Lana in Thailand

Loving Life on Lovely Lanta

Sawadee Ka,

The more time I spend on this island, the more and more I enjoy my time here. After one week here my director offered me a 6 month position at the school.  I was originally scheduled to do 3 months on Lanta and then another 3 month placement somewhere else. I immediately jumped on board and accepted his offer since I have started to create bonds with my fellow teachers as well as students.  I look at is as an opportunity to teach my students even more.  Schools nation wide close down from the middle of march to the middle of May so I will really only be working here January-middle of March and then middle of May-end of June.  I plan to do some travelling, possibly China and Bali and then return to Ao Luk for a while during the 2 month school break.

Since my last entry I have really started to settle in here. I have made my home homier, learned  how to fully wash my laundry in a bucket and hang it on my clothes line, wash my dishes in a little bucket of cold water and finally got used to cold buket showers in the morning.  There is a real technique to slowly easing yourself into dumping cold water on yourself to bathe… tip your head upside down, wash your hair and then move to washing the body.   If you start with the head, your body gets used to the water and it won’t be as bad once you dump your first bucket down your back.

I have also started to get into a rythm of how my week goes.  I work monday-thursday from 8am to around 3 or 4 pm depending on the day.  I have no more than 4 classes a day lasting 50 minutes each.  I mostly teach the grade 7-9 classes and have one double class a week with a mixed 10-12 class.  Teaching teens is a lot of fun but reminds me that I still want to be a primary school teacher.  Inbetween classes I spend my time lesson planning and surfing the web with the lap top my school is letting me use during my time here.  After school from 5-6:30 I have a small group of 2-4 grade 10/11 girls from my school who come by my house and I tutor them english.  While tutoring them they also teach me the words in Thai so its a win-win situation.  On thursday evenings I go with my students and a few teachers to a resort on the other side of the island.  My students preform 4 traditional Thai dances at the restaurant for tourists.  They have also become obsessed with me being the MC at the resort and introducing the dances to the spectators.  It is for sure my favorite night of the week.

I spent my first weekend on Lanta island participating in the national Childrens day festivals.  I joined my staff and students at Lanta island festival then a small group of us went over to the small Muslim island - Koh Po to join their festivities.  The next day some of my coworkers took me to a gorgeous secluded beach at the bottom of the island.  I was silly and forgot to put sun screen on and it was not till that evening that i realised I had a small sun burn on my face.  My coworkers all kept pointing it out and were so amused with how my cheeks and face were red.  That evening a small group of us went down to the Old town Pier and lit up and sent off lanterns… a very popular thing to do in Thailand.

On that monday it was national Teachers day and the school was closed.  Our whol staff went to a retreat on the mainland with staff from all the surrounding schools.  I was the only foreign teacher there.  When we arrived we all registered and entered our name in draws.  After all the board members gave speeches we had 3 local Buddhist Monks come and chant for us.  After the chanting one came to the front and used reed sticks to splash holy water onto a crowd around the stage for good luck.  My teachers brought me up to join the crowd for the experience… I guess that holy water really did give me good luck because I won a cooking pot in one of the draws!!  Too bad I don’t have a stove HAHA so it has become a bowl for me.

My second weekend I left the island and took a ferry over to Koh Phi Phi to visit my friend Rachael who used to be a staff member with GVI when I first started.  I spent the weekend relaxing, exploring and enjoying the night life with her and her friends - all travellers or expats working on Phi Phi at the bars or as diving instructors.

