Tiny little creatures
Door: Vanessa
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Vanessa
18 Juli 2006 | Thailand, Bangkok
Two weeks at the camp near Hat Yai have past. The little village is called Khong-hai-khung which means the river of the turtle. Though I haven't seen any turtles here. But I've seen lots of other tiny little creatures. A small summery of the amimals I've seen here are snakes, frogs, rats, ghekko's, lizzards, huge spiders, and a variety of insects like many musquitos, ants, stingbees, cocroaches, grasshoppers, stingflies, wasps and many, many more.
The thing is that all these animals seen to like me. I've already been bitten by a wasp and I've also had a cocroach and a huge grasshopper on me :(
And then there are the dogs of which we have three at the camp. Usually I like dogs a lot, but these ones are full of fleas and tics, so they scratch themselves constantly and I'm sure you can imagine what they look like. And they like to follow us everywhere we go. They are not like the domestic dogs in Europe, since they don't get a lot of food & water and are always outside. So sometimes they misbehave, and steal food from the kitchen or trashbin. I do feel sorry for the dogs, but in the 'jungle' we live in there is not much we can do for them :(
But enough about the animals, there are much nicer tiny little creatures. The childeren! We teach English to childeren in primary school, from age 6 to 12. The school is about 3 km away from our camp. They look really cute and esspecially in their schooluniforms. Ofcourse they sometimes behave like angels and sometimes like demons like every child, but overall they are just adorable. The children also like us as well and are constantly greeting us in English and wanting to play games. Even the Thai teachers try to speak English. The youngest children we learn mostly simple words and focus on speaking, while with the older children we practice also writing and reading. That is quite difficult for the children, since they are not used to the Roman script. But it's great to see them progressing! :)
At our school much more is happening then only teaching. Last friday the 6-year-olds needed to get vaccinations. The Thai way of doing that is in the open air with just a table and a chair and everybody watching. We tried to comfort the children by singing songs and playing little games. But one girl needed a second vaccination and was terrified; screaming and crying. So I was kindly 'asked' in Thai/English/signlanguage to take her on my lap and hold her tight so she wouldn't move too much. Talking about integrating really fast... Luckely after five minutes she was already smiling again :)
This week we have three sportsdays at school(a volleyball tournament with about 8 participating schools), so no classes until thursday and just cheering our teams! That's school in Thailand; expect the unexpected and have lots of fun :D
The thing is that all these animals seen to like me. I've already been bitten by a wasp and I've also had a cocroach and a huge grasshopper on me :(
And then there are the dogs of which we have three at the camp. Usually I like dogs a lot, but these ones are full of fleas and tics, so they scratch themselves constantly and I'm sure you can imagine what they look like. And they like to follow us everywhere we go. They are not like the domestic dogs in Europe, since they don't get a lot of food & water and are always outside. So sometimes they misbehave, and steal food from the kitchen or trashbin. I do feel sorry for the dogs, but in the 'jungle' we live in there is not much we can do for them :(
But enough about the animals, there are much nicer tiny little creatures. The childeren! We teach English to childeren in primary school, from age 6 to 12. The school is about 3 km away from our camp. They look really cute and esspecially in their schooluniforms. Ofcourse they sometimes behave like angels and sometimes like demons like every child, but overall they are just adorable. The children also like us as well and are constantly greeting us in English and wanting to play games. Even the Thai teachers try to speak English. The youngest children we learn mostly simple words and focus on speaking, while with the older children we practice also writing and reading. That is quite difficult for the children, since they are not used to the Roman script. But it's great to see them progressing! :)
At our school much more is happening then only teaching. Last friday the 6-year-olds needed to get vaccinations. The Thai way of doing that is in the open air with just a table and a chair and everybody watching. We tried to comfort the children by singing songs and playing little games. But one girl needed a second vaccination and was terrified; screaming and crying. So I was kindly 'asked' in Thai/English/signlanguage to take her on my lap and hold her tight so she wouldn't move too much. Talking about integrating really fast... Luckely after five minutes she was already smiling again :)
This week we have three sportsdays at school(a volleyball tournament with about 8 participating schools), so no classes until thursday and just cheering our teams! That's school in Thailand; expect the unexpected and have lots of fun :D
-
18 Juli 2006 - 03:26
Chris:
Hi dear Nes,
very nice desciption of our adventures here in the 'jungle'. I can honostly say you might have missed out on a beautiful career as a schoolteacher. The way you physically 'pronounce' the alphabet cannot be imitated. I'm really looking forward to spending another 2,5 months with you and many more other volunteers.
