October 5th marked six months that Group 134 has been living at our permanent sites. During the first six months after Pre-Service Training, the Peace Corps encourages volunteers to focus on integration, needs assessment, and planning in their communities. Anecdotally, it’s said that this period can be the most challenging for many volunteers but is essential to building the relationships that will sustain the volunteer through the rest of their service.
For this month’s Sticky Rice Staff group article we checked in to see how the first six months have been going for everyone!
Grace Teng, 134 TESS
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
Something I learned during my first six months at site is to not take everything so seriously. I came in with some lofty goals and ideas for how I would run my classes. Not to say I don’t think I can accomplish some of those goals still, but I think my emphasis now is more on trying my best rather than worrying about achieving them all.
In Thai, there is a saying “sabai sabai” (สบายสบาย) which essentially translates to being comfortable and chill. Coming from America where everything is fast paced and strict on deadlines, I think becoming more “sabai sabai” took a little bit of a learning curve but a necessary and beneficial one to say the least. I only hope that when I get back home, I can keep this mentality.
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
I am super glad to have a small pond to run/walk around (when it’s not flooded during the rainy season like it is now). At home, I never had a place to walk that I didn’t have to drive to first. As such, I really cherish having one now. It’s especially great for some self-care walks.
3. What is something you wish you had?
This is a bit of an impossibility and a joke, but I wish I had a Trader Joe’s. I might never leave if one existed in my community.
4. If you could talk to your past self six months ago, what would you tell yourself?
If I could talk to my past self six months ago, I would definitely tell myself not to be worried. Everything that felt so unknown, scary and overwhelming became normal so fast. Do I still remember the struggles of the first month at site? Yes, of course, but the love I have for my students and my community outweighs any discomforts I feel now.
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service, what would you ask yourself?
If I could talk to my future self at the end of service I would ask myself how service has shaped and changed me. I came to Thailand partially with the selfish motive that going so far from home with no one to really rely on but me would help illuminate my own understanding of myself. Therefore, I’d like to know if I accomplished that. Six months in, I feel part of the way there which is probably a good sign. Of course, we will always continue to discover new things about ourselves, but I think service is definitely a great and fast way to start delving in deep.
Bianca Palese, 134 TESS
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
I have developed my technical skills a lot in the first six months. I have never taught before, so everything was a steep learning curve in figuring out what works for the students and what doesn’t. I have learned how many vocabulary words each grade can handle at a time, how to sequence the lessons so the grammar is easier, and how to bring energy into the classroom. One thing I still have not learned is everyone’s name…
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
I have great counterparts and amazing students. My counterparts are genuinely interested in working with me and improving their own teaching skills. They are curious and ambitious people, which really vibes well with my personality. My students are the absolute highlight, though. They are so kind, fun, and grateful to learn everyday. I adore them!
3. What is something you wish you had?
Running water and cheese.
4. If you could talk to your past self six months ago, what would you tell yourself?
It’s going to be harder than you expected, so be kind to yourself. Be honest when you don’t like the food or are uncomfortable and want to leave the function. They teach us in PST that the best way to integrate is to say yes to everything, but it’s okay to say no! You’re going to be so miserable if you keep agreeing to things you don’t want to do!
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service, what would you ask yourself?
I would ask myself if I feel like I made the most out of the opportunities I was given. If not, what prevented me from doing so? What should I do to maximize this unique experience?
Bradford Reszel, 134 TESS
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
How multilingual people are here in my province! My community is only about an hour drive from the Cambodian border. Therefore, people here speak Thai, Isaan (Lao), and Khmer (the language of Cambodia). Not to mention a few other local dialects! It’s amazing to listen to the mix of languages and try to pick up different phrases.
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
I’m very glad my site has an identity. As a province, we are known for our durian because it is grown in “volcanic” soil (not that there’s a volcano close by), and it makes the fruit much less smelly. This is highly valuable for farmers as durian can cost a beauteous baht and the lack of the smell makes ours even more desirable. I appreciate that the people rally around this and share a sense of pride.
3. What is something you wish you had?
A library with level-appropriate English books! My students are making progress and I am happy so many are starting to understand the basics of how to read. Now that we’re starting to put words and phrases together I wish I had more materials for them to access and practice with in a central location like a community library.
