Kira (Thailand): Where we're at

I think I may be settling into a routine here in Khon Kaen. That being said, we are leaving for a five-day trip to Surin tomorrow morning, so things will stop being routine fairly quickly.
(As a side note, my throat hurts a lot right now. I blame all the food and utensil-sharing, my chronic sleep deprivation, and the MSG (well, the MSG isn't actually making my throat hurt, but I have been getting a lot of headaches too). I'm just praying that it isn't mono, if only because I don't want to be responsible for giving the whole group mono)

Since I've gotten a few questions about my courses, I guess I'll try to explain them to some level (you can skip down two paragraphs if this bores you). The whole system is actually fairly complicated. We are officially taking four courses, each of which is taught on no regular schedule. One is Thai class, which consists of 3-hour class sessions, 2-hour peer tutoring sessions, and "Thai cultural fun" events. We have moved into the "themed" section of the course, meaning our words relate to the theme we are studying in our other classes. Since our current theme addresses chemical and organic agriculture, our Thai vocabulary includes "chemical fertilizer," "integrated agriculture," and things like that. It's fairly difficult.
Our other classes all blend together, but they're all taught to pertain to a series of units that addresse aspects of globalization in northeast Thailand. We have a series of lectures, workshops, and discussions that relate to our unit. Our current unit is "land," and we're focusing more specifically on the changes in the agricultural system in Thailand. Because of this, we will be staying with organic farmers in Surin starting tomorrow. While we are there, we will be gathering information to use in various assignments. Also, as part of our alternative educational model, we each have to help facilitate one of the units. This is my unit to facilitate, so I've been exceptionally busy lately.
That's all I'm going to write about that here. You can ask me if you have any other questions. It's a pretty good program overall, really.

Anyway.

Our last unit ("the people of Khon Kaen") just ended, and we had a retreat this weekend to do our "Where we're at." The WWA is exactly what it sounds like -a time during which we can discuss where we are at as individuals, as a group of students. The program facilitators, staff, and Thai teachers have their own WWAs. So we went off to this retreat site which was actually run by a co-op of villagers. We got a chance to walk around the village, and one villager insisted on showing us around. We saw herds of cattle walking down the street, ponds that were green and milky in color, and overly friendly villagers that kept asking us (in Thai) where we were going and if we had eaten (these are appropriate greetings, not nosy questions). That night we had a campfire, and our driver P'Joy made us his famous roast pork. I'm not a fan of pork in general, but even I love P'Joy's pork. We all stayed out late drinking beer Leo, talking and looking at stars (I thought of you, KO). It was amazing. However, we then had an agonizing night of shivering under thin blankets in a non-insulated house made of boards. It was one of the coldest nights of my life, but I guess it was good group bonding.

I am very excited about the trip I have tomorrow. The things I have learned about this issue have already shaken me. I feel like this trip has shaken me a lot in general. I find my eyes tearing up while I'm reading or listening to lectures, and it's even more dramatic when I'm actually with the people. It's one of the deepest things I have ever felt, but I have no idea how to explain it.

If that makes sense.

Miss you guys,
Kira