The previous weekend a friend of Rachael’s that I met in Phi Phi named Liam came to visit me on Lanta.  He is from Australia and has been travelling around Thailand for the past two months.  He fell in love with Phi Phi and is living there for a month.  He had not been to Koh Lanta yet and decided he wanted to check it out.  He found a super deal on a suite at a nice hotel in the north of Lanta island where we each had our own bed room and bathroom- with a jet bath, a private pool, kitchen and living room.  It was soooo nice to sleep in a comfy bed, take hot showers and even a HOT bubbly jet bath.  On saturday we explored the island a bit before going to visit a cave in the middle of the island.  We thought as we drove down the road to it that it would just be a little cave we would drive up to, walk in and then leave.  Once we got there we learned we had to get a tour guide and it was a 2 hour adventure.  We decided to give it a whirl.  After a half hour hike up the side of the hill we arrived at the entrance to the Cave.  We had to climb up into the entrance, down a series of rickety ladders further and further down into the cave.  It was the most insane cave I have ever been in!! There were stalactities and Stalagmites hundreds and thousands of years old.  We all wore head lamps but once we got to the heart of the cave we all turned the lights out for a minute.  It was pitch black.  The cave had bats, little bugs with long antenna and all sorts of little creatures that are used to living in complete darkness. To get out of the cave we had to crawl through a little tunnel on our stomachs that was a meter long.  It was the kind of place that you can’t help but wonder - “how did anyone ever discover this?”.  Our tour guide explained that 30 years ago his boss,  the owner of the land, saw a bee flying around.  He decided to follow the bee hoping to find honey, but lead him down into the cave.  If it were not for that Bee the cave might have never been discovered.  The next day we continued to explore the island on my lovely little old motorbike that they school has given me to use.  It has over 270,000 KM on it and I have named it ‘the little engine that could’. 

I have decided that I am a pretty good tour guide and I am more than happy to show anyone around Lanta island if you come visit me :)

Lovin’ life on Lanta

Hello Folks,

Today is my 5th day on my new placement.  I am working at the island’s high school(grades 7-12).  I have packed my bags and left Ao Luk and moved on to my new 3 month placement in the Old town of Lanta Island( Koh Lanta in Thai).  I arrived here on the afternoon of Saturday the 7th and the other english teacher, a young muslim woman named Tokta, met me at my new house. 

I had no idea what my situation would be like here until I arrived.  Once I arrived at my doorstep I felt like Dorthy saying “Toto, I’ve a feeling were not in kansas anymore”.  Except my first reaction was not to click my ruby slippers anymore and repeat “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”.  My first reaction was a bit daunting but after living here for 5 days I have decided that instead of complaining about my situation I am going to explain my situation and how grateful I am for what has been provided for me…

I live in a little two story house in a compound built for the survivors of the 2004 Tsunami and was funded by Lions Clubs all over the world.  My house is very open, on the main level there is a kitchen in one room and the bathroom in a separate room.  The kitchen has nothing in it so I leave it locked.  My bathroom has a squatty potty which i flush by pouring water down it.  I have a big basin full of water and I use a little bucket to pour the water on myself to shower.  Hot water is not an option but with the heat I really do not mind.  When i first arrived about 2 million little ants believed my bathroom was their home, it really was because I just got there but finally last night I bought ant spray and started war against them.  My first night I woke in the night to use the bathroom and found a spider literally the size of my hand.  Luckily I am not afraid of spiders and I know he was only there to feast upon the little ants.  The next morning i walked in to find a little toad hanging out in there, no I did not kiss him and find my prince.  He comes and goes as he pleases and I have named him Buddy.  Im afraid he wont come back now that I have killed all the ants and I might loose my little friend. :(

Upstairs there are two separate bedrooms and a landing which is my balcony.  The other smaller room is not used so again I keep it locked.  My room is the longest and biggest room of the house.  I sleep on two piled up foamys, I have a bug net over my bed since there are no screens on my windows and I have a fan.  The saying “sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite” has taken on a completely new meaning for me.  My little kitchen in my room consists of a kettle, dishes, cutlery and all the snacks I bought for myself.  In Thailand it is normal to eat out every meal of the day or to bring food from stalls or restaurants back to your house to eat.  It is a bit lonely in my house living alone but all the houses are so close together and theres no soundproofing here so I feel like I live with the whole block, yet even the whole compound.  I cannot fall asleep at night until the kids are all in bed and the Tv’s have been turned down and I wake up in the morning to the sound of Roosters crowing outside.. sometimes even on my door step.

