I have finally arrived in Thailand and went through my first day of training as a Peace Corps Trainee today and luckily it was not all that intense (perhaps they realized that more than half of us would be jetlagged). There are about 64 volunteers all together. 34 of which are the 'teaching' group and the rest are the "Community Based Organizational Development" volunteers (me). We got to the hotel at Chainat Province at 2am on the morning of 19th. Our first day of training entailed administrative presentations, health information (had two immunization shots), logistics, bank accounts (we have a bank account here in Thailand set up for our monthly allowances) and lastly, some intro language lessons. So far I know how to say " Hi how are you, what is your name...My name is..." Not all that fancy but tomorrow all that will continue.
On Thursday, we are meeting the Governor of Chainat and the Chief of the District where we will be introducing ourselves in Thai....that should be fun. And, on Saturday we move into our Host Family whom we will be staying with until March/April. I'm sure that is when our "real" Peace Corps experience will begin. I will not lie, we are getting pretty spoiled here at the Hotel in Chainat. Shower, Electricity (A.C.), Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner all ready on a timely basis.
It is pretty amazing how the staff here has everything organized down to every detail. Very impressive. I can tell that they seriously want our needs to be covered in terms of language lessons, cultural lessons, safety procedures, medical care. The Medical Kit that we were given has everything from Tums, Ibuprofen, thermometer, SPF, bug spray...etc.
Tomorrow our training starts at 8am. Therefore I'm thinking that if I go to sleep by 10 tonight, I can at least get 8 hours of sleep (jet lag kicks in at the most horrible times during the day). So far, I know that tomorrow we will be getting our bikes assigned and doing some riding lessons; on top of, continuous language courses, policy talks, and other immunization matters. I just want to make sure that all of you know that I am doing very well. Part of me trust that I am very good hands with all the Peace Corps people that I am surrounded with. First day in and I have no regrets :) Enjoying every moment of it all and I will keep you all updated as much as possible though after I move into my Host family I am not sure how often I will get to an internet access. Till then I should be getting a phone so that those of you (Mom and Dad) can reach me that way.
Toughest job you will ever Love :)
- Zari
No comments:
Post a Comment