Grass isn't always Greener

I feel really bad about not posting lately.

And to be strait up, if you hate whiners, you might want to skip over this post for now. I have held it in all week. And I am finally saying something.

My dad gave me the best advice today, in telling me that I can’t just post the “Peaches and Cream” of the trip so to speak. There are definitely rough times. And I am feeling it right now.

And to be honest, this week has been a really hard week for me to get through.

I love Thailand. Please don’t get me wrong about that. I am so grateful that I am here. And I know that I am supposed to be here. There is not one part of me that regrets coming at all.

But I also am a FIRM believer in culture shock. And not so much seeing things and thinking things are weird. Or judging other people for the way that we live differently, as well as watching how others have been raised and thinking I am above them. I feel like I have fully embraced the Thai culture with open arms. And tried my very best to be the most understanding and respectful I know.  I know I can tell myself a million times. And make it a mind game. “Mind over matter” right?

My body on the other hand

Has a different approach.

The farthest away my body has been from Utah is California. As far as humidity goes. I have lived in Utah my entire life. DESERT state.

The humidity in Thailand is completely and utterly overwhelming to try to comprehend into words. The air is absolutely engulfing.

It doesn’t just hit you all at once... oh no.

It slowly works on you all day.

The heat I can do. Humidity on the other hand,

We have AC in our room. Which I am SO GRATEFUL for. But we have to wait till 7:00 pm to turn it on every night. And as soon as the clock strikes 7:00 am, off goes the AC. And the windows swing open.

Even if I didn’t have to get up in the mornings and teach. There’s no way I could sleep in.  The heat alone is enough to get you out of bed.

Getting up and teaching is fine. It’s getting done with teaching at noon every day and not having anywhere to go but back to our room.

I don’t know if I have really talked about our living conditions. But I’ll just touch on it.

I am one of 6 girls living in one room. With 3 bunk beds for sleeping. A table and chairs for eating all 3 meals. A coffee table, chairs and a bench. And one closet for all of us to share. The room we live in is about the size of a one car garage.

So alone time in the room is impossible. Also there are 3 outlets. So that’s great

Coming back from teaching. Absolutely exhausted. I have been talking for 3 hours straight. Trying my very best to keep 3-5 year olds entertained long enough to learn English and get through class. Is so hard. Especially dripping with sweat. It’s not as bad in the school. But the second you get done. And come out to the room. It is like walking in to a trailer house that has been sitting on the side of your house all summer, and going in to it during the heat of the day in mid-July. That hot, stagnant air. Is how it feels in our room all day. Until 7. When we can turn on the AC. We do have 2 fans in our room. My bed is a top bunk. Ain’t no chance there is any air getting up to me. After we eat lunch. I don’t even want to talk. All I want to do is drink cold water and sleep. I am constantly. CONSTANTLY sweating. I could be sitting in a chair. Staring at a wall. Or having a casual conversation. And there would be sweat pooling on my neck, and dripping off my ears and sliding off my eye brows.

All I want to do is come back and sleep. Today I tried just basically stripping down to my underwear and laying on my bed and trying so hard to take my body out of the situation I was in. I slept for an hour and woke up in an absolute POOL of sweat. And was dripping.

It’s disgusting.

Trust me

I know

I take two showers a day

At least

There is no where to go to get away from the heat. We are allowed to go in the school any time we want! During school hours however every room is full. I can’t leave campus unless I take two other people with me. Sitting outside is even worse. And shade does nothing.

Trying to get away from people is impossible. The only alone time I get is late at night after everyone goes to bed. Or even in the bathroom. But I share a bathroom too. So usually you aren’t alone. 

It’s so hard to be patient with 5 other girl’s personalities and living habits that aren’t what you’re used to, or what you grew up with knowing. When you are absolutely miserable hot. Also laundry day is once a week. And I brought limited clothing. So changing clothes every time I sweat like I do at home is definitely not an option here.  Some days if I have the energy to I will gather some girls and we will make the 15 min bike ride in to town and go AC hopping at different stores and adventure.

That is so fun!! However. I haven’t had the patience with anyone long enough to do that. Or the energy to do that every day!

It’s miserable not getting alone time. I NEED alone time. I love people. I love being social and talking, laughing and having fun. But I need a recharge. And I need to be alone sometimes. I love my “me” time. And I am having a hard time with not having it here. That’s one of my biggest turn offs with going on a mission. And I feel like I am on one now. 

I don’t know how to escape the heat.

I am going to try to buy a fan. And figure out how to run an extension cord. Because I can’t keep doing this. 

I also can’t keep being so negative.

I am so grateful for so many things now. Especially going without some comforts has made me realize how blessed I am to have common luxuries every day and not even think twice about it in America.

I am so grateful for

AC

My own room

My family that loves me and is always there for me

My dogs and their unconditional love towards me

Being able to go to the store, know what everything is, and be able to eat however I want

Having a different carb with my meal besides rice….

