Ovitraps and Flooding

To start building an Ovitrap, you have to remove the top off of
1.5 L pop bottles and spray paint them black

You wrap a piece of black cloth around a piece of bamboo
and attach it with thumbtacks (not an easy task).  Then, you roll the cloth over the top of the bambo (as seen above) and use a bow saw to cut the bamboo so it is only about 1.5 inches thick

These pictures both show the inside of the Ovitrap.  A nylon screen has been attached to the bamboo and the cloth is attached to the outside of the pop bottles.

An ovitrap works by filling the bottle with water to right under the screen.  Because the cloth goes down into the bottle, it will become damp and the entire cloth will get wet as the water seeps up the sides of the cloth.  Mosquitoes will be attracted to the device, because it will be placed in a dark area and they like to lay their eggs on dark, damp surfaces.  They will lay their eggs on the cloth.  When the eggs hatch, the larva will drop through the the screen into the water.  When the larva matures, the mosquitoes will be too large to fit back up through the screen and will die.

My first picture of flooding.  The flooding is now higher than the blue and white striped roof.  I went boating through this area last week.

All of these homes are on stilts or are floating homes.  The water path between the homes used to be a road

You can see the reflection of water inside the home.  Although they have a makeshift path to get them to the street, they cannot avoid the water in their own home

The Floods are Here

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the water blanketing the road in front of me. Less than a week ago I was able to ride my bike down this street without getting wet. Now, it would take a lot of effort just to peddle my bike through the current that swept across the road, and I am sure I would have many people running out of their homes shouting "mai daai, mai daai!" (You can't go through there). I am sitting in the cab of a truck heading out to deliver medicine to the elderly who are trapped in their homes because of the flooding. The back of the truck is filled with boxes of medicine that my office is donating to the people in the villages. There are about 10 of us going out today to three of our communities to give these items.

At first, it is not too difficult. The water is only about 4 inches deep in most places, and as long as you are wearing sandals and roll up your pants you are good to go. It isn't until we reach the home where their makeshift walkway sinks down 2 feet that I begin to see just how much the water has risen in just a short week. The owner of the home had to boat out to the road so we could hand her the package. We move on from this village and go to the next. Instead of taking the truck, we decide to go on foot. The road is clear and dry to it is easy to trek down the road. You would think that this community is in good order, at least for the next couple of weeks, until you look more closely at their homes. Many of the homes are set lower than the road. Water coats the floors and threatens to rise higher towards beds and tables. Belongings have all been stacked near doorways so they could easily be removed from the homes. As we walk further down the road, I notice that there are tents set up blocking any vehicle from passing around them (these are tents that are used for parties, not camping tents). As I get closer, I realize these tents are now two families homes. Their homes, which are right across the road, are covered in water. The tents hold all of their belongings. Beds have been set up, kitchens have been prepped, and even the refrigerators have their place in the middle of the road. In a couple of weeks (if not in even less time), the water will rise again, and these families will probably have to move for a second time.

It is at this point that we board a boat to reach our final communities that we are going to see today. We have to walk through about 2 feet of water to get to the boat at this point. We all have life jackets, but as I look into the faces of those in the boat with me is see apprehension drawn across each one. I ask if anyone knows how to swim. Heads shake and hands grip the seats as the boat rocks. I try to ease their worries by telling them that I can swim and I will save them if they fall out, but I might have made the situation worse by even mentioning that there was a possibility of falling out of the boat. Oops! It takes me a while to realize where we are once we reach the destined village. We have already gone to 6 houses before I realize that 4 months ago, I went to a meeting and introduced myself to the people of the community in an open yawn that was now 8 feet below the water level. Here, the first stories of homes were no longer visible below the surface of the water. I can barely make out where I believe the road used to be. In most places in this village, the water is between 8-10 feet deep (that is my guess at least). Most of the homes on stilts look like they are just sitting on the water; stilts no longer visible. Dogs sit at the water's edge on porches and cats climb across the roofs of homes. Chickens are left in cages on landings or they have been left further up the road where the waters haven't reached yet. Again, I cannot believe that the water has risen so quickly in just a few short days.

