Update

The school where Robbie and I teach is on the grounds of a temple and thus is a Buddhist school. All this past week there was a festival going on in the temple, and we didn't even have classes on Thursday. Robbie, Steph, and I went with the students and other teachers into the Wat for an hour and a half long ceremony. We sat on the floor with the teachers in front of the children, and they brought offerings of flowers and candles up to us. We placed the offerings in wooden bowl and then listened to different speakers. On Friday, the festival continued with a free buffet. After teaching the sixth graders for two hours, we went to have lunch with the 2nd grade teacher Oye at the festival. All of the students were loving the free ice cream. Especially a new kindergarten student that was eating his with two fingers instead of a spoon. He was a mess but so adorable.

It's hard to explain our school. It is amazing compared to what we were working with in Africa, but is still very poor. After we eat lunch with the teachers, they give our leftovers to some of the kids that we assume can't afford to buy school lunch. They literally give them the food we pick over. The teachers at our school also don't follow a curriculum, and will leave the kids alone in the classroom with nothing to do for an hour or two at a time. On our first day, at 11:00 we realized that none of the teachers were in their classrooms. I went looking, and found every single teacher in a meeting. The kids were just running wild and it didn't seem to phase anyone! This school is just very different from what we're used to at home. Like I mentioned before, this is definitely a huge improvement from the school we were working with in Africa. These kids have classrooms with desks, chairs, school supplies, chalk boards etc. They all have book bags and note books. They even have "Express English" workbooks, but unfortunately the books are for the most part too advanced for them.

At any rate, no matter what we teach them or what we have to work with, these kids are so adorable and really want to learn. I'm using this experience to get a feel for what grade I want to teach, and I'm starting to lean towards kindergarten. I've always wanted to be a teacher but I've never known what grade I want to teach. Previously I was thinking 3rd grade, but at the time being, I'm just loving the 5 year olds. This is such a big change from what I used to think, and will probably change 100 more times. Who knows?

Last night, Neha, Robbie and I went to a Muay Thai boxing match. We paid an extra $4 to sit ringside and it was intense. We saw seven fights and two different people got knocked out. This was an experience we couldn't skip out on, but I don't think I will ever feel the need to go to another boxing match.

Well it's Saturday afternoon and we're going to go exploring more of Chiang Mai. Happy June!
LOVE
Maggie and Robbie