Learning Thai

Here she is this morning. All excited about her first day and wearing her Monday uniform. Her backpack is school issue and says "Mahesak Pittaya School."

And they're off! A huge thunderstorm last night left our street underwater again. Tom will be teaching English classes at the same school Claire is attending.

Claire's other uniform that she'll wear on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

One arm of the L shaped school. Claire's classroom is in the middle on the bottom level of this building.

Claire's very energetic class- there are only around 8 other kids ranging in age from 3-6.

Claire's very nice teacher (khun crew) is in the center. On the right is the teacher's assistant, from the Philippines, and on the left is Manat- Tom's friend and contact at the school. Tom will be assisting with his English classes.

Starting out, we're trying to keep Claire's schedule intentionally low key, as there can be a lot of pressure for school kids here. She will be going three half days a week. The school holiday is in October, so she'll only be going for a short time and then will have a long break. Hopefully she'll be excited and ready to return!

Report on her first day: Well, it got off to a rough start. It took THREE HOURS to go the approximately 8 miles to school!! Because of the flooding, the traffic was in complete gridlock and they inched their way to school first in a songtaew, then wading down the sidewalk, and then by taxi. Quite an adventure for the first day!! Because she got such a late start, she spent the remainder of the school day there. She arrived home talking a mile a minute, jumping up and down and excited as can be. She told Tom this morning in the class that she felt "a little bit proud and a little bit nervous." Her class worked on colors, days of the week, and the alphabet (all in Thai of course) and did some practice writing. Her homework is practicing a few Thai letters in her notebook. She told me she had "some sort of chicken skin with eggs inside" with rice for lunch. Hmmmm? She is in love with her teacher, met a girl names Im, got her face powdered after lunch (a cooling technique) and laid on mats for "naps." She looks very tired but is still bouncing around with excitement.

We're praying for all our other little friends starting school right now.... Dara, Evan, Gaby, Judah, and Acacia- we think you are brave and smart and we're thinking of you!

-Candice