Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Rain, rain go away

It has been raining nonstop for the past 2 weeks. I have never seen so much rain. I have never seen the sky release so much water at one time. It completely amazes me how that much water can come from the sky, it totally baffles me. Lots of Thai houses are flooding, it's crazy, they don't do anything to stop the water from coming in. Every year during the rainy season the houses flood, they just see it as part of the season and don't do anything to fix the problem on the off-season. Everyone has to park their motorbikes on the side of the road because their drive ways are flooded, houses are surrounded by lakes, and the children are swimming, and fishermen are casting their nets... it's quite a scene. Most of our teaching classes were canceled this week because of the flooding and children needed to help their parents move things to higher ground. Thais want to stay near the earth so they don't try to build the house higher. With all the rain and moisture in the air comes mold like no other. There's mold on my shoes, on my clothes, on my hats, and on my earrings/jewelry, everywhere. We need some sun badly, any sun will do. There's a Lagoon behind my brother's house that has one little drain but often gets covered up with all the lilies and plants in the water. With all the rain it has come quite close to overflowing towards the house, so my brother and I go out about everyday with a large bamboo rake and try to clear the drain so the water will go down.


Last week we taught at the University, I was quite nervous. There was about 40 students and we didn't know what to expect about how well they spoke English. So we separated the students into 3 groups and my brother, mother, and I took each group and chatted with them- judging their comprehension. It was tough to communicate the only thing being exchanged really was smiles and stares, but luckily there was one guy in my group who knew a little English. The professor of the class told us after that most of the students had never seen a foreigner before or had ever interacted with one, so I think they were really nervous... as was I. But it was good, these are the kids we are hoping to build relationships with and hopefully gain their interest to join our home group/check it out.

Yesterday we went back to teach, it was a smaller group- about 20- because of all the rain. It was fun we planned an activity and they seemed to really enjoy it. Then the head English professor took us out to dinner. The restaurant was AMAZING. It felt like I was in a tree house in the Swiss Family Robinson movie. It was way up high, you had to climb a lot of stairs, and everything was wood and made from the trees- the roof, table, benches, etc. There were no walls so trees were completely surrounding it and coming through the middle. On top of that it was rainy (pouring really) so it sounded like we were in the middle of a waterfall. To top it all the food was AMAZING (I ate so much, it was like my Thanksgiving dinner), the professor treated us, and brought us two huge bunches of organic bananas from her tree. It was a spectacular evening to say the least. It's moments like those that makes me feel a little spoiled. :-)

So Pook's due date is tomorrow, Thanksgiving, I have a feeling she is going to be late though.

I got a Thai foot massage the other night, it was absolutely wonderful. For one hour they massage your foot, legs (the whole leg), and then they finish with a little hand, arm, back, and head. It was so relaxing, I was a little nervous because I've had some in the past that are really more painful then relaxing because they use so much pressure. But Pook told the guy to go easy and he kept checking to see if it was too hard. It gets a little awkward when they massage your upper (inner) thigh, they get dangerously close. I had forgotten this, but also had never had a guy, but I guess it's their job right? So for the whole hour it was only $4.25... can you believe that?! They also have a special for a full body 2 hour massage for only $7.50. I think I will be frequenting that place often.

4 comments:

mary plus vince said...

oh my goodness, i cannot believe they don't do anything to combat flooding! that's too bad all your clothes + stuff are moldy! i'll be praying for sun! :D

did you take pictures of the restaraunt? it sounds amazing!

ah, if massages cost that much here in the states i would be getting one like every day! :D

Natasha said...

No pictures of the restaurant, I didn't bring the camera- wasn't expecting something so grand! But I know we'll be back.

Market Parents said...

Hey market daughter, we are loving enjoing your adventure with you. We miss you, the market is so quiet without you!!!
Love your Market Parents

Jesse said...

ahhh Tash your massage comment about the inner thigh made me laugh so hard. I had a massage the other day at this new place in slo, I paid for a head/neck and foot massage but I swear the guy had a field day on my butt...I tried to enjoy it since I was paying for it, but there's always the "what if" this guy is a major creep...
miss you!