Long overdue... sorry!

Hello again. 

I have not written in a while... 2 weeks have gone by extremely quickly. A lot has happened. All of last week was orientation which was very good. I felt like it gave me a good taste of what life will be like here at the university and in this city. I really enjoyed going into town when I have had the opportunity. Last saturday I just went off and explored all of these cool little streets and food markets and shops. Tourism is definitely not absent.. tons of places geared towards backpackers and foreigners. Lots of people wanting to sell you things or give you rides. But it was nice just to be able to walk around... there are tons of temples all over the place. Most are clad in gold that has a really cool shine if its a sort of gray day because you can really see the contrast between the two hues. 

I also was lucky to have the opportunity to go zip-lining last weekend. For those who don't know what this is, basically you are harnessed in and attached to a rope that extends between two giant trees. You jump off these platforms that are built around each tree and fly through the air until you reach the next. It was scary but after the first couple of zips, it got a lot easier. I just had to rarely look down.  A big group of us went so we got a great rate. The cost includes transportation and dinner as well. At dinner I met one of the cook's daughters. Her name was 'Chom-pu' and she was so cute. This place was up in the mountains and right near a tiny village where people live in this sort of wooden houses on stilts. It was nice to experience and see another little bubble of life somewhere for a day. 

My classes and service started this past week. My classes have been good. I especially like this class I am taking on Vietnam because we will be learning mostly about post-war Vietnam which I am interested in exploring. I am interested to see how it will contrast what I was taught in school about the war. My service has been great so far. I have had only 2 days of it so far. Wednesday and today. Well, I guess I should say for those who don't know, I am volunteering at a school for mentally challenged children called Kawila Anukul three times a week. It has been great but definitely challenging. I have worked with many children before and many mentally challenged children before but I have never had to work through this sort of language barrier before. Its a really interesting experience though. Like today, I was sitting there and the kids were doing activities with these wooden blocks that had characters of the thai language on them. As the teacher was asking them various questions, I was learning too. In my thai class we have not done any writing yet. We have only done basic speaking so I was absolutely more lost than they were. And they were all looking to me for help! It was a little frustrating but it was also kind of nice to learn along side them. Throughout most discussion that goes on I can pick up a few words but for the most part its like watching a movie with no sound. I have really never been in a place for an extended period of time where the predominant language practiced or used is not english. But the kids are so adorable and it is amazing already to see how much can be communicated with gestures and smiles. (sounds kinda cheesy but it's really true) All of the teachers have been so welcoming and understanding which is helpful. 

To add on, I am also using this blog to journal for one of my classes. And my teacher suggested that I write 3 expectations that I have of this trip and 2 goals that I want to try to achieve. (Don't worry... this blog won't turn into a series of class assignments) So here it goes, my first expectation is that my perspective on language will endure a major shift as a result of my time here. My second expectation is that I will be opened up to an entirely different set of politics and history. (I have been really enjoying following thai current events and relating them to what I have learned so far about the history and evolution of this country) My third expectation is that I will eat more spice in the next 4 months than I have in my entire life. (For those of you who are familiar with my eating habits...I grew up eating plain pasta with butter and refusing to have anything on my plate "touch" and I have just recently started to stray from this habit).

My first goal is to remember as much as possible about this trip... journaling and emailing is already assisting this goal I think. My second goal is learn as much as possible about as may people as I can here. Sometimes in my busy craze of life in the states, I think that I forget that there are still things to discover about people. So I am going to constantly remind myself to ask questions and listen intently.