Dinner and view

Today the weather was unbelievable.  It was overcast and breezy.  It was the perfect temperature.  I have been loving the weather change here as well and quite glad that I am not experiencing side effects from Hurricane Sandy and the snow that Ohio saw today.  Anyway my point is it is beautiful.

Our view out our back porch is gorgeous..... right!?!?

  Something struck me the other day though.  I got closer and realized that I could see completely through the restaurant across from us.  I could see the trees on the other side of it.  I could see cars driving by.  Then I realized how common this was.  The building to the left is the same thing.  Granted that building is not in use any more but still.  Open.  Many restaurants here are open.  They have fans to keep people cool and create a breeze but still completely open.  That means birds, animals and anything can come and go as desired.  I dont know why I had not pondered on this before but all of a sudden I realized how foreign this was to me.

I know it is hard to see here.  But the red dots are the lights inside the restaurant.  You can sort of see the light coming in from the other side of the restaurant.  At night time I can see the people eating there and walking around!  Crazy stuff but it makes Thailand Thailand, and not America!

Speaking of eating and restaurants, Moe and I have been struggling to find the balance between eating out and cooking our own food.  Thai food is incredibly cheap.  Generally we can eat a Thai dinner for about 100 baht.  We can eat an American meal for about 300 baht at the high end.  It is definitely a big difference, the thing is though that neither is expensive for our standards here. BUT then again we can go to MK (Korean restaurant) or a fancy Thai place and spend about 200 baht.  The low one translates to roughly $3.50 and the high one to $10.   For two adults.... cheap!

Anyhoooo you might know all that already.  In order to keep things interesting, we have been trying to cook more at home.  Moe has figured out how to safely buy meat at the grocery store.  While they do have selections of prepackaged and priced meats they also have other areas of meat.  Chicken, fish, shrimp, and I'm sure other types comes in piles of meat in bins, baskets, or boxes.  People come up use their hands (I know gross!) or the utensils to choose what meat they want.  Then they take it to the meat guy who packages it up and prices it.  This way you know exactly what meat you are getting!  It is lovely and I think smart.

We have begun cooking American meals that we are accustomed to that make my heart happy.  We have had Chicken Alfredo, Spaghetti, Beefaroni (with pork), BBQ Chicken and mashed potatoes, Italian Chicken and other things.  Moe has learned to cook pork quite well as it is most cost efficient.  Beef is a rarity here, sadly.  Last night we made BBQ chicken on a grill thing that we bought.  It is electric but worked well.

Moe made sliced taters and onions and mushrooms.  

Moe thought this picture looked really cool and insisted I post it! The electric part was actually red but photographed purple!  

The final look of our meal! We also had corn.  Here normal corn is about 4 inches long but looks like an ear of corn.  It comes canned in some type of oil.  I personally enjoy it but Moe isnt a fan.  Probably because corn is my favorite but who knows.  Anyway, it was a good meal.  By no means one of our best meals but it was still good.  And it felt good to make our own food.  

Chico is doing great.  We are teaching him lots of tricks.  Moe has been researching all the time to figure out how to make him the best puppy ever.  I am very pleased with them both ;)

Chiang Mai Night Safari = Great day

A few weekends ago we were asked to go to the Chiang Mai Night Safari with some friends.  We had no idea what to expect.  We had initially thought it was going to be quite costly, but when we got there realized it was quite cheap!  Always makes the day better when you start off saving money!

Anyway, basically the Night Safari is a zoo centered around a pond.  You walk around the pond to see all the animals and things.  It was so cool.  The view from the beginning was gorgeous! The first thing we saw when we got there were giraffes and there was a baby giraffe too! It was so cute.    

Then we saw tigers.  There were so many tigers here. White tigers and stripeless tigers and normal tigers.  Most of them were sleeping but we got to see one running around.  It was so cool.   I think that is what makes this place better than any normal zoo I have been to.  The animals were lively and moving around for the most part rather than just sleeping all day!

