Okay this is going to sound like a broken record, but I really can't remember everything I've done lately. We are so busy! I wonder if there will ever be a day that I'm not exhausted during some portion of it. I usually go to bed at 10 and wake up at 7 which should be plenty of sleep, BUT the roosters crow all night! Also if it rains at night I have to set up buckets to catch the rain because leaks in the roof. Also the rest of my family gets up at 4:30 or 5 and the monks come around for food around 6:30 and then chant or pray. All of this leads to interrupted sleep. Also I'm mentally overwhelmed each day with speaking Thai and learning how to do community development! Now, now this is not really a complaint; I love my life here and can't imagine doing anything else. As I said before I will really miss my community when I leave for my permanent site. 

This morning my technical group (Kim, Susan, and myself) presented our work to the government workers, our families, and the villagers on what we had learned the past two months, and we did it all in Thai! The presentation went well and we are all very proud. I actually teared up when thanking the community and my family for their help, as did the majority of the Peace Corps audience. It really has been a special two months here in Chaibadan. 

Tomorrow I have my final language assessment with a professional tester. I'm not really nervous since I did so well this morning with my Thai, but plan on studying a bit with my family and friends this afternoon and evening; that is after I hand wash all of my clothes in a basin! I must score at least Intermediate low on the test and feel that I definitely will pass, BUT better not be too cocky though!

This week we stayed busy with two field trips.  The first was to learn about self-sustaining farming and organic fertilizer. The trip took a bizarre but interesting turn when our guide took us to an inter-religious Japanese philosophy center to look at art and pray a bit. I totally got interested but for some volunteers it was just too weird. If you ask me, just go with the flow and try and learn something wherever you go! On Wednesday, the whole Peace Corps group traveled to a wat (temple) that has a HIV/AIDs support group and hospital. It was much like the experience I had in rural China in visiting a similar facility. It was a bit awkward and disturbing but also a place of hope. In Thailand, people with HIV have a heavy stigma attached to their person, and some families simply drop their family members off at this wat, when the find out about someone having HIV, never to return. There was area with a large Buddha watching over the unclaimed ashes of the formers patients and residents of the wat. I asked about this place and how the current residents deal with being surrounded by death. My guide told me that the patients have to get used to the idea of death and come to terms with the fact that they might end up there. In Buddhism the body is viewed as unimportant, really just a shell for our souls, it is completely temporary and susceptible to destruction. This is true but also a little hard to understand from a Western and Christian mindset. This field trip was emotionally taxing but I realized that I can get involved with and build relationships with people living with HIV at my site. Many of these people get stuck in a life with only those other people with the same condition, and many would welcome a new friend, especially one from America who is trying to learn Thai!

This weekend, I have plans to relax at the pool and attend a religious ceremony for a friend's host brother who is entering the monkhood. Next week we wind down training with progress interviews and planning for a thank you party that we will have for the community. After that I move back into the hotel with all of my fellow volunteers to have a conference with our new Thai counterparts (those people we will be working with at site) and then on to swearing in and the big move!

It's hard to believe I've already been here for two months and it's already time go, but I'm exciting to see what the next 25 months have in store for me. 

Please continue to comment on my posts, and send emails and pictures! Please Please Please!

-Sarah