Goodbye Buriram, hello beach!

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I can't remember Tuesday. I love being on holiday! Wednesday we went to a market with Pong and Roger, did some painting, and Sandra cooked roast chicken, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, lots of vegetables, and a fruit salad. Bad news however, Roger lost his job, he was an English teacher at the University in Buriram. They laid off all the English teachers who weren't Thai - I think 4 or 5. He has worked there for 7 years. He is trying to find a job at another University in Surin, which is about 60km away, but gas is as expensive here as it is in the states and the commute takes about 1 hour each way. Anyway, pray for Roger and their family. Fortunately he has severence pay through the end of March, but after that who knows. School is out for the summer here, I think they go back at the end of April or so.
Thursday was my last day. More painting and cleaning, and time with the kids. I said my goodbyes to the townpeople we had gotten to know - the guy who spoke english at the ice cream parlor and loves Starbucks (wow, someone in Buriram had heard of Starbucks?) the cart pusher who serenaded me (I thought he was saying "I rub you" so I shot him dirty looks, but later on figured out he was saying "I love you", poor guy.) Thursday night they had a wonderful goodbye dinner for me (I found my favorite Thai dish - penang curry) and had flowers and presents, and all the kids wrote me thank you notes. They had each of the kids give me a rose - so sweet. I will miss those kids so much, but I am determined to go back. Roger organizes a lot of English Camps (like summer camps with native English speakers) so maybe someday I will do that. We also had our final round(s) of stick and stuck. Special thank you to all of you who donated sheets, towels, and goodies for the kids. Roger and Pong got one more boy (Tong, 14yo) when I was there, and also got news that they would be recieving a 2yo soon. Eileen (3yo) I think will have a difficult adjustment, as she LOVES being the baby of the family. Her puppy-dog face will keep all the older kids and grown ups wrapped around her little finger though. It was such a wonderful experience for me to be there at the orphanage, and I feel I connected with several of the kids, and they spoke more and more English every day!

So this (Friday) morning I set out for Trat, which is where I catch the boat to Koh Chang. The bus was supposed to set out at 6:50 - we left at 7:20, surprise surprise. It was a fairly uneventful bus trip, although they played Thai music videos (looks to me like spoof music - think Thai Weird Al Yankovich) at eardrum-shattering volume for about a half hour (thanks Mom and Bill for the MP3 player!). I switched trains in Chanthaburi, and got to Trat around 5:30. I took a taxi with some American/Canadian girls to the guesthouse Roger had helped me book - Trat Guesthouse. It truly is one of the cutest guesthouses, and about $2.50 per night! A little wood house up on stilts on this cute little winding street - very atmospheric. Jet who runs the place is also a wonderful host, gave me a little tour of town, and is helping me go to the Post office tomorrow. Went to dinner then down to the night market (think Pike Place Market in every town - love it!). I went to one of the shops to buy a travel alarm clock, where the owner of the shop was more than delighted to see me. I picked up the alarm clock and he asked me if I wanted a beer. Well, actually he just put it in front of me and insisted I stay (don't worry there were lots of other people around and in the shop.) I couldn't really say no, so I stayed for about 20 minutes and had the beer and talked to the guys in the shop. Songpan invited me to dinner at 9 oclock (it is now 8:30pm here), but I told him I was young enough to be his daughter, and no thank you. Anyway, there are always adventures in Thialand!

I am trying to upload more pictures onto Shutterfly, but they are taking 4ever.

Anyway, I think I will just stay in Trat for the night and head over to Koh Chang tomorrow. They are having a festival here tomorrow on the canal, but I don't think I'll stay, but we will see. I also have to extend my visa, and Trat is a cute, lazy town, so who knows, I am on "Thai Time" now. I could get used to this......

Love to all! Jenn

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