Next, we got to feed the birdies.  I was quite scared to do this, but it turned out to be fun.  There were hundreds of them.  When we walked in they were all sitting on the branches chirping away.  We held out our hands and they began to eat. All of a sudden they would all dart across to the other side of the cage.... ALL Of them.  It was so scary.  Here is Moe feeding some birdies.  He was the best at it!

We saw a chimpanzee, iguanas, tortoises, peacocks, leopards (and many other cats), parrots, owls, crocodiles, anteaters, lemurs, panthers, bats, and many other things that I can not remember.  

This is one of my favorite pictures because the panther is so silly!  Who knew cats sleep like that. 

What made this adventure unique is partially that we are in Thailand but partially the set up of the place.  As I said before, the animals were much more alert and awake but also because its Thailand you can walk around the exhibit or through the bushes to get a closer look! haha.  But it is true.  There aren't bars or concrete separating you from the animals.  It is generally just a net.  Sometimes there is a glass front for the scarier animals, but still nets on the sides for natural air flow.  If you really want a better view, you just walk around to look through the net.  Some of the animals are so close to the net that if you really wanted to you could reach out and touch it.... Moe was getting quite adventurous and touching as much as possible... though not setting a good example for the children with us ;)

Oh the other thing was that there were deer.  For me, seeing deer is not a big deal.  However, these deer were domesticated....like strangely.  You could walk right up to them, and they would just stare at you.  They would even let you feed them and pet them.  It was weird. 

OH and the camels.  They had camels by the deer at the end of the 'tour'.  They were quite smelly in my opinion.  Moe was feeling extra brave at this point and walked right up to the camel and started feeding it grass and touching it.  It was unbelievable.  There were 3 camels that were all jealous of the attention Moe was giving.  I was terrified of course and stood far away fearing for his life, imagining him getting spat at or kicked or something!  It was quite the experience though!

As we were walking out after a long but fun day with animals, we saw elephants walking around in the parking lot.  We had to go visit them.  For free we were able to pet them.  For 30 baht we were able to feed them LOTS of food. And For 100 baht we were able to RIDE them.  Of course we did all three things.  It was so cool.  Granted our ride on the elephant was through the parking lot but it was a start.  Hopefully at some point we will ride the elephants in the jungle or something...maybe even bare back.  

It was definitely a day to remember.  Sadly our camera died half way through the day.  Luckily our friends captured many pictures for us but we are still in the process of getting those from them.  I will share more pics when we get them.  It was a wonderful day and definitely a place we will take any visitors who make their way to us... hint, hint, come visit us!!

oh life

Wow, I have been a terrible terrible blogger.  I read a blog recently that said "I have been so busy thinking that I haven't had time for writing" and I think that sums up my life!  I have been quite busy with school and plans and things that I come home still thinking about it.  By the time I am settled I want to go to bed and not type!  But alas here I am trying to sum up the past month for you.....  Wow it has been over a month. I am so sorry.  Well lets be generic and hopefully I can post specifics on some things that we have done.

School has been very busy.  We just wrapped up our first quarter meaning work days, report cards, parent-teacher conferences and so forth were the forefront of my mind daily.  Now that is all over and thoughts of 'how can I make this quarter better' are all I can think about.  I guess that is the life of the teacher though.  Always trying to make things better or figure out the best way to do something.  I still have days that I am completely overwhelmed by the material I am supposed to teach and the utter disorganization of it all. In a couple weeks I am supposed to teach a 4 week unit on Thailand and I am terrified!! I know NOTHING about Thailand's history or anything else for that matter.  How am I supposed to fill minds with content when I know nothing!

