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