Day two.

Not much has happened the past two days I've been here. I've been trying to unpack and find places for my belongings, most of my clothes are hung up in the closet, and I need a few more things to help finish off my room. Unfortunately, upon leaving the states, my allergies decided they wanted to come with me as well, so I haven't been able to get things done quick enough. Hopefully it clears up soon and doesn't become a notorious sinus infection, because that would just suck. It probably didn't help that I ate like crap and didn't drink much water the full day it took to travel here. Now that I'm here, I can settle into my normal routine of fruits, veggies, and lots of water. 

We went grocery shopping and I was surprised at how expensive cheese is! $6.00 for 10 slices of Sargento's Pepper Jack cheese!! That's highway robbery! Looks like I wont be eating cheese often. Peanut butter wasn't too bad. They have Peter Pan, the brand I like, for like $5 a jar, only about $1.50 more than I would pay back home. You'd think rice or soy milk would be cheap too, you know since I'm in Asia, right? Wrong. There was only one brand of unsweetened vanilla soy milk, and that too cost an arm and a leg (I can see my mother rolling her eyes right now and saying, "You're not there for the soy milk"). I'm sure I'll figure my way around the grocery store soon enough. I'm actually excited to try non-American brands, considering I have to take out a small loan for a box of Oreo's. I was able to get my favorite Thai brand of coconut yogurt though!... But I can't eat them yet because of my sore throat *sigh*. Apples are about the same price here as they are in the states, I bought an "American Granny Smith Apple" yesterday for a dollar, it was half the size of the apples back home. And speaking of sizes, everything is so much smaller here! From apples to feminine products, it's so weird. I guess it's my American mentality of "more bang for your buck". Walking up and down the aisles, it was funny seeing the signs that said what products where made in American and then sobbing because I could get it for a quarter of the price back home.
Expect me to contact you for a care package soon.

It still feels unreal that I am here. That I'm living here. I told my roommate Laura (her blog) that it will probably hit me when I do something "normal", like going to the store to buy milk because we're out. 

We went to two of the children's homes last night for dinner. As I was sitting at the dinner table in the boys home, it clicked. This is where I belong. Seeing the boys all washed up and in their pj's, getting second and third helpings of dinner, I felt at home. Going to the girls home just confirmed the warm feeling I had inside my heart. Seeing the adorable girls in their bob hair cuts, smiling their toothy grins, and saying in their broken English, "Hello, P Cristina" made me forget how much my allergies are making me miserable. Man, and how those kids can eat! I think the girls showed the boys up with who can eat more! Three girls under the age of 8 showed me up with how much spice they can handle! I thought I could handle spicy, they used crushed chili paste the way I would use milk for my cereal. I was put to shame. 

Today at noon is my first team meeting. I get to meet all the people who work so hard to make Remember Nhu so effective here in Thailand. I am excited and honored to be a part of such an amazing organization and can't wait to see what the next 10 months hold for me.