Day starts at about 6:30 here. Climb under my mosquito net and put on my "pass-eem" ( wow this is the first time I'm blanking on an english word. I'll get back to you) walk downstairs and out back to the outhouse. It's cement with a corregated roof. I use the squat toilet and my own personal stash of toilet paper- I think I'm the only one in the family. And I use the bowl in the cement water countainer to pour over me for a shower.
Breakfast is usually leftovers. So a bowl of rice, with various thai soups or dishes. My aunt puts out about 8 dishes. You are not supposed to eat everything in front of you. Just take some to add to your rice bowl, then eat mostly rice, and a little of the other stuff.
I leave home by 7:30 to bike to school. The first 2 miles is a dirt road with loads of scary dogs that chase after me and growl. It is really intimidating. I don't run that way anymore because I'm afraid I'll get bitten. And everyone tells me I will too.
At 8 I have language class with 3 other volunteers. It is tough, but I am certainly learning some Thai. I have a long way to go! We are just starting to read. Here's some Thai if you don't know what it looks like รีนาหรฟาด ฟ่กดาสร ห่าสไรดวฟ อแปทิผตจ ทม-ค ฟ้า/ขๆ แมทฟ. I don't know what I wrote, just hit the keyboard.
By 1:30 I have my practice teaching at a school about 10k away, or I meet up with the other teaching volunteers for technical training.
Usually we are done by 5 an have time to grab a beer before the 30 minute bike home. Although we have to be carefully about where we go. It is not culturally ok for women to drink- especiialy in public.
Back home by 6:30 and shower because I am so sweaty and dirty from the day. Hang out and try to communicate with the fam. The kids are cuteys and the family is really friendly. We just can't talk about a whole lot, so I don't feel totally bonded.
Bed by 9:30 to listed to music a little. Read by my headlamp. Or more recently I've been playing a few games of Solitare on my IPOD. Then off to sleep...
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Call me Liam
I visited the school I will be doing my practice teaching at for a couple weeks.
When I biked in a teacher was there to greet me, and shew away the dogs- one who nipped me anyway. I met the principle who was very nice. He didn't speak much English, and had a hard time saying my name, as most Thais do. The say L instead of R, so my host family calls me Lachel. My principle decided I needed a nick-name, which he chose: Liam.
Anyway. The most poinient part of the afternoon was that they had a teachers meeting for over 45 minutes with all the teacher. No one was in any of the k-6 grade classes. WHOA! Not that there seemed to be any problems.
And i thought I'd have nothing to do to help train the teachers.
The big kicker is that when I met up with other volunteers who had been at their schools they almost all had similar expereinces, where teachers would just ehad off and leave the kids for a while.
When I biked in a teacher was there to greet me, and shew away the dogs- one who nipped me anyway. I met the principle who was very nice. He didn't speak much English, and had a hard time saying my name, as most Thais do. The say L instead of R, so my host family calls me Lachel. My principle decided I needed a nick-name, which he chose: Liam.
Anyway. The most poinient part of the afternoon was that they had a teachers meeting for over 45 minutes with all the teacher. No one was in any of the k-6 grade classes. WHOA! Not that there seemed to be any problems.
And i thought I'd have nothing to do to help train the teachers.
The big kicker is that when I met up with other volunteers who had been at their schools they almost all had similar expereinces, where teachers would just ehad off and leave the kids for a while.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Krab Krue (Family) Go Seen
I am getting settled in with the Go Seen Family of Thailand. I will be at the homestay for the next 9 weeks while I do language classes and practice teaching and before I go to my permanent site in late March.
The father is a principle of a school so the house is pretty nice. The sectioned off a 7 by 7 area of the porch for me. I have a very thin mattress on the floor and a mosquito net. The toilet is outside, concrete walls with corregated tin roofing. The toilet is squat style, which means its basically a porcelin hole in the ground, which you flush by pouring water in it. And the shower is a bowl in the big water basin.
The family is great. Paa Go Seen is my Dad. Noke is my mom. I is my 4 year old little sister who has a 21 day old puppy she carries everywhere. Pen is my Aunt and Bow is my Uncle. Oom is their 6 year old daughter. Maa is the grandmom. There are some communication issues for sure. I have become an expert at saying "Mai Kow Jai Ka" which means "I don't understand." But they are really easygoing and really look out for me.
Today my Unce and the girls followed me around for 2 hours as I ran. I tried to tell them they didn't need to, I was ok; but either he didn't understand or didn't want to leave me. It turns out that one dirt road with tall sugar canes or corn fields looks pretty much like the next, so it was ok that I had some help in case I got lost.
The father is a principle of a school so the house is pretty nice. The sectioned off a 7 by 7 area of the porch for me. I have a very thin mattress on the floor and a mosquito net. The toilet is outside, concrete walls with corregated tin roofing. The toilet is squat style, which means its basically a porcelin hole in the ground, which you flush by pouring water in it. And the shower is a bowl in the big water basin.
The family is great. Paa Go Seen is my Dad. Noke is my mom. I is my 4 year old little sister who has a 21 day old puppy she carries everywhere. Pen is my Aunt and Bow is my Uncle. Oom is their 6 year old daughter. Maa is the grandmom. There are some communication issues for sure. I have become an expert at saying "Mai Kow Jai Ka" which means "I don't understand." But they are really easygoing and really look out for me.