Yes my house sounds simple and very basic, it makes where I lived in Ao Luk look like a 5 star resort and my house in YK look like a palace but I know that I am very lucky to have this all provided for me. 

Now let me explain how the other families in my compound and my students and their families live.  Most of the people in my compound lost their houses in the tsunami and are completely blessed to have this acomodation provided to them.  My house is small and it is just me, but all the houses are the same size and there are usually atleast 6 people living in each house.  In Thailand you live with your whole family; brothers, sisters, parents, grand parents, husbands, wives, ect…  I have a room all to myself but most people have the whole family sleeping in the same room.  I have two thin foamys piled ontop of eachother but most have two people sleeping on just one thin foamy.  The only hot water they know of is what is boiled in the kettle, a hot shower seems like an absurd idea.  A washing machine is only for the rich families or if they have one they also do laundry as a service to tourists and is a source of income.  A clothing dryer… what is that in Thailand, clotheslines are the way to go.  As inexpensive lap tops, ipods and cell phones are they are seldom in my area.  At home internet is scarse and maybe one family on each street has a tv and satellite.  I usually see atleast 5 people crowded around the TV from various families to watch the daily Thai soaps( which by the way are so much more depressing and drama filled than any soap back home).School uniforms are required all over Thailand but for most of my students they only own one set and it is not rare for them to have holes in their socks, shoes too big or too small and for their mothers to wash their uniform every night. 

During my class this morning I noticed that the backpacks, book bags and notebooks for many of my students are provided by world vision.  I work at a school and live in an area that are sponsored by all those foreigners like my family who pay the monthly 30$ to support a child in need. These children have nothing, literally nothing.  For many of these children I they will be lucky to even go to a University and get a further education.  For the majority of them they will end up taking over their parents restaurants, food stalls, become a housewife, be a fisherman and if they are very lucky and speak enough english they may get a job at one of the many resorts and hotels around this island.  I almost broke down into tears when I realized that but stopped myself when i took a look around my classroom and saw all their smiling and laughing faces. 

These children do not know any different, it’s not like they were placed here like me after living in a first world country.  They understand their futures and have just come to accept it.  So that is how I have decided to view the rest of my time here.  Yes, I could easily sit and moap and complain about my life here and yes, it is lonely since not many people speak english but I am going to use that to my advantage.  I gives me motivation to help these children learn as much english as I can and to learn as much Thai as possible.  If these people live their whole life like that I surely can survive 3 months here and I am going to live it to the fullest.

Sorry this entry was so long and I appreciate if you actually read through it all.  There was no way to shorten it and I really didn’t want to. 

Christmas Break pt. 2

On boxing day I hopped onto a 13 hour train ride back from Chiang Mai to bangkok, yes it was cheaper but I seriously do not recomend a 13 hour train ride to anyone.  It was an airconditioned train but I spend the entire ride pulling as much clothing on me as possible to keep warm… in Thailand of all places I was freezing cold!

The previous day my visa required me to leave the country and what better way to do so than go further down south.  I spent two nights in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in little india and that is where my Canadian friend Dustan met up with me once again.  Dustan and his friend Drake were to do an Australian adventure together but after Drake broke his foot he no longer wanted to hobble around australia so the tickets were switched to my name and I became Dustans new travel buddy. 

On the 30th we caught a red-eye flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne, Australia.  We were soo exhausted by the time we got to our hotel that morning that we went right to sleep.  Once rested we explored the area and enjoyed Pizza with yummy cheese as much wine as my little tummy could handle.  Seriously, Wine and Cheese are the two things I miss the most!  You can get them both in Thailand but they are exported and just not really worth it.  The next day we found a lovely park and rested up before catching our early evening flight to Sydney to bring in the New Year.

