Adjusting

My whole time here has been filled with adjustments. From the food that I eat to the way that I have to think and everything in between! Some have been easier to deal with than others, but I hope to learn a lot from it all. I will briefly touch on areas, if not this will be ultra long.
Food:
Most of you are probably thinking, why would food be an adjustment? Thailand has some of the best food ever.... however, I do not only eat Thai food. Here at the orphanage, I eat Karen food and on occasion Burmese. If I want Thai food, I need to go out to eat. I honestly cannot tell you what is so difficult about the Karen food, but my stomach did not agree at all! I was "sick" the 1st week then lost my appetite for about another week. Now I am doing fine. We eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I am not exaggerating! We have lots of fresh vegetables which is nice. They have a vast garden here and everything is organic. We do not eat meat much (the orphanage is not rich) so we devour it when we do get it!
Housing:
We live in a small cabin like structure. The room is about 10x10 and has it's own bathroom. We have enough space for a table and chair, that's about it. There is no room for a dresser, so our clothes stay in our luggage. The toilet is a western style, which means it's a bowl, not a squatter. However, there is no plumbing so we have to pour water down for it to flush. Thank God we have hot water! There is a hot water heater attached to the wall and the bathroom is designed for the whole thing to get wet. There is no separate bath tub or shower, so I shower standing next to my toilet!
Bugs:
I have never seen bugs so big in my life!! There was once a moth bigger than my blackberry! Lots of BIG beatles, the kind you hear coming before you see them. In my room, there are many ants, snails and 1 giant gecko. The ants you must just learn to live with, there is no getting rid of them. The snails I kick out, although more replace them. The gecko.... he is often hiding but he leaves the "evidence" of his presence on my floor! I also hear it make it's gecko noise. It is very scary to hear in the middle of the night because I am never sure how close to me it is. They also run around the outside of the house all night long. If you are not familiar with the sound, you will think someone is knocking on your door. When they run around a lot, it sounds like squirrels running on a roof. I'm concerned enough about its presence in my room that I don't go to the bathroom in the middle of the night! Since it's dark, I don't know where it could be. Doris has 2 of them living in her room!
Language:
Not a whole lot to say outside of the obvious. Thai is not easy to learn, it is a very tonal language. One word with the same spelling has 5 different meaning. The meaning depends on the tone you use. Burmese is totally different but no easier to learn. It sounds to me like they are mumbling when they talk, so it's hard to pick up. Anyone that does speak English speaks it very broken, so we are often not fully understood when we ask questions or explain.
Culture:
Wow, too much to write about. Asian culture is VERY different than American culture. I'll just give you an example: when the kids get up to sing in front of the church, they usually have their arms crossed in front of them. Americans would have the kids put their arms down at their side. I asked if they were upset that they have to be up there singing, since they have their arms crossed... no they are not upset, to have your arms crossed is a sign of respect that the younger kids show adults in Burmese culture. Go figure!

The weather here is very nice. they go through 3 seasons (this was unbeknownst to me!) winter, summer and rainy season. Rainy season just ended and is from June through October. Winter is from late November through March, and summer is from April through June. Winter temps are said to be in the 60's during the day and 40's at night. Summer is just plain old hot!! Rainy season is... rainy! The main mode of transportation around our small town is via motorbike. No taxis or buses here! We have been walking, it's good exercise. The orphanage is located 10 minutes outside of town up on a hill. It is usually too hot during the day to go out walking. I did it once and thought I was gonna pass out on the street. I collapsed onto my bed when I got back and slept for 2 hours. I no longer go out in the sun between the hours of 10 and 4! The landscape is absolutely beautiful! I never cease being amazed. I have not kept up to my blogging blitz, but I don;t have too much more to update you with so I'm doing good. More to follow!