January 15, 2010

The unharvested rice straw has all been burned off and the soil turned under. Fields are being flooded and the nursery fields have a haze of green as the new rice begins to come up. The days are beginning to get warmer and more humid again, although they're still quite pleasant. I got very brave and killed a cockroach in the dog food today (just a small one, and I'm waiting for Dan to get home to dispose of it because it's still wriggling and I can't seem to get it completely dead). We stopped at the local market today and picked up allergy medication for Dan, which he can get very inexpensively here. While there we picked up sliced papaya and little Thai donuts, which are mouthwatering. They put Krispy Kreme to shame, especially when eaten dipped in sweetened condensed milk, a staple desert ingredient here. One woman was selling live toads, presumably for eating. She laughed at my startled reaction.

Today was a teacher inservice day. I have been working with the elementary director to try and get the science curriculum in shape. We have developed a flow for the various types of science at the various grade levels and are working to get the curriculum we need to fill in the gaps. Today we reorganized the resources we had to fit the changes. It was fun for me, since teaching science is my passion. It looks like we might get some K'nex from the States next month. I can hardly wait to play with those!

There was a solar eclipse today. We were wondering why the day seemed to be getting dark and a little cooler when Julie, our elementary director heard that there was an eclipse. One of our Thai staff found a welding helmet that allowed us to look directly at the sun safely. Evidently it was the longest eclipse of the century and was full just north of us in China. It was really amazing to see. We just wish the students were all there to see it, too!

Lindsey has made it a goal to make dinner once a week since she has more time here. Last Sunday we had meat loaf and cheesey mashed potatoes. Tonight it was cream cheese pesto with pasta and fruit with cream cheese dip. She has discovered and fallen in love with Recipes.com. I just hope she keeps this up, it makes all of us happy!