The other thing that has been on my heart a lot with school is a certain student.  (I am being very transparent with you all today.... I guess thats what happens when you wake up at 6am on a holiday!)  I have a handful of new to CMIS students in my class and most of them have fit in swimmingly.  But one student has major issues and I struggle constantly with the best way to help her to learn and fit in with the class.  It breaks my heart to see her struggle through the materials but it even more breaks my heart the way the kids treat her.  I am trying to reach her but there are so many problems I do not know where to start.  She has become my little mission for the year! I lover her to death and have such high hopes for her.

Anywho, this week was holiday (break).  I really wanted to go somewhere but with our finances and Moe's soccer commitments we were here.  Plus since we havent had the chance to explore yet it was for the best.  Moe had his first game(s) as coach this week.  CMIS played in a tournament with 5 other teams from 4 other countries: Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong (they are their own country right?).  Anyway, it was an experience for Moe and he has learned a lot.  The team isnt that wonderful this year but it has been an experience ;)  They have played 6 games in the past 4 days.... In this heat, I think that is crazy!!

OH, the other thing I have not officially said on here....we got a NEW PUPPY!!!! Chico is his name.  He is a toy poodle/shih-tzu mix.  He is ADORABLE!!! He is also tiny.  He is the size of calf on a good day.  Chico definitely has been a joy.  Moe and I have loved teaching him tricks and he is one smart puppy.  We are attempting to make him bilingual with a few tricks done in Thai :)  Here is a picture of him though it is hard to truly see him!  He is black with a white chest and strands of white on his forehead.  His paws are white as well.  He is also a cuddler and loves to be held... I might be spoiling him in that but he is so small.

Ok hopefully I will get better at sharing things. I do have a few important things that we did lined up to share!  We went to the Night Safari and I went up the mountain to the temple.  Both were incredible!  

Update and video of driving :)

We have had a long and busy week!  I got a lot done at school and finally reorganized my desk space.  I feel much better about it and more organized!! My students are definitely in routine and letting their true personalities shine ;) I am very happy with how things are progressing though.  I am being adventurous in my classroom while still trying to have fun and maintain learning.  I feel so honored to be where I am.  The staff is so kind and supportive.  I definitely feel right where I am supposed to be!

This weekend I really wanted to do something adventurous but we are watching our money and what not so Moe was against it! We did finally go shopping with a car again and got a trash can and an ironing board!  Sunday we decided to go to Airport Plaza and shop around a little.  It was a beautiful day so on the way home I decided to record a video.  If you watch this please, please, please, watch with the sound OFF.  It was way louder and windier than I imagined.  At the stop light you might want to listen to what I say but that is up to you.  This is only the second half of the trip but still interesting.  In it you can see an outdoor fruit market, the river, a temple, crazy driving, and much more!  (I have been having trouble uploading it to the blog, if it doesnt work you can watch the video here on my facebook.

Also this week, I went to the Ministry of Finance Office or something like that to apply for my work visa.  The school is super super helpful.  They took a van of 12 of us, led us to the place we were supposed to go, asked all the questions for us, called us up to sign 1 paper, then finished everything else for us.  I literally only showed up and signed my name.  I have no idea what I signed or what else the lady did.  It is one of the amazing and scary things about CMIS.  They have people who do everything for us.  We sign where they say and trust that whatever we are signing is legitimate and needed.  Anyway, the building we went to was GORGEOUS and it was HUGE. I didnt have my camera to take a picture but trust me!

Moe has been looking all day every day for a new puppy.  We might be making progress and have more to report on that soon too.  Also, we got a maid.  She comes from another teacher at school because she needed more hours.  She is here 2 days a week and is a miracle worker.  We are so blessed and Moe and I get along much better without arguing over who is doing the dishes ;)

Well I think that wraps up our week. I will try to be more diligent about this.....try.  Love you all. Hope all is well.

Sad news and good news

Things have been so crazy around here.  It has literally been one thing after the next.  But we are focusing on the good.

Yesterday, Suzy had a really rough day and seemed to be getting worse as the day went on.  We assumed that it was because she had been so sick and was just overwhelmed.  Unfortunately, she passed on during the night.  Moe and I were both very, very sad.  We buried her in the back by the river and shared one last moment together.  It is sad not having her presence around anymore and hearing her little whimpers.  We only had her a week but she definitely left her mark. She is and will be greatly missed.

