So many thoughts...

Well, I haven't blogged for 3 days! So much to tell, and so little time.

Right now, I am not feeling well. I believe it is a mixture of not taking my antibiotic for 2 days, drinking the local water, and staying up late. I woke up with a rash all over my chest, bloodshot eyes, and was not thinking clearly, but am feeling better now.

I'll just go over the highlights of the last 2 days....

Tuesday night I went out shopping in town. I wasn't in the mood for getting drinks with the kids from school, and wanted to break away from my western ways and spend some time talking to the Thais. I went to a little shop and got some fresh guava, and had that for dinner. On the way back, I discovered a bakery in which the owner was super sweet! She invited me in, and showed me all she made, suggesting I get a mung bean cake. She spoke English quite well, and showed me a picture of her Japanese friend who taught her the language. After talking with her for around 10minutes, she got so exited and said... "come! come! I show you something!"
She trotted over to the doors of the shop, closed them, and then took me in the back of the shop with a huge mixer and oven. "I will teach you to cook anytime," she said pointing to the large mixer. "You take off your shoes." She led me over to a staircase, where I slipped off my shoes, and followed her upstairs. She pointed to a huge table, sauna, and mattress, announcing proudly that she "not only cooks but also does Thai massage." "Ahhhh...." I exclaimed with a very impressed tone. She ushered me over to a room, and offered for me to stay there if I needed a room. Long story short, she was very, very, very sweet!
Oh yea! Annnndddd..before dinner I stumbled upon an aerobic dance class over by the Bangkok Phuket Hospital! There were around 30 or 40 guys and girls doing crazy dance moves to techno songs with a black guy leading them. The instructor saw me watching, and waved for me to join them. I was dancing hard core for an hour non-stop. It was bombing! They all invited me back, and I even had this mini dance competition with a Thai guy...of course he won. :)
I went out for dinner right by the school with the students from the school, and had this awesome drink called a Hona Lulu. Our waiter didn't speak any English, and messed all our orders up, but it was still all really delicious. We then went next door to a bar because this guy was playing the guitar. He even pulled out a kazoo and played that as well. We all got in bed around midnight.

Yesterday, was probably one of my favorite days of my life so far. I woke up at 7:15am and ran with 2 girls and a guy from the school to the top of the mountain behind the school. It was the run I had done before, completely uphill. We were all drenched in sweat by the time we got to the top. At the top was this .5 mile long fitness park with assorted stumps, rings, bars, stairs, and beams for doing exercises on. We played a game of follow the leader and worked our way thorough the park, totally exhausted by the end. It was great! One the way down, we passed the golden Buddha, and the shrine were all the monks were meditating. We made our way back to the school using the sidewalk, and ditch as a running path. This stray dog came from out of nowhere and tried to bite my leg, but I clapped my hands together and ran him off. Back at the school we showered, and went to breakfast at this small place in a 10 minutes walk from the school. I didn't want any breakfast, so I walked a ways down the street for some coffee to-go. They made the coffee, and poured it in a little bag. When I went back to the restaurant where my friends were, they announced the lady brought them an extra plate of food and they offered it to me. It was rice, egg, and mixed greens.
By this time I was getting hungry, and ate a couple bites with my coffee. Delicious! We went back to the school. This day was different, and we experimented with lesson planning. The class had to divide up in 2s and 3s and plan a 20 minute lesson. Trevor and I planned a lesson over pronouns.
I got to do the board work, and thought it went exceptionally well. After this was lunch time. After lunch a piece of paper is posted on a board telling who is going to teach or not. We were all expecting to teach, and were eager to see who was going to.
My name wasn't on the sheet, which meant I wasn't teaching and I had the whole day free to do whatever I wanted. So I went downstairs and started trying to plan out my day, using maps and website. When I went outside to leave, a bunch of people announced they were going to a waterfall nearby. I invited myself. :))

