Nothing so beautiful

Tonight I took a bike ride around the village by myself, because I've only recently come to appreciate its real true beauty.

My mind was blown.

All I did was take a left turn where I normally take a right, but suddenly it felt like I was in some whimsical indie film. I was literally surrounded by miles and miles of lime green rice paddies punctuated by pools of still water reflecting the sunset. My entire conscious was expanded in the matter of an hour.

There was one stretch of road where the flat green fields were interrupted by a grove of dark looming trees with spindly vines hanging from them. It got darker and quieter all of a sudden, but still I could hear the vibration of insects and the call of birds. I was in complete awe; but it was when a big black butterfly flitted in front of my bike that I was sure that the left turn I'd taken was really the secret entrance to Alice in Wonderland. I had to pedal back and ride through it again, it was that cool.

In other news, this week I've spent my time helping to take care of a premature newborn (more on that later), motorcycling with Noi to Bo Sang for some umbrella village action and then bicycling with Noi to Doi Saket for some chillaxation at a coffee shop and then getting a stellar massage with Noi at a place on the side of the road, making beads out of paper, teaching the kids about the days of the week and months of the year and in general just falling even more in love with Thailand every day.

Thailand

Smells like
campfire and jasmine
car exhaust and laundry soap
like searing meat and rainstorms
eucalyptus and rotting vegetation
It smells like a breeze wafting over an open field
and stale lemon water

Tastes like
overripe mangoes and pineapples and bananas
like ice cream and waffles and warm water
fruit mentos and lemon oreos
ovaltine and coconut yogurt
It tastes like fried chicken and sticky rice, but also
bamboo shoots and curry and fish oil


Looks like
God's country
glittering temples and gray storm clouds

it has something to hide
like a scene from a movie
second-hand clothes and a thousand smiles
It looks like questionable meat and a sea of dark hair
and blue and orange sunsets behind acres of green


Sounds like
bad English
genuine laughter and quiet singing
the whir of a fan and the rumble of a motorcycle
It sounds like Thai television drama
and birds and bugs and barking dogs
like the same three cell-phone ring tones, over and over,
drums in the distance, persistent vendors and rain hitting the ground


Feels like
an eternal sauna
a dream and a promise
greasy lips, a stinging tongue and itchy skin
like a conversation with myself,
and an accident waiting to happen
loose clothes, no make-up and a pony-tail
the wind on my face and the sun at my back
It feels like home

I never want to leave

I've been waiting a long time to say that. If I would have said it any earlier, it wouldn't have been entirely true. I always knew the feeling would come though, and it's finally here! I can honestly say that I do not want to go back to America. Thailand is home.

I'm in love with riding in the back of the truck while watching the sky fade from blue to orange to black. I'm in love with the people that I work with and the kids that I teach. I'm in love with the humidity and the street markets and the way everyone smiles.

I've become a new person here. I'm afraid I won't know who to be when I come home.

Today I taught the younger kids English at the children's home. I've noticed that they haven't been very motivated lately (party because I mostly throw my "lessons" together on the car-ride over) and I feel bad because learning English is no fun, especially after a long day at school. So today I shamelessly bribed them into liking me with candy.

Oh boy, it worked. As soon as I pulled those fruit-flavored mentos out of my bag, their eyes lit up. Two hours flew by. It was so fun. I taught them London-bridge and Ring-around-the-rosies and Head-shoulders-knees-and-toes. They don't really know what they're saying...they mostly blabber out whatever I tell them to, but hopefully they'll catch on eventually.

I thought that the English alphabet was old news to them, so we just ran through the song real fast. Turns out  I was wrong. The ABCs are definitely not old news for the younger ones, so my gameplan needed some adjustment. I drew each letter up on the board and then split the kids into two teams of three. Two people from each team came up and I pointed to a letter. Whoever said the name of the letter first got to blow on their team's paper fish once (the goal was to blow the fish to the other side of the room before the other team). They loved it, and I loved it. Some of them are better at the alphabet than others, so it was funny to hear them shout "B!..Y!...A!" when I was pointing to R or something. The winning team got two pieces of candy, and the losing team got one. But the real winner was me, of course. I think I've finally won their little hearts!

