I live in a Zoo. 28/07/13 - 02/08/13

The Vegetarian who hated Animals

MONDAY 28TH JULY

Knackered when I got up, was up until after one due to those silly animals, everyone liked my long red skirt today and I wore my denim shirt too, a lot cooler as overcast and rainy. Today is THAI LANGUAGE DAY,  so they will have lots of “activities” in the assembly hall. There was lots of songs in Thai, a cool performance on the glong yaow, lots of prize giving (though my preference wouldn’t be winning school things like notebooks and pens...just saying)  they even had some weird Thai folklore performance done by the p4’s. Some pregnant queen, kids being rocks, a dragon horse. A crazy monk and some half naked kid, who apparently was half merman…no idea what it was about tbh. As usual got lots of pics taken of me with lots of random teachers and Batoway kept trying to persuade me to stay at hers some weekend, ahh no, that’d be dull, Phaisali is dull, there is nothing to do here apart from go to the 7/11 lol. For lunch I went with the teachers to a café and ate the stuff that as usual had been sent to my wee vegetarian self.  Thankfully they’d given me plain stuff, a mushroom and veg “soup” i.e. water stock with veg and a fried veg rice, not greasy like back home, had a wee bit of each, Jongrak said i couold go lie down if I was tired and i didnt have to do the after school class today if i didnt want to but I want DO want to, for the kids. Chilled at mine, watched the end of morning glory, made a postcard and Watched some more of the “king and I”

Today for my class I did a recap of Thursday, they seem to understand okay then we went over months and I taught them seasons before starting on the dates in the months. I got students to attempt each thing in 4 in front of the group and gave a sticker according to how well they did, which they loved Ofc because all kids are competitive and everyone loves stickers! Some are very confidant and good at it, the 2 who tried to add me on facebook in particular, the boy and one of the girls. There are some that aren’t very good but they try so hard, their determination is admirable, I hope I help them. Checked my email and face book, Oil was trying to persuade us to go to Malaysia about the visa but it’d cost, flights alone £250+ thankfully she agreed we could try in Laos, turns out you don’t get the re entry visa at the border we should have got it at emigration or the Thai consulate, so the plan now is to go to Chang Mai on the sat n hang with the others, then Sunday go to Laos via bus, then visit the consulate on Monday morning and apply for the visa, hopefully we get a 60day one and then having collected the passports on the Tuesday we should be sweet, if not granted then at least we shall have a 15 day visa.
For dinner Jongrak had made food, loads I could eat, they’re learning not to give me much too rice. She had 2 types of mushrooms curries slightly spicy which im starting to get used to, and a tofu bean sprouts dish which was beaut, il have to get her to give me some recipes,  I told her id need a couple days off, don’t think she was too pleased and said she’d need to ask the director but I have to, else il get deported lol. Apparently in mid August for a week all the teachers have to go to the temple to learn. Myself included, im not even Buddhist!! Mentioned about wanting some wool to crochet so bla took me to a shop nearby and I go some blue wool,, C FAI sky blue, I looked at a beaut larger one green and silver C CEOW green. But it was 180b wayy to dear. Got the smaller blue for only £1 but apparently that’s dear and its cheaper in Nakhon Sawan, least il have something to do on my travels, skyped the fam, took forever to explain the visa situation to them ffs…they get sooo stressed! Its raining there haha! Finally lol.