Once we got to Sydney and to our hotel it was nearly 10 pm.  All the restaurants were full so we had to settle with a fancy meal of subway sandwiches.  We just aimlessly walked around downtown Sydney watching all the drunk party-goers and families gathering by the opera house to watch the grand firework show.  We stayed out just late enough to see the fireworks and bring in the new year before calling it a night.  Now having an early bed time on new years can only mean one thing… A rediculous 21st birthday for Dustan at Field Day.  Field day is an annual  music event that goes on in downtown Sydney.  There were various Australian and international groups preforming music from all different styles but mostly techno, dubstep and house music.  There was the exception though for ‘Young MC’ who preformed his 1989 hit ‘bust a move’.  It was pure gold.  After Field day, Dustan and I spent our last few days in Australia exploring Sydney and of course a day at Bondi Beach.  On the 4th we parted our ways since he had to fly back to bangkok to return home while I made my way back up to southren Thailand.

My flight brought me up to the toursity destination of Phuket.  Broken foot Drake lives there with his Uncle aswell as a Thai friend named Mint who I met a few months back.  I spend two nights hanging out with them in Patong which i can only describe as “the dirty, skeezy Thai version of Vegas”.  It was a blast but now that I have done it, theres no need to go back.

After my lovely little stint in patong I caught a Minibus back to my old home in Ao Luk.  I planned to just grab all the stuff I had left there for the break and head straight to Koh Lanta that same day but once I arrived I found out one of my former students was wedding married and we were invited to the reception.  This was my second thai wedding and I hope I have many more to attend in the future.  Pretty Much the whole town was invited to the massive feast with karaoke.  It was a lovely way to end my month-long vacation before packing up and moving onto my next 3 month adventure in Koh Lanta… my stories will come soon amigos.

Christmas Break pt 1.

Wow I cannot believe that my month long Christmas holiday is coming to an end.  I am sitting back here in Ao Luk for my last night enjoying a bowl of Kraft Dinner after attending a former students wedding reminiscing over my most recent travels…

It all started on the 10th of December.  The previous evening we had out Christmas/Big base party where all the most recent TEFLers and Teaching Children volunteers recieved their cetificates.  I began my travels in Bangkok with two other GVI volunteers, Meghan from England and Taylor from Hawaii.  Our first full day there we hired a Tuk Tuk driver to bring us around to various Bangkok tourist attractions.  The Tuk Tuk drivers have a scheme where they offer cheap rides as long as they bring you to a tailor and a jewellery store where you have to spend atleast 10 minutes in each.  After browsing/ shopping the driver is given a gas voucher and commission off our sale inside.  Luckily we were warned about this scheme so instead of shopping at each location we made up elaborate stories as to why we needed a dress made or to buy and engagement ring.  We ended up not having to pay a single cent for transportation that entire day only costing us 10 minutes of our time in each store.  A pretty good deal if I say so myself.  That day we visited the golden mount and various temples. 

 In the evening we caught a bus up to Kanachanburi.  On our first day there we explored the Death Railway historical museum and walked the hellfire pass.  It was a railway built by Thai, Australian and Bristish prisoners of war during the second world war. After hiking the pass we caught the train back to town.  This train is one of the last portions of the original railway and we went over the famous bridge over river Kwai.  On our second day sadly Taylor had to leave us to fly back home so it was just Meghan and I left.  We went to hike the gorgeous erawan waterfall which has 7 levels.  It took about two hours to hike to the top but it was well worth it.  There where these fish in all the pools that would suction to your feet and eat the dead skin.  It freaked me right out when i went swimming and had something suck right on.

