thaim for school

I think I’m getting worse and worse at keeping a consistent blog, but things just keep getting busier & busier! But they also just get better && better:]

Things are going great at DEPDC (click here to learn more!). I am still loving teaching all the many kids and if their excitement for learning is measured by their energy level, then they just keep getting more excited to learn and come to school! I will admit, however, that coming up with interactive lesson plans for kindergarteners, ages 7-13, has become quite a challenge & ever so exhausting. But so worth it, nonetheless. It’s also been even more of a challenge without my former teaching partner, coco, who had to leave about a week ago to head back to the states. The kids miss her like crazy. But in all reality, I miss her most.

our kindergarten class. such a struggle taking this pic.

decided to teach about families. hey mom, check out the sweet palm tree :]

she was so proud of her pic

The other week during our creativity class, there were three girls who didn’t want to join in. These three girls, ages 8, 10, and 13, were sitting out by a tree. I motioned for them to come over to the class, but they shook their heads, silently telling me that they were perfectly content sitting where they were. I had to head back to the art room to help out Paul and Hudson with the art activity, so I gave up and left them there after already tried to convince them that they would have fun by dancing around with a smile (they were supposed to be in the dance class). Once back in the art room, I decided to leave and  head back to try and convince them once more. They saw me approaching them from the pathway, and quickly dashed behind the bus so that I wouldn’t be able to see them still sitting by that tree. Unfortunately for them, I saw that quick maneuver. Instead of continuing on the path, I creeped behind on the opposite side of the bus to meet them in the middle. They were still looking on the pathway for me when I approached them on the opposite side and yelled “Sawadee kahhh!” They were taken by surprise and then just started laughing. They headed back to their tree and I decided to awkwardly sit with them there in silence since I had no way of communicating with them. They quietly giggled to each other. I then decided to pull out my ipod and show them some pictures of my friends and family. I pointed to the picture and would say, “Sister. Nicole…Friend. Christie, Julianne. Brother. Joshua.” They would quietly repeat back what I said and were simply amused by the pictures, especially with the ones where I was making ridiculous faces. I then decided it was time to pull out some J Bieb and let them watch/listen to the music video, ‘Pray’. They loved it. I later realized it might have been wrong to reward these girls with Justin Bieber for skipping out on class…But I justified this thought by telling myself that establishing that bond with the girls was most important. They were much more interactive in class the next time that I saw them.

I have recently cut back my time at DEPDC recently and have dedicated the majority of my week to teaching at the Monsaendao school. I am LOVING every minute spent there. As I mentioned in a previous blog, this school is an NGO that, for many years, has worked with ethnic minority groups on issues such as community development, child’s rights protection, and human trafficking. There are a total of 32 girls living at this facility who have been rescued from abusive situations such as trafficking and also some who have been abandoned. The majority of the girls have no family and live here where they are able to get an education, learn life skills, and participate in other activities to gain a greater sense of worth.

When I first met with the manager of the school, Kiki, she was anxious to have us. They currently have only one teacher to teach and keep track of these 32 girls, ages 12-18. I was just as happy to help and established that we would be coming three days each week: Wednesday-creativity class and Thursday & Friday we would teach English.

Monsaengdao lily pond

The commute takes about half the time as it does to DEPDC. Can I just say that it is going to be so strange sitting in a normal vehicle when I get home? The typical trip to DEPDC & the recovery school involves nearly every vehicle besides a car…

song taews

tuk-tuks

buses. typically like the one above.

motorcycles

back of pickups

This past Wednesday, I was finally able to put to use all the bracelet string that I bought from Michael’s at home, and taught the girls how to make friendship bracelets. They loved it, and most were better, && much quicker, than I was at making them. I was touched when I came back the next day and one girl, Olay, called out my name, “jayMEE” and silently wrapped the bracelet she had finished around my wrist. I have instantly fallen in love with these girls.

they made me the pink/orange/yellow one-second from top

[ps: like my collection? i started this tradition last year w/ my friend, nicole. a new bracelet for each place i visit]

Thursday and Friday we taught some English and they had a great time learning some songs, playing BINGO, and dominating at Simon Says. Later that day, they asked us if we wanted to help them cut down some Bamboo as they are planning on making a little raft for their lilly pond. I happily agreed. They threw on some mosquito repellent powder on my face and I headed into the forest with them. I had such a good time having the minimal discussions with them as our language permitted. I was able to learn most all of their names, their age, and of course, sing some Justin Bieber with them.

I think that Justin Bieber has become the new universal language of this generation. It hasn’t failed me yet.

As always, I'll end w/ some fun pics from the past couple weeks...enjoy! i know i am :]

trekking through pitch black caves, using my camera to light the way.

monkies, monkies, everywhere.

botanical gardens

the above pictures are dedicated to ashley homeslice <3

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dancing at a thai disco tech.

