Goodbye Preschool..

I began my morning by teaching my adult class. I stayed at the main Mercy building for the night which meant I could wake up an hour later, get a warm shower and then walk across the street to class.

After class I spent some time with the adults in the AIDS hospice. They never fail to make me laugh. One of our new friends was well enough to go home. I would also like to pass along that our English speaking lady friend (im sorry I don’t know names) went to the doctor today and he said she is getting stronger. Misty had a conversation with her and she has had braces for 2 years now but the doctors won’t take them off because she has TB. Unbelievable.

We taught our last preschool class today. The children were very excited to see us, swarming around us when we came up. They seemed to love the pencils and photo holders we gave them. The children gave us a picture they colored with the word LOVE in the middle of it.

I had lunch with the AIDS hospice, and then went with the scholarship students to the new Mercy building down the street to watch a movie. The building is nearly finished and looks really nice, however there was a mistake in making it so the second and third floor are all slanted. It is kind of trippy. SiChon has been staying at the house since he had his eye surgery on Monday. He is able to see a little better but things are not perfect. Please pray for a safe and speedy recovery. He wears a patch on his eye now.

I spent most of the afternoon in the AIDS hospice and playing with the children in Mercy 6. I decided since Misty and her family went out for the afternoon I would run a couple of errands. I took a motorbike taxi to Soi 40 to pick up my dress and then took a taxi to Witthayu.

Unfortunately traffic was killer and I ended up paying 100 baht for what normally would have been a 5 minute taxi ride. The taxi driver was comical, trying to get me to pronounce every Thai word he could possibly think of. Sometimes it is frustrating because I just want time to think, not be forced to learn more Thai. It also started its usual 3 pm rainstorm so I got a little wet getting out of the taxi. At the tailor I got my dress pinned, but left with it in hand when I was told that the cost of them altering it was more than I paid for the dress. Back out in the rain I went to catch the BTS, then the songtheaw to Mercy. What a waste of time. I should also add that the BTS was the most crowded I have ever seen it. It was so full that people could hardly get on or off. Every time the BTS went to stop there was a sort of domino effect. It was more entertaining when I was not involved in it.

I had supper with Mercy 6. After supper Takatan pretended to do my make up, using make believe supplies. I got a couple of coats of foundation, mascara, eye shadow and lipstick. She then proceeded to do my hair. It was okay until I realized what a tangled mess it was, but it’s okay, Misty’s mom is a hairdresser.

Later in the evening I had a heart to heart conversation with Nancy. We talked about AIDS and how most of the patients got it. Nancy said that most people got it from sex because “people like sex very very much, and have sex with many people.” Drugs was also a major contributor. Medication for AIDS costs 1200 Baht a month. Thankfully the patients at Mercy have full coverage, as they would not be able to afford it otherwise.

In the evening we went for supper at San Luan Night Market, our favorite.

Ill post pictures as soon as I can. This connection is not strong enough, but dont worry...I have tons!