A BRIEF DOCUMENTATION OF OUR TIME IN ISAAN

Hello to all of our blobs!

We apologize for being unable to blob up until now...If you were here, you would probably understand. However, you are not, and that is why we are blogging, so we shall start with a detailed description of our time in Isaan, supplementing with some photos as well!

We started our volunteering adventure, going from Bangkok to Chaiyaphum. This involved a five hour bus ride on a luxury tour bus, and cost about five dollars each. As we drove, it became apparent that we were entering into a very different part of Thailand than we had previously been in. Sugar cane fields replaced sky scrapers, and cars were replaced by cows. A subtle, but very apparent change to us was that English language was completely replaced by Thai. We were the only westerners, so a transition of situations was about to take place. It felt like Bangkok was made for western tourists, and it seemed like Isaan was made for Isaanites.* An interesting fact is that less than twenty percent of the population in Isaan speak any English at all. Maybe that is why they need English teachers?

When we arrived in Chiayaphum, we were met by Oom and her little brother. They help to get us oriented with Isaan culture and teaching English to Thai children. We did this with an American girl Nicole, who is also volunteering in the same area as us. This photo is of a festival that we went to in Chaiaphum celebrating the beauty of Isaan.

This picture is an example of Isaan dancing. Aren't the women gorgeous? We found out after the performance that they were actually ladyboys...

We stayed in Chiayaphum for a night, and then it was off on another, not so comfortable bus, that took us even farther into rural Isaan. When we got to Chum Pae, we were greeted by our Thai mom Pi Wattana, who took us to her home where we would be living for the duration of the volunteering. The home itself is simple, and she loves flowers...so he has many many flowers. Almost a jungle-worth, we would say.

This is the back entrance of her home. We live in a hut to the right of her house...and enjoy comforts such as insects, small mammals, fish in our shower water and a toilet that does not flush. Having said that, we love it and love the family that we are staying with...She is an eccentric woman who does things her own way, and staying with her is really fun!

This is a shot from outside our lovely hut...Michelle appears to be writing, or reading. Maybe she is even marking students work? Wow, we sound like teachers!

Our Thai mom has two sons. One we rarely ever see, and he is sixteen. The other (seen above) is seventeen and is really great. He speaks almost no English, and is very nice. Our mom is not always around, and in her absence, Book the eldest son takes care of us. The photo above explains itself, other than the fact that Thomas is losing at the game by quite a large margin.

On our first day, we were thrust into teaching...this is the class that we taught...without a lesson plan...because we didn't really expect to teach the first day, but it all worked out!

The children really love hearing stories in English, and we have found that as we teach them English words, they teach us Thai in return. This is in library or the school where we teach, and we were reading them Beauty and the Little Mermaid. (Thai translated stories that are made English again are often garbled, and stories are combined.)

This is a view of our school. This is the flag raising ceremony that takes place every morning at eight-thirty a.m. We supervise it every morning when we get to school, after a thirty minute motorcycle ride! We are the only "staff" at school at this point, the rest show up a little bit later... things just move at a different pace, but we love it! Oh, and Thomas gets to ride a motorcycle every day, so he is happy.

These children look lovely, they are in grade two! Don't they look innocent, well behaved and disciplined? Well, they are anything but that. We refer to them as "spawn of satan" and even though they look sweet, they are capable of turning a well planned lesson into a complete catastrophe! We love them anyways...This is one of the younger classes that we teach, and it is one of the hardest grades to educate. The older ones are awesome, and we love teaching them.

The school we are teaching in has fifty three students, and four teachers. We have been to a wedding, a funeral and a cremation ceremony...more blogs and pictures to follow! We will do our best to keep blogging as often as possible...Thanks for reading, and leave a comment if you love us!

*We do not really know what to call people from Isaan, does anyone know?