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!

A beautiful and lazy Sunday afternoon in Thailand. A year ago who would have thought I would be here in this hot and humid paradise. The rest of this week went quite well. Friday night I spent the night at the orphanage again. It was Scout Day on Friday so the older children set up tents and slept in the field. Four other volunteers and Idid the same. We, however, had an enclosed tent while the children slept under a tarp strung over sticks. The night was filled with numerous festivities...Thai dancing--that we of course joined in on, many songs, skits, games, etc. It was quite enjoyable. The volunteers and I went to bed quite early--about ten thirty, while the children stayed up until about twelve or so. We then slept in until 7, but kids were up at 5 doing exercises and cleaning up the camp. I am hoping to stay at the orphanage at least once a week while the kids are still there. On March 10 their exams begin and then the next week they start their vacation. The majority of the children have family so they will head home for their vacation, and the ones who dont have anyone, I believe, will stay at the orphanage.

These children amaze me every day. I hope my constant rambling about how much they are changing me and how much I truly love them does not get old. I taught some of the children the "I love you" sign--pinky, pointer finger, and thumb up and the middle two fingers down. My father and I used to make this sign to one another quite often when I was a kid. Now, these children make it towards me and I to them. They smile and yell "Lenae" and show me the sign. Hands made into the shapes of hearts are also quite frequently seen around the orphanage. So quick to love and they never look back.

They have faces of innocents and love. I never truly realized how beautiful children are. Yes, I do like kids and have worked with them before, but I think I always forget how much I love them and how beautiful and precious they truly are. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is a humbling and eye opening experience.

Thailand is still quite beautiful and extremely hot. However, Friday night while we were camping at the orphanage it began to rain--in the dry season! Another volunteer and I were quite confused at first because it felt as if our entire body was tingling and we thought we han eaten something wrong. But, once we realized it was rain coming through our tent, laughter began and soon a bit of fear set in..."what if we get soaked?" " this tent isnt water proof!" "dont touch the sides of the tent" etc. etc. etc.

I have talked about the rides to the orphanage in the morning...filled with a green that I have never seen before covered by the rolling mist and random banana trees to fill in the gaps. I have not, however, talked about the sunsets. They are like a dream. Something you would see on a postcard or as a screensaver or something. Nothing you would expect to see in real life. But, there it is. Colors the sky has never shown me before. Bright red, deep pink, burning orange and a royal purple. Palm trees over the sun as it sets into the green fields. I dont want to forget it.

I know I havent put pictures up yet, and I not sure if I will get the chance before I leave. So, my words will have to paint the pictures for now. Again, I hope this entry finds you all in great happiness. I love you all very much and you are greatly missed. I will hug the kids for you and soak up the sun for you as well. All my love.

While scraping away paint the other day a girl from the orphanage came over and began to help. After a couple of minutes I felt a tug on my arm and looked over. Etched in the paint was "I love you" She smiled and pointed to the words she had just written. Speechless. How do you even begin to find words for an act such as that. Now, every day is filled with hugs, smiles, waves, laughs, "Lenae, Lenae!!!!", "I love you", and so much more. Tuesday night I spent the night at the orphanage with two other volunteers. After work ended at three we went over and watched the kids dance and then joined after a bit. It went from traditional Thai dancing to a hip-hop dance-off. We, the volunteers and I, were pushed into the middle of the circle during the dance off and began to embarrass ourselves with no looking back. The kids cheered and began dancing with us. We spent the night in one of the rooms--there are about 20 girls in one room and they all sleep on the floor. Mosquito nets are hung from a string and blankets are pulled out from under their hanging clothes. It is amazing to think how little they have and yet how happy they truly are. Always smiling, always grateful, always happy. Always. Why can't we learn something from this.

I was talking with another volunteer earlier this week and we were discussing how when we first arrived here we thought we were living very simplistically.... no hot water, washing our clothes in buckets, drinking out of bowls, sleeping with one sheet, etc. But now, it is different. I look forward to my cold shower every day and I love drinking out of the bowls. We are living in riches here. So many people here have nothing. They sleep on the floor... twenty in one room. Some without mosquito nets and never shower alone and here I am with a fan in my room, am able to shower alone, and I have my own bed.

I have been teaching a bit more at the orphanage and with an exact plan things seem to go quite well. It is still extremely mentally exhausting, but just being with the children--well, I can't explain it. I have five weeks left and for awhile I was counting down--I missed home, I missed my friends and family, I missed Chicago. Yes, I still miss all of those things, but jut thinking about leaving the children almost brings tears to my eyes now. It is not going to be easy, but I have five weeks to soak it all up.

I am continuing to work on my Thai and believe I am getting better. I hope I can find someone to practice with when I get home.

Once again, my internet time is up. So, until next time. Love.