On our way to our final village, we pass under a bridge and have to duck low in the boat to avoid the power lines which are about 2 feet above the water. Here I see entire homes underwater forcing the families out. But, I also see children playing in the water, and men attempting to fix up their homes as they stand in the water. Where we deliver most of our supplies, it is only about 5 feet deep. We make our way through and deliver most of our supplies. After 4 hours in the flood zones we are finally done.

This picture was taken about a week ago.  The bushes you see right at the front of the picture are no longer visible and the blue and white stripped roof on the left side is now covered in water.

I mention all of this because I know people back home are reading about my adventures in Thailand. Everything, the good, bad, fun, and sad times. I want to explain about what goes on in my Tambon and how the people are affected by it. These floods occur every year. Every year families are displaced. They loose possessions, are forced from their homes, and then must go back and clean up the mess that was created by the floods. These families, many of them, live in homes where the walls are made from the tin that roofs are made of. Large pieces of cracked wood make up the floor. Many do not have air conditioning and are forced to use only fans to cool themselves in our hottest time of year. I am amazed at how good spirited all of the people are. Every person that I met yesterday greeted me with a smile. Every person thanked us for the medicine and wished us luck on the rest of our journey for the day. It was amazing to see such hope in a situation that, to me, seemed so dire. If I came across flooding like this in the states, I don't think I would see the smiles, hope, and good spirits as I see here in Thailand. We still have a few more months of the rainy season with more and more rain getting ready to pour down. I am told that September is the month that we have the worst flooding. With the way that things are going now, I am sure that there are going to be many more misplaced families before the end of the season.


 
In other news, I just came back from an English Camp in Noen Maprang (still Phitsanulok) this last weekend where we painted a large world map on the side of a school. We were working with 10-12 year olds and teaching them about geography. It was a ton of fun but SUPER tiring. After doing laundry yesterday, I was finally able to catch up on my sleep. I leave on Friday for another geography English Camp in Wang Sai Phun, Phichit. We won't be painting a map in this one, but it is a two day, overnight camp. I have already warned my office that I may be sleeping on Monday because I will be so exhausted from the camp. I am excited to get the experience though, because I will be creating a camp for my village in the near future.

A picture from the English camp.  I'm not in it but you can see the world map that was painted in the background

I finally have almost all of my supplies together for my Ovitrap project to trap and control the mosquito population. Today and tomorrow I will be building these traps and having my Balot test them out in his home. At the end of this month, I am headed out to Korat for a conference to help me create a project out of these Ovitraps. If all goes well and my community likes them, I may be spending September or October teaching people about them and helping them make them. The Ovitraps will allow people in my village control the mosquito population without using the chemical sprays that are normally used. Also, it will trap the mosquito larva that the people like to use as bait for fish. So really, my project is good for two things, mosquitos and fishing…win, win.

New house and bugs

New house.  New bed.  New sheets.  New fan.  What more can one ask for?  Last night, after sitting down to eat two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and taking a much needed ap-naam (shower), I headed up to my room for some R&R.  I spent an hour and a half earlier this evening washing all of my clothes and attempting to find random places to hang them around my house to dry since I don’t have anywhere to really do that…it was time to relax for the night; read a book, watch some shows.  I read for a while and then sat down to watch a couple episodes of Californication. 

I’m chillin’ in my bed, my fan blowing across my face as it turns from one side of the room to the other, when I see a bug on my computer screen.  I quickly kill it (sorry, Thailand) and continue watching.  It is a short time later that I have to brush another bug off my arm, then my face, and then another two on my computer.  What is going on?  I sit up in bed.  Holy cr*p!  There are little dark spots – bugs – all over my bed.  Not just a couple, but at least 100.  Then I look up.  My entire wall by my light is coated in these little bugs hopping over one another in attempts to be the closest one to the light. 

