It's coming to an end.

I am quickly approaching the one year mark on my time in Thailand.  But I am also quickly approaching my return to the States.  My friends have made it quite clear that they know I am leaving, and they aren't happy about it.  One of my friends has already begun making a slideshow for my departure... in eight months!  While I think he is jumping the gun a bit, it has made me think about my time here and the things I will miss, and the things I definitely will not.

Things I will not miss:

1. Driving a motorbike- Driving here is super dangerous to begin with.  Put yourself on a motorbike, and things get crazy.  People weave and swerve and do not obey rules of the road.  Correction- there are no rules of the road.  And with the rainy season in full swing, I hate having to plan my day, night and life around whether or not I can drive there without swamping my bike in my flooded neighborhood.  Just give me a car, with a windshield, a seat with a back, and maybe even a radio!  Gosh, that sounds nice.

2. The people- The people here can be brutal.  Let's just say that in the land of smiles, after 10 months, people aren't so smiley anymore.  I'll spare you the stories for now, but I have had some pretty wicked run-ins with a handful of teachers at school, and boy, they changed my whole perspective!

3. The rainy season- Just let me go to work without getting soaked!  Let me run around the lake without ending up knee deep in water and ruining my ipod.  Let me be able to drive through my neighborhood without putting my motorbike out of commission.  Let me walk across the school without wiping out on the soaking wet tile.  And seriously, in a country where it rains for three months straight, why is there so much tile?  Shouldn't we have thought this through...?  Let it stop!

4. The food situation- Street food?  Salad bars on motorbikes?  Can't I just eat like a normal person?  How about a nice bowl of pasta that I prepared for myself?  Or maybe a sandwich?  Is that really so much to ask?  I'm over noodles, sticky rice and chicken on a stick.  I'm just plain sick of the impressive selection of goodies at 7-11.  Give me some good ol' American grub.

5. Teaching- Why won't the students listen to me?  Oh right, because they don't understand a good portion of what I am saying.  Enough said.

6. My friends and family back home- Well, it's true.  When I am back in the States, I won't have to miss everyone there.  I'll be able to text message and visit.  Heck, I'll be able to talk to people within a 3 hour time difference!

Things I will miss:

1. Driving a motorbike- Driving and feeling the wind in my hair is a feeling that I don't want to give up.  Driving the motorbike with Manao perched between my feet, loving every second of our drive to 7- 11 is something I don't want to forget.  Being able to park just about anywhere, oh it's so nice.  Having the ability to weave through traffic, passing hundreds of cars and completely missing all jams, I know I will miss that!

2. The people-  People know me around here.  They may not know my name, or have any idea how to communicate with me, but they know me.  They recognize me.  And they always smile.  Sometimes I get the occasional "hellloooo!"  Or the whispering as they tell each other, "oh, it's the farang!  The farang!"  But, they are always kind.  They remember what I like to eat at certain food stalls.  They know that I don't like my iced coffee too sweet.  They know that I always get 100 baht worth of gas.  They know that I always get 300 baht phone cards.  And they know that I drink Leo beer every Friday night.  They just know.  They always are kind.  And I will definitely miss them.   

3. The rainy season- What a relief.  After months of intense heat and burning sunshine, the rain is wonderful.  All of the trees are green again.  Everything is lush and beautiful.  The storms are the most intense storms I have ever experienced, and they are thrilling.  The entire house shakes as the thunder rolls, and I can read a book with the amount of light emitted as the lightening strikes.  To be able to sleep with the windows open and the cool breeze blowing through is absolutely wonderful.

4. The food situation- Fruit vendors on every corner?  That's pretty sweet.  Pad thai?  It will never be as delicious in a restaurant as it is on the street.  Sticky rice?  Som tam?  Mango?  Fried bananas?  Ice cream from a bicycle?  Fried chicken on a motorbike?  I need to go eat something right now.  Just the spice in general will be missed back in America.  

5. Teaching- What's not to miss?  The kids are hilarious.  They adore me, and I adore them.  We have tons of fun, and my job is never boring.  Why would I give this up?

6. My friends and family in Thailand- Simon and Paul.  New and Sang.  Kar and Mom.  Pae and Mameaw.  T. Sue and T. Sow.  These are the people that have become my family here.  They take care of me.  They make sure I am eating well, but never too much.  They make sure that I always know what is going on in school and outside.  They are my social life and my work life.  These people have made my life here what it is.  And I honestly don't know how I will say goodbye.  But yes, Mom, I will.

