I am home and have been for a couple days. My adjustment is moving, slowly, but moving. My first day went quite well--jet lag-wise. I slept through the night and was not as tired as I had expected to be; however, for the past couple days I have woken up at 5am, ready for the day and for mashed potatoes (it's 5pm in Thailand). All three of my flights went smoothly and I was able to sleep the majority of the way home. On my first flight from Bangkok to Tokyo I fell asleep before we took off and did not wake up until mid flight. I remember asking the man next to me if we were in the air and he smiled and said, "yes, we are flying." --I was really out of it. After 24 hours of traveling, however, I finally arrived home. I am enjoying the ant-less and mosquito-less house but working at getting used to the 'cold' weather. Now for the reality of life--grad school, job, apt. searching, moving, etc. It's hard to believe that my two months in Thailand is now over--part of me feels as if I never went. On my first flight back I already felt some of it slip away--I guess that is why I took so many pictures and wrote in my journal--the memories are there. I will post a couple of the many photos I took on here and hopefully I can show each one of you all of them when we are able to catch up.

Bangkok bike/boat tour (first day)

Orientation Week

Chen, Johanna, Anna & Anna


One of the many temples we saw during Orientation Week



Headless Buddhas

Buddha

The wonderful pancake lady

Kids at the school (not the orphanage)

Monkey Temple

Chen, Johanna, Myself & Anna

Stairway 1--happiness, stairway 2--wealth, stairway 3--love
I chose happiness.

The orphanage


One of the MANY kids I wanted to take home with me.

Night spent at the orphanage

In the classroom

Story time

Sleep-overs at the orphanage include a face full of baby powder

Scraping away...

Tiling

Teaching

Our friend the lizard

Pool Day: Daan, Anna, Rose

"Happy Wednesday"

A Kanchanaburi sunset

Kanchanaburi waterfalls

Swimming with the fishes

Here is a small video of a boy at the orphanage. I asked him "sabai dee mai" (how are you) and he answers "sabai dee" (I am good). Then, I ask him "coon chi arai" (what is your name) and he says "Nupala"

I hope you enjoyed a small snapshot of my past two months.

Love you all.

Renae

Quick update and I hope there will be one more to come before I fly home...

I went to Bangkok this weekend and maybe you have heard maybe you haven't... but there is a rather large demonstration happening in Bangkok. It is supposed to be peaceful, but we all know how some demonstrations can go... I am now safe back in Singburi and my time in Bangkok went well--though a tuk-tuk did drop us off in the middle of the demonstration. There were a couple of bombs (two if what I have heard is correct), but they were not close to where I was staying and I think the demonstration is continuing to be peaceful--I think. I will share the rest of my Bangkok stories (and there are plenty) when I have more time--possibly when I return home. However, returning home does not look like it is going to be as peaceful as I though. I have many decisions ahead of me and they seem to be running full speed. I feel as if I have to make major decisions rather quickly and that makes me quite nervous.

Bangkok, though, went well. We did not see everything we wanted to due to confusions amount tuk-tuk drivers, boat people, and ourselves. We saw a floating market, kind of. I don't know if three women in boats counts as a floating market, but we can try it. And Khoasan Road was successful. I am itching to what "The Beach" again now that I have been to Thailand and Khoasan Road.

My last couple of days here will fly by, I know, and I am expecting tears--they have already presented themselves a couple times today. Tomorrow is a full day at the orphanage with more painting and such, Wednesday is a half day and the afternoon is spent at the pool and them Thursday is my last day at the orphanage with a trip to Tesco in the evening. Then, I leave Singburi on Friday and fly home on Saturday morning. I know I have said this before, but it is difficult for me to comprehend that I am leaving this place, the place that I have called home for the past two months and the place that, today especially, felt like a kind of home after a long weekend away. Home home is greatly needed, however.

I will talk to you all soon and I will try to update this once more before I depart, but if I do not get a chance to do so I will definitely update it when I return home and the internet is free. :) I miss you all and cannot wait to share my stories in person!

I have less than a week left in Singburi and just a couple hours over a week left in Thailand--time has surely flown by.

This past week was a bit different--no kids at the orphanage provide a very quiet work day. I did, however, on Thursday go to a different school with a couple other volunteers. It was interesting to see the differences between the orphanage and this school--we had visited this school during orientation week, but it was nice to see it again after being at the orphanage for so long and having to opportunity to teach English at this school and see the differences was also nice. This school is much better off than the orphanage; they have computers in the classrooms, their buildings are in much better shape, and they have so many more materials. It was nice to be at that school for a day, but I feel so much more needed at the orphanage and plan to spend the duration of my time here working there.Today I worked with my roommates on finishing a small painting project we had started last week and once that was done we started a new project in the classrooms. The new project entails painting "door" "window" "floor" "ceiling" "wall" etc. in the classrooms.

