Udaipur, India.....

 Our next stop was Udaipur, which we all instantly fell in love with! We found out that we were in time for the last day of a festival that was celebrating women. Absolutely everyone was involved, there was parade after parade and hours and hours of celebration! I ended up losing Brittany and Megan for an hour in the madness of the parades! I missed out on getting colored dust thrown all over me!
This man was firing off fireworks that I thought burst my eardrum!

These were some things that some locals handed us. We weren't sure what to do with them right away but realized that we were supposed to eat them!

This man was possessed by the spirit and the people were trying to get information from him from god...then the spirit left him.

This was the women godess they were praising and then as part of the ritual they dumped her in the lake!

As I stopped at a jewelry store the man asked me if I help people in my profession. I said, well yes I’m a teacher! He told me that he reads faces. He told me that sometimes I am sad but that if I travel I will not be sad and that I shouldn’t worry about my future because things will be good for me!
 This was a local man in the place we stopped for tea.

This was the man who made our chai tea. It was quite the process!

In India, unlike Southeast Asia, you are expected to tip, for everything. At times it was very frustrating but at the same time I realized that these people were just trying to make a little bit of money and had nothing else.  Udaipur was the town where the James Bond movie, Octopussy was filmed. I am a big fan of Roger Moore and it was funny because a lot of store owners had pictures with him!
Here are a few pictures from the festival.

As fate would have it, I made a poor choice and drank some water out of a bottle that had the under plastic seal, but not the outer seal. After taking a huge gulp, I realized it didn’t taste right. Unfortunately the damage was done! About an hour later, my sickness started. I was on my death bed for about 20 hours straight. While the girls were out and about, I was back in the hotel with extreme body ache, throwing up, chills and sweats, etc. I was also extremely delusional. The next day the girls told me how crazy and out of it I was. I guess I was telling them that while they were gone, I was doing all of these Indian stretches and the reason I was doing them was because if I did the right combination the cab driver would take me to where they were at……WHAT!?!?!   Yikes. Besides being sick from the water, we decided that I was also feeling some affects from my malaria pills, because I had also been having crazy dreams the past couple nights. The next day I tried to do a cooking class with the girls but I was unsuccessful. The man directed me to the “local doctor” who gave me 3 different kinds of pills that cost me $6 and said I’ll feel better in half an hour. He was a magician!
Megan and Brittany getting involved in the festival!

 There was song and dance that went on for hours and hours into the night! One lady even pulled me in to be a part of the dancing!

For those who know me well, you might not be shocked by what I’m about to say next. Throughout all of our travels, Megan and Brittany repeatedly told me that whenever I talked to a native Indian person, I talked very loud and my pitch raised a tone or two! I tried so hard not to talk loud to the locals, but I guess it was to no avail!

India....two words....amazing and disheartening.

During our holiday break in October from school, I was heading to India with a girl I had met while traveling in Vietnam, my friend Megan and her friend, Brittany. On the way there, in the airport I was talking to a man and when I told him I was heading to India his response was that he didn’t like India. When I asked why he said, “Because the people there are ugly, they smell and the food is terrible!” Wow, thanks for being a downer mister!  A fun fact to start off my tails about India is that for every 1 million people in Mumbai there are only 17 toilets! YIKES!  We flew into Mumbai and instantly I was in shock! There are so many people and the city is so incredibly dirty, smelly and poor. There are so many homeless people lying around everywhere.  They just set up sheets on the sidewalk as their homes.
There are cows and goats absolutely anywhere and everywhere!

 The most uncomfortable thing about India is how the men look at foreign women.  The just stare, stare and stare some more! Even if you catch them and make eye contact, they continue to stare.  The traffic in India made the traffic in Bangkok or Saigon look like child’s play! It is basically every man for himself! Women and children are constantly begging and asking for money and it is not uncommon for them to grab you as well when they are begging.  In India, everything is separate for men and women.  Pilgrims or people coming to ashrams for meditation that come to India from all over are supposedly tried to be outwitted by priests that try to intoxicate them with God or by weed! Women don’t really have any rights in India and the men get to do whatever they want.
Here we were drinking some coffee, which we then found out we were supposed to drink out of the saucer because you aren't supposed to drink out of glass!

A crazy market in Mumbai.

