Day 6 volunteering: the hill tribe visit

Today was both fun yet challenging. Although excited to teach kids English, I had no idea how it would be applied. Before heading to the hill tribe village we went to wildlife 1 to do a couple chores. I volunteered to help out in the kitchen. I did various things like grinding peanuts and chopping vegetables for the soup. Because of the language barrier I screwed up the noodles and didn't let them dry long enough so they were all doughy. Pim, Adams wife who cooks, took responsibility for it but I felt like it was my fault. Oh well.

So once the soup was ready we stored it and transported it with us to the village. We took about an hour ride in the songtheaw up a steep, lush mountain. It as a beautiful ride surrounded by multiple hills and a view of the valley. Once up top we drove through the village and arrived to the school at the top of the hill. Conditions were better than I expected, and the school has an amazing view. Most of the pictures are views from the school.

After lunch at the school, we split up into groups, mine consisting of about 7 people. We walked into a classroom of adorable children all sat at their desks ready to learn. Not even the teacher was there it was completely up to us to teach these kids. We walked in with no plan so it was completely improv basically. We got by by having them recite colors, doing the hokey pokey, head shoulders knees and toes, and going over the animals in English. They were adorable, and shy little kids but it was a lot of fun, especially the dances we did. I kind of felt like a bump on a log most of the time since our group was 7 people and really 3 of us were initiating everything. working with kids isn't really my forte, maybe I just need more experience. None the less it was a lot of fun and the kids were great. Despite my initial thought, they actually aren't Thai children, they are hill tribes people. I wasn't told what their tribe was but they learn their primary language, Thai secondarily, and English after that.

Tonight I'm attempting to go to bed early. We are waking up at 6am to get an early start on laying concrete for Che Buh's pool tomorrow. Goodnight friends!