Guest Blogger: Mom visits the Baan Unrak school

With such great feedback from her last post, I just had to add some more stories from Mom's recent visit to Thailand!

Querida familia y amistades, esta es la segunda que escribo, no sé por qué insiste tanto Stefanie, dice que lo tengo que hacer antes de salir de Siem Reap, Camboya. Lo que pasa es que a Stefanie siempre le ha gustado mucho leer y le interesa poder tener algo por escrito. Ahora en ingles para el blog de Stefanie:

The day before we left to our planned island getaway (Koh Lanta) was exciting as I finally got a chance to go to the Baan Unrak children’s school in the village. The school is just a 5 minute ride down the hill by truck, that’s how the kids get there, or a 20 minute walk on foot. Stef had to ask permission of the principal, a Didi from Norway, because I was really anxious to see these kids in their classroom settings. We just happened to bump into her the at the evening market held every Thursday evening.

The market is located on the main road on an empty field and about 70 tables were packed with stuff galore – food, vegetables and fruits, dyed baby chicks (pink and blue, why??? Don’t know.), clothes, toys. The entire village comes out. The older kids from the Home can ask permission to come to the market, and they come in groups. It was nice; Stef and I walked around the tables and some of the girls from the home bought some spun sugar confection, similar to cotton candy, which they gladly asked us to share. Everyone was mingling and having a good time.

The school visit was programmed for the following Friday. It was so comfortable for me to be there, I felt “in my element”. We followed the principal into several classrooms. The youngest kids are first graders and I saw them with one of the volunteers in the English class. Cute as can be, sitting in a circle, shoes off, singing with the teacher and answering in English to questions like: What does mother do? and brother? and sister? It was late morning so you could see some kids eating in the outdoor table area, other groups of kids playing tag, some just walking about, boys in a circle kicking a small rubber ball in the air to each other, others rushing to go back into their classrooms.

No room is air conditioned, open windows and fans are used.

All rooms are shoes off areas, even the teacher’s work room. So shoe racks are placed outside each classroom – I should say flip flop racks as these are the only shoes I saw. There was the noise of children everywhere, and kids coming up to hug Stef and me, but the atmosphere was happy. So funny to see the expression on the kids’ faces as we walked into their classrooms! When the principal found out I was a retired teacher she asked me to spread the word about their need for teachers! Imagine what an experience for a new teacher graduate! What a life changing experience it would be to come to a place where children really need you, where your work would be rewarded by eager children who appreciate your every act of kindness, to experience a new culture, and to feel that you’re contributing to making this world a better place!

A few days after this we started packing for the beach. We left on a Sunday, caught a ride to the bus stop on the Home’s truck, which was full of boys going to check out good camping sites in the forest. Yes, it felt sad to leave, some of the kids even asked Stef if she was going back to America. She had to repeatedly reassure them that she was taking me to the beach and to Cambodia, but that she would return in a couple of weeks.

That's all for now...stay tuned for the next leg of our trip, tropical paradise and island getaway Koh Lanta!

Guest blog post written by Cecilia Langley.

Guest Blog Post: Mom visits Thailand!

Guest Blog Post by Cecilia Langley, aka MOM!

Mom's visiting this month in Thailand and we've got some trips in store these next few weeks: a little bit of city (Bangkok); a little bit of jungle (Kanchanaburi); a little bit of tropical paradise (Koh Lanta); and some world heritage sites (historical temples of Angkor, Cambodia.) Stay tuned!

Querida familia y otras amistades,

That’s it for ESPAGNOL! Stef apparently is tired of watching me either stare at the sights, sounds, and faces around me or slide the on switch on my kindle. She wants to see me write (and then, I imagine, she’s dying to see what I’ve written). Nosey, but she’s been like that ever since she was 4 years old and decided she didn’t need need my help or advice anymore. So here I am, on a hot as blazes afternoon, having strolled down the hill from the Children’s Home, which is now HER home, too, and sitting at the “bakery” doing Stef’s bidding. I really need to reposition the angle of the small fan on the wall behind me because I am steaming from all over.

This small village is not as quiet as Stef lead me to believe; Sanghklaburi, Kachanaburi Thailand is a hilly subtropical village that surrounds a lake, with a submerged ancient Buddhist temple, and is crossed by rivers and a famous wooden bridge. It is dotted with guest houses for travelers. The center of town, the market, is a 30 minute hilly walk from the children’s home. There, Stef can access the ATM for baht and shop for detergent, soap, cookies, stop for ice cream at the 7 eleven, say hello to the taxi drivers (they’re all small trucks with covered bench seats in the back, and they all know her), and other teachers and volunteers in Sanghkla.Western tourists are everywhere, from the tall blonde kid with too short shorts to the more mature world kayaker who apparently collapses his ten thousand dollar kayak and just travels the world’s waterways. The villagers themselves seem to ignore us = the foreigners, I swear the street dogs seem to take more notice of us.

