I'm just about to finish up my second week at the Isara Foundation in Nong Khai, but it seems like I've been here a month! I've been having a great time so far exploring the city, tasting awesome street food, and of course learning how to teach English. My two closest friends here are a Canadian named Sheena, and an Aussie named James. We often do a ton of things together, such as renting a motorbike to go visit the sculpture park here (an amazing park where one man made about 50 huge Buddhist/Hindu statues). We've enjoyed some great meals, gotten some nice Thai massages, and have gone down to the Mekong River for a swim with a couple of other people who live here permanently who James knows after being here himself already for a few months. The other 3 volunteers with whom we work are great as well and it's always nice when they join us for pizza, korean BBQ, or a swim at one of the hotel pools in town.
Now for what I am doing... For those of you who know me well I've never been a huge fan of the concept that everyone in the world needs to learn English. I always try to learn as much of the local language as possible, (something that is proving to be quite the challenge here!) and I am almost never surprised or angry if someone can't speak English, especially in a poorer country. Still, I have found an exception to these rules of mine here at Isara. The way they teach the children here is geared almost entirely towards reading. The method/word on the street here is that if they cannot read/ read English then they really won't learn that much. This emphasis on reading in general is something that I really appreciate about the Isara Foundation. In addition, after traveling thus far, I have realized that while by no means I believe everyone needs to speak English, I have a greater appreciation for the advancements learning English can have on the career of someone living in a third world country, or a place like Thailand, where tourism is probably a top commodity. The tourism industry in many parts of the world is such a huge business that the individuals involved in it and related industries who really understand and speak English can in fact make a greater impact on their families income and therefore lifestyle.
Sheena and I have been teaching about a class a day, and we are helping with the reading in another couple of classes. The classes are usually about an hour long and can be a ton of fun, unless the kids are being kids, or have not done their homework.... Then I have to turn into that rude teacher I always hated growing up! Although we teach children, we sometimes are called in to the police station or hospital here (as was the case yesterday) in order to do an English review, vocabulary/situation specific lesson. The nurses were a lot of fun to work with, and I could tell that they would appreciate knowing the English we taught them when speaking with the tourists who often come in with various ailments. In addition, Isara has a recent recycling center and a helmet/ motorbike safety campaign that I hope to check out in the coming weeks. The people who work here take what they do very seriously, and strongly wish to give back to the community in any way that they can. This is of course a lot different from other English teaching centers around the world.
All of us have been attempting to take some Thai lessons from the interns Isara has here. It's going a bit slowly, as should be expected, but I'm pretty sure I have all the numbers down which is very exciting!!
The house we live in is quite nice, albeit a bit rustic, which is totally fine :) The first floor is actually the school, equipped with an office, two class rooms, a small library, and a computer lab. The second floor is our floor (there is four of us up there, the other 2 volunteers live off the grounds). There is a kitchen, 3 bedrooms, a living room, and of course a bathroom with a shower. No house dogs here like in Addis, but there are plenty of geckos, ants, and I hate to say cockroaches to go around!
Since leaving America there are some things I've gotten very good at ---
1) Dealing with and sometimes fixing dodgy plumbing
3) Taking cold showers / Living in a black out
4) Ignoring people talking to me and offering me things on the street
5) Killing mosquitoes and other insects
6) Arranging mosquito nets (or mozzie nets as James would say)
The latter two should by no means convince you that I am not getting bitten by mosquitos and other insects but I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job at keeping numbers of bites down to a minimum!
This weekend, and a bit into next week, Sheena and I are hoping to pop over to the other side of the Mekong to check out Laos, particularly Luang Prabang, although we will be seeing Vientiane for a little bit as well. Hopefully it will work out well, and my next blog will be about that! Speak soon!
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