Check Your Rice

Everyone came back from site visits this past week. I have to say, out of everyone, I am doing VERY well as far as assignments go. I think we’re all at the point where we are both excited to get started on our projects but at the same time sad because we won’t be together anymore. Language classes feel like a time killer. Not much is getting done at meetings.

This week we put on an English Camp for teachers. Now, the 200 teachers in attendance were the ones who didn’t pass the national English test. It says something when there are 200. I don’t think many of us were surprised to see our co-teachers there. I love Singburi, but it’s lacking in language resources. Once again, I was the MC. Not happy having to order people around for 2 days. It actually put me in a bad mood for awhile. Luckily someone found the public pool in town so a few of us spent Friday afternoon only “somewhat hot”, instead of the usual “extremely hot”. Also had a good talk with my American mom and step-dad (both completely awesome) which made me happy again.

It’s been hard being at home this past week with my family knowing that I will be moving out on Saturday morning. My Thai mom and I actually cried over dinner together. So far she has bought me a rice cooker and a hammock for my new house in Tha Sala. My grandmother got upset tonight and started yelling about why I couldn’t just stay with them for two years. She does the “speaking louder” thing when she thinks I can’t understand what she is saying. It’s actually pretty cute.

My sister has been buying me microwave pizza from 7-11 in bulk. My favorite is the teriyaki. However, there is also “Hawaiian” which has pineapple and hot dog slices. I reminded my sister that I didn’t eat pork and she said it was OK because it wasn’t pork, it was hot dog. Ummm…hot dog comes from what? Maybe it is different in Thailand, but I gave it to the cat anyway. The worst pizza though is corn and crab. Yes, corn and crab. Do I really need to say more?

I was teaching my sister English after dinner this week and we were discussing favorites: “My favorite food is sandwiches. What is your favorite food?”
“My favorite food is chicken and rice.”

It was a little trickier when it came to Mom’s favorite food. After a minute Mom declared that she didn’t have a favorite food. OK, “What is Dad’s favorite food?” Before my sister could answer, my mom shouted out, “Beer!” So clearly she was learning too. Even Dad admitted it was true and went back to smoking his cigarette and watching TV. This is a pretty normal evening.

For the past few days we have had rice drying out in our driveway. It’s fine that ants have been crawling through it. Oh you just walked through the rice with your shoes on? No problem. Don’t worry about the rice, just ride your bike through it. Really? I figured they have been doing this for while so I just went with it. Today the family was sacking the rice into 20 kilo bags. I joined in and was going at a pretty good rate, picking out leaves and hay. One thing I thought was interesting is when I came across a cigarette butt. Uhhh… Dad… I think you lost something. My dad gave me the shhhhh sign and kept on working. Oh. Wait a minute! What have I been eating for every meal for the past two months? Geez.

Random info:
-The smoothie lady in town gave me a picture of herself.
-I have eaten Thai pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 3 days straight. Never say that you think something is delicious in Thailand unless you want it for every meal.
-I have finally gotten used to the cold showers.
-I got a long letter from Molly, and a package from Jo and Louise. I almost cried. The ants got to the chocolate before I could though – they’re sneaky like that.
-This week I have to learn a traditional Thai dance to perform on Saturday.
-My family wanted to give me a bag of rice to take with me when I move. I declined (see the paragraph above).
-As far as porn names go “Pussyporn” has been called for. There is still time to get yours in though…

AND if you want to make me the happiest girl in Thailand… please send Mini Eggs - the ones in the purple package with the speckled eggs. This is my favorite part of Easter, no joke. I think you have about a week left before Easter. Not quite sure though. Easter isn’t talked about a lot over here. But seriously, I LOVE them. So here it is:

Kelly Beach – PST 120
242 Rajvithi Road
Amphur Dusit
Bangkok 10300 Thailand