TUESDAY 30TH JULY
No morning flag raising ceremony as it was starting to rain, had first period free so looked up some pictures of different styled houses etc for my afternoon class. Had 2 classes of p1’s with Hodelle. Did good morning, afternoon, goodbye, thank you and sorry then did an ABC song from the book. don’t think it sunk in too much, did a practise fill out visa form for Laos and painted my nails,the teachers had got me an iced Thai tea but when I came back for it after lunch, Wat had drank it lol, I pretended to be raging but one of the student swas sent into my class with one. Again the same lesson, but found a new way of teaching the letter H…HATE + CH lol. It sort of works, better than usual at least. Went for a bike ride another route this time, tried to sketch but failed miserably! Stopped at the 7/11 then returned to the class to use the internet, Jongrak has been being examined for her teaching all day.
For my after school class I did a brief recap and then continued with the dates, think i've got them sorted in pronouncing “th” thank goodness. Well for tenth’s anyway eg 17th. Lots of gay mouth movements but if it helps its worth it. Haven’t gone through this I thought id teach them “teenager” and “adult” so got them to say when I turn 13 I will be a teenager and when I turn 18 I will be an adult. That boy from the class was fully checking out that I was on facebook, feel kind of bad for not adding him but it’d be traumatic and not professional, I’ll have to make a school one. I tried to teach them homes but the ones I had like floating village and farm made me look retarded so taught them floors/stories and the word “bungalow” they found this hilarious! Haha. There was 15mins left and I didn’t really want to go into anything else so I decided to give them English names, took a while before they understood but once I got the ball rolling they loved it and got excited, got them to tell me the first letter of their name and then suggested English names from that such as Anna and Nikki. Can go over it tomorrow if I run out of stuff to do/get bored lol. Jongrak tried to get me to try some Chinese drink, had a liquorice label and smelt like shit so I declined even though she told me it was sweet…just no.
We went to the market for dinner, had a lovely fried rice, but it didn’t seem greasy or grim like at home, was the nicest rice ive ever had with little bits of veg through it, and Jongrak told me the one she makes is MUCH better excited to try that! Once back at hers I made a start with the crochet but couldn’t get the wool to wind properly, ended up with a mass of tangles and spent ages trying to sort it out…typical haha. Went on the computer after and looked up things to do in Laos, there’s a temple or maybe garden that has 6,800+ Buddha’s! haha. Got another bucket shower, I just sort of washed with a rag this time, less harsh on my body than my technique last time of just literally throwing it over myself haha. Chang Mai on Sat and then Laos on Sunday, asked J about getting paid tomorrow and mentioned the full fee, she’s going to say to the director tomorrow, hopefully there’s no hiccups, next weekend is mothers day, the queens birthday, apparently its amazing in Bangkok according to J so might say to the lads if we’re not broke if they want to go for a wee trip ;) then I'll be halfway through :O

WEDNESDAY 31ST JULY
Woke up round half 2 and it took ages to get to sleep. But then I WAS AWOKEN AT 4 A-FUCKING-M BY ORIENTIAL MUSIC AND SINGING DA FUCKKKK!! couldn’t really sleep because of it!! Even the pillow over the head didn’t help L so when my alarm awoke me from my grim doze I was SHATTERED. Had some ice coffee and went to the flag raising ceremony, least its sunny today. I asked about the fucking music, which only stopped around the assembly time ffs! Turns out its due to a funeral…and it goes on for 3 FUCKING DAYS!! Shoot me.
 Jongrak took me down to the bus station to enquire about the buses for Chiang Mai, can either get one at night which would mean id arrive round 6/7/8 or first thing in the morning, about 7am and be there round 4...Malik can get it with me from his town too, think the best one to get is the Friday night one, it costs near 500, about £10, but it is like an 8 hour bus journey!  Stopped at the 7/11 for an iced coffee, I need it or il k’o! Had a double lesson with the P5 with J, teaching them family and parents jobs.
Started watching a bit of “The lion in winter” which is about Eleanor of Aquitaine (I think maybe my new fav female queen)  Henry and their sons, it was mentioned in a review on a novel on her so thought I’d give it a go. Its from the 50’s, Anna and the king isn’t working which is a shame, (the new version). Had another p5 class, they’re Prathom 5/2 which means they’re the lower class so just did family with them again. Turns out im only to get 5,000. Texted one of the pastoral care workers and this is what he said ffs! Kind of needed the 10 thou =/ got sent another Thai ice green tea, so Soya and sugary…yum. Went for a bike ride, was roasting! Sat in some rice field and tried to learn some Thai, got a bit lost on the way back but randomly found Wat Luang Phor Dam…was able to find my way back from there, booked the hotel for Laos, fucking cracked my fone screen yesterday by sitting on it. CRAPPP! Filled in the visa forms and did the postcards again…as I was given card and sticky back plastic. For my after-school lesson I went over homes, they can confidently tell me if the live in a 2 storey house or a bungalow in Phaisali and then went over season and the attributes of them, then got them to draw me a pic of the season of their birthday with some of the attributes id described, they fully loved it, got some great wee drawings J might just have to keep them :D  Jongrak had a young female student in and was helping her with English, Bla made me better postcards with photo paper, looks like il be writing them out again!
chilled at J’s and she made some food, had some cabbage rice and omelette and some of the mushrooms from the chicken dish which was  PET NID NOI, the girl from earlier was there along with Dang and Wat and a young boy, who I was quickly informed was “gay” or a “lady boy” but it was fully obvious even though he spoke Thai. Was funny though. Randomly, J asked if I wanted to go with them to the temple to pray, although knackered I think It was good I went, I “asked” Buddha or whoever was listening for guidance to let me know what to do for the future, then I did the fortune stick thing, I got number 17. It said I had a charm and would meet/ had met someone who loves me/would love me greatly? Who would that be? Some I will meet? Someone I have met or been close to… Confused but I find it oddly helpful, funny how I got my birthday, then there was something about someone being pregnant and a boy…maybe that means Becca H, she just had her little boy the other day?  Got a backy with Wat, turns out his gf wants him back too…big huge beetle was in my hair earlier, near boked!!! Not cool at all, think I then squished it haha. Read some of my magazine at hers, might be doing some stuff with them tomorrow in Phaisali after my Thai dancing class. Even if I still cant seem to get the hand gestures right…I'm a tad worried that the temple thing they’ve planned that I'm to do is at the weekend, I'm not spending no weekend in a temple all day and night…went home, may try and get an early night if I'm going to be woken up shit early!

