The Great Gatsby

Yesterday I read the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is about a man who finds his way into a wealthy group of friends in the early 1920s. He reunites with a cousin and her husband and makes friends with his neighbor Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is in love with the narrators cousin Daisy, who is married...and everything is going swimmingly until "the shit hits the fan" or so to speak. I give this book a 4 out of 5. The beginning didnt keep my attention that well and I sometimes got lost in thought in the descriptions. But the second half of the book was great...thats where the real action takes place. A good quick read that everyone should read...its a classic!

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

This past week I read the book Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King. This is the story behind the Sistine Chapel in Rome. It talks about why it was commissioned, how it was made, and the significance behind it. It also gives a lot of information of the ruling Pope at the time, the battles being fought in Italy, Michelangelo himself, and the painter Raphael who was competing with him while he was frescoing the chapel vaults. I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. Even though it was an extremely interesting book, and I learned a lot...there were too many Italian names( understandably so as it is based in Italy), it was too long, I wasn’t really interested about the bits of the battles being fought in Italy, and I’m not that interested in historical literature. The main part it doesn’t get 5 out of 5 is because I don’t generally like historical literature. But if you do like historical literature, then you will probably love this book. It really is very informational and very well written!

Anuban Prankratai School

This is a picture of Anuban Prankratai School, one of my three schools. This is the only school I have stayed at for the entirety of my service. I really love the students and teachers at this school. I especially am really glad to be a co-teacher here of such an amazing man and teacher .








This is a picture of my co-teacher Ajjan(meaning teacher) Garuna. He is really an awesome teacher!

Wai Kru Day

This past Thursday was Wai Kru day. Wai means to bow and Kru means primary school teacher...so literally it means bow to your teacher day. This is the day they show respect to the teachers. Last year I was a little uncomfortable to have children bow to me, but have gotten much more used to it by now..as when you walk by children they always wai you(the Thai form of bowing where you put your hands in an old fashioned prayer position in front of your chest, neck or face...depending on the rank of the person). First they give flowers to the teachers and then they bow them. After everyone has done this they take the flowers to the temples to give to the monks. Its really amazing how much more the children show respect for their teachers compared to children in America.



Here is a picture of the children bowing to the teachers.












Here is a student giving me a flower.



Some of the students even make these beautiful flower bouquets to give the teachers. Some of these look good enough to eat!

A world in yellow

Many of you may have heard about the kings anniverery of his inaguration to the crown. This month the king will have reigned over Thailand for 60 years...longer than any other living ruler. If he lives 7 more years he will have reigned over a kingdom longer than anyone in recorded history. To show their respect everyone has been wearing yellow, which is the kings color. Here are some pictures of random people in the market place.







Here are more people in yellow.









Here is a store where they are selling yellow shirts. Its really amazing to see everyone supporting the king by wearing yellow. The peoples love for the king is extremly evident the second you enter Thailand, and it is really heart warming to see just how much they really do love their King. But, it is a little odd to see everyone everywhere you go wearing yellow.

Cats don't like to be powdered

If you go to Thailand you may be surprised to see children covered in some kind of white powder and wonder what it is and why it is there. Thai people believe it helps to keep children clean. So, everywhere you go, including in the schools, you will see children with talc powder on their faces. Here is a picture of one of my students that a teacher has powdered up. Some adults even put it on....









Some volunteers really like to put the powder on them because they believe it keeps them cool and helps soak up some of the sweat. I am not one of those volunteers, as it always gets on my clothes. I invited Becky and Julia over to my house last weekend and we decided it would be really funny to cover our selves with powder...here I am covered in talc powder.






Here Julia is covered in powder. She got the bright idea to cover her cat, Kanome who is also Eleanors baby that she brought for a visit, in powder too. I now know that cats dont like to be covered in powder...Im sure that solved a question hot on everyones minds;)

Honk If You Think I'm Pretty

Two of my very best friends Amber and Shannon, and my good freinds Laurie and Chrissy recently had a birthday party for Shannons 24th birthday...you should click the link on my page to Shannons page so you can see the amazing cakes they made for her. Anyway, they made these signs at the party...which is an inside joke from our last day of 8th grade....oh yes we go waaaaay back! I just thought this was the funniest thing ever and had to share it with you all!