After 25 years, every villager knows about Baan Unrak Children’s Home, its founder, Didi Demavala, and the other Didis (similar to nuns) who, along with a steady stream of volunteers run the school in town and help house, feed, educate, counsel, comfort 140 children. The home sits atop a hill overlooking the village. The girls concrete 3 story building has the nursery school on the bottom floor, young girls on the second and teenagers on the third. This is also where Stef and I sleep. It’s private enough, with a separate locked entrance and its own bathroom. No shower or tub, but yes to a toilet and sink. With a 30 gallon plastic can under a faucet, bathing isn’t hard – really! The boys building is newer and faces the tin and bamboo covered shed that houses 7 weaving looms run by the home’s care mothers. Every day, after school, I marvel at all the activity, boys and girls going in and out of the outdoor kitchen and eating area, the girls playing tag, kids on the newly donated playground slide, monkey bars and seesaw, a group here and there playing dress up with paper crowns, boys on a dusty soccer field kicking with flip flops or using these same flip flops for gloves when its their turn to play goalie.

Stef absolutely is content here, all I’ve heard from the other volunteers is how wonderful she is with the kids. Last night she was out after dark driving into the village to look for a couple of runaways. Actually, 3 kids were absent during the nightly gathering for singing and one was eventually found asleep in the boys dormitory under a sink. The other two had walked down the hill into the village and were brought back to their dorm.

Every morning, at seven the children gather in a big, airy room next to Stef’s and sing then go off to school by 7:20. If there’s no school then some kids will gather outside Stef’s window, 2 floors down, and shout STEF! STEF! We are here, STEF! It’s hilarious! We brought back some dulces mexicanos, just exactly what the kids like, kind of sweet but with chile, and it is slowly disappearing out the window.

Stef’s relationship with the children is like an older wiser sister or a younger more in tune teacher-counselor. Her relationship with the older Didis is just as positive, she is loved and respected here by them and her ideas as welcomed. It has to be a big reason she has committed to volunteering for two years. It still breaks my heart to leave her behind when I return to Miami, but I, too, will be content when I leave. Her work is important, she impacts the lives of homeless and orphaned children and tries to ensure that they will have a better life when they grow up, leave the home and become independent.

For anyone else who reads this:

1. · The school is looking for teachers, for a 6 month commitment or longer
2. · Go to the Baan Unrak weaving center and buy, the $$$ will be used by the home.

U.S.A! A Great Return Home!

U.S.A! U.S.A! It's been a while since I've cheered for the home team, but I have to admit I miss it more and more as my years abroad start to stack up.

This month I was stateside for the first time in a year and well, I sure as hell appreciated the luxury and creature comforts in the day-to-day American lifestyle.

First off: HOT WATER and WATER PRESSURE! Goodbye bucket showers, can't honestly say I've missed them... Targets, supermarkets, and one-stop shop all convenience stores ROCK compared to the Asian habit of chasing yourself silly 'round a city just to get to that one street of electronics, that one street of car parts and/or that one section of town where all the cheap shoes hide in dark alleyways...Picking up a phone and being able to order food any given time of day, night or ungodly morning hour, and better yet having it delivered to your doorstep! And...this is number one, right here...WINE. Red wines, White wine, Pink wine, (Blue wine? I swear I saw it!) all for $12 or less! The closest thing I've had to wine in a long time was the dangerously expired box of grape juice I drank 3 months ago...

There are things that also upset me; the downfall of the American dream is that people really tend to live beyond their means: expensive apartments/mortgage payments on top of having a 2 car household; shopping habits and fashion trends people feel the need to follow; numerous credit cards, bills and loans with 10 year payment plans; Ipods/Ipads, smartphones, smart tv's, people are more plugged in to electronics than ever before and as the outsider looking in, it sure as hell looks like Disney's "Wall-E" wasn't too far-fetched after all...I don't know, it just feels like the average American falls into severe debt sometime in their late 20's and literally spends the rest of their life paying for the lifestyle.

This is not a rant post however, so let's proceed to the good stuff: the stuff of family! Allow me to introduce the latest addition to the Langley family, the twin girls Sarah and Sophia now already 16 months old! They walk, they talk (in their own dialect of course), they spit and then laugh at themselves afterwards...in other words, they are precious perfection! We've had some great outings to the zoo, to the neighborhood parks and spent most of our time enjoying the excitement found in my Mom's backyard, decked out with: slides, water games, climbing domes, tree swings and hammock.

Not to be outdone by the girls, the boys (Cooper, twins Cole and Beck) are also growing bigger and stronger and more rambunctious every day! They're definitely boys' boys, into trains, loud noises, and superhero costumes! They're starting to recognize Tia Steffy now, and I love the way Cooper calls me to ask for candy. (I'm an enabler, just like my Momma!)

Going home was exactly the kind of recharge I needed. I was starting to feel really rundown, emotionally exhausted and physically weak from my recent bout of sickness at Baan Unrak. I felt zapped with love when I went home, so thank you for everyone welcoming me back with open arms! I had brief, but meaningful catch ups with my best friends and have made re-connections in my home life I was in need of...and now however sad I am to leave my family and friends after such a brief visit, I feel ready to go back.

I have just flown back into Thailand (with Mom who's visiting for one month!) and with my newly expanded waistband, I feel more refreshed and eager to get back to work with those incredible kids than ever before!