Filed under: General Nonsense
Teacher Maris with important message.
I know I have let down my cult following in New York. (Hi guys!) But it has been a tumultuous past couple weeks or so.
We finally finished our English program, and now we have a week off to prepare for 20 hrs of Thai. On our last teaching day, Brock had the opportunity to teach kindergarten… they were the most precious things I have seen in a long time. As soon as we walked in every young pair of eyes looked at us excitedly. He started off with a game of Hangman and built up so much childish excited tension in the room I thought it was about to explode. They were up out of their seats – jumping and gasping – when the letter was incorrect, – screaming and smiling – when someone guessed it right. As a teacher you try to give everyone a fair chance at answering, so I couldn’t help but burst out in laughter when the other teacher Matt, called on a child in the front corner. “What letter did you want?” A look of absolute certainty. The kind of moment when you realize you have the correct answer and no one else has a clue. The child brings his hand down and stand up. ”X.” He proclaims in front of all the other students proudly. I lost it. It was so damn endearing. The rest of the lesson was a whirlwind of children and little hands raising in the air.
We hiked Tiger Cave. You can check Brock’s blog for pics.
Two days ago our motorbike was stolen. The Thai noon suddenly became that much hotter when I realized I might be buying a brand new bike for someone else. Long story short, my Thai girl friend Chun, came to the rescue to talk to the police and everything eventually was sorted. Two boys were found with our bike taking the wheels off. Luckily we only had to replace the wheels. But the wheels were expensive for us nonetheless.
The best part of the past couple weeks was hunting for shellfish with my friend Chun. She is 28 with a 2 year old Alexander. She is married to another person in the English class Matt. She speaks hardly any English and we always have a good laugh when one of us says something and the other person just stares for 5 seconds in utter confusion. I like her alot. We walked out on the land where the tide had receded from and walked through the muddy sand stopping to check out starfish, sea worms, crabs, etc. I ended up having a good eye for the particular shell we were hunting for and picked up about 25 or so. Whenever you pick them up they have a little claw will shoot out from the opening and try to gut you like a knight would with a sword. Its a spastic movement that definitely keeps you aware of the tiny weapon. It was peaceful walking around the inside-out beach. Finding little creatures left in the tide pools. Watching inhabited shells glide s-l-o-w-l-y . We were unable to cook them that day, but she promised to take me out again and show me. We ended up eating at a restaurant that serves them by coincidence, and they had a rather normal taste. The look of them – once pulled out of the shell – is an entirely different story. It wasn’t something I would want to sit and stare at.
Been keeping busy with books, beach, and markets. Brock is always on a never-ending quest to download more American movies and tv shows. Here I am in Thailand, watching COPS. Like it was any other night of my life in Tennessee. And it still is endlessly entertaining. I wonder if the Thais would like it…?
Mid Day Pineapple stop.
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- Teacher Maris with important message.
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- Mid Day Pineapple stop.
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Hello Maris & Brock,
Sorry to hear about your stolen motorbike. If it’s any consolation, in New York the bike would have been cut-up and its parts sold in a few hours.
We were glad to see that you needed to rest a bit while you were walking up all those steep steps visiting Tiger Cave. Just looking at it made us tired! The next time both of you visit NY think about skipping the elevator at the Empire State building and take the stairs. It only has 1, 860 steps which will now be a piece of cake for you and Brock.
Pam and I also enjoyed hearing about all the monkeys, it sounds like they are as common as squirrels here. And those markets you shop at, boy, I’ve never seen such a wide variety of fresh produce– very enticing!!!
BTW: Both of you look awesome in front of the classroom and it’s very cool to have more teachers in the family. As you’re already learning, teaching isn’t easy, but it is rewarding! There’s nothing better than seeing the excitement in a child’s eyes when they “get it.
Love and best wishes, Uncle Gary & Aunt Pam
Comment by Uncle Gary & Aunt Pam September 26, 2009 @ 12:31 pmhey mare-bear! i just wanted to let you know that i read your blog too. even though you stopped updating it. maybe i’ll keep it going by posting comments every other day or so on what i think you might be doing over there. miss you guys a lot. thai pants rule.
Comment by logan "i'm blogging right now" wentworth October 15, 2009 @ 4:40 pm-logan