...thai people aren't much of dancers & just stand around. i think it's safe to say that they were amused when we all jumped onstage and started dancing. we also later found out by hudson that when, during a performance, they shined the lights on us and started talking about us "farangs," they were making fun of us. we didn't care too much though, the night was priceless.

side note: i never finish my rice here in thailand. i sometimes leave a little creation for the cooks.

thailand bowling w/ coco

another weekend in chiang mai...

temple on the hill. [they draped on that stylish skirt over my shorts while walking the temple grounds]

motorcycling up to the temple w/ jordan in the rain

my favorite three-story starbucks was necessary

used book stores are the best. i could have stayed here for hours. check out the british version of the harry potters! i was so tempted to buy them all. i came out with two purchases: 'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy && 'Jesus & Buddha: The Parallel Sayings'

until next time...

almost half way

DEPDC grounds

i've been in thailand now for a little over a month. and i feel like i just barely got here. it's crazy to think that i only have two more months ahead of me. i actually catch myself getting sad that i'm almost half way there-i feel like i am just starting to get the hang of things. things just keep getting better with each day and with each lesson and with each meeting. i am loving teaching at DEPDC. there is nothing better than walking down that s-curve path to the school and seeing all the kids sitting on the floor, anxiously waiting for the lesson to start as they call out your name, "j-mee!" it's been a challenge individually connecting with all the kids and learning their names, but i feel like all of us have developed a really good relationship with each of them over the last couple of weeks. the shyer students have started to open up and the louder students have learned to give the rest of the class a chance to participate...at least some of the time.

true artists, right? my own self portrait.

my teaching partner, courtney (or "coco," as the kids call her) & i have taught the kids some conversational english, colors, days of the week, and animals in the past two weeks. unfortunately, coco is only here for the first wave & is heading home next week. i don't know what i'll do without that girl. [& to be honest, she is the favorite of us teachers] i think my favorite recent memory was playing four corners with the kids last week. as we had no translator this day, we tried to explain to them how this game worked. you know, one person is it & counts while everyone else runs around & chooses a corner to stay at. when they're done counting (with their eyes closed) they yell a corner and whoever is in that corner is out. well, we were playing this game to teach colors so in each corner we posted a different color and the person who was it, would yell out a color. anyways, we thought we did a good job explaining and acting out how to play. so, i decided to be it first and closed my eyes and started counting. i heard all the kids start running, so i figured that they understood the game fine. so i finish counting, yell out a corner, open my eyes...and see none of the students. apparently they thought we were playing hide and go seek. coco and i then acted it out again, and they caught on shorty after :]

they may or may not love us.

but we love them most.

my fave teaching partner, coco, & i leaving DEPDC via one of the many song taew drives

aside from teaching at DEPDC, i've still been focusing a lot on the problem with thai citizenship && statelessness. last week i had an awesome meeting with Plan-Thailand. our beloved country director, hudson, set up the meeting and me & jordan tagged along and let him translate the whole thing for us. we met with one of the main directors, Dong, and he told us all that Plan is about. i immediately had a good feeling about the organization and knew that i wanted to establish this relationship to get started on helping with this issue. what is great about Plan is that they are a big organization (in 47 different countries) and have an office located here in chiang rai. they also partner with many local organizations and so they are aware of those organizations that need extra help and can direct us where our help will be most beneficial. Plan-Thailand's country goal is for children and young people from most at-risk populations in Thailand to enjoy their right to education and economic security, sexual and reproductive health, and protection from all forms of abuse, exploitation, violence, as well as from disasters. their four main programs are: child protection, education for economic security, HIV/AIDS risk reduction & protection, and local capacity development for sustainability. we had another meeting with him this week and have two other meetings planned for friday and sunday. it looks like we'll be able to jump into some work with these local organizations pretty soon. many of them are understaffed and in need of extra help. i'm not entirely sure which organizations we will work with-but i promise i'll keep you posted!

researching at our local, && regular, internet cafe

and of course, i've got to end this post w/ an update on all my fun-outside-of-work experiences! a group of our team took two vacation days to head down to phuket for the weekend. note to my wonderful donors: i promise that my little trips are fully funded by myself && that your generous donations are going directly to all of the wonderful volunteer work & projects :]
so, this past weekend, we were able to finally get by a body of water to cool down from the ever present heat & humidity of thailand by heading to phi phi island and enjoying all the pretty beaches in southern thailand.

but of course, within five minutes of being in the water...

sea urchin in my foot. 

causing me to limp solo to the nearest medical center while still soaking & salty.

i had absolutely no idea what he was saying that he would do, but trusted that he knew what he was doing and let the doctor go at it. he ended up numbing my foot in three different spots to laser and cut out (w/ some kind of exacto knife) the ten spines that the little creature injected into my foot.

good news: i was still able to get in the water the following day. which means...

SCUBA diving, of course!

our whole group joined in and tried diving, most for the first time. i was the only certified diver and was able to venture off w/ our fav dive master, mo mo. it was awesome. i saw my first sea horse, sting ray, and cuttlefish. it felt so good to be back under the water!

taking a break from thai food w/ some american pizza & sandwiches

watching the fire throwers on the beach

ferry from phi phi to phuket

ready to head back home to chiang rai for another work week :]