FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I am so excited to write about my arrival to Si Saket province. It was 10:30 am and I had been on a bus for 6 hours. I must say that I rode in style. This was a first class version of buses. Surprisingly comfortable. I had a recliner chair, blanket, and treats. Accompanied by horrible straight to video American movies translated into Thai. At least it wasn't karaoke. There was someone to attend to my high maintenance needs too. Just kidding.

Once again, I didn't know who would be picking me up. Same as before, I stepped off the bus and this girl greets me and says "Are you Lisa?" Yes I am. She is a teacher at the school where I will be working. I'm also living with her family. Her name is Pi Ju. One of the bus driver's from the school drove us out to Prang Ku. My new village. It's about 60 kilometers from Si Saket. I don't exactly know how far that is. Have I mentioned that I feel we are disadvantaged as Americans to not work on the Metric system?

We went to a restaurant where the director from school and a few of the administrators were meeting us for lunch. I was asked again by my new friends if I was vegetarian. They ordered from there. They feasted on crickets, and a few other dishes. The crickets are what stood out. I enjoyed my egg and onion omelet with rice. We eat rice with every meal. Dessert was watermelon. They then took me to Prang Ku's version of Starbucks. A local little coffee shop. I usually don't care for coffee much, but this was delicious! I've had all sorts of delicious coffee since leaving on this journey. I drank delicious coffee everyday in Nepal cause it was so good.

Anyways, back to my story. Prang Ku is a small village, and is very rural. It is very poor here. Most of the families here are rice farmers. Prior to leaving the US I was told that I would be living with a wealthier Thai family who could afford the means of supporting a foreign visitor.

We got to my new home for the next two months and I was greeted with a friendly smile. Pi Ju's mother. There are 2 boys and 1 girl in the family. The father is a teacher and rice farmer too. He sleeps at the rice farm every night, and Mae goes there with him. Mae doesn't speak any English but she told Pi Ju that we can communicate through body language.

She showed me around the house. There is not really any furniture, and the kitchen is a wide open room that feels as though it's outside. There is not much in it. Our dining table is outside along with our washing machine and clothes line to dry our clothes. She took me up to my new bedroom. My new bed is on a wooden floor with a straw mat as a mattress. I get a little extra padding with a thin floral comforter. The wood in the walls serves as a shelf for some of my things. I have vaulted ceilings that are covered by a tin roof, and two open windows that lock when it rains. They have set up a mosquito net for me to sleep under too. It feels like a tent in my own bedroom.

The six of us share one bathroom. We have an Asian style toilet. We poor buckets of water in it to make it flush. We don't have a shower. We take a bath. This bath is done by pouring buckets of water. It's called a bucket bath. There is always stagnant water in the bathroom. We always wear sandals when in the bathroom. Up until yesterday I was regretting cutting 10 inches off of my hair prior to leaving the country. Yesterday I was reminded of why I did that in the first place, and I am so grateful that I did. I don't know how this bath would have worked out with my long mane.

I went for a walk in my new village. I realized shortly after leaving my house that I do actually live with a wealthier Thai family. We live very comfortably compared to my neighbors. They are very poor. I was greeted with friendly smiles as I walked through this small town. I'm excited to discover my new surroundings.

My new home life is very different from anything that I have ever known or experienced in my life. I asked myself, is this what I signed up for? I then answered myself, yes. This is exactly what I signed up for, and exactly what I wanted. I wanted to experience an environment and culture completely different from my own. This is what I'm getting. It's uncomfortable and different but that doesn't mean that it's bad. It's just different. This is all my new friends have ever known. I'm ready, and I'm up for this challenge.