Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da

I want to take some time to just talk about the little kiddos over here. I mean, they are the whole reason I am here! They are so adorable. Everyday, they make me smile. On the other hand, its a scientific fact that one in five children are of the devil. And that's about right for us here. As much as I love these kids...some make me want to jump out the second story window. You will find out which ones, specifically, in just a mo.

Max

Name: Max
Age: 5
Skills: Ultimate  Fighting

This kid, if you couldn't tell, is one of those spawns of Satan. Love the kid, but man! He can't go one day without me getting after him. It is rather sad though, because his class gangs up on him. They like to see him get in trouble. Poor, poor Max. Maybe it will teach him not to sucker punch people in the face.

Phuvit

Name: Phuvit
Age: No one really knows
Skills: Gives a mean back scratch

I love Phuvit. As you can see, he can be a hand full, but he is very sweet. Example: On Valentine's day he brought a girl a rose. What a romantic. He isn't afraid to do anything for a laugh. Very similar to myself. Whenever he sits next to me, he just tickles my leg or my arm or scratches my back. I need him back home!

Gai

Name: Gai
Age: 5
Skills: Batting her eyelashes to get what she wants

Oh Gai....what can I say. She is adorable. The boys love her. And she totally knows it. She is typically very well behaved, but on days where she wants more attention then usual, she can be quite the show off. Best thing about Gai. Her mom owns a restaurant. Down the street. We are very well taken care of :)

Mhew

Name: Mhew
Age: 5
Skills: Head can spin full circle

Mhew....can live with her, can't live without her. She has this demonic laugh. It's terribly frightening. I swear I can hear it when I am alone. I am just waiting for her to be floating above my bed when I wake up. Mhew is great. She is Max's twin, surprise surprise. She is very loving and sweet. Just a little on the......"invading-personal-bubble" side.

Ongry

Name: "I'm Ongraaaaayyyyyyy"
Age: 40
Skills: Brooding

Ongry is very sweet. He is very good at English as well. He can communicate pretty much anything to you. Including information about his two birds he has at his house. Love birds to be exact. The only problem with Ongry....he is so broody. We don't know why. He is just going through a phase. Once you get his mind off of it he is happy and lovable :)

Fei Fei

Name: Fei Fei
Age: 5-ish
Skills: Able to melt hearts with one look

What a sensitive little boy. Ah, so cute. The second he looks at you, you can't help but fall in love. His best friend is Ongry. He gets so sad when Ongry is missing or when Ongry isn't in a good mood. But he gets so happy when....well just about anything happens. Fei Fei is just a happy kid. And very bright as well

Preawa

Name: Preawa
Age: 6
Skills: Everything. If you disagree, be prepared to a face full of crazy.

Preawa. The ring leader. She is one of those people that you don't upset because you're afraid of what might happen if you do. Bamboo reeds might get shoved under your finger nails. Preawa is extremely smart and knows English better than most. She is funny and chatty, and has a touch of psycho. I like her :)

Pordee

Name: Pordee
Age: 4
Skills: Telepathy

Pordee, Pordee, Pordee. He is brilliant. His English is very advanced for his age. And he knows it, ergo, he abuses he brain powers. He gets all the other kids to say everything opposite of what I really want them to. Example: "Rule number 3: Listen to your teacher." Now is when they repeat. But Pordee chimes in and says, "No listen to your teacher."  Being that he is a leader (Pordee and Praewa are siblings, can you tell?) the whole class follows. You learn to live with it!

Name

Name: Name (not a typo)
Age: 4
Skills: NOT smiling, that's for sure

Haha Name. What a sweet heart. Most of the time you think she is in her own little world, but turns out she is soaking all the information in. I will say something and the class repeats, but not Name. All I have to say is, "Name," and she spits out a long sentence. She is also extremely neat. And dainty. Adorable :)

Great

Name: Great
Age: 4
Skills: Voice frequency only dogs can hear

Great is such a cutie. And very soft spoken. I literally can't hear anything she says. Until you ask her to speak louder. That's always fun. She takes a deep breath and shouts as loud as she can. It's actually quite shocking. Downside of Great...she has a terrible chewing problem. Chews on EVERYTHING. But I think we have solved her oral fixation with a straw. Who knew!