THURSDAY 1ST AUGUST

OMFG what I thought was big scary spider legs poking out from the corner stair fucking WAS!! I couldn’t seem to sleep so I went down to get a drink and IT WAS THERE!! A fucking tarantula., BIG BLACK AND MOVING REALLY FUCKING FAST. ON MY WEE NARROW STAIRS. Terrifying!!! didn’t help with my sleeping worrying it would sneak in land on my face and bite me…WHO KNOWS IF ITS POSIONOUS?!?!
Ofc got woken up at 4am, but this time I stuck in ear plugs so it wouldn’t be as bad, but the crickets etc weren’t helping with the noise levels either…so lack of sleep due to fear of the spider + rooster + funeral… not a well slept night, ended up putting ear plugs in which only helped slightly! After assembly Bla took me to the post office, 1 letter with all 4 postcards to home to arrive in a week was 121B. Jumped of the back of her bike too soon and bashed my leg, m soo clumsy! Wasn’t too far away, near the hospital, CHI WAY LI 2 KILOMETS maybe. Had class with Bla after, P3. Taught them fruits, and played the snap came which they all love, 2 classes, 3/1and 3/2 with the girl with the ticks, I also taught them “An Apple a day keeps the Doctor away” the school got wifi so was able to go on my phone and posted a status about my traumatic spider experience! Quite a few liked it, bastards lol.

"My brother had a tarantula, I’ve slept with 4 in a room 3 of which were poisonous, id witnessed a friend bitten had hairs flicked at me by another. yet when there is a large fast moving wild one living in my stairs it makes going to the loo terrifying!"

Turns out it’s a Thai Tiger tarantula an old type of spider so it doesn’t have elucidating hair but it means the Venom is stronger, AWESOME…not, I'm going to die haha.
Had some nice noodles for lunch and that mushroom “meat” stuff, pied out and had the bday cake from yesterday, DIVINE and some mixed mango, its not as nice cold so I gave the rest to the dogs. Had a P2 class, had to teach them a song to phrases like “In school, we read, In school we learn” I made up a tune which was appalling, turns out the tune it was supposed to go with “are you sleeping” is in fact vera jacka” ffs! Watched some more “lion in winter” about Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry, its amazing, so many historical references, correct costume and setting, and the character relationships are great, just how I might have imagined them, I had wondered were I recognised Richard from, its Anthony Hopkins!!
Went for a bike ride found some more charming fields lol, think I might have seen a wild small iguana too! Or a similar lizard. It very warm which was nice and stopped at the 7/11 and got some ice Thai tea and ice coffee for the house. Went for another wee bike ride after that and found another temple, that makes 3 that are really close to the school, what is the need? Haha. At 4 o’clock I went to Dang’s room, I thought we’d be having a Thai dancing lesson one on one…no, there were about 5 pairs of students, I felt like such a dick. She taught me the most basic dance, she plans to teach me 10, as there are 10 songs and 10 dances to a cd, it was a simple step dance with the alternative hand movements, but I couldn’t get either right!! Its quite tricky =/  got ready as we’re to go to Wasaili ancient town…got in the car and everything and the monsoon rain started! Raging! Had to turn back ffs! So we all just stayed at J’s. it was really heavy and didn’t seem to want to stop.

