Pondering........

     This last foray to Thailand was the most satisfying yet.  Why? You may ask and I'm not sure.  Likely  it was a combination of factors.  Eight years in the same school and seven living with the same family are certainly important factors.  Through trial and error and some helpful coaching I've learned much about teaching in an environment where teacher and student do not share a common language.  An increase in my rudimentary Thai certainly helps.  A principal who is interested in what I do in the classroom, dedicated to improving her English skills and wants to relate to me is a significant factor.
   "My" family is under stress.  Thirty year old Poe's husband left her seven months ago, just as their first child, a boy nicknamed 'Nice' because mom wants him to be nice, was born.  Thailand has no child support laws so she cannot count on any support from the boy's father.  He shows no interest in his son, this delightful child who quickly bonded with me.  Grandma Met, earns her income as a masseuse and in-home seamstress.  She's on call with many massage companies but at best gets two clients a day which earns her about $6.00 each.  She has had no sewing, for at least two months, because the man who supplies her with sewing was in a serious car accident. She expects to resume sewing soon.  This leaves a family of four dependent on the father/grandfather who makes $300. a month doing hospital maintenance.
   Relationships grow very deep over as much time as seven years.  While we continue to learn about each other there are so many ways we live in a deep level of comfort.  This is also a part of the satisfaction of this trip.
   It was easier to come home this time.  That reality seems to sit in opposition to "the best trip yet." It has not always been easy to come home.  Emotionally it is not always easy to make the transition from the reality that I so deeply to inhabit in Thailand to my "real" life in America.   This year I was more ready to come home, either 'in spite of', or, 'because of', it being the most satisfying yet.  This needs further pondering.

Holding Nice.

Grandma with Nice.

Nice in his favorite scooter chair.

Mother and son.

Sleeping in the hammock he uses at nap time.