4. If you could talk to your past self 6 months ago what would you tell yourself?
Slow down more than you think and even more after that. It has been important to work with my co-teacher on pacing and reminding him that students in the US also take years to get to an adequate speaking/listening/reading/writing level in English. Hearing “English is easy” from Thai English teachers has been the most unexpected challenge I’ve had to overcome.
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service what would you ask yourself?
- Where should I be putting more of my effort right now?
- Is what I’m leaving behind a sustainable plan for future success?
- Who is the President of the United States?
Kyra O’Connell, 134 TESS
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
I’ve learned a lot about letting stuff slide off my back. I make mistakes every day and while it would be easy to sit and stew on them and become demoralized, I’ve learned to treat every mistake as a learning opportunity and just say, “Well now I know for next time.” I know this message can probably be found in just about every self help book out there, but realistically it can be somewhat difficult to put into practice. I think I’ve internalized it pretty well at this point.
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
I’m glad to have such a kind host mom who’s willing to cook for this poor volunteer who would probably starve if left to her own devices. She even buys me bread. It’s the little things that I appreciate the most nowadays.
3. What is something you wish you had?
A 7/11. The childlike joy and wonder I feel on the rare occasion I’m able to walk into a 7/11, land of convenience, is a bit absurd, but it really does brighten my whole day and honestly my whole week too.
4. If you could talk to your past self six months ago, what would you tell yourself?
When in doubt, dress to impress. I’ve walked into a fair number of social events not 100% riap roi (appropriately dressed) because I didn’t know where we were going or what was going to happen. So, I’d tell myself to just lean towards being more formal. Would love to travel back in time and stop myself from accidentally wearing yellow to a funeral.
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service, what would you ask yourself?
Would you do it again? I’ve had friends ask me this and I’ve asked this of myself many times just in these early months of service. Every time, my head runs around weighing the pros and cons. And every time, at the end of that run around, I reach the same conclusion: it’s too soon to say. I can say with fair confidence already that I don’t regret the decision to come here and do this. So the next question becomes: Would I be willing to do this again?
So much of this experience has been eye opening and thrilling, but for every happiness there have been hurdles that come up in equal measure. I’m watching with bated breath to see which one leans in, sticking their neck out just the littlest more at the end of this race. I’m not sure if this running metaphor is still working, but, essentially – are the pains worth going through again for the overall experience or will I be content to leave this as a one-off, amazing chapter in my life? I’m really excited to find out at the end.
Teresa Derr, 134 YinD
If I could talk to myself six months ago, I’d say…
Focus on building relationships with the students most eager to get to know you. Learn about their interests and plans for the future and ask about them when you see them. They truly are a treasure, and you will love to love them.
Also, students you’ve forgotten the names of will come up to greet you randomly when they see you, even the ones you thought were too shy or didn’t like you. You’ll get hugs and waves. Roll with everything, and know you’ll get there in the end. Probably.
Actually, that would be something to ask myself at the end of service: Did you ever figure out how to remember the names of all 400 of your students? Or even just the ~200 or so that really do enjoy learning with you? I’d love to figure that out sooner rather than later.
Morgan Shupsky, 134 YinD
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
This is so hard to answer because I feel like I’ve grown from infancy to adulthood in the past six months and you learn just about everything in that span of time. But I think the most important thing that I’ve learned, or come to terms with, is that my life looks completely different here – I have more free time than I’ve ever had, I have less friends (in-person) than I’ve ever had, and my freedom is the most limited it’s been in a very long time – and I’ve had to adjust my expectations for all these huge differences. Learning how to do that and learning what makes me happy in this new life context has made the biggest difference in my experience now compared to six months ago.
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
I’m very glad to have two cute, little coffee shops at my site. They’re not fancy or anything but I know every time I go that I’ll get a good drink and have a chat with the barista and they’ve become great hubs for me in my community.
3. What is something you wish you had?
I wish I had a bus stop, train stop, or access to any kind of public transport route that I could get to myself without having to bike or be driven 25km away.
4. If you could talk to your past self six months ago, what would you tell yourself?
KEEP GOING. It gets so much easier but you have to keep going.
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service what would you ask yourself?
Right now I’m in the process of planning and preparing for a club that I want to implement at my schools over the next three semesters and I’m putting my heart and soul into this club, so I would ask my future self if it’s as successful as I’m hoping it’s going to be.
