Yesterday, our group of fourteen volunteers split into smaller groups, as each of us left to go meet our host families. Nicole and I are not together like we were originally hoping for, but it is okay since we will see each other again in a couple days for our Chiang Mai trip! And Phuket trip the following weekend. We can still message each other through an app called Line and keep up with what the other is doing through this blog! I miss P'Aor and P'Mic, who have been our patient, loving in-country program coordinators, as well as Pin and P'Ying, two girls we met at the second hostel we stayed at. Luckily, we'll see P'Aor and P'Mic again before the end of this adventure and I plan to keep in touch to Pin and P'Ying. So grateful for all their help teaching us to speak Thai!
Pin!
I am working at rong payabaan AngThong (AngThong Hospital). My host family is nice and friendly. P'Gon is my host mom. Her name means 'shrimp' in Thai and she is a nurse for chemotherapy treatments at the hospital. P' Poo is my host dad. He is a police officer and his name means 'crab'. Narak kha! He works four hours away in a different province, so can only come home on the weekends. I will meet him for the first time tomorrow. They have two daughters, Porr and Pook, 17 and 12 years old. They are now my 'nong sao', meaning 'younger sister'. Porr is applying to university this year and will find out today whether she is going to study pharmacy or veterinary medicine. Pook is adorable and likes math. She wants to be a doctor too. Lastly, there is also grandma, whom I call 'khun yai'. They speak a little English, but there is still a language barrier. I'm trying my best to learn Thai and hope by the end of June I'll be semi-conversational.
We had frog soup, fried chicken with chili dipping sauce, and vegetables for dinner. Afterwards, we had durian and dragonfruit for dessert. It was my first time trying durian, which I have heard is really smelly, stinky and a love-it-or-hate-it food. It was not bad tasting though, kind of sweet. I then took a shower and we watched a Thai drama on TV. At night, I slept with the family on the floor, although I do have my own room.
Pook has to go to school early, so I woke up today at 5:00 AM and we left the house at 6:30 AM. P'mom ironed my shirt for me, so it would look nicer and bought me breakfast at the cafeteria. At 8 o' clock, she left me to go work on the second level and I met up with the other girls, Amanda, Claire, and Diane, as well as Amanda's host mom, P' Moo for a tour of the hospital. We visited and introduced ourselves to the nursing staff and doctors at the pharmacy, emergency room, operating room, physical therapy unit, NICU, laboratory, children's ward, and adult ward. Everyone here is funny and welcoming! I'm still nervous, but also excited. We also got official badges made and the officer there showed us pictures and taught us how to write in Thai! We will start working next Monday. Overall, it was a wonderful first day! (:
We got home around 5:00 PM. I did my laundry and wrote this post while we waited for Pook to be finished with school. Around 7:30 PM, we went to pick her up and stopped by the night market to get some soymilk and what we call 'youtao' in Chinese. For dinner, we had fried pork, sautéed ground pork, herb salad, and an egg omelette with rice. Before that, lychee and rambutan. Yummmm! Now, I'm just studying and browsing the Internet downstairs with Pook and Porr before we go to sleep. Goodnight, world!
No comments:
Post a Comment