##Grateful acknowledgments to mentos and sugas.

Unbelievable

This past weekend was my favorite of them all.

Friday night we partied it up at Erin's house for her birthday. Britt, Meredith and I spent the night at her house and then caught a truck to our friend, Pi Thi's restaurant for breakfast.

While we were eating we had the privilege of witnessing a a stand-off involving two prostitutes, two pimps, and a totally plastered Australian guy. It was entertaining, to say the least. Also a great way to kick the day off.

After meeting our guide for the weekend, Rambo, we headed out to a market to buy food and camping supplies and then rode up the mountain to ride elephants!

Guys, riding elephants rocks. Literally. It's hard to balance when you're sitting on their neck and their shoulder blades are wobbling all over the place. But it also rocks figuratively.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Keara and I were on one named Wandee, who liked to wander off and do his own thing. But hey, we weren't complaining. I couldn't really get a picture of me on him, but somebody else did, so I'll get that to you when I get it myself.

After elephants we had lunch and then began our trek through the jungle of Thailand. It was beautiful! Rambo was showing us all sorts of cool things on the way. He made us hats out of giant leaves and walking sticks out of bamboo. He's kind of a little guy, but kind of a big deal.

Rambo! Complete with machete and headband.

On the way to village where we spent the night, we stopped at a waterfall to cool off.

I made the mistake of wearing brand-new shoes, so by the time we got to the village my feet hated me, but who cares about blood and blisters when you have this in front of you?

This village, home of a Karen tribe, literally took my breath away. It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life, and once again, pictures don't do it justice. The Karen people dug this intricate system of pools to water their crops. It must have taken so much hard work.

Just step inside this for a second.

Or this.

We put our stuff in a little wood hut on stilts, and then jumped into the waterfall right outside. It was awesome. Words cannot describe that experience and neither can pictures.

After swimming, Keara and I joined Rambo and our other guide in another little bamboo hut on stilts to help make dinner. I sat next to Rambo in front of a big metal bowl over a little fire and helped make dinner. Me "helping make dinner" means that Rambo did all the work and I stirred the pot. But apparently not even my stirring skills are up to par, because he would periodically take the spoon back and do his thing and then hand it back to me.

At one point I picked up a pan so he could scoop potatoes in or something, and my fingers got all black with soot. After trying and failing to get me to touch my forehead, Rambo took a napkin and wiped every one of my fingers off. He's a genuine guy.

After awhile some of the other village guys came in and started singing and talking to each other in Karen. It was such a cool experience, sitting there in the firelight and laughing with a bunch of Karen men in a hut that smelled like curry in the middle of the jungle. I'll never forget it.

Needless to say, dinner was great. And afterward our other guide (I can't remember how to pronounce his name) set up some little mind-games with sticks and told us to figure them out. We were all kind of zonked from the day's adventures, so they took awhile (and some help) to figure out. But once we had more or less conquered all four of them, we packed into our little hut and went to sleep. Actually, that's a lie. I hardly slept at all because it got cold (it got cold!) and also the bed wasn't super comfy.

Trying to figure out stick-puzzles by candlelight.

But whatev. In the morning I "woke up" before everyone else and sat by the waterfall for a little while. Then we all had breakfast, took pictures, and hiked out. I was really sad to leave that place. I could seriously live there forever.

After hiking to the point of stomach-sweat (there's a first time for everything), we stopped at another waterfall, in which we sat and talked and laughed for a long time. There was a little more hiking until we reached the road, and then we took a truck to a restaurant for lunch before heading down to the river to clamber onto bamboo rafts and float through the jungle this time. It was fantastic. Sorry, no pictures of that. A bamboo raft is no place for a camera.

Just chillin in the waterfall. 

Truck-riding through the jungle.

