School has started again! I'm teaching 18 classes a week (about 600 students) grades 7-12. I see each class only once a week (last semester I saw two classes twice a week). Teaching has been much more fulfilling this semester and I seem to have a much better handle on how things work. My students constantly keep me in stitches by doing things like asking their classmate with hickeys all over his neck "What were you doing yesterday!? and What is your girlfriend's name?" and asking another student "When will you slim up?" Not typical classroom questions in America, but hey, they are speaking English. Another one of my classes actually requested a banjo and song day after hearing me and my parents perform at the school assembly which is always exciting.
I had an adventure right at the beginning of school (some unexpected days off due to Buddha's enlightenment day) and got to go to visit an ETA friend in Lampang (about an hour and half from Chiang Mai) and meet up with some other ETAs in Pitsanulok.
Jamie and I went to visit Buddha's footprint... too bad it was just like a giant statue of buddha walked in plaster.
Jamie rockin the temple PJs :)
My most recent adventure has been MY FAMILY'S VISIT!!! The Lacey's took Thailand by storm...we rode tuk tuks in Bangkok, visited Wat Po (with the huge reclining buddha) and Wat Arun where we climbed to dizzying heights on some of the steepest stairs imaginable (that surely wouldn't fly in the US). We also had a delicious riverside dinner with Mal, her brother, and the magnanimous P'Ngae (our Fulbright board member/fairy godmother).
Next, we jetted to Krabi where we spent the week exploring, swimming, and generally relaxing. Grant and I basically rock-climbed to get to this secret lagoon on one of the crazy rock mountains that Krabi is famous for. Our explorations also took us to a gorgeous waterfall in the rain where I was proposed to by the park ranger....awkward. After a minor unintentional detour through acres and acres of rubber farms, we rediscovered a cave whose lovely boardwalk had turned to mush, leaving us to scramble up the muddy "trail" along a series of smaller caves. Dad struck out ahead right as we were about to give up and found a small hole to try. We all crouched and scooted in. We were greeted by the dark shapes of bats whooshing by our heads and ventured forth to find a large cavern with tons of stalagmites and tites. We saw many bats still hanging and a large pile of bat guano complete with wiggling worms. All in all a great adventure with only one shin casualty.
Next we were off to Chiang Rai! It was so fun to play tour guide and we found the yummiest noodle stand where we were each able to get different noodles (G-egg noodle, C-little noodle, B-fat noodles, J-glass noodles) to fuel us through souvenir shopping at the Chiang Rai Saturday walking street. We had a touristy day and went to see the White Temple (Wat Rong Kuhn) and the black house) and then on to Doi Tung (the King's mother's beautiful house and gardens in the hills of Chiang Rai).
Looking "appropriate" at Doi Tung
My family was welcomed at Chiang Saen Wittayakom by the school marching band's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner while other students waved American flags, and welcome speeches by my department head, a student, and the director. Each of them gave a speech too and we performed Angel Band with banjo accompaniment.
We spent the rest of the week teaching my classes, going on scooter adventures to the nearby temples, drinking lots of gahfayen (iced coffee), and taking a boat trip to the Golden Triangle with a stop in Laos for some souvenir shopping (Grant bought the whiskey with a snake inside!).
Chiang Saen Witt
A wonderful dinner hosted by Ajan Yolowi who has basically adopted me and treats me like her daughter.
The fam learning Thai traditional banana leaf folding to make offerings called bai cee.
Next up, was Chiang Mai. And after a very long car ride in an elderly Mercedes with possibly the slowest driver on earth, we made it. We met up with Mal, her friend, and her brother for drinks and fully enjoyed the Chang promotion of the night. The next morning we were up bright and early to become Thai Chefs. Our cooking class let us cook to our hearts content and only involved a little bit of high shooting flames! We were cheered on by the owners 2 year old son nick-named Peter Pan. We also learned to carve carrots in the shape of flowers although some people's flowers (I'm not naming names...) looked a little sketch. :)
Ready for cooking action!
The next day, parting day, because Becca and I were returning to my school, we decided to go all out. The only thing we could think of to top all the other amazing parts of the trip was to go pet baby tigers. So we were off to the tiger kingdom where we pet tigers from 1 month old to a little less than 3 years old. Only one was getting a little frisky and was eyeing becca for lunch. The highlight was definitely when two month-old cubs crawled into my lap and promptly sacked out. Sooo cute!
Yeah, just chillin' with some tigers!
Having Becca see my school was awesome!
We had some good scooter adventures!
And the day after she left 16 American Fulbright mini grant recipients came to my school and my favorite ladyboy helped me look like this:
One of my seventh-graders who is contending for favorite ladyboy status! He was directing me on how to hold my hands together and angle my head to look just right...so cute!Hope everyone is well! Drop me a line if you are free! Looking forward to Aunt K.T.'s and Sean's visits this month! LOVE, caitlin
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