My life in pictures

 Sawadee ka! Hello, good morning, good afternoon - it all means the same thing. Thing's are pretty good here, I'm settling into my placement finally. I've put pictures on the walls and bought stackable shelves and blankets - I'm on my way! I've been told that we are entering the Cold Season and that it gets very cold, cold enough to need a sweatshirt. However, I've yet to experience that...temperatures are still in the high 90's in the blazing sun. With the clouds it's not bad as at least the humidity level has dropped. I think (hope?) I'm getting used to this weather!

Classes have been cancelled quite a few times the past two weeks...so much so that I haven't even taught some classes yet and this is my third week. They are having an 'evaluation' that has taken over everything. Students clean and practice all day long - that is, the students that are involved. The students that aren't involved, well they just mill around campus all day. It's certainly a different system than the US or even any other country I've seen so I'm trying to get used to it. It's quite frustrating at times as it seems that we're not doing much as volunteers over here but as I'm told over and over again, I will try to 'relax'.   I will keep you updated on the teaching situation!

In any case, here are some long overdue pictures of Laos!

This is my absolutely wonderful room with airconditioning and a working fridge! My room even got dark and I was able to sleep in until about 10 am. Paradise!

And some REAL coffee. Yes, that is condensed milk on the bottom of the coffee cup - it tasted good, really! They put condensed milk in almost any drink over here - iced tea, coffee, bubble tea - definitely had some that were too sweet to actually drink. With all the sweets over here it's a wonder the Thai people are so small.

The view of the Mekong from Laos (town called Savannakhet) to Thailand!

A lot of really awesome wats over in Laos. I'm not sure if there is a difference...I'm assuming they're all Buddhist wats but I could be wrong. I like these trees -I've seen them around many places but I'm not sure what they mean. I think it's an offering or an alter for the wat...again, I could be wrong.

A boat coming over from Thailand with TOONS of stuff on it. Those things on top? those are beds and dressers. Apparently everything is cheaper in Thailand. Food in Laos actually happened to be about 3x as expensive as what it was in Thailand. Who knew?

A man taking things off of the overloaded ferry - they were doing this for hours...up and down the stairs with tons of stuff. Food, fish, you name it.

The Friendship Bridge #2 from Mukdahan to Savannakhet. I was on the bus heading back into Thailand. These bridges are fairly new - this one opened in June of this year and it's really great for border crossing, especially for the Thai's. They can go into Laos for 3 days and 3 nights without needing a visa. Us foreign travelers aren't so lucky.

Back in Nakhon Phanom, we've been doing some exploring and hanging out with the other teachers at our schools. Haley works at Annuhban and introduced me to one of her co-teachers, an Indian woman who lives very close to my school. She and her husband have a wonderful house with a coconut tree! So of course we had to climb it and get some fresh coconut water/milk.

So this, below, is a typical dinner for me! It's Thai fruit salad and it looks strange, I know, but it's actually quite good and super filling. It's got puffy rice, corn, beans, papaya, apple, guava, taro, cucumbers, pineapple, carrot shavings, squash, and a wonderful dressing! I have it almost every night...it's about a dollar from the night market. Go Thai food!

I also managed to FINALLY find whole grain bread! They only have white bread and it's limited at that.

And my bike! my life really, I bike around everywhere and it's awesome. A little nerve-wracking at first as there don't to be any rules of the road except "don't get into an accident". But I can put things in the basket and have managed to ride around with someone on the back seat! It's opened a ton of doors as I'm able to go all over the city and don't have to rely on people for rides. It's parked in front of my house/ room :).

This is my little outdoor 'hallway' to our kitchen...it's a little scary at night with no lights...we have a dog and a cat who like to hang out there. And countless bugs. I really only go when it's light out. What can I say, I don't particularly like the dark.

My kitchen!! You can't really see it but that metal thing coming out of the fridge? That's the top of our propane gas stove....I have yet to use it. The whole lighting gas thing isn't so appealing. Plus the night market is super cheap and close by. I'm sure I'll use the stove soon but for now I'm happy to leave it just sitting there.

And lastly, my new pet! He comes and hangs out in our sink every night. Doesn't make as much noise as the gecko's that live in my room tho...

So there you have it, my life in pictures. Off for some lesson planning in case there is class tomorrow!
A ru sa wat, good night!