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

My good friend Merissa just came back from America and brought me this book to read. I just finished reading it which is called the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. This book absolutly gets 5 out of 5 stars and makes my favorite book list. It is written from the perspective of an autistic boy. It starts out with a murder mystery about a dog...but leads into other mysteries. Every educator should read this book to have a better understanding of the disease(although the autistic boy in this book has the stereotypical savant autism, which people with this kind of autism are known to have outstanding math skills...and even though this is what most people think about autistic people, in reality only ten percent of autistic people are savants) At any rate if you ever worked or work with people who were autistic pic this book up...if you know anyone who works with or has children with autism, suggest or better yet buy them a copy of this book...and even if you dont know any autistic people or people who work or have children who are autistic, go get a copy of this book because it will give you a better understanding of their world and the special people that care for them. Its an awesome book that I really think everyone should read because its brilliant, captivating, and just very important. Its a quick and easy read and trust me you WILL not regret it( even if you dont like to read)!

Thai Rainbow

Right now it is the rainy season in Thailand. It often rains during the day while the sun is still out. I always see rainbows outside my house, from my balcony, but am too slow to capture it on film. This time when it started raining I raised upstairs with my camera and was able to take a picture of this one. You can also see some roof tops around my village.

Hyla Tree Frog

So the weekend my friend Becky was over she showed me a picture of this big tree frog and asked me if I had ever seen one. I hadnt, but it just so happens that same week I found one on the wall of my kitchen. I tried looking it up on the internet, but all I could find was that it was called a Hyla tree frog...which isnt saying much as there are lots of different types of Hyla tree frogs. My friend said its urine is poisonous...if so that chalks it up to just another one of the poisonous animals that can be found in my house. I'll tell you what...this frog was crazy fast and as you can tell by this picture had the distict look that it was giving me some attitude. It was probably upset that I caught it on the way to my bathroom...because thats where everything seems to go when it comes into my house!

Cat Man of Kampangphet

Several weeks ago two new Peace Corps Volunteers, Becky and Arnold, came for a visit. Becky is the volunteer who lives in the same city I teach in. We will be working a lot together, and I have to say she is AWESOME! They are by the river in my town called the Ping River. There is an island in the middle of the river with an abandoned and unfinished temple on it. I really like the way it looks.





Becky had wanted a kitten and I told her I always saw stray cats and kittens everywhere, so if I saw one I would pick it up for her. The following week I happened to see one and picked it up for her. Thats three successful cat adoptions I have facilitated...I think I'm turning into the cat man of Kampangphet!

Left Behind

The second book I have read this week is the very popular Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. I need to thank my sister for this one, as she sent it to me for Christmas. This is a story about the Rapture, in other words, Jesus coming back to take his rightful followers to Heaven. It is the first of a series of 12 books leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. Out of 5 stars I give it a 4. As it was very suspenseful, and I had trouble putting it down at times, it wasn't always wonderfully written. To be a little blunt, two older gentlemen wrote this book and it seemed like two older men wrote this book as well...a lot of the phrases and names seemed a bit out of date. For example, Hattie, Buck, and Rayford. But, I would definitely recommend this book and I look forward to continuing with the series with I get home. Unfortunately, I will not be able to add this book to the peace corps library as Eleanor decided to play with pages 67 to 74, which no longer are in the book. Just on a side note, in 5 days the date will read 06.06.06 .

As many of you have noticed, I am reading a lot more than usual lately. My portable dvd player, my only sorce of entertainment since I dont have a tv, completly stopped working. So I have no choice but to fill my evenings reading. I didnt like it at first, but actually am really starting to enjoy it. Im going to try and continue this and not watch television once I get home, except for Oprah of course! I am also turning into an old man and going to bed at 9 o'clock every night.