Take 'er eeeeeasy. . .

Been out of "blogging" commission for about a week now with all of our travel days and lacking the access to a computer. I could probably sit here and write a novel describing each day. To spare you from too many boring details I'll give you a quick play-by-play from our final work day and our first week of travel. . .

-Showered with presents, hugs, and long goodbyes on the last day of school. My last class of the day making hearts with their arms. Yes, I cried.

-Celebrated our last night in Lampang. Next morning was a struggle but we managed to get ourselves to Chiang Mai. Georgie, J and I added a couple other teachers to our traveling crew (Bridgette and Lea) and said goodbye to the others, making promises to keep in touch and if we're ever in Ireland, Phillipines, New Zealand, New York and so on, that we will definitely look them up. Thanks to "facebook updates" I'll know when they're eating breakfast or walking the dog.

-Headed out of Chiang Mai Monday morning on a 7 hour bus trip to Chiang Khong. Stayed the night along the river in a cute guesthouse owned by a sweet couple who helped us sort out our visas for Laos. Packed lunch included.

-Crossed the border into Laos Tuesday morning. Set out on our 2-day slow boat journey along the Mekong River. Hard wooden benches weren't the most comfortable things to sit on for 8 hours straight. However, the scenery was incredible and our complete states of delerium kept us entertained.

Here's the good 'ol slow boat. And no I'm not kidding.

-Stayed the night in a village called Pak Beng in between our 2 days of sailing. Electricity in the village shuts off at 10:30. Thought I knew what 'pitch black' looked like until I spent the night somewhere where there is absolutely no light. My love of scary movies was not appreciated on this night. Took to the sea again in the morning for another loooooong day on the slow boat.

Day 2. Hour 6.

-Finally made it to Luang Probang, Laos. Treated ourselves to an amazing Laotian curry and celebrated being on land.

-Headed out early the next morning for an all day hiking/kayaking trip. Highlights: seeing a snake that a guy just caught in his trap; the amazing views of mountains, farms, rolling hills; our guide deciding we should take a shortcut . . .which consisted of him leading us through uncharted territory by beating down the bushes/grass with a bamboo stick; walking through a village with 411 people in it (we met the 411th one . . .cute little baby boy); swam in a 7-tiered waterfall; kayaked past water buffalo. . .pretty amazing day. (Unfortunately my pics of this day are on a camera card that I don't have with me at the moment)

-Explored town the next day. Got massages for Jbo's Birthday!!!!! Found a wine bar and celebrated her big 2-5!!! HAPPY BDAY JBO!!!!

-Woke up at 5am the next day to watch the monks line up and receive offerings from everyone along the street. Pretty amazing site. And a gorgeous morning too.

-Headed south to Vang Viang. Estimated arrival time: 2pm Actual arrival time: 6:30pm. Forced to make a 2 hour stop for a bike race. And by bike race I mean in the span of 2 hours we watched mabye 10 bikers ride by while we sat on the side of the highway. Our driver thought it'd be appropriate to blast some Eagles for us while we wait "Take 'er eeeeeeeeasy". . . so at least we had that going for us. . .I guess.

-Spent our first full day in Vang Viang floating down the river on intertubes. SO much fun. People at the bars/restaurants throw a rope out to you and pull you up if you decide to head out of the water for a bit. Probably one of the craziest scenes I've witnessed.

-Next day went on a hike to the Blue Lagoon and Poukham Caves. Again, thought I knew what "pitch black" meant until our guide told us to turn off our flashlights at our farthest point into the cave and I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.

-Said goodbye to Lea this morning. She headed farther south into Laos while the rest of us are heading to Vietnam this afternoon on a 24 hour bus ride!! AHHH!

Just another manic Monday

This week is the start of our goodbyes. Since we only see each class one day a week, today was the last time I'll see my Monday classes. I tried to explain to them that I won't be coming back. I drew Thailand on one side of the board, America on the other, and a plane in between with an arrow pointing to America. Some of the kids understood. The others just repeated, verbatim, everything I was saying then gave me a blank stare when I finished. We sang a few songs that we've been working on "ABC's", "Old McDonald", "BINGO". I couldn't help but get a little choked up when I was saying goodbye. And it's only my Monday classes. I'm worried for Friday.

Here is my first class Monday mornings. It's a 2's class (7 and 8 yrs. old) and the one that I described as my "worst" class. I know, it's hard to imagine these cute kids causing such chaos. . .

This is one of my 1's classes (6 or 7 yrs. old).

I have a harder time getting the 1's to sit down and listen than I do with my 2's. I remember my very first class with this group. After just finishing the prior class thinking "What did I get myself into?" I came to this one and I don't think I got any of them to sit down in their seat for more than 30 seconds. They ended up being one of my favorite classes to teach.

This is my little buddy from that class.

He's behind the rest of the kids in his class and always needs some extra help. However, he ALWAYS has a smile on whenever I see him and he can always put a smile on me. Whenever we practice writing, he sits at the teachers desk so I can write the letters and he can trace them. While I sit down writing the words out he always squeezes my nose a couple times then slowly slides behind me and starts massaging my shoulders. He's one I'm definitely going to remember and miss.

This is another 1's class.

The first time I walked into this classroom there were about 6 boys in the back punching, kicking, and straggling each other. By the time I broke them up I turned around to find three kids standing on the desks. You might be able to tell from the picture that two of the classroom walls are made up of windows that open up to the courtyard, which is two stories down. You can imagine the fear in my eyes when the kids hopped from one desk to the next all the way across the room, as if they might just hop right outside the window. Later in the semester one of the boys helped himself to the top drawer of the teachers desk and pulled out a pack of Ritalin. Thankfully he caught my eye before he popped them in like a couple of Smarties. Needless to say this was definitely one of my more rowdy classes. I can't say they're walking out with a lot of of English but they definitely kept me entertained.

More to come as our goodbyes continue. . .