After Kanachanburi we headed back to bangkok for a day to check out the Grand Palace, Vimanmek Mansion and of course MBK - a 7 story shopping mall.  The next day we hopped the train up to Ayutthaya - Thailands old capitol which was recently hit by the floods.  Most of the water was gone but you could see it’s impact.  All the ground was brown and dead.  It did not stop us from exploring Wat Chai Wattanarm, the golden mount and Wat Phra Si Sanphet.  All were built back around the 14th century when it was Thailand(then Siam)’s capitol city.  After exploring the ruins we had an amazing lunch on the river where we were able to see photos of what the area looked like just weeks before when it was flooded.  WOW is all I can say.  The next day was Meghans last day before flying out for her holidays so we visited the Bangkok national museum.  There was a Lanna era in Thailands history and I was very excited to check out the Lanna art but the exhibit was going through construction and was closed!!  What a BUMMER!

After Meghan left I had a whole 6 hours all by my lonesome before a friend from YK, Dustan Curtis and his university friend Drake flew in to meet me in Bangkok.  We spend the first few days just lounging around our hotel while they got over Jet Lag before moving into Bangkok’s notorious Khao San road area for a night to hit the town.  Oh what a night it was, we met up with one of my students from Ao Luk who took us to a Thai bar where we were the only foreigners.  All I can say is the YMCA in thai is intersting…  It was a fun night hitting up the various clubs and bars along the party strip.  The next night Dustan decided he wanted to put us up in a nice hotel… little did we know he suprised us with a room at the 5-star Shangri-la hotel.  It was byfar the nicest hotel I have been to in my entire life.  After getting the inhouse doctor to come up to our room we found out Drake had some how broken his foot the night before while out partying which is quite a bummer on vacation.  Luckily he’s here for 3 months living down south with his uncle so its not like his whole vacation was ruined.

After a lovely stay in Bangkok we parted our ways and I headed to the lovely 7km long island of Koh Samet which is the vacation spot of Bangkokers and expats alike.  My 3 hour bus ride ended up turning into 6 since my bus broke down half way but luckily my late arrival granted me to meet a local named Audi who was at the harbour when I arrived.  He ended up taking me around the island by motorbike the next day.  Luckily he was there because this was extreme off roading… and it is the islands only road.  He also took me out to a local Thai restaurant, the kind that has no menu because they make whatever you like. Me oh My the food was AMAZING!!  Im used to just ordering off whatever menu restaurants have and usually order the same safe looking food.  It was nice having someone who knows what is good to eat order for you.  My last night there I went to a Canadian-Thai restaurant and had an amazing mushroom chicken feast and had a good long chat with the owner, a former CBC employee from Ottawa.

After my little beach getaway it was time to bus back to Bangkok and catch a flight up to Chiang Mai to meet up with two guys from my group in Ao Luk aswell as the GVI elephant project group from up north.  We explored the town on christmas eve then all hunkered down to rest up for what was my most active christmas morning of life.  My half marathon began at 5 am which was nice because it was still dark and cool for running.  The first 13 km were not too bad but after that I struggled a bit more.  I was not tired but my knees and thighs were killing me.  I managed to finish in 3 hours, 30 mintues and 28 seconds… officially being the last female in my age group and 4th last person for the half-marathon.  Many of the full marathoners beat me but thats okay.. I did pretty good running 21.1km with little training.  Thanks again to all of you who donated to my cause, I though of you all while i jogged.

The Kings Birthday

The Thai dancing for the Kings birthday is probably the most exciting thing I have done since living in Ao Luk. Two weeks before the event we were assigned to represent the four regions of Thailand, The North, South, Middle and North East. When we were first shown our dance we were all quite worried… none of us had ever had formal dance training and we had to preform this up on stage at the 3 day long Rak Ao Luk festival on the opening night. Over the next two weeks we all tried to find time in our busy schedules to try to learn our dances. It was diffucult for many since we did this as a mix of TEFlers and TC’s and had different schedules throught out the day and evenings. Somehow we all managed to find time to learn our individual dances aswell as the group dance at the end. 

