lizards and banana chips

So I've been really bad about writing on here. I have limited access to internet, so when I do I'm usually in a rush to send a few quick e-mails.

Life here is good. It's a bit of a rollercoaster. Training is intense to say the least. Some days I bike up to 24km to/from training. Other days are spent in my village doing community assessment stuff like interviewing people. Last week we talked to a nurse at the village medical center, a monk at one of the temples, and a rice farmer. We also have 4 hours of language training in the morning. We are only allowed to speak in Thai. Oddly, I feel like I've been able to pick up the language at a pretty good pace. I've been here for less than a month and I'm able to have simple conversations.

For a lot of reasons that I won't go into (e-mail me if you are curious), I had to switch host families. My new family is great! My host father is a 6th grade teacher and my host mother is a stay at home mom/tailor. She sewed me an awesome shirt! I also have a 16 year old host brother who is super chill. We make a happy little Thai family.

I could write forever, but I will stop and list some random observations.

* Street dogs are a real problem. I have been chased by many and was nearly bitten on my shin. It was scary. I don't like them.
* I have 2-3 lizards that live on the walls in my bedroom. I have decided they are my friends.
* Banana chips fried in coconut batter are beyond delicious.
* There are no garbage cans in this country. If you need to throw something away, too bad. I actually put my garbage in a plastic bag and bike with it to training where there is a trash bag.
* It's hotter than hot here and it's only the beginning of the hot season.
* Thai food is spicy spicy spicy! I'm learning to love it little by little.
* I actually prefer bucket baths to running water. There's something I never thought I would say.
* They don't use toilet paper here. Instead there is a water sprayer or a bucket to wash yourself. It's basically a portable bidet. I haven't really gotten into that so much so I carry toilet paper with me and usually dispose of it at the training where they have a sacred trash bag I referred to above. Gross, I know.

That's it for now. I'll try to remember I have a blog and actually update it more.