Nest

Name: Nest
Age: My guess...4
Skills: Bird Watching

Nest is a cutie! And extremely smart. But you have to egg him on to show his brilliance. At first he just shakes his head. But once you get him talkin, its astounding how much he knows. Plus he does the Peace sign so you know I like him.

Nomob

Name: Nomob
Age: They don't have ages in Hell
Skills: Satan's little helper

Don't get me wrong. I love Nomob. But she is one of those 1 in 5 I was talking about. The first thought that pops in her head is to do something destructive. Example: She sees me wrestling with the kids. So instead of jumping on me like the others, she digs her claws into my skin. And I just have to smile and laugh....good one Nomob. Good one.

Tiger

Name: Tiger
Age: 4
Skills: Crocheting lace doilies

Tiger is Phuvit's brother. Unfortunately, Phuvit got the charm. Tiger got...the inability to understand how to behave correctly. He loves to brag about being naughty. I will say this, he gives me those opportunities where I get the joy to form sentences I would never have to in the real world. "Tiger, if you don't stop making noises, I am going to take away your pig nose."

Plang

Name: Plang
Age: 4
Skills: Skat

Ain't she a doll?? You can't not love that face. (Yup, double negative.) While in class, she will repeat very well. However, when she is not repeating. She is singing, or humming, or la la la-ing, or oo oo oo-ing. It can be distracting, but I don't have the heart to stifle a young girl exploring her talents! ;) And how can you say no to that face? Huh?? HUH?? TELL ME!

Nam Nan

Name: Nam NAN
Age: 3
Skills: Street Fighter (This reference will only be understood by those who played the video game. On super nintendo.)

She could be the sweetest girl in the school, hands down. Yet, she has the habit of yelling. Not in anger. Just to be heard. Her name is not Nam Nan, its Nam NAN. It always reminds me of "Arri-uuuuukay!" (See "Skills") Mitchell Allen knows whats up. And we always ask the kids "Who's being good?" Response: "I'm being good." Not Nam Nan's. Her's is "I'M. BEING. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" That never gets old.

Chester

Name: Chester :)
Age: 3
Skills: Field Worker

Chester is the love of my life. I seriously don't know how I am going to leave him. He is very calm. He mostly just stands still and looks at the ground. But on the occasion he gets excited, he smiles as big as he can, revealing a lot of gums where four front teeth should be. Ah. Love it. Lately Chester has been a little girl crazy. He can't keep his hands off of Nam Nan or Plang. Plang just looks at me, not knowing what to do. Nam Nan pushes him and crosses her arms while scowling. Poor guy. Nice guys always finish last...I will always love you Chesteeeeeeerrrrr!

Kaow Tung

Name: Kaow Tung
Age: 3
Skills: He doesn't need skills. He has a mullet

Definitely one of my favorites (even though I probably am not allowed to have favorites). Kaow Tung is as hyper as can be. When he gets excited (which almost every second of every day) he just jumps around and flails his limbs and shakes his head and shouts jibberish. Remind you of anyone??? If you didn't say me, you must be a random stranger creep checkin out my blog.

Prae

Name: Prae (pronounced Pear)
Age: 3
Skills: Rolling, waddling, hopping, occasional crawling, grunting, aaaaaand she works a killer milk mustache.

Oh Prae. What will I do without you? My day is unfulfilled when Prae doesn't come to school. She is just always is a daze, staring off into the distance. We call it the Prae Stare. Her favorite word is "Uh-oh" but she never uses it correctly. "Prae, look at this picture of an elephant." "Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh" for five minutes. Once she starts she doesn't stop! I am going to miss you Prae.

And last but definitely not least.....

Mew Mew

Name: Mew Mew (aka my mini me)
Age: 2 or 3?
Skills: Marci Allen Specialist

Here's my shadow. In opening we have the kids stand on these shapes. Well wherever I go, Mew Mew follows. She picks up her shape and puts it down right next to me. If I take two steps to the right, she picks up her shape and moves it. And then holds my hand :) This girl knows how to make my day! I am really really going to miss her. Notice her front teeth? I wish you could see them better. They are hilarious.

