live, where meetings are held, where community groups meet, etc.  This is what I am hoping to be spending the next week or so one.  I am hoping that it will be a fun task that I can get some people involved in.  Of course, next week may not be the best week to be doing this.  Next week is Songkran, a huge festival in all of Thailand.  I believe that my Tambon actually extends the 3 day festival into a 6 day festival. 

My Nayoke purchased two shirts for me to wear to Songkran.  I got a pink and a purple one.  He first gave me the shirts on Monday.  The pink was too small and the purple too big.  So, he came back Wednesday morning.  This time the purple was too small and the pink too big…so of course, he tried one more time (I’m still not sure why I didn’t just go with him to pick them out), and this time the pink one is WAY too big and the purple is still too small.  I’m not sure what the logic here was, but I believe that just purchasing two XL shirts would have done just fine…I am not an XXXL, doesn’t matter what country I am in, and how the sizes change…I am NOT that big.  But thanks for attempting to be considerate about my size.  I do appreciate it.

I know this post has a bit of a negative vibe to it, but I promise, things are good.  This week has just been a very hard week for me, and I am excited to start over again next week with the festival.  I just need to get a little R&R and all will be well.  Cross my heart.

Thai Kanoms and other things

Written March 31st

Thai Kanoms.  Yes, many people love them, Thai and otherwise, but I just don’t like them.  I think that I may have been able to find 1 that might be ok (the closest I can think about right now would be mango and sticky rice – and I’m not a huge fan of sticky rice).  The problem with me not liking them, is that they keep getting given to me.  If I don’t eat them on the spot, which they expect me to do most of the time so I can give them my opinion immediately, they expect me to take them home.  Taking them home wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t live with a host family.  My mom keeps telling me she is on a diet and my dad isn’t around when I try to offer my treats – I think that my mom secretly hates the kanoms as much as I do, but she isn’t willing to admit it because she doesn’t want to break face (break face, not breakfast).  I know that the Thai people pride themselves in their kanom making and that they are very good at what they do, but I just can’t wrap my head around them.  Now, I love Thai food, just not the sweets.  Yuck!  I have two years of dodging Thai treats in front of me.

This morning I went to a pre-school graduation.  It was adorable.  There were 58 kids graduating wearing caps and gowns, just like you would see in the states.  When they received their “diplomas” they had to go up on stage, wai (hands in praying position, bow head) my Ron Naykok, grab the diploma, and the bow again…it was soooo freakin cute.  Parents were in the audience waving and clapping, and many brought balloons, flowers, or toys for their kids.  Super fun!  You know how much of an anomaly that you are when you have parents shoving their kids in your lap to take a picture so that they can show their kids that they once knew a farong when they get older.  I had many pictures taken of me today.  Every time a photo op came up, they were all insistent that I be part of it.  There are going to be so many pictures of me floating around here by the end of my two years.

I don’t think I have told you about my fun find from the other day.  I was biking down the road with my Balot (the person who is in charge of me day to day.  He doesn’t speak English, I don’t speak good Thai – It’s a lot of laughing and nodding right now) and what happens across our path, a lizard.  Now, this isn’t one of the small 1 foot lizards you see every once in a while. This is a 4 foot monitor lizard meandering across the road, swishing his tail around.  It was pretty cool.  If you don’t know what they look like, you should really look them up on the internet (the means you mom – my real mom – you should look it up because I know that as soon as you do, your face will scrunch up and look disgusted and a YUCK! will come out of your mouth). 

It has stopped raining.  The south of Thailand was hit really hard with rain.  At least one volunteer’s house already flooded and they are having issues getting around town because every building is like its own little island.  Luckily, it wasn’t nearly as bad here, but the warmth is returning.  Today is a perfect temperature at 87 degrees.  If only it would stay just like that (actually 82 would be better, but…), but alas, it’s going to continue to get hotter and hotter in the coming days.  Fun times.

Tomorrow, I am going to discover the amazing world of aerobic dance…oh yes, we are going back in time in Thailand.  I promised an old woman today that I would stop by and try it tomorrow.  Not only do a whole bunch of women get to watch me make a fool of myself, but the class takes place outside, next to a park and the road for all to see.  I don’t even want to think about the pictures that people are going to take.

Side Note: Checked out the weather forecast.  Monday is supposed to be 98.6 degrees with a heat index of 111.2 degrees.  I think I might spend the day in my room, basking in the gloriousness that I call A/C.

Written April 4^th

Have you heard of the Carlton Dance? Fresh Prince of BelAir?  Well, that was one of many moves that I did at my aerobic dance class on Friday.  It was a ton of fun.  I was laughing, sweating, turning beat red from the heat…I promised them I would come again today, but we will see if that happens (more on that later).  The class ended just after 630pm, right when the sun is going down.  This is good because it is cooling off by then, but bad because this is when the mosquitoes come out in swarms.  I stood outside talking to the instructor and a few participants for about 5 minutes, and when I got home, I counted 21 new mosquito bites on my legs – not fun and itchy as hell.  Needless to say, I don’t think I will be doing any chatting after class ever again.  Finish and bolt will be my new tactic. 

Yesterday I had my first official Thai-knapping in my new location.  My mom told me that we were going to go to Phitsanulok with the family to do some shopping.  Well, first we went to lunch (where I was not hungry and started to feel sick), then it was to a wat, then another wat, and then another wat, then we went to Tesco (a big grocery store) and did our shopping.  And, then we still had to hit up one more wat and a university…longest day ever.  Throughout the day I started to feel sicker and sicker.  I thought it was because of the heat, the A/C, and the driving, but by the end I almost begged them to take me home.  They were so excited to show me these things, though, so I didn’t want to let them down.  As a bonus, I did get to buy some crunchy M&Ms.  GLORIOUS!  Love them, but way expensive.  They were worth it; delicious.

I was hoping sleeping last night was going to help me feel better, but it doesn’t look like it.  I came into work today, but I am only going to be doing a half day and heading home.  Last night I took my temperature and I had a low fever but I haven’t had a chance today.  I am hoping to go home, grab some water, and tell my host mom that I will not be hungry the rest of the day and to just relax, read a book, watch some movies (currently I am watching season 1 of NCIS), and sleep.  I feel really bad that I am leaving early because I left work last week early because of a migraine.  I think it is the drastic changes in temperature that is doing it.  When the temperature is fluctuating 40 degrees, your body doesn’t have a chance to adjust.  Ugh!

After my day of rest, I hope to get some massive biking going on and really start to figure out what is going on in my Tambon.  By the end of the week I would like to have at least a general outline of my Tambon, the villages, and key places.  While doing this, I will also be joining a few more aerobics classes, the gym, and maybe figuring out when the meditation class meets to try that out.  Who knows…

Pre-school graduation at the Tessabon office

 Aren't the kids adorable?!

Of Course, they got bored quickly 

My desk at the office

View from one of the Wat's I went to yesterday

My mom ringing the bells

At a Chinese temple

There were soo many buddha's at this temple we went to.  They lined most of the under-cover pathways