Hello, wow it has been a long time. Thing have been a bit nutty around here kind of like an out of control roller coaster ride. About 2 months ago my favorite Monk, Phra Wit left the Wat and with that left my biggest connecttion to everything that goes on here with the kids. I was so sad but Ithink he will be happier, living a life without the saffron colored robe on. I then became close with 2 others, Phra Num and Phra In. I began teaching them English everyday and it was really great and they were beginning to speak very well. Then Phra Num left and went back to Myanmar to be near his family. Phra In is still here and our classes are still going well.

 Part of the reason these Monks left was beacause they are no longer taking as much care of the kids, there is a new person in this place and I will refer to him as Ego-Man…He has been a friend of the Wat and the Head monk for many years and has been volunteering with sports programs for a long time. Ego-Man and the Monks do not see things the same and to be honest nether do I. He has made it very difficult for the kids and anyone to really get things done. That being said he has made some good changes but his methods, SUCK! He is always wanting to make the boys “tough” but when you are 6 and new to this place, sometimes a hug goes a lot further.

 We have newly let in 12 kids that are not old enough to go to school yet and there is not enough supervision here so the older kids have to take care of them. This I think is CRAZY! If we are not equip to help these kids better, we need to help find a place that is, right? Ego-Man is taking care of the little ones during the day but a 2 year old without some motherly love, come on… OK, let’s try to talk about some good, we have a new kitchen and it is out of the girls dorm finally. They also have someone to help cook the lunch time and dinner meals so now the kids just have to do breakfast on their own. This is something I was hoping for for a long time. We have a new school building that is almost finished but there are no bathrooms in it, this would not fly in the states, not for a second and it should not here. We now have a new water filter system for all here, it was so need. Now we just need to make sure they change the filters. The schools have been cleaned up and we have a few new teachers that are really great and here for the kids.

 The boys dorm now has a new washing tub for bathing and washing clothes. They also have a volleyball/little soccer area. The girls got some new beds that Toys for Thailand donated forever ago, I am so happy for that. They just kept moving them around here and all I tried to do for 6 months was give them out, done and done. Some of my favorite students left and I was so sad to see them gone but I did bump into a few of the in town last week. They said they were going to a new, better school with better living conditions, I am glad for them.

 What else…Been cooking with Chatree a little more, we made some killer Blueberry Pound Cake the other day, we lost Khru Jum (an English teacher) to another school last month, she will be missed. New fencing made of bamboo, by the Monks is now all around the Wat, some more of the dirt roads here have been paved. I have been teaching a lot more, thanks to Jirapron (a new English teacher). I am always much happier when I am busy. I have also had some friends come to visit me so I got to get out and see some more i the city and I am really loving this place. It is rainy season but it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Been drinking some good organic coffee, grown from the hill tribe people, you know I love coffee and the hill tribes so it is a win, win.More soon and as always thanks for the support. -Stu