As my time here draws near, I am starting to realize the numerous things I will miss: eating with spoons and forks (no knives), drinking from bowls, the lizards in our room--yes, I will miss them, the children (obviously), the insane amounts of laughter that bounds from room number one when all three of us girls are there, card games with cookies and coffee, the sunsets, our horrifying bus rides to and from the orphanage, the smiling faces of the Thai people, the hugs and outreached hands of the children, and much more.

Becca and Jess--Thank you SO much for the letter. I got it today and it made my week! It is now hanging above my bed and I think I have read it about 5 times so far. You have no idea how much loved it! I hope you girls are enjoying CA and I want to hear of all your adventures when I return. :)

Thanks again to all of those who have updated me this week and I apologize for not writing back as often, but I hope my blog gives you a sense of what I am up to.

You are all miss. See you in a week.

Hello all. I am back from a long weekend at the beach. It was quite enjoyable, but being the type of girl who doesn't thoroughly enjoy just laying out on the beach all day, I am glad to be back in Singburi. My roommates and I headed out to Pattaya for a long weekend and it definitely proved to provide for some interesting stories. Due to lack of time and the fact that the internet isn't the best place to write such stories, when I return home ask me to share my Pattaya stories and I will be sure to do so--if you are anxious to hear of them I am sure you can just google "Pattaya" and you will find the general idea of what the stories are regarding.
The first beach we went to, right in Pattaya, was not what we had expected. The water was quite dirty--garbage floating everywhere, so on Sunday and Monday we took a ferry to a nearby island. The beaches on the island were what you would hope to expect a beach in Thailand to be--white, soft sand and bluer than blue water. Our beach on Sunday had quite a few waves--Mom, I enjoyed swimming in them for you and thought of you quite a bit :)--and our beach on Monday was a bit more calm. The water on both days, however, was quite warm yet refreshing. I found myself in the water much more than I found myself in the sun; but, the sun still found me and now my face and shoulders are a bit pink.
It is odd for me to think that I have less than two weeks left in this beautiful country. I am trying to slowly close different chapters of this trip--the children have left the orphanage, one chapter done (a very difficult chapter to close, mind you). Soon, one of my roommates, Johanna, will be leaving and that will be another difficult chapter to close. Then, my time at the orphanage and in Singburi will come to an end and then, as a whole, my time in Thailand. I am excited, however, for my next week and a half. I having a painting project to finish up at the orphanage and am anxious to get moving on that and then this upcoming weekend my roommates and I are planning on heading to Bangkok for our last weekend together--until I visit Sweden of course. Then, next week will be more time at the orphanage, painting, tiling, etc. and of course, packing when I am at the camp. It is still difficult to believe that two months have already passed. I am looking forward to sharing all of my stories with you, dear reader, when I return. I look through my pictures and just imagine what I will tell you when you see them--the smiling faces of the children, the different landscapes I have seen in my time here, the people I have lived with, the orphanage itself, I am quite excited to share it all with you.

I hope this entry finds you all in good times and please keep the e-mails, messages, posts, etc. going. They are greatly appreciated and they all warm my heart.

You are all missed!

First of all I need to thank all of you who have written--all of the e-mails and messages truly warmed my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Please, keep them coming!

Well, another week has passed and I have only two left in this beautiful country; it is hard to believe that two months have already gone by. This was the last week at the orphanage with the children--tomorrow they all leave for Chang Rai until mid May. I spent much of this week teaching with Anna which went quite well. We taught the children how to make "Loppa" which are the hand folded paper things with colors on the outside and numbers on the inside (I am sure you all made them when you were young). The younger kids seemed to really enjoy it--and don't worry, we did teach them something--we first taught them the colors and then in place of the numbers on the Loppa they colored one side and wrote the name of the color on the other.

Today was more of a "party" day than a school day. The morning was spent planning a painting project and then the afternoon was filled with sitting with the children, talking, eating, and dancing...yes, dancing. On the third floor of the classroom building there was a large dance party that the majority of the volunteers engaged in. Watching the children dance was quite the experience... what talent! I made videos so I will be sure to show you all when I return home.

This past week a couple of girls and I stayed the night at the orphanage. It was my third, and sadly, my last time doing so. I have learned a couple Thai dances and would love to show you them along with the videos of the children dancing--they are, by far, much better than me. There was an outbreak of lice there however, so that proved to be interesting. My roommates and I bought the de-licing shampoo the next day and enjoyed sitting with towels on our heads for two hours. But now, no lice--it all provides for a story.