I grabbed a pillow case I wasn’t using and quickly went to work at killing as many of these suckers that I could on my bed and brushing them off. With each swipe of the towel more bugs came to take the place of the ones I just removed. Ugh!  Not fun.  Where are they coming from?  I get up from my bed and look around.  Ever step squishes more and more bugs, grinding them into my feet.  Finally, I reach my windows, my screened windows.  Armies of tiny bugs are attacking my screens searching for an entrance to my room.  These bugs are small enough to fit through the tiny spaces in the screens and they are slowly making their ways through the open slots.

I know immediately that it is my light that is causing them to all want to enter my home.  I look out into the street and see that my light shines the brightest on the entire block.  I quickly turn off my light in hopes that will drive the bugs to my dimly lit window and out of my house.  The bugs immediately set out for my computer screen.  I turn that off.  And then, I am laying on my bed, huddled under my blanket hoping that swarms of bugs are not meeting on my bed for another attack. 

Bored.  It’s been about 30 minutes sitting in the dark.  Its about 8:30.  I’m not tired, not ready to sleep, but I can’t turn my computer back on.  Instead I decide to try a tiny flashlight and read a book.  Not even a minute into reading I already have 4 bugs roaming around the outside of my kindle.  Light out.   Time to count some sheep.

This morning:  I wake up to hundreds of dead bugs coating all surfaces of my room.  Time to do some cleaning.

Next night:  I was sooo tired from not sleeping well the night before I fell asleep at 730pm.  No bugs entered my room!!! YAY!!! And, I woke up this morning and almost all of my clothes are dry!!! Double YAY!!!

Update on the flooding:

Today, I took a couple bike rides around my Tambon with my Balot and my Ron Nayok.  We had a few days of constant rain and the water from northern Thailand if finally making its way to Bangrakam.  There are two sections of my village that now have some slight flooding with the river covering the road and houses cut off.  We were able to bike through one section where the water was about 4 inches deep but were told that we should not attempt to bike through the other part of town where the water was deeper.  Families have started to build make shift walkways 2-4 feet off the ground to battle to coming flood, but eventually, even those might not be high enough off the ground. 

When I come back from Bangkok I will attempt to take some pictures of the areas so everyone can see what is going on. 

Oh, and I now have a project to work on!!! Ovitraps to help get rid of the mosquito infestation.  We have already had at least 2 people in Bangrakam come down with Dengue so I proposed a device that another volunteer is implementing in his area.  They love the idea.  I hopefully will be part of a workshop at the end of the month to help put together the project idea and implementation of it, but if not, at least I know what I will be working on for a little while…and by then, it will be time for me to start thinking about a leadership and empowerment came that I want to do for the youth early next year…then, it will be time for the Thai Youth Theater festival that I am helping to organize…slowly but surely, I am getting more work to do.

Apparently, a tropical storm hit Vietnam a couple of days ago, so now the rain is being passed onto Thailand.  It rained all day yesterday.  Not that I am complaining; It forced me to work on my packing and allowed me to stay in all day watching movies (with my A/C on, of course).  Today, moving day, the rain has let up a little.  We have had some sprinkles here and there, but overall, it’s a nice cool breezy day…a day that I could LOVE if I didn’t have so much laundry to do.  Ugh!  I should have missed a little work last week to get it done in the nice washing machine on a hot sunny day…but no.  I thought I would put it off until the weekend…the cool, rainy weekend…bad idea.  So, now I am moving into my house with dirty clothes.  Luckily, my Balot and I went and bought buckets and scrub brushes to wash my clothes with so I have those ready when I need them.

So, I didn’t get the cute little house on the corner with no walls.  Instead, I am moving into a 4 story row house.  Yes, I said 4 stories.  It is huge.  I won’t use the 1^st or 4^th floor very often though as they are filled with the landlords items.  Instead, I mainly will inhabit the 2^nd (the loft area) and 3^rd floor.  The loft is a great area because with the front “door” open and the ceiling fan on, you get a nice breeze.  I was given two chairs by my Balot so I can sit out there and drink coffee in the mornings or read books in the afternoons.  The 3^rd floor is where my bedroom is.  The room itself is enclosed and windows screened so I don’t have to worry about bugs or mosquitoes.  My Nayok bought me a bed, sheets, and a pillow for my room.  So far, I have nowhere to put my clothes, so that is going to be an interesting experiment (although I bought many hangers today).  People are going to flip out if they see them stacked on the floor around the edges of my room. 

