Summertime

School has officially closed for the Thai summer. Today was bittersweet as I had to say goodbye to my graduating 12th graders, yet I cannot help but be excited for them to start the next chapter of their lives...I will miss their smiling faces.

Members of the Graduating Class Striking a Pose

Me and some of the graduating class

There was a feeling of celebration in the air today and everyone was relaxed and enjoying each other's company. We ate a large feast together, sang some songs, wished one another good luck and posed for a million photos.

Me and some of the soon to be 10th graders

This afternoon while sitting at home trying to figure out what to pack for my upcoming month and half off some of my 7th grade students came to my house to bring me some flowers and tell me they will miss me. How did I get so lucky?! It was the perfect end to a great day and wonderful semester. To think that when I first arrived students were too shy to even look at me, now they surprise me with a visit to my house!

Me and my flower bearers

My Flowers...

Tomorrow I leave on a fantastical adventure! I am backpacking around Thailand until May when school starts back up again. I will be travelling with a my fellow volunteers Patricia and Valerie and cannot wait, we have quite the itinerary. First we head to Northern Thailand and then down south to island hop and play in the ocean.

My mother and Jack will be meeting me here in Thailand the end of April and we will explore together as well before I bring them back to sleepy Nakhon Phanom to meet my students when school starts. Needless to say this may be my last post for awhile, but when I return I will have epic tales of awe inspiring adventures to share with you all.

Taste Taste

My roommate always says, "Kate, taste, taste?" When he wants me to try something new and for some reason I can never refuse...except in the case of "kai mot" (ant eggs). They really creep me out. So I said no.

However, I convinced some students who were being very "ai" (shy) to eat lunch with me the other day. They shared some of there food with me and of course they had ant eggs...but i couldnt say no to them! So I taste, taste. And it was not as horrific as I had imagined, there was so bursting of strange, gelatinous fluid...just a little squish. I did it, I may even do it again, as long as there is some Som Tom to go with it!

So lets see, since moving to Thailand I have sampled fried crickets, cow placenta soup, raw pork, turkey brains and red ant soup...its cicada season now, I guess I'll have to try one. What have you eaten today?

the ant eggs (with chili and fish sauce)

Som Tom (papaya salad), this dish is eaten with EVERY meal

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Moments here are passing so quickly, I find myself wanting to find someway to hold on to them longer, slow the blur of daily life down. Here is a list of some of my favorite things, the stuff I want to remember:

• The sound of students yelling "good morning teacher” on my walk to school.
• The burn of chili’s that only seems to get worse when you drink water.
• The way it feels when a student braids my hair.
• The student who fills in answers they don’t know on the test with “I love teacher Kate”.
• The joy of cooling powder.
• The way the "school bus" (really its just a old white pickup with a cage around the back) sounds coming down the road, I can pick it out from a mile away.
• The way my roommate Don says “WOW”! And the facial expression that goes along with it.
• Dancing with my students and having them beg me to “Sing a song”.
• The way the mountains of Laos look from across the Mekong on a clear day.
• All my dog friends who I have tamed with kindness and now follow me to and from school.
• Watching water buffalo go for a swim in the pond behind my house.
• Cheap, delicious, amazing fruit!
• Shy smiles from the villagers when I wander in town for the weekly market.
• The celebrity status of being a “farang” (foreigner) in Northeast Thailand.
• The geckos in my room that eat all the bugs that want to eat me.
• The strange, strange calls of the giant Tuki geckos looking for love.
• Isan folk music…its really catchy.
• Thai dancing, I wish my fingers could bend so gracefully.
• Homemade Tom Yum Kung (spicy shrimp soup) with coconut milk .
• Vibrant color everywhere.
• The ghost houses outside of people houses...gotta give those spirits a place to live.
• Rice fields lined with eucalyptus trees.
• Families of four on one small motor bike.
• Dried bananas coated in honey.
• Sticky rice
• The simplicity of life here.

This is the Life

I realize that I have almost been here for six months and still have not shown many pictures of where I live and what my daily life is like here in Wangkasae. Today I thought I would share.

My "baan" (house)

My dining room table, this is where I eat my meals

My bathroom. I bathe by using the pink bowl to pour water on myself. There is no hot water but as it is pretty hot here I don't really miss it too much. The gray bucket and bowl are to "flush" the toilet, and I have to say that my thighs are super strong and looking great after using a "squatter" for a few months.

My roommate in our "kitchen". We cook on an electrical Wok and use the rice cooker for rice (duh) but also to reheat food.

Our "sink", this is where I wash the dishes.

Our backyard trash pile. It gets burned twice a month.

This is where I get my bananas, its right in my backyard!

My "hong non" (bedroom), small but my cozy sanctuary!

My beautiful school and the views around it.

Some gifts made for me by students. They carved these flowers out of pumpkin.

Some drawings I have recieved that decorate my office area at school

Some shots of my students

Identical twins name Nueng and Song (One and Two)

Making me a picture

Thats all for now, I hope you enjoyed seeing a little more of what my life is like here and all the places and people that make it home.