   

Manao is an animal.

We have always had dogs.  But dogs have always been another member of the family.  Manao has been a wake up call.  She has reminded me that dogs are animals.  Straight up animals.

Before I really came to terms with Manao's animal status, she would sleep in my bedroom.  She always slept under my bed, but I gave her the luxury of sleeping in a sometimes air-conditioned, but always fan- cooled, room.  One night while I was brushing my teeth, I came back to my bedroom to find this:

The two of us have since had our fair share of traumatic experiences.  First there are the street dogs.  Every morning on our run we are attacked by a pack of barking, growling and teeth- baring mongrels.  We try to sneak by along the outside of the path and go unnoticed, but we are often unsuccessful, and are confronted with these cuties.  Seriously, it is really, really scary.

We have also had two tick incidents.  Despite my obsessive anti- tick medicine application, the use of a tick collar and various other techniques, Manao's fur has become infested with ticks on two occasions.  Here is a picture from when I shaved her, and took matters into my own hands.  Luckily, we have been tick free since this photo.

But today takes the cake.

Every morning I wake up at 5:10 to take Manao on a run around the lake before work.  This morning was no different.  She ate breakfast, I laced up my running shoes, put on her leash, and we were off.  As we were about fifteen minutes from the end of our run, a pigeon flew out of a tree next to the trail.  Before I could comprehend the situation, Manao had the pigeon in her mouth.  She had leapt into the air and grabbed the pigeon mid flight.  She had only caught it's wing, so she maneuvered the pigeon in her mouth, and sunk her teeth directly into it's chest.  I screamed bloody murder.  I dropped the leash, covered my mouth and continued to scream.  I tried to tell her to drop it, and to stop, but I knew it was too late.  By the time she dropped the pigeon on the side of the path, it was long gone.  I grabbed her leash again, and yanked her away from her prey.  Boy, was she proud.  She thought I would be proud too!  It was clear the way she held her head and pranced along, she knew she had done a good thing.  I just ran, unable to come to terms with the fact that my dog is a killer.  The man sitting at his stall along the path had heard it all, and just chuckled as I tried to tell and mime to him what had just occurred.

I brought Manao home, the end of our run being a complete blur.  I dropped her off and went for my second loop, camera in hand.  This is what my adorable, golden retriever is guilty of:

Shocking.  Absolutely shocking.  And disgusting!

But this is what I came home to.  She is just so darn proud.  Come on, it just doesn't add up!

I'm a makin' me some bahts.

Work, work, and more work.  

I work at school.  I work after school.  I work weekends.  I work evenings.  Lately, I do a whole lotta working.  

On Mondays and Tuesdays I teach after school with Paul at my house.  We started what we call "The American After School Program."  (Put the word 'American' on anything here, and it sells itself!)  It has gone wonderfully, but it has kept me super busy.  The first session of the program lasted 8 weeks, and it was great.  The kids were a ton of fun, and the projects were awesome.  Basically, Paul and I ran a summer camp.

At the end of the session I created a DVD for all of the students.  It was a twenty minute video filled with adorable photos from our weeks together.  I have tried time and time again to load the video onto the blog, but no luck.  So, I have to go old school and stick to the photographs.  

The photos are:

1. Spray paint t- shirt day

2. Chocolate chip cookie day

3. Pun Pun being silly

4. Aun Aun with her pop- up father's day card

5. 4th of July barbeque day

6. Pun Pun wearing T. Paul's helmet

7. T. Meaghan and Aun Aun

8. The three 5th graders after their skit

No excuses.

There are no excuses for my extended absence, but I will attempt a few, regardless.

Lame excuse number one:

I have been working non stop.  I worked for 26 days straight, and barely had time to sleep, let alone blog.  After my workaholic phase, I went to Laos for a long weekend.  While there, I picked up a pretty nasty eye infection which knocked me out of commission for about 5 days, and the blurry vision just cleared today.

Pathetic excuse number two:

I have attempted to blog!  Honestly, if you look at my list of posts I have seven, yes, count 'em, seven, incomplete posts.  My most recent post has been uploading a video for 13 days, and it still is not complete.  Thank you, blogspot, and poor Thai internet connections.

Meager excuse number three:

I just haven't been in the mood.  Life in Thailand has been a series of ups and downs lately, and I just haven't been motivated to blog.

But, before hitting the dreaded two month mark, I am back and posting.  I have revamped my list of potential blogs, and I'm ready to go.  Thanks for sticking with me!

And, Dad, sorry it took me so long.