The day I became "Teacher"

Life has started to become more of a routine. I wake up each morning, take a shower, eat sticky rice and moo bing, and head off to school. After a half a day of language and Thai culture classes, we all head to the canteen on campus to eat some delicious food. I always end my meal with a fresh fruit shake, or roti (which I just discovered... fried dough with banana, chocolate, and sweetened condensed milk drizzled of their top. TO DIE FOR. literally.) After that, I file into the rod dang and head off to my internship: Baan Ponsawan.

Baan Ponsawan is a Catholic organization centered out of Chiang Mai. Kathleen, the American founder and director, saw a need for poor tribal kids to gain a quality education, which they were not recieving in the various remote places they lived. She also gathered kids from the slums, and built a place for all of them to live. All of these kids attend school together at a near by wat, or Buddhist temple, that has a vision for education poor children so they can move their way up in the world.

Jenny and I teach English to 4th grade- a handful. This is the age when they realize that they can back talk the teacher and do what they want. We make our lesson plans the day before, usually full of games and crafts to keep the kids entertained (or else we lose them SUPER fast). We walked into the class room on our first day (which is really basic...wood desks and chairs, and a chalk board. We have to come up with all of our own materials), and realized how much of a challenge this internship was actually going to be. Kids were throwing books at each other's heads. Two boys were having a fist fight in the middle of the room. A girl was crying in the corner. We quickly sat everyone down, and frantically tried to get their attention. I honestly cannot remember teaching a single thing the first day, it was all about gaining the respect that we deserve. 5 kids left the class room as soon as we started teaching and didn't come back.

Kathleen gave all the students a talking to, and it has gone A LOT better since the first day. We gave them all farang names, which they loved. We have taught them colors and clothing, and we are in the process of teaching them how to read all that they have learned. A few of the boys still are very disrespectful (one in particular...he cussed me out yesterday and brought a knife to school today..), but it has become a lot easier to handle. They respect us and will listen to what we say, and love the games we play. I am beginning to fall in love with these kids.

After we teach, we play duck duck goose, or Miss Mary Mack (which girls AND boys are obsessed with), or redlight green light for about a half an hour. This is when I get closer with the kids. Letting out all the stress of the class room and just running around with them like maniacs is SO much fun. They like to play volleyball, and I taught them how to set (WHAT?! i can barely set myself. but they loved it. haha). A few kids in particular are always hanging around me, teaching me Thai and laughing at my horrible pronunciation. If I could be somewhere all day, that is what I would be doing.

We then take all the kids and walk them back the 2 miles home to Baan Ponsawan. I have two walking buddies that have not left my side since the first day. A couple of days ago, we literally jumped all the way home. Yesterday, I learned head shoulders knees and toes in Thai (hua lay kaw taw kaw taw...I hope you're impressed) and today I taught them the words to Miss Mary Mack, so they can play by themselves.

After I'm done my 4 hours of internship, I hop back in the rod dang, and take a nap on the 30 minute ride back to campus. Sometimes me and the other girls have a dance party using Yiannoula's Ipod speakers (that gets some interesting glances form alot of people..haha) but most of the time we are too exhausted to eat our complimentary banana cakes they give us each time we teach.

Needless to say, I LOVE IT. I love it so much that I am staying an extra month in Thailand to gain my Teaching English as a Foreign Language certifcation. But, at the same time, I am extremely tired and my patience is running thin. I would really appreciate prayers as I try to deal with the few unruly students, and as Jenny and I try and think of more lesson plans!

Me and some of the kids from my class