It was an hour-long ride back to the city. We got off at our friend Pi Thi's place, where she served us free (!) delicious mango smoothies, and then Erin, Eden, Keara and I went to wander Walking Street. I can't get enough of Walking Street. It's the coolest atmosphere.

Now it's Monday morning and I'm exhausted, sunburnt, bug-bitten and sore, but I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. It was just indescribable. I can tell you about how gorgeous the land was and how friendly the people were, but there is something else there entirely that just can't be put into words.

Fishing

Na na na na, hey hey hey

Friday started out normally...spent the morning at the center gluing and taping cardboard boxes together with the gang. At about midday I got dropped off at Meredith's house and then later I made my way to Gat Luang by myself.

At Gat Luang I bought a couple of t-shirts for really cheap,  thanks to my awesome sweet-talking skils. I love bartering! But the fun stopped there. To make a long story short, my 15-minute rot dang ride from Gat Luang to Central Mall turned into an hour-long adventure through the city, during which I considered jumping out because I was sure I'd been kidnapped. Don't worry though, I wasn't kidnapped. Eventually I made it to my destination.

At the mall we all met up, ate, and then headed over to Brynna's apartment where the 10 of us piled into a rot tu for our 6-hour journey to Nan province. We arrived at our little hotel at about midnight, and the next morning we drove to the nearby Hmong village and met up with some anthropology students from BYU that were there.

The day consisted of an awesome adventure in a waterfall, volleyball with the locals, and lots of ice-cream. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures at the falls, but it was absolutely incredible. The water was the perfect temperature and we had a great time swimming against the current and sliding down rocks and finding frogs and whatnot. Toward the end a warm rain started to fall and I was just in awe. I was in a waterfall in the middle of the jungle in the middle of a rainstorm in the middle of Thailand! It was simply indescribable.

The volleyball game I did get pictures of. Playing with these people was humiliating to say the least. But whatevs. Not like I'm ever going to see them again.

Hmong villagers showing up the pharangs

Aaand, in case you didn't catch the emphasis on lots of ice-cream...

FOURTH cone of the day. Can you blame me? They're only 15 baht!

Saturday night we split into twos and slept with different Hmong families. The way of life is so different there, even from here. Torie and I stayed with a cute old grandmother in her teensy tiny home. We ate dinner on a bamboo ottoman, slept on a mat on a cement floor, and used buckets to shower. I had a hard time falling asleep, not because I was uncomfortable, but because I felt like I was already dreaming. I couldn't believe that people actually lived like this. It was an incredible experience.

Because the Hmong have their own language, it was very difficult to communicate and I actually found myself wishing that they at least spoke Thai. I've never had such limited communication with someone...even my Thai family. All that I could say in Hmong was wachou, which means "thank you," but of course I had so much more to say. I wish languages weren't so hard to learn.

This little Hmong girl was born with blonde hair!

The next morning, we woke up (late) at 5 a.m. and headed out to get breakfast at the market. Then we drove up a huge mountain to see another Hmong village. It was gorgeous up there, with the white fog and the patches of different crops. I couldn't get enough.

In the fog at the top of the mountain.

In addition to the mountain village and its villagers, we got to see a Buddhist cave, a pet deer, and the local village crazy man (naked). It was great.

After the village we went back down the mountain to the other village that we'd spent the night in and gave gifts to the families. Our "grandmother" told Torie and I to get a good education and asked us to remember her. She also said that we could come back and stay with her any time. She was so sweet!

Torie and I and our little Hmong grandmother

To conclude our trip to Nan we ate some more ice-cream, had a yummy lunch with everyone, and went into the city to see some cool wats. That night, I got home at 11:00 and promptly conked out.

Okay, for viewer's sake this post should end here, but it's not going to, so get over it or go away.

