flooding

 This week was great! It was one of the girls birthday so we made American pizza and I made Homemade dough...I felt like a home maker... haha Later we went to the festevial here in town and there was an Elephant! It was so cute! We got to have our nails done for free and watch a magic show with a guy who seemed slightly feminane. haha The kids are doing awesome! It's amazing how fast they are learning! They are starting to warm up to all of us and that is really nice. Some of the girls are really sick and it is kinda scary..so far I feel okay but just to be safe I'm going to sleep down stairs with Hannah so we don't catch it. Me, hannah, and Ake went to the salon last night and got head massages and Hannah cut her hair off so darling! One thing the doctor said I shouldn't do is get my hair washed cause of my neck but Ake said I shouldn't miss out so I got it done anyway haha Well I sat like that for a long time and now my back is killing me. But if really did feel so nice! Also last night I made Tuna Cassrole for Ake, he studied at BYU and is dating our native coordinator Tang. They own the school together. Anyway..He says that Tuna Cassrole is the one American food he misses most! Of all the things to miss and he misses that haha The flooding here is getting crazy! We walked out from school and every street was flooded up to our knees. The traffic was crazy and there was sandbags everywhere. I had never seen flooding like that before. It was dirty water and something tells me that we probably shouldn't have walked in it haha But it was a lot of fun.

90%

Well so tonight we attended our first Thai concert! Remember how I said we are slightly always stared at, well last night was even worse haha We madea few friends as we danced and pretended to understand Thai! haha Hannah and I walked up to the ticket counter and she said "5 Baht" so I repeated it and then Hannah said "100 baht" so they made us pay 100 Baht! I was laughing so hard. Well when the band saw there was three Americans they all wanted picturs with us and they came off the stage and got pictures with us! Everyone here is so fun and they are awesome! When we went to church today a lady told Hannah "You should do Yoga" and she looked at me and said was that a fat joke? haha I almost died because right after they looked over at me and said "Your very beautiful" haha we all almost died of laughter! It was such a fun day! We read an article out of the ensign about tithing. My favoirte part was when they said "The Lord has given you the means to live with 90% or your income instead of 100%" I know that I love the gospel but tithing is the hardest thing for me. Sometimes I think oh man I could save that money, but I realized why save it for yourself when their are families out there that need to be fed. I want my family to be fed so I should support others in anyway I can.

Safe

Well today I don't have any scary stories or funny happenings but I guess that is to be expected because my time here will go a lot more smooth without a big story everyday haha Today I taught them how to bowl, we used different house hold objects as the pins. As I taught them about hairspray I asked "Do I spray this in my mouth? or on my head?" So I sprayed it on my head and they all about died from laughing! They had never seen hairspray haha The kids are starting to really warm up to me. When my home room or as I call them "My three boys" come to me or first see me they always run and give me big hugs! I guess I should add that while I do miss my family here I haven't been home sick, I haven't cried myself to sleep or wondered what I'm missing out on, I've felt safe. I feel the warm embrace of children when their crying, I've felt the happy hugs and smiling faces as if they couldn't wait to come to school to see me. It's a sense of belonging. You know when you give a gift and you really aren't expecting anything back but then you do recieve something? That feeling feels so good, you feel warm, and wanted. That is how I feel as I know I'm giving something so vaulable (a good education) expect nothing in return but as soon as I feel their little hands trying to tickle my back or holding on my leg while I try to walk, it's then I feel the warmth. Phuvite was crying today so he came over and climbed on my lap. He can't speak enough english to tell me what is wrong so I scratch his back and tell him he'd be okay, as I asked him "Are you ready to play?" He looked up through his red eyes and yelled "YESSSS teacher gabi" haha All the kids have something special about them. They all bring something in to my life that I've never had. It's the strangest feeling to be in a place where no one speaks my language, no one looks like me, and everyone stares at me to feel completely safe.

