Settling In

Firstly, Thai massage is AMAZING. Easily the best massage I've ever had- and only 200 Baht for an hour! (That's about $6!!) I'm am absolutely getting another next week. They get really deep in with their elbows and knees and stuff and it feels divine. Anyway, today was my second day at my placement. The people here are wonderful. Everyone is very happy to see us. They think white skin is very beautiful and even though they are shy to be around us, they are really happy to have us there. Yesterday was "diabetes" day at the clinic. It's basically a free clinic, but people donate money if they can. We took blood pressure and pulses, etc. Today was "dentist" day and everyone was getting their teeth checked. One woman came and told us that her son had just died by being stabbed 30 times and that we were all invited to the funeral. In Thailand funerals are big celebrations with lots of food and music- very happy. So we went and had some yummy lunch. Then the women from the clinic took us to the Temple and we were able to meet the head Monk. He spoke with us a little and then gave us small statues of a Buddhist god (Balom Puton is how it's pronounced- not sure on the spelling). It was a really amazing experience. He let us take a picture with him- I almost sat on his chair!! Monks are not allowed to touch women, so we had to be very careful not to touch even his robe. Also, because the head is sacred, we always have to sit at a lower level than the monk. So when he was standing or sitting in a chair we had to sit on the ground. Tomorrow is "prenatal" day, so we get to care for pregnant women. I'm really excited for it. The children who come in are soooo cute! They are always very shy around us, but very adorable. Anyway, tomorrow we are also leaving for an island for the weekend. The whole house (20 of us!) is going and we are staying at a bungalow on the beach. It will be very relaxing. But mostly I'm looking forward to interacting more with the Thai people. They are amazing and so eager to learn English and teach us about Thailand.