Monday, June 11th (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTAN!) I woke up and packed my bag for the children's home, which I would be spending the night at. Then my awesome mother made chocolate waffles for breakfast and we were on our way. There was a meeting, so Meredith and I spent the morning upstairs at Pam and Jerry's house...I worked on homework since my computer is dumb and doesn't connect to their internet. We met their friends from the States and then joined them on a visit to Warorot (Gat Luang). We revisited that stellar smoothie place and shopped around a bit, then I had Pam drop me off at Meredith's, and John came and picked me up to take me to the children's home.

We've decided that on Mondays I will teach the younger kids, so we played some games and sang some songs and they retained probably 5% of the information I was feeding them, and even that number is optimistic. They did get pretty good at yelling "UP! DOWN! RIGHT! LEFT!" though.

Afterward, I worked with John on his English. He's already pretty good, but he wanted me to teach him about tenses. You try explaining when to use "I have been swimming" vs "I was swimming" vs "I swam" vs "I have swum." Not easy people, not easy. English is dumb.

I took over John's daughter's room for the night...but her mattress was far from comfortable. Actually, it was like sleeping on a brick. In the morning I was exhausted, and I kept on falling asleep and waking up multiple times after my alarm went off.

But no rest for the weary, right?

This morning I helped plant trees and then spent the rest of the day building boxes. It was fun though. I love spending time with the people at the center. I showed Olay and Nute and Umpaa a picture of my family (which they loved), and then they tried to explain to me some Thai witch that comes out on Halloween. Umpaa brought coconuts from her house and I drank coconut water...why is it called coconut milk? It's definitely more water than it is milk.

On the way home we went to visit a family who just had a baby. Both parents are HIV positive and the baby was born early at only 3 pounds. It was heartbreaking to see their living situation. That tiny tiny baby lives in a shack with a tin roof and no door. And his mom can't even take care of him because she's so sick, so the dad had to quit his job. It really put things in perspective for me.

Okay, that's the end.

Have a lovely day!

Lately

Been swimming. Cold salt water has never felt so good. You have NO IDEA.

Been making boxes. And more boxes.

Been harvesting...plants. You better believe it's me under that hat. Yay for developing work-ethic!

Been putting these in my hair.

Been drooling over this guy. Best part of the whole movie, right heeere.

People in Trucks

The taxi trucks around here are not my favorite thing. But as riding them is unavoidable, I've decided to make the most of the experience by examining the people across from me. Here's a verbal snapshot of a few people I've seen the past few days:

-A girl who couldn't have been more than 17, who was pregnant and also had a 1-year-old baby sweating in a woven sling. She had a big scar behind her ear and she was wearing tattered clothes. Noi said she was from the hilltribes.
-A big-eyed mother and her big-eyed 3-year-old son, whom she pulled onto her lap when the truck got full. She kept sweeping his hair off his forehead. He was the cutest thing ever.
-A 9-year-old boy who, on the ride home in the rain, could not keep his eyes open. His head kept on drooping to the side, hitting the shoulders of the people next to him. I was sad that nobody was letting him lean on them. The poor little guy was just so tired.

I would take pictures, but that's kind of awkward...

In other news, yesterday on our way home from MK (a restaurant that Sunni's boss treated us to--she's so nice) I was telling Noi about how Christmas lights on a building means that prostitutes are available (or so I've heard). I counted at least TEN buildings with Christmas lights strung across them, just on the 20-minute drive home. That's so sad to me. Apparently prostitution is huge here, but it's also very underground. I told Noi the buildings with lights looked "sketchy." She likes learning slang words. Today on our way to the mall I taught her What the heck?, That's crazy, Peace out, Freaking, Get cracking, and Back up off. It's so funny to hear her use American slang with her cute Thai accent.

Before you go, check out this picture of the sunset tonight. I'm in love with this place.

Sorry there's stuff in the way. There are a lot of trees and houses to the west.

Appreciate

Today was so simple, yet so incredible.

Thailand is indescribable.

For most of the morning at work I was zonked, so really all I did was stare at the materials in front of me and yawn. Fortunately, Moi came today because it's a big Buddhist holiday and school is cancelled. She entertained me with Lady Gaga karaoke and that infectious laugh of hers.

