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. :)