In effort to not dwell on the situation much, we had a very busy day. We went to the grocery near by, Tesco Lotus which is similar to Walmart but a little smaller, with friends and got a bunch of things for our house.  We finally got a drying rack to dry our clothes and a bookcase to put by the door for our things.  We got cleaning supplies and some groceries.  We are finally settling in to the house and it now looks like people eat here as well as sleep here!  While we were out I treated myself to some Dunkin' Donuts and it was lovely! Overall a productive trip to the grocery.

This evening we went out to our friends house for dinner.  It was a wonderful time.  They grilled for us.  We had corn on the cob, green beans, bread, marinated pork tenderloin things, chicken wings, and yellow curry.  The spread was magnificent.  It was good to be away from the house and sharing life with others.

In between the grocery and dinner I ran to the market store place with Julie to buy "treasure box" items for my kids.  I was expecting like a Dollar Store type place. She had told me there were toys and things that were really cheap.  I was blown away! The store was a hole in the wall that had bulk of EVERYTHING.  For example they had these invisible pens.  Each pen is 10 baht but you have to buy the whole pack of 12.

Every item came like this.  The price per item was at the top and there were generally 12 items per package. This is silly puddy with fun things inside like hands or eye balls!  They are 5 baht each.

These things are so cool.  They are Iphones!! Ha. They are Iphone shaped water games.  Remember those games that have water and balls inside and you push the buttons to push the balls around.  Well thats what these do but are shaped like Iphones.  SO COOL!

I bought 12 packages like this.  I spent 1,050 baht which sounds like a lot, but the kids are helping me pay!  But look at this:  I got 144 items.  That is 7 baht per item.  That is $.23 per item!!!!! That would NEVER happen in the States.  I am so so so so so so so so so pumped.  This amount of things will probably last me the whole year.  I almost wish it didnt so I could go back and find more awesome things.  

All in all it was a good day.  It started very rough but again we are focusing on the good.  We are continuing to set up house.  I have found some amazing deals for things for my classroom.  We have spent wonderful time with friends.  We are so blessed to be here and take on each new challenge as they come.  

Suzy

This past weekend we had lunch with friends and then they were going to take us to the Dog Shelter where they have rescued dogs.  We went and it was a little scary for me.  There were about 175 dogs all in one massive area. It was feed time so they were all on edge.  There was non stop barking.  Some dogs were growling at each other and fighting. It was too much.  Matt and I both left worried we would never find a puppy!

On the way home our friends decided to take us to the 'pet market' an area where pets are sold.  As soon as we got out of the car we could hear barking and animals.  It was cute.  Each stall type store had their own collection of dogs.  There were lots and lots of puppies.  We stopped at the first place which had Thai mutts, chihuahua puppies, alsatian puppies, and one shih tzu.  We looked them all over, asked how old they were and how much each was just to get an idea of what prices would be.  We continued and saw a great variety of dogs.  We saw pugs, and huskies, and labs, and spitz, and poodles, and pomeranians.  Each dog was in a cage and not fighting, which was a relief for me!   They were all so cute.

I had decided very early on that I liked the shih tzu.  She had brown and white spots all over her and her little tail was wagging so much.  She was so friendly and happy.  So we decided to go back and look again.  The kids that were with us loved playing with her and she loved playing with them.  Our friends got out their Iphones so we could do some research, for Moe's sake.  Moe wanted to make sure it was a perfect dog for us ;) We finally decided that we would take her!! She is quiet possibly the cutest puppy ever :))  Meet Suzy!

the day we got Suzy

Suzy was so playful and wonderful the first night we got her.  But we knew that something was wrong the next day.  She had not eaten since we had gotten her even though we bought the exact same food they were feeding her before.  Plus she kept throwing up the little bits of water she had.  We took her to the vet multiple times the first 2 days.  Then yesterday Moe took her in again and they wanted to keep her over night.  She still had not eaten and they wanted to put in an IV to help her.  

