JACK STEPHEN MAUSS!

A week in the life of the Teacha's

The day we claim our sanity back and say HALLELUJAH!

I hate to admit it

but I'm going to miss them...

Stack of birthday cards from 4 classes.

The Courtyard.

Confirmed

We booked our ticket home:

Tuesday, December 8th...

Get your party hats on

because two American girls

will be running through

the gates into your arms!

Just Keep Swimmin'

It's important to just keep going. Teaching, the heat, the language barrier, missing your family and friends and being a foreigner can just get you down sometimes. That's why I love the quote, "Just keep swimmin'" from the movie, 'Finding Nemo.' There's nothing else we can do but keep moving and try to keep in mind that something bright always comes out of something dark.

We had the day off on Wednesday due to the Queen's birthday/ Mother's Day in Thailand. We were lucky enough to hang out with the best teacher at our school, Jew. She invited us on a drive to see the village in which she grew up, meet her family and take a hike in the country. She treated us to so much awesome fruit and was a real trooper when we didn't really understand what she was trying to tell us. She was patient and kind and she is someone I will miss. A true treasure. Below are pictures from the past couple of weeks...

The view from 'The Chedi' hotel/bar/pool in Chiang Mai.

Georgie in front of the MASSIVE decorated stage for the Queen's birthday

(a.k.a. Mother's Day in Thailand)

I love the comment above.

On the wall in a coffee shop.

Drinking our imaginary tea at the tea house.

Pinky promising to stop eating.

On our way to see Harry Potter 6.

We have gotten cooler and cooler since we've been gone.

Oh no! We accidentally stumbled upon a buffet line at a bakery??? Worst combination ever!

Especially for the 3 of us who could not resist following suit!

LOOK OUT FOR THE FAT AMERICANS!!!

Jew's Doggie. I'm in love.

Jew and one of her many family member's we met that day.

Jew's gorgeous garden and guesthouse.

The guestroom Jew put us in to take a nap.

She gave us blankets to lay on the floor and treats that we devoured in 3 seconds.

It was hilarious.

We were hiking in the hills of Thailand,

riding in the car with Jew thinking that we were headed back to our place,

then she tells us we're going to her house to take a nap.

And after the nap we will walk through a couple wats and go eat dinner at a vegetarian restaurant.

We LOVE Jew.

Rice field workers in Jew's village.

How I feel after eating Thai food.

For those of you that don't know...

Buffalo was my first word.

Hey-Ya!

What the hell is she saying?

The head monk said we could ring

the gong so, why not?

Monks sweeping away the ants.

The aerobic's class that Jew attends when she has the energy after school.

They are watching a workout DVD in the back of a Wat.

In Jew's garden at her house.

Georgie and me getting pretty restless in the back of Jew's car.

This was our first and last break during our hour and a half hike!

Sweat drippin' down our backs, wearing these ridiculous hats,

not having a clue what the destination is

or how long it will take to get there and not one of us complained.

I feel pretty empowered traveling with these women.

At Jew's (on the far right) cousin's house.

I feel like a giant next to this 85 y/o woman filled with unimaginable knowledge about the world which I will never be able to hear about

because I do not speak her mother tongue.