Last full day in OmKoi - Friday

OmKoi description
As a team, coming to OmKoi was what most of us were most nervous about. We were told this is where we would get Malaria or Japanese encipilitis or dunange fever.  We were told it would be very different than life in Bangkok and Chaing Mai.  We were told the people here didn't even speak Thai.  We just found out that they started using actual thai baht just about 10 years ago.   We expected squatty potties and no toilet paper and sleeping on cement and dusty floors.  We expected super dusty blankets.   More than one person on the team would have just voted to not come at all.  We expected down pours of rain and the Mosquitos to be as thick as clouds always around us. We were told to bring huge rubber boots some can work and not get our feet wet.  We were planning on working in conditions of 5 inches of thick and nasty mud and water.  

The reality of our time here is different.  we are staying on the property of a church that has a gate.  We have the girls in one guest house with a kitchen, 2 western toilets, a ping pong table and even extra mattresses to put on top of our beds we have here.  Boys are in a second house.  All our meals are together in the girls larger house.   Our boots are still brand new and in the plastic wrap.... It has only rained here once or twice and each time it didn't rain enough to have to change outfits or shoes.  Each of us has only used the squatty potty once or twice our whole time here.  The mosquitos are not too terrible and we aren't even really using the nets since our houses have screens on them to keep the Mosquitos out.  We do put on bug spray twice a day and this seems to do the trick. 

We are eating really good and Authentic thai food and having good old western cereal and nutella on toast for breakfast.   There are pictures of the King and Queen everywhere here in Thailand.   They are on every calendar, framed in large photos in each house.  At the beginning of the movie we went to, the whole auditorium stands and is silent as listening to the kings anthem. It is very strange.   Even when we were at the train station, the anthem played and everyone stopped why they were doing and stood in respect until it was finished. 

Tonight we are going to do a dance party with the kids at the hostel where we are building the bathroom.  We have glow sticks and are going to try our best to get music to play through the sound system.  I have made about 150 chocolate chip pancakes to share with them.  Our American kids are so excited. 

The hostel is here in OmKoi because all the mountain towns don't have a school for kids past age 11.   So all the mountain kids come here to OmKoi and they live in a hostel with a set of house parents.   There are about 45 kids aged 9 through 19 at this hostel.  One girl lives 3 hours away and she is only about 11 years old. 

I was asking about marriage the other day and I was told that the woman proposes to the man.   I asked how this happens and the response was "she prepares the pig".  We were a bit confused, so I probed some more.  I guess a woman has to raise a pig and present it to the man she wants to marry and they use the pig for the wedding meal.  The whole village is invited to the ceremony.  

The kids in town have loved the crafts we have brought and also playing soccer with us.  Thankfully, the 7-11 here in town has everything our hearts desire.... Jello cups for Aaron, iced coffee for Lisa, ham and cheese flavored chips for Brian, fun-o cookies for Lindsey, chocolate milk for Ryan, starburst like candy for Lauren, Fanta soda in different flavors for Brandon and Nathaniel.  Spray on Axe deodorant sadly was not what Ben and Ali both were hoping for in terms of more deodorant, however.  Both decided to pass on that option. 

The new bathrooms we are building are with concrete and bricks.  There are 4 stalls on each of the two buildings with a metal roof. In the corner of each bathroom stall is a hole in the ground to collect the water from a hose of water that hangs down from the roof.  This is how they shower and how we have been showering for most of our time here in Thailand.  Majority of the showers are cold showers, which we don't mind.  The weather is much cooler here than Chiang Mai.  Bangkok was the hottest of any of the places we have been. Here in OmKoi we even cover up in the evenings with long pants or long sleeves. 

Be sure to ask us about the different fruit we have been eating:
 - dragon fruit which is pink and green on the outside and white with black specks inside.. Reminds me of kiwi
- butt fruit.   Honestly, we don't know the name of it, but this is what it looks like when it is peeled and ready to eat... A bare booty. 
- papaya
 - mango
 - rose apple - same texture as a bell pepper
 - fried plantains
 - small pinkish/ purple spiky fruit called