Outside of my room there is another large room with a bathroom (no shower) attached to it.  This is what I am going to call my exercise room.  I am going to buy a yoga mat and hopefully start doing some P90X in the near future.  Other than that, it will be a room that will be a lot of fun to run and slide down in a pair of socks. 

The 4^th floor is full of my landlords stuff, but there is a door that leads out to the roof.  On a cool day, I could probably sit on the roof and feel the breeze flowing by.  On a hot day, it is where I am going to be drying all of my clothes (once again, not sure how that is going to go down yet as I have nothing to hang my clothes on). 

People have been super nice giving me a bed, blanket (I had a choice of light blue, dark blue, or leopard print), pillow, sheets, cups, broom, mop, and various cleaning supplies.  I have purchased: 2 washing buckets, hangers, hanger clips (for socks and underwear), laundry basket, fan (I think I will buy another one, but they are expensive), and a fridge.  I have spent a TON of money…I think it comes out to 5800 baht almost $200.  That is about a month and a half of rent. 

What do I still need to buy:  racks to hang my clothes, shelves, hot plate, lamp, plates, bowls, pan, cooking utensils, dish towel, curtains, extension cords…and then I get to carry it all back to my place on my bike…sometimes, I really miss my car.

I’m super excited to spend my first night at my place tonight.  It’s going to be strange having that big ‘ol house all to myself.  OH wait…I forgot…the bathrooms.  The one upstairs is a toilet only.  There is one on the first floor, though, that is bath and shower…bucket shower, and both bathrooms are squat toilets.  Guess I’ll be working out my leg muscles for the next two years.

Update:  Last night, my bucket shower was heavenly.  I felt so gross after carrying everything around, and attempting to set up things without A/C is no fun on a humid day.  But, my shower felt amazing…until I got out and started sorting again only to realize I was going to need another shower before going to bed.  Oh well.  I slept well and only woke up once in the middle of the night to someone slamming their door while a very loud motorcycle drove by.  I woke up at 6am to birds singing, people talking, and the sun glaring in through my window since I have no curtains.  All in all, a good first night.

This weekend I am heading into BKK for a Thai Youth Theater meeting.  I am leaving Thursday night and will be home Sunday afternoon.  Next week is a 4 day week because it is the Queen’s birthday on Friday, but I will be headed to another volunteer’s site and be working an English Camp there on Saturday.  We are going to be talking about geography and painting a world map – something we will be doing at my site in the future.

My bed with awesome sheets.  The too small blanket is actually towel material

The front of my house.  Hopefully you can get an idea
of how my front doors open...you can open them across the
entire front of the house.  The 4 open window are my bedroom

1st and 2nd floors of my house.  The door in the back
leads to my creepy alley.  That is where I will do my laundry
and dishes

My loft area with my lonely fridge

3rd floor.  Open space.  Balcony in the back and my bathroom is right next to it

Upstairs bathroom.  No shower, but there is a bucket shower on the first floor

4th floor.  No room for any of my things here

It was raining so I didn't want to go outside.  This is on the 4th floor roof.  This is where I will be drying my laundry

My bedroom

Sabaai, Sabaai (สบายๆ)

Last week I was listening to a conversation in my office about my house that was being built. I was very excited because I assumed they were talking about it because I would get to move in shortly. Construction would continue and I would get to move in in a few short weeks. But, as the conversation continued I heard them mention the month October. What about October? What's going on? My Ron Nayok turned to me and said that the reason the house wasn't finished was because the workers disappeared so there was no one to work on it; to finish it. They were thinking that there may be a chance that in October, there would be more workers to finish it. So, please ignore the pictures that you saw on my previous post…that house is not destined to be mine. L

