Family in Thailand: Phichit

Tuesday of my family's trip was spent in Phichit where I live!  Monday night my family stayed at the garden home with Tang and her family.  They go to the school the next morning around 10:00.  Here are pictures of the garden home and around the school that Bryce took.  I'm used to seeing this place everyday, but here it is from an outsider's view :)

The garden home where Tang lives with all of her family.

The front building of the school where preschool and Kindergarten 1-3 are taught

The front lobby that sports a Christmas tree all year long.

The elementary building where I teach

The back of the elementary building and the back up water tanks.  To the left is the building where I live.

Left to right: My bedroom door, the shared sinks (used for washing dishes, faces, hands and teeth) and the hallway to the bathrooms.

Our room, the shared eating/kitchen area, then the volunteers' room.  Our biked on the left.

The back part of the property where the grounds keeper lives.  Eventually more buildings will go up back here (to the left)

In our room

In our room

My family spend the day in my classroom with the kids!  The kids have been so excited to meet them.  Bryce talked to them about hiking and the Grand Canyon.  My dad talked to them about flying an airplane.  My mom and Annie brought my guitar over and sang with them.  Welsey spoke in Spanish for them and talked about healthy and unhealthy foods.  The kids asked questions.  We even dances with them while teaching them "Once There Was a Snowman".  The kids loved it!  I loved having a change in the normal teaching routine.  And I think my family liked it too. 

First grade:

Annie, mom, me, dad, Wesley, Sun, Yipso, Basia, Tiger, MooPhee

Second grade:

Lining up to come into class

Teaching "Once There Was a Snowman"

My mom brought Jelly Bellies for the kids to try.  They each got 5 and tried to guess the flavors.

My dad talking about why planes fly.

Third Grade:

Bryce talking about hiking and the Grand Canyon.

For the last 10 minutes with 3rd grade we split up.  Dad and Wesley went outside to ply soccer and football.  Annie, my mom and I stayed inside and played songs and sang.  The kids picked where they wanted to go.  the boys + Mhew went outside, the rest of the girls stayed inside.

The girls who stayed in to sing with us: Jean, Praewa, Yada, Sydney, Lin, Ioon.

Tang and Ake took us all to lunch for Pad Thai.  There is this little hole in the wall restaurant that serves really good Pad Thai.  We ate and my family and my Thai work family got to know each other.

After I was done teaching we went out and about in Phichit.  We rode bikes and I showed then a bit of the town.

We went to the crocodile park.  We saw the live crocodiles in the crocodile pit as well as the ostriches and the humongous crock. 

We got fresh smoothies at my favorite smoothie place.

Candid

Posed and a little blurry

Bryce snapped a picture while we were riding.  This is what a lot of Phichit looks like.  Families will have a shop n the bottom floor and live on the second and third stories.

We ran into Ioon and her mom while we were at the smoothie shop.  She invited us to go out for ice cream later that night.  Unfortunately we couldn't join her since the family was leaving in a couple hours.  We thanked her and went on our way.  We went to the fabric shop next.  While we were there Ioon's mom showed up!  She was so sad that we couldn't meet her for ice cream tat she stopped at the market and bought us grapes.  She wanted to tell my mom how great she thought I was and how much her daughter loved being in my class :)  She's so great and I love her and her daughter! 

After the fabric shop we ordered some pizza.  While we waited for the pizza we walked around Tesco.  Then it was back to the school in the rain.  We ate pizza and visited for their last hour.  Then The girls, Tang, Ake, Ton and Flynn came to send them off.

I know I have said it before, but I had SO MUCH FUN with them here!!!  I's sad they had to go, but so glad they got to come!

Family in Thailand: Ayutthaya

Monday morning we headed to Ayutthaya.  We rode in the tour bus with my family.  Tanner and Annie used some chocolate cereal for entertainment along the way.  They found out that the cereal made terrific finger wigs.

 The tour guide stopped the bus along the way and we stopped at a BBQ stand.  What do you think they were serving...?  Rat!  Big 'ol rats!  I'm pretty sure that these are the same type of rats that are traipsing around in the ceiling above my room, having parties at all hours of the night.

See that cat in the back?  Looks like it's getting its fair share of rats!

Some of us tried it, some passed. 

It had the taste and texture of chicken but smelled like a dirty rat.

After about 3 or 4 hours on the van we got to Ayutthaya.  This was the old capital of Thailand.  After Sukkothai but before Bangkok.  We waled around the ruins.  This day was really hot!

We did a little bit of shopping before getting back on the bus.

In their matching shirts from Chiang Mai

We stopped at one more temple.

Then we got dropped off a the hotel.

View of Ayutthaya from the hotel

We relaxed and cooled off at the hotel for an hour or so before heading to Phichit. On the way to Phichit we stopped at McDonalds, ate and posed with Ronald.

We tried to copy his face...

We got to Phichit around 9:30.  My family got dropped of at the garden home where they would spent the night.  They met Tang, Ake, Ton and baby Flynn.  Tanner and I stayed and chatted for a bit then headed home.