So much has happened since I last wrote. All 51 trainees went to Bangkok last week and then visited a current volunteer and then headed to our actual site. Oh yeah, I finally know where I'm going to be living for the next 2 years. I was placed pretty much smack dab in the middle of the country. Technically I'm in the North Eastern region called Isan. Funny thing is, they don't really speak Thai there, they speak Laos...
But first things first. I went to Bangkok. Glorious. The first night we got pizza and beer at a shopping mall and it was beyond delicious. The second night I went to a Middle Eastern restaurant and ate tasty things like hummus and falafel. It made me really happy. Bangkok was a lot of fun because we were all able to just chill out and finally be "normal." Of course, going out and drinking lots helped too.
So my future home is in Isan, which is known for huge droughts. Anyway, my counterpart (the person at the government office I will be working closely with) picked me up at the bus station with her husband. Her name is Pi Pen and she's awesome. I stayed at the head village leader's house with his wife. No one speaks English in the village (it's about 7,000 people spread out across vast farm land), not even the "English teachers" so that is and will continue to be interesting. There was one lady who lives in a neighboring village who speaks very good English, but she kept appearing and disappearing, so I'm not really sure what the deal is. Anyway, they all can speak Thai, but they speak Laos to each other and want me to learn it because it's the local language. That either makes me feel really defeated since my Thai is slowly improving or laugh at the ridiculousness that I will have to learn Laos.
I negotiated a house... in Thai. I never thought I would be able to say that, but when no one speaks English, you have to take out the dictionary and make lots of big hand gestures and hope for the best. It's a 2 story house, with a porch and balcony. I have 2 bedrooms upstairs with 2 full sized beds, so visitors are welcome!!! My first purchase is going to be a hammock for the porch. The bathroom has a shower head and a squat toilet. The water was currently not working when I was there, so hopefully that will be up and running when I move in. I think I negotiated to get a fridge and stove, but again, we'll see when I move in. There are lots of windows and it's actually a really nice, big house. As I stood there looking up at it, I was in disbelief that I nearly have my very own house in Thailand. Sometimes this whole experience is so surreal.
I have lots of thoughts and observations, but that will have to wait for my next entry. It's time for me to head home and eat some dinner. Two nights ago we had ant soup. I better get ready for my site, because apparently they eat dogs, cats, lizards, frogs, and rats where I'm moving. If only I was kidding, but I'm not. My host father actually told me to ask what everything is in my village before I eat anything....
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