The Life of Kelsey Barlow: Weekends at Home and Away

My Mother's Day jasmine flower

August 12^th is Mother’s Day here in Thailand. For us teachers, this meant a long weekend and a large assembly on the Friday before! One mother from each class was invited to the ceremony and all of the female English teachers were invited to attend as well. There were songs and prayers and at the end a student gave each of us a jasmine flower to wear on our dress. It was so special to be included in a ceremony that is so important to the students and Thai culture.

For the long weekend a few friends from my TESOL course and I decided to meet up in Chiang Mai. It was quite the trek up north for me, but we all made it in one piece. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing it was to be with my friends and people who knew me so well again. Everything the entire weekend was so easy. Saturday we treated ourselves to brunch and wandered the city exploring temples. On Sunday morning we were picked up early to go to Elephant Jungle Sanctuary to spend half the day with the elephants. I loved every second of this experience. We fed the elephants bananas and sugar cane, gave them a mud bath, and bathed them in the river. It was incredible to interact with these gentle giants free from fences and ropes. I felt safe the entire time and knew that these elephants had the best possible life for them there at Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. Later on Sunday we walked to the famous Sunday night market to shop and find dinner. Monday we woke up early to catch flights back home. When we arrived in Bangkok we grabbed breakfast together before I headed for my second flight back home to Trang. After arriving back in Trang I was informed that I needed to go to the hospital to complete a medical check for my work permit. I spent a few hours there getting blood work done and chatting with the doctors and nurses. While Doctor Daranee and I were talking we discovered that I teach her daughter in one of my P5 classes and her son in my M1 class! She asked me all about my life and asked if I wanted to join her family for church later that week.

Finally back together!

This weekend was all about saying yes to new things with new people. For the first time since I arrived, I spent the whole weekend in Trang just taking care of myself and what my home has to offer. On Saturday, my friend Gina invited me to meet her at a coffee shop and then to a view point that overlooks our city. I excitedly said yes and a quick outing turned into a late night of dinner with new friends and lots of stories.

On Sunday morning Doctor Daranee and her husband, Gary, picked me up and took me to church. I was introduced to everyone and even saw my director, her daughter, and our head of English. After church we went for lunch and the family invited me to join them on an outing to the beach. I had an absolutely incredible day with the Harper family and I am overjoyed with how they welcomed me into their family.

The past few weeks at school have been all about finding routine in a schedule that is constantly changing. Between long weekends, science week, and Mother’s Day, it feels like we never have a “normal” week of school. Last week I had speaking exams and I loved being able to spend one-on-one time with each of my students. I watched their confidence skyrocket when they had my undivided attention and I wish that I could have more moments like these every day with my students.