A little before noon, Yai came in and said she was going with Prawit (dad) and Bua to get materials to build a parking lot. I wasn't doing anything else, so I tagged along. Yai let me sit in the front because I have long legs and as we were driving down the road she dangled the seatbelt in front of me and said, "Seatbelt. Not for health, for police!" I complied because I didn't want to get a ticket, but honestly that seatbelt couldn't save a life if it wanted to.

After our trip to get materials (in which I wandered around the shop checking out screws and measuring-tapes and exciting things like that) we came back and had lunch in "the office." The office is the little house by the hut that sometimes gets used as a shelter for people who have no where else to go. Yai, Prawit, Bua and I all sat in a circle around the food (as usual) and then I grimaced as Yai sucked snails out of their shells and tried to convince me they tasted good. My eye. Every time she slurped one out I would inadvertently make a face, and everyone would laugh. It was fun.

Afterward, I picked up a good old guitar and strummed away until it was time to go back out and get to "work."

Work consisted of making a bracelet and earrings that matched, and then another bracelet for Moi that ended up being too small anyway.

Moi asked me in her limited English, "What...crocodile...pig?" At first I thought she was asking if we have crocodiles in the U.S., and then I thought she was asking if crocodiles eat pigs, so I said, "I don't know." Then Yai translated and said, "Why don't crocodiles eat pigs?" I was so confused and I kept trying to tell them that I didn't know.

Apparently it was a joke, and the punchline was, "Because they are Islam!" Bahaha

Later I was informed that I wouldn't be able to go to the children's home today, so Moi asked me (through Yai) to take a walk with her through her village instead. The whole way I was trying to get her to speak English, but I soon discovered that most of the words she knew were useless nouns like coconut, cow, and chicken. What the heck? Who's teaching these kids English? When are they ever going to need to use the word coconut in basic conversation!?

Realizing this problem, I tried to introduce the concept of "mine" and "yours" to her, which I don't think really registered. Oh well.

As we were walking down the road, we stopped by Umpaa's house because she was feeling sick today. We stayed for a little while, during which Moi kept on saying, "Umpaa house, Moi house," over and over again. I wasn't sure if she wanted to go home or what, but then Yai showed up and translated. I guess Moi wanted me to go with her to her house. Go figure.

When we got there I said sawadeeka to her mom and these three guys chillin in front of the house and then sat with Moi on the porch and tried to get some information from her about her family. From what I gathered, those three guys were her uncles and she also has one little brother. As I looked around I felt sad. Moi is awesome. She's only twelve, but she's so pretty and so sweet. But she's living in poverty. She wouldn't even let me go inside her house, which to me could hardly be called a house.

Sitting next to her on the porch, I couldn't help but think of her future and be worried for her. I truly truly wish the best for her. I hope that she will understand the importance of work and education so that she can lift herself and her family out of poverty. For now, she seems to be doing just fine despite her struggles, but I worry about what will happen when she becomes a teenager.

Moi. Can't get over her.

When we left Moi's we stopped by Umpaa's again. Umpaa gave me a piece of coconut to try and said that she wanted to make me some later (I'm not exactly sure what "some" is). And then I was just chillin in the middle of a group of Thai women who were sayings things I couldn't understand, and I felt like I completely belonged. I LOVE these people. I love this place. And the feeling is so powerful--I can seriously feel my heart expanding to envelope them. On the way home, in the back of my parent's good old truck, I was just so happy. I was thinking about all the people here who I care about and who care about me.

And then the travel bug hit--I want to go EVERYWHERE. Just think--every country in the world has something unique and beautiful to offer, and so few people take the opportunity to soak it up! Even tourists don't get the real thing. I see these huge silver double-decker buses every day driving around with dozens of white people inside, looking down at Thailand whizzing by.

