Over The River & Thru The Wood... To The Pool We Go! + Waai Kru, Monkeys On A Barrel, And Other Asean Adventures

Well time just flies when you're living in paradise! I keep thinking my posts will get shorter, but so much keeps happening its hard to keep up with it alll!!!

 

So at the end of June we were honored at our school for teacher's day, known as Waai Kru (aka “bow to teacha”). After the kids all sang some songs and some Thai was exchanged, all the teachers for each grade sat at the front, next to an altar and of course a large photo of the king, while two students from each class crawled up to us on their knees with offerings of flowers and numerous bows. We graciously accepted the bouquets and gave our students a blessing in return. Every one of our students brought in a small & unique, thai-style flower arrangement—complete with incense and candles, wrapped in large green leaves! They were just too adorable.

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This is Japan, he is one of my favorites. He is hilarious, loves to sing, dance, and bat his eye-lashes! He also wants to be a mermaid when he grows up & draws at least 1 mermaid on every piece of paper he touches!!

This is N'Pun (sounds like Ban), he is completely out of control, energetic & wild! Loves to run, scream, and pretend he is a dinosaur. Gets pulled out of our lesson every day, but he is still one of the brightest kids in class & always knows the words to the songs...even though he won't sing during song time – rather while he's running down the hall on the way to lunch!!

In June we only received ½ a months pay, as classes didn't start until mid-May, so most of the teachers were patiently waiting for payday, which meant less weekend trips away from Surat and more exploring of our own neighborhood! Which was actually great! Just across the river from us we found a brand new pool that none of the locals seem to be going to. In general, Thais are not eager to build their suntans, in fact its quite the opposite. Every lotion or skin product in the country is full of “whitening agents” which I'm pretty sure is just bleach! So they must think the farang are absolutely insane to go out and lay in direct sunlight for hours and hours then proceed to compare our tan lines :D But with a view like this how could you not?!

I also rented a motorbike last month and have been enjoying perusing the city, and really beginning to realize how big Suratthani even is!! Its not huge by any means, but there are definitely several main streets which all seem to confusingly wind around into a big circle of sorts, and we have our share of department stores, movie theaters, bike shops, restaurants, bars, dessert shops, coffee shops, grocery stores, electronics stores, pharmacies, 7-Elevens & there's even a football stadium!

Here's me in my work uniform, with my brand new, shiny helmet!!!

nee bpen rotmotersai khong chan gap muak gannok mai - this is my motorcycle & my new helmet!!

Over the weekend I took a little drive over the bridge, past the pool, and found myself in a forest of palm trees!! It is neat to actually see NATIVE palm trees, where they aren't awkwardly all in one neat row on top of a hill :D But as I was driving I found, first, a cool building with a colorful mural on it!!!

And second, I saw a monkey!! At first I was really excited to finally see a monkey in the wild, but then when I stopped for a picture I quickly realized it was tied up to the tree! Dislike... But it seems Thai's have a thing for keeping animals tied up... I've seen everything from a cat, to an elephant, a squirrel, a bird & a monkey all tied up! And yet, its the dogs they let run free on all the streets! Even people who own dogs just let them completely come & go as they please...

In other news, I have a new favorite restaurant! Its called “Good Health” and they use all fresh ingredients and they don't add MSG to their food!! Hallelujah!! PLUS they have a whole page of tofu dishes!! I am slowly but surely adjusting to the food here & my new favorite dish is tofu green curry!!!

Lastly, I've still been practicing my Thai! It's going slowly, but honestly I think my yoga instructor is helping a great deal! Listening to her 3-4 days a week is really helping me begin to grasp the tones and the sounds of the language, and a little bit of vocabulary is sneaking in there too!! I've also made friends with some of the Thais that come to class, one girl & her two aunts have invited me this Friday to join them on a night boat to go see fireflies on the river!!

Last week the 4 of us were the only ones in class so P'Noi had us doing partner poses that turned out to be rather challenging, but FUN! I am so grateful that Holly showed me this studio, I absolutely LOVE P'Noi & her family! What a great place to be practicing!!!

~ namaste ~

the light in me honors & reflects the light in you