Mukdahan part 1

So the last few days have been interesting. Some of you may not know but I had to change locations yet again. I had bought a ticket and was all prepared to go back to Petchaburi when AFS said that I had to stay in the Northeast for a little longer. Bashayer's family said they could not keep me so AFS arranged to move me about 3 hours south of her. They never called me and told me but told Bashayer's host sister P'Oui so when she said that we were going to return my ticket and started to tell us of the plan for the next day I had no clue what she was talking about. They never told my host mom in Petchaburi that plans were changed either so when I talked to her on Saturday night she still thought I was going to be back in Petchaburi on Monday. Everything has been a very confusing mess!

Anyway, Sunday was quite the adventure. I woke up at 7:30 so that I could be ready by 9 when Bashayer's family wanted to leave. After I was showered I finished packing and then cleaned Bashayer's room. I was ready to go but had a few last minute things to throw in my bags and I had to wait for Bashayer to be ready. At 8:45 her family was ready and was trying to rush us out the door. They are never on time and the one time we aren't ready early is the time they were! We quickly grabbed everything and loaded the car. We were on the road by 5 to 9.

We arrived in Mukdahan at 11:30 (we would have arrived sooner but her host dad wouldn't drive any faster than 50 km/hour the WHOLE trip! when the speed limit was around 80, well it normal is when they post it). P'Oui had called the coordinator and told her that we were there. AFS had not told her when I was coming or anything about me, they had called her on Saturday and told her that a student was going to be arriving and she was to take care of them. She was gone in a different province so she said she would try to be back by 1. So we went shopping at the Indochina market along the Mekong River. There was a lot of plastic Chinese junk and nothing overly impressive. At 2:30 we went to lunch because we were hungry and getting tired of waiting. No more than we get our food the coordinator, Ajarn Sophit, calls and tells us she is back. We quickly eat and head out. We had no clue where to go so we just drove around. We pulled into a house and I think "She's a teacher there is no way this huge house is hers!" While Bashayer just keeps saying, "Wow you're lucky!" We unload my stuff and P'Oui calls Ajarn Sophit because we did not see her. While she's on the phone she begins to laugh and signal for us to put the stuff back in the car. It turns out that was not the right place after all. Well that was embarrassing!

It took us a lot of confusion, several U-turns and many phone calls to find the house, but eventually we got there. After Bashayer's family left she showed me around and then we went to the school she teaches at. She dropped me off with some students of hers while she went and taught a girl. The girl I was with showed me around the school and then she asked me if I wanted to see a secret activity. I had no problem with this so we went. Her sister and two boys were playing cards, that's all. They said I couldn't tell Ajarn Sophit about it. They were very impressed by my shhuffling and they tried to teach me their game but I only got part.

After they dropped me off with Ajarn Sophit she showed me some scrapbooks the students made. She said she requires them to make her a book before they leave. They were cool to look at. It looked like the students get very involved here.

For dinner we went out for dinner with her husband (who is from California) and their friend Ted who is from Scotlamd. It was fun but they didn't really talk to me too much. It was interesting though to be able to understand the whole conversation!

I'll write about the last couple of days the next time I get on the computer. For now this little update will have to do.

Lots of Love,
Allyson