The dirtiness of the city...

We did a tour of the slums while in Mumbai. The kid’s playgrounds are covered in trash and have dirty water and chemicals all over.  All of the kids run around in bare feet. The big employment in the slums is recycling plastic and other substances, although the processes that they use to accomplish this task is unbelievable and has to be horrific on the people’s health and to the environment.  There is also a lot of sewing of clothes that are sent to other countries and is almost exclusively done by men.  The community playground was awful, there was no grass and was bare. We noticed two little boys squatting, facing each other and talking and came to realize that they were “doing their business!” It was not uncommon to see children or even adults, “taking care of business” absolutely anywhere…and I mean anywhere!  Obviously with the lack of toilets because just go to the bathroom anywhere. Mumbai is the 2^nd most expensive city in for world for real estate, which is bizarre to me because of the conditions. To live right next to the slums is $400 a month…..which is a ridiculous amount of money in India.

Here is a picture of where all the laundry in the city goes to be washed!

Here are some pictures of goats in the train station just hanging out! Notice the man carrying the large load on his head as well! This is a common site in India!

Fun fact; the max capacity on the train is 1800 people……the actual number of people on the train at rush hour? 7000! I thought I was going to get trampled to death by hundreds of Indian women while trying to get on the train!

A crazy statue....

Thailand Schools....

All over in Thailand, there are hundreds and hundreds of foreign teachers teaching English. I initially thought that they would take anyone whose first language was English, but I came to find out that the Thai educational system prefers white females from America.  When looking at resumes for new potential hires for my advisors, they told me that the head Director and many parents have vocalized that they don’t want black teachers.  I talked to this teacher from Uganda and he was telling me how unfairly black people are treated in Thailand. Regardless of education, they are always paid less. Even if they have a teaching degree, they will get paid less than a white native English speaker with absolutely no teacher qualifications.  

Some of my precious students, Zen and Film.

I find it interesting because there is no substitute teacher system in place here. I think it’s mostly because Thai teachers just don’t take vacations or breaks and never get sick!  If a teacher is sick or gone, the other teachers just take over their classes.  I feel that most of the time you are on your own as a teacher here. I haven’t really felt a lot of support or guidance while teaching here. When I taught in America, a huge part of the structure of teaching was to have a support group and collaboration by teachers of the same subject and the same team, to discuss behavior, teaching methods and sharing ideas for lesson plans and brainstorming for new ideas. I feel this is a point of pride for our school systems back home. 

Our school sidewalk after a big rain!

 I found it interesting when I was told that there is kind of crisis for finding new teachers. About 25-30 years ago there was a government incentive to teach, so a lot of teachers signed up. In Thailand, teachers will teach for 30 plus years before retiring so there hasn’t been a need for new teachers until now, when all the old ones are retiring. I thought teachers were respected here but James said no, because people think that people become teachers because they can’t do anything else and they have no clout in government or politics. James said that this is slowly changing as education is seen as being more important than before. 

 A Thailand Sky...

A large bug we found in our neighborhood!

We had to prepare for our end of semester parent presentation.  I was in charge of the Math presentation again and then was in charge of a question and answer session at the end to show what the students have learned and what they were tested over for end of semester tests.  As the last time, I was very impressed with my students performance…I think the parents felt they money was being well spent! 

 An interesting fact I learned about Buddhism is that people are placed at different levels and are treated differently according to those levels. At first I didn’t like this, but then I learned that people are treated differently and helped differently according to what their needs are and what they individually need to reach nirvana and an enlightened state.  I feel that is true in Christianity as well. We are all individuals and at different levels and need different things to help us reach our enlightened state. 

A buddha on the go!

There are geckos all over in Thailand. In my house there are usually just little ones about 1-3 inches long. Outside my house there are big ones that are around 1foot long!

The big flood???