The whole Gang

Dr. Robert

I would like to start off with mentioning all of my medical ailments/injuries I have had so far. It's amazing how many I have had in only a month, yet I am not surprised. I started with an eye infection. So not a big deal. My next little surprise felt like a sore throat. Some kind of cough? Cold? Guess again! I had a laceration in my throat! Either I ate something sharp oooorrrr my injuries that I get sleep just got a little more freaky. Next on the list was a cold. I got rid of that by taking copious amounts of Vitamin C. Momma was right. Now the real injuries begin. What 20 year old manages to cut themselves with safety scissors?? Yup, you got it. This guy. Sliced my finger. With scissors meant for 5 year olds. I am a genius! Which brings to my latest injury.

Add caption

Ya....broke my toe. I will get to the story later so be patient! The hospital was.....an experience. Not many people can say they have been to a hospital in Thailand! One, there was just one big room where all the patients are. In my case, a man with stab wounds, a kid with a broken arm, and a lady on a stretcher with a blanket over her. At this point, I didn't feel so bad for myself anymore. As you saw above, I got to be pushed around on a wheelchair. That was pleasant. Until I saw the family of rats scurry across the floor. What better environment for rats then a hospital??? But all is well. My toe is healing. 

So onto my grand adventure in Chiang Mai. We took a bus Friday night at 11:00. I was in the goofiest mood (as you know I am at night). We were all laughing and joking and making funny noises. If any one has ever talked to me even for just a few minutes, you know very well I am a line crosser. It's what I do. One of the girls, Angee, is dyslexic. We have known this from the beginning. It comes up every now and again. Fast forward to the bus station. We were talking about weird things people can do (i.e. wiggle their ears, click their tongue, twitch mouth). Angee mentioned that when she reads her eyes shake. Here's my response. I will leave it up to you to deem it appropriate or inappropriate. "Your eyes shake when you read? Does it make you read fast------oh wait. Your dyslexic." I really need to learn how to think before I speak.

The bus ride was long. 7 hours long to be exact. Did I sleep? Nope! Was I comfortable? Nope! Was the guy in front of me slamming his seat down on my knees so that he could recline? Of course! Apparently he thought "Oh, something is blocking the back of my chair. It couldn't be a person. So I will just slam it down even harder. Ya, that will work." I'm lucky my knee cap wasn't shattered. Finally we arrived to Chiang Mai. What a grand, grand place. 

First on the list. White water rafting! Only not so much white water as still, calm lazy river. Well this just wouldn't cut it for me. I HAD to make it more exciting. I should have known.... There was this little boy with us. He was friends with our guide. The boy jumped in the river and I saw a great opportunity. I will splash him using my oar! Great idea! He splashed me back. Ha ha, good fun, yadda yadda yadda, he got back on the raft. I thought it was done. Oh no. He had something else in mind. Next thing I know my legs are over my head and I am wet. The little twirp pushed me in the river! I was still laughing at this point. I pulled him in and dunked him. So all fun and games. Until I hit my foot on something. I just shrugged it off, got back in the raft. Five minutes later...PAIN. My toe had a huge bump on it. I didn't think anything of it. It hurt but I didn't want to say anything. But the more I walked on it, the more it hurt. And then it turned purple. That's always a good sign! But I must go on! Too many awesome things in store for me.

I look like I belong in the jungle, don't I?

The next adventure....ELEPHANT RIDING. That was legit. I can honestly say, that was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I got to ride on an elephant's head. In Thailand. Could life get better? I submit it cannot! (Until the next day). After the elephant ride, we ate at this village. The people still where the traditional clothing and such. That was really neat. And the food was delicious!

And the day didn't stop here! Next up, hike to a waterfall! The hike was fine, but I couldn't really enjoy it so much. I was just hobbling a long. But the waterfall was absolutely stupendous. I have never seen a waterfall that gorgeous. Me and my roommates were the only ones in our tour group to swim in it. We are just hard core.

