Catching Up!

We received instructions on how to perform several household tasks while we live in the community. Thank heavens the instructions came along with an excellent demonstration. Luckily the PC staff is large enough to accommodate three demonstrations at once. Our group was divided and each of us was able to watch how to wash clothes, prepare a bed for sleeping and using the bathroom. The best part was that we had fun while learning! I did laundry today for the first time (2/3/08) and found that it is most effective. Collars came out white and drying in the sun makes the clothes smell so very good.


The men and women were divided into separate rooms. The men were given an all-purpose piece of Thai clothing. Here you can see them being shown how to wear it around their waist. However, it is also just as common to wear it on one's head or shoulders.


We have been divided into different Tabons (village area). Our group consists of the three “senior” couples as well as three younger members. We learned exactly where each of us will be living. The map you see on the wall has our photo by our house. It was an exciting time. Reminded me of match day at our local medical school when each graduate would learn where they would be doing their internship.


We had the privilege of meeting the governor of our province. Each of us in turn had to stand up and introduce ourselves. The tables where we sat had microphones. Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that we had to introduce ourselves in Thai! Our first name, last name and the town, state and country we come from. Talk about stage fright!

Once we had all finished the introductions we were invited to go up and receive a necklace made of flowers from the governor. He was most distinguished. He was also very kind. When I managed to thank him in Thai he gave me a smile and said good luck in Thai. Of course I didn't know what he said but one of the staff was nearby and translated for me. (What would I do without staff????)


After meeting the governor it was time to be introduced to our host families. This was an exciting moment for all of us. We had host families of all compositions. Multi-generational, traditional Mom, Dad and children, older, younger, many children, no children. One of the sweetest moments was when the tallest of our young people would be introduced to his host parent and a 6 ft + would be matched with a 4 ft 10 Mom.





Here are some of the people in our Tambon (village group). Notice that we are wearing the necklaces presented to us by the governor.



This is when we first met our host father and host grandson (I say that proudly – I am now his Yaah and John is his Boo).

This is Gun. He is ten years old. His big sister is in her third year of college and lives at school. Gun is a very sweet child. He has some English vocabulary and attends a full day of English instruction in addition to what he learns while in school during the week.





After our first night sleeping in our host family's home we gathered to share thoughts. As you can tell from some of the titles on these boards – we had fun. We were left free to enter our thoughts for each category and then we talked about the most intriguing ones. We all learned from each other and had a great time doing it!

Another Health Briefing

We receive much information regarding health, safety, water, food, diseases, etc. Here is our beloved physician telling us about avian flu. The delivery of this information is done in such a way that we all retain it really well. Our doc is the greatest! Can you tell he was talking at this point about avian flu (bird flu)?


We have been receiving required immunizations. The approach is wonderful! Rather than line us up and give us ALL of the required shots at once - we receive no more than two on any one day. Then we are given several days to recover before receiving others. The PC has been diligent to track what shots we have in our records and do not give us any we do not really need.

We love our coffee breaks!

More Class and a Coffee Break!

The red house behind Jeannie is called a Spirit House. They are seen at just about every dwelling be it business or a home. We have not yet learned the significance of the Spirit House (but we will).
:-)


Some people in the TCCO training.


This is the leader/trainer for the CBOD project (John's).


These two ladies have the responsibility of supporting us in the TCCO project. We are learning more about our responsibilities and jobs each day.


We can always find time to call someone when we really need to - and hope they will be at home and not asleep. We are 12 hours out of phase from the U.S. East Coast.

The Early Risers

Wonder what we have for breakfast? Lots of choices. And all of them are beautifully presented.


We always have fresh fruit on the table. The pineapple is sweet and does not have the sharp acidic taste we are used to having at home. Watermelon and others are always delicious.


Here are some members of the early risers club. It is a great time of day for a jog along the river or to get on the WEB or even to call home if your loved ones or family are on East Coast time. Of course that is if you can get up!






Is this a sleepwalker? No, just managed to catch him when he was blinking. He was really wide awake.

The key to our hotel room sits in this holder. It is a clever idea to save energy. Whenever we leave our room and take the key the circuit for electricity to our room is disconnected. So nothing electrical can be accidentally left on when you leave e.g. the TV or lights, etc.


John and several other volunteers took a walk and found a local wat. Although they explored the grounds they did not go inside (this time). It is our understanding that we will be visiting wats around the area with our group or on our own in learning more about the culture and customs.


There is a river near our town and a number of our group enjoy either walking or jogging along the river in the morning. We walked to the river this afternoon in search of somewhere to eat lunch.