Love & kisses,
Chris -
18 Juli 2006 - 06:22
Jan Koning:
Hello Vanessa,
My god, am I jealous... What a wonderful time yoy seem to have! I wouldn’t be surprised if you decide to stay there! It’s fun to read how you are wandering through the Asian region leaving a trail of good deeds and experiences. The pictures help to get a sharp image of the places you describe. Keep it up and stay well. See you... -
18 Juli 2006 - 06:47
Esther:
Hoi Nes,
Engels lezen en verstaan is geen probleem, maar schrijven en praten daar begin ik liever niet aan als het ook in het nederlands kan.:-) (klein "traumaatje" aan overgehouden ;-))
Fantastische wat jullie allemaal meemaken, doen en zien. Ik zie je al helemaal voor de klas staan. Volgens mij heb je je roeping gemist!! Wie weet bevalt het zo goed en sta je bij terug komst in nederland wel voor de klas. ghighi. Succes daar!!! Heel veel liefs Esther -
18 Juli 2006 - 08:59
Nienke:
Hebben jullie niet stiekem een cameraatje in de buurt, zou graag willen zien hoe je het alfabet met ze doet en meer..........;)
Liefs Nienke -
18 Juli 2006 - 09:00
Bart:
What a wonderful description of those tiny little creatures.....I mean the Thai kids you both are helping on their way to.....a mean standard of living.
Have fun the nest few days in the sportgames...
By the way, did you get anything about the tsunami that reached the coast of southern Java/Indonesia??
Love
Papa -
18 Juli 2006 - 09:04
Nienke:
Ik zie net die foto's pas dat je in de klas staat, wat een schatjes zeg, die meisjes.
Nou doei, liefs N -
18 Juli 2006 - 10:00
Wendy:
Helemaal vergeten te bedanken voor jullie kaart all the way from New Zealand ! Echt Nesje de tranen stonden in mijn ogen, het was een leuke oppepper. Maar helaas we wonen er nog niet, als het fout gaat dan gaat ook bijna alles fout. Pascal heeft dit weekend vakantie en als het goed gaat gaan we dan volgende week EINDELIJK verhuizen ! En als je dan terug komt dan ik je EINDELIJK mijn 'stulpje' laten zien. Goed om te lezen dat je je vermaakt en dat je je moedergevoelens aan het ontwikkelen ben :) :) :) Veel plezier nog en veel succes met de sportdagen ! -
18 Juli 2006 - 15:43
Tineke:
Expect the enexpected...die houd ik erin, dat spreekt me wel aan. Ondertussen denk ik....how boring my life is comparing...to yours.
Wat een enige foto's, de kinderen zijn hartveroverend,je ziet hoe oogkontakt werkt, de lichaamstaal, dan denk ik, dat zit wel goed met Nes en die kinderen(mijn therapeutische beroepsachtergrond verloochend zich niet)We hopen zondag telefonisch kontakt te hebben.
Big hug,
Tineke -
05 Augustus 2006 - 23:57
Arthur En Mieke:
Hoi Vanessa,
Zo te horen gaat het allemaal goed in Thailand. Wij zijn op dit moment in Rio aan het genieten van de Copacabana voordat we weer naar huis gaan.
Groetjes, Arthur en Mieke
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