On Monday, my Balot took me on a bike ride to go check out a couple of available rental houses around the Tessaban. We biked to a coffee shop in a neighborhood of row houses. He pointed to the coffee shop and said that that was an option for my house. It was a cute house with a loft for a bedroom. I would have to sleep under a mosquito net, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. He explained that the coffee shop would move next door and I would have the place to myself…except, the owner wanted to park her car in my living room in the evenings. Hmm…ok, not my idea of fun at all, but I really want a place. Reluctantly I was willing to go along with it. Then my Balot and the owner started to talk amongst themselves. From what I gathered from the conversation, there was a miscommunication about the coffee shop. It seems that each night, they would move the tables and chairs next door, but then open the coffee shop in my living room during the day (at least that is what I thought I heard – We all know how well I understand Thai from my conversation with my Nayok the other week). My Balot agreed that this would not be a good thing for me and said that I couldn't take that house…so we moved 2 doors down.

This house was locked as the owner was out of town, but we could peer in through the grated front "door". Inside there were about 6 wooden cabinets, 3 chairs, and an air conditioner sitting in the middle of the floor. But, the set up was like the previous house. The conditions of me moving in there would be that I would have to be willing to keep the cabinets and chairs in the house with me. Hopefully, I will be able to use them (but who knows), but I immediately said 'yes'.

I now have a rental house! I get to move in on August 1^st. They are doing some repairs on it now to get it ready. I have no idea what type of bathroom I have. I can hope for the best; western toilet with a showerhead for my cold showers, but I need to prepare for a possible reality…bucket shower, squat toilet. But, it's ok, because I have my own house!!!

 

On other news, the last week and a half has been great. My Balot is spending an hour to an hour and a half with me each day learning Thai while I teach him English and we are going to lunch together to different restaurants in the area. I getting ready to go to Bangkok in two weekends for a Thailand Youth Theater Committee meeting so we can start planning the 3 day conference for next year and the Queen's birthday comes up the weekend after that for a 3 day weekend. I have discovered that there is a library being built in my tambon that I might be able to get some projects out of and I haven't found any bugs in my bed since coming back to site in mid-July. All in all, things are going well.

A bike Ride and a River

Yesterday afternoon I took a bike ride with my Balot (supervisor).  He was taking me to the villages near the river to show me the changes that have occurred in the few short months that I have been here.  Usually when I am on my bike I have the urge to speed through the streets feeling the cooling wind drive past my face as I smile and wave at people as I quickly pass by.  Biking is a new release, a new freedom for me.  I take random rides throughout the day around my village and beyond to get out and obtain that boost of energy I need to get through the remainder of my day.  Today though, we meandered.  You see, Thai people don’t view biking the way that I do.  For them, it is just another mode of transportation to take you from here to there.  And, they have no need to get anywhere fast, so when riding a bike, you slowly lower your foot down on the pedal to propel it ahead, just fast enough so that you are moving, but you can carry on a conversation with all that you pass along the way.  And, so we went. 

When we reached the river I was amazed.  I knew that the water was steadily rising, but I had no idea to what extent it really had.  I had biked through this part of town just 2 days ago and didn’t notice the things that I did this time around.  The river, which at first sight seemed to be more of a trickling creek, was now just a few feet short of the road.  A swift current ran through the center sending leaves and small branches to a new unknown home.  Two months ago I had visited one of my Balot’s friends’ homes along here.  You could look down a steep 20 foot drop to the river at that time; now, the river was sneaking towards the bottom stilts of his home. 

Further down, trucks were parked in the street because the car ports were covered in water and a few homes already had to create makeshift walkways to their front stairs because the water had already taken over their yards.  The rainy season is just beginning.  We still have over 3 months to go until it ends.  I can’t imagine what this area is going to look like once the river finally claims all of its territory.  One thing that I do know: I think I’m going to get to do some boating this year J.

