CLOSE CALL

Oh boy. Today was a combination of fun and the complete opposite. I did two stupid things (if it weren’t for grace & miracles, I’d be an Old Testament victim): 1. I took my malaria pill in the morning on an empty stomach and 2. I didn’t drink coffee. (The first day I got here, I was totally prepared to get myself off of my caffeine addiction. But they have these little packets of Nescafe and Alibaba coffee…and hot water. And the rest is history.)

I went with Tanin to take the Chem/Jem Luang kids to school. (Piraporn sat in front with us, AND their uniform for today looks like a sailor outfit, complete with this cute cute cute hat. I have pictures.)

We get back, and I’m exhausted. A tiny voice in my head said I had THE S.F. And for some stupid reason, I didn’t make that cup of coffee. But Radri comes and whisks me off on her motorbike, and soon we’re at Sahamit school. Ugh. Like, all I wanted to do was sprawl out on the floor. But instead, I went to class after class as the center of attention. I answered questions, asked questions, taught songs with motions. I don’t know how I did it.

But minute by minute, all my S.F. symptoms went away. By afternoon, I did those song motions with a little more oomph, and life was good.

These kids, wow. First of all, each class eventually asked for my email. Each class (except 2nd grade) asked if I had a boyfriend. All the classes asked me to sing them a song. At least one kid in each class said, “Wo ai ni” & asked me to teach them Chinese. And two boys (in two different 9th grade classes) asked me to sign their school uniforms. Which I did. And I even put a big heart over the “i”. Hehe. It was a riot. Oh, and another kid serenaded me with the only English song he knows, which just so happens to be called “I love you” or something like that. I got it on video. The best part is when his voice cracks on the very last note. :)

And I saw Lalida. What a doll. We did the “wah pah low love” dance to each other from across the courtyard. One of the 2nd grade classes sang the “One little, two little, three little Indians” song…except it sounded like “India’s.” Haha. After school, the kids have 30 minutes of free time. Since it was raining, we hung out in Lalida’s classroom. One of her classmates showed me a picture of something she drew; it was REALLLY good. She asked me to draw something on the other side, but since I can only draw stick figures, I quickly thought of something I do know: bubble letters. So I wrote her name in bubble letters with hearts, etc etc. Pretty soon the whole class lined up, and I was still there after the bell rang….

But the funniest part is how they wrote “Jessica” all over their notebooks. I have no clue why. And I also have no clue why they call me “Peesica” or “Peejessica”. Crazy kids.

Long long long day. Tired. Headache. It’s only 9:30, but I AM GOING TO BED!!