night visitors

The newest bug to enter my room.

The boys brought home this huge piece of bamboo. I have learned a lot about bamboo.

 This is the gecko that comes into my room regularly. Here he is about to crawl in and do some hunting.

Later while laying in bed I heard this extremely close crunching noises. I sat up grabbed my light and he took off from behind my head board and ran up the wall to his corner.

I have been trying to catch how big he is by marking the walls.
I finally caught him. I was guessing 9 inches... I was under guessing!

He is a solid 12

After he ran up to his corner he moved over my window then cut across the ceiling over my head!

Although I am sure he is an expert climber my biggest concern was he was going to fall and cause a huge commotion on top of my mosquito net.

They jump. 

And thinking about how many bugs are stuck buzzing on the outside of my net made me wonder if he would make a leap for those ones who were sitting ducks.

After a filling meal he leaves for now only to return later.

There is about a 4 or 5 inch gap between my wall and the ceiling on the outside part of my wall. So they can easily come in and out there are also cracks and holes all over so there are multiple ways for creatures to come in and out as they please.

Another long week....

I am pretty sure the kids have a count down until I leave. Can you blame them? They see me as just another person besides their parents to "nag" on them to get their school work done completely, correctly, and in a timely manor.  Which means that on most days I am not liked until the school day is over (welcome to teaching?). Its nice to know that somewhere someone wants you and appreciates you.     

Whether they are near or far. 

This week the sewer line broke so it has been awfully stinky.

 

Peter has funky feet. I am hoping he will learn to stand and walk even though his feet are crooked.

 One of the dogs has been sick.

Several people have come over sick.

Both of the boys have cut themselves doing "parrot things".

The giant gecko has been in my room on a regular basis getting as close as by my headboard!

The bugs are getting bigger and louder.

 

Logan and I jumped off my headboard onto my bed and pretended we were swimming.

I  have been trying to transfer my teaching certificate to California from Missouri (I tried before when I first came back home and was told I had to re-test. When I did more research I discovered that my license should be transferred.). This has been a challenging task since I can not get a response from anyone unless it is business hours . Business hours are when I do not have internet and  that means I have to wait until they finally get to my e-mail before I hear  anything back.

I have been tired. I have slept in. 

I have learned to count to 15  in Kui.

I savored a rare delicacy (well at least out here ) today that in real life it is something that is not my first choice by any means.

Dark chocolate.

I missed out on a game of leapfrog that was happening upstairs. Logan wanted me to join so he ran over to the hole in the floor which leads to my room and said "Jennica are you in the hole?" Sadly I missed out because I was not in the hole I was in the shower. 

Logan out of the blue at lunch let me know I was pretty. 

Colton and  I have been doing math outside with chalk.

There was one day this week where we did not eat any rice. 

I have made progress on my puzzle.

Meat is about $3.23 a pound

I have realized this year is going to be a huge year for me. I hope.

I have listened to music.

We had a visitor.

I got up the road and my  brake on the moto disappeared. When I reached for it it ended up in my hands.

We watched a movie on the projector but only after Ralph made me an extension cord. 

I had a special cup of coffee.

I have been attacked by mosquitos and other biting bugs.

I sat in the sun.

I   almost finished a book I have been dragging myself through since page 3.

I  wrote a friend a letter.

I talked to family.

I feel like three skirts is not enough and that I need a bigger variety.

I have been flossing my teeth regularly.

I drank something other than tea, water, or orange flavor, and it made me pucker. 

I have done something kind for someone.

I painted and scribbled. 

I swept together a pile or bugs that met my shoe from the night before.

I 've planned.

I have grown to appreciate the things that are so easily  accessible in the states but are sometimes not an easy option out here.  

Those are a few of the things that have been a part of this long busy week

"Do not go where the path may lead;  go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" 

- Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Things I hear

I've been here almost two months already and I am still in awe of the things that happen around me. I am use to the sounds of chickens, dogs, hungry pigs, cows and their bells, motos, the saw mill, fans, bugs,  lizards (they chirp), the generator,  but one that makes me stop and watch every time is the ox carts. 

I don't know what it is about these huge beast. Maybe because where we would use a truck or a tractor to move large loads around, and animal carts were a thing of the past (or so I thought) these are used daily to get to get the job done. They provide transportation, bring in and out work, food, and supplies, they gather anything and everything that the people need to survive. They conquer the "roads" and leave new trails in the mud making the next trek a little different than before. 

I think this is a sound that will continue to draw my attention no matter how long I'm out here.

and the thunder rolls

Where did this week go? It was full of LONG school days, nurturing parrots, a little bit of exercise, some skype calls, and always some firsts. 

Around the dinner table on Wednesday the discussion was about the bird aviary that Austin is going to build. part of conversations here are in English the other part in in Kui (the native language). And when one of the kids raised a concern about the aviary and the coconuts falling from the tree in Kui they were shocked when they realized I had answered the concern.

Thursday was a rough school day the kids did not finish until after dinner!

 Since it was girls night on dishes and Hailey was still doing school Logan and I did the dishes. He had a blast! We made lots of bubbles, splashed around, and eventually finished washing all of the dishes. When I was walking downstairs to my room in the dark all of the sudden there was a rather large splat type noise. I actually had a flashlight with me and was able to see that it was one of the large geckos that had fallen from the roof and landed just next to me! Kim had one fall right behind her the night before. 

Today I watched someone climb one of our coconut trees to gather the coconuts. The kids flew through school and we got to have a nice relaxing evening.listening to the thunder.