My first week at the orphanage is over and it did get a bit easier. Tuesday and Thursday I spent the entire day tiling and scraping. No teaching. However, on Wednesday and Friday I taught a 6th grade class and an 8th grade class. A group of us planned a lesson regarding food and I do believe it went quite well. I enjoy teaching the older children and I believe I will continue to teach the 6th grade class on Monday/Wednesday/Friday and maybe a couple 4th grade classes in between. Otherwise, I will be tiling/painting/scraping. A couple volunteers and I believe we need to take pictures of ourselves tiling and scraping because some people from home wont believe that we actually did it (Yes Matthew, I am talking about you ;) )

I think the idea that I am here for six more weeks is truly starting to settle in. It will be good and I will probably not want to leave when the time comes, but a part of me is waiting for March 27th. I am enjoying myself here though. I love seeing the children's faces light up when we arrive every day. The hugs and waves we get are completely heartwarming. It is difficult, however, to see the conditions of their rooms. Some boys do not have mosquito nets and there are no screens on the windows. Some of them just sleep on a plastic lining on the floor--no mattress, sheet, or pillow. And they are all so happy. It is a lot to take in...and it is coming slowly, but it very difficult.

My roommate left today and I moved in with Anna and Johanna--two girls from Sweden. They are leaving for trekking week and then beach week, so I will be living by myself for two weeks. I think it will be good for me, but I am starting to feel a bit of loneliness set in. I believe a new group of volunteers is arriving today, however, so I am sure they will wipe away a bit of the loneliness.

The duration of my stay here is pretty much planned out--the week days anyway. Monday-orphanage. Tuesday-orphanage and Sing Buri at night. Wednesday-orphanage for half-day and then pool in Sing Buri in the afternoon and dinner at a restaurant in the evening. Thursday-orphanage and Tesco in the evening. Friday-orphanage. A couple girls and I are trying to plan some weekend trips; I am not quite sure where, but we are hoping waterfalls and hiking and such.

That's all for now. I miss you all. I will try to get pictures up, but I am not sure if my camera will connect to these computers. However, my roommate put some pictures up on facebook and they can be seen on my page.

Til next time.

First day at the orphanage is over and I am exhausted. They aren't long days... breakfast at 8, leave by 8:50, start working at 9:30 and leave by 3:30, but it is definitely tiring. I am sure once I get into this routine things will go much more smoothly. Today, I taught a group of 6th graders and 1st graders with a couple other volunteers. I also worked on tiling their dining area and chipped away old paint so that soon we can paint again. The tiling and chipping the paint went well; it was a nice break from teaching. Every day we can pick whether we would rather teach or work on painting or tiling and when we would like to do each. I really appreciate the fact that we can mix things up once in awhile, because I am sure that teaching every day would get horribly tough. Our lunch break is an hour and we eat at a near by restaurant--pad thai, vegetables and noodles, rice with vegetables, etc. It is quite nice.

The morning drive was extremely beautiful. The country side, as said before, is greener than green. Green grass as far as you can see, banana trees, and a bit of morning mist. It was breathtaking. I wish I could send this green back home to you. Send you some thriving nature in the middle of the cold winter, but reading about it will just have to do for now. :)

Seeing the smiling faces and overly excited waving hands as we drove up this morning was heartwarming. Teaching, I am hoping that I will learn quickly. It is much harder than I remembered/expected. Teaching English without knowing much Thai...tough. The sixth graders seemed to pick a couple thing up today, which was encouraging, and a couple of the other volunteers and I are planning on creating detailed lesson plans and activities in hopes that they will harbor more learning. We will see.

Coming back to the camp after the orphanage, all I wanted was a shower and bed. This is looking like a long week, but I know routine will come and I am hoping that once I get into the swing of teaching again it will go smoothly. Or, at least better than today. I am hopeful.

Thanks to those who have sent me messages... they are all received with gratitude and love. I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon. I do have an address, so if you would like it, shoot me and e-mail and I will let you know. :)

This weekend a group of us headed out of Singburi and into Bangkok. After a two hour bus ride and an interesting taxi and tut tut ride, we made it. Our first taxi dropped us off in the wrong place and we took a tut tut to the place we believed we were staying. Alas, they were full. So, after a quite needed lunch, a group of six of us headed out to find another hostel. We stumbled upon a nice one and after settling in we ventured out to Khoasan Road--the known place for backpackers to go. It was filled with tourists and vendors to boot. Khoasan Road--I don't know how to explain it. Craziness, essentially. Yes, craziness. And at night I think the people on the road lose a little something, but it was definitely fun.

Today, we went out to an Israeli place for breakfast and then went to MBK for a short time. I think the large mall was way too much for me...Nice to see and go to say I went, but too much.

I am now "home" at the Eco House and am excited to go to the orphanage tomorrow. It will be nice to see the children and actually start teaching. I know that challenges will present themselves, but just to work with the children will be amazing. It is odd to think that I have been here a week already. One week ago I had just arrived at the Eco House and now it feels like home.

