Practicum in Chiang Rai with Amanda is amazing and it's only been one week! We are living in Chiang Rai and are working at a children's home called Blessing Home. This week didn't go exactly as Amanda and I thought it would, but it's been better than I imagined. This past week all the students still had school, so we didn't get to hang out with them much. This was their last week of school, so we will see them more in the coming weeks. Since the kids were gone for most of the day, Amanda and I were asked to teach English to the staff of the Blessing Home as well as a local pastor and the directors of another children's home, E-Lim Home. At first, we were nervous and not quite sure if we wanted to do it, because neither one of us have ever taught anything, let alone English, but this is what they needed us to do, so we did it! And God truly has blessed this past week as we taught English and learned right along side of the Lahu people. It is amazing how much of my own language I don't even know! They were asking grammar questions and other things that I didn't even know the answer to! Luckily, between Amanda and I together we were able to answer most of their questions. We mainly did review of basic English with them and helped them with their pronunciation. Most people here know basic English, "hi", "how are you?", "what is your name?", etc...but they are bad at correct pronunciation. We went through the entire alphabet and taught them how to say each sound correctly and then we worked on how to have a conversation with some phrases we taught them. We will continue to teach them English, as well as the kids now that they are done with school, and we will be teaching them vocabulary specific to their life style, so that it will be practical for them and easy to practice.
In return, Amanda and I have been learning Thai from Pi Kae, one of the staff members at Blessing Home. We have lessons for one hour each afternoon and we just started learning the Thai alphabet, which is twice as long as our alphabet, 44 characters! It's been a little confusing, and hard to memorize and remember, but so much fun!
Because school is just ending here and senior students are preparing to leave the children's home for good, there was a congratulation's dinner at Blessing Home one of the first nights we were there. They had a small service and then had their own version of a pork BBQ. And let me tell you, that was some amazing BBQ! They had just killed the pig earlier that morning and it works a little different than in America. You sit in little groups of 5 or 6 around a cement bucket that has a fire in it. On top of each fire there is a special pan that holds soup around the outside, and in the middle is where you cook your pork. Each person gets their own plate of pork and you just stick them on the fire until their cooked. Around the outside you put glass noodles in the hot soup to cook, as well as vegetables, and then you might also have rice, depending on who is throwing the BBQ. It was the best pork I have ever tasted in my life! We went to two different BBQs over the course of last week, so I'd say that we are getting pretty spoiled here. I didn't have my camera either night, but one of the other girls did, so I will post some pictures of that as soon as I can.
A little bit about where we are living...a local organization, the Mekong Minority Foundation, is renting a house right in town that no one is living in right now. So the 4 of us that are working in Chiang Rai are living together in this house. And it is pretty much a mansion. It has its own lake with a dock and a covered porch. The house has 2 big living rooms, a kitchen, summer kitchen, 4 full bathrooms, and 3 bedrooms. It seems pretty big for only 4 people, but we are enjoying having our own space. We get to cook the majority of our own meals, which is a lot of fun and Amanda and I get plenty of exercise riding our bikes to work every day. And finally, we have to wash all of our clothes by hand for the next month. So this morning was our first washing adventure....we had two big plastic tubs and one bar of soap. After about an hour I had finally washed everything and felt pretty accomplished, but was also very thankful that back at home I have a washer and dryer to use...it was exhausting!
Chiang Rai is pretty different from Chiang Mai. It's not as big and isn't a draw for tourists as much, so there aren't nearly as many Farang (white people). I like this much more, because I don't necessarily like being clumped together with all the other Farang who visit Thailand. It's also nice because it's more authentic to their culture than Chiang Mai.
Below are some pictures of Amanda and I teaching English and hanging out at Blessing Home :)
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| Amanda and I with Pi Kae, our Thai teacher as well as one of our English students. |
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| Getting ready for the BBQ with Luke (left) and Vorawut (right). |
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| Helping the kids water the garden during the hottest part of the day! |
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| Teaching |
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| Our wonderful students! |