Having lean protein

Cheese

A dishwasher

A dryer

A bathroom inside

A shower inside

Having pest control be a real thing

Not having lizards and frogs in my showers with me

Not having to check the shower curtain for cockroaches or spiders before getting in.

Being able to flush my toilet paper

Brushing my teeth inside

Being able to go barefoot outside if I want to

Being able to sleep in the day if I want to

Having the comfort of a priesthood leader so close by at home

Being able to understand what people are saying about me when they speak

Knowing how to read street signs

Knowing how to understand what people say when they say a number

Having a washer that doesn't ruin my clothes

A mom that does my laundry

Having the ability to go get a frosty whenever I please

Being able to drive!! Freedom

Sleeping in my own bed

Being able to put on make-up and not have it be gone 10 mins later

Having my hair stay dry all day long

Being able to go outside at night without worrying about getting eaten alive by a stray dog, raped, turned into a sex slave, or eaten to death by mosquitoes

Not having acne

Eating pizza rolls

Eating pizza

Eating whatever I want

I could go on for ever

I love America.

Such a comfortable country.

Everything about it. 

 I just remember this is the real reason I am here.. This 

 This is the part I love. with wayy too much of my heart

Weekly Adventures

This is basically a photo dump. to show all of the fun pictures of this week. I've been too lazy to blog. also I've noticed i went into town a lot in the same shirt. don't judge me. and if you do... deal with it. the blog is called Frumpy in Thailand for a reason.

This week we went into town a lot. I found my favorite treat of all time! because it is so healthy! and so cheap!  It is this smoothie stand that they have fruit and veggies that you can choose any 5 that you want. and they juice it with a juicer and blend it with ice. and it is so refreshing! and tastes so good!!!

 also its 30 baht. 

A.K.A...$1.00

That's why i love Thailand!!

Paige got just some juice juiced. That tasted so good! they put everything in bags here

Me, Paige and McKenna got bored and went adventuring one day. and decided to eat random food from food stands. because they are every 2 feet. and you dont know what's good and whats gross. so we tried these weird egg roll, spongy things that had clear noodles poking out of them. you cant see it in this picture very well. But it looked so so gross!! it was pretty bland.

This is Zoe, Me and Emi. Drinking my favorite smoothies! 

They are so refreshing when you are so sweaty and sticky. and there's Asians everywhere staring at you like you have a neon sign above your head saying "Hey I'm American and I love when you stare at me awkwardly!!!"

it's just nice to have a drink break! :)

Zoe and I 

Zoe, Me, Emi, Jess, and McKenna

Paige, enjoying her weird, Bland Eggroll

Okay, so It was my turn to buy something random to eat, and I bought this pork on a stick stuff and it was so good!!! seriously! and was only 7 baht!

it was like Teriyaki pork, or chicken.. i'm hoping at least.  

Pink eggs.... these are real. apparently from a pink chicken. haha jk they dye them. but the insides are black. weird crap here in Thailand

A little Asian pop culture lovin.

Snakes.. or eels... or something we don't know. we don't ask

Any body feeling some rice?.... we have tons

Me eating Dragon fruit we got from the fruit market. 

if we are all being honest here. I don't love it. its actually really bland. and just tastes like watery sesame seeds. such a disappointment.

 This is our stray dog. He sleeps outside our bedroom door. and will walk us to the bathroom or in to the school and wait for us and walk back with us in the middle of the night. we named him Hank.. 

Dogs are treated like rats here. Hank is ok to be on the grounds. but if he ever goes inside of anything or if he gets into trash. he gets whipped. or the guards have a sling shot they shoot stuff at him and he cries..  its so sad. its so hard to see how different animals are treated here.

Us in the back of our Coordinators truck. its so fun when we get a ride and don't have to ride our bikes!!

First week of Teaching

I know I am the worst person for not posting. but getting use to the teaching schedule, and the teaching style, disciplining baby devils that are too cute to get mad at. and working out living quarters with 6 girls in one room. life has been so crazy! Don't get me wrong. i am absolutely loving every single second of it! just a lot of change all at once. I have been so exhausted all week. everyday after teaching at noon. I will eat lunch, change into the coolest clothes i have, and CRASH. It is crazy town how draining teaching is. for 4 hours everyday. keeping 3-5 year old's attentive for that long, and getting them to speak a foreign language. is hard. I am definitely getting the hang of it. and I feel a lot more comfortable now then I did on Monday that's for sure. 

I love the kids so so much already. their faces melt my heart! every time I see them I get so happy! my heart literally melts to the floor. especially around this little guy.. 

This is Ghod. 

yes that is pronounced God.

he is the sweetest kid ever. he is in a class of 5 devil boys and he is the sweetest one. so quiet, so cute, and such a lover! he is the one I can count on to give me the biggest hug ever! 

even if its only been 4 Min's since I've seen him last. He will make eye contact with me and yell

 "TEACHAA KATE!" and run right into me and give me the biggest hug! and give me that sweet smile. oh goodness how i love him!!!