We just got her back tonight.  They said she is doing much better.  We got quite a few medicines to give her over the next few days but hopefully that will help.  She has already eaten since being back, slept a little, and played a little.  Right now she is sleeping in her bed beside me looking adorable.  We are so happy to have her back and trust that she will be doing much better over the next few days.  We cant wait to watch her grow and learn all about doggy training!

Here is another picture of our cutie!!

Changing roles

We have now been here for 7 weeks and we are finally settling in to a place of our own.  We love it here.  Our house is cozy but probably too big for just the 2 of us!  I feel like we need to have parties every day just to make use of all the space.  BUT we are slowly filling the holes and marking our territory.  Last weekend we went to Big C Extra, similar to Walmart, and spent a lot of money.  It was like shopping right after our wedding.  We bought almost everything we could need.  Things like sheets, silverware, dishes, pots and pans, towels, bathroom supplies, hangers, and many other things.  Somehow we did manage to forget a few things like trash cans (even though we bough the bags) and a hanging rack for drying our clothes.  Anyway, we are settling in that is the important part!

What I really wanted to share today is how Moe and I have changed over these 7 weeks.  In some ways we have almost reversed roles as to when we lived in the States.  It is quite silly but also quite interesting to me.  Moe has given me permission to share this stuff so dont get your panties in a bunch (gee I love that phrase!)

The most obvious one to me is driving. In America, I was the "risky" driver (if we can even call it that).  I would speed and cut corner or whatever.  Moe would stay behind a car, barely reaching the speed limit and not even think about anything "risky".  But here, Moe is all over the place driving.  He is driving down the center lane of traffic with cars on both sides coming both ways.  He is passing cars on the shoulder and sometimes getting hit by tree branches just to get ahead.  He has definitely adopted the Thai way of driving motorbikes.  If I were driving.... oh boy. I would be staying behind a car the entrie way.  I would go slow just to be safe.  Please notice that I am using the future tense, would.  Driving here still scares me even though I definitely enjoy riding.

Another area we have changed roles is with our worry.  Back in the west :) I would be the one to worry about everything.  I would be paranoid that something might happen or we might die or get lost or whatever. Here Moe is that way.  He always has to have a map or know exactly where he is going.  He is paranoid we are going to get broken into or lose our bike.  Thailand is a safe place but he isnt so sure!  Now, I should make it clear that this doesnt mean I have stopped worrying! I still worry about my classroom or my kiddos but not getting lost or going to the grocery store or trying to talk to people.

The other area is money. In America, I would shop all the time and not worry about the money I was spending.  Here I am the one watching every baht and worrying when I think something is too expensive.  Moe on the other hand has no care for it all! He is buying stuff all the time and doesn't worry about how much it costs.  (I think this is related to my dilemma with money but that is a story for another time)  Today I found a pair of shoes that I liked that were 200 baht.  I was afraid to get them because I thought that was too much money.  Moe glared at me and reminded me that it was only 6 USD and that I was getting them.  He is so cute.  We also went ahead and splurged on a box of popcorn.  3 bags for 109 baht which is about $3.50.  That really is a little expensive for popcorn but we were craving something salty!

AND to top off all of Moe's money habits.  Today he bought me flowers.  TWO different kinds.  He must really love me!  He found some ceramic shop that he loved and bought 2 vases and a toothbrush holder that we have been needing.  He didnt want to just bring home empty vases so he bought flowers as well!! He must have known that I had a hard day at work today!

So there you have it.  Moe is wonderful.  Our roles in some things are suddenly totally opposite.  It just goes to show that people can change!  It has definitely opened our eyes, challenged us, and given us new appreciation for life.  We are loving each new adventure and appreciative of each new day!