 Had chargrilled satay style veg with rice, was lovely, she says she’ll teach me how to make some next week. Still raining heavily, went to the English base to go on the internet, got speaking to Rebecca for ages, Rowan and Luke were over, then chatted to the parents when they got in and showed them some of my Cambodia pictures. Rebecca thinks one of them should be my new “sexy” pic lol. Ryan started winding me about the tarantula and how its going to kill me…asshole lol discussed my hatred of wildlife haha and my new hobby of massacring ants. Practised my Thai hand movements and showed mum and dad the pictures my after school class drew me for their birthday seasons, some are really good J one of the dogs came in when I was talking to Rebecca and Rowan and so I turned the camera towards it and yelled at it in back home I thought the coast was clear with the tarantula as I didn’t see it, but when I got up later on there it was…Rebecca’s named it “Mary” lol apparently they’re very aggressive…awesome, not. There was a toad chorus going on and mooing cows which sounded like a chorus of old deflating accordions….I really  do hate wildlife! Haha. Least the funeral didn’t appear to be on this morning. Thank heavens!

FRIDAY 2ND AUGUST

Today did a recap of family and jobs with p5 then had a nap as  I was shattered followed by another class. Wore a wee summer dress but was absolutely roasted! Went on a bike ride to try and get some sun, i spend so much time in the classroom and with no were to lie out i cannot get a tan, its like i havent even been away! Watched the end of “lion in Winter” nearly cried it was so nice, Am I Eleanor, a woman who creates disaster and unhappiness for herself ending up alone and trapped??Chilled at mine for ages as i didnt have to do the assembly today.

I bumped into Wat and he let me try the motorbike again, along with my headphones on full blast was a good distraction 

The ride around the school helped a bit, I can more confidently turn and start now and I even went on the motorway myself which was good.Thankfully J, the angel in disguise decided that we could go to Waisali ancient town as it was dry tonight, thank fuck for more distractions, the town is a ruin, a frontier defence town from the Chams of the east, over 1000 years old, in the Khmer style, similar to Angkor wat apparently, it was interesting, plus I saw a snake haha. 

Wat and Dang had gone with us, apparently all the men find me attractive in Phaisali as im white and wear shorts. So I must be careful, they kept winding poor Wat up and saying he was included, next we went to eh ancient Buddha footprint, they don’t know what design or story was carved into it as its so faded, its 2556 years old!! Older than Jesus :O I hadn’t realised Buddhism was that old. When I was there, the noises from my wall started, turns out its bats in my ceiling, more class animals, I have an exotic zoo, at least someone loves me.

We went for diner in a restaurant in Phaisali, had stir fry veg, tried a curried eggplant, was ok.. And YAM, steamed veg and some noodles that has a combo of spicy, sour, sugar and salt, it was nice! With some rice Ofc. Back at J’s the others left and Batoway appeared, she’s always so cheery, Bla went to Lopburi to her brother as he’s in a coma, something about water in his lung, from what I gathered he’s been like that for a while, maybe he’s taken a turn for the worst, not a good day for most it appears…Ofc my stomach acted up again L chilling gin mine until half 10 when we leave for the bus, Tom gets in around 3am and plans to stay at the bus station and kip, mad man, im meeting Malik on the bus, spoke to him briefly on it, lets hope I can get some sleep! so in total, oh animals seen today there was:  tarantula, snake, a scorpion outside my house before i left, HUGE may i add! apparently they come out after rain :O on a large preying mantis, and the usual hundreds of gecko's!