There were 8 of us. 2 people were visiting the school. One was a guy from Ireland, and the other was a girl from Argentina. We all talked the driver into all of us cramming into one tuktuk, and driving us to the trail head to this waterfall. It was a cramped ride, but so fun! One thing I don't have anymore is personal space...side note. It took around 15minutes to get to the falls, and we asked the driver to wait and then we would pay him. So we headed up this looooooonnnnngggg staircase which was along side this small river coming down the mountain. About 1 flight up, we came to this seating area which WAS the waterfall, but the trail continued, and so did we.
The stairs led to a dirt path up into the jungle. There was little light because so much of the trees and foliage covered the sky. The trees were so tall! Twice the side of a telephone pole. There were bugs everywhere, and cicada's making a noise that sounded like an emergency siren. They seemed to say "intruder, intruder!" We kept walking up and up and up. The grade was so steep that several people fell. It was muggy and humid in the rainforest, so much that all our shirts were dripping with sweat. We finally crested the top of the hill and came upon a hut. There were 2 women, and 3 children. All were dressed in rags, and had sharpened long sticks of bamboo...probably used as wepons. We greeted them, and they looked freaked out like they had never seen a white person before. We trotted on, and passed 2 other huts. There were some adults outside, and we tried asking them how long the trail was. Nichole, one of the girls from the school brought her iPhone with an application on it that translated any English phrase into Thai. We were able to communicate to the Thais through her iPhone, which was pretty cool. Everyone made a decision to see where the end of the trail was which was very impressive to me, because I assumed all them all to lack a sense of adventure when I first met them. We all wanted to see the end, if there was one.

We walked on some more, and ran into a couple of mean wild dogs. I found an old beer bottle in the grass and picked it up as a weapon. But non of them tried to attack.We all took turns leading the way, and passed a grove of rubber trees that were used for harvesting. This was something I had never seen before and was elated to know how hard these Thai people work to produce rubber for just the equivalent of a few cents in American money.
We traveled on some more to come upon another hut, and what looked like a clothesline with rubber mats hanging from the line. There was a red chili pepper tree, and several hoses just laying around seeming to lack a pattern. However we later discovered a genius plumbing system used through the natural landscape, and the hoses, taking advantage of the rain water and allowing running water to go to a nearby hut.
We walked down the hill and found a small road, still quite a ways from any civilization. It was sprinkling a little which made the dark greens, and browns in the rainforest stand out even more. We kept walking and came upon this little shop where the owner was so nice, and told us he played the bass at a local restaurant. Everyone got a beer, but I just drank my water I had in my purse. The girl from Argentina brought some tea leaves and an ivory conic in her bag with a metal filtered drinking straw and made some tea. It was very strong, and we all passed it around taking little sips. She said they were tea leafs, but I wonder... :)

We were filthy, and sweaty and made a decision to walk down the road back to a town to find out where the heck we were. My legs were covered in dirt, and my Chacos were a stony white color from the limestone. I walked with Nicoli, a girl from South Africa who is pretty cool, and she told me about her family and life growing up in Zimbabwe and Arizona. We all were so ragged, and hungry and it was getting dark. We walked through a little town, where there were just locals, and no tuktuks to take us back to town. I suggested hitchhiking in the back of someones truck, and so we begin trying to flag people down. The 2nd car stopped and they agreed to let all 8 of us in the back of their truck. We drove close into town, and snapped a few pictures along the way. They pulled over and let us out near the edge of Phuket Town which probably saved us an hours walk. I felt back for the tuktuk driver who was waiting for us at the waterfall, and wanted to go back and pay him. Poor guy! He probably left already though, and we had to get back to the school, and get some dinner.
Along the way the Irish guy suggested eating at this Korean food restaurant. It was awesome! Basically you can pick out your own fish, pork, chicken, beef, or any other form of meat, and cook it on your table in this pot with broth. There were organs, and veggies, and fruits all in the center of the restaurant with assorted sauces.
I took advantage of the raw tuna, and even tried chicken foot, which I won't be eating again. The jellyfish, and squid was quite yummy, and so fresh! For dessert I had this coconut jelly, and sushi. We were all stuffed by the end of the meal, and it has by far been the largest meal I had eaten in days and the most delicious!
We walked back towards the school, and who did we run into but the very same tuktuk driver that took us to the falls! We paid him, and paid him extra. He was so upset at first. "I waited 4 hours for you, and you didn't come back!" We explained that we tried to go back but got lost. Any ways I'm glad we found him. He took us back to the school for free, and all of us thanked him well. He was so nice!
I called mom before going to bed, and went to sleep.