I know this is a short update, but my roommate wanted me to update... so, Chen, here you go. :)

Happy February 5th to everyone. I hope you are all doing well and that whatever cold weather has been sent your way is not too unbearable. Here, it is about 30 C...possibly 35. I am slowly getting used to the heat, however. I am also now accepting the constant sweat on my back and face. The evenings here are picture-perfect: warm with a nice breeze. I am not at the end of a very long week. Orientation week is over and now I will begin my time at the orphanage on Monday. This past Wednesday we traveled to a local school and played with the children for a bit. Amazing. Their screams of excitement as we walked up to the school was too much, and their smiling faces and giggles were heartwarming. They were fascinated by blond hair and cameras. I am excited to start at the orphanage and have been told that if I wish I can teach at the school that we visited. I am sure it may be nice to switch things up once in a while. Along with the school, in the past couple of days we have visited numerous temples and markets. The temples are so ornate and sometimes overwhelming and the smells of the markets...well, I wish I could bottle them up and bring them home for you: fruit, fish, fried food, etc. This week we also went to an elephant village and to the monkey temple. Hundreds of monkeys were roaming the city and you really had to watch your back and bag. I have also had some Thai lessons and practice with my roommate, Hen, every morning--I think we are doing quite well. :) Last night we also had a Thai cooking class where we made three different dishes--a papaya salad, fried noodles and egg, and coconut milk with bananas.
Tomorrow, I will head to Bangkok with a couple girls. I am not quite sure what we are planning on doing there, but it will be nice to get back to the city. Every weekend I have off so I am sure there will be many trips taken all over Thailand. I know that the next seven weeks are going to fly by and I am simply soaking up every minute of my time here.
The conversations had with the other volunteers is also amazing. There has been much discussion about politics, schooling, culture, language, thoughts on how life works, etc. Hen and I have stayed up talked about American culture, politics, how we live from day to day, Israeli politics and culture, the way they view America and Americans, etc. I truly love it. Who knew I would come to Thailand and sit around a table with Israeli, German, Swedish, and Swedish/English (born in Sweden, lives in England) girls. I am learning so much. We are all getting closer and I am finding true friendships here. We all laugh, sometimes, about the pure randomness of it all... how all of us, from different countries, wound up in the middle of nowhere in Thailand in hopes of teaching orphans. :)
Life at the Eco house is quite simplistic as well. Drinking out of bowls, washing our clothes in buckets and having them air dried, cold showers, a bed and a fan in our rooms, etc. I love it. Refreshing. However, cold showers in the morning are always a bit shocking, but in the afternoon/evening I would have it no other way.
Again, I hope you are all doing well and that you have not frozen to death yet. I miss you all and please! keep me updated!

Presently, I am sitting in a little Internet cafe in Singburi, Thailand. Yes, I have arrived. My flight took off from Duluth Thursday morning at 6:15 and I arrived, Thailand time, Friday night at 11:55--we are 13 hours ahead of the central timezone. I made my way from plane to plane, got my luggage, exchanged my money, and found the person who was picking me up. He brought me to the White Orchid Hotel, in the heart of China Town in Bangkok. After settling in falling asleep became an issue. I had to be up at 5:30 for a bike/boat tour around Bangkok and sleep was the last thing that my mind was going to let me do. I was in Thailand for goodness sake! So, after a couple of hours of reading/journaling/sudoku, I got up and set out in Bangkok to my bike tour. I was placed in a group with seven other people, all from the Netherlands, and we set out on our 5 hour tour. Weaving in and out of the small streets and alleys in Bangkok was amazing... different smells around every corner. Some were mixes of sweat and spice, others floral arrangements, others dirt and must. All amazing. We also biked through some of the fields that are right outside of Bangkok as well--a two and a half foot cement pathway with water and mud on either side, I must say that my biking skills have improved. :) Half way through the tour we stopped at a small place to eat--my first Thai meal. Fried rice, beef curry, fried vegetables, and fresh pineapple. After the tour I made my way back to my hotel and told myself I would take a short nap. Pshhh. 2pm to 12am. There goes getting on Thai time.
After a nice hotel breakfast on Sunday I ventured out into Bangkok for a bit and then headed over to another hotel, the place in which I was to meet the people bringing me to Singburi-where my orientation is taking place.
This week will be full of new adventures: elephants, monkeys, temples, boat rides, hikes, tours, etc. etc. etc. There are about 25 other volunteers here with me, none from the United States and none from the Global Service Corps. The majority of them are from the Netherlands--I am getting in touch with my Dutch roots I guess--and the rest of them are from Germany, Sweden, England, and Israel. Immersion of culture! I love it. Today, after breakfast--which is at 8 during the week and 10 on the weekends, we had an introduction into the program and what we will be doing during orientation week and then we set out on a walking tour of the village. We also made bracelets from coconuts and then tonight we had Thai children dance for us and with us.

Much adjusting is still taking place, but I am beginning to love the people here and what we are doing. It is difficult, yes. Especially being alone, but this is good for me. I am learning so much and even though I have only been here for four days I know I have grown in so many ways--who knows what two months will do. At times, two months feels like quite a long period of time, but I am sure that when March 27th comes around I will not want to leave.

The weather here is insanely hot and humid. 33 C. Hot. Sooooo hot. I am waiting for the day that I begin to get used to this weather, if that day will come.

The country-side is breathtaking... greener than you could even imagine green could be.

Well, my Internet time is up and I will have to say goodbye until my next trip to this cafe. I love you all and you are all greatly missed!

Keep me updated!