Joining the Ranks of the Peace Corps

Since arriving in Thailand on Jan. 11th, we have been wading through pre-service training, several months of technical and language instruction. All of that came to an end this week when 64 of us were finally sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. We lost 7 along the way. We will likely lose more in the months to come. As we keep hearing, this is the toughest job you'll ever love.

Shared a tearful goodbye to my host family. They were so kind and generous to me since my arrival in Thailand. I am so grateful to them for making me feel like a member of the family. 

We met our teaching counterparts for the first time. I will be working with Jeab for the next two years in the city of Chanthaburi. It's located on the Eastern Seaboard above the Gulf of Thailand. That's my school director on the right.

Later that afternoon I was introduced to my new host family who I will be living with for at least the next month. As you can see in the picture below, they are incredibly sweet and made me feel at home immediately. 

I'm in love with my bedroom which features a/c and an on-suite bathroom. So much for roughing it in a jungle shack. :)

After a brief stint at an English camp today, Mary (another PCV from my group stationed in Chanthaburi) and I went with our co-teachers to the beach. School isn't in session until May, so we have a little time to rest and recover before things get crazy again. 

DANGEROUS ZONE

DON'T STEPPED ON SLING

The Rest of Pre Service Training (PST)

Things got kind of crazy these past few weeks, so this post is a quick catch-up of what we've been up to. We had a mandatory cultural trip to a neighboring area. Most of us went to Lop Buri, a city overrun by monkeys. If the rage virus from 28 Days Later ever surfaces, this place will be ground zero.

 David getting monkey attacked

I stumbled upon hundreds of ladies dancing in rhythm inside a temple. Pretty impressive. 

We also took a trip to Bangkok to visit the Peace Corps office. 

Visited the old train station and a cool temple near Chinatown.

We held a successful English camp for the some of the local kids. We will all be organizing these camps at our new sights. 

A selfie from lunch out with my host brothers

And finally, this ASEAN poster. Bad English translation in the third line.