Feelin' hot Hot HOT

When I first arrived here in Thailand it was hot, but not this hot. When I arrived in Nakhon Phanom the hot season was in its death throes and could only spit a few hot days at me. I sweated, I complained, I drank a lot of water, but it wasn't really a big deal; it didn't last very long.

Since November I have been living in the heaven that is the “cool season”, mild days that are not too hot, not too cold, just perfect. Now however I have to carry a handkerchief with me everywhere I go to wipe the sweat that drips constantly off my face. I finally understand the Thai philosophy of bathing and now take about three baths a day as they are the only relief from the heat. I apply cooling powder (talcum powder with menthol in it) to help keep me cool and absorb my sweat. Its so hot that even my shins sweat, I never even knew that was possible! Before when I would hang my laundry up to dry it would take about day to dry, now it is bone dry in a half hour. I am always thirsty, no matter how many liters of water I drink a day it is never enough.

This past Monday we had no school so I spent the day with a friends at their house. We took a minute walk to the store and back and my shirt was soaked through when we reached the shade of their house again. We spent the rest of the day lying on the tile floor in the kitchen because it was the only cool place we could find. My room becomes an oven and I cannot stand to be in it before 6pm. My little fan can barely combat the heat, it often just feels like hairdryer blowing hot air around my room. All I do is sweat and it makes me grumpy, lazy and a little short on patience!

This week I was talking to students about the heat, telling them how hot I thought it was. They looked at me and said “Oh no teacher. It is not hot yet.” Oh. My. God.

Go to Bangkok, Go to Buddha

I've been busy. The past two weeks have been filled with travel, amazing experiences, overwhelming frustrations and cultural connections and crossroads.

The evening of February 4^th I boarded a mini-bus bound for Bangkok with a few students and fellow teachers. The purpose of our trip was to attend a science fair and support the students who had gone down ahead of us with their science projects. We arrived at the out skirts of Bangkok around 4:45am on the 5th and stopped at a rest stop to get dressed for the day's activities (students in school uniforms and teachers in pink Wangasae shirts.) We ate a quick breakfast and then headed to the science fair, housed in a colossal convention center in the industrial district of Bangkok. We wondered the science fair for hours, waiting for it to finish so we could pack up our school's projects and head to the Amphawa floating markets. My roommates, Yout and Pom, kept telling me to "Put more make-up on so you look beautiful". Apparently I looked too tired and this was somehow unacceptable. My excuse of waking up at 4:45 and not having any coffee were not accepted and I kept being led to the "hong nam" (bathroom) to reapply concealer to my dark circles, though eventually I just started pouting and refused to do what they asked saying "in America I only put makeup on once a day!".

Finally we packed up and headed to Amphawa, home to a beautiful floating night market and numerous fireflies. We stayed in a "home stay" and had a total of four rooms for 33 people…needless to say the sleeping arrangements were a little cramped. We wandered the night market and ate dinner on the steps to the canals, food served to us from small canoe-like boats floating in the gentle water. As dark fell we boarded several wooden, motorized boats to take a ride through the canals and search for fireflies. We followed the shoreline closely and were rewarded with the sight of trees filled with fireflies, they flickered to some unheard rhythm and many of my students pointed and yelled, "Teacher, Christmas tree!!" I had never seen so many fireflies congregated in one spot before, it was beautiful. Unfortunately I was unable to take get any pictures of the sight as my flash disrupted the bugs and without it all you could see was darkness.

The Floating market

I had been under the impression that we would be staying in the Bangkok area for two days but unsurprisingly plans changed (a common occurrence here in Thailand where the idea of a hard schedule or consistent plan seems not to exist) and no one bothered to fill me in. The next morning, we boarded the mini-bus again at 9am and returned home around 1am! Though we did stop along the drive home to view beautiful temples, including one surrounded by fields of sunflowers, it was an incredibly long ride and my large, American behind was rather sore from all that sitting.

My students and sunflowers

On Tuesday the 9^th of February I embarked on yet another adventure with my some of my students, a Buddhist retreat. The retreat was to help students learn to be "Good teenagers and Students" and about 150 students participated. The group was made up of the "worst" students (failing grades, poor attendance and those caught drinking and smoking) and the "best" students (members of VSTAR, a student leader group with high grades and stellar records). The badly behaved students made up the majority of the group and I was, needless to say, a little apprehensive and unsure what to expect. We drove for about an hour to a Buddhist temple located on the top of a mountain, it was a small mountain but the views were beautiful nonetheless.

The View from the Temple

Upon arrival we all changed into all white outfits, a mandatory requirement when you "go to Buddha". We remained at the temple for four days and it was one of the most amazing, exhausting, frustrating and beautiful experiences of my life. Each day consisted of sitting on the floor in a room for periods of 4-5 hours at time. Since there was a figure or Buddha in the front of the room and most lectures were given by monks, we had to keep our feet hidden. This means sitting with your knees bent, feet curled behind you in the "polite position". It may sound like no big deal but I have to tell you I have never had such sore knees in my life! Everything was done in Thai and nothing was explained to me at all, teachers would turn to me and ask "Do you understand?" and I would reply, "No". To which they would just nod and go back to listening. The students, and majority of teachers, woke at 4am everyday for prayers and ate only two meals a day. Each day was strictly structured and the students did not have a single moment of free time until they were released for sleep at 11pm. I found the juxtaposition between Thai and American teens to be shocking, not once did a student complain, talk back, or try to break any of the rules during the four days. I tried to tell them that in America students would never be able to do what they are doing, but they seemed surprised at this and not to understand why.

