I really do work at a school over here...

I finally figured out how to access all of the pictures on the network (actually, I just asked a student to show me). The teacher who takes the pictures is a lower school teacher, so there are many more pictures available of the little kids. Besides, the lower school kids tend to be more spirited anyway.

Halloween was a big hit over here, although most of the students feel like you have to be dressed up as something scary. Lots of witches, vampires and such. My students took issue with my butterfly costume because it wasn't scary. The other pictures are of my team. Afro man is Mr. Darryl on 70's day; Mr. David sporting his fake injury (more 7th graders participated in fake injury day than any other day--I hated seeing them all wrapped up, fake blood seeping through gauze, very realistic bruises applied in just the right places; it made me want to cry); Mr. Curt and Ms. Freda dressed up for Christmas Day. The last couple of pictures are from the Wai Kru ceremony a few months back.

Monkey mania

Feast for the monkeys

Monkey Town

Last week my friend Monica said, “Do you want to go see the monkeys this weekend?” Because we had recently been talking about going to hear the Thai Beatles, my brain was in music mode. I found myself thinking the Monkees are still alive…together…and touring? It took me a minute to switch gears and realize she was talking about the Monkey Festival in Lopburi. For those of you who watched “The Amazing Race” when the hippies came to Thailand, this was one of the towns featured on that episode.

In Lopburi, the monkeys have free reign. Apparently, they were given as a gift to the town some time ago and have never left. Because these creatures bring tourism to the small town, which also boasts several old Khmer ruins, the people offer a feast for the monkeys once a year. People bring food as an offer of thanks to the monkeys for the prosperity they bring to the town.

I was traveling with some serious back-packing children of authentic hippies. We rode a bus out to the town ($2.70) Saturday afternoon so that we could be there early for the festivities on Sunday. I was up before the sun this morning. Part of this was due to the fact that I had rented a room in a hotel for $4. And let me tell you, I didn’t get a penny over $4 worth of comfort. The left bottom corner of the door and the door jamb had serious water rot from the adjacent squatter toilet/bathroom. There was a measly ceiling fan that made a horrendous noise and did little to stir the air. If I had paid $10, I could have had an air conditioner and toilet paper, but payday was still five days away. At least the only bugs were these itty bitty little things I could easily brush off of my arm or squish on the bathroom sink.

I was out of that hovel and walking around by 7am. A cool morning walk through the quiet town. People were already out and setting up for the big day. I followed the music and easily found the Khmer temple with the three prangs which I had seen on television. I saw what I thought was a dog and I was reflecting that it had an odd tail for a dog. It was actually the first monkey I saw in town. After I had spotted my first one, there was no shortage thereafter. Wow. Monkeys, monkeys everywhere! On the telephone wires, stop sign, motorcycles, sidewalks, buildings—everywhere. For the most part they were just minding their own business: scratching themselves, foraging, grooming each other. I only had one monkey jump on me; I was taking a picture and not paying attention to what was behind me. A little critter jumped on my skirt and quickly jumped off when I whirled around and screamed. I’m glad that was early and there weren’t too many people about.

It was fun to just sit and watch them jump and climb all over. And these are some randy little fellows. They shed new light on the meaning of a quickie. Picture a female monkey minding her own business, sipping on a juice box, and a male monkey swings in from behind (in ‘n out, in ‘n out for about five to seven seconds) and then pops back out. Strange business on a Sunday morning.

I was glad that I had the opportunity to walk around early in the morning because once all the people came out to watch, the gated area was much too crowded. The food was set up beautifully but I left the temple before the monkeys really started to chow down. We rode home on an unconditioned train for $1. Upon arrival in Bangkok, I climbed into a very air conditioned taxi to take me home from the train station.

Back up a little…Saturday night when we arrived in Lopburi, we immediately took a makeshift vehicle (cross between a minibus and a small truck) out to a temple that had a bat cave. We drove up a small mountain and walked through a temple that was built into and around the mountain. We climbed some stairs and came out on the side of the mountain by a cave where we smelled serious bat funk and heard the high pitched whirring of thousands of bats. I walked into the mouth of the cave and saw them flitting about, preparing for the evening hunt. I would have walked further but there were what seemed like hundreds of cockroaches directly below all those bats (I wonder if there is a symbiotic relationship here?) Further reasoning for arresting my steps was that I was barefoot—you always take your shoes off when you walk into a temple.