Today my Unce and the girls followed me around for 2 hours as I ran. I tried to tell them they didn't need to, I was ok; but either he didn't understand or didn't want to leave me. It turns out that one dirt road with tall sugar canes or corn fields looks pretty much like the next, so it was ok that I had some help in case I got lost.
Cheap calls
I just found out about a great phone deal. Check out http://www.skype.com/
Apparently calls to Thailand are 3 cents a minute.
You download software to your computer and actually make the call through the internet. Calls to other computers are FREE. Check it out and call me.
to call me from the states dial 011-66-6-987-9638
Apparently calls to Thailand are 3 cents a minute.
You download software to your computer and actually make the call through the internet. Calls to other computers are FREE. Check it out and call me.
to call me from the states dial 011-66-6-987-9638
Monday, January 17, 2005
Tsunami help
Want to help in the Tsunami relief? I have the perfect solution... Come visit me!!!
I've been reading in the local paper that the biggest help in Thailand is for people to come vacation here and spend their vacation $. So you really would be doing a good deed, a mench you might say, if you came and visit.
I had some interest already, start planning your NEW YEARS 2006 in THAILAND. Save up those vacation days and pennies.
I know it's the beginning, but I am liking PC more than I thought. I am conflicted about the idea that I may want to stay more than a year. That being said, I am still planning on leaving early. So if you want to come visit I suggest you plan it for the next 15 months. After that all bets are off.
Also, I'm going to have limited travel time untill June.
I've been reading in the local paper that the biggest help in Thailand is for people to come vacation here and spend their vacation $. So you really would be doing a good deed, a mench you might say, if you came and visit.
I had some interest already, start planning your NEW YEARS 2006 in THAILAND. Save up those vacation days and pennies.
I know it's the beginning, but I am liking PC more than I thought. I am conflicted about the idea that I may want to stay more than a year. That being said, I am still planning on leaving early. So if you want to come visit I suggest you plan it for the next 15 months. After that all bets are off.
Also, I'm going to have limited travel time untill June.
We're not in Kansas anymore
Well I made it to Thailand. Back, I should say. I'm with the Peace Corps and so far all is swell; still in the honeymoon phase, you might say. There are 50 of us here. We all met in LA on the 11th, and had a few hours of pre service training to do some logistics. Most people are a couple years younger than I am, altho there are a bunch my age or just older, and 4 over 45. Half are here for TCCO ( teacher coordination and comunity outreach), which I am doing. And half are here for CBOD (Community Based Organizational Development). My group will be co-teaching in a middle school as well as doing some community outreach. I am actually trying to switch to the other group so I can work more closely with small businesses and help with product development and marketing.
We have 10 weeks of training in a province about 2 hours NW of Bangkok. In 2 days we head to our homestay where we will be in a house in a small village with 3 other people nearby. In these small groups we will have language classes and training. Then in the end of March we have our swearing in and head to our permament site. I won't know where that is for a while yet.
The weather has been unseasonably cold which is nice. Oh! Tomorrow we get these fancy mountain bikes. Shocks and everything. What else? The food is amazing as always. We haven't really left the compound much, but tomorrow we'll head to the market. We have a language assignment to buy a sarong at the market. If they only knew how much experience I have shopping in Thai markets....
Other news is that I want to do a half marathon on March 19th in BKK. Come visit!
Thanks for all who wrote emails. Keep them coming. Once I get to my site I'll know better about how often I'll be able to check. It may only be an hour every week or so.
We have 10 weeks of training in a province about 2 hours NW of Bangkok. In 2 days we head to our homestay where we will be in a house in a small village with 3 other people nearby. In these small groups we will have language classes and training. Then in the end of March we have our swearing in and head to our permament site. I won't know where that is for a while yet.
The weather has been unseasonably cold which is nice. Oh! Tomorrow we get these fancy mountain bikes. Shocks and everything. What else? The food is amazing as always. We haven't really left the compound much, but tomorrow we'll head to the market. We have a language assignment to buy a sarong at the market. If they only knew how much experience I have shopping in Thai markets....
Other news is that I want to do a half marathon on March 19th in BKK. Come visit!
Thanks for all who wrote emails. Keep them coming. Once I get to my site I'll know better about how often I'll be able to check. It may only be an hour every week or so.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Back to Thailand
Yes, I made it back to the US without any tsunami complications. I am still waiting to hear from some friends who were down in the islands for the holidays. Such a horrible situation.
I will still start Peace Corps January 11th in Thailand doing Teacher Training. The tsunami will not affect my resposibilities.
It will take about a week to get mail to me. So start writing:
PCT Rachel Bobruff
242 Rajvithi Road
Amphur Dusit
Bangkok 10300, Thailand
I will still start Peace Corps January 11th in Thailand doing Teacher Training. The tsunami will not affect my resposibilities.
It will take about a week to get mail to me. So start writing:
PCT Rachel Bobruff
242 Rajvithi Road
Amphur Dusit
Bangkok 10300, Thailand
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)