When I want to get updates on what is going on, I talk to my favorite teacher, Klu Kheng! This time when she is giving me the down low...she tells me that in October we are going to have a flood! She said that every 4 years in Thailand it floods and this is the year! The last time there was a flood, the water in my house was up to my waist and in her house was over her head! Obviously I was a bit concerned! She said that you have to boat everywhere...even in and out of your house! I could only imagine the gross water that the flood would bring and who knows WHAT kind of creatures with it! Klu Kheng told me that there are sometimes crocodiles in the water also. I'm still not sure if she was just pulling my leg! She said that she really wanted me to experience a flood because it is quite something! I agreed that it would be neat to experience but also quite intense! Unfortunately (maybe!), after about 3 or 4 weeks, Klu Kheng came to me and said that she didn't think it was going to flood because the rains had slowed. I didn't know if I was disappointed or thankful!
It's humorous to me when I try very hard to use the little bit of Thai whenever I can...and then when I greet someone in Thai and ask how they are doing, they reply to me in English! They always get a big smile on their face when I speak Thai! Sometimes I feel like a celebrity here with how the Thai people treat me. They are always coming up and want to know about me or invite me over to their house or to teach them and their children English.  As I was walking to lunch one day I had two girls on a bike pass me and they turned around and wanted to take a picture with me!
This picture is from an assembly I had to sit through for 2 hours (not understanding a word of course!) on street safety!

Here are a few of my students.

The last 2 months I have really tried hard to drill key, important words in my classes so that the students can recognize these words and understand what to do. Instead of me just explaining what to do, I have the students read the directions and pick out these key words to try to figure out what they need to do. I have been very impressed with how well they are understanding. 
Here is a little fun activity I did with the kids where they had to stare at a picture for so long and then look at another picture and it would play a trick on your eyes! They loved it!

Sometimes it is still difficult dealing with the lack of interaction or being able to communicate with people. During the day I am able to speak to my Thai translators and the heads of my program but in the evening I really only have one person to speak English to! Thus lately I have been going to Lopburi, a nearby town, that has a lot of foreign teachers or a lot of foreigners passing through, just to get a small fix of interaction! 

Every day at lunch and after school, the kids sweep, mop, take out the trash and clean the windows. I guess they maybe do this to instill a good work ethic at a young age!  Whenever the students or people put their hands together when they are saying a chant to Buddha, I would always do it too because I thought I was supposed to do it out of respect, but I had a teacher tell me that I should NOT do it!

 While riding home one day and then also on the bicycle ride to school one morning, I encountered a big water monitor, which is like a giant lizard! Both of these I saw were roughly 5-6 feet long! I'm not exactly sure if they would actually hurt me, but just to be safe I took a different route! 

Here are a few pictures of some other creatures that were either in my house or outside it!

I got to attend a teacher retirement party at school. It was quite something! This party was for teachers that have been teaching for 30 plus years. I feel like in America they don't make this big of deal for teachers retiring...especially the school you are at doesn't go through all this trouble and spend all this money on a party for the teachers retiring! 

To show your thanks to the teachers you would go through a line and pour water over their hands. Even the farang got to be included and participate!

I also took a picture with some of the "entertainment" that was later that evening! It's obvious to see that I am quite a bit taller than all of these Thai ladies, but what is funny is that I am wearing flip flops and they are all wearing high heels!

I could NOT get over how many gifts were given! There was at least one HUGE table overloaded with gifts for each teacher and they spent an hour just taking pictures of people giving gifts to these teachers who were retiring!  The best part (and why I went!) was the food! There were about 8 different courses that were brought to our table. For those who know me and my picky eating, will be proud to hear that I tried everything! (Well, ALMOST everything! I did not eat the black eggs!). It was quite interesting how they eat. They don't have a big plate for you to load up, you get very small bowl that you fill up. I like this because it causes you to eat very slowly and to not gorge yourself!

Here are some pictures of the courses of food that we got to partake it!

I have noticed many times since I have been living in Thailand and it was prevalent yet again at this party, how much culture and how rich the culture is in Thailand. Sometimes I feel like in America we have no culture because we all come from many different backgrounds and don't really participate in or do a lot of things that are relevant to our culture.

Discipline....