Kayla Kawalec, 134 YinD
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
I’ve learned how to listen to what people are asking of me and I am still learning to actually hear them. I’ve learned that working harder isn’t always what people want from me and that just existing as myself is enough sometimes. I’ve also learned how to open a beer bottle with another beer bottle and it’s probably my most treasured learned skill to date.
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
Friends. I know this can be rare, especially in the first six months, and I don’t take it for granted one bit that I feel that I have true friends here (even if communication is still incredibly difficult most days).
3. What is something you wish you had?
I agree with Morgan, a bus station nearby would be life-changing!
4. If you could talk to your past self six months ago, what would you tell yourself?
You’re not a teacher. No one is forcing you to be, even when you feel like they want you to be. Teaching can look a million different ways and you’re doing it even when you’re not trying to. Just breathe. Also, have at least three or four really solid karaoke songs ready to go at all times, you’re going to need them.
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service, what would you ask yourself?
Have I done enough to let my people here know how much I appreciate them? Do I feel like I’m leaving this place better than I found it? Did I learn to make the perfect somtum yet?? Time’s ticking!!
Dito Montaña, 134 YinD
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned during these first six months has been that you truly never know what’s going to happen on any given day. You may have a plan or a schedule, but inevitably you’ll run into someone that invites you to go somewhere, or something happens that upends all of your expectations for the day. The best way to navigate this uncertainty is to let go of control and float along with the waves. Being flexible and open to the possibilities often lead to some pretty memorable experiences when you least expect it.
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
I have two things. The first is the mountain range that sits just outside of my bedroom window. Every morning as the sun rises behind the mountains, the clouds roll just under the ridge and create an image that’s straight out of a Bob Ross painting. The second thing I’m glad to have is Pii Mem’s guay-tiao (noodle) shop just down the road from my house. I’m a sucker for good noodles, and I truly believe Pii Mem has the best guay-tiao in Lom Sak, maybe even all of Phetchabun.
3. What is something you wish you had?
I’m fortunate to have a lot of creature comforts at my site, but the one thing I’m truly missing has been a quality ma-prao bpan (coconut smoothie) stand. If you know you know. A good coconut smoothie in Thailand is a deliciously unrivaled sensory experience that’ll momentarily make you forget about your hardships and struggles, your pain and your loss, transporting you to a world where nothing else matters but that sweet, sweet ma-prao bpan. Okay I’m being dramatic, but only a little bit because it really is that damn good. I had one in Khon Kaen once that still keeps me up at night, and to have something like that at my site would be a game changer. Can’t have it all I guess.
4. If you could talk to your past self six months ago, what would you tell yourself?
Don’t be stressed about comparing your experience at site with that of past volunteers. There’s the superficial stuff about you that people in your village will inevitably compare with the volunteer before: your language skill, your looks, your eating habits, etc. And then there are the deeper comparisons you’ll make in your head – Am I doing enough to connect with people at site like the last volunteer did? Are my lessons meaningful and effective like theirs were? Stop that shit! Their life was their life and your life is yours. Your experience will always be different from the past volunteers because you are different, and as obvious as that is, sometimes it’s hard to remember. Every day is a choose-your-own-adventure type of experience. Just focus on being the best, most authentic version of you, and your service will no doubt be a success.
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service, what would you ask yourself?
Did we ever end up kicking Kayla’s ass in a potato sack race? Man, I hope so.
Editor’s Note: No need to ask your future self, the answer is no 🙂
Cloé Fortier-King, 134 YinD
6 months at site looks like:
Dano Nissen, 134 TESS
1. What is something you’ve learned in your first six months at your permanent site?
How to be more patient.
2. What is something you’re glad you have at your site?
I look up at the heavens and praise whomever may be up there for granting me the wisdom to bring my kindle. Hallelujah. I’ve always been an old school ink and parchment guy when it comes to reading, but without a used book shop nearby having a handheld library has come in handy.
3. What is something you wish you had?
More money.
4. If you could talk to your past self six months ago, what would you tell yourself?
Absolutely nothing. The beauty of the Peace Corps lies in tossing yourself into a totally unknown situation. Why spoil that?
5. If you could talk to your future self at the end of service, what would you ask yourself?
Are my lessons still being used in class? Namely, are they still doing the cha cha slide to learn directions?
Sticky Rice 
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