| Thailand sure does seem to have a lot of holidays. This weekend we have off Friday, monday, and Tuesday. I'm not really sure what the holiday is, but there's a rocket festival I'll be going to and I'm not sure what else was said since everyone speaks too fast. )I guess they don't clue in to the fact I can't understand them despite the dumb looks and constant asking to speak slower and repeat. Man, learning another language is really hard. Especially when you'relearning two languages at once and you can't tell if they're speaking Thai or Isaan.) The main staple food here is of course rice. But the region I'm living in (Isaan) eats 'sticky rice'. It's so good. I think I've found my new favorite food. And good thing we eat it at every single meal! I don't actually like white rice, but sticky rice is pretty great. Especially when you soak it in coconut milk and eat it with mangoes--all of which is plenty to be had. Mango season has arrived and i eat at least one or two a day. Thai people are so generous and constantly give me things. Today I visited a village that is known for its weaving. A lot of people weave, but this village i guess is locally famous for it. The leader of the woman's group, who I had only spoken to for a few minutes, had me come over to her house and gave me something she had woven. It's absolutely amazing how intricate they have made this cloth. But it's even more incredible that she so generously gave it to me. I asked to pay for it and she said no!--seeing me made her think of her 5 daughters who live inother places, and she was like being a mother to me. It's really sweet. I had told her I'd like to learn to weave so as I left I said I would come back and have her teach me how to weave. Of course, that's a lot of patience whih is going to be really hard. But it's exciting. sometimes i feel so overwhelmed with people's generosity. |
Thursday, May 19, 2011
May 12, 2011
April 19 Update
Interesting things that have happened to me this week so far:
1. I found a house where I can live for the next two years. Right now I'm living with a host family but can move out in about a week to go live on my own. I feel relieved about it because I haven't been able to settle down or feel like I have my own space to get organized.
2. I slipped and fell while washing dishes because the ground was slippery and my constantly falling has been the topic of the majority of my conversations lately. All I did was scrape my knee but I laugh about how dangerous washing dishes is.
3. I left my windows open when I left the house and there was a huge rainstorm that soaked my entire room. So I came home as fast as possible and thank goodness my computer wasn't damaged.
4. I probably eat more mangoes in one day than I ever have in my entire life cumulatively before coming here. There are so many mangoes and I'm in love with it.
5. I taught the neighbor kids how to play monkey in the middle as well as 'red light/green light'. It's been a huge success. Every day these little girls come over to my house asking to play red light/green light.
6. This past week was the Thai New Year. The tradition is to throw water on everyone and just play in the water all the time. So I got soaked riding to the market and back just from people on the side of the road throwing water at me. Everyone does it and then people also come up and put white powder on your cheeks. It's pretty fun, but you have to make sure you put your phone or camera in plastic bags if you want to leave your house.
7. I met a pig farmer while I was out in the community trying to get to know people. He's this big Thai man who is in love with farming pigs; he just had such a passion for it. I'll probably go back another day and talk about his work, see what goes on there.
8. I teach English twice a week at the government office that I work at. Today one of the students asked if I knew Justin Bieber. Then the whole class asked if on Thursday i could teach the class how to sing "Baby" by Justin Bieber. So that will be my lesson plan for Thursday--transliteration of "Baby".
1. I found a house where I can live for the next two years. Right now I'm living with a host family but can move out in about a week to go live on my own. I feel relieved about it because I haven't been able to settle down or feel like I have my own space to get organized.
2. I slipped and fell while washing dishes because the ground was slippery and my constantly falling has been the topic of the majority of my conversations lately. All I did was scrape my knee but I laugh about how dangerous washing dishes is.
3. I left my windows open when I left the house and there was a huge rainstorm that soaked my entire room. So I came home as fast as possible and thank goodness my computer wasn't damaged.
4. I probably eat more mangoes in one day than I ever have in my entire life cumulatively before coming here. There are so many mangoes and I'm in love with it.
5. I taught the neighbor kids how to play monkey in the middle as well as 'red light/green light'. It's been a huge success. Every day these little girls come over to my house asking to play red light/green light.
6. This past week was the Thai New Year. The tradition is to throw water on everyone and just play in the water all the time. So I got soaked riding to the market and back just from people on the side of the road throwing water at me. Everyone does it and then people also come up and put white powder on your cheeks. It's pretty fun, but you have to make sure you put your phone or camera in plastic bags if you want to leave your house.
7. I met a pig farmer while I was out in the community trying to get to know people. He's this big Thai man who is in love with farming pigs; he just had such a passion for it. I'll probably go back another day and talk about his work, see what goes on there.
8. I teach English twice a week at the government office that I work at. Today one of the students asked if I knew Justin Bieber. Then the whole class asked if on Thursday i could teach the class how to sing "Baby" by Justin Bieber. So that will be my lesson plan for Thursday--transliteration of "Baby".
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