Ao nang-our home away from home

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So, it is hard to believe that we just had our last full week in Ao-nang, which has become our home away from home for 6 weeks now! Whew. Where does the time go? We taught English in the mornings, 9 am-12 pm, for grades 4-6, as a summer camp. The kids did really well, and loved the various games played! It was just Rob and I, no other teachers and no head master around for the entire week. It was very sad to say good bye to the kids. We treasured all of our fond memories of them, and also wanted to share the memories with them, so we gave each of them a picture that was taken of them during our time here. We anticipated that we would be teaching an adult English class in the evenings to the local Thais, however, for whatever reason, that didn't happen. No explanation given, no head master around, no people around, so, surprisingly, we had more time on our hands to enjoy the rest of Ao nang and its surroundings. We tried to take in some of the Thai culture that we hadn't experienced yet, so we went to Thai boxing on Friday night at the local stadium. Thai boxing, known as "muay Thai," is the national sport of Thailand. The fighters were so young, mostly 15-17 years of age. We even saw some younger fighters 11-12 year old boys, which was amazing to see such a young age. All of the fighters were professional and most of them started training between the ages of 5-7 years old. There were some good, athletic fighters, without any brutual fights, much to my pleasing! We enjoyed our last weekly massage, at our #5 hut along the beach. Rob was courageous enough to get a traditional Thai massage, which consists of deeper pressure, lots of stretches (he moved in ways I've never seen!) and I enjoyed a Thai/oil massage, which is not as intense as the traditional Thai massage, more relaxing than Rob's. I layed there, ahh, the sea breeze, a light run pitter-pattered started on the thatched roof huts, so peaceful, then I would here "ugh" from Rob, as his face turned bright red. I don't think he breathed at all! hehe! We ate lunch and dinner at our favorite Thai restaurants, which were more of the locals than tourists, and a better price too! Such delicious food-lots of green curry chicken, spicy papaya salad, sticky rice, fried fish, chicken soup in coconut milk, fried pork with garlic and pepper, chicken and cashew nuts, and steamed white rice!! So much rice!! Our last dinner at Ao nang was shared with our Thai friends/roommates, who returned on Friday, after being in their hometowns for the week. We were so happy to see them since we were thinking they weren't coming back while we were still there. Janya and I went to the local market to get all of the fresh food for dinner. Kwan and Janya cooked up a traditional Thai meal, with varieties of chicken, fish, shrimp, and vegetable dishes, with steamed white rice. So good! We loved every bite!! (anyone hungry yet? hehe) As we drove away from Ao nang, on the back of a truck with all of our luggage, which was our taxi to Krabi, a sudden sadness came over me, knowing that all of this is now just a memory. A wonderful, beautiful, precious memory with such great adventures and relationships formed that we will always treasure and remember fondly. My heart ached a little, as tears started rolling down my face, reflecting on this trip, this community, our home away from home, that will always stay and be in my heart forever. A magnificient and true blessing in life. My cup runneth over. Hope this finds everyone well with full and happy hearts! LOVE TO ALL! Rob and Jordonne

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Photos

Innocence
A self portrait taken by a beautiful second grade girl named Eeat. She was enjoying taking pictures with my camera, as we cleaned and organized the English classroom after our last lesson taught. She and 3 other students, who are usually around after school, stayed and helped us, willingly and happily, and then engaged in a game of Bingo, upon their request, in which we glady accepted. It was the least thing we could do since they helped us with all the cleaning for 2 hours, a huge help indeed. So appreciated. She is an incredible little photographer, capturing the true essence of beauty she carries within.

Thai dinner
Our last meal with our Thai roommates at the school. A delicious variety, including fried spicy fish, presented whole, which is typical when you cook or order any fish dish here. Also, fried chicken, shrimp in red water (no red water today, heheh), steamed veggies, and steamed white rice, of course.

Thai boxing
Check out the fighter on the left-blocking with his leg, while maintaining balance on his other leg. We watched "muay thai" (Thai boxing), the art of self defense, the national sport, in a local stadium, in which most fighters were between the ages of 15-18 years old, and are professional, which is amazing at such a young age. Most of the professional fighters start training between 5-7 year old.

Our home
We stayed in one of the two bedrooms on the second floor (Kwan and Janya in the other). We shared an open small living area/kitchen where we enjoyed our dinners. The first floor was the headmaster's office and teacher area, with 2 computers, with the bathroom in the back.

Our bathroom
The toilet to the far right, lots of squatting, building up those leg muscles. The infamous bucket used for our cold water bucket baths. Quite the refreshing wake up call to say the least.

Ao nang school
These are some of the classrooms, including pre-school, grades 1 and 2 Thai classes.

Ao nang classrooms
The bottom right in where the new English classroom is, our teaching haven, with classrooms for grades 3-6 on the second floor. A nice new building, only built 4 years ago. The bottom open area is used for daily morning meetings, mediation, play time, recess, and a good dry place protected from the rain.

View point from hike
A beautiful view of the Andaman Sea, after hiking through Klong Muang Park. AHH!

Beautiful Ao nang sunset
After our massage, we were walking along the beach, when all of the sudden the rain stopped and the sun popped out of the clouds, such a vibrant glowing orange. Perfect timing to create such a beautiful sunset.