Thailand: The morning after with no makeup on

---

So i'm heading into my fourth day of school. The first two days were pretty brutal. I am teaching 4-12 year olds and the kids have had little to no english for the most part. Trying to figure out a way to communicate with them knowing little to none of their native language is difficult to say the least. The 6-8 year olds also have the attention spans of knats. The girls are better than the boys, most of whom i'm convinced were spawned from Satan. Oh and there is also a slightly autistic kid in my 8yr old class who spends the entire hour finding new ways to sneak up and grab my chest. I was ready to throw in the towel, but today actually gave me a glimmer of hope because I don't think I totally sucked. That is a giant goal in my book. I taught the kindergarteners and they all came up to my knees. It was adorable. The older kids are also really great and excited to learn.

Ayutthaya keeps getting better and better. I bought an old school bike and spend everyday after school exploring. There are crazy beautiful ruins and temples everywhere here. I will start taking pictures, but it is really breathtaking. I'm actually really happy to be in the rural jungle environment rather than the beach. I figure I will head down South after these four months, but I would have never picked to live in a place like this. The bike's a two seater, so guests are always welcome!

Top ten things which are crazy about Thailand:

1. The amount of ambiguous meat on sticks that I eat. There are stands every ten feet.
2. How unbelieveably hot it is and Thai people don't sweat. I have yet to see one person even glimmer.
3. They dye their eggs pink. I have no idea why.
4. Everyone wears baby powder all over their face. They think it protects them from the sun. Half of my class look like they're dressing up as ghosts. It's kind of hysterical.
5. There are she-ladies everywhere. Most of them are dressed in conservative regular women's suits. A lot of the male teenagers are also super effeminate and are more styled than the girls.
6. I get called at, followed and have my picture taken on a daily basis for the simple fact that I am white and actually walking and talking. Parents call their kids and point me out to show them the "farang" when I walk by.
7. Most days I spend less than two dollars total on food, drink and transportation!
8. They actually eat bugs here. A lot of them. There are traveling stands of just roaches, catepillars and random others
9. The food isn't actually that good. Turns out Thai food in America is good because it has a pound of peanut butter dumped on it. Actual Thai food is either super spicy or pretty plain.
10. Almost no-one speaks English. Definitely a good lesson in how egocentric we are as Americans. I'm starting Thai lessons. The language is completely based on tonality and pretty much contrary to everything about how we know how to speak.

---

Comments

[Danielle]

knats
Is a knat the Thai version of a gnat? I RUBBAH YOUS!