Danger

Second day of teaching. Was much much better. Ivy still cried the whole time and so did a few others but for the most part they are starting to like seeing us. I have the three oldest boys in the group, they are about 4. Tang (our native coordinator, who owns the school) says all the kids say they like me best because I'm so hyper hahaha. Mom and Dad I know your agreeing right now. We get to eat lunch at the school right after we teach, the food is always delicious! Yesterday after class we decided to take a bike ride up to the garden home. The garden home is where Tang lives. It is an amazing home built of all granite and comes complete with a tiny salt water swimming pool. Me and Hannah do water aerobics for exercise, which is actually  really hard haha The pool is freezing but after biking I always Jump right in. Oh and a side note. Every time we ride in two's I always say "We look like the missionaries". haha Most of the girls like to lay out in the sun after swimming but the sun is extremly strong here so I rub myself down with sun block and layout for five minutes. After we swam I suggested that we go on a bike ride, to just kind of explore. Phichit is the center providence so it's always easy to come back to. So we headed down by the house so I could get to a place where I knew exactly where we were and headed down the street. We passed the Temple where the monks live and different street vendors. The first light came upon us and we agreed on turing left. As we road down the street I suddenly remembered the prayer I had said early that morning. I heard "Please bless us with safety today" As we road along next to the flooding river I looked out into this beautiful garden that was a rich bright green color and heard, Turn Around. The area  was unfamilar so I told Hannah lets go a little bit further then leave. Now for the next part of the story you must understand one thing. We haven't met a single person, except Tang, who speaks english here. Not even her family speaks english. So anyway. We went a little further when a lady came from her house and in perfect english asked "Where are you from" we responded "America" her response was firm and understandble, "Turn around. It's dangerous down there" as we hestitated she said again "Turn around. It's dangerous down there." As I road back down the  road with Hannah we didn't speak. My first thoughts were, what is down that road? Is it dangerous because of flooding or people? Then I thought of the story a prophet told where he was walking out to his barn and the holy ghost told him not to go in. As  he placed his hand on the door handle the spirit firmly said not to go in. He walked away and never knew why he didn't go in. I will never know what was down that road, but I don't need to. I know that my Heavenly father put that English speaking woman on that road to caution  me: Danger.

Teacher Gabber

Well for many people in Centerville it is the first day of school! Yay! So I hope you all have a great day! :) Today was my first day of school also, it was really something. First off, you know how I said you always sweat here cause it's so hot and humid? Well today at the school there was no AC but it was still hot and humid. I am teaching gym (they say those that can't do, teach; those that can't teach, teach gym.) so I tried explaining kickball... Imagine several little kids crying at the sight of you all at once and trying to love them makes it worse...times that by 100 and you have my day. Ivy wouldn't speak or stop screaming until the Thai teachers took her away because foreigners are mean. haha There was so awesome things that happened today though. We have four stations they attend. So I got to run around the room in dress clothes sweating. yum. As I sat the kids down I said whats my name? teacher?? and Ongry, the boy who is very fond of me, yelled teacher Gabber!! Everyone was laughing and I couldn't help but notice the large smile coming from my face.  It feels nice knowing that you are helping someone gain a brighter future just by speaking, it makes you feel a sense of worth. The culture here is very different from Americans..which I'm sure you knew. I don't pass by one building without a smile or  an Asain "Good Morning". And suddenly the sweat doesn't seem so bad, suddnely I realize I have it pretty good here. So that is who I am here in Thailand, Teacher Gabber.

Humble

Humble. Words can't describe how I felt today as I got on the standing room only train. As it flew past the wet lands and homes (if you can call them that) I couldn't help but choke back tears. I've never seen poverty until today. People were bathing in the muddy water and homes were being over taken by the river. House's made of wood with windows wide open trying to cool down from the heat of the day. Children were playing in the water laughing and smiling, I also couldn't but help to notice how happy they were. Suddenly my 6 pairs of TOMS meant nothing, expensive jeans and clothes seemed to have the least amount of importance. I don't know exactly how to explain it.  I feel confused as I know in America we have everything, plus a lot of things we don't need. But here they are lucky to have four walls and a door.

