Should I call this Howdy3?

Greetings and such

Two days ago we went to a funeral next door that had been going on since I got here. Apparently they last five days. They sat us down on a raised platform/table (cross-legged with shoes off) and fed us papaya salad and snake meat.

One of the people in attendance wore a fittingly black shirt. The words written on the shirt had an irony hidden to all but English speakers. The shirt said “staying alive.”

In the afternoon two days ago we went to a school to teach a weekly English class. This was the first time we had gone and they wanted us to use their books. So we went in pretty blind. The book was pretty weird. I don’t think it was written by a native English speaker. It had things like the question “what’s it?” rather than “what is it?” If you would ask “what’s it?”, feel free to let me know. It was not clear what the kids are supposed to be learning from the book. It is just a bunch of random dialogues. We hope to look more at the book before next time and figure it out. Joe kept it fun with pronunciation games. We’ll see what happens next time.

When we got back from the school we had classes here at the center. Because Joe’s class only had two people in it due to rain, I went and sat with the preschoolers who were learning the Thai alphabet. I learned eight letters! By the end, kid’s from upstairs in Maa’s class had gotten out and gathered around. They thought it was quite entertaining to watch a 22 year old try and keep eight letters straight as the teacher quizzed him. I couldn’t even properly pronounce most of the letters’ names.

That night I ate a dish full of what looked like onions until you touched them and they moved like rubber. It was pork skins. I also ate some of a fish that still had its head and fins. It was all very good.

Yesterday the school we were supposed to be at canceled. I took a nap!

In the afternoon I had day two of preschool. I learned five more letters. It is harder and harder to keep them straight. They don’t look like anything I’ve seen before and the more I learn the more they merge with each other in my brain. I also learned how to write the numbers.

I played soccer with some guys on a concrete pad in the school yard before dinner. It was fun. They were clearly laughing at me several times, but I have no idea why. No one was there to translate. I think though they enjoyed my being there. When I left they offered to shake my hand (a non-Thai thing).

I hope all is going well on your end

Peace

Micah