We found this neat restaurant. Two other "seniors" were with us. We asked the prices in Thai as best we could. The people in the restaurant were delightful. They smiled and helped us with our pronunciation. There was a school reunion in our hotel today and we had the chance to meet a Thai lady who came from Ohio to attend. She has her PhD from USC in California. She helped us with out Thai too. Of course all help came with big smiles and some giggles at our attempts to speak Thai. It is so much fun!!!


Here we are enjoying our lunch and the good old American staple - CocaCola! We had such a good time with the people in the restaurant that they gave us the drinks on the house. Four CocaColas! Unfortunately we have not been able to find Diet Coke. Then again all of the Thai ladies seem to be so darn slim!

And the Training Moves On

This is our pre-service training director. She is one neat lady. She has a great sense of humor which helps us all be not quite so stressed out. (We all want to do really well.)


We have another session with the PC physician. We are being briefed and trained how to stay our healthiest during our time of service. These medical sessions are also down right delightful. We laugh as we learn.


This is our security guru. Personal responsibility, common sense approaches to being safe, statistics, and he too is great fun to work with. This is the best training staff I have had the chance to work with!


Our training session this day was held at a local school. I could not help but take a photo of one of the beautiful flowers that seem to abound here.


In the evening we sat outside for a while under a large plumeria tree. One blossom fell and John put it on just for me!


And at the end of the day there always seems to be time for a little computer use. I think these two were busy searching for someone on the infamous website "Facebook".

In The Land of Smiles

This is our PC physician. It is difficult to grasp the depth of concern our physician and PC staff have in regard to our health and safety. Beyond being of service to our host country I believe the PC overriding mission is to keep us safe and healthy. I know many loved ones back home are concerned for us - put those concerns to rest. We are so well cared for it puts me to shame as a mother!


Do you know how to wai? Here are some PC staffers helping us learn the proper etiquette for greeting peers, seniors and VIPs. Sure am happy I am a "senior".
:-)


Here is a wai in progress. The younger of the two initiates the greeting. The hands of the younger go higher to the face while the "senior" responds with a wai at about chest level.


Here we are happily anticipating our dinner out. The food was great!


On the way to the restaurant. It was a little too far to walk so we all rode in bright red busses. As you can probably tell from the expression on these people -- we were having a good time.


The restaurant we visited is located in the middle of rice fields. They grow their own fish in a pond and have nets to contain them and make them easier to spear for dinner. We all ate outside.


The young people in our group are so very nice to us "seniors". Here is a big smile from the handsome fellow who offered to take our photo (the one in this posting).


Ever hear of karaoke? Here is a photo of a song in progress. This is a very popular pass time and it is our understanding that sooner or later EVERYONE WILL participate. So I am trying to brush up on Happy Birthday.


This is some of the PC staff relaxing before our meal. Can you see the two ladies taking a photo of each other. Cameras and the taking of photos seems to be everywhere!


Some more of our group on the bus happily anticipating our dinner. Yum yum!


You can see John on the right. On the left is our senior most volunteer and she is delightful. She can (and does) run rings around me!

Welcome to Thailand

This photo says it all. Every person we have met or worked with has greeted us with a welcoming smile and a "wai" with their hands. Yesterday we learned some of the etiquette associated with offering a proper wai to be polite and proper. But the emphasis is always on the "smile."

Hello Volunteers and Welcome!

The PC staff made a greeting card for each and every one of us. They read what we call our "aspiration statement" which is basically what we hope to accomplish while serving. Based upon what we wrote the staff member created a welcome card for each one of us. So each one is very different and personalized. What a great idea to make us feel welcome! This is mine, needless to say. I think it is pretty darn clever!


Had to show you the inside of the card. Whoever made it has a future maybe with Hallmark or American Greetings.

To The Hotel!

Our necklaces are so beautiful I just had to take another photo of them. In the shot you can also see the new dictionary each of us received upon arrival and getting our welcome kits.


This is our room. It is comfortable, roomy and even came with a in-residence husband!


Here is one of my fellow volunteers before she fell asleep. Glad I managed to take a couple of photos before the sandman arrived.


Another fellow traveller before she closed her eyes for a little nap. Although she looks fresh and wide awake we had just travelled half way around the world and most of us did it with no or little sleep during the interim.


The buses we were provided for the ride to the hotel were really neat. AND more importantly, very comfortable. They had an upper as well as lower passenger seating. This photo is of the bottom area. I sat at the table and it was comfortable. Although it was the middle of the night, I could not sleep because even with the darkness there was soo very much to see. Out of Bangkok there were not lots of lights so the stars were very clear and the moon shone down on us giving us its blessings.