Lesson of the day:  Sometimes I need to take the opportunity to slow down; “smell the roses”.  There is so much to see and learn just by watching what is going on around me. Elderly women resting on a wooden plank in the blistering afternoon, hiding from the sun in the shade.  Children chasing one another through the beams that rise up below the homes.  A father tickling his child until they laugh on their front porch.  So much is going on in this town that I have yet to learn about.  Next time I go biking, I think I’ll try it at a slower pace…see if I can find out something new.

Here are a couple pics of my unfinished house...its looked like this for at least a month now...I am hoping it will be done soon.  It is 1 story, 1 bedroom.

The back of my house.  The open space is the walkway from
the inside of the house to the bathroom

The front of my house.  Missing a few walls still.  My house is
only the left side, or the right, and someone else will live in the
other half.  Still don't know what type of front door I will have:
regular door or garage door??

Another angle of the front/side of the house...I have a couple trees.

Why have a parade at 2pm?

Wednesday:

Why have a parade at 2pm when you can have a perfectly good one at 9 in the morning.  Do we not want to take the weather into consideration when we choose to have these things??? 

Yesterday my Tessaban delivered a 3 foot candle to the monks at the Wat to start off the celebration of the Buddhist lent (at least that’s what I think is going on).  I woke up still baring my headache from the previous day and was not in the mood to show up at work, let alone join in a parade, but alas, part of my job is ensuring that I am participating in these sorts of activities.

Going into work I was determined to be there until 10am then head home for a nap before the parade in hope of conquering my headache once and for all.  I get to work, say my good mornings, flip open my computer, and turn it on.  This morning is a good morning, because I know that my sister, Denise, is already online and waiting for me.  See, while I was away for 2 weeks, they moved my desk at work.  Instead of being in an office with 5 people, I am in an office with only my supervisor, who happens to be on vacation for the week, so I have the office to myself.  Skype on!  It was great to talk to Denise, and we ended up chatting for almost an hour.  When we get off, I look through my emails from Peace Corps and volunteers, and check out the news for the day.  Ten o’clock passes as I chat online with a fellow volunteer who is having similar problems at her site as I am having at mine on getting things moving and going.  Eleven a.m. rolls up and I am out the door.  I am stopped by my Nayok (think mayor) questioning where I am headed.  As soon as I say headache he understands I am going home to rest.  Whew! 

1:43pm my alarm goes off.  Time to get ready.  Purple shirt on (Its purple day, and I need to wear the right color for the parade).  As I bike into work I hear the rhythmic beat of drums.  Several men, decked out in fun colored shirts and scarves are warming up for our debut on the streets.  A truck is carrying our monstrously large candle and men and women of the Tessaban are huddled under the shaded cover of the overhang of the office.  I already can feel the usual trickle of sweat down my back and my brow displays beads of it demonstrating that I am hot.  Very hot.  Yet, as I look at the crowd of people waiting to leave, I notice the women, and some men, have put on sun protection sleeves, long sleeved shirts, and jackets.  This goes back to when dark skin was an indication of low class.  Thai people still believe the lighter your skin is, the more beautiful you are, but on a hot day like this…no way am I putting on a jacket…no way. 

The parade takes about 20 minutes to complete.  Men walk up and down the sides of the road as we pass through collecting money (merit) from the locals to donate to the Wat at the end of our journey.  As we enter the Wat, we remove our shoes (I happen to love this part of Thailand; it’s nice to be all dressed up yet barefoot most of the time) and sit down.  The Tessaban presents the candle to the monks and chanting begins.  Apparently, I happen to sit with the group that isn’t as into ceremony as some, and we begin to proceed to take pictures of ourselves flashing peace signs and making faces – I think I will try to sit with these people more often.  When the chanting ends, the candle is lit (and I think it is supposed to stay lit for all of lent) and we leave. 

Headache still present, I walk back to the office, jump on my bike, head home and straight to bed.  A successful interaction complete, now it’s time to get rid of the headache once and for all. 