W.O.W

At this point, my toe hurt, but nothing serious. That's when I got out of the pool. I don't know what happened but the second I tried walking I just collapsed. I couldn't walk. Now I started to worry about my foot. But I wasn't going to let an injury keep me from my vacation. So I continued on. Next time someone calls me a pansy, I will punch them in the throat. 

The next day in Chiang Mai was incredible. The magic didn't end. Our next thing on the list. Thaaaaaat's right. BUNGEE JUMPING!!! I was first to go. Falling from 164 feet sounded like a great idea. And great idea it was. You go up on this platform. Your ankles are strapped together so you have to jump to the ledge. (once again, broken toe. Pansy. Punch in throat). Then you dangle half of your feet off the ledge, hold your arms out, and fall. I would say plummet to your death describes it better. It. Was. Epic. Nothing can even compare. Needless to say, I am living the dream.

EEEEAAAAAAGGGGLLEEE

So as you can see, all is well. More than well. All is dynamite! I can't think of anything else I want to be doing with my life. I have much more in store, and I will let you know all about it! Until then, Peace and Love!

Oh, and a gecko left a huge turd on my bed. 

Tomorrow Never Knows

Thailand has yet to cease to amaze me. Every day is an adventure! We have finally moved into Hogwarts. Can I get a Booya! It's my 13 year old dream come true. The bad part...I didn't even stand a chance to

Roomies in front of our royal crest

 try to convince my roommates I was somewhat cool, or even normal. The second I heard "modeled after Hogwarts," the nerd part of my brain took over and chill, relaxed, maybe even "cool Marci," died. I am totally fine with that because that has been a 20 year story for me. I do worry about my roommates, though. They are probably tired of me casting spells with my wand or watching failed attempts of disapperation or listening to me say "but we can do it because we live in Hogwarts." Or mayyyyybe they are so impressed by my information on wizardlore that they don't even know what to say to me, in fear that they will disappoint me with their lack of knowledge. Ya, that's it.

On my Nimbus 2000

As you can imagine, this place is very grand. We are very spoiled. I absolutely adore my roommates. Maybe too much...but we don't need to get into that. My only complaint....there are bugs. Everywhere. No escaping it. I had two casualties come from those blasted bugs. My trail mix and my Nutella. It's a cruel cruel world. But you just have to accept it and move on. I try not to think about how many insects have made my hair their home. On the bright side, they will probably suffocate before they eat my brains out.

Another exciting thing about the school: we live with Thai teachers. It's rather fun, I should say! Our chef is awesome. His name in English is spelled Rose, but it's pronounced Lore or something like that...I've never bothered to learn how to say it. I just call him Rose. That's the American way, right?! Now the fun thing about Rose...as mom puts it "Boy? Girl? Somewhere in the middle!" (Meaning he bats for the other team (meaning he swings the other way (meaning he is going to "burst into flames" (meaning he is a homosexual)))). Oh the great times we have! He keeps us entertained, that's for sure.

You never know what a day is going to bring here. The other day we decided to go get some Thai massages. We really didn't know what to expect. We walk in and there are five beds laid out for us. And to our surprise what did we see? Five blind Thai people who were going to give the messages. Yup. Didn't see that one coming. Neither did they...ope I just crossed the line. But it was actually somewhat pleasant. They just felt for your feet and were able to figure out the rest! We all enjoyed it except for Dianna.....poor poor Dianna. Her lady was trying to kill her. Now I don't know if its normal or if it was because all the workers there are blind but as I was just looking around the room, there, right  there, was a woman breast feeding her child, bosom exposed. Some things cannot be unseen.

As I mentioned earlier...I clearly never matured past the age of 5 so I take this Hogwarts business seriously. But I must say thank you to my parents who let my freak flag fly. Never once have they tried to dial down my nerd, weird or creep. I don't know if that is good or bad, but thanks Mom and Dad! Back to the wizarding world. Because we are at Hogwarts, we obviously need to be sorted. Doesn't take a Potions professor to figure that out! So (probably against their will, but I am so wrapped up in my world I fail to notice) my roommates organized the sorting ceremony. It was grand. I never question the Sorting Hat's decision, but I was surprised I didn't get Hufflepuff. You know, because they are the air heads. But I am happy to announce I belong to Raveclaw!