You can't do that. You can't look down at it. You have to live down in it.
_________________________________________________________


*Confession of the day:
Bua caught a fish for us to bring home, which I had the privilege of sitting next to in the back of the truck. I noticed that the plastic bag it was in was really tight over its mouth, so I moved the bag a little bit so it could breathe.
Then I realized,
1. Fish don't breathe air through their mouths; they have gills
2. Fish don't breathe air
3. This fish was food

Independence Day

Between yesterday and today I did a major cerebral overhaul, in which I decided that I needed to get over myself and my aversion to the city. So this morning I had my parents drop me off at the Doi Saket market, and then I found a yellow truck myself and rode it all the way to Gat Luang (Big Market). It was nice this time because there were only about 12 people on the truck. When we arrived in Gat Luang, I paid the driver and then went wandering in search of that awesome Indian cafe that Pam took us to once. I found it without a hitch.

I spent about an hour upstairs, just chillin on a cushion by the window, looking out at the rain. I caught up my journal while sipping my blueberry-banana smoothie. It was great.

Afterward I wondered around the market for a little bit...met a friendly shop-owner, bought some slippers, and then I caught a red truck to Wat Prat Sing. I had time to kill before church started at 1:00, so I walked down the street to the Lila massage place. It was nice to relieve all the tension in my back and neck from the day before. When I left I took the long way to church to familiarize myself with the area some more.

Church was fantastic, as usual. It's still amazing to me that church here is operated the same way as church at home. It was refreshing to be around people with my same beliefs, even though they didn't speak the same language.

After church I went to check out the Walking Street again (I love that place.) I went all they way down to the end and back this time, because I was by myself so I could go at my own pace. There are such cool things there! I wish I could bring everything home.

The last thing I bought was a banana spring-roll with chocolate and condensed milk on top (you better believe it tasted as good as it sounds), and then I hailed a red truck, (actually three red trucks--third time's the charm) and headed back to Gat Luang, where I proceeded to catch a yellow truck to Doi Saket.

At Doi Saket I called my mom and started walking toward home. Once I'd passed all the shops and found myself in the middle of trees and rice-paddies, I noticed a groups of dogs across the street (because stray dogs here come in packs!). The second they saw me, they trotted to the side of the road, waited for a couple motorcycles to pass and then crossed the street and started following me. They looked so flea-ridden and starving, I seriously thought they were going to attack me. Nobody was around and I didn't have anything to defend myself with. Fortunately, right at that moment my parents pulled up, and I was saved from becoming dog chow.

Anyway, I'm glad I went solo today. It was good for me, and now hopefully I won't have a complex trying to navigate the city anymore.

I'm a country girl

Being in the city is distressing, I've decided. I always come home with a headache and a sore throat whenever I'm in the city all day. There is so much noise and smog and people and I just can't relax, especially when I'm by myself. I should probably be used to taking public transportation by now, but I'm not. Bartering with the truck drivers and trying to make sure I'm on the right truck is a pain, because nobody speaks English. And then, being me, I always imagine the worst-case scenario, which usually includes me missing my stop and being kidnapped by the driver.

My frenemy, the city.

Also, it's not uncommon to have more than 20 people crammed onto those things, which were made to seat like, 12 comfortably. Needless to say, I'm always a hot sweaty stress-case when I get off.

Okay, I'm making the city sound like a hell-hole. But it's not all that bad. The city is the happening-place and there are a lot of fun things to do. As long I have somebody with me and I know where I am and where I'm going, I'm fine.

Mashing curry paste in the Thai cooking class

Today, after a long day of Thai-cooking classes (my taste-buds had a blast), I took a truck home by myself because I wasn't feeling well. Everything went fine, but then after I got off at my stop I decided to walk the rest of the way, because it was still light out and from what I remembered, home wasn't too far away. Plus I needed some time to myself to clear my mind.

So walk I did.

After about 30 minutes I had a grand epiphany. Walking takes a lot more time than driving. The sun was starting to set and I knew I wouldn't make it home before dark, so I called my mom to pick me up. It was another 15 minutes before that blessed gray truck pulled up, and by then I was sure that I must have gotten lost, because there was no way it would take me that long to walk from the truck stop at the market to my house. But I soon discovered that I wasn't lost. I just had another good mile to go.

