Squid, Bird Eggs, Liver, Prawns and Sushi

Hello All,

Sorry for the delayed response but I didn’t want to bore you with the unexciting lack of event days we have been having these past few days.

Sunday consisted of a lot of sitting, walking, catching up on emails and eating. Tonight we went with one of the house parents to a seafood buffet. It was all you can eat for 100 baht a person. You could chose from a wide variety of food, including already prepared dishes of rice, and noodles as well as uncooked seafood. Each table had a coal fire pit that you cooked your food on. I had squid, bird eggs, crab, many different varieties of fish, different varieties of spicy pork, sushi, liver, etc. The prawns were very popular with the locals. There was also spaghetti, fried chicken wings, French fries, and other small nibbles of western foods. The dessert was delicious, including every variety of fruit you could imagine, as well as ice cream, mango and sticky rice and other Thai favorites.

We also tried one of the local beers, which was quite good and tasted a lot like Keith’s.

After spending several hours eating, we are all stuffed.
Cooking on the table reminded me a lot of home as this is what my family does on a special occasion. I think next time I can add a lot of variety to the foods we sample. Mom and dad, I wish I could take you to this place.

Monday came and allowed us to catch up on some more sleep. We also did a lot of cleaning, in preparation for our upcoming visitor. It is funny, but no matter how much cleaning you do, the place will always still look like it is in the slums. At least it feels cleaner to us. We spent some time lesson planning in the afternoon, watched a movie with SiJie and then joined the children for supper.

Our ‘little sister’ joined us for the afternoon, snuggling in between us as we read our books. She also folded the towels on our chair, and after disappearing for a few minutes I found her scrubbing the bathtub and sink. Keep in mind she is only 4 years old! Boys, I do not think you have any more excuses as to why you cannot fold clothes, or even towels.

Tonight when I was talking to my parents on the phone she decided she wanted to talk to my “mommy” and “daddy.” With the phone to her ear she says “Sawdeeka, How are you today?” Pretty impressive for a 4 year old. I was equally impressed that she was able to move beyond my parent’s accent and understand that they speak English too!

All in all a pretty laid back day. Tomorrow we are back to Mercy and back to work. I look forward to seeing all of our students again, but will miss the afternoon naps.

I just want to send a shout out to those reading this as they eat their breakfast every morning. Hello Ennis, Jessie and Mom and Dad! I think you should all have a bowl of corn flakes for me.