First Few Days

I haven't written in so long, that I hardly know where to start. First things first, I am staying with the whole group in Chaibudan in Lopburi Province which is about 3 hours north of Bangkok. We have had lots of health and safety meetings, language intros, and lots of biking. As most of you know I was most apprehensive about biking. No surprise that I was placed in the novice group with about 14 other Peace Corps Volunteers...we were the ones that hit cones on the obstacle course. Since the course, we have practiced for about 12 hours total, even doing 8k on the open road to see the sites and to get used to the traffic...and guess what I did it!! I might even eventually like biking, though its not exactly enjoyable at this point. I've learned all the parts to my bike and can even change a tire and patch the tubes. I should be OKAYish. 

Yesterday we had a series of interviews with medical, homestay coordinators and our job technical coordinators...just so they could get to know us better. We talked about expectations, etc...I'm so impressed with the way that Peace Corps has been taking care of us and setting everything up for us. 

Speaking of that, on Friday night, the whole staff (both Thai and American) prepared a welcoming ceremony for all the volunteers. We entered a beautifully decorated room, and walked through the staff who were holding candles. After we sat down on the floor we learned about a good luck ceremony that entails strings tied around the wrist. When the strings are tied they are run over the wrist away from the body to remove the bad luck, apprehensions, and bad karma, then the good luck is run towards the body. All in all, I received about nine strings from the staff, each with a different message. My favorite was when a Thai teacher said I would get by with my sense of humor. We must wear the strings for at least 3 days, and we can't cut them off, they must fall off or be untied, and after this we should keep them somewhere safe.

The group is great. It's funny how fast you can make friends in a situation like this. I really am so happy to be here. I'm still a little nervous on my bike, but have improved so much that I know I will be fine. I'm also still adjusting to the heat. It's so hot out on the road (about 93 degrees on my ride yesterday) and this is the cool season!

Coming up: Moving into my homestay on Tuesday!