Never doing that again.

A day of laughing and loving and learning

Today was a great day.

It started off with an early-morning excursion to the market to find something for breakfast. I was a little confused as to why we even did this, but whatever. I'm confused about why we do half of what we do. 

So without asking questions, I followed my mom into the dirty streets of the city and watched and waited as she picked up some chicken from a vendor, and then we got back in the truck and headed down the road on our usual route to work.

Throughout the rest of the day, Umpaa taught (or at least tried to teach) Meredith and I how to crochet, we taught her and Nute about color combinations to use for jewelry, I taught Nute how to make my special yarn bracelet, Nute taught Yai how to make my special yarn bracelet, Umpaa re-taught me how to crochet,  and Olay taught us how to paint clothes-pins. Neural synapses were exploding all over the place. 

Joe. Every time I ask him for something he asks for money.

Before lunch, we were all gathered around in a circle kind of just sitting in awkwardness, and then Joe threw his arms up and said, “Amen!”and everyone started eating. It was hilarious. 

Also, when Nute and I got to the burning part of our bracelet-making, she handed the bracelet and the lighter over to me. I gave it back to her and said "you," but she scrunched her face and scooted away really fast, saying, "RON!!" (HOT!!). 

Aaand...during clothes-pin painting, I gave up trying to copy Olay's perfect little flowers and just started flicking paint everywhere. Nute was pointing and laughing for like, a minute straight. They were probably secretly thinking of the number of dollars (or baht I guess) down the drain every time I "finished" one. 

These are the things I've learned to find humor in.

Olay painting prettily.

At 4:45, John came to rescue me from listening to lottery numbers being rattled off over the radio. And also to take me to the children's home. I was much better prepared today because I found this awesome website called Dave's ESL Cafe that had a bunch of ideas for games to play to teach English. 

To start off, I taught the kids direction words like forward, backward, up, down, left, right, etc. Then I blindfolded one of them at a time and the rest of the kids had to use the words they'd learned to direct the blindfolded student to my water-bottle. I had to constantly remind them to use English, not Thai, but they caught on fast and got a kick of leading each other in the wrong direction.

Next I drew a body on the board and labeled all the parts, and then we sat in a circle and I told the kids to draw a body part (head, eyes, feet, etc.) and then pass it to the right. The whole time I was wondering what they were laughing at, but by the end I was passed back a stack of drawings of women with gnarly armpit hair and toothless smiles. It was probably a bad idea to have them write their names next to them, but whatev. 

After that...lesson, I taught them about parts of speech. I started out with nouns and verbs and prepositions. It's hard teaching English after I recently took Elang 325, which basically blew apart all word categories I'd ever learned. I'm teaching everything I was just un-taught. Oh well. We have to start somewhere. Just don't tell my professor.

The kids' English is so limited that the most exciting part of the night (for me) was when I put a pen on the chair and pointed to it and they all chanted "Pen on chair." It was also pretty great when I said, "One chair, two...." and Sang (or Jason--the oldest, and the best at English) responded, "chairS." Yes!!

They were really soaking it in, and even though I'm pretty sure they only understood 25% of what I was teaching, I'm still so proud of them!

In the beginning I joked that they would all be fluent English-speakers by the time I was done with them, but I see now that that's impossible. There is SO MUCH to teach, it's overwhelming.

We ended the night singing, "Five Little Ducks," which they've basically mastered (but they have a hard time saying "waddling"), and then we all held hands and prayed and they sang me a cute Thai hymn and then I made them take a picture with me and we said goodbye and I left. 

Me and the kidlets. The weather does fabulous things for my appearance. 

Like I said, it was a good day.

PS: Sorry if these posts are long and boring for you. But they're mostly for me to remember what I'm doing and feeling every day, so actually, not sorry.