Finally the day arrived and we all went down to the hair, makeup and clothing shop together to get all done up Thai style. It was a busy little shop with only 4 men getting us 9 dancers as well as numerous other preformers done up for the evenings festival. Neverless the 4 stylists were absolutely amazing. The one hairstylist must have completed each of us in less than 5 minutes each with different hairstyles. I was done up with a huge premade hair piece and a golden tiara. I felt and looked like a Thai Princess. 

Once we were all done up they rushed us out and down to the town center where the festival was going on. As we walked onto the field we were greeted by many of our students who were completely amazed by our transformations from being plain school teachers to these glamorous Thai style dancers. We were all a bit nervous since dancing on stage was our first time really going through the routine in our outfits. Obviously that did not stop us from putting on an awesome preformance which ended in a huge applause from the crowd and were then given a present from the festival on stage and were all able to introduce ourselves. 

After our preformance we all decided to set out to explore all the festival had to offer. We are all pretty used to being the only farang(foreigners) around our town but the reaction from everyone seeing us done up Thai was amazing. We felt like complete celebrities. I liked to think of us as “tourist attractions”… we are tourists and we were an attraction. Everybody we ran into wanted to take pictures of us and then inviting everybody they knew to continue taking pictures of us. It really made us feel accepted by the locals that we were willing to enjoy and participate in such a huge part of their culture. Even the following evening when we all went down to eat dinner down at the festival we were having people who recognized us from the night before even in our normal clothing. It was definately an experience that I am glad I was given the oportunity to participate in and will never forget.

Long weekend

Hello folks! I just wanted to start off by thanking all of you who have donated so far! I am already at 180 pounds/ 288$!!! You all rock!

 Now onto my last three weeks:

Obtober 28-Nov 2nd

After completing my 4 week TEFL course we had a Halloween themed base party on the friday  night with our students where we got our certificates. Since it was a dress up party I graduated dressed up as a tornado. Our students provided the food and wowowowowow was it ever amazing!! Saturday after cleaning up the base we all set off for our 5 day break which just so happened to include my birthday.

For the first 3 days 4 friends and I decided to check out the lovely island of Koh Lanta Yai.  It was only about a 2.5 hour minivan ride away from Krabi town but since our driver also doubled as some sort of delivery service he stopped atleast 10 times along the way to drop off and pick up parcels.  It ended up taking almost 4 hours but it was totally worth it once we arrived.  Since it was the last official weekend before high season started it was still very quiet on Koh Lanta.  We found a beautiful hotel along Klong Khong beach which is located in the middle of the 25 km long island.  Since our room was only 300 bhat/night (10 CAD) we decided to spend all 3 nights there.  The first night we sat at the little beach bar infront of our hotel for some yummy cocktails and conversations before heading down the beach to “beach bar hop”.  Again since it was still low season all the bars were pretty quiet.  We easily made friends with locals especially once they found out we were teachers and lived close by.  We spend all day Sunday just sleeping, swimming and laying on the beach before going back to beach bar hopping.  On Monday decided to rent motorbikes and drive around the island.  It was such a beautiful day out and made it a perfect day to drive through little beach towns stopping every once in a while for a fruit shake, thai pancake and shopping around local markets.  Tuesday morning bright and early we got all packed up and hopped onto the ferry to Koh Phi Phi to celebrate my birthday.  We got there mid morning and in the heat could not resisit another day of sitting in the water and napping on the beach.  After a bit of shopping we all got dressed in our best and went to a delicious little italian restaurant where Merlin even got candles and got the server to put them in my brownie so I could truly celebrate my birthday.  We had a super fun night drinking our way up and down the beach in the lively party town.  It was a perfect birthday and was glad to have friends there to celebrate it with me. 

