There have been a flurry of time marking milestones happening over the last couple months. First, there was New Year’s Eve and Day. Next came the one year anniversary of coming to Thailand. Then there was my 26th birthday. Friday was Maka Bucha Day, or the first Thai holiday that I have had a chance to celebrate twice. Finally, Sunday marked the day of the half-way point of my service in Thailand. I have now been in Thailand longer than I have left here.
I’ve met people who came to Thailand to teach English. Their contracts are pretty short term, usually a semester or a year. What makes Peace Corps different is that it is a 27 month commitment – more than two years.
Standing at this point, it makes sense to me. I’m at a point in my community where I can joke with them about Thai culture; when the ladies at the raan-kai-ka (corner store) ask me why I don’t have a Thai boyfriend, I can tell them that Thai men like to have mistresses and everyone gets a good laugh. When I buy things and I bargain, I tell the seller, “Chan bpen kon Thai leao!” (I’m a Thai person already!) to get the best price. When I’m at my local market, and someone new sees me, other people explain my presence for me – She’s a teacher, she teaches at Ban Nonravieng school, she speaks Thai, she always buys vegetables and fruit.
So now, I am at the point where most people who work here are packing up to go home or on to the next adventure and I look at my past year. There were a lot of learning and growth opportunities. Teaching-wise, there is a lot of room for improvement. But I have ideas. I have a plan. I’ve had time to take a full assessment of the situation here and I have the relationships with the people to do more and do it better in the back half of the course. I have a long-term To Do list written down and I’m excited to cross things off.
I spent the weekend with a small group of friends, at my friend Joel’s house. It was a perfect way to come up on and celebrate this mile marker. We made delicious food, drank lots of beer, played games and generally spent the time laughing. As much as Peace Corps is about the relationships in your community, the relationships with your fellow volunteers are just as crucial and important. I’m so glad that I have both to accompany me through the rest of this crazy adventure.