(Side note: when I did wake up later that night, my headache was gone – YAY!)

Thursday:

My Nayok (remember, mayor of a city), comes into my office and sits down and starts talking to me in very fast Thai.  Of course, I am only understanding every 5^th word, but he seems so enthusiastic I smile and continue to nod my head like I understand…until he pauses and looks at me as though I need to respond to something.  *Crap*…ok, smile gone, ‘sorry, I don’t understand’ comes out of my mouth – in Thai, of course.  He attempts again…again, comprehension, no go.  Ok, he starts to talk slower, smaller sentences, but is still using many words I don’t understand, but he smiles and is happy when I repeat words back to him….again he gives me a questioning look.  Finally, he points to pictures of the king and queen and I begin to understand; we are talking about them.  Then he tells me, on Monday, July 18^th I am to go to his house at 7am and we will go to the Wat together.  To do what, I have no idea, but I am excited, and he is excited that we both understand the plan.   – Successful interaction

Sunday:

Have you ever felt trapped on a bench before?  Felt the weight of the world building in your head, forcing you to lie on the bench and not move?  Imprisoned in an open space.  You can smile at people, you can talk to people, and you can look up clearly at the sky through the leaves of the tree above you.  You can do all of this, but you can’t sit up, you can’t walk…you are trapped…imprisoned where you are, where you lay.

I was sitting on a shaded bench in the early afternoon reading a book.  I decided to start in on the Lord of the Rings series because I wanted to read some long books, and I had been thinking about the movies lately (currently, I am on book 2).  I felt a slight pressure in my forehead (crap, another headache coming on).  I looked up.  Everything went brighter for a second (think of suddenly turning up the brightness on your computer very quickly – all colors pale into a bright white) then the darkness started to close in.  The black circled around the outside of my vision threatening to fill in the still bright gaps. 

It’s happening again.  My ever so fun, almost, fainting spells.  Ok, I gotta lie down.  I lie down on the bench for 5 minutes and then slowly sit up.  Immediately everything goes black…back down again.  This time I wait 10 minutes (in the states, the entire period would be over in a 5-10 minute period) and try again.  Good…oh wait, nope…blackness.  And, I am down for the count…again.  I think I was laying down for a good 30 minutes before I could sit up and only feel the pressure in my head without any other side effects i.e. blacking out.  I grab my stuff, jump on my bike and head home.  Time for a glorious afternoon of TV shows and movies. 

Don’t worry.  I’m going to be emailing the doc tomorrow to ensure there is nothing going on.  He seemed pretty positive the first time that this is just some weird low blood pressure thing, but I’ll let him know anyways.

Monday:

6:23 am my alarm goes off…ugh.  Too early.  I reset my alarm for 6:37am.  Again it goes off…ok, I have to get up to be at my nayok’s house in time to go to the Wat.  I get dressed, run down stairs.  My host mother asks where I am going.  I explain to her, and she gives me a puzzled look (this should have been my first clue).  She shouts out to the woman across the street and asks what the Tessaban is up to today.  The lady says she can’t remember anything going on (2^nd clue).  I jump on my bike and ride over to my nayok’s house.  I get there and someone comes out of the house (also a store) asking me what I am looking for.  I explain I am looking for my Nayok.  They tell me that he is in the shower (3^rd clue) and can be out in a few minutes.

I wait.  A few minutes later he emerges, not in the colored shirt of the day (4^th clue), but in regular street clothes.  He asks me what I am doing.  Uh oh.  I reminded him of our conversation from Thursday.  His eyes narrow in question…he has no idea what I am talking about and tells me that there is nothing going on today.  Oh, ok…and I walk away puzzled myself.

Apparently, my successful conversation on Friday was not as fantastic as I thought it was…I wonder what we were really talking about????

Well, I was up anyways, so biked to the lake and enjoyed the cool air of the morning.  It is not often that I get to feel a cool breeze without the immediate following of rain.  I made a few calls to the states and continued reading my book.  Not the morning I thought I would have, but still a good one.