The sun starts to set around 6pm here; it is dark every night by 6:30, year around. Like clockwork, the bats emerged from the cave at 6pm. There were so many it looked like the mountain was just spewing them out in a poltergeist fashion. Thousands of bats. The high pitched crying which accompanied them never ceased. A steady stream of hungry bats flying out into the valley. We watched for nearly ten minutes and there were still hordes of bats emerging into the new night. By that time, we couldn’t take the smell any more and we headed back down to town.

I think that will be it for my animal adventures for a while. I’m feeling the need to morph into a gym rat myself.

This and that

November is an awfully long month here in Thailand. I think about how everyone in the states is getting ready for the big turkey dinner. All the men have been crowded around the television screens for weeks now watching football games. The yards need to be raked and raked again. And as if there isn't enough to do, I know some of you are already starting to think about Christmas festivities. Well, over here, November seems to go on forever with no climax at the end. No family gathering to kick off the holiday season. No buildup for anything. Just another month. What makes it even worse is that I know I only have to work eleven days in December. So if November would just hurry up and END ALREADY, I will be most happy.

Since I have been here for over three months, I decided it was time to buy some kitchen supplies. A wok, a saucepan, a rice cooker, a frying pan, measuring cups--all that jazz. I bought one batch of stuff, but then I realized that I needed a cutting board, a colander, knives, storage containers for rice. It is hard to believe that I have not done any cooking since I was in Virginia. Eating out is just too easy here and can be pretty economical, also (unless you go for Italian and have wine). But there are times when I don't want to go out and try to decipher the menu. Or when I want a particular dish that isn't served anywhere nearby. Then there are times when I just want to eat dinner in my pajamas. So, I am now equipped and ready to cook. My first meal was fragrant brown rice with chicken (a recipe from my Thai cookbook that Momma gave me). Fresh ginger, garlic, lime...my little apartment smelled quite scrumptious. I had forgotten how nice it is to make something at home. I'm already thinking about who I can invite over for my next dish of stir fried rice with pineapple and shrimp.

School continues to go well. My school is under new administration this year and we are doing a lot with curriculum development and formulating assessments. This is the first time I've really been involved in anything like this. Up until now, I have just been handed a curruiculum and been told to teach it. As far as assessments go, tests and compositions have done the job in the past. However, this year there are buzz words and jargon flying around my head like a pack of flies. It's kind of making me dizzy.

My quiet little Asian students are a bit louder now. I still have one or two students that I have to stand right next to in order to hear them, but for the most part, they have come out of their shells. I laugh on a daily basis at their shenanigans. We are doing a poetry unit now and I am impressed with their insight, the way they craft words together...
"The book is a generous god that takes us away into the world of dreams."
~Kanit
"The theif's hand is a key that can unlock and steal almost anything."
~Mint
"Her smile is as beautiful as the ocean when the sulight shines on it."
~ Kai Mook
My wonderful kids.

I have bought my plane ticket to the Philippines for Christmas break. My brother-in-law's parents are kindly hosting me for the holidays. I need to decide where I want to go in February, though, for Chinese New Year. I'm thinking somewhere tropical--Loas, Malaysia, Burma. I had planned on going to Vietnam in April for the Songkran break, but I have been toying with the idea of taking a graduate program in education over here. It is through a stateside college and classes are offered for ten days in April and ten days in June, two classes each time. I would have my masters in two years with (what sounds like) minimal time. The best part is that I would not be working while I was taking the classes, just have ten class-intensive days. And the total cost for the whole degree is only $4500. Having a master's degree will make me more marketable for some of the more competitive international schools...Italy, for example.

I am making friends and have settled into a little group of people that I hang out with. We went to tea at The Oriental Hotel last weekend. Very posh and tasty. Monica is planning a ladies night out for my birthday. She is going to try and find out if the Thai Beatles are playing anywhere the weekend of my birthday.

I am going to a conference Saturday and Sunday (8am-4pm) on authentic assessment. Since I am not really getting a weekend to rest, I may need to fit in an evening at the spa. Pedicure, manicure, back and neck massage, and a facial. Sounds like a plan.