Me in the Sorting Hat. Reaction to Ravenclaw!

Everything has been more than what I ever dreamed of. We went to some temples and ancient ruins and  it just blew my mind. It really is a dream come true. We got Thai fortunes. Mine said "Your hardship is over, from now on your life will be pleasant and happy every night and day. Within three months, the good fortune and spouse you wished for will come true. If you're involved in a lawsuit, you're likely to win the case. The missing cousins and the escaping debtors will be in touch. Wherever you go, whoever you meet will respect you. The older you get, the better you'll be." Pretty nifty, eh? (except for the spouse part). And for my missing cousin...I WILL FIND YOU! I don't know who you are but you best believe that your hiding days are over. I also used a squatter for the first time. Now I won't go into detail, but it wasn't as bad as I thought! Now I won't go into detail but the sound coming from the squatter on the other side of the wall was worse than I thought. It involved a number of squirming, grunting, plopping, sloshing, and splashing sounds. TMI? Ya I thought so. Now you know how I feel. But hey, how many people get to say they used the same squatter as a Monk in Thailand?

Well folks, I hope you still read my blog after you realize I am psychotic. It's all for your enjoyment. Till next time, peace and love :)

A Day in the Life

What an adventure is has been so far. The girls are great. We get along so well. The family is fantastic. Tang is extremely nice. Mom is hilarious and Granny is very kind. It is really really REALLY hot here. The humidity kills me. And lots of bugs as well. But you gotta love it!

Every day we have somewhat of a routine. We ride bikes every day. That's right. You heard me. I, Marci Allen ride a bike. Do I look as ridiculous as you imagined it? Here is a picture to find out...

So the answer is an obvious yes. But we enjoy it. We get a lot of attention. I imagine it's what all the "hot celebs" feel like on the red carpet. People applauding, shouting out "I love yooooouuu!", saying hello and smiling. Except instead of a glamorous carpet, paparazzi, gorgeous hair and make up, we have sweaty faces, "safe" helmets, damp clothing, and streets that smell like...to put it in an "adult" way...yucky yucky poo poo. And I love all of it. I am now getting used to the constant attention. Kind of nice. SO I EXPECT NOTHING LESS WHEN I GET HOME. 

Back to the smell...keep in mind, there are stray dogs EVERYWHERE, squatters instead of actual toilets (I will let you figure out what that is) and....every vegetarian's dream, freshly killed meat for sale. They have a market that hangs the carcass up for all to see. Needless to say, my roommates love to point it out to me.

Notice the strategically placed fish head

Like I have mentioned, the food is scrumtulescent here. I eat eggs and rice every day without fail. Tang and Mom like to tease me because I like the eggs so much. But I haven't had anything yet that I absolutely hate. (One perk to being vegetarian, they don't feed you the "questionable" meat dishes) As you can see in the picture on the right, that fish was...gross. And of course right in front of me. Alas, my misery brings the rest of the gang joy, which makes it okay. Because everyone knows my ego will do anything for a laugh. Anything.

Our favorite drink place :)

I think this just speaks for itself

We have a lot of fun here. And we are very spoiled. Mom and Dad are pretty well off so we get pampered quite a bit. This is their swimming pool. Super nice, right? I can definitely get used to living here. They are constantly doing things for us, cooking for us, taking care of us. What more could we ask for?

Last night, I "came out". Before you get any ideas, let me explain. I don't know if it was something we ate, something we drank, the humidity, fumes, strange sleeping hours, or just plane ol crazy kids but my roommates had this grand idea for me to tell our head teacher that I was gay, "not there's anything wrong with that." It was one of those things that happen when you are in a group and someone makes a little joke about the way you dress and suddenly one thing leads to another and you cut her skin off and wear it around town. (This didn't happen by the way if any of you sickos were thinking it did) Anywho...where was I. Oh, ya. Being gay. So I rehearsed it a hundred times so that I could make it convincing. This would be the acting opportunity of a lifetime.  It was time. I went in their, said my lines, sounded convincing, and she bought it! I couldn't keep it up for long so I quickly said the record straight. Ha get it. Straight. No pun intended. We all had a good laugh, mostly because the build up was way more fun than the actual joke. It's funny. Now I am the butt of every joke. Jokes like "Kaitlen, are you sure you can share a room with Marci?" or after stating my love for trail mix "But, Marci, I thought you didn't like nuts." (sorry if that one was too much for some of you). Of course these jokes are hilarious and I come up with the most out of everyone, but now we will go the rest of semester questioning my sexual orientation. Good prank guys. Good prank. 