On the way back from Laos I got on a bus for the last hour of the trip at 6am, to find it jam packed with people! Standing room only! I don't think back home it would be legal to have people packed in the aisle of the bus and not in a seat. Again, things just fly a little differently here! I had my purse, my backpack and my computer bag, standing, crunched in the aisle. A girl sitting next to me offered to hold my bag and another lady pointed out where I could put my backpack. It was very nice. When we got back to Singburi, this girl asked me where I lived as she saw me walking away. She said "I will give you a ride!" Kindness. Putting others before yourself. Important qualities to hold. I came back on Thursday, knowing that we didn't have school because it was the queen's birthday. Later that morning I got a call from James saying that we don't have school on Friday either. I'm always the last to know and am given information at the LAST minute! I think it will be hard to get used to structure, plans and a schedule when I return home! 
Over the past 2 months I have been dealing with some pay issues with my school. I am doing a lot of extra work on lesson plans they want, for 3 different subjects, for 2 grades, for the WHOLE YEAR! I asked for an increase in salary...an increase that would put me similar to every other foreign teacher I know. The school said that it was too big of increase. I have started to get worried about money issues because with the salary I make now it is really hard to save any money...and I NEED to be able to buy a flight home eventually! I hate dealing with money issues. I constantly feel bad because I know I am making so much more than the locals.  I know that I would be fine making what I do if I lived here and were going to live here forever, but that is just not the case. So I have really been putting my simple living to the test and only getting by on the bare necessities; FOOD & WATER!
Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday night there is a big market. Here are a few pictures from the market.
Everything that is being sold is just laid out on a blanket, as seen with these tools.

 

 The Thai people LOVE their eggs! You see these fried eggs everywhere! 

 Here is an array of sauces and such for cooking. There is a vast array of smells that kind of overwhelm you!

These sausages made me think of Schmeckfest!

 

One of the things that I am continually frustrated with is the lack of discipline and structure at school.  I'm still convinced that part of the behavior problems I have in my classroom, stem from the students' home life. I feel because the kids come from wealthy families they are used to doing whatever they want and are a bit spoiled. Maybe it's just this age of kids! It is very frustrating because I don't see any real repercussions for inappropriate behavior or disobedience. I feel that because there is no real discipline, bad behavior continues to occur. I feel discipline in necessary and beneficial, to a certain extent of course. I guess I could just do what I see the older Thai teachers do and just swat the kids! I just don't think I could bring myself to do that!!

A big difference, from the educational system in the US, is that there is no diversity or options for kids with any sort of learning disability or special need (that I have seen or heard of). All the kids are in the same classroom (and way too many kids at once I feel), and are not given any special help for their learning challenges. I really noticed this when I made up my own Math test (to see if I am actually teaching the kids anything and to see what they've retained), and some of the kids needed a lot of extra time and extra help. Back when I worked in the Sioux Falls district, when it came time to testing, student's needs were very important. They were sent to the resource room where someone could read the test for them and they were given as much time as needed. It was very interesting to me to see the results of my test. Both classes actually did quite superb (not to brag!), but it was also interesting to see which students took 15 minutes to finish the test or 50 minutes.  There were students in both of those categories who scored 90% and better, which tells me that students learn, achieve and accomplish on many different levels, but one is not better than the other.

For the first time I ate a pomegranate! They are beautiful to look at and taste great but are kind of a task to eat because it consists of so many little parts! You can just swallow the little seeds inside the fruit, but I choose not to!

Another first I experienced recently was being caught out in a monsoon rain while riding my bicycle home from school! It was quite something! I felt like I was being hit with a pellet gun! If I wouldn't have had my glasses on it would have been impossible to keep my eyes open to see!

 

 Here is just a silly picture of me one night where I decided to put my hair in pigtails and I wore my friend Steve's cowboy hat!

 

 A few more stories before I end....one day as I was riding home from school I heard what sounded like an ambulance siren, so I pulled off to the side of the road. When the vehicle passed I realized it was a truck with what looked like a cage on the back of it and on the side it said "prisoners." I noticed that inside the "cage" it was jam packed full of half naked prisoners. I have heard many stories of the unbelievable and unspeakable things that go on inside the Thai prisons here. Prisoners are treated like animals. 

I need to ask to make sure, but I'm pretty sure that there is no sort of substitute teacher system in place. Whenever a Thai teacher is gone or sick (which is hardly ever, I think you only stay home if you are dying!), another teacher just takes over your class. When our kids have class with a Thai teacher and they are gone, we are responsible for the kids that period. 

While Stephen and I were in town on a weekend night, getting some food from a street vendor, we noticed that an older Thai woman was "popping a squat" right in the middle of the street into a drain. No one seemed to care or think it was strange, not even the police officer that casually walked by!