this bread is bananas. b-a-n-a-n-a-s!

The last week was full of fun and inspiring days along with a few cultural differences-slaps in the face...but hey, you can't win 'em all.
high-lights:

'When I grow up I want to be an artist!'

English Club- 90 kids drawing themselves as their grown ups in their dream professions. Adorable. Extra high-fives for those future artists and teachers!

2nd Graders- On Wednesday, at my smaller school a few second graders came to find me. They asked to 'shake hands' while miming the action (I don't know where they learned about this). So, indulging them, I shook their hands. Instead of letting go, they then bowed to me (still holding my hand) and then kissed my hand like I was a queen. The rest of the class got wind of what was going on, along with a few 3rd graders and soon enough there was a line of children to shake and then kiss my hand. Sometimes my life is so surreal.

Jaree's visit- Jaree is the Program Manager for the CBOD program here in Thailand. She was out and about in Kamphaeng Phet visit other volunteers and since she was in the neighborhood decided to come and say hello. Since I'm TCCO and she wasn't there to do an official evaluation we just got to have a very relaxed chat. It was so wonderful to talk to staff about trials, tribulations, worries and successes. She had positive feedback and was pleased to see how things were going and then helped to clear up some miscommunication about the goals of the Peace Corps program here. I wish she could visit weekly. 

Banana bread- So, I've been doing a little research on how to bake with limited resources (an oven) and came across a few recipes online involving a rice cooker. Considering I'm serving in South-East Asia a rice cooker is one thing I do have in my new rental house. Houses are probably considered bad luck unless they have one upon moving in. If you didn't know, rice is a big deal here.
That being said, today I tried it for the first time! It worked perfectly. It is essentially like cooking in a dutch oven for all of you outdoorsy people or pioneers out there. So, make it in the woods too.
Here's how it went:

What you need.

mix butter, egg, and bananas. next, add sugar. then, add dry ingredients.

grease and flour rice cooker pan

throw in the dough and you're ready to go

I thought my rice cooker knew it wasn't rice and turned off just to spite me. So, I held the button down with books. Don't do this. Your rice cooker knows whats up. Things started to smell burnt after about 2 minutes. I removed the books and everything was great after that.

finished when a toothpick or chopstick in my case comes out clean

flip on to some sort of clean surface. be careful, the pan is really hot. duh.

Enjoy the delicious dense banana bread! 

How much of what?
1 egg
5 small bananas (or equivalent)
5 tablespoons of butter
2/3 cup of sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
* this would be even more delicious with cinnamon and nutmeg and nuts...the sky's the limit. Create!

I am so happy and excited this worked. If banana bread works then peanut butter banana bread, pumpkin bread and carrot cake will all work too.

Lastly, some words of wisdom I found on a student's English notebook:

Let's get back up to speed, shall we?

As usual, I've neglected to update my blog for an excusable amount of time. The fact of the matter is that things are starting to feel really normal here...even if crazy things happen everyday. I'm becoming much more comfortable with the continuous sweating, geckos and gecko poop all day everyday, strangers touching my skin, chickens in my yard that look like dinosaurs, lack of schedule (even though there is always a schedule), rice (I even miss it sometimes), intimate questions which I used to think were offensive, my hair falling out, my overwhelming hatred for ants, and my posse of elementary students who leave their classes to come find me and tell me every English word they know.

In the last month I've traveled to the south and north, started school at two schools, visited a national park, went to an Islamic wedding, slept and played on an island in the Andaman Sea, got to see new old friends (I already feel like I've know some of these people forever), missed home so much it hurt a little, moved into my own house, acted as translator for other 'farangs' who needed help and experienced far more than I can remember.

Here are a few examples to help you understand what I'm dealing with a on a daily basis:
- I am greeted by my co-workers as Ms. Universe or Ms. Thailand World more often than not.
- This year has been the hottest 'hot season' since 2002. Bring on the rain, please!
- An entire 5th grade class decided that since I don't already have a nickname, my nickname should be 'Barbie' because 'that's who you look like'. I would really like to see what their Barbies look like...if they are smelly, sweaty, and speak in broken Thai I might let them call me that.
- The cook at one of my schools was also my host 'mom' so she makes me delicious food everyday and I never have to deal with being offered pork or beef! Its awesome
-Students don't understand that people all over the world look differently from one another. I am still unsure how to answer questions like, 'why do you have blue eyes?' or 'why is your skin white!? its so beautiful!' Along with that, I think we're going to have some big talks about beauty and self esteem.
- Some days I wake up with geckos on me.
- I have no idea how I loved so long without eating tropical fruit everyday. It might be the hardest part of readjusting when I move home in 2 years.
- Learning how to cope when you're not prepared...almost everyday. When is the worst time to discover your head lamp is broken? When the power goes out and our in the middle of doing your laundry and you don't own any candles.
- Co-teaching is not as easy as it seems. We're all learning this day by day. I may in fact be the most patient person alive upon my return.

 I'll write in more detail about these events later but for now I'll give you some pictures to check out so it feels like you were there too!

Weea and I at the waterfall at the National Park close to my community.

In Khlong Lan National Park

Some of my favorite ladies at Rissa's co-teacher's wedding.

Thai princesses...I think we can all say, I've found my look!

Before Valerie's English camp they dressed us up in traditional Thai garb.

Arriving at Ko Phayam!

Sometimes Thailand looks like Washington.

Bungalow breakfast and the beach 50 yards away. Life is so good!

2nd grader posse

English Club! The first day we had 90 students attend. Its going to be intense!