Things have not turned out as expected...not that they ever do really. Life has a way of making sure you don't get too cocky and sure of yourself. It's Wednesday evening and i am officially halfway through my training course to become an EFL teacher. EFL meaning English as a Foreign Language. There is one other person in my teaching group. One. He and I were both told that there would be a group of about a dozen or so people in the program so we were both a bit surprised at the lack of bodies. Luckily the two of us get along so it isn't a complete catastrophe or disappointment. This week hasn't exactly been a non stop thrill ride but things are getting on well. We have training from 9 AM to about 3PM at a resort quite near our guesthouse. Thankfully we are both staying in the same guesthouse so we get picked up and dropped off together everyday. Its somewhat comforting to know that our training class can't start without us as we are the only students...which is good because the man who picks us up in the morning is almost always 10 to 20 minutes late. He can also drive a manual in heavy traffic (Thailand traffic is one step away from chaos most of the time) with one hand talking on his cell phone...which i have decided to take as a comforting thing rather than an attempt at ending my life prematurely. I am remaining positive although the program has not as of yet turned out as i thought it would but, as i said before, what does? I have a nice clean room 50 steps from the beach. There is an awesome beach bar/restaurant next door where i eat most of my meals and tend to spend most of my free time. The beach is clean and empty most of the time. I spend a few hours a day after training hanging on the beach watching the cute Thai kids that live close by play in the sand. One little boy who can't be more than 3 has a little Mohawk and wanders around the sand with a little pink toy backhoe. He will spend some time digging a hole and when he reaches a depth he seems content with he gets up and chooses another spot and starts the whole process again. He usually gets about 3 done until his mother or grandmother come scoop him up for dinner. Sometimes he has a crew of 2 other kids with him to help with his excavating. Another little boy a bit older with a a toy truck and a little girl younger than both boys who spends most of her time watching and then smacking the boys around if they aren't getting the job done right. Whew...do not mess with Thai women. There are 2 puppies that seem to show up whenever they feel like it and play around in the water. Inevitably one of them will decide to romp into my lap while I'm not paying attention. All of a sudden i have a wet sandy puppy on top of my book. One of them got ahold of the strings of my bikini and almost untied my bathing suit top. The hazards of lying on the beach around here i suppose. There were jellyfish in the water my first 2 days here but i haven't seen any since. I poked one with my sandal but wasn't brave enough to do much more than that. I had visions of Finding Nemo in my head and almost got brave enough to touch the top of one but had a mental flash of myself in a hospital room on the phone to my sister trying to explain what happened.
I have hopes for the weekend. My compatriot and I are going to rent a car and drive around the island. Lots to see and do...he wants to stop at the crocodile farm...
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