My Journal - July 30, 1993

7/30/1993

All by ourselves we took a bus to Ayutthaya and arrived there! It is much nicer than Bangkok, the food vendors are cleaner and there are beautiful parks. The Temple Ruins are everywhere, Sala Pracha Come (the pavilion we study at) is amazing. First night here we found a bar called The Rodeo Saloon. They had a live band that sang mostly in English, or their version of it. When they took a break, the piped music was Alan Jackson! I’ll have to tell Suzanne, she was right, a cowboy bar right down the street.

Today, Saturday, was our first day of class, mostly language, I like the way they teach, interactive and repetitive, we are even learning to read Thai. The Sala Pracha Come (school) is in a beautiful area, parks and ponds with water lilies and lotus blossoms and Wat Ruins everywhere. We will be here for three weeks and then split up into Villages for Home Stay. Most of us are pretty nervous, but then we have been very anxious of each new turn and then no problem.

Two things that amaze me: 1) How together the Peace Corps is, every detail is covered. They have taught us our numbers and food so we can survive. Plus, they have given us shots for everything except Malaria, which they have spaced into three separate times. The way they teach and the way they let us learn is perfect.  The Ajaans have very defined roles and everything is taken care of, every detail. It is obvious they have done this before, it is a very comforting feeling which leads me to number 2.

2) This whole Peace Corps experience has been so right so far. All the preparation at home went smoothly and in San Francisco I immediately felt like one of the group. Meeting Carole at the airport and Lisa at SFO airport, was so much more comforting than doing it all by myself.

When we arrived in Bangkok, I had a little anxiety about dressing rip-roy but so has everyone else. I was a little upset about the tons of clothes I brought that I will never get to wear, that I lugged 10,000 miles! The other night a friend of Jeff’s stopped by, Elle, she was pretty cool, she has been here two years and is trying to extend, to stay longer, I guess too many people want to extend and its not really in the budget. She told us that once you get to your site and your Village gets to know you, you can be more yourself, mainly they expect you to be different.  Every little part has felt so right. I haven’t felt one stitch of homesickness yet and I am very proud to be a part of the Peace Corps. I even think I will learn Thai, just speak very slowly.