Church today was at a small branch that was full of faith. I never realized that people actually had to travel to church. It took about an hour both ways today. Oh how I longed to walk out the door and bam it was right there. We got to experience a baptism today, I couldn't understand one word anyone was saying but she looked so happy. As she gave me a hug and a tight squeeze of my hand I felt Christs love surrounding the branch. .

I learned a lot about myself today. I learned things I thought I needed to survive, I don't. I learned that if I take food from everyone who offers it to me I will be coming home a lot fatter than I am now. I realized that judging by the smiles and dirty on peoples hands and faces that having nothing maybe be better than having it all. I learned that pride stands within me and by how guilty I felt today for the things I have, I feel humble.

A Doctor, Engineer, and a Dermatologist

I came to Thailand hoping for some direct revelation to what I want to be doing when I get home from Thailand in School. Tang (our native coordinator) got a degree in the UK in Civil Engineering, her father is a doctor and owns the private clinic we live on top of. Then there is mom. She is a dermatologist, from what we here the best in Thailand. It's funny how Tang said to me today "We always want what we can't have." Here in Thailand they people bleach there skin because the High Class have white skin and the servants that must work outside and actually do labor have brown skin. Americans always want to be tan. Always laying out in the sun or in fake light tanning beds. Mom was giving Tang shots and creams to whiten her skin, I couldn't help but thing how over done the whole thing was just to be white. But then as I thought of Americans spending tons of money on creams and lotions and tanning beds it didn't seem so crazy. It seemed simple. We want what we can't have. As I biked around Phichit today I learned a lot. I see people who sleep where their stores are, I've been chased by the stray dogs down the road on my bike, and I've heard Thai people laughing as they see the five white Americans trying to figure out what side of the road the  cars go on. Coming to was suppose to help me understand what career I may want to go in. I've narrowed it down to a Doctor, Engineer, and a  Dermatologist.

SwadeeKa

My second day here in Thailand! Today we played with the kids. We played duck duck goose where we could only touch their shoulders because it is very offensive to touch their heads. I got chosen 7 times and we probably only played 10 rounds haha. The teacher asked a boy named Ongry if he liked the new American teachers and he said "Yes, I like the one with short hair the best." He then went home and told his parents all about me! haha So the teacher told him my name and then asked him today what my name was he said "teacher Gabber" hah he  can't speak english well but man is he cute! We got to explore the town today. You would think we were the biggest celebrities. People just start at us, people will have these huge smile on there faces and say "SwadeeKa" which means hello. The food here is great! People are taking such good care of us. It's crazy to be here and see how different it is outside of the US. Here you sweat all the time. You go to sleep sweating and wake up sweating. Always always sweating. I got a very cute pair of shorts that look like sailor shorts! They are beautiful! haha Everything is good! I miss my bed though...the bed here is like sleeping on a board except a board would be more comfortable.

Sittin at the airport

Today is August 16, 2011! I am sitting in San Fran waiting for my 21 1/2 hour flight to Bangkok. Those of you that know me know that I can sit for about thirty minutes until my back is numb and crying is my only option...lucky for the person sitting next to me. We left our house at 3:00 this morning and I will not get to Thailand until tomorrow night at 11:30, where I will travel by van four hours to my destination. This should be fun. As my parents dropped me off I was fine until I  got to the esclator and looked back. They were all waving and I held back some tears. I feel so lucky to be going on this journey and hope that it will teach me a lot about what I want to do with my life! I would like to deicate this first post to my best friend des! She is great! I didn't say good bye but I love her and this blog is mainly for you so you should probably read it everyday haha. Also I Love my family and appreciate all their support! You guys are the best! Stay safe  and have fun!

-gabi