Some students taking a break to take in the view

The first night we walked in a silent line with candles and incense around the pagodas on the grounds around the temple. It was beautiful and powerful to see everything lit by candle light and hear nothing but the wind and the calls of birds and insects. We ended with prayers and meditation led by the monks and though I didn't speak the language I feel that I still understood.

On our third day at the temple we went for a hike around the mountain. We hiked for 7 kilometers in flip flops over rugged terrain and steep inclines but it was worth it. We stopped for lunch in a cave cut right into the side of the mountain that overlooked the lush surrounding jungle. We continued on after eating and were rewarded by many beautiful vistas. The Monks eventually led us off the path to the foot of a large rock formation where the students were allowed to gather nuts and crack them open with giant rocks for a snack. One of the monks had a great sense of humor and told me this was the "Flintstones" part of the trip, and asked if I had thought I would see cavemen in Thailand. After eating their fill of nuts we climbed the rock formation and were led by the monks in both a walking and sitting meditation.

Off on a Hike!

Lunch with a View

Rock Top Meditation with the Monks

I enjoyed my time with the Monks immensely. Previously I found the monks I had encountered in Thailand to be very intimidating and unapproachable, a shocking contradiction to my experiences in India. Yet at this temple they were intrigued by me and referred to me as "Kru Farang" (foreign teacher) and sought me out for conversation. I was invited to return to the Temple at any time to be taught the way of Buddha and to teach English to the novice Monks, it was very flattering offer and perhaps one day I will find my way back there. For now I will continue to teach and learn from the students I have come to love at Wangasae and look forward to sharing my next adventure with you all.

Cowgirls and Dancers

It all started with a parade. This past Friday the 29^th of January was High School teacher sports day in Nakhon Phanom. This means that all the high schools in the province, around 50, cancelled classes for the day and the teachers all converged in town for a little friendly competition and, of course, a parade. As I am white, and somewhat of a novelty, I was selected by my Director to lead my school in the parade, I was told I would be wearing a costume and holding a giant baton. Thursday night, at 10:30pm, after searching for a costume large enough to fit my foreigner body, we found fishnet gloves and a hat, I was told that I would need to wake up at 3am for a 4am hair and makeup appointment. Needless to say I was a little shocked and irritated but mostly just amazed that hair salons would open at that ungodly hour. I arrived at the salon bleary eyed and yawning not sure what to expect. First they took a straight razor blade to my eye brows to thin them out, a horrifying ordeal that I was too tired to protest but actually turned out pretty well. Next my hair was braided into giant, corn row type braids and then layers and layers of makeup were applied to my face to make me look as white as possible. (White is beautiful here people, don’t forget!) After I was finished being made “say” (beautiful) I changed into my costume of jeans, a cowboy hat, long sleeve black tee-shirt, fishnet gloves and a pleather studded vest and was ready to represent Wangasae in the parade, flanked by my cowgirl sidekicks. We marched through the town and people waved and shouted and took photographs, the local TV station even filmed the whole event.

Posing after hair and makeup were completed

The final product, we are ready to march!

On Sunday the 31^st of January I was told I would be dancing with my students in a festival that evening. They sat me down and within five minutes had my hair piled on top of my head in a hair tower with gold chains, flowers, and golden spikes protruding from it. Next I was wrapped in a traditional dance costume and then had white powder applied to my back, shoulders, arms and chest because, yet again, I simply wasn’t white enough. After having my makeup completed and fake eyelashes glued on I was piled in a bus with my students and we were whisked off to the festival to perform. I was feeling quite a bit anxious about dancing on stage, with hardly any practice, but my students took the time to show me a few moves before we arrived, encouraging me through the learning process as I usually do for them. When we arrived we ate a quick dinner backstage and then we started dancing.

In Thai dance the dancers use move their hands and fingers in intricate ways in time to the music. From the time girls are born their parents start bending their fingers back so that they are flexible and graceful. My hands just cannot move the way theirs can. In every dance there is one dancer who pretends to play a stand of four clay pots in time to the music. This was what I had to do, not so hard, and I managed it quite well! Four people came up to the stage during our performance to give me leis of marigold, though I think it was more for my whiteness than my dancing skill. It was an amazing experience to be part of with my students. It brought us closer together and really solidified a bond between us. This whole week students have come to me in their free periods to just sit on the floor around my desk, either to chat or just relax, or teach me new Thai words.

Some of my students all dressed to dance

Kate the Thai Dancer

Me and some of my students

This past weekend was a weekend of firsts and once in a lifetime experiences that I will never forget. Tonight I am off to Bangkok with a group of fellow teachers and students; I am sure it will be an unforgettable experience as well and leave me with another story to share.