Mother's Day, Koh Pha-Ngan and Ch Ch Changes

Thailand's government is considered a Constitutional Monarchy, which basically means that they have an elected Prime Minister as well as a King and Queen. Generally speaking, Thai people have a great deal of respect for the King and Queen. It makes sense then, that the Queen's birthday is a national holiday. It becomes Mother's Day.

In terms of school, this is no slack holiday.  A regular part of K2 curriculum is Thai dance and for the first nine weeks of Thai dance, my kiddos prepared for their performance in the Mother's Day Pageant. Now, I wasn't around for much of their practice, but considering the increased frequency of these practices during the last few weeks leading up to the pageant, it was clear that this pageant was important. That being said, I was still shocked on the day  of the pageant when my kiddos started to trickle in wearing little tuxedos, prom dresses and heavy make up. There were some I didn't even recognize right away. It was a little strange to see kids at school all dolled up, but it kind of remind me of dance recitals at home. So, as the kids came in the Thai teachers and I helped them with the finishing touches and tried to keep them from messing up their outfits/hair.

One of the girls I didn't recognize. They just look so different with lipstick and eye shadow!

Focus was the only boy who was excited to be dressed up.

Eventually it was time to head out side. We filed out, re-grouped and waited our turn to take the stage. There were several parents who hung out with us for the majority of the day and did their best to make sure their little prince/princess didn't melt in the heat.

Waiting to take the stage, with 32 kids in tuxedos/prom dresses in the heat. Fun fun!

Finally, late that morning K2 took the stage. They did such a great job and looked so wonderful up there. Even though I had nothing to do with teaching them the dance or getting them dolled up, I was pretty proud of them. It was a really nice day and it was nice to get to see the kids with their parents.

After the dance, everyone came back into the classroom where parents and kids ate some lunch and then cleared out. At about Noon, Neils and I headed home to start our long weekend.

We grabbed our all ready packed bags and headed to town by way of Song-tau (a pick-up with a covered bed that is used as a community taxi). Once in town we were having a hard time communicating with the driver where we wanted to go. Luckily, there was a young woman on the song-tau with us who spoke English pretty well. She stepped in as the middle man between us and the driver and then rode with us to our destination to make sure we got where we wanted to go. I've often talked about how friendly and helpful the Thai people are and this is just one example of how amazing they are. We had never met this young lady before, and yet, it was as if there wasn't a question of how she would be helping us that day. Nothing to think about. You need to get some where and aren't sure where it is? I know, I'll take you. Just like that. It's really a very beautiful thing and says a lot of the quality of character here!

Thanks to the friendly young lady, we arrived at the right mini bus station and after a 1.5 hours on the mini van, 3 hours on a ferry, 20 minutes in a song-tau and about 15 minutes on a tax ferry we arrived in Koh Pha-Ngan.

We got a room, settled in a bit, got some dinner and then I promptly got sick. It was probably something I ate before we left, but we ended up in bed at like 8pm for a 'nap' that we didn't wake up from until the next morning. Since I've been sick from food a few times now in Thailand, I didn't wait around. I asked Neils to run to the Pharmacy and get me some antibiotics and then slept until 11am. Our bungalow only had a fan, so at this point in the morning it was more hot to be inside than outside, so I put on my bathing suit and spent the rest of the day sleeping on the beach. Really, it's not a terrible way to be sick. If you have to lay about all day, you may as well do it on a beautiful beach taking the occasional break to cool off in the ocean.

Luckily, I felt better the next day, so we once again spent some time lounging on the beach and that night we met up with friends. The next few days and nights were a lot of fun. We hung out, stayed up late and generally had a great time. The days were more sleeping on the beach and relaxing.

By the time Sunday rolled around, we were utterly exhausted and ready to pack it in. We got up, ate some breakfast and headed out. It was a lovely weekend, but I, for one, was glad to be going home to my own bed for some quality deep sleep!

It seems as though our four day weekends are at an end for awhile. We are looking forward to October and our three week semester break. My mom and Roger are coming to visit and I'm VERY VERY excited!

In other non-vacation news, there are some changes coming up for us. As you know, Neils has not been enjoying teaching. He recently put in his notice and will be leaving Primary 4. He hopes to do some free lance programming and is considering a few other teaching opportunities.

When the director of my program heard he quit she didn't waste any time offering to help us look for something new. She told me that she really likes Neils and I and she wants us to stick around, because we feel like part of her family. It was so very nice to hear and I feel really lucky. My last two bosses have been above and beyond wonderful to work with. I know I can't count on this kind of treatment my whole life, so I'm going to enjoy it while we have it!

Hope you are well!