I would like to defer a bit from my Thailand talk and wish a heartfelt congratulations to Emily and Brady. I am so excited for the both of you and cannot wait until I can see you both in person--prepare yourselves for huge hugs!

Again, thanks to those who gave me updates and please, please, please keep them coming!

Another week has passed and much has been done. It was a good week at the orphanage--the scraping of the wall has been completed and now we are painting it! Also, more tiling has been done and the floor is beginning to actually look like a floor, and I taught quite a few classes this past week with one of my roommates (Yes! They are back!). This upcoming week the children start their exams and then they head home on Saturday--the rest of my time here will be spent painting, building, tiling, etc.

I am finally over my "cold" that I had for about a week. It is something else when you are sick in another country--especially a hot and humid one. But, the cough has subsided and I am ready for more work which is good because it will be given.

This past weekend my roommates and I went to Kanchanaburi--a city in south west Thailand. We left Friday morning and arrived early Friday afternoon. After we found a place to stay we headed out in hopes of finding Death Railway Bridge. I believe our attempt was successful, but we are still unsure. We made our way to a bridge and we believe it was the one we wished to see, but due to the heat and pure exhaustion we are unsure. Whatever bridge it was, though, it was beautiful.

Friday night we went out to a night market and then to supper. It was an early night because we got up at 5:30 the next morning in hopes of getting to the waterfalls early. We were told that the bus that went to the waterfalls left at 7, but we were mistaken and sat at the bus station for an extra hour. (There was a lot of waiting over the past couple of days). We did make it to the waterfalls and they were absolutely beautiful--crystal clear blue waters surrounded by numerous green trees. There are seven waterfalls in all, but we walked only to the first four. On the fourth, however, we decided to go for a swim--that was another small adventure. The water is safe to swim in as long as you are not afraid of fish nipping at your feet. I thought it would not be a problem, but you cannot say that until you feel them eating away at your dead skin. It took a while to get used to the feeling, but once I did I really enjoyed the swim. After our time at the waterfalls we started our trek back to Singburi (where we live)--yet another adventure. I do believe this was the first time on my trip here that I felt like a true backpacker--we were about 60 to 70 people stuffed on a bus that left an hour late--and I was not really sure where we were going. Once we arrived in Suphanburi--where our transfer was supposed to take place--we found that the bus to Singburi did not run that late at night and so we had to stay there until the next morning. The giggles started to ensue--nervous laughter I am sure. "We are in a city that we do not know, without a place to stay, and are not really sure where to go or what to do..." We found a hotel and were able to actually get almost half price on our room--I think the man felt sorry for us...looking at our tired, hungry, and scared faces might have had something to do with it.

We are now home--our bus left this morning and we spent the duration of today at the pool in Singburi. A long and successful weekend. Ready for another week at the orphanage.

It is odd to think that I have less than three weeks left. Three weeks from now and I will be back in the US--back to the "real world" I guess. I am soaking up every moment here and am trying to place the scenery, the people, the smells (even if they are disgusting), and the food into my memory. I do miss home and feel at times as if too much is changing. I am sure when I come home it will take a bit of time to adjust, not only back to the US but to all the changes that have presented themselves during my time here.

This may sound like a dire plea... and that is because it is. But, I am aching for a taste of home. So, please, if you could, send me a small update on what is going on I would truly appreciate it. The update does not have to be long or of much importance, but just hearing from people from home is heartwarming and makes me feel not so alone. I do miss you all and truly hope to hear from you soon!

This will be a shorter entry due to lack of time...sorry in advance.

I am anxiously awaiting the return of my roommates. Yes, having a couple lizards as roommates for the past two weeks has been entertaining and sometimes frightening, but it will be so nice to have some people to talk to at night again.

This past week has included much work at the orphanage. The majority of Monday to Thursday was spent scraping paint off of the walls. I am determined to get that done! But, today I tiled for a bit which was a nice break from the scraping and yesterday I taught the sixth graders. Tomorrow I am planning on scraping and tiling for a bit and then a couple other volunteers and I are hoping to have a soccer tournament with the children.

It is hard to believe that I have already been here for four weeks--my time here in Thailand is half over. I am glad that I have four weeks left, but I believe at the end of those four weeks I will be ready to go back home. At least, I hope I will be ready.

A bit of an update on a subject other than Thailand--I have been accepted in Dominican University's School of Social Work as well as Loyola's. I have yet to hear back from UIC, but will let you know when I find out. Now, decision time. I know in the next couple of months there will be much change, but I am quite excited for whatever the future holds.

Thanks again to all who have updated me--even the smallest update is greatly appreciated! I am longing for pieces of home!

Again, sorry for the short entry. I miss you all!