Saturday, November 6, 2010

Saraburi

I'm long overdue for an update... I've been CRAZY busy with school and being sick with dengue fever. I haven't been bringing my real camera around with me, but of course I've been making good use of my iPhone camera!

My school! I teach mostly regular English classes (13 of them), which is where I took the first and third pictures. I've got about 60 students in each of those classes, there's no air con, wild dogs walk in and out of the classroom whenever they please, and I have to teach with a microphone. They're M2 students, which is about the equivalent of freshmen in America. Their English is pretty beginner level, but some of them are awesome. I also teach a few English Program classes with the same age students, but their English is AMAZING. A lot of the time, I can have a normal conversation with them. The words that they know AND use correctly always impress me. They're absolutely hilarious and I'm constantly cracking up at the things they say. They've definitely got personalities and they're probably a bit too comfortable in class. The English Program kids are the pride of the school, so they've got nice, high tech classrooms with computers, projectors, and air con.


I live in Saraburi which is in central Thailand, about an hour north of Bangkok. We got hit with really heavy rainfall and LOTS of flooding recently. There's a river that goes through the town and it was- literally- about 30 feet higher than it usually is. That's the first picture. The second picture is of a wat (temple) right near where I live. The third photo is of my go-to street vendor. When I don't know what I want for dinner, I go to him and tell him to make me something good. The other night I had some fish insides that were surprisingly delicious. I haven't been disappointed with a meal from him yet!


And last but not least, my home away from home... the hospital! I had dengue fever for the past week or so and let me tell you, it has definitely not been fun. I'm almost over it now though, finally, which I'm very happy about. My room in the hospital was like a hotel suite though- private bathroom with hot water, balcony and nice view, microwave, refrigerator, TV with English channels, and a couch for all of the visitors that I didn't have. All of that, IVs, medicine, meals, nursing care, x-rays, and the doctors' services for less than $300 a night! The middle picture is of the incredibly itchy rash that I got when my fever broke. This picture was taken when it first appeared, but within a day the spots of "normal" skin were pretty much non-existent. The rash covered pretty much every inch of my arms, legs, and stomach, and it was UNBEARABLE.


I'll hopefully take some real pictures soon so keep an eye out for them!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your travels, enjoyed the read and been led to the http://www.insearchofsanuk.com/ website is a great plus..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank YOU for reading! In Search of Sanuk is a great organization. If you're in Bangkok, it would definitely be worth volunteering with them =)

    ReplyDelete