Sorry guys. I'm a couple weeks behind on keeping you updated. It's just been quite the adjustment and instead of getting to this over the weekends like I planned, I sat by the pool or in a hotel room with A/C until I had to leave. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
So if I haven't mentioned it already, its incredibly hot here. Add in the nasty humidity and it makes for some very uncomfortable days. The facilities are extremely basic. It's almost like camping. There is a shower/toliet stall. The shower only had cold water and the toilet doesn't flush, so you can't put toilet paper in it. There are also no screens on the upper windows in the bathroom so there are all sorts of bugs and geckos crawling around the rooms. It's a bit weird at first, but what can you do. When in Rome...
There are about 16 of us volunteering at the foundation. There are mostly British and Canadians here with only a few Americans representing. Needless to say, I'm the oldest person here. The next oldest is a guy name Ben. He's from the east coast. Everyone else is between 18 and 24. The mix of people is quite interesting. I feel like I'm in summer camp most days. Not only because we live in dorms with bunk beds, but because its very high school. Oh well, keep your fingers crossed for me...
Before I give you the impression that I made a huge mistake...don't worry, I didn't. I actually enjoy most of the people here, there are just those choice few who seem to get under my skin. I think I got most of the issues resolved. Sarcasm seems to be quite effective as does pretending I don't hear them. I've only had to have one come-to jesus, but I'll tell you about that later.
You will be happy to know I've adjusted quite well to the food. Woohoo! I know some of you were a tad bit concerned, as was I. (See previous blog). I discovered fresh lychees, mangosteens and Thai donuts are quite delicious. We have an abundance of noodle and rice dishes. Once we had spaghetti for breakfast and it wasn't half bad, though it wasn't how mom made it. Also, surprisingly enough, I've been eating more chips and ice cream here then I have in the last several years. For one, I know what Lays Potato Chips are and the ice cream is a refreshing daily treat. We did go out the first night we arrived at the foundation and some of the seasoned volunteers tried to get me to eat crickets and beetles ore something. Not happening. Nor will dog or frogs be on my menu anytime soon. This weekend we managed to find a little B&B with a BBQ, so we went to the local market and boughts steaks and chicken. The beef was extremely lean and tough, but the BBQ chicken was delicious. Adding in the constant flow of gin and tonics made me a very happy girl, at least up to the point when I got sick.
As for beverages....I've been reduced to buying a whole flat of canned coffee which I leave in the freezer for my morning treat. (Yes, it's that hot that I'm drinking iced coffee at 8 am in the morning.) There is no such thing as fresh squeezed orange juice. Its basically tang with a couple extra helpings of sugar. Actually, all the beverages seem to be extra sweet here, which may account for most people having rotten or no teeth by the time they reach adulthood. It's just as well since nothing seems to be quite as refreshing as plain old bottled water, which has caused me no problems as of yet. So I haven't had to use my super Katadyne bottle. Oh and we've been out a couiple times and indulged in a Chang beer and Singha beer, which is the lighter of the two. They are comparable to a MGD and MGD light in taste. Not bad for roughly a dollar at the local 7-11.
Work at the foundation is interesting, to say the least...I chose to work outside, so I spent the first week making bricks (yes, you read that correctly. I make B-R-I-C-K-S) in the morning and then in the afternoon we either make bricks or do random stuff around the foundation. It's pretty cool. I hang around all the guys and we just chit chat. There are a couple other women that do outdoor work, but they always seem to wander off, much to our chagrin. But thankfully, they leave in a few days. (The lazy cows.) The other group teaches English at various locations around town. Some go to the hospital, the guesthouse or some teach the children living on the foundation premises. Occassionally, we take Thai lessons from one of the interns, but her pronunciation sucks, so I mostly just talk to one of the Thai girls who lives here. Let's see, what else...things are a bit unorganized here, which sorta irks me. Some of the volunteers have very grandiose plans for us, like building a place for the volunteers to hang out, yet we have no resources, so I'm not quite sure how the hell that is supposed to work. But whatever, I'm just here to work and get acclimated to Thailand.