This is my parrot Peter.

 

Since this picture his eyes have opened!

Another weekend in the village well spent after a long busy eventful week. A little extra sleep, a trip into the market to check it out and look around again, a little stroll up the street and back as I couldn't get my strolling buddy to go any farther (it was really hot, and apparently you don't go anywhere without a purpose out here), a nice little nap, a yoga session that was a struggle to get through, some social time, time nurturing the parrots, a drive on and off the road looking for the boys who went parrot hunting again, time spent with Hailey and her best friend Mingnoit doing "wreck this journal" followed by a wonderful cruise on the Motos. I squished so many small bugs in my bed last night that my computer screen  is covered in guts and my sheets feel like they are full of dirt..... Time to shake them out and wash them!  This week was full of school and injuries for the people in town. I go to ride into town twice. Once to go have people checked for typhoid and malaria and another time to bring things to the people who were brought to the hospital on Friday. The hospital doesn't hardly supply anything for the people. They have to bring their own food and cooking supplies. And they have to sit around and wait until Monday to get any work done because the doctors don't do anything on the weekends. And they also didn't provide enugh beds so there was about 6 people in two beds. Kim left mosquito nets but they were unable to hang them because the was nothing to hang them from. We had a couple of huge rain storms called the mango rain. And now we have mangos growing! We had a huge gecko spying on us during dinner he had to be about 10.42 inches! We caught one of the rats on a sticky trap with one lots more to get. The trash got burned and the  neighbor also was burning a spot for her garden  so sometimes it got smokey. It was a great weekend spent in the village and it felt long that was an extra bonus! Pulling for another good week. Hope to get a lot accomplished.

mostly of Angkor Wat

We were lucky enough to go out of the village again this weekend to celebrate Hailey's fifteenth birthday. We went to Siem Reap. It's about a three hour drive. It was wonderful! We did so much we arrived and looked for a place to stay and drove around and around. We stopped and had some pizza themn we went to our hotel and went swimming. after a HOT shower we drove to an acnient temple that reminded me of the jungle book (where the apes lived) i am excited tomgo back and do some exploring there as we just drove around this time. On our way through we oukled over to get a picturemwith the monkeys. W bought spme bananas and fed them. I had one climb up my leg! They were all over the car! Afterthat we had some Indian food for dinner and went to the night market. The original part of the night market was all tiki style huts. And it was created especially for the tourists. We had a great time walking around and getting a few things. We dropped our stuff off in the car and went and had a foot therapy/massage session done. We stuck our feet in a tank full of fish and they nibble at your feet and eat all the dead skin. It was a weird tickling kinda pinching feeling. Sounds awful but my feet definently felt smoother after. Plus we got a free coke with our unlimited massage! What a deal for only two bucks! KSunday we went swimming again. And another hot shower! We Stopped at the grocery store to bring supplies back with us picked up some KFC for apicnic lunch. By the time we got our food all of the lights we on in the car wouldn't start. Ralph left us at then palace gardens where we were eating and took the car to get fixed. Wemsat and ate lunch listening to all the noise coming from the trees and the hustle and bustle of the streets. It turns out what we thought birds were thousands of bats! after admiring those forma while we were ready for some cards. W laid down to play ion thegrass and a security guard came over and told us we had to move. After a couple Ralph came back car all fixed! And we went out to celebrate with ice cream (a birthday...) when we finally made it home it was super Dark and everyone was worn out. After a great weekend the kids didn't want to have to start back up with school but they did a good job getting donemwhat they needed to.

Round two

I'll try this again. In had a very excitig large post all typed out and by the time it was finished the Internet was turned off so I could not post it and this morning it was gone! So here it goes again. The day started off early as I heard someone calling Kim outside my room. It was the neighbor and when she heard me stirring aoru d she called me. I went up stairs and woke up Kim. The neighbor was really sick and ended up being on an IV all day.after a head butting day of school we had a wedding to go to. Tis was my first village wedding! Only three of us were goi g so that meant to motoswere going. I was driving one and ralph and kim on another. Driving a moto was different this time as in was in a skirt and flip-flops opposed to pants and shoes! As we get on or way down the road the other moto gets a flat tire. Ralph ends up walking so Kim will "dope" me. Being in a skirt means this will also be my first side saddle moto ride. Kim dropped me off at the wedding and went to go get Ralph. Me sitting on a log outside of the wedding was quite an ideal. I was this strange white person that people don't know nor do I speak the language. People still greeted me and of course stared at me one even tried to get me on his moto to go down the road to our cooks house. Imwas relieved when Kim and Ralph showed back up. We said some hellos and went in to the wedding. Kim let me know we will be sick for a week eating to food. All of the hands preparing the food we unwashed. Imagine unwashed as no bathrooms, no sinks, touching raw meats, touching people and animals, etc. Theprpared food was surrounded by pigs and dogs trying to get what food they could. We were served a raw salad (including the meat), fried meat bones still included, a whole fish, rice and intestine. The salad and the fish were good. Fried meat wasn't too bad if it was meat and not a bone, and I did not touch the intestine after the awful face Ralph made after he sampled what it was. The night ride home was intense. It was dark and bumpy. The only light there was, was the dinky headlight on the moto. I was holding onto the bike for my life as Kim was trying to hit as few and the smallest bumps as possible. This is not even an easy task during the day when you can see where you are going. I tried to snap some pictures but it was dark so they are not the best quality. We got to listen to the wedding music all night long.