Another Sunny Day

We’re going to Chiang Mai tomorrow. At dinner, I asked Tete if the twins are going, and she said we can surprise them with a weekend trip. :) That makes my heart lighter. I’m really sad to be leaving the kids again. But I’ll get lots of nail polish this time. (We’re going to the elephant camp, a pig farm to observe and learn, and clean the house of one of the new projects, Nang Fa.)

After school, I hung out in one of the girl dorms. They were hiding behind doors and trying to scare me, tickle me, sing songs. But the stairs are so steep! And uneven. I don’t know how they’ve mastered going up & down. I walk down the stairs like an old lady. By the time I hit the ground, the girls are long gone. I also played takraw with some of the kids. OUCH. Do not play with flip flops. It’s funny how the kids play wearing everything. Their bags on a shoulder, wearing sweaters, scarves, school uniforms—skirts, flip flops!

Waraporn asked me to go with her down the road to the store. She said, “Go buy cookies!” Haha. But it was actually a donut-type thing. She was trying to buy me snacks with the little money she has, and even tried (sometimes successfully) to shove snacks into my mouth. But I finally convinced her to let me buy her something. She picked out these big jelly cups. 10 baht for two. WHOA. Pennies! But her generosity blows me away. These kids are true gems. I can’t say it enough.

The staff and I make a great team with homework. I was just informed that the high schoolers have been turning in perfect English assignments. Haha.

For some reason, it was really hard saying goodnight today. Somsi was the first to give me a big hug before going to her room, and I was sad to see her go to bed. Same with all the rest of the kids. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m weird, I know. They’re just so sweet. Today, a bunch of them asked, “Are you tired? Did you sleep well?” I think the word spread that I went to my room at 7:50pm (I didn’t actually go to bed until 9:30pm, but they don’t know that), so they worried about me. One of them even had a dream that I got sick. And it made him sad. I don’t want to go to Chiang Mai tomorrow!!