We have finally begun teaching. The kids are the cutest. I am already in love. We get up at 6:30 AM, leave by 7:30, arrive to the school at 8, start teaching at 8:30, end teaching at 11:30 but we never make it home till dinner. Aren't they adorable? The one in the pink on the very left is my favorite. Her name is pronounced "Pear." She reminds me of my niece Meghan. The kid on the very left is also awesome. You can't tell but he has a mullet.

Hogwarts! Here is the school. Rad, right?

Another thing to add to my list why this is the coolest place on the planet. The school (and our home in a week) is modeled after Hogwarts. It's my dream come true! And yet, another thing that brings my roommates happiness. Making fun of me for geekin out about Harry Potter. I was put on this earth so people could laugh at my expense.

Tonight one of the parents invited us over to eat. It was delicious :) And....they had french fries and honey mustard! I am still in shock. You know, I am really starting to notice a common trend. People love to laugh at me! The mom and her cousin kept laughing at me. I think it's because the other girls don't talk as much as I do. And anyone who knows me knows that after talking for five minutes, you know I am an idiot. But it was fun. I like to make people laugh. And if that means making fun of me for the way I look while I am riding a bike then so be it!

I am having the time of my life and can't wait to tell you all of the magical experiences I have over here!
                                       

  

Sawadee!

Land ho! I have finally made it in Thailand, after a long 33 hours of travel. I was beginning to think I would never make it! It was quite the adventure. Our first flight to LA was pretty uneventful, other than the lady next to me eating a giant pickle. After we landed, however, no one told us we would have to practically walk the path of Mordor to get to our next gate. We had a three hour layover and we barely got there in time. Time for the 13 hour flight. My seat was by the emergency exit. Pro: more leg room! Con: I couldn't leave my carry on by me. I was able to grab my ipod and Kindle but all my other goodies left with my bag. Wa wa. Con number 2: So no seat in front of me, which was good, but instead 4 feet in front of me was the stewardess's chair. Which faced me. I didn't know where to look! My choices were to stare at her, or look out the window and look at the black sky. I chose the window.

I had some great surround sound on the flight. They guy behind me was going to town on whatever he was eating, making the most horrific lip smacking noises. To give you an idea how loud it was, I could hear him WHILE we were taking off. Thanks Dad for the sensitive ears.

I will say though, I have never been so hydrated in my life! They were constantly bringing beverages by. While dinner was being served we started to experience some turbulence. Guess who came back to their seat? That's right, Korean stewardess. So this time she got to stare at me while I ate. That wasn't awkward at all. Lip Smacker finally fell asleep. Lip smacking. Gone. Loud Snoring. Oh ya, should've seen that comin.

This is us after our flights!

All in all, the flight wasn't terrible. We arrived in Korea. By this point, I was completely disoriented with time. That time travel stuff is confusing! Our next and last flight was to Bangkok. Other than the six hours seeming like 20, it went pretty smoothly. Alas we arrive in Thailand!  And what awaits us? A four hour drive to Phichit. Sooo much traveling! So close yet so far. At least the van had air conditioning. And the drivers choice of music: 90s pop. I am not sure if that was his personal preference, or if he assumes that's what American girls listen to. Either way, we enjoyed it! Touche, driver. Touche. At long last we arrived to where we are staying. The family is very nice. Mom is a hoot! She doesn't speak very good English, but we usually get what she is trying to say. Tang, who runs the school, speaks very good English. We arrived at around 7 PM so we just did a few matters of business then hit the hay.

View from my bedroom

Today Tang took us around town. They drive on the left side of the road which is really hard to get used to. But the town is adorable. Shops every where. The food is AMAZING! Its finally starting to sink in that I am on the other side of the world. And with that....I will keep you posted on my adventures!