 This little bugger is Max. he is really cute too! he can be a little trouble maker, and definitely has the hardest time making eye contact. he is ALWAYS staring out the window or at the wall while i am trying to teach. or jumping up and down. but he is really cute! and also will giggle every time I see him walking around school. I'll pull a face or wink at him and he will giggle. 

such a cutie

This is Prima. he is so cute, really quiet. but a secret trouble maker. if one kid is getting away with being bad. Prima will join right in. and make things 100x worse. he knows it too. that's why i gotta be a mean teacher for a little while. they are testing me so hard. ugh. but I just hope it pays off. because it is so tiring constantly getting mad at them. Prima especially is all about trying to see what he can get away with. if they are being naughty i will look at them and say "Who is being good? Whoever is being good gets to help Teacher Kate with the next activity!" and Prima will usually immediately sits up so strait in his chair, and throw his arms across his chest and say "Teacher Prima is being good!!!!" with the biggest eyes. 

SO CUTE!

This little guy is secretly my favorite! which is shocking. because he is literally SATANS CHILD.

he spends more time in the "naughty chair" then in actual class. if he is being super naughty i will send him to the principal. and he gets a BIG chewing out in Thai. and comes back crying. i feel bad. but sometimes it's the ONLY way. my sanity sometimes depends on it.

but i love him so much. he is definitely my favorite! his name is D-Day. Not kidding. ironic i know.

his teeth kill me. when he is actually good and behaving. he does really good with English. and understands a lot! he just loves to be naughty. way way too much

I also have a kid named Pleum in my class. he was gone the day i brought my camera to class.

I already love them so much. I get so excited to see them. I cant explain it. everyone knows my class. because they are so naughty. and HATES teaching them when we rotate classes. but i Love them. don't ask me why. i cant explain it. 

i mean can you really blame me for loving these kids?! look at how cute they are?! idk they melt my insides. Asian babies are where it's at!

First Saturday Adventures

Almost all of us girls sitting in front of the school, waiting for our native coordinator Tang. Abbey is the one behind the camera. 

so from left-to-right it goes

Zoe, McKenna, Paige, Me, Emi, and my Head Teacher Jess

Me and Abbey

We went down to the Crocodile Park just down the road from where we live, and fed the Crocodiles chicken heads! it was so cool. Crocodiles move very slow, so it was pretty anti-climatic. But still really fun! 

we rod our bikes into town to try to find the TESCO, also known as their Walmart

we stopped at a fruit market and I bought some dragon-fruit and the most delicious apples I have ever tasted! 

These are Lychee's!! some weird fuzzy fruit that you break open and is so sweet and so good!! they are so fuzzy I could die!!

Me and two other girls Emi and Paige rode our bikes into town one last time before the day was over to grab some more snacks and stuff. and on our way back down to the school we ran into these boys that had BABY ELEPHANT just on the side of the road and let us feed him! it was so fun and so random! I LOVE that you can just run into the most random things like that here. I can't believe all the crazy things that happen.

Thailand is my new happiest place on earth. I love it so much! 

I am so happy here! I cant remember the last time I was this happy. 

I love you all! 

Here's a little more sugar

I just can’t help myself!!

Got to tell ya’ll what we did today!

I’ll make it short and sweet okay? So today the old teachers that have been here since May, were saying goodbye to their classes, they fly out on Monday.  So we shadowed them for a couple hours and spent the day at the school observing and getting to know the little cuties! For lunch our native coordinator; Tang and her brother Tong, with her parents. (We just call them mom and dad) and all the old teachers.  We went to this place called the papaya and had really good Thai food!! And the BEST FISH!! I seriously died! It was so good! I can’t believe how disgusting it looked, and how good it was to eat! I was dying! I almost ate the whole thing by myself it was so good!

 Then we taught our first class, which was what they call a “catch up class” which is basically just an extra English class that is offered at the school at the end of the school day from 4-5.  Let’s just say I hope that I get the hang of teaching quick! Not gonna lie this is going to take a lot of practice to be as good as the old teachers! But from what I’ve heard, that level of feeling a little uncomfortable with what you are doing, and feeling completely unqualified is pretty normal!

Abbey and I taught them how to make masks.... it was fun! 

We also moved in to our dorm rooms tonight. It finally feels good to get settled and to have Wi-Fi.  I can already tell how crazy it is going to be getting use to everything here. I love it like crazy! Nothing has really hit me super hard yet! I am mostly just crazy in love with everything I see. I’m in the glamour stage for sure! There are frogs everywhere! And when I say everywhere! I mean it!!  I even had a buddy with me in the shower tonight if you know what I mean ;). I could definitely live without the mesquites and the constant itching of my legs and ankles. But that’s all part of the adventure!

The saddest part is the wild dogs that are everywhere! They are really nice during the day! But during the night they turn into beasts! They travel in packs at night. And turn really vicious! We have to be back at the school by 7 every night because they are so dangerous. Which I now believe.  Last night some of the girls said that there was a pack of dogs attacking/eating a dog that was still alive… yeah. We don’t touch the dogs.