Today! Finally! I woke up with my eyes feeling swollen shut. I did not want to get out of bed. Last night I noticed a rash forming on my chest, and today is on my hands an legs. So weird. I've had a headache all day. The morning classes seemed to last forever! We went over English grammar, which added to my agony. I had some yogurt and an apple today, but besides that nothing for I have felt lethargic all day.  And I knew I would be teaching, so I tried to push my discomfort aside.
We had an hour for lunch, but I just went upstairs and laid down. I couldn't fall asleep, but it felt good to lay there. I got up and we started lesson planning for the class. Josh and I were teaching together. I felt like I was ready to give 100 and 10% but it still wasn't my normal best because I felt so awful. Regardless, I planned a fun lesson, over countries and nationalities and how to introduce yourself to someone from a different country. I also printed off worksheets and games to play.
It was drawing near to 4:30pm and I hadn't eaten anything all day so I got an apple and some yogurt from the fridge. I went up stairs to get ready for teaching the class, and came back down to the class room and started preparing the whiteboard for the first game.
Students were already arriving, and I felt like I had been preparing my whole life for this moment! I got super excited and forgot the fact I felt awful and begun to teach. There were 4 students, and 2 walked in late. I started a game, and transitioned into the main part of my lesson rather smoothly. I felt it was way too easy for the students! They are so smart! Chris, one of the instructors was sitting there writing notes on my lesson the whole time. I felt like it went extremely well until the end when we played a final game. I don't think they understood how to play, because I didn't explain it very well using simple words, but they did their best.
After my lesson, the same students stayed in the room, and 6 more showed up before Josh started teaching. He did an awesome job! I was thinking about all the things I did wrong after I finished, and saw him teaching. I was thinking... Jena! You sucked at this teaching thing. You were so bad! I sat there quietly making notes on Josh's lesson, which was organized and flowed well, while I nursed my wounded ego, and tried not to start throwing up in the classroom.
Afterwards, the students thanked us and left. They were all so humorous and fun! I loved teaching them, and talking with them but felt like I taught poorly. Chris sat Josh and I down and announced that we had successfully passed the teaching session. Yes! And we actually did really well! He addressed my lesson first and said I needed to talk less, and let the students talk more. And, I said "good job," too much, and the word "alrighty,"...which isn't really a word....almost 30 times! Haha. Oh goodness. I just had a good laugh at myself. He said I did really well at keeping the energy up in the room, and explaining words, and using the students words to elicit answers, so I was very surprised and it felt good to hear the feedback was actually positive.

I went upstairs after the lesson was over, and washed my dirty clothes in the tub, cleaned my room, organized the handouts from today, and washed my face. I feel better now. My stomach is still not feeling too great, but I feel better now that everything is organized, I took time to do something as simple as wash my and my clothes and already my life is simplified. I don't have anything to worry about. I don't have any assignments due, anywhere to be, and after noon tomorrow, am free to do whatever I want until Monday morning at 9am. I could leave the the country this weekend, but am planning on building back up my health. :)
I want to send letters to people in the states, and my mom told me people have tired to post feedback on my blog but are unable to, so I'm working on that now.

My soul finds joy in the simplicity of life here. The people, the friendships, the sound of the bugs, the smell of hibiscus leaves, the respect for one's purity of mind. I have come to realize how selfish my own ways of life have been in the past. So much that I am sickened by my own thoughts, actions, and way I spent my time in America. People don't need much, but what they do need, we waist so much of in America. Just think that one quarter can buy someones food here for the whole day.... I used to use quarters to place wishes into water fountains, and park my car.