Nice to meet you....Individual!

Thursday, January 20 2011

I slept through the night last night!!!! I think I now know how the parents of an infant feel when the baby makes it through the night without waking up—only in this situation I’m both the proud parent and the accomplished child. I’m not feeling completely up to par yet, but I’m doing significantly better than I was yesterday. Twelve hours of sleep can make a pretty big difference. I had a slice of papaya and a small bowl of rice for breakfast and my stomach felt fine….but one bite of an egg role, and I could feel it getting testy. I think I’ll have to continue to be kind of careful for a few days.

The internet is down here at the office so I’ve been using the down time to look over some of the English text books available to me apparently one of the NGO’s (Non-Government Organization) in the area put these books together specifically to teach Burmese people English. So far I’ve read through the lessons teaching conversation language:

“Jane, this is Htun Htun, and this is Si Si.”

“Pleased to meet you”

“Hi Mi Chan! How are you?”

“I’m OK. Very busy!”

And yes/no questions:

“Do you like bananas?”

“No, I don’t”

“Ko Ko Aye doesn’t like bananas.”

“Does your mom like bananas?”

“Yes, she does.”

“Ko Ko Aye’s mom likes bananas.”

Haha….but in all seriousness, English is a really difficult language to learn—ESPECIALLY as a foreign adult with little or no education. I helped Mailynn teach the head care mother, Malek, English yesterday, and was very impressed with her knowledge. Malek is more advanced than the other care mothers, partly because she loves to study so much. Yesterday we went over “present continuous tense,” “past participle,” and irregular verbs. I’m so glad that I was born in an English speaking country. Otherwise, I think the language might be over my head.

12:34 PM

I’m sitting at the teahouse teasing an adorable black and white kitten with the pullstring of my jacket. I came down here to use the internet since it hasn’t been working at the home, and I was just about to get up from my computer and order, when this little purring fur-ball sidled up to me and plopped on my lap. I haven’t been able to bring myself to get up since =)

I don’t have anything at all against dogs, I’ve always had a love for dogs; but I don’t understand what some people have against cats. They’re some of the most entertaining creatures in the world I think.

1:13

The internet at the teahouse stopped working as well, so I’ve made my way to a small coffee shop named “Graph Café.” On the way here I saw a solitary plumeria flower lying on the road, and I picked it up to smell and carry with me. I didn’t know they had plumeria in Thailand! I hope I find more than the tree that this one came from.

Before I left the tea house, one of the managers asked me my name:

“What is your name krab?”

“Kimber, and yours?” (I felt like I was a character in one of the English textbooks I read earlier)

“My name is Lin krab.”

“Nice to meet you Lin. You’ll see more of me over the next six months.”

“Nice to meet you too krab.”

Apparently, Lin knows a bit of English, but still keeps the habit of saying the masculine “krab” when he’s done speaking. Females use the feminine, “Ka”. For example, I would say, “Sawa dee Ka,” to greet someone, or “Kop Kum Ka” to express thanks. It’s as if they’re afraid someone might mistake them for a different gender if they don’t express it….of course, that’s a valid fear nowadays. Maybe we should do that in America…

”How are you?—I’m a man”

”Fine, Thank-you—I’m a female.”

The question is, is there a different word that transvestites use—or lady-boys, as they call them here in Thailand?

I was just chatting to my mom on facebook and discovered that she was in a major car wreck earlier today. Luckily both drivers are OK, but it sounds like our car is totaled, and everyone is pretty shaken up about it. It’s amazing how fast bad things can happen. It doesn’t matter where you are in life (or where you are in the world, for that matter), or if you’re prepared for them or not. It’s so important that we live each day thankful for what we have—because you never know how long you’ll have it for. I’m so thankful that my mom is safe, and I hope she stays that way for a long time, so I can give her a big hug when I come home!