Weekend of Nov 4-6:

It was so weird to have a 5 day weekend, only be back for 2 days then have a weekend again.  Weird but nice.  On friday afternoon i headed into Ao Nang to get a massage before meeting up with a friend I had made when i first move to Thailand who is a scuba instructor.  Sam’s parents are from the states but moved to Thailand and thats where he was born.  He speaks perfect english and flawless Thai.  In additiong to scuba diving his company also runs a homestay where I resided for the weekend.  They are a traditional Thai-muslim family and speak very little english.  I was the only guest staying there this weekend and aside from Sam translating I had to communicate using the little amount of Thai I know.  When I first arrived Sam had left me in the living room with his boss who only spoke Thai to me.  We sat there for about 45 minutes teaching eachother english to Thai until dinner.  At dinner I asked Sam why he does not teach his boss english.  His reply was “I wouldn’t believe him if I were you”.  Little did I know his boss speaks full english and was just pulling my leg.

On Saturday we went out on his companys boat to beging my scuba diving on the coast of Koh Phi Phi.  This is where we learned that I had never been taught to swim underwater without plugging my nose which also meant I had a lot of trouble with filling my mask with water and clearing it all underwater.  Lets just say I drank my fair share of sea water that day.  On sunday we went to the pool where I was able to practice all the techniques I learned the previous day aswell as actually put on all the scuba diving gear and learn the necessary scuba diving skills.

Week of Nov 7-13:

This week was our project week before we resumed teaching after giving our students a 2 week break.  On Monday,Tuesday and wedneday we did BIG BASE RENOVATION DAYS :)  We all took on tasks and de-cluttered, swept, mopped, dusted, scrybbed ,bleached and painted all around base.  It really makes living somewhere more enjoyable when its clean and organized.  We even painted a blue sky with a sun and white fluffy clouds on the ceiling of our living room which is where we spend most afternoons lesson planning.  It can make us still feel like were outside when were stuck inside for a while.  Thursday was not only a full moon but also a Thai holiday called Loi Krathong(Loi meaning float and Krathong refers to the lotus-shaped receptacle that can float).  We all went down to Ao Luk’s library and each made out own Krathong made out of a round chunk of banana tree trunk wrapped in banana leaves and decorated with artistically folded leaves, flowers, a candle and insences.  It is a celebration to thank the water goddess and Buddah.  That evening we went down to our local river, lit the candles and incenses then set it off down the river.  I included a hair from my head and made a wish as I set mine off.  Due to this big celebration there are pageants held all week down at the city center.  Monday was the lady boy pageant, tuesday was desperate housewives( for recently divorced or widowed women), wednesday was the childrens pageant then Thursday was Miss Loi Krathong.  One of our volunteers from Hawaii was dressed all up in Thai the pageant and entered.  She was the only farang(foreigner) and did a wonderful job but sadly did not make it past the 1st round even though she had the most applause and all the little kids kept calling out her number when the judges were giving results.

Friday I went back to Ao nang for my second weekend of diving.  The course is normally completed over 3-4 days but since I only have weekends off and live so close I am doing it over 3 weekends.  On saturday we went back out to the coast of Phi Phi and I actually got to get suited up and go diving.  After all of last weekends practice I was a rock star at all my underwater skills and even got to swim around and see marine life.  I saw 2 turtles, I found nemo, angel fish and many more.

On sunday morning Sam asked if I wanted to go to a parade for which was celebrating the begining of high season.  I love a good parade so I accepted the offer.  Little did I know he actually meant “do you want to be in a parade?” so when we went in the morning I found out that I would be walking along side him and a fellow diving instructor to advertise their businesses in the parade.  There was a marching band, thai bands, floats and elephants(the kind I am running my marathon to save).  It was a lovely 1.5 hour walk in +30 but definatly an experience I will remeber.

Today is Monday and I am back into the teaching routine since classes started again today.  This 4 week term I am teaching level 4 which means they have plenty of vocabulary but mostly want conversation.  My class ranges from 10 years old to 60 years old which is fun but means I have to find a balance between my 10 year old who just wants to play games and my mature students who want to talk about topics like the weather, storms, job interviews, politics and university.  If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know!!  All in all though they seem super nice and